Huntsville Forester

TROUT CREEK – It was all glitz and glamour doggy-style at the Trout Creek Community Centre this Thanksgiving weekend for the Nipissing Kennel Club’s event of the season.

About 200 dogs, with names like Supreme Bulls Lone Ranger, and Attaboys Red Hot Bullet, attended this year’s competition alongside their human companions who primped and preened to ensure their dogs were looking their best.

Competitors came from all over North America for the weekend-long competition.

Irene Ainsley, of Powassan, was one of the few local competitors. Many of the club members were busy ensuring the event ran successfully from Oct. 8 to 10.

“I come here because I am a member of the club and it’s our home show. I’m a life member,” she said.

Ainsley has been entering dogs into this, as well as other competitions, for about 40 years on and off. This year, the owner/handler was working with her Boston Terrier, Sassy Krak-Monts Blessing in Disguise.

Sassy Krak-Monts Blessing in Disguise didn’t fair as well as Ainsley would have liked, finding the arena, even without the ice, a little on the cold side to truly focus on performance. However, Ainsley doesn’t mind, she picks the little pup into her arms and gives cuddles regardless, wrapping her fingers around her little feet to warm them up.

“I do it for the fun of it,” she said. “Normally she shows better in the ring but she is so cold.”

Ainsley says she is known in competition for her boxers, which is what she showed when she began before she moved on to pugs. She still has one at home. Retired.

But, she has confidence in the little Boston Terrier.

“She’s not a champion yet,” she said.

She does have six out of the 10 points necessary to carry the champion title, such as competitors Ch. Treebeard Galapagos Girl or Ch. Sassytails Twisting Fate.

In order to become a champion she would have to win over a dog of the same breed. This year, she was the only Boston terrier in competition, but the experience in the show ring is good for her and Ainsley says she enjoys the company of the other competitors.

There is a camaraderie between people with like-minded interests and this is one of the only shows where the human competitors are invited to gather together for a Thanksgiving feast.

Also as a special treat, there was no admittance fee for spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the Canadian and International champions, such as a Norwegian and Canadian champion Buhund named Tomba, or Clithero’s R Commander N Chief, a golden retriever who was number one dog in Canada last year in both obedience and rally competitions.

The little Boston terrier Sassy Krak-Monts Blessing in Disguise is in good company in the Trout Creek competition and, like Ainsley, will return next year to face the competition and visit with friends.