Kissy the Lhasa Apso gets some pampering from Lois DeMers of Conroe, Texas, at the Cowboy Cluster All-Breed Dog Show, presented by the Calcasieu Kennel Club of Lake Charles and the Acadiana Kennel Club of Lafayette at the Lake Charles Event Center. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press Archives)

The Calcasieu Kennel Club will host its annual Cajun Cowboy Cluster of Dog Shows over the weekend. More than 600 dogs representing up to 175 registered American Kennel Club breeds will compete in four days’ worth of shows starting today.

Organizer Sallie Shepherd said the dogs will be exhibited in six different rings in the Lake Charles Event Center Coliseum while obedience competitions will be held upstairs.

Spectators are also invited to tour the Exhibition Hall, where exhibitors will be grooming their dogs.

“We wanted something that was Acadiana-related, which is the ‘Cajun’ part, and ‘Cowboy’ because we love the McNeese Cowboys,” Shepherd said of the show’s name.

The free event will be held 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. today through Sunday. The obedience competitions will begin on Friday.

“The judge will tell the handler what they want the dog to do and the handler will communicate with the dog,” Shepherd said. “It’s just basic obedience commands — stay, sit, down, heel. Spectators are invited to watch.”

Vendors with supplies “for dogs and humans” will be available each day, she said. Bedding, collars and leashes, grooming supplies and cleaning supplies are some of the canine items that will be for sale. Canine jewelry, bags and clothes will be available for the “humans.”

“This is an excellent event to bring your family to,” she said. “We encourage people that do come, though, to keep an eye on their children. These dogs are not biters, they’re not aggressive but we don’t want anyone walking over their tails.”

Strollers will not be allowed.

The dogs have four opportunities to win — the same dogs will compete each day, but the judges will be interchanged.

“The same dog could win all four days or a different dog could win each of the four days,” she said. “The American Kennel Club has a complete book of standards and it describes the head, the top line, the front, the ears, the tail set. It describes what the dog is supposed to look like and the judge is supposed to compare that dog to the standard and not to another dog. It’s kinda hard to do.”

Shepherd said spectators will be amazed how quiet 600 dogs can be.

“It’s quiet. You rarely hear a dog bark in the coliseum,” she said. “You probably won’t hear a dog bark at all.”