Brooke Walker of Newport Beach, California, was busy combing and brushing Ellie, a miniature schnauzer, in the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on Saturday, getting her ready for competition.
“This takes about an hour and a half each,” Walker said. “And that’s once we get over here.”
Next to Ellie, each on their own tables, three more of the same breed sat patiently, excited for their turn. Their thick eyebrows and long goatees gave them a sophisticated air. Think beatnik poet or Sherlock Holmes.
Ellie is a show dog, one of the 448 at the fairgrounds in Cortez this weekend competing in the Durango Kennel Club’s All Breeds Show and Obedience Trials
“These people are dedicated to their dogs,” said Robert Nelson of the Durango Kennel Club. “They’re on a show circuit every weekend – Albuquerque last weekend; now they’re here, and next weekend, they will be somewhere else.”
Nelson said many owners hire professional handlers.
“One handler has 26 dogs that he’s working with,” he said. “So, even he had to hire assistants.”
Nelson said the DKC would like to see the event return to Durango, but it has a hard time finding a facility. He added, though, that the pavilion was a good venue for the American Kennel Club-sanctioned event.
While groups of one breed were led in one ring, other dogs showed their ability to follow commands in another. Glamorous standard poodles trotted next to their handlers, while next door, a stout Rottweiler studied its handler’s slightest command, jumping obstacles and fetching things.
Wendy Grudin, a judge and contestant from Grand Junction, said a win shows that you’re doing well for the breed.
“Every dog has a standard,” Grudin said. “When you win, it shows that your breeding program is working.
“And there’s definitely a high when you win,” she said. Her Australian cattle dog Polo is a seasoned champion.
Some dogs were familiar, massive and picturesque, and others oddly surreal.
Kammie Kelly of Fountain was about to show her Skye terrier, a dwarf-legged, long-bodied dog with shaggy hair and a big snout.
“They’re not your normal terrier,” Kelly said. “They’re hilarious.”
She said the first time she saw one – a puppy – she mistook it for a stuffed animal.
Ironically, the mellow, nearly extinct breed from Ireland’s Skye Island, was bred to control a booming badger population, with short legs for navigating tunnels, strong jaws, protected eyes and a huge head.
“They’re very friendly, but they’re not afraid of anything,” she said.
Not far from Kelly, professional handler Kayley Kovar was finishing puffing up the handful of cloud-white bichon frise she was showing. The tiny dogs bounced like balls of cotton candy in response to the excitement in the air.
Kovar said bichon frise was a “just a fancy word for white dog.”
“I do this for a living,” she said. “I travel all over the country, living like a gypsy.”
Kovar called the sport of dog showing – especially the bichon frise – an artwork.
“I enjoy the grooming part of it,” she said. “It’s kind of like a bonsai tree that you keep working on. I do a lot of scissoring. They get bathed once a week, and I bathe their face and feet every single day.”
Behind the scenes in a grooming area, handlers and dog owners were anxiously primping and brushing, trimming and combing. It was like a busy salon. Hair spray, scissors, shears – all the tools of the trade.
Donna Fitzpatrick from Cortez said she just enjoys the atmosphere of the show. She runs Soul Dog Rescue, a nonprofit organization that spays and neuters feral dogs, many found on reservations.
“I’m at the other end,” she said, “I do the scruff mutts. But I like coming out here. This is the other end of the dog world.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
