OK CITY TOY DOG SHOWS

OK Chihuahua Club, Toy Fox Terrier Nationals, OK City Yorkshire Terrier Club Specialty Shows, plus a weekend of all Toy Breeds at the Central Oklahoma Toy Dog Club, make four exciting days for Toy breed lovers.

by Barbara J. Andrews, Linn Vandiver  © TheDogPress May 2009 -   It all happens in Oklahoma City, OK every May thanks to the organizational skills of Roger Pritchard, President and Show Chair of the Central Oklahoma Toy Dog Club, and the able assistance of his members.

The Biltmore Hotel hosts toy dog people from across the country and there is simply no better venue for a Toy breed get-together.  The coffee shop serves a traditional breakfast buffet, lunch is another huge display of goodies and the service is great.  Dinner is usually "out" because OK City has some great steak houses.  If you don't have a car, there's an Asian buffet right across the street and we can vouch for terrific variety, moderate price, and easy on the MSG.

There are from two to four lovely show rooms.  Unfortunately, the show rings are in two different sections of the Biltmore complex and for some reason, some breeds were moved from one room to another which made it a bit difficult for handlers with more than one breed.  By the weekend, grooming room became very close quarters, even for little dogs.  But the owners and handlers "made do" because in every other respect, the venue is tops.

The Biltmore has several watering holes, tons of "sit and chat" sofas scattered throughout the huge complex.  The judges who came in for breed seminars could always grab a sofa to read the paper or meet and greet.  And they did!  There's sauna and a great pool but uh oh, with the tornado sirens going off, no one wanted to risk that.  More on the weather later, or maybe we should just say we were within walking distance of one touchdown, and tracking them on TV was exciting. 

Talk about convenience!  How does having your x-pens set up just outside your door sound?   Okay, so those poolside rooms are hard to get but then the outside rooms have lots of grass and walking space too.   From x-pen to restaurant, vendors, the show rings, and oh dear - the Fudge Man, it's just a short walk.  Except for the tornadoes, it was great weather, warm sun, cool breezes.

Entries were down this year, noticeably fewer people and dogs. Chalk it up to the economy but then the cluster shows should be doing well.  The room rates haven't gone up, airfare is not too bad, and gas is down so maybe people looked at the panel and decided it wasn't worth the gamble.  At least that's the feedback we received from several who said they finally decided to go because it is also a social event.  Like Westminster, you always hope to win but if you lose, hey, all your friends are there for support.

Speaking of the judges, Barbara Alderman had to be under great strain from having lost George so recently but she did a good job and looked like a million bucks.  But then she always does. Norm Patton was on the panel, as put-together as ever. James Briley did several breeds and everyone seemed pleased with his work. Richard Paquette and Carita Geron did Chihuahuas Friday and Saturday and Dana Plonkey on Sunday, all with different results.  Personally, I had to agree with Dana's choices but differences of opinion are what brings excitement to shows. 

Also enjoyed chatting with Keith Bates from Georgia. He was attending seminars as were a number of other judges from distant points.  Multi-breed seminars are great but Keith has been judging fifty years and could no doubt conduct some of the seminars he was attending!  I've given and attended seminars and they are great educational tools but one has to wonder how many seminars some handlers have to attend before being approved to judge entire groups?

Dana Plonkey does many breeds but claims Toy Fox Terriers as his own and he's hard to beat in the TFT ring.  Speaking of Toy Fox Terriers, they had four days of erratic judging, as did the other specialty show breeds or so we're told.  No one can say a bad dog went up (so many good dogs there, a blind judge couldn't go wrong!) but inconsistency seemed to be the consensus in various breeds.  TFT's were just one of the breeds that were switched from one building to another and even though the show rooms were accessible through the building or a covered walkway, it meant having to pack up and move or race back and forth for multi-breed handlers.  Ruth West had both coated and smooth breeds and managed to cope as professionally as always but no one would complain if the super could manage to keep the 4-day-dogs in the same ringside grooming areas. 

The Toy Fox Terrier annual meeting was held Friday night and a long time member was ordered to leave the meeting for asking a procedural question.  She refused and we were told that Roger Pritchard, who is President of that club too, called for Security to remove her.  They told her that Mr. Pritchard had paid for the room so they had to do as he said.  She informed security that he paid for it with her dues and she wasn't leaving!  I'm told it was peaceably resolved.

There has been a good deal of strife in the TFT club, some of which Roger and the board have been able to overcome but no member should be denied an answer or a voice at an Annual club meeting.  As a side note, the member showed and won the next day and things quieted down, in fact, it was very subdued, even through the wonderful "Gala" buffet, cash bar, and live band arranged by Roger for the clubs.  He did not look well Saturday night when we talked about club business.  Roger also  revealed that he had been through two surgeries very close together.  He has worked hard for all the clubs and it was sad to learn that he had been taken to the hospital Sunday morning.  Obviously he has been bravely trying to cope with a lot of pressures.  When I called him on Wednesday, he was still in the hospital and of course, I caught him while the doctor was in the room.  We will try to include a Good News update in next week's HEADlines and in the meantime, let's all say a prayer for Roger.  It wouldn't be OK City without Roger at the helm!

We can't close without saying "Thank You" to the wonderful vendors who supported the show.  I'm sure they did well because Linn, Ruth and I bought lots of "stuff."  Like those handy lightweight x-pens with floors, comfy little stretch tops, some fancy leads, show jackets and shirts, and ah, did I mention fudge?!!? 

It was great to see old friends and make new ones and we'll look forward to seeing everyone next year at the Oklahoma City Toy Dog shows!

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