Nome Kennel Club to host first ever Nome Dog Fair
The Nome Kennel Club is organizing the first Nome Dog Fair on August 24 to promote dog health and to encourage people to get out and have fun with their dog. The club, the world’s oldest sled dog club, has from its origin in 1908 been focused on mushing and sled dogs. This is their first event, which embraces dogs of all types. “The goal of this is for the Kennel Club to step out of being just for mushing and to start promoting the health of the animals and for pet owners to get out and have fun with their dog,” said Stephanie Johnson, NKC vice president.
Included in the fair will be a canicross race for a runner or walker with their dog, covering a one-mile course. Entrants under ten years of age will do a Kids Dash over a shorter distance. There will be a workshop on how to build your own doghouse and plans will be distributed so people can build their own dog houses from one sheet of plywood. Another fun race planned is a “Pooper scooper” race that will feature fake dog turds. In this timed event, contestants are scored on fast turd removal.
In order to raise funds for the Nome Kennel Club there will be a Hot Dog lunch. That’s the only part of the event that will cost money, everything thing else being free. They’ll offer hot dogs with chips and soda. The club raises funds for trail marking and organizing sled dog races, weather pending, with its signature event being the 200-mile Nome-Council sled dog race.
At the Dog Fair will be educational booths for all things related to dogs. The fair culminates with a Best of Nome dog show, divided into three categories: Best Costume, Best Trail Class and Best Senior. The costume contest encourages both dogs and owners to dress up. Senior dogs, age nine and over, are also welcome to attend. “We’ll just judge on spryness and health,” said Johnson. The traveling veterinarian will be part of the judging. “The other class we’re going to have is the trail class. In the trail class we’re going to have three obstacles that the person and their dog will maneuver.” The obstacles include a few trail stakes to get around, a water hazard, perhaps a kiddie pool, and some driftwood to get over. “Our goal is to just sort of simplify it and if it goes over well we might add some classes in the future to make it a bigger event,” said Johnson.
The dog fair takes place on Aug 24 at the Nome Mini Convention Center. Registration forms will be available at the Nome Animal House and the Nome Nugget newspaper office.
