BROWNSBURG — The Indiana State Fairgrounds were littered with pristine pooches for the annual Indy Winter Classic Dog Show, the last stop for many handlers and owners before the famed Westminster show in New York.

More than 8,000 dogs were shown over the four-day event in a variety of competitions, meshing small town Indiana dog owners and full time professional handlers of dog showing fame. For show

chairman Kevin Allen of the Central Indiana Kennel Club, the yearly event is more than simply about competition. It is designed to foster learning and bring families together in a unique way.

“It’s a good family atmosphere and a good place to ask a lot of questions,” Allen said. “We have 135 different breeds here, so you can always come out and see a dog like one you might have at home, or if there’s another breed you’re interested in, you can come here. Handlers and owners, as long as you come up and ask them, they’ll usually let you pet the dogs. Everyone’s friendly. If someone’s

thinking about getting a dog, kids can come see them and react.”

Competitions are wide and varying, including obedience and rally shows where dogs are expected to complete specific tasks.

“Obedience competitions are where they’ll be asked to sit and stay, maybe lie down,” Allen said. “Some where handlers walk out of the ring and they have to lay there for seven minutes where they can’t get up or they get disqualified. They make different kinds of jumps. Owners tell them hand signals on where and how to jump, and it’s really interesting to watch, that relationship between the owner and handler.”

Allen said that the opportunity to see dogs that fans will be able to see on television the following week is another aspect that is unique to the Indy Winter Classic that many shows might not have in terms of cachet.

“Thursday we had the No. 1 overall dog in the country, a Doberman pinscher here,” Allen said. “We have a lot of high ranking dogs, and a lot of these people will be flying or driving to New York right after this show. A lot of the dogs here you will see on television this next week, which is interesting because people can come here and maybe see a dog on television that they just saw here.”

It is that type of professional handler versus everyday working class competitor that gives some of those involved such a fun rush. For Teresa Fishback, a competitor who shows Corgis and is from

Brownsburg, she thinks that element of the show is what makes dog showing so special.

“You don’t go right into a tennis tournament and play Andre Agassi or jump right into the Super Bowl and play Tom Brady,” Fishback said. “There’s no other sport like this, where you go right up against

a professional handler or where you’re in the same ring as the big pros being a little ole Brownsburg person. Owner-handlers can be just as good as professionals.”

Fishback also said that she loves the way dog shows bring people together from varying walks of life, such as her friend Elizabeth Berman from Dayton, Ohio.

“This shows all walks of life,” Fishback said of Berman, whom she got started into dog showing. “I’m a mom now, but Beth works for the Air Force Research Lab, so here you get family people, soccer

mom types like me, and people from a high level government career. It’s Bill Cosby versus little ole Brownsburg people.”

“I like the competition, but I also like meeting the people and working with the dogs, building that bond with them,” said Berman. “I show my own dogs rather than using a professional handler. Nothing against handlers at all, but there’s a certain sense of accomplishment and achievement when you’re able to win as a breeder-handler.”

Another interesting happening regarding show dogs is what happens to them after retirement, which typically happens when they are anywhere from 2 to 6 years old depending on the breed. After

that, they go to what Fishback refers to as “forever pet homes.”

“When you breed and try to show, you can’t always have 20 dogs in your home,” she said, “so you have to find good quality pet homes. That’s really your priority, because out of a breed of 10 puppies, you might get one show dog so you darn well have to find forever homes so that’s something ethical breeders have to think about.”

Forever pet homes refer to placing that dog with a family that intend to keep it as a pet for the remainder of its life without moving onto another home. Fishback pointed out that those interested often get a well behaved, champion dog at little or no cost at all because ethical breeders are more concerned with the security and happiness of the animal than simply finding a place for him or her.

“We don’t ask a dime for them most of the time,” she noted. “As ethical breeders who’ve been in this for a long time, most will just give you the pet at a low price or outright for free. Why pay $1,800 for a dog at the pet store?

“That’s what you find at dog shows, that for the most part everyone will guarantee the dog’s health as well. My dogs have more specialists than I do,” she joked.

That is the case for Fishback’s show dog, Buster, who was placed with her by a friend who was going into an assisted living facility and knew Fishback had been successful in dog shows for 30 years.

Buster will soon be retired, and since she already has a male Corgi at home, she must find a home for him, as males tend to not get along with other ones. Just like people, show dogs also can have trouble adapting to the retirement lifestyle.

“I’m having trouble with her dad,” Berman said of her female Corgi, Gwennie. “I just retired him as a grand champion and he’s been showing for five years up until a month ago. He doesn’t like

retirement at all and tends to get very jealous when I start playing with her.”

The Indy Winter Classic will be back next year with people like Berman and Fishback and world famous dogs, a chance to scope out some of the best trained animals in the land. Or, for people like

these two ladies, a chance to bond with both friend and animal.

“You build lifelong friendships here with people all around the country, and that’s what makes it so neat,” said Fishback.