Dog show returns to St. Clairsville after a decade
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - For the first time in a decade, the St. Clairsville Kennel Club will be hosting a dog show at the Belmont County Fairgrounds this weekend.
The event gets underway at 9 a.m. Saturday through Sunday at the David Jones building, the Wise building and various buildings around the fairgrounds, according to Show chairperson Jane Hendricks.
"They’ll be in assorted buildings and we'll have signage where ring one and two are going to be at the David Jones building. There will be a desk with some informational literature and so forth," Hendricks said. "Whenever you come, stop at that building first and look for the superintendent’s desk because they will have a judging program, which will have an alphabetical list of all of the breeds that are entered in our show, the ring number, and the time that they’re scheduled to be shown."
She added that since it has been a decade since the club last hosted a dog show, they’ve had to re-start from scratch.
Hendricks said 380 dogs have entered over the span of two days.
The two-day event will have vendors offering various items for sale, as well as food trucks.
"We’re starting out small and a little bit simple this year. We hope to be able to expand in the future years," Hendricks said.
She added the event has a $5 parking fee per car, no matter how many people are inside of the vehicle.
"So jam pack your car and come and visit us. Come see what a dog show is from scratch," Hendricks said. "And at the end of the day. There will be one dog out of all of the entries that will be chosen to be best in show."
She said since this is the show's first year, the competition is for bragging rights. She hopes to be able to secure a financial prize in the future.
"We all love to brag about our dogs, and so every time it’s a win, we’re bragging about our dogs because we love them," Hendricks said.
In addition to professional dog handlers competing, the event will have a junior handlers competition. Juniors are children aged 9-18 who aspire to become a professional dog handler one day.
Hendricks said dog show competitions are a sport where professionals and amateurs compete head to head.
In addition to best in show showcases, the event will have obedience and rally trials in the Collins Family building.
"Those classes are to teach your dog proper manners, household neighborhood manners and that type of thing. It’s not just training for something that you’re never really going to use, some of those exercises can actually save your dog’s life, because if they start running toward your road, and there are cars coming, and if your dog’s got a good recall or a good sit or a good stay, it’s going to keep them from running across that road and getting hit," Hendricks said.
The St. Clairsville Kennel Club holds its meetings on the third Wednesday of every month at the Kevin Barr Event Center at 7 p.m.
Hendricks encourages new club members and she can be contacted at wyredj@netzero.net or (740) 632-9188.