The parking lot at Toe Blake Arena in Coniston was full this weekend. Not for an early fall hockey tournament though. Instead, this weekend went to the dogs.
The Sudbury & District Kennel Club is hosting three days of championship dog competition in Coniston from Sept. 19-21.
The show at the Toe Blake Arena featured more than 200 Canadian Kennel Club-registered purebred dogs from throughout Canada, all vying for championship titles and ranking points to determine Canada’s No. 1 dog.
Among those competing was Brenda Mehler of Sudbury, who showed her eight-year-old Great Pyrenees, Dexter. Mehler described herself as a “beginner” when it comes to dog shows, telling Sudbury.com she’s shown Dexter, the eighth of Great Pyrenees she’s owned, at local shows and at “a couple” in the Toronto area.
And while she loves doing it, Mehler said she wouldn’t call herself “a hardcore” dog show person.
“We come for the pleasure of it,” she said. “I just do this for fun.”
A handler who may very well describe herself as hardcore is Trina Neil of Saskatoon, Sask., who is the handler for the No. 1 ranked dog among all breeds in Canada at the moment, Taffy, a five-year-old Siberian husky.
Her whirlwind of a year began in February when Taffy claimed the No. 1 spot. Since then, the duo have been hitting the road to dog shows, only taking three weekends off in the last seven months.
“It’s been such a ride,” Neil said. “We’ve put in a lot of miles.”
Also showing in Coniston is Greater Sudbury’s own champion shih tzu, Bowie, currently ranked fourth among all show dogs in the country by the Canadian Kennel Club, as well as No. 1 among all non-sporting breeds. Bowie, and his owner-handler Sarah Petrie earned two best-in-show ribbons on Friday.
It’s been quite a year, Petrie said.
“Don’t pinch me,” she joked. She doesn’t want to wake up from the dream that has been 2025
Because Bowie is showing so well, Petrie, alongside her mother Patti Paquette, a breeder for 50 years, have been attending more shows than usual.
The team from Souyen Kennels in Azilda said Bowie is the best show dog they have ever produced. He’s earned best-in-show nods at every show he has attended, save one, for the past 18 months. In July, he earned the nod as the No. 1 shih tzu breed in the country at the Canadian Shih Tzu Club National show.
Judges just love him, they said. From his incredible coat to his symmetry to his “air” (meaning his regal demeanor), Bowie hits every mark for a champion show dog.
“An Irish judge said he’s the dog she’s ever gone over,” Paquette said.
With more than 200 dogs competing at the annual fall event, organizer Richard Paquette, a storied name himself in Canadian dog show circles as a breeder, handler, judge and boardmember both locally and nationally, said it was “another fantastic weekend.”
He was excited to host both Taffy, the No. 1 among all breeds, and Sudbury’s own Bowie, as well as dozens of other championship dogs from dozens of assorted breeds.
Bowie “is having a phenomenal year,” Paquette said. “We’re very proud of him.”
For complete details on the show and more info on the Sudbury & District Kennel Club, click here. For a complete list of breeds and judging times for this weekend’s event, click here.
Toe Blake Arena is located at 1 Government Rd. in Coniston. Show times are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday through Sunday. The spectator fee is $5 per adult, $2 per child, families are $10 and seniors over 55 are free.
Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com.