Good Dog (People) – Part Four
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By Sarah Montague
PART 4: The Big Top: Onofrio Shows Us How It’s Done—One Show at a Time
In almost every interview I have conducted for this series, at some point my subject would say, “Well, Onofrio showed us how,” or “We followed Onofrio’s lead.” The company usually manages 550-600 hundred shows a year—soup to nuts. So naturally, I was excited when Terry James and John McDonald found time to talk about their program. They are both Superintendents with the company, and Terry is Vice President, Events. And it was great to have them as a brace: they have the easy rhythm of men who have worked together and know and respect each other.
Even in a community of young self-starters (many in the fancy start in the ring as junior handlers) Terry James may have bragging rights. He says he went to his first show aged three weeks, and as soon as he could, was assigned an important job: “my parents had Standard Poodles and one of my chores in the evenings was to brush dogs. I learned to absolutely adore brushing Standard Poodles.” (This spoke to me, as my grandmother bred Standards, by whom I was pretty much raised.)
Next, the circus came to town, in a manner of speaking. When local shows geared up each season, James and his four brothers would help the crews set up: “I was the youngest of five, and I decided when I was 12 that this very thing that I’m doing now was what I was going to do for a living.” And he did.
John McDonald also likens his origin story to running away with the circus, but in his case, he met up with the ringmaster:
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Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=198059
Posted by AnthonyA
on Mar 12 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured.
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