Show dogs lead pampered lives

BLACKFOOT, Idaho (AP) — Ah, the life of a superstar.

Tommie cruises the country — hitting as many as 70 cities a year — in the climate-controlled cabin of a spacious RV.

When he flies, he does so first class, and on one recent trip, an attendant cut up the first-class meal, filet mignon, into easily chewable bites for him. At home, he relaxes and exercises on 2 1/2 acres of California land. When he retires, he'll live out his years visiting children at hospitals.

"To be honest," said Michelle Steele, Tommie's handler, "he's got a better life than most humans."

At the Blackfoot Dog Show recently, handlers, owners and trainers paced from the competition ring (where they show their dogs) to their RVs (where they spoil their dogs). A winning handler gets a blue ribbon. A winning show dog enjoys a bath, a haircut, a nail clipping, a vacuuming (how else do you clean a Saint Bernard?), a gourmet meal and a lifetime's worth of belly rubs.

These dogs are the bourgeoisie of the canine world, and they expect to be treated as such.

"Spoiled rotten," Steele says with a laugh.

Not that Tommie, a boxer, doesn't deserve such treatment. After all, he has been the No. 1 working dog and No. 1 boxer in the country, and one year he won third place for best overall dog. He also boasts 49 career best-in-shows.

His owners — Michelle and her husband, Gary — are famed dog owners, too. Michelle started in the business when her father, who hobnobbed in Hollywood circles, acquired a boxer named Rebel from Gene Autry. A man once approached her in a parking lot and offered to buy the dog. She declined, but realizing Rebel's potential, she entered the world of show dogs.

Years later, she spotted Tommie, then just a puppy, at a show in Kentucky. She approached the handler and said, "Hi. My name is Michelle, and I'm taking your dog home."

At the time, Tommie was worth about $7,500. Today, Michelle calls him "priceless." "You couldn't even put a price tag on him," Michelle says. "Between the shows, the breeding, it's not possible."

Like most elite dogs, Tommie competes in the conformation category, which measures a dog against the standards of its breed. The dogs don't necessarily compete against each other.

Rather, the judge chooses the one that best captures the breed's ideal physical and temperamental attributes.