Downtown OKC going to the dogs

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City),  Jun 24, 2008  by Jerry Shottenkirk

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Dog shows have been around here for more than 80 years, and in the words of organizers, they are only getting better.

The Oklahoma City Summer Classic Dog Show is back for another run at the Cox Convention Center from Thursday through Sunday.

More than 2,000 dogs and their handlers will descend on downtown. When it's all said and done, the show will add about $3 million to the city's economy over the four days, organizers said.

In 2003, the show drew 1,200 dogs. It's grown in importance in the dog show world, said the Oklahoma City Kennel Club's Wendy Musgrove, one of the organizers of the event. Most of the 160 American Kennel Club-recognized breeds will be represented.

Musgrove said the club, which was formed in 1924, has held the show at various local venues and is co-sponsor of the downtown event with Mid-Del Kennel Club.

"We moved to the Cox Convention Center five years ago after years and years at the fairgrounds," Musgrove said. "There were a couple years when we moved it to Purcell but decided to move it back to the city."

Musgrove said the club's dream of making it a big-time event has been realized.

"We thought we needed to step it up so we created this big show and moved it to Cox Center," she said.

"It has become one of the biggest shows in the country as far as the number of dogs exhibited. We're up there with bigger shows. Westminster is one of the most prestigious and it's the one most people know. It's the only one televised live."

ESPN will set up at the Cox Center and will broadcast the event later in the year. It's usually aired between October and December, she said.

This year's show drew 8,000 entries overall. Individual dogs can be entered in a variety of categories.

"Saturday will be our biggest day, when we'll have about 2,200 dogs that will show up for the competition," she said. "And we get more and more people each year. People are excited to see different breeds and different dogs. People say all the time that they see dog shows on TV but didn't know there was a dog show in Oklahoma City. When they get a chance to come out, they are really amazed at how well everything works with more than 2,000 dogs in the house."

There's a wide array of breeds. The smallest is the Chihuahua, which tips the scales between 1 and 2 pounds. The tallest dogs are the Irish wolfhound and Great Dane, and the heaviest are the St. Bernard and mastiff, which can check in at nearly 200 pounds.

The show will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day and tours of the kennel areas in the arena will be given several times a day.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $2 for children under 12. Kids under 3 are admitted free. For more information, log on to www.okcdogshows.com.

What: OKC Summer Classic Dog Show

Where: Cox Convention Center

When: Thursday-Sunday

Cost: $7/adults; $2/children under 12

Web: www.okcdogshows.com

Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.