Dog show aims to clear up misconceptions
Christina Carr is taking her love of dogs to a new level this weekend.
She is working hard to see they are not misunderstood.
"And a lot of them are," says the senior from Deer Lakes High School in Russellton. "Take the Weimaraner. People see these big dogs and get scared, but they are real sweeties."
To improve the image of Weimaraners and other dogs as well, Carr, 17, will lead sessions Saturday and Sunday called "Meet the Breeds" at the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association show Downtown.
The event is in its 70th year, and its 10th at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
It actually is two shows with winners determined and some dogs competing both days. The show on Saturday is a complete dog show resulting in a best-in-show award. The show on Sunday also is a separate and complete dog show, which includes the same dogs as those entered on Saturday for the most part. However, a different judge on Sunday judges each breed.
Association president Nance Shields says 1,400 dogs are entered in 143 breeds on Saturday, and 1,350 in 138 breeds Sunday.
She says this year's show will mark the premiere appearance of three new breeds, the redbone coonhound, the dogue de Bordeaux and the Neapolitan mastiff.
Besides the formal showing of breeds, each day will include agility trials run by the Beaver County Kennel Club, along with obedience and rally obedience trials in which dogs work through a marked course.
Shields speaks with enthusiasm about the "Meet the Breeds" event, which she thinks should help many potential owners make decisions.
"After all," she says with a chuckle, "all breeds have their problems."
Carr sees the program as two jobs. She sees it as a way of widening knowledge of breeds that often are stereotyped by TV, movies or word-of-mouth.
"People look at the toy dogs and think they are easy to own because they are so small, and that isn't true," she says. "Or they look at beagles and think they are nice. But they don't know they can be very noisy."
She also is using "Meet the Breeds" as a service project as she works toward her Gold Award, the Girl Scout equivalent of the Eagle Scout badge.
Carr spends a good deal of time with dogs. She and her parents, Wally and Jervais, have a Weimaraner and a Tibetan terrier, which took the place of a mixed Lab who lived to 16 years.
She works at the Town & Country All Breed Groomers in Springdale and for the West Deer Dog Shelter.
As she neared her Gold Award and began thinking of a service project, this came to mind. She says she frequently sees the misunderstanding of dogs and thought the project would make a difference.
"Big dogs are misunderstood a lot," she says. "Dobermans, mastiffs, Rotties (Rottweilers)."
She took her idea to the Girl Scouts, which approved it in November, and then to the kennel club, which followed suit in February.
The only tough part is trying to organize visits by breeders and their dogs through the two busy days. She has arranged participation by dogs ranging from the small bijon frise to the hefty Newfoundlands, but doesn't have a schedule.
Instead, they simply will come to the booth as they can, she says.
That also makes the second day a little sketchy, because some exhibitors probably will be going home whenever they can.
"We'll be going 10 (a.m.) to 3 (p.m.) Saturday," she says. "And Sunday, we'll just see what happens." Additional Information:
Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association Show
When: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Admission: $9; $4 for ages 4-11 and younger
Where: David L. Lawrence Convention Center, 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown
Details: Web site
