Hawaiian Kennel Club Dog Show 1

Yesterday I did something I’d never done before – I attended a kennel club dog show. Never would have know about it if the wife and I didn’t go to the Collectors’ Expo at the Blaisdell Galleria exhibition hall last week.

I love dogs … they’re such good-looking animals, not to mention they are great companions. And the Hawaiian Kennel Club’s 167^th All-Breed Dog Show was a great place to check out purebred competition-quality canines.

And, there was an extra added bonus for me. I met a long-time friend whom I haven’t seen in years – Barbara Ankersmit, president of QMark Research & Polling. I wasn’t surprised to see her there, for I’ve known she was a breeder of Newfoundland dogs in the past.

It turns out she’s segued nicely from the big ol’ Newfies to the bouncy Papillons. Quite a transition from the Working Dog Group to the Toy Dog Group. As she put it, it’s so much easier to care for a seven-pound Papillon than a 160-pound Newfoundland.

Barbara, it seems, was a steward at the show.

I took a bunch of pictures yesterday … here are a few (more tomorrow):

Australian Shepherd

Golden Retriever



Pomeranians

  

Toy Poodle



Yorkshire Terrier

The dog show continues today, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. And don’t worry, today’s show is an entirely new competition. It’s the 168^th All-Breed Dog Show, which gives all the entrants a second chance at vying for Best of Breed, Best of Group, and Best of Show.

Click on Picture for Larger Image

The judges, who come from the mainland, will switch breed and group duties, so it indeed will be a new competition. Apparently, lots of mainland shows are also doing this, because people travel great distances to show their dogs (in Hawaii, they come from neighbor islands, incurring travel expenses for the owner, handler and dog).

Woof! … in case you who don’t understand Newfie language, here’s a Papillon translation … Arf!