Larry Carman calls them “the Christmas dog” and the “dog with a smile.” And it’s easy to see why. Shiloh and Emma were ready to greet everybody at the annual Rhode Island Kennel Club show …
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Larry Carman calls them “the Christmas dog” and the “dog with a smile.” And it’s easy to see why. Shiloh and Emma were ready to greet everybody at the annual Rhode Island Kennel Club show held this past weekend at Thayer Arena on Sandy Lane.
The dogs are Samoyeds, originally a sledding and herding dog from Russia.
The Carmans, from Granville, N.Y., own a kennel and eight Samoyeds, but on weekends their home is on the road.
A retired manager for Verizon and with their three children grown and “spread across the country,” Larry said they spend weekends at shows. They drive a 40-foot motor home, competing for the most part in shows in the Northeast.
By comparison, the RI Kennel Club show, which had about 500 dogs on Saturday and about the same number on Sunday, is “tiny.” But what it lacks in size it makes up in friendliness and prestige.
Show chair Claudia Gaulin of Cranston likes to remind the Rhode Island club founded in 1886 is the second oldest in the country next to Westminster and that this year’s event is the club’s 125th all breed show.
“There are a lot of things around it,” she says of the arena and why it was selected as the site for the show. Thayer’s proximity to restaurants, hotels and Route 95 are all factors, but not the only ones. Gaulin said the city makes it easy and the staff is accommodating.
In addition to the best of breed, the show featured obedience, rally and junior show. The best of show dog on Saturday was a long hair Chihuahua and the reserve best was a bearded collie. On Sunday, the best of show was a Springer Spaniel and the reserve best was a long-haired Chihuahua.
“It’s a whole different world…dog shows, it gets into your blood,” Larry says of the show circuit.
He said they see many of the same people and there’s a culture to the shows. They not only get to know one another but also help one another, sometimes showing dogs other than their own as Linda did Saturday.
“You know the regulars and you can pick out the newbies,” he said.
As for what keeps bringing them back to dogs and shows, Larry says, “That’s life, everybody has a passion for something.”
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