Crazy about Dogs

The dog show world is something I've had a hankering to experience first hand ever since I saw the great movie "Best in Show". This movie exemplified the colorful characters for whom showing their dogs is a way of life. It was one of those movies which was hilarious first time around, almost too painful to watch if you happened to see it again.

Imagine my excitement to find an ad. in the paper about a dog show running over Memorial Day weekend, 2002 at the Fairplex Pomona Fairgrounds. We just had to go, and we certainly weren't disappointed. So we got up early on Sunday morning and got to Pomona around 8.30am or so. Things were already in progress, with different breeds being judged across 18 different arenas.

The first thing we noticed is that this is a 100% white pursuit. We saw not a single Mexican-American or Asian-American. Most who arrived in the parking lot with us were bringing show dogs with them, along with a plethora of grooming equipment. Some had set up camp in RVs complete with a patch of astro-turf, fencing, satellite dish etc. A lot of people were clearly regulars of the dog-show circuit and knew each other and each other's dogs. You could buy every kind of doggy treat, leash, doggy pillows, doggy workshirts, doggy toolbags and just about everything else.

I can't deny that I feel there is something almost sick about the superficiality of this whole business. I guess it would be only fair now to go to a cat show too, in the interests of research. Confession: I know that many people would consider some of the residential programming work I do equally superficial, but at least it doesn't involve animals!

A few pics - can't you tell I like Jack Russells?

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