Thousands of dogs and their owners will gather at Ramsey’s Game Fair

Imagine strolling through the Minnesota State Fair, but every other human has a dog in tow.

Such a world exists, on a smaller scale, at Game Fair, the annual August festival that celebrates hunting and other field sports. By sheer volume, perhaps no public gathering is more dog-friendly.

“It’s always been about dogs,” said Chuck Delaney, who with his late wife, Loral I, started the fair 42 years ago. Loral I was a famous dog trainer and world champion trapshooter.

This year’s event again runs over two three-day weekends: this Friday through Sunday and picking up again Aug. 16-18. The fair is on the 80 acres of Chuck and Loral I’s Armstrong Ranch Kennels in Ramsey.

The Game Fair crowd is encouraged to bring leashed dogs, any breeds, and they do. Owners need to register that their canine companions’ vaccinations are up to date at admission. Last year, there were about 4,200 dogs among the tens of thousands of visitors to the fair, which includes a variety of demonstrations and exhibitors.

Much is geared toward dogs: Kennels, clubs (German wirehaired pointers to setters and more) and food makers represent. There also are training events, like quartering upland dogs through woods or working dogs through water retrieves. Competitions like the Splash for Cash — a dock-jumping event — are always popular, Delaney said. The finals are Aug. 18.

Outdoors personality and former Star Tribune columnist Ron Schara has been to every Game Fair and still marvels at the variety and volume of dogs — and their handling of crowds.

“All these dogs are on neutral ground,” he said. “They are better behaved than some of their owners.”

Dog trainer Dawn Wessels, of Scandia, said good temperaments and obedience are inherent in many of the sporting breeds that meander the grounds. She and her husband, Dick, have led dog agility shows going on 17 years at the fair.

“If you want to have a good hunting dog, you have to have a good family pet,” she said, “and if you want that, you need really good manners. [Their owners] understand how to keep their dogs safe and be respectful of others on the grounds.”

Wessels said the all-breeds vibe in Ramsey extends to the couple’s twice-daily demonstrations of dog agility. She has owners of Chihuahuas and even Alaskan Malamutes participate in some of the sessions, which cover basic obedience to speedy, expert-level jumps and weaves.

Alas, Wessels will be without her gold medal-level border collie, Jia, who died recently at 14 years old. Since then the Wessels have rescued a year-old border collie named Bizi who is about to begin agility work.

Bizi is just getting started, and Wessels believes Game Fair is an excellent event to inspire people with dogs in the same early learning stage — whatever the level, whatever the breed. They’ll find an accepting crowd.

“People have been wonderful with the dogs,” she said, “and the dogs are comfortable, confident.”