Big Crowds Fetched to Oxnard for Dog Show

Ron Biscaro snapped his fingers, and Junior immediately jumped up and placed his large paws on his owner’s shoulders.

“Do I like you? Do I like you?” Biscaro asked the Great Dane, as he kissed his dog’s furry brown face and rubbed his big floppy ears.

Dog and master clearly liked each other. But Biscaro was especially happy with Junior on Thursday because he had just been named top stud dog at the largest Great Dane show in the nation, held in Oxnard this week.

The National Specialty show at the Casa Sirena hotel is expected to have drawn close to 1,000 people and about 400 dogs from around the world when the six-day event ends today.

Junior won top stud dog mainly based on how well his three offspring competed against other dogs in various contests.

“Without [Junior] we wouldn’t have the sons,” Biscaro said, referring in particular to Jake, the No. 1-ranked Great Dane in the nation.

Biscaro and his partner, David Osorio, both from Lucerne Valley, own 26 dogs. Four generations of Junior’s line were competing in the National Specialty.

The National Specialty drew people from as far away as Japan, Indonesia and Iceland. This is the 10th anniversary of the dog show, which is held in a different location around the country each year.

The Great Danes--which are divided up by age, gender and coloring--compete in contests in which they are judged on everything from their grooming to their gait. During competition, a handler walks the dog around at a jog, while a judge evaluates things like color and temperament.

Winners receive trophies and move on to the final competition known as Best of Breed.

“We don’t do this for money,” said Traci Miller, a Somis resident who had two dogs in the competition. “We strive to breed the perfect dog. That is the reason we compete.”

The National Specialty brings together the best dogs from a large area, which makes it attractive to participants like Miller.

“People come from all over the U.S., and we are competing against a much larger number of dogs than you would locally,” Miller said.

Nearly all of Casa Sirena’s 271 rooms have been rented to people affiliated with the dog show, said Mary Clayton, the hotel’s general manager. “The owners have been very good about picking up after the dogs,” she said, noting that they are charged a $50 cleaning fee if they keep their pets in their room.