BEST IN SHOW DOZENS OF VALLEY DOG OWNERS ARE HOPING THEIR POOCHES HAVE WHAT IT TAKES AT THE AKC CHAMPIONSHIP FROM PUGS TO POODLES, SOME 170 BREEDS WILL VIE ON WEEKEND IN LONG BEACH.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer Tango and Slyder shot through the slalom as if rockets flared from their fiery red haunches. "C'mon, guys, weave, weave, weave!" shouted Terry Simons as his Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retrievers lunged through a dozen poles in the yard of their Northridge home. "Go, go, go!" Simons and his wife, Kim, are among 3,000 dog owners -- dozens of them from the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. area -- whose retrievers will compete at the seventh annual AKC/Eukanuba National Championship today and Sunday at the Long Beach Convention Center. The show, one of the largest in the nation, attended by some 20,000 visitors, draws top dogs from around the world to compete for $225,000 in prizes. And Tango and Slyder both are wagging their tongues to win the agility competition. Other events include an obedience invitational and the prestigious best in show. "We are the athletes, we're not the beauty queens," said Kim, who will race her dogs through the agility course of tires, teeter-totters and tunnels. "They've got the agility. They've got the spunk. They've got the desire and they've got the drive. "If dogs can smile, they have a smile on their face when they do agility." The AKC/Eukanuba championship is billed as one of the most highly competitive events in dogdom. As the dog show directly run by the 123-year-old American Kennel Club American Kennel Club (AKC), national organization in the United States devoted to the advancement and welfare of pure-bred dogs. It is comprised of approximately 500 autonomous clubs. , it also offers the world's highest cash prize to some of the nation's most finicky fin·ick·y adj. fin·ick·i·er, fin·ick·i·est Insisting capriciously on getting just what one wants; difficult to please; fastidious: a finicky eater. dog owners. "It's a labor of love," said New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City-based AKC AKC - Ascending Kleene Chain spokeswoman Daisy Okas. "It's not as if you can go to a pet store and pluck out a dog and plop plop v. plopped, plop·ping, plops v.intr. 1. To fall with a sound like that of an object falling into water without splashing. 2. it in the ring." Nearly 170 breeds from pugs For other uses of "pug", see Pug (disambiguation). Pugs is a compiler and interpreter for the Perl 6 programming language, started on February 1 2005 by Audrey Tang. Overview to poodles will prance for the best-in-show prize of $50,000. Nearly 500 pooches will skitter skit·ter v. skit·tered, skit·ter·ing, skit·ters v.intr. 1. To move rapidly along a surface, usually with frequent light contacts or changes of direction; skip or glide quickly: and jump against the clock for agile best. And about 100 canines will compete for the show's most obedient dog. The show also will include dog-related vendors, seminars and about 2,000 noncompetition dogs on display. "It's the one thing we're competing for all year," said Flo Walberg of Chatsworth, whose Australian border collie border collie, breed of medium-sized, sheepherding dog developed in the British Isles. It stands about 18 in. (45.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 30 to 45 lb (13.6–20.4 kg). Danny is the only dog from Los Angeles that will heel, fetch and lie down during the obedience category. "He's got his bikini win -- he did get a beauty championship. But he's also obedient." Tim Humphrey, whose boxer Kala KALA Kalaupapa National Historic Park (US National Park Service) is one of the few to compete in agility, said for a few moments, you're one with your dog. "It's like being in Disneyland for the first time," said Thousand Oaks resident Humphrey. "Whatever the dog does, I'm happy." The Simonses, owners of Flying Dog Agility training and both commentators for Animal Planet, which will air the event along with Discovery Channel in February, see either of their dogs winning their event. Tango, their 10-year-old champion retriever retriever: see sporting dog. retriever Any of several dog breeds, bred to retrieve game, that have a thick, water-resistant coat, keen sense of smell, and “soft” mouth that does not damage game. Retrievers are 22–24 in. , "does everything at 100 mph; he's all force," said Terry Simons. And Slyder, their 4-year-old champion, "she's a fireball, a pocket rocket, a little spitfire. "And noisy as all get-up." dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com 818-713-3730 CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Tango, a 10-year-old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever, bounds over the bar in preparation for the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. (2 -- color) Groomer Jan Racey works with retriever Ripper at the home of Terry and Kim Simons in Northridge. Ripper will be among 500 dogs competing in the agility event at this weekend's show in Long Beach. (3 -- color) More than 2,500 dogs are getting the royal treatment in preparation for the seventh annual AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in Long Beach. (4) Tango races out of a tunnel in preparation for the agility competition at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship this weekend in Long Beach. (5 -- 6) Above, Terry Simons works with his retrievers Slyder and Tango as he holds Ripper at his home in Northridge. Below, the dogs are shown practicing their agility skills in preparation for this weekend's show. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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