Tunbridge
Bogart is a cavalier King Charles spaniel, and co-owner Cheryl Black said on Friday that he is a sterling example of the small, adorably wide-eyed breed.
“Bogie,” she said, “has a headpiece to die for.”
Bogart’s full name is GCHB Blackdales Play It Again Sam, the opening letters an official title bestowed upon certain Grand Champions by the American Kennel Club. The name is listed, along with many hundreds of other dogs, in the 256-page program for the four-day Vermont Scenic Circuit dog show, which runs through the weekend on the Tunbridge fairgrounds.
The superior head of Bogart, who is co-owned by Karen Chandor of Heritage Farm in Stockbridge, is marked by his broad skull and a muzzle that’s pushed in, but not too pushed in. Black didn’t take Bogart into the show ring herself. She was in a nearby row of the campers and trailers, wrangling a dozen or more dogs, and keeping them cool beneath misters and fans in shaded enclosures. Black had hired a professional handler, Stacy Threlfall, to parade Bogart around the ring in a precise way designed to show off his quintessentially cavalier gait.
“I liked the way she handles the dogs,” Black said.
Threlfall, dressed professionally and putting up a brave front against the glaring noon sun, popped energetically into the ring, Bogart at her side. A handful of other dogs — with names like Piccadil’s Goddess of Victory and Tomnees Golden Sky — also were there, following the instructions of their handlers, all of whom were themselves following the instructions of judge Jan Paulk.
Under Paulk’s direction, the handlers formed a single-file line and trotted in a circle. Bogart looked to be in fine form — but suddenly stopped. When Threlfall glanced down, she knew in an instant. Bogart was squatting in a familiar hunch that had nothing to do with showmanship.
As the other dogs exited the ring, someone strode out and handed Threlfall a wad of paper towels.
Dog Lovers United
The people who populate the show circuit are liable to toss out colorful factoids demonstrating their deep knowledge of the canine world. Cavalier King Charles spaniels, for example, “were lap dogs used to draw the fleas off of the women who owned them,” said Kristle Costello, of New Hampshire.
Black and white Newfoundlands, by contrast, “are known as landseers,” said Mary Lou Cuddy, of Greenville, N.Y., there to show 15-month-old Bearscamp’s Fenway. “They’re named that because there was an English Victorian artist who painted a lot of them.”
With five show rings running continuously, the tent was the site of a nonstop flow of dogs of different breeds.
Karen Dewey, of the Woodstock Dog Club, which hosted Friday’s show, described it as a pyramid of competition. After dogs of a breed compete, the best dog from each breed goes on to challenge other best-in-breed canines in one of seven breed groupings. There are sporting dogs (like Irish setters and Labrador retrievers), herding dogs (like corgis and sheepdogs), working dogs (like Newfoundlands and mastiffs), terriers (like Airedales and schnauzers), toy dogs (like Pomeranians and Shih Tzus), non-sporting dogs (like dalmatians and standard poodles), and hounds (like beagles and whippets).
Once seven best-in-group dogs have been chosen, there’s another round of showing, to winnow those champions down to one dog at the very top of the pyramid: the much-coveted Best In Show.
Competition and Camaraderie
“Hair in the wrong place could really bring this dog down,” said Joanne Brainard, of Connecticut, a handler and breeder who drove up Wednesday afternoon to show off a couple of hulking Newfoundlands. “It could cause his topline to look wrong or his tail to stick off the back, with a bump here or there. So you have to be cognizant of that.”
Brainard said that, for the most part, “it’s all fun and games,” but those competing at the national level will employ cutthroat strategies to rack up enough competition points.
“There could be people here that are entered somewhere else,” she said. Only after the owner of a double-booked dog shows up will they see who else has arrived to compete. “Then they may pack up and drive down to New Jersey or Long Island because they have an entry there too, and they now know who their competition there is.”
Brainard, who has been in love with Newfoundlands since her first kennel job in 1981, said most of the dog circuit scene runs on camaraderie.
“It’s a beautiful area to come to, and so that’s what most people enjoy,” she said.
“Jo! Jo!” a man called to Brainard, and gestured, amused and exasperated, at one of her dogs. “She’s got her goobers on her toes!”
For a heavy-coated large dog like a Newfoundland, the battle against slobber was a neverending wiping of washcloths.
One dog, Henry, wore a bib that said “it’s all about the cookies.” His owner, Nancy McKee, of Jeffersonville, Vt., said she wasn’t showing Henry, but was seeking to socialize him in the pressure cooker of the show tent. Every time another male Newfoundland was led past, there would be a brief battle of wills during which McKee would do her best to keep him in check.
“I taught him the word ‘tent,’ ” said McKee, who likes Newfoundlands because they have a long history of lifesaving work, and are so capable. “He’s not just a pretty face.”
Gini White, of Lebanon, also was not showing a dog. Instead she was prowling the tents and grooming stations, on a different mission from most.
“I came here today to fall in love,” she said.
Her beloved Chihuahua, Frannie, recently died at the age of 15, and she said she was looking for a dog that was about to age out of the show world. Her car was stocked with a doggie bed, drinking water and other pet supplies.
“I figured a show dog was going to be trained. And well-behaved,” she said. “I think that’s the way to go.”
She’d gotten interested in the differences between breeds after learning a bit from a friend who breeds wire-haired terriers in New London.
“If you buy a breed you know what the temperament and disposition will be,” she said. “If you buy a cross breed, you know, you can’t be sure.”
Bogart Finishes
Outside show ring No. 5, organizer Amy Caswell, of Newport, N.H., was handing event winners heavy glass bottles of maple syrup from her parents’ Richmond, Vt.-based sugarhouse.
“They donated the maple syrup and then our friend Bob, he etched the logo in,” Caswell said.
Vermont is a favorite stop on the circuit, according to Caswell, and already had drawn people from as far away as Kansas and Wisconsin.
Not all places have Vermont’s natural appeal.
“We went to Oklahoma and they had a petrified rock museum, which was the most fun thing we did there,” joked Caswell.
Back in Bogart’s show ring, Threlfall kept composed as she picked up the cavalier’s mess, and then followed the judge’s instructions for a clean circuit around the ring, followed by an inspection of teeth, head and other physical features.
Moments later, she was handed a ribbon signifying Best In Breed.
Black said that judges tend to take it in stride when a dog relieves itself at an inopportune moment. It’s an acknowledgement that dogs will, despite all the training in the world, be dogs.
And Black said that’s just fine with her.
“The dogs come first,” Black said. “The hell with the rest of you.”
Bogart went on to win the toy group, but came up short in the best in show competition.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.