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Date: 8/31/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Inside the Better Living Center building at the Eastern States Exposition on Aug. 24, the air conditioning was on full blast and it felt like it was probably 60 degrees Fahrenheit inside, despite high temperatures and humidity that day. The massive room’s excellent climate control makes it “a very popular place” among competitive dog breeders, who came from throughout the Northeast to compete in the multi-day Newtown Kennel Club show, according to Debbie Studwell, event chair.
The room is filled with dogs and their owners, but not a bark is to be heard. These are show dogs, the companions of a dedicated group of breeders and enthusiasts who take competitions like this very seriously.
“She’s a grand champion. She’s the number one owner-handled mini bull in the country,” said Dédé Wilson, of Amherst, while she meticulously groomed her dog Nora, who seemed enjoy the buzzing of a chrome electric trimmer against her snout.
As a member of the American Kennel Club, the Newtown show on the exposition grounds drew 700 dogs in an “all-breed” show that Thursday, with more like 1,100 per day expected for the weekend. Studwell says that’s about a medium-sized show. There are some that are much bigger, others much smaller.
In these shows, purebred pups of all kinds are primped and promenaded for judges who grade the dogs against a kind of platonic ideal.
“The judges examine the dogs and place them according to how closely each dog compares with the judge’s mental image of the perfect dog as described in the breed’s official standard,” according to the American Kennel Club.
Points are what’s at stake, and the more dogs, the more points. The Aug. 24 winner of best in show – a Welsh springer spaniel – beat out 700 dogs, and so earned 700 points.
What draws people to the tireless pursuit of having the purest of the purebred dog?
“You gotta love dogs to be in this sport,” said Sara Gregware, a professional dog handler and the owner of Diamond Creek Pet Retreat in Goshen, CT. “If you don’t love dogs, and you’re in this sport, you need to retire. Thankfully, there’s not a lot that don’t,” she added.
Gregware works for her dog owner clients to prepare dogs for shows like this, which allows her to “show all different types of dogs, which makes this a lot of fun for me. I can show anywhere from tiny little Frenchies to Bernese mountain dogs to great Danes. The only thing is, the bigger they are, the more physical we have to get. And so we get beat up,” said Gregware. “I do it because I really enjoy it. I enjoy the competition and I enjoy the company of the dogs,” she added.
For Studwell, it’s about more than just fun.
“We study the pedigree of the dog,” said Studwell. “They’re bred for longevity, and they’re bred for health. Like, you would never breed a dog that carries, say, a [genetic marker] for cataracts,” said Studwell. She said her competitors are interested in the long-term preservation of their breeds, unlike “puppy mills” that breed solely to sell pets.
“You know, they don’t care,” she said of irresponsible dog breeders. “They’re just looking to make money. We’re not looking to make money. We’re looking to produce quality dogs so that we can best continue on the line,” said Studwell.
As for Nora, the champ mini bull terrier, “she loves coming to the show. She knows when we start packing the car, she gets very excited,” said Wilson. “Every day we’re conditioning. We’re either doing road work. or we’re running, or walking in the woods. I mean, absolutely every day we’re thinking about her mental fitness or physical fitness, [as well as] keeping it fun for her,” added Wilson.
The Newtown show is one of several regional dog shows that come to the exposition grounds in West Springfield each year.