National Park
Kennel Club Show
Be a tourist as well as an exhibitor.
BY ALLAN REZNIK
The red
Doberman male
GCh. Fidelis
Ripcord was
Best in Show
on both days,
under judges Lee
Whittier (shown)
and Lew Olson.
T
he usual scenario goes something like this. You travel
to a far-away dog show, your non-exhibitor friends
ask what the destination was like and you must
sheepishly confess that you saw nothing of it other than the
show venue and your motel. And most of that happened in
the dark! So many dog shows take place in generic arenas
and fairground buildings that the weekly trek might make
you feel you’re on auto pilot.
What a bonus, then, to enter a show that takes place in the
downtown district of a charming resort destination, offering
eclectic restaurants and bars, galleries and shops that might
make you want to take a stroll outside between breed and
Group judging or after Best in Show each night.
Hot Springs, Ark., is a nationally acclaimed tourist mecca that ranks No. 4 among “America’s Top 100 Small Arts
Towns.” With a population of 35,680, Hot Springs is located
in the Ouachita Mountains and set among several natural hot
springs. Baseball players traveled to Hot Springs for many
decades to partake of the natural springs. It is said that when
the teams started sending their players to Florida instead,
the legendary Babe Ruth declined the invitation and stuck
with Hot Springs.
Location, Entries and Judges
62
DOGSinREVIEW.com
HOT SPRING: ZACK FRANK/SHUTTERSTOCK; WIN SHOT: GARDEN STUDIO INC. PHOTO BY JAY
The Hot Springs National Park Kennel Club was established
in 1977, and is dedicated to obedience and Junior Showmanship as well as to the best in conformation. Popular club
president Brian Leonard says, “We’re a small, hard-working
club that enjoys putting on an amazing dog show. We have
a beautiful facility in a charming town. We hope to make
exhibitors, judges and spectators feel warm and welcome,
with a bit of our southern hospitality.”
Leonard is being modest when he calls it a “beautiful facility.” The Hot Springs Civic & Convention Center in the
heart of downtown is a state-of-the-art venue, flanked by two
modern hotels. The sleek elevators and carpeted hallways
remind me of a smaller — and much easier to walk! — Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, home of the
AKC National Championship.
The conformation entry was 571, with obedience and Junior Showmanship classes bumping it up to 651 on Saturday
and 649 on Sunday. These shows are the weekend before