The Lima Kennel Club hosted a Saint Bernard Specialty Dog show on Sunday, and dog handlers were excited to show off their big lovable breed at the showgrounds.
Elizabeth Salewsky, a professional dog handler says, “I grew up with this breed, and they are the most loving family dogs. When you have a litter of puppies, they’re so cute and then people think they stay cute, and they do. They always drool though, that’s our biggest thing and they have a lot of hair so it’s a lot of maintenance but the breed is just so loving and they just want to please their owners. It’s a great family dog.”
The three-day event put the breed up to the test to see if each dog holds up to the standard of what a healthy Saint Bernard should look like.
“We want to keep track of our pedigrees and we want to produce great examples of the breed that live a long time, so we are really in this to preserve the purebred breeds and that’s what confirmation does,” says Salewsky.
In between shows, the dog could be seen cooling out in the shade, getting some play time in, or getting ready for the next event. Dog handlers say that the dogs love coming to shows and being able to socialize with others, and getting pampered for the weekend is a plus too.
Salewsky says, “There’s a misconception about how the dogs are treated. The dogs are treated better than most kids. They are spoiled and pampered, the dogs always come first.”
