Dogs bow-wow the crowds

Dogs bow-wow the crowds
DH News Service,Bangalore:
The finals will take place on Sunday. Open to the public from 9:30 am, tickets to the show are priced at Rs 20. Entry to children below 14 is free.

Dogs and more dogs! It was an opportunity for more than 400 canines to exhibit their skills at the two-day ‘15th All Breed Championship Dog Show’ that took off on Saturday.

They arrived from across the country, growling at each other as if to say ‘Beat me if you can’, as their masters led them into the Palace Grounds. About 401 canines across 51 breeds from all over the country are fighting it out for the ‘Dog of the Year’ title, which will be awarded on Sunday by the Kennel Club of India.

The show saw the best of canine breeds from Alsatians to dobermans and dachshunds to Great Danes and the ferocious bulldog to the Newfoundland, a rare breed from Russia leading the challenge in the working group round that judges dogs based on their guarding abilities.

The participants signalled their arrival with a ‘bow-wow’ and a ‘woof-woof’ as they were led into the arena. The show has been organised by the Bangalore Canine Club. Ramon Podesta from Chile and Philip John from India are the judges. “The various breeds are divided into seven groups and there are 13 classes based on age and sex in each breed. The Bangalore Canine Club in a bid to encourage the ‘bred in India’ dogs, will on Sunday give away a special prize for the best ‘bred in India’ breed in show,” P A Suresh of the Club said.

The evening competition in the working group round saw 150 dogs participate in a two-ring event. In the first ring, a boxer was declared winner, while a doberman came second. The third place went to a ‘Russian Black Terrier’. A doberman, a boxer and a bullmastiff won the first, second and third slots in the second ring. In the ‘Best Puppy’ category, a doberman and a Newfoundland won the preliminary rounds.

The finals will take place on Sunday. Open to the public from 9:30 am, tickets to the show are priced at Rs 20. Entry to children below 14 is free.