A Dachshund bitch owned by Pallab Saha was the cynosure of all eyes at the Madras Canine Club championship dog show, winning the best in show awards in two categories and second best in one more.
Breeds such as the Siberian Husky, Doberman, Boxer, Pomeranian, Beagle, Pug, Rottweiler, Chippiparai, German Shepherd, Great Dane and Pashmi won many awards at the shows.
Smitha Sakthivel, who received an award for the best woman handler, said she wanted to focus on breeding dogs of good temperament. “I have been learning about dog intelligence and training for the past few years,” said Ms. Sakthivel.
Madras Canine Club president C.V. Sudarsan said several countries in the world were putting a stop to registering aggressive dogs. “This is an indication for dog owners to be more responsible and train their animals to be good watch dogs, as well as companion dogs. The bottom line of course is being responsible dog owners," said Mr. Sudarsan.
Pointing to legislation on breeders all over the world, he stressed the need to educate dog lovers to be more responsible, and to keep themselves abreast of the problems affecting dog rearing, breeding and exhibiting at shows. “It is difficult for the government or NGOs to continuously monitor the acts and behaviour of irresponsible dog owners and breeders,” he said.
The shows were judged by a panel comprising Luiz Cabral Costa, Stelios Markeitis, Ikuko Nagasako, Kelveri Philippou Sonia, Kostadin Shankov, Tan Oo Hock and J. Rangarajan.