By Robert Barron, Staff Writer
American Kennel Club lists the golden retriever, with its intelligence and eager to please attitude, as one of the most popular breeds in the United States. The people showing their retrievers during National Spe-cialty Golden Re-triever Show know that.
The dog show is being held at Chisholm Trail Expo Center through Wednesday. A total of 736 dogs are registered, and the dogs, their owners and some fans have come from across the United States to see the show. Maryke Nau, of Seattle, is here as the trainer for golden retriever, Rumor. Rumor’s registered name is Gold Tales You Didn’t Hear It From Me. Dogs must be six months old to enter.
“They are versatile hunting dogs who are your best friends,” she said. “They love to be with you and to work for you.”
The confirmation show Sunday showed the quality of the dog, muscle tone and over-all soundness. Nau is a college student at the University of Central Washington who works as a grocery clerk.
“I saved my pennies to come here,” she said.
Sharon Bolton, show chairwoman, said their are about 150 dogs registered in the agility competition which starts Tuesday. Sunday began the confirmation and the field trials were held last week at Groendyke Ranch.
“A golden retriever is smart and always ranks in the top 10 in obedience against all other breeds. It is one of the top choices for seeing eye dogs and all service dogs, and even as drug dogs for schools, because it is not as foreboding,” Bolton said.
They also are used in search and rescue. The dogs are smart and willing and want to please and for that reason they train easily, Bolton said.
The nationals selected Enid because of the Expo facility. The show is held in a different region each year: east, central and western United States. This year, the show was scheduled to be held in central U.S.
“It gives us an opportunity to have it all at one site, and the Groendyke Ranch for field trials, they are all close together,” she said.
Bolton said it is surprising how often the competitions are all held outdoors and in the event of rain the Expo will be better because it gives all the components in one facility.
