Getting Ready for Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows

Some exhibitors in the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows on Saturday and Sunday, March 6 and 7, will prepare and practice just as hard as their pets.

The Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows are among a handful of events across the nation known as "bench shows." This means that rather than simply competing and departing, exhibitors must keep their dogs available both days to meet and greet the public.

"That's why our event is so popular, because the spectators can go right on down the line to see such a huge assortment," says Carla Cook, explaining that she's a breeder who places many of her dogs in the homes of loving families. "Interacting with people is what this show is all about."

Bulldogs Bounder (age 2 ½), Willie and Julie (both 19 months) will pretty much just stand there during Friday night preparations. Shelly and Jack Segall of West Bloomfield, dog show enthusiasts through 51 married years, will brush their coats, clean their ears, cut their whiskers and trim their nails.

"Their faces are the toughest part," Shelly Segall says with a chuckle. "Remember, these are bulldogs. Those folds, they are so deep, and we really have to get in there and clean them out."

Bernese mountain dogs Diamond, Lightning Bug and Lightning Bug's grandson, Charlie, have been keeping Carla Cook's hands full in Northville. She has had the dogs practicing drafting in her family's big backyard, which means they pull red wagon-style carts loaded with whatever she chooses. Husband Doug and teenage daughters Amanda and Alexis, 19 and 15, are ardent supporters.

"Charlie is our versatile young draft dog," Carla Cook says. "In addition to showing our three dogs, we're preparing a demonstration for four times each day. This will be 'GO Drafting,' teaming Charlie with all sorts of breeds who will pull carts through obstacle courses. Bernese mountain dogs such as Charlie are bred to be farmers' companions and cart pullers, but who has ever seen a poodle pulling a cart, or a little cocker spaniel pulling a tiny wagon?"

Poodles Kitty and Satine won't be pulling carts for Patti Jason of Saline. The girls will simply try to primp and look cute. Patti Jason will have help from daughters Nicole, 17, and Danielle, 14, in shaving the dogs' faces and feet three nights ahead of time, so that those areas "look like satin, not too harsh." Then it will be time for baths and fluffing of their curly coats on the night before the show. Husband Paulo Sugai joins the effort when he helps to load equipment and set up beforehand, and then assists again when the show is over.

Training in Preparation

Each of the estimated 1,600 exhibitors who will gather at downtown Detroit's Cobo Convention Center for the dog shows can tell a preparation story, but not all will involve intense sports training types of activities for their prized pets.

Skills such as speed, agility, hunting and K-9 law enforcement are more often displayed by dogs involved in special demonstrations than by dogs in exhibits.

Show dogs need to look good, but the preparation keys involve training for poise and posing, explains Jack Segall, who conducts 10-week training classes that teach people how to show their dogs.

"The dogs have to look their best and strut their stuff," Segall says. "They only have a minute or two in the ring to impress a judge, and so they can't be bouncing around. They have to learn to stand a certain way and hold their heads up high. Each breed has a standard - an ideal of what that breed should look like."

Show preparation often requires more training for the human than for the dog, Segall adds.

"The dog usually will learn what to do in three or four classes," he explains, "but a trained handler has to learn to do things in the ring, to move in different patterns around the ring that a judge will request. If the handler doesn't train properly, the handler might get the dog posed the wrong way."

Still, Segall notes that no matter how much preparation takes place, sometimes even a well-trained dog will have a bad day and act up.

"Some dogs will have fun at home, but for some reason, they just don't like to show in the ring," he explains. "You might get frustrated, but you try not to take it out on the dog. Look, this isn't like the Olympics, where you only get a chance every four years. There's always another show."

Shampooing and More Shampooing

To function at the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows, Carla Cook will have to make sure her arms don't fall off. Diamond, Lightning Bug and Charlie's thick coats of black, rust and white will receive not one, not two, but three preparatory shampoos. Diamond and Lightning Bug, aged 8 and 9, each weigh in at more than 100 pounds. Charlie, at 2 years old, is up around the 70-pound range.

All of this primping will make the three Bernese mountain dogs all the more attractive when spectators stop by, and the Cook family allows the visitors to pet the pooches.

Poodles Learn Early

Patti Jason is approaching 20 years experience with standard poodles, and she says she has learned a great deal.

Kitty, who is white, and Satine, who is black, are younger than some of Jason's past entries at 9 months old, which translates to about 12 years for a human, she says.

"Most people have heard that a dog year equals seven human years, but we have learned that the first dog year is almost like 14 human years," Jason explains.

She places leashes on her poodles at about 3 months. She says, "We give them play time so that they think it's their idea to do things instead of you telling them." Small bits of meat serve as incentives for completing the correct actions.

"By the time they are old enough for the show, I can put leads around their necks, and they are very happy to be there," Jason says. "We work as a team."

Needless to say, Kitty and Satine have been groomed to the nines. The goal of bathing and shampooing actually is to grow their coats as long as possible, so that the skin surface is healthy when shaving begins along the face and the feet. Kitty and Satine are too young for shaving of their entire coats, as seen with older poodles.

Nutrition features raw meat and grain-free dog food, and the poodles get their conditioning when they run free on the Jason family's 16 acres of property.

Jason breeds dogs at her kennel, Targa Poodles, but not all the poodles go to show.

"You watch them literally from birth, and by around 8 to 10 weeks, you can tell which ones to pick," Jason says. "They are selected not only on conformation to ideal standards of appearance, but also on showiness. You can have a beautiful specimen of a dog, but if they don't like the show ring and it's not fun, then the show ring is not for them."

Tickets for the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows are $12 for adults and $8 for children under 12 and senior citizens, with family and group rates available. Children under 2 are admitted free. Recommended hours for attendance are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. For ticket information, visit http://www.detroitkennelclub.com, or call 248-540-5206.