Dog lovers converge on Carson City's Fuji Park

It was show time at Fuji Park this weekend as over 1,000 pedigreed pooches of every shape and size came to strut their stuff at the Bonanza Kennel Club's annual dog show. The show is sanctioned by the American Kennel Club, and breeders come from all over the United States for this event, scheduled annually for the last weekend in September. And like dog lovers everywhere, these afficionados believe in their animals.

Sandy Perruquet, who drove from Modesto with her Australian Shepherd, had nothing but praise for this breed.

"They're the best dogs in the whole world," she said, noting they are great family dogs. They excel in agility trials, make great watch dogs, and excellent frisbee dogs. Perruquet, who has been travelling to shows in Washington, Oregon, and California for eighteen years, said she loves the sport.

"It's nerve-wracking, and fun," she said. "The dogs and the people have a good time, and you meet a lot of nice people."

"It's a way of life," Brenda Fairbanks of Oroville, California said, as she stood next to her two Irish Wolfhounds. She and her husband Gary claim to be marginal players in the dog show game, but it keeps them busy about 27 weekends a year.

"They're so easy to love," she said of her Wolfhounds, noting they are real clowns: mellow, with a loving disposition.

In the show ring, dogs are judged against a confirmation standard, and points toward a championship are awarded to the male and female of each breed. The number of points earned depends on the number of dogs in the competition. Winners move on to "group" competition, where breeds are classified according to use or type, such as "working" or "sporting" group. Winners of the group move on to compete for the coveted "Best in Show."

The show also offers obedience competition. Here, performance is more important than looks, and animals compete against themselves rather than the other animals in the ring.

Since its inception in 1981, Bonanza Kennel Club has been dedicated to the promotion and exhibition of purebred animals, as well as quality breeding. The group is small: only 25 active members offer services for dogs and their owners: rescue, and training in confirmation and obedience.