Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

BASIN – The Big Horn County Fair started off with barks, tail wagging, smiling faces and pointers from the judges during the 4-H dog show Friday morning in Basin.

During the showmanship portion of the dog show, judge Michelle Newberry took the time to address concerns and give pointers to the participating 4-H members on the proper way to show their dogs, to the point of borrowing junior competitor, Lilly Madder's dog Paco, to demonstrate the proper way to gait a dog around the ring. She explained that the dog and handler should not run but trot, the dog should always be between the person and the judge, the handler should know what the dog is doing at all times and constant eye contact, while smiling, with the judge is important.

Two of the four handlers during the senior showmanship class were so close that Newberry asked the two to switch dogs and trot them in an L-shaped pattern. She explained that having handlers switch dogs wasn't unusual and that the two handlers should have asked each other the names of the dogs, which they didn't because they knew each other and each other's dog, that the dog's name should be used during handling and that a handler should never use his leg to position the dog.

Out of four handlers in the senior showmanship class, Blake Mautz was grand champion. Out of the six handlers in the intermediate showmanship class, Melissa Bullinger was the grand champion. There was one handler in the junior class and Newberry informed the handler that just because there was the only one person competing it didn't mean that the handler didn't have to do her best. Newberry stated that she could award as low as third place, even with only one dog/person pair competing. Lilly Madder received grand champion for the junior showmanship class.