UPCOMING EVENTS

The Idaho Capital City Kennel Club holds two AKC sanctioned shows and two matches each year.  Dogs come from all over the West, some even from much further away, to compete for conformation championship titles, obedience titles, and more recently, agility titles.   Members of ICCKC work together with members of another southern Idaho kennel club to hold back to back shows on four consecutive days in the fall as the "Treasure Valley Dog Shows".  The four shows are held in in mid - October at the Expo Idaho in Boise.

While the shows are the official events, a match is our practice event.  One match normally is held in the Spring, and the other in the Fall about a month before the official shows. The matches draw mostly local dogs.  Both shows and matches are governed by the rules of the American Kennel Club (AKC).

Our fall cluster of four Shows will be held October 8 - 11, 2009 at the Expo Idaho in Boise.   Our Superintendent,  Onofrio Dog Shows,  handles the entries and paperwork for the shows.  To enter, keep in mind that show entries must reach Onofrio's office by a pre-show deadline, usually about three weeks prior to the show.

Contact Onofrio Dog Shows http://www.onofrio.com/  for entries and information.  The "Premium List" with entry information will be posted as an Upcoming Show, probably in early September.  You may also contact them for a mailed Premium List.  They do accept online entries - very handy for last minute entries.
 

The Treasure Valley Dog Shows bring top dogs to Idaho, and the competitions are open to purebred dogs registered with the American Kennel Club.  These dog shows usually draw over 1200 dogs of at least 125 different varieties, approximately half from our own area, and the rest from all across the country.  These are people who enjoy the interaction with their dog and the competitive sport of dogs.

 If you’ve never been to a dog show before, it might look confusing, so let’s go through each of the events.  In the main buildings of the Fairgrounds, you’ll find Conformation rings and the grooming room, Obedience will be in the small animal building just north, Rally will be under the cover outdoors just on the north side of that.  Continue just a bit more, and you'll find Agility, also outdoors in the draft horse barn.

In the center room of the main building, you’ll find the conformation rings, where the judge is evaluating the dogs based on a written standard for each breed.  The dogs compete in classes by age, puppies with puppies, adults with adults, a process of elimination until the judge chooses the “Best of Breed” for each breed of dog.  As the day progresses, another judge will then choose the best dog from those breed winners in each Group – Sporting Dogs, Hounds, Working Dogs, Terriers, Toys, Non Sporting Dogs, and Herding (this is the part you might have seen on TV).  At the end of the day, only those seven Group winners will enter the ring to compete and just one dog will be chosen for Best In Show that day.

Obedience competition  demonstrates a dog’s ability to follow specific routines in the ring, to show how a well trained dog behaves in public, and the activities increase in difficulty as a dog and his owner progress through training.  Rally is an entry level event that allows the owners to use lots of praise and encouragement for their dog in the ring.  The owner may later choose to progress to more formal obedience work or go on to agility competition.

Agility competition takes place outdoors, beyond the main building in the draft horse barn.  Here, a dog jumps obstacles, runs through tunnels, weaves through poles, and climbs A-frames on a timed course, following cues from his owner.  Talk about exciting!!

All of these events are based on the bond between the dog and his owner, enjoying the training and the event together.  It just doesn’t work if everyone isn’t having fun!!

Note:  Only dogs entered in competition are allowed on the showgrounds, so please leave your pet at home.  And always ask the owner or handler's permission before petting a dog.  If an exhibitor is just getting ready to go into the ring, it is a much better idea to ask them if you can talk to them later when you can have more time.
 

Check out: Dog Show Etiquette

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email: info@icckc.org