More than 450 dogs and their handlers came from all over the country — some even as far as Canada — to compete in the two-day dog show.

Justus Reichart, of Aurelia, was the show chair for the Fort Dodge Kennel Club, and said that this year’s turnout for the event was even bigger than it was in 2019, a promising result after having to cancel the 2020 show because of COVID-19.

A large portion of the event are the obedience and rally trials, Reichart said.

“It’s a course to show how well you and your dog work as a team,” she said. “We do have utility obedience, which is really neat.”

-Submitted photo
Around 450 dogs were entered in the Fort Dodge Kennel Club's annual dog show over the weekend.

With utility obedience, the handler stands 10 to 20 feet away from the dog, giving commands. The dogs do what is called “command discrimination,” an exercise where the dog performs the sit, stand and down positions in different sequences and from a distance away from their handler.

“It’s a very fun sport,” Reichart said. “It’s a lot of bonding with your dog, because you have to have a real bond with your dog to go somewhere you’ve never been before and do a bunch of exercises.”

The dog show has several different competition levels, ranging from several junior classes for youth to compete in, to different breed classes and other divisions.

Winners of the various judging categories were presented with ribbons and rosettes.

A standard poodle shown by Linda Campbell, of Ontario, Canada, won best in show on Saturday. On Sunday, best in show was a rough collie shown by Lisa and Steve Finken, of Indianola.

The Fort Dodge Kennel Club looks forward to hosting its annual dog show again next June, Reichart said.