BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Karen Pajestka calls herself a dog mom.
“I got my first Siberian, which was a rescue, and that started it. And then I just fell in love with the breed,” she said.
Pajestka now owns 13 Siberian huskies.
“I'm sure other people think we're crazy,” Pajestka added.
Pajestka has trained all of them to be dog show champions.
“We're probably at 12 champions; some of them are grand champions,” said Pajestka.
To get her youngest husky, Sunday, to join the pack of champs, Pajestka brought the 2-year-old husky to compete in this weekend's Mountain Laurel Cluster Dog Show at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds.
“One more point, and she'll be a champion, my one. And that's pretty exciting, and I bred her. She's homebred, so I'm extra proud because she came from me. I made her,” Pajestka said.
Other handlers like Cali McKee share the same special bond with their dogs.
“We have a stronger bond now because we're in a smaller area that we have to be near each other so much,” McKee, a junior dog handler.
At just 13 years old, McKee is taking her three dogs along for the ride on her dog show journey, competing in dog shows throughout all 50 states.
“It's only the seventh state, so I have a bunch more to do, but I realized that you really have to be easygoing with dog shows,” McKee added.
Fellow competitor Vicki Jason agrees that getting her star, Myrtle, ready for her comeback to dog shows was not the easiest walk in the park.
“She's come a long way since then. I would like to come home with a ribbon with her, get her grand champion,” Jason said.
That is something all three of these competitors hope for their four-legged best friends.
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