Kennel clubs to hold annual dog shows at Lodi Grape Festival
Aug. 4—The Lodi Grape Festival Grounds will be going to the dogs for a brief period next week.
The Golden Valley and San Joaquin kennel clubs will host their annual dog shows at the festival grounds Aug. 13-16, with more than 4,000 canines of all breeds participating.
It will be the first show the two clubs have held since December of 2019, and the first in Lodi.
"Our shows in the past have been at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton," show manager and club secretary Virginia Latham-Smith said. "We couldn't hold the show last year because of COVID, and then the fairgrounds closed permanently, so we had to find a new venue."
The 250-acre fairgrounds closed in October 2020 to make way for a new mixed-use housing development on 110 acres, of which 20% will be affordable housing, according to reports.
The Grape Festival, Latham-Smith said, had all the facilities the clubs needed to hold a successful event, including cooled buildings for the summer weather, lots of outdoor space and plenty of parking for participants and attendees.
A "Best in Show" award will be presented each day of the four-day event, with dogs from all over the country participating.
Dogs will earn points toward a national ranking system as well, Latham-Smith said.
"Some of the dogs that will be here have been shown at the Westminster Kennel Club show," she said.
There have been a few dogs from San Joaquin County to make the Westminster show over the years, including Bono, a Havanese that won the Toy Group category at the 2020 Westminster Show and is handled by Acampo residents Bill and Taffe McFadden.
According to media reports, Bill McFadden was injured in an automobile accident in Wyoming earlier this year on his way to this year's Westminster show, and will be off the show trail for a while.
Bill McFadden has handled two Westminster Best in Show winners in the past — a Bichon Frise named Flynn in 2018, and a Kerry blue terrier named Mick in 2003.
There is no entry fee to the show, but parking is $10. Once inside, attendees can get a close-up look at the dogs and speak with their handlers.
Latham-Smith said tours will also be given explaining the process of showcasing the dogs and selecting winners in categories such as Terrier, Toy, Working, Sporting, Hound, Non-Sporting and Herding.
There will be an obedience competition, an information booth about the clubs, as well as vendors selling dog-related merchandise and supplies.
The show opens at 8 a.m. each day, and closes at 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.sanjoauquinkc.org.
"We're very happy to have found a location," Latham-Smith said. "The management at the Grape Festival has been very helpful to us. It's a dramatic change because we had been holding shows in Stockton for 45 years, but we're happy we've found a new home in Lodi.
