Frankenmuth hosts 400 afghan hounds for dog show

by Roberto Acosta | The Saginaw News

Friday September 26, 2008, 6:33 AM

Frankenmuth is going to the hounds this week during the 72nd annual Afghan Hound Club of America's National Specialty Dog Show.

More than 400 afghan hounds and handlers will parade around the 100-by-70-foot ring during the show, which runs through Sunday.

Grooming tents, vendor stations and a miniature dog salon are set up around the ring, skirting the banks of the Cass River.

Melanie Sochan | The Saginaw NewsDebbie A. Stefannelli, 45, of New Hope, Pa. trims the undercoat to enhance the neck of Rahni, a female black masked red Afghan hound at the 72nd National Specialty Afghan Hound Club of America Inc. Dog show in Frankenmuth Heritage Park. The dog belongs to her boyfriend Yancy Russett. Stefanelli spends 45 minutes a day brushing the dog and once a week she bathes the dog and gives it a two hour blow dry. The dog's registered name is Champion Anrobs Killer Krush.

The Bavarian Inn Lodge & Conference Center is playing host to the hounds and their owners. Two rooms at the end of the hotel have had bedding removed to allow for bathing and grooming areas, said Jim Engel, the inn's chief operating officer.

Engel noted the show is a specialty competition, with only afghan hounds participating in the events.

Aside from 30 states represented at the show, dogs, handlers and observers have come from the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia and Germany to take part in the show.

"It's a beautiful atmosphere," said Alexandra Schuetz, 40, who traveled to the show with her husband, Claus, both of Nuremberg, Germany. "We have friends all over, and we know each other for the Internet."

Melanie Sochan | The Saginaw NewsA fourteen month old male black masked red Afghan Hound wears a snood at the 72nd National Specialty Afghan Hound Club of America Inc. Dog show. A snood is used to keep the dog's ears from getting dirty. The dog belongs to Karen Dumke of Redgranite, Wis. The dog's registered name is Polo's the Contender.

The couple travels to the United States for shows every two years and have shown hounds in the Germany, Canada and the U.S.

Claus Schuetz, 42, said the dog's demeanor is what drew him and his wife to the breed many years ago.

"Afghans are very fascinating and eye-catching," he said. "They have a very special characteristic."

"Every one is their own, has their own personality," Alexandra Schuetz said. "They are very independent. They are said to be the king of dogs."

Eleanor F. McCoy was grooming three eight-month old-pooches from Virginia Beach, Va., to take part in the week's best of breed competitions.

McCoy owns five afghans, and has gone to shows since the mid 1970s.

"I like the way they are so elegant and their independence," she said. "Afghans pretty much do their own thing. They are kind of like cats, in that way."

Chris and Brigitte C. Kaiser made this year's show an extra special one.

The Santa Ana, Calif., couple renewed their wedding vows Wednesday on their 42nd anniversary.

Bill Mines, an ordained minister and exhibitor in the show, performed the ceremony. The best man and woman were Reginald Nesbitt, show chairman, and Sue Busby, show superintendent.

"We were in the bar talking about it Tuesday night," said Chris Kaiser, the show's vendor chairman. "It was one of those things that just happened."

"People were standing around the ring, and it was just great," he said. "I felt a tear come to my eye. It was a pretty cool day."

Melanie Sochan | The Saginaw NewsHandler Jana Kline, 34, of Joplin, Missouri shows Momo, a two year old blue Afghan hound at the 72nd National Specialty Afghan Hound Club of America Inc. Dog show. The dog belongs to Patrick C. Byrne of Kansas City, Kansas. The dog's registered name is Champion Elmo's Bellini of Bybur.

Kaiser sells wooden afghan hounds and whippet figures that take him up to 30 hours to carve at his home in Santa Ana, Calif.

He that people taking part in the shows do it "because it is a passion of theirs."

"We do all this voluntarily," Chris said. "It's something that's a labor of love, and the bond is the dog, our common interest in the breed."