“No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich.” – Louis Sabin

Yesterday – Labor Day – was one of those rare mornings when I simply did not have time to post. Maybe I was celebrating the holiday by taking a day off? Or maybe I was just resting on my laurels because so many thousands – literally more than 8,000 – were still looking at my post from Sunday (Tarboro’s Historic District…).

Regardless, Rebekah and I got going early in order to meet our sister-in-law Lynda over at the State Fairgrounds, where she was “showing” her 20-month Welsh Springer Spaniel, Ellie. The event was the (official AKC) Tarheel Labor Day Dog Show.

Rebekah and I are definitely dog-lovers, but we have never witnessed anything like this in our lives. Yes, we have looked at the Westminster Dog Show on television, and we have seen dogs who have been meticulously groomed. But to be there in the middle of it all was an absolute education.

If you can imagine the setup: In the center of the arena a series of showing areas, fenced off and each with its own judges table. Then around the periphery literally scores of grooming stations where “dogs” were being prepped (Yes, the American Kennel Club refers to them as “dogs and bitches” but, for the record, I plan on calling them all “dogs”). Also, booths representing different products and organizations and more.

Ellie did great!

We met Lynda over at “ring number 9” where the sporting breed entries were being judged. Then, while she and Ellie practiced things like walking and standing still and looking beautiful, I wandered around meeting a lot of interesting dogs and taking a few photographs.

Ellie did well. This was her first “show” level event and she behaved beautifully. Her only miscue was loosing concentration during one of the “walk arounds” when another handler “accidentally” dropped a dog treat and she went for it. Personally, I felt it was likely gamesmanship (apparently this is not unheard of in the dog showing world).

There is an entire dog show subculture in America where, during the season, people travel around from event to event all across the nation.

We met a couple there with a beautiful Irish Wolf Hound – they said they have been doing this for decades. Breeding is big business, as is training, as well as specialized grooming and dog-handling too.

We also met a person who does not even own their dog, they essentially lease the animal and are contractually obligated to a bunch of responsibilities!

But the dogs! What an amazing collection, and how beautiful. A few of them – like the Old English Sheepdog who was sitting on a table being interminably blow-dried, and the Standard Poodle who was beginning to look like a drag queen – looked at me with pleading eyes; they seemed to be saying, “Help me. I just want to play in the dirt and slobber and get mats in my fur….”

I took a picture of an AKC certified Golden Retriever so I could show Max what he was supposed to look like, I found a very sophisticated looking dog carrying around his “comfort unicorn,” and I met a dog who looked exactly like Cher (no kidding, it’s not even a question).

I have too many great photos to share them all, but I will include just a few in the gallery for you to enjoy.

The bottom line is that we had a great experience and the dogs (even those that looked embarrassed) seemed to be enjoying the attention. I have also captioned several of the photographs where it looked like the dog was trying to tell me something.

Have fun scrolling through. We certainly enjoyed the day! – DEREK