Dogs know they're best in show

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Maine Today

By Keith Edwards

AUGUSTA -- Uno, a 5-year-old Australian shepherd, is a tough competitor with his own performance enhancers, but they're the kind likely to be favored by rotund baseball legend Babe Ruth, not burly modern-day slugger Barry Bonds.

"He performs for doughnut holes," his owner and handler, Merrillynn Hill, said after Uno scored a near-perfect 198 points out of a possible 200 in an obedience trial Sunday at the Central Maine Kennel Club's annual show and competition at the Augusta Civic Center. "We'll have to stop at Dunkin' Donuts after this."

Uno wasn't the only dog to get a snack for his efforts Sunday. Several dog handlers, while showing their dogs, had their dog on a leash in one hand and treats in the other. They would reward their furry competitors with a snack for good behavior in the show ring.

Many noted their dogs don't really need the extra motivation.

"She lives to do this," Kelly Marquis of Freemont, N.H., said of her 21-month-old red Doberman pinscher, Marley, which took best of show Saturday at the competition of more than 600 dogs from across the country and Canada. "She knows when she's won. Everyone cheers when she runs into the ring. She bounces around and poses in the motor home like 'I did good.' "

Different breeds of dogs competed in multiple show rings Sunday at the Civic Center. Their owners, or handlers, primped, blow-dried and brushed their dogs before entering the rings, where their dogs were inspected for perfection by judges who were flown in from around the country.

Owners and handlers aren't always the same person, either. Vassalboro resident Brenda Foster, chief steward for the event, said many owners hire professional handlers to take their dogs from show to show to compete.

"There are some pretty competitive people here," she said.

The dogs, for the most part, seemed to take the event in stride. While there was, of course, lots of barking within the building, many dogs rested quietly in cages between shows. Scuffles between dogs were rare if they occurred at all.

Two old English sheepdogs, both just finishing their turn in the ring and held on leashes by their owners, playfully wrestled with each other a little, their long, combed-out white, gray and black hair flying.

The relatively "good dog" behavior doesn't come without work.

"They have to be well-socialized," said Hill, who has been competing with dogs for about 15 years, and also has two border collies. "You start them as babies. It takes a lot of practice. A lot of proofing."

In one of several parts of the obedience competition, held in a room separate from the main show rings, several dogs were in the ring at once, off-leash, and were told by their owners to lay down. Once the dogs were all down, the owners left the room entirely, for five minutes.

Each of the dogs -- a Rottweiler, a black lab, Uno, a husky, a Shetland sheepdog and a Portuguese water dog -- remained in the prone position, most staring intently and longingly at the door their owners just disappeared through, tongues out and ears alert. Judge Anthony R. Cherubini of Newberry, S.C., watched to make sure none of the dogs stood or ran after their owners.

Colleen Golding, of Fairfield, a Central Maine Kennel Club show committee member, said the public is welcome at the annual dog show and added the club, which meets in Augusta, is interested in building membership.