PET PROJECT: CAPE GIRARDEAU DOG SHOW ATTRACTS 113 BREEDS

About 740 dogs packed the A.C. Brase Arena Building on Saturday, but loud barking wasn't their style.

Their owners and handlers made more noise during the Southeast Missouri Kennel Club's 84th annual dog show.

"It's nice when you come in here about 30 minutes before a show starts," said Bill Busch, who has been show chairman since 1963. "Then starts the yelling and the screaming."

People from several states brought 113 varieties of dogs to Cape Girardeau for the club's two-day event. Best of Show for Saturday went to a Chesapeake Bay retriever, Alibi Lonely Hunter, owned by Adey May Dunnell of Valley Center, Calf.

Charlene Hallenbeck, a dog show veteran of 59 years, moved and spoke quickly as she prepared one of her 19 small dogs for the ring.

"I keep doing it for the love of the game," said Hallenbeck, a handler from Ocala, Fla. "It's something about the people and the dogs together."

With a dog's comb stuck in her waistband behind her back, Hallenbeck hustled a terrier around a ring. In a row of bleachers above the ring, her 18 other dogs rested or waited their turn to trot for the judges.

Hallenbeck only owns one of the dogs she brought to the show. Owners of dachshunds, terriers and Salukis pay Hallenbeck to show their dogs across the country. She'll be taking them to California soon.

Debbie Martin of Biloxi, Miss., who was combing her terriers a few tables away, likely will see Hallenbeck out west. It's a common coincidence for dog handlers.

"We see each other everywhere," said Martin, who has shown dogs for 30 years. "We save grooming spaces for each other at shows if someone arrives first."

Sumiko Ikeda of Japan came to Cape Girardeau to show a miniature schnauzer on the advice of a friend from Texas, who also competed Saturday. After 20 years of showing dogs, Ikeda said it was her first trip to Missouri.

Making champions

A dog handler's lifestyle is demanding, Martin said, and means working seven days a week and traveling across the country.

"It makes you feel like a bum," Hallenbeck said.

But the pay makes up for the schedule, considering some dogs sell for $10,000, Martin said.

"You can sell a Chihuahua for $5,000 without the bat of an eye," she said. "But that's what clients pay us for -- to make champions."

Glen Murphy of St. Louis pays his dog's handler about $100 for each show. With two shows this weekend, he figures his costs are over $300 to take his 3-year-old German shepherd on the road. He said he limits Willie's shows to a 300-mile radius.

"It's just a weekend hobby for me," Murphy said.

Dog shows are not just for the elite, Busch said.

"You have people out here who barely have a dime, but they put all their money into their dog," he said.

Although emotions run high during competitions, Busch said he has never had contestants get into physical or verbal fights. He does hear regular complaints about judges.

The dogs' attitudes are important, too.

Judges mind the standards for each breed when judging best of show or groups, Busch said. However, a dog with an upbeat "show attitude" can beat another dog that does a better job of meeting the standards.

"After all, this is a dog show," Busch said.