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As she watched, the Bangor teen would picture herself wowing the judge with her finely groomed canine before taking a lap around the show ring with the pampered pooch.
“There was just something about the big dog shows that made me want to participate,” said Wehrs.
At 13, Wehrs is a seasoned junior handler and will leave Feb. 28 for the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, England, with her Rockland-Fish Creek 4-H leader Mary Paisley. The pair will be showing miniature schnauzers at the show March 6-9.
“I’m really looking forward to going,” Wehrs said. “This is the world’s largest dog show.”
Wehrs, a seventh-grade student at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Bangor, began showing dogs five years ago with the
4-H Dog Project. She started with a mixed-breed dog before switching to Siberian huskies three years ago.
As Wehrs’ interest in dog shows grew, Paisley took Wehrs under her wing and introduced the girl to American Kennel Club shows.
The pair attended their first AKC dog show together in April 2007 in Fond du Lac, Wis., and Wehrs was hooked.
By July she was showing as a junior handler with an AKC number, and after three shows she advanced from novice to open.
“I won my first three competitions to move from level one to two,” Wehrs said. “Boomer (Paisley’s miniature schnauzer the two co-own in order for Wehrs to show) was really a good dog to work with. It helped that he was trained already.”
But for Wehrs, daughter of Scott and Pamela Wehrs, the best part of a dog show is getting to talk with breeders and other handlers about their dogs and learning about the different types.
Each week, Wehrs has a new dog she would like to someday own and show. But she’s mostly interested in the herding group because she wants a versatile dog she could also train in obedience, dog sledding and dry land — other dog-related sports she has been learning about from area professionals and enthusiasts.
“Dog people usually are really good about getting new people into the sport,” Wehrs said. “I’ve been lucky.”
Autumn Grooms can be reached at (608) 791-8424 or agrooms@lacrossetribune.com.
