At Ventura Show, the Dogs Have Their Day

Dany Canino was on the lookout Sunday morning for the features she most highly prizes in a certain kind of companion: long legs, a winning smile and an air of confidence.

Oh, and a big, long, bushy tail.

The Simi Valley resident, serving as a judge at the Ventura County Dog Fanciers Assn.’s semiannual show, started her day at Seaside Park by evaluating Samoyeds, the large, long-haired white animals originally bred as sled dogs.

The husky-like canine was one of 135 breeds represented at the two-day show, which drew nearly 1,000 purebreds from across California and the Southwest.

The weekend competition, one of hundreds of such shows held across the nation annually, was essentially a beauty contest, with the numbers being whittled down as the event progressed. Saturday featured two specialty competitions.

Canino, who used to enter her own champion Samoyed in shows, said that a winner in this breed should look as if it could easily ferry passengers and cargo through the tundra.

That requires long legs to keep its chest out of deep snow, thick ears to keep the dog warm and a bushy tail to cover its muzzle when it is lying on frozen ground.

A Samoyed with a smile, Canino said, shows poise and confidence, tipping the scales in its favor.

“The winner has showmanship, that certain kind of charisma that says, ‘You can forget about everybody else in here today--I’m it,’ ” said Canino, 60, who has trained a variety of purebred dogs for 30 years.

The winner of Sunday’s Samoyed competition was Ono, a 2-year-old male owned by Alan and Jane Stevenson, a Moorpark couple who since 1966 have been breeding the dogs known for their patience and tolerance for children.

“Ono is probably one of the best in the country,” said Alan. “He’s very clean-moving, and he has a lot of power.”

Canino said that because most dogs in the show are top caliber, she often has to split hairs to choose a winner.

“You just end up nit-picking when you have an arena filled with champions of record,” she said. “If you just closed your eyes and pointed, that wouldn’t be too far off from what happens.”

Ono won after Canino, on closer inspection, discovered that another Samoyed she had originally favored did not walk in a completely straight line--one of the requirements of a champion.

Ono was eliminated from the Best of Show competition in a later round by a giant schnauzer, known as Caught-You-Looking.

Because so many close calls are involved, the competition can get a little intense, said Donna Hollingsworth, a former board member of the local dog club.

“Doing dog shows almost becomes a way of life, and an extension of ourselves,” said Hollingsworth. “The ego is definitely involved.”

The Camarillo resident said she enters shows to win, not for fun.

But Ginny Salesky, who came from San Luis Obispo with her 200-pound mastiff, said she participates in dog shows because she considers it a fun hobby.

She shrugged off her loss when her 3-year-old, Sky, was eliminated.

“The judge wanted an older, larger mastiff,” said Salesky, who was joined at the show by friends from Ventura. “Sky needs a little bit bigger hip, and I’m going to work on that. But, I had fun anyway.”

Despite Hollingsworth’s competitive spirit, she was breathing easy.

Because local club members select the judges who work the shows they sponsor, Hollingsworth, along with most other members, did not enter the events, to avoid the appearance of impropriety. They compete in other shows in Southern California, most recently in Costa Mesa.

Hollingsworth said some of Sunday’s winners will travel to New York’s Madison Square Garden next month for the most prestigious dog competition of all, the 124-year-old Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The top dog at the end of the day Sunday was a 2-year-old female toy poodle, Dottie, whose owners hail from Shadow Hills in the San Gabriel Valley.