That well-earned confidence will come in handy next month as she heads to Orlando, Florida, to compete in the American Kennel Club’s National Championship Dog Show.

At just 10 years old, Erickson will be the only Iowa Junior Handler at the show — and likely one of the youngest of the 70-odd junior handlers competing.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, Erickson is also a relative newcomer to dog showing. Despite coming from a family of dog handlers, she only started working with and showing Ben in February.

In just nine short months, she collected enough ribbons and regional dog show wins to qualify for Nationals. To qualify for nationals, she had to win five shows and have the equivalent of a 3.0 GPA in school.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Kalyn Erickson, 10, of Humboldt, holds up a couple of the winning ribbons she received recently while competing at regional dog shows. The third-grader only started competing in dog shows in February.

Her mom, Erica Dunlavey, has been showing dogs off and on her entire life, and is where Erickson got the inspiration to start showing.

“I saw that my mom was doing it and I thought it looked like fun,” Erickson said.

Erickson prepares for dog shows by spending a lot of time practicing with Ben. In the days leading up to a competition, she’ll bathe him and help groom him. Her grandmother, Michelle Erickson, operates 4 Paws Inn Grooming and Boarding outside of Humboldt.

“I don’t know how to do all of it,” Kalyn Erickson explained, adding that she does help “chalk” Ben while they groom him.

“You take this stuff that’s like chalk and you take a brush with it and you put it on the dog’s coat and it makes them a lot more whiter,” she said.

After Kalyn Erickson started showing Ben, she and her family traveled to regional dog shows all over the Midwest to compete.

“It was almost every weekend in the summertime,” Dunlavey said. “And now we’ve kind of backed off a little bit this fall, going about every other week.”

At the dog shows, in addition to the showing events, Kalyn and Ben also compete in Fast CAT (Coursing Ability Test), which is a timed 100-yard dash for the dog to run while chasing a lure.

When Kalyn learned she had qualified for Nationals, she felt excited.

“I never thought I could really do that,” she said.

Dunlavey said it’s not very common for a dog handler to start doing dog shows and to rise this fast.

“My favorite part is how I get to spend a lot more time with Ben,” Kalyn said. “We get to work together to try and win.”

As a team, Kalyn and Ben have to learn to understand and trust each other when they go into the ring.

Kalyn said she does get nervous when she goes to shows and sees a ton of older kids with more experience than her. But so far, she’s been successful despite her age.

Kalyn also helps other people showing dogs when they need assistance, her mom said.

“She’s gotten quite good at being able to handle just about any dog, and sometimes some of them will even request for her to help them weeks before a dog show comes up,” Dunlavey said. “She beat me last weekend, showing my own brother’s dog.”

Kalyn has high hopes for Nationals, and plans to qualify again next year.

“I think it’s really fun,” she said. “I really kind of want to stick with it.”