Kennel Club

DOGS POOCH POWER It will be a canine conclave at the Maryland State Fairgrounds this weekend. The huge "Cherry Blossom Cluster" dog show features three kennel club shows with more than 2,000 purebred canines from more than 150 breeds. (Brichon frise are pictured.) Saturday's show will have dogs from the Old Dominion Kennel Club, Sunday's show includes animals from the Baltimore County Kennel Club, and Monday's show will have dogs from the Catoctin Kennel Club. In addition to the competitions each day, which will include obedience, rally and conformation trials, there will be a midway with doggie items from vendors.

Purebred dogs in immaculately groomed coats will put on their Easter show Sunday in Timonium, and Doberman pinschers will have their day Friday in Westminster.Almost 3,000 purebred dogs (2,787 conformation entires and 203 obedience entries) will compete from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday in the 56th annual show sponsored by the Baltimore County Kennel Club. The show will be held in the Cow Palace at the State Fairgrounds in Timonium.The loyal and reserved Scottish terriers have the largest entry with 112. With faces that look as though a professional beautician lined their eyes, the busy Siberian huskies have an entry of 81. And another 81 entries will be the grand and gentle great Danes.

A TOTAL ENTRY of 3,250 purebred dogs representing all of the 131 breeds recognized for registry with the American Kennel Club will compete in the Baltimore County Kennel Club's 55th All-Breed and Obedience dog show Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Cow Palace at the State Fairgrounds in Timonium.Entry includes two newly recognized breeds, the Chinese Crested in the Toy group and the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, referred to as the PBGV, in the Hound group.Baltimore County Kennel Club was founded in 1935 to promote the breeding and exhibiting of dogs approved for registry with the AKC. Patricia Dear is president; Herbert Rosen, vice president; John Kelly, treasurer; Susanne Howard, delegate to the AKC; Therese Fila, recording secretary and Debbie Smart, corresponding secretary.

Hey, Baltimore, you're going to the dogs . . . and the current budgetary problems and economic woes have nothing to do with it.Come next April 7, the Baltimore Arena will host the American Kennel Club National Invitational Championship, a unique event that is being packaged and sold privately and will be shown on CBS three weeks later.Among the groundbreaking characteristics of the show, being put together by Trans World International, the television arm of International Management Group, are that the event will be the first dog show ever shown on network TV, prize money is involved and participation is by invitation only with special judging involved.

CHESTER F. COLLIER, 80 Shaped dog show Chester F. Collier, an Emmy-winning producer best known for shaping the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, died from diabetes complications Wednesday, the organization said. Mr. Collier was a longtime network television producer and executive with media outlets including CNBC and Fox News. As president of Group W and Westinghouse Broadcasting, he also oversaw the development and production of The Regis Philbin Show and The Merv Griffin Show. Always a dog lover, Mr. Collier took his passion to the competitive level, showing Bouviers des Flandres in the 1960s and winning more than 50 Bests In Show.

Waverly Woods II foe presents figures, reportsA county growth-control advocate unloaded a barrage of numbers and government documents on County Council members yesterday in a final attempt to derail the proposed 682-acre Waverly Woods II project in rural Marriottsville and Woodstock.Susan Gray, a leader of Howard Countians for Responsible Growth, presented copies of memos, letters and reports from county and regional authorities and showed tables from planning studies on an overhead projector.

Annette Feinberg Davies, a world-renowned dog-show judge who with her late husband ran a beer distributorship based in Elkridge, died Wednesday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center after suffering injuries in a car accident Tuesday on Reisterstown Road. She was 78. She was born Annette Levin and was raised in Queens, N.Y., where she attended high school. She overcame polio as a child after doctors told her she would never walk again. She relentlessly dragged herself out of bed until she started to crawl and eventually moved one leg and learned to walk, said her daughter, Enid Feinberg of Phoenix.

BELQUEST KENNELS and Cattery of Mount Airy is home to Tabatha's Rollick at Carowby, known to his owner as Aaron, America's top-winning Labrador retriever.Aaron has spent the past 1 1/2 years traveling the American Kennel Club dog show circuit with certified professional handler Joy Quallenberg.Last year, he accumulated the most points in AKC competitions, including 79 best of breed wins and numerous group placings. He was leading in AKC competitions this year and participated in the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in Madison Square Garden this week.

Judging from my mail, there's always a lot of confusion over pet "papers" -- what they are, what they're for and what they're worth."Papers," generally consist of two forms -- a pedigree and a registration form. The first is a record of the animal's family tree, showing the names of his ancestors, as well as the titles they held; show champions, for example, are often written in a different color to make them stand out.As fancy as a pedigree is -- and some of them can get pretty ornate -- it's the second piece of paper, a nondescript little form, that's more important: It allows you to register your pet with an organization such as the American Kennel Club.

AROUND THE HARBOR With sails set and cannons blasting, the Pride of Baltimore II returns to the Inner Harbor tomorrow. After leading the OpSail 2000 Parade of Sails out of the Baltimore harbor in June, taking first place in its class in a trans-Atlantic tall ship race from Halifax to Amsterdam, and visiting eight European ports in five months, the goodwill sailing ambassador is home to winter in its berth at the Inner Harbor's finger piers. Celebrate the Pride's return from Europe at noon tomorrow during ceremonies at the Harborplace Amphitheater, then tour the ship throughout the weekend.