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RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

BLOOMSBURG – Some came to showcase their beauty while others to demonstrate their intellect. Some came from nearby locations, others from long distances.

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Angela Uzdilla, center, of Dallas, tends to her English setter Quincy during the All-Breed Dog Show at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds on Saturday. The show continues today.

Don Carey photos/The Times Leader

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Christine Hamill grooms her rough collie Michael as she gets him ready for the 71st All Breed Dog Show and Obedience Trial at the Bloomsburg Fair Grounds. The show is sponsored by the Back Mountain Kennel Club.

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Some were only six months old, others had years of experience and some weighed five pounds while others approached 100 pounds.

Whatever their talent, size or travel requirements, all 1,200 contestants showed up to win at the highly competitive 71st All Breed Dog Show and Obedience Trial, sponsored by the Back Mountain Kennel Club, Inc. The two-day event included competitions on Saturday and will continue today at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds.

At the Breed Dog Show, primped and preened pooches from all over the United States paraded in front of 14 national judges as they strutted to please their handlers, trainers and owners.

Mary Simpson, president of the kennel club, said the top five finalists in each of the seven breed groups will qualify to compete at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York City in February.

The winners are chosen by how they best match the “function of the breed,” she said. The breed could function as a bear hunter or a lap dog, she added.

Eileen Drummond, education coordinator for the kennel club, said this year’s show involved about 200 less dogs than previous years. The economic downturn has really caused a downslide in the dog show business, Drummond said.

Due to the cost of handling, training and traveling, dog shows are becoming a “rich man’s sport,” said Romayne Strilka-Switch, a local owner, breeder, handler and judge. The one thing all human participants possess is a love for dogs and a willingness to sacrifice the time, effort and money, she added.

The 160-plus breeds shown were well represented by very good dogs, and the judges could see their standard of excellence, she said.

The winner of the sporting group was a Labrador retriever, the hound group winner was an Irish wolfhound, working breed, a great dane who also took the “best in show” prize, the terrier breed, an Irish terrier, the toy breed, a shih tzu, the non-sporting breed, a miniature poodle and the herding breed, a border collie.

Marcelo Chagas, a breeder with more than 30 years experience in dog show competitions, said the Back Mountain Kennel Club show is “one of the best every year with very high quality dogs.”

“It is the biggest show of the weekend (countrywide),” he said.

Chagas notes the emphasis on winning has hurt the dog show circuit in some ways by taking the focus away from the dog and putting it more on the judges’ preferences.

“The best dog doesn’t always win,” he said.

However, he lauded the “patience” of the owners who worked with their dogs to make them able to compete on such a high level at the show.

In the obedience trials, the competitors performed various tasks that demonstrated their ability to take commands, according to Darlene Longmore, chairwoman. She called the breed show a “beauty contest” and the obedience trials “a contest of brains.”

The competitors included complete novices to dogs with high levels of skill, Longmore said. One test involved the dog’s ability to identify its owners scent on various items to retrieve them, she said. Other competitions involved a walking course and test of following other orders.

The winner in the obedience trial was a miniature poodle and the winner of the combined rally was a Belgian malinois.

Today’s competition promises to be intense as the canines ruff it out in the ring of competition.