Some of the best dogs from around Canada were in Prince Albert for the Luck of the Irish Championship All Breed Show at the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre last weekend.
Liana Maloney, show coordinator for the Prince Albert Kennel and Obedience Club, said this is their spring show. The club also hosts a summer show in August.
“This was a really good entry,” Maloney said. “We had 200 dogs, so we couldn’t take anymore. It’s our maximum and it came from across Canada. We got them from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, B.C., (and) we got a couple from the States.”
There were several interesting breeds present at the show including a Shikoku. Unfortunately, an interesting bloodhound entered but could not make it to the show because of weather.
Maloney said there are seven different groups in the competition: Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier, Toy, Non-Sporting and Herding.
“Every breed is judged from the baby puppy class right up to the championship class, and then that goes right on to Best in Show at the end of the day. That’s what we’re all here for: the red, white and blue one,” Maloney said.
They are judged as the top three in each breed. The top dog in each breed advances to one of seven groups, with the top in each group advancing to Best in Show.
Maloney herself had entries in a few classes including the Herding Class with her Shetland Sheep Dog.
“We have a lot of Shelties, which is a very big entry,” Maloney said. “‘It’s a competitive breed.”
The Shetland Sheep Dog class was judged during the Luck of the Irish Championship All Breed Show at the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre on Saturday.
Liana Maloney of the Prince Albert Kennel and Obedience Club shows her Shetland Sheep Dog during the Luck of the Irish Championship All Breed Show at the Prince Albert Exhibition Centre on Saturday.
Maloney added that the weekend had a lot of competition and camaraderie. Maloney said everyone can compete in a dog show because there is a variety of classes for breeders.
“This is really the only sport where there is no professional and amateur class. You can get in the ring with someone like me who has been doing it 46 years or the professional handlers who get paid and then you get the young kids and the people that are just starting out and you’re all in under the same judges,” Maloney said.
The junior handlers are a competition for kids to teach them how to become handlers.
She said the junior category helps to build a new generation of handlers who keep the sport going.
“We are dedicated breeders. We are preservation breeders. We really want to bring forth the healthiest, best dogs we can. These shows are designed to help us bring our breeds forward and the judges give us an objective opinion,” Maloney said.
She said they have essentially a blueprint for breeders in the 100-point criteria on which each dog is judged. Maloney said the features are what people look for when they are buying a purebred dog.
The weekend featured 12 judges from Quebec, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta, among other place. The dogs are judged against breed standards on overall appearance, temperament and physical features like coat type, eye shape and colour, and bone length among other criteria.
Maloney explained that to enter a dog in the show can cost up to $2,000 including an entry fee of $270, travel costs and hotels.
“Every competitor here has got a hotel (room) in the city, so it brings lot into the city with the hotel cost right and then their food and everything,” she explained. “It costs, probably for a weekend, a couple of grand to get to a show.”
Maloney encouraged people to come down to either of their shows during the year.
“We encourage everyone to come down and learn about the dogs. We’re just a bunch of passionate dog people,” Maloney said.
The show ran on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the next show is the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before Labour Day because that show is split with Saskatoon.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
