Barrie Kennel & Obedience Club

The BARRIE KENNEL AND OBEDIENCE CLUB, INC. (BKOC) was originally known as The Barrie Kennel Club. It was formed in 1946 with 17 members and held its first championship show at the Barrie Arena in June 1947. There were approximately 200 entries with 3 American judges presiding - Mrs. Frances Crane of Mass., and Mr. & Mrs. H. A. Sayers of Long Island, NY.

Through 1966, the shows were held at the Barrie Arena until it became so successful it necessitated a move to the Barrie Fairgrounds where the show expanded to three days held annually on the August Civic Holiday weekend. The show continued to grow to become Canada's largest outdoor championship show with over 1,500 dogs entered per day when it moved to Formosa Park / Molson Park in 1974.

From 1985 to 2004, the show was held at the Orillia & District Agricultural Society (ODAS) Park in Orillia and for many years ran obedience trials in conjunction with its conformation shows. The show moved to the grounds of the Barrie Event Centre for a few years, but when that property was sold it forced the Club to find another location. The Club celebrated its 60th Anniversary in the year 2006 with many additional events to mark the special occasion.  The show was held at the ODAS Park Fairgrounds until 2018.

In 2023 we moved our Annual Dog Show to Snow Valley as ODAS park in Orillia no longer fit our needs for camping and dog attendance.  This was a learning year.  We were limited on where we could host a Dog Show in Simcoe County.  After the show at Snow Valley we found that it was a little too small for us and didn't fit our needs.

2024 is going to be an exciting year as we are happy to announce that we will be hosting our Annual Dog Show at the Essa Agriplex in Thornton, Ontario.  There will be plenty of room for camping, parking and attendees. 

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The Barrie Kennel & Obedience Club supports charitable organizations such as Ukrainian Relief, Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, Hearing Ear Dogs of Canada and Canine Research programs. We also donate to the local Food Banks, occasionally participate in the Elmvale Santa Claus parade, and have educational opportunities in the public libraries.