Niles High School senior Katie Bell leads her cocker spaniel, Pearl, in the dog arena Wednesday at the Berrien County Youth Fair. Bell finished runner up in the showmanship competition. (Leader photo/CRAIG HAUPERT)

BERRIEN SPRINGS — A Niles girl’s dog has gone from living on the streets to helping her owner achieve success at the Berrien County Youth Fair.

Eighteen-year-old Katie Bell finished as runner up in the dog showmanship competition Wednesday using her nine-year-old American Cocker Spaniel, Pearl.

The Niles High School senior said her cousin found the dog running in the road in South Bend, Indiana, some eight years ago.

A microchip embedded in the animal led her cousin to an abandoned house where Bell said they assumed Pearl’s owner once lived.

When no one came forward to claim the dog in the weeks that followed, Bell took her in for good.

It was her first dog.

“It was a great birthday present,” said Bell, who named the dog after her birthstone.

“She’s been my girl for eight years now.”

Bell and Pearl have been competing at the Berrien County Youth Fair for the past five years and at other fairs for even longer.

Bell said Wednesday’s runner-up finish is their greatest achievement so far in Berrien County.

“I wasn’t really sure we had done well… she (Pearl) loves people so much that I was afraid she would turn around and go after someone else,” said Bell, explaining that handlers must keep their dog’s attention and lead them at all times during showmanship.

She also said each dog has to be posed a certain way based on breed.

For instance, her cocker spaniel needed to keep its head up and tail back because cocker spaniels were bred for water sports.

“They are trained to look up at the sky for a bird to come down over the water,” she said, adding that Pearl isn’t a birder — she’s a house dog.

Dog events continue today with obedience and costume events.