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Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion constellation. Chaz McDonnell hopes that Rigel is also the brightest star in New York's Madison Square Garden next week.

The 12-year-old Chaz will lead his stellarly named pointer into the ring for the Junior Showmanship competition at the 133rd annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

The appearance will be Rigel's first at America's premier dog show, but it's the third for Chaz, who in 2008 was one of eight junior finalists.

"I can answer how I feel about that in one word: honored," he said. "And I'm proud to be there with other people who have a chance to go. I'd be extremely excited if I were able to win, or even make it into the finals once again, and also excited that Rigel will also probably be one of the youngest dogs to go to Westminster. He's 9 months."

The junior competition, which is open to those between the ages of 10 and 18, features about 120 competitors. Unlike the main show at Westminster, participants are judged more on their handling skills than on their canines. To qualify, competitors must have won in at least 10 other dog shows.

They are divided into four sections, from each of which judges select two contenders to go to the finals. Last year McDonnell advanced with his pointer Tristan. The junior showmanship finals will take place a week from today.

The Kernodle Middle School seventh-grader has about a half-dozen pointers who cavort on a one acre patch of wooded land fenced off in his family's backyard in Greensboro. Inside he has a table full of dog show ribbons and awards.

Chaz's mother Tina started participating in competitions about 25 years ago when she had a weimaraner.

"It was a gigantic puppy and my vet told me I either needed to train the dog or the dog was going to train me," she said. "So I began with obedience competition, and from there went to the breed competition. We had springer spaniels for awhile, but started with the pointers about 11 years ago. As much as I love the Springers, the pointers are much easier with our lifestyle because it's not as much grooming. You don't have all that long hair to deal with."

Chaz started tagging along with his mother when he was 2 and competing when he was 7, and estimates that he spends about 30 to 40 weekends a year taking part in shows all over the country. He was on his school volleyball team this year, but since most of the games took place during the week they didn't present much of a conflict. His mother said that in the past, when he also played basketball and soccer, they just tried working the shows around his sports schedule. During the school year they stick mainly to shows that are nearby.

Typically, Chaz said, he starts training with the dogs when they're about six months old, by teaching them free baiting - how to stand still with tail up, so the judges can examine them - and how to move on a lead. Socialization is also important, Tina said.

"You take them to parks or for walks through the neighborhood," she said. "Usually people will come up and say, 'Can I pet your dog?' And that's what you want - to get them used to having a stranger touch them. There are some dogs that don't want strangers touching them. We have a couple here on the property and they would just as soon mow the grass as be a show dog. They're not viscous or anything like that. They just don't want to do it. They don't have the attitude for it. But (a good showdog) has a presence, a 'hey, hey, hey don't look at them, look at me' attitude."

Rigel, whose full registered name is CH Marsuz Alydar LoveSpell at Solivia , has a black and white coat and a friendly demeanor, gently pawing and whimpering at visitors. Chaz's step-father John Puckett took four days to come up with the name Rigel, settling on the astrological moniker in homage to the dog's great-great-grandfather CH Orion of Crookrise , who came over from England.

"He has an ability to keep on going on no matter what," Chaz said. "If he starts getting bored, you just squeak a toy or put some food in front of him and he gets excited and just keeps on going. He's really energetic, very attentive. Little noises will set him off sometimes, but he's always excited. And he likes the shows for the attention."

Being a short haired-dog, Rigel doesn't need much grooming, and Tina and Chaz say that once they arrive at a show, they might spend only five minutes clipping nails, trimming whiskers and cutting hairs on his tail. In comparison, someone showing a poodle would typically spend hours clipping and coiffing.

"But you still have to make sure he's in good condition," Chaz said. "You don't want him to be too skinny, and you don't want him to gain too much weight. You want to keep a good bit of muscle, because they are a highly moving dog in the ring."

"They have to be very athletic," Tina added. "With this breed not having long hair, you have to see the muscle tone."

Chaz said he can see himself being a professional dog handler, but would rather have something else to fall back on once he grows up.

"I'd like to go to college so I can have a career," he said. "But doing this, I've learned good sportsmanship, and learned that to get farther ahead in life, you always you have to be working. To do better, you have to work better...If you want to achieve, you have to work for it, it's not just going to come. And you have to be patient. At Westminster I might have to stand in the ring for 45 minutes to an hour. You have to have a lot of patience for that."

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com