Waverly went to the dogs last weekend. Or, rather, the dogs went to Waverly.
The Waterloo Kennel Club hosted its two-day dog show at the old fairgrounds, drawing judges and participants from around the country.
And dogs. Lots of dogs. A whopping 394 of them, according to Krista Johnson, who organized the event.
“This man over here drove nine hours, he said. This lady’s from Colorado. We’ve got a lady from Texas,” Johnson reeled off.
Some people travel the country going to dog shows, she explained.
“You could potentially show dogs every weekend, depending on how far you want to travel,” Johnson said.
As for judges, she said they also came from all over—from California, Florida and North Carolina, for example.
Participation in the event varies from year to year.
This year, “it’s less than last year but more than the year before,” Johnson said. While the weather last weekend was beautiful, “unfortunately, you can’t predict that when you have to enter.”
The two days of the dog show each follow the same format—breed judging and then group judging and then best in show—but with different judge assignments from day to day.
“So, yesterday we had a show. We did the breeds, we did the groups, we did best in show,” Johnson said. “Today the judges have switched. So today, people will see a different judge.”
That “absolutely” can lead to different results.
“There’s some overlap, but it’s never exactly,” she said, because judges put different emphasis on different criteria. Plus, dogs and handlers can be on or off on particular days.
While it’s not required that participants enter both days’ competitions, Johnson says that the organizers hope they do.
“Entries bring money in,” she said. “There’s stats from the AKC (American Kennel Club) that say that an average exhibitor spends close to $900 in a show weekend. So, if you do the math, this is about $350,000 that’s being spent around town.”
She raved about the Waverly location, on the grass south of the 4-H Building.
“Many people tell us how much they love this show site. It’s beautiful grounds. It’s convenient. We have the buildings with the air conditioning for grooming and you can keep your dog cool,” she said. “Because this time of year you don’t know. It could have been 90 today.”
It did rain for a while Saturday morning, but that wasn’t a problem because of good drainage, again an advantage of the site.
“It rained yesterday morning,” Johnson said, “but there were no puddles. There was not mud. You just don’t get that in an outdoor show.”
While the weather was mostly good on the weekend, the dog show goes on rain or shine.
“If it’s not lightning, we’re showing,” Johnson said. “I show a coated breed [Tibetan Terrier], so it’s kind of my dream to show in the pouring-down rain, because then the grooming is not a big equation. It doesn’t matter how pretty someone else made their dog’s hair look. They’re all drowned rats. We can just see structure, which in my breed is far more important than the coat.”
Speaking of pretty hair, the Standard Poodles may have led the field in fancy hair-dos.
Kaitlyn Macken brought her black Standard Poodle, Zephyr, from outside Chicago to compete in the show. At just 10 months, Zephyr had done pretty well in a previous show but had room to improve.
“He’s still learning,” Macken said. “He’s a puppy. It’s to be expected.”
She likes Standard Poodles because of their versatility.
“They’re honestly the most versatile breed,” she said. “You can get a poodle that’s ready to hunt, ready to go. [Zephyr] is pretty chill. So he can go and be crazy, but he can also lie down and be a couch potato.”
While poodles were bred originally as hunting dogs, the show dogs are far more pampered today. Macken said the biggest challenge with Zephyr is his hair.
“It’s a lot of upkeep. Just to bathe them—no haircut or anything—bathe and condition to keep his hair healthy, is about four to five hours,” she said, noting that she has to do that routine weekly. “It’s a part-time job.”
Then, for the show, extra primping requires spraying the hair on his head with hairspray so it stands up and is fluffy. Macken said the dog doesn’t really like the hairspray, but he knows it’s the routine.
Standard Poodles are a good-sized dog, more than 15 inches at the shoulder. A lot smaller was another young dog at the show, Gojira [go-zheer-ah], an Italian greyhound.
Also at 10 months old, the dog only weighs about 6 pounds, according to her handler, Charity Oaks of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“She’ll stay pretty small,” Oaks said. “She’s small for the breed. She’ll get a little bit bigger but not too much.”
The tiny dog was crouched down in the grass next to Oaks, seeming to be overwhelmed by all the activity.
“She is new. This is only her second show,” Oaks said. “She’s just a shy breed anyway.”
Oaks had already shown Gojira once on Sunday and was scheduled to do so twice more in the afternoon.
“For her being so young and scared, it went really well today,” she said. “The best ever.”
Away from the dog show, Gojira shows more of her personality, her owner said.
“She’s a cuddler and a lover, and she loves to play with other dogs.”
Johnson, the show organizer, watched the junior showmanship competition Sunday morning.
“They are not judging the dogs,” she said. “They are judging the juniors on their handling skills.”
Nonetheless, she was pleased to see that the winner of the category had shown a Tibetan Terrier, her own breed of dog that she shows when not running the show.
“They are not true terriers,” she said, “but they were brought from Tibet.”
The breed sounds like it can be a bit of a challenge.
“If you want to do obedience, get a golden [retriever],” Johnson advised.
Watching the juniors run their dogs around a circle in the grass, Johnson reiterated how much everyone appreciates the fairgrounds for the show.
“We like being here, and hopefully everybody likes us being here and dropping money all over town,” she said. “We’re hoping we can stay here.”
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