WILDWOOD — The Wildwoods Convention Center will go to the dogs Feb. 1 through Feb. 5 as man’s best friend, along with their entourages of groomers, breeders, handlers and owners, strut their stuff during the Boardwalk Kennel Club’s All Breed Dog Show.
Veterinarian Terri Marks’ two French bulldogs, Sherman and Bella, will be among those competing.
Marks, of Dennisville, who owns South Paw Animal Hospital, said she used to think of dog shows as a beauty pageant, but a friend convinced her to show her English mastiff Kubota at the Wildwood dog show six years ago.
“I went into the show thinking one thing and then my dog actually won,” Marks said during a recent interview at her Cape May Court House office.
At his first show, Kubota took home winners dog, best of winners and best of breed.
“Then it just snowballed from there,” Marks said of the dog show bug that bit her and her husband Keith Woodrow.
Marks said Kubota went on to earn his championship in six months.
Then, dogs shows steered her in a direction she’d never thought she’d take, to become a small dog owner.
Marks fell in love with the French bulldog breed after seeing them at various dog shows.
“I’m not a small dog person and these aren’t your typical small dogs. They have a great personality and that’s what really sold me on the breed,” she said as she held Porter in her arms.
Marks said that she used to joke that any dainty dog wouldn’t stand a chance at her house, but the French bulldog is anything but a pushover.
Porter was the first French bulldog to come into her life.
He started showing at six months old and earned a grand championship in 2010.
Porter’s good attitude and success in the show ring prompted Marks to grow her four-legged family further and get Sherman.
“They are like potato chips,” she joked about her dogs. “You can’t have just one.”
Sherman joined her family in 2010 and gave Marks one of our most successful years in the dog show world. She said the 10-month-old dog earned a grand championship in a weekend, where with some dogs that prize can take years.
Now at two years old, Sherman will compete in Wildwood and try to earn a silver grand championship.
“He walks through the ring like he owns it” Marks said of Sherman. “He’s good and he knows it.”
Marks’ newest French bulldog, Bella, is two years old and has also shown promise in the show ring. Marks shares ownership of Bella with her mother, Darlene.
Marks’ dogs, Porter and Sherman, and many others competing in Wildwood this week will continue on to New York for the annual Westminster show at Madison Square Garden. The show is America's longest-running sporting event next to the Kentucky Derby.
At Westminster, Marks said her dogs will be up against celebrities’ French bulldogs, such as Mario Lopez’s dog, Julio.
Marks said that she was annoyed that Lopez was already showing off his dog on the Ellen Show.
“But those things happen when you are just Joe Schmo going up against a celebrity,” she said.
Her dogs have also competed against Martha Stewart’s and Patty Hearst’s.
“Some of these dogs fly in on a private plane,” Marks said. “We all travel together in our RV from Dennisville.”
“The dog show industry can range from people who spend up to $500,000 on a dog and travel with an entourage or groomers and trainers to the people who do this as a hobby,” she added. “I’m definitely in the hobby category. My dogs are pets first and show dogs second.”
Marks said her dogs, a pack that includes the three French bulldogs and two English mastiffs, love to run around their home where they get sloppy in the mud and play in the rain, but they enjoy getting their time to shine in the ring too.
“My dogs were socialized early on, they walk around the veterinary office and are exposed to things all the time. So, when it comes to showing, nothing bothers them. They just take in all that attention,” she said.
Marks said that often times she’ll act as a handler in the ring. However, due to her obligations at her vet office, she won’t be able to personally show Sherman or Bella.
For Marks, the dog show world enabled her to meet new friends and learn more about the various breeds, she said.
“It’s an enjoyable thing and I got to meet a lot of good friends who just like to get together and talk about their dogs,” she said.
The Boardwalk Kennel Club, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, got its start with John Berry, current president Sue Shomo’s uncle.
He showed German Shepherds and loved the breed so much he helped start the Atlantic City K-9 unit, she said. After Berry diked in 1992, Shomo’s mother took over the club until her death in 2005. Then it was Shomo’s turn to take over the “family business.”
Shomo, who lives in Westville, said that she was “born into the dog show world.”
“I traveled to shows and learned all about the breeds,” she said of her childhood.
When she was 6 years old, she started showing German Shepherds and helping the judges as a steward. The lifestyle appealed to her and Shomo said she eagerly followed in her parent’s footsteps.
Because of Shomo’s connection to police dogs, the American Kennel Club and Boardwalk Kennel Club will be presenting the K-9 awards after the best in show awards on Feb. 4. These awards recognize outstanding police dogs in their fields and the club also plans to honor three K-9 that were killed or injured in the line of duty.
Dog shows aren’t just for “dog show people,” Shomo said.
Dog shows, she says, go along way in education the public about the various breeds and what the dogs are meant to do.
The show will feature K-9 demonstrations and Canine Good Citizens courses.
“Often people come to the show and see dogs that they’ve never seen before. That happens when you have different breeds of dogs competing,” said Shomo.
“And it’s always a lot of fun for people to see the show dog version of the breed of dog they have at home,” she said.
The competitions began daily at 8 a.m. and various prizes will be awarded in the following categories: Best in Show, Sporting Group, Hound Group, Working Group, Terrier Group, Toy Group, Non-Sporting Group and Herding Group.
Shomo explained that each breed is judged on their own standard with the goal of getting as close as you can to the breed’s definition of perfect.
First they compete against their own breeds. If a dog wins that round they move into a group competition, and the winners from that go on to compete for best in show.
Lauren Suit can be e-mailed at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or you can comment on this story online at shorenewstoday.com.
