Photo by: Jim Tatum/Journal Scene

A Staffordshire Terrier struts his stuff in the ring.

Photo by: Jim Tatum/Journal Scene

Kyle Holmes with Nash, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. This was the eight month old retriever’s second show, and he placed first runner up in his breed.

Photo by: Jim Tatum/Journal Scene

Johnny Mayo, founder of Buck’s Heroes, works to educate the public about the role of working dogs in the military and their services and sacrifices in America’s wars since World War II. Mayo is now raising funds to build a War Dog memorial, to be placed in Veterans Memorial Park in Columbia, SC.

Call it a four-paws up weekend; call it a howling success.

However one chooses to describe it, the Charleston Kennel Club’s popular annual dog show proved once again to be a major pull for dog fanciers and dog lovers everywhere, bringing in more than 1,000 competitors from around the country.

The competition was strong, but in the end there could only be one best in show – and this year’s show belonged to a beautiful Siberian Husky, Grand Champion Trillium Blue’s Raising the Bar, known to his friends as “Jerry.”

Once again, the show saw an increase in both attendance and competitors, noted Charleston Kennel Club President Mike Spruill.

“It keeps growing -- we were up by around 150 competitors,” Spruill said. “We had a total of 1,069 competitors. It was a great weekend.”

 The dogs seem to always be naturally enthusiastic. They seem to know when the camera is on them and they seem to know they are the stars of this show, yet they are undoubtedly more graceful, tolerant and friendly than some who will walk the red carpet in Hollywood later this month.

In fact, one never knows just who is on the end of a leash, at least from the dog’s side of things. Jimmy, the Mini Bull Terrier with a new, but -- pardon the expression – rabid Internet following is just as friendly and loveable in person as he is on Facebook, where his fan base is growing by leaps and bounds.

He had a good weekend in Charleston and will soon be strutting his stuff at Westminster, noted owner Beverly Krautler, owner of Menusha Mini Bulls in Greenville, SC.

Another celebrity in attendance was Era, a past champion Greyhound; Era was actually at the show to be photographed for an upcoming book, noted owner Rindi Gaudet.

In addition to the competitors, the show usually brings in a number of vendors, artists and organizations. One organization that is working toward a unique goal is Buck’s Heroes, which is run by Johnny Mayo, a former scout dog handler who served in the Vietnam War. The original idea behind Buck’s Heroes was to educate the public about the role of working dogs in the U.S. military and to honor those dogs for their service and sacrifices. What started as a single presentation for a patriotic event some ten years ago has become a full-time nationwide initiative. Currently, Mayo is working to raise funds for a memorial to the military working dogs to be erected in Veterans Memorial Park in Columbia. The goal is to raise $200,000 for the memorial, he said.

Mayo has been invited to appearances and engagements all over the country and has been featured on Oliver North’s television show “War Stories,” among other events.

“I thought this was going to be a one time, one weekend deal; it’s now going on ten years,” he said.

For more information people can visit Mayo’s website at www.bucksheroes.com.

The Charleston Kennel Club dog show is the last major show in the circuit before the Westminster Dog Show, which will be held Feb. 13-14 in Madison Square Garden in New York. Thus, one never knows who will show up for this weekend in the Lowcountry -- but quite a few of the biggest names in the show circuit do, Spruill said.

“You just never know who you’re going to see here,” he said.

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