Concluding day of 56th, 57th and 58th All Breeds Championship Dog Shows organised by Orissa Kennel Club was marked by enthusiastic participation of dog handlers and visitors alike
BHUBANESWAR: The concluding day of 56th, 57th and 58th All Breeds Championship Dog Shows organised by Orissa Kennel Club was marked by enthusiastic participation of dog handlers from across the country here Sunday.
The obedience trials Saturday marked the participation of around 26 dogs from various places across India, with top honours being won by TATA Steels Dog Squad from Jamshedpur. The best Handler award was won by Rasmita Dan of Cuttack. It was also a very close competition in the German Shepherd Dog Speciality Show where the top position was won by Arindam Ganguly’s dog from Kolkata.
Dog lovers of the city came out in droves to witness three separate All Breeds Shows, with each participant getting a chance to present their dogs under three different judges, Hans Almgren from Sweden, Rale Cekic from Serbia, and David Strachan from Australia. 40 distinctive breeds, up from around 28 last year, participating from places as far off as Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ooty, Coimbatore and Bengaluru among others, apart from cities of neighbouring states like Bhilai, Kolkota, Visakhapatnam and Raipur among others, enthralled all at the show.
The participation from the state of Odisha has also grown by leaps and bounds with more and more people participating from places like Bargarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Berhampur, apart from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The show witnessed a jump in the total number of entries coming in at just a little short of 300. The numbers could have been even higher had it not clashed with the Makar Sankranti weekend.
Keeping pace with the growth in demand for digital services from young enthusiasts, the entire proceedings of the show was telecasted live through Facebook. This is the only Dog Show in Odisha that is officially recognised by the Kennel Club of India, which is the parent body for all canine matters in the country, and has also been accorded Pointed Show status in the national show calendar by the KCI.
Today more and more dog shows are sprouting across the country, which goes to show the popularity that dogs enjoy throughout, but the shows run by recognised affiliates are the only ones that are recognised under universal breed and show guidelines by KCI which in turn is affiliated to The Federation Cynologique Internationale, the world body, with headquarters in Belgium.
The breeds are divided into 11 groups, depending upon the nature of the dogs bred for a particular purpose, like Group 1 is Herding, Group 2 is Working etc. In these breeds dogs are segregate from bitches, as per their age groups and then they compete within those classes.
The winning dogs and bitches from these age-wise classes then compete for the Best of Breed in their respective Breeds. All the winners then qualify to compete for the Best in their respective groups. Once they win in their respective Groups, the top two or three qualify to compete in the Best in Show Lineup, and then they are placed from the Best in Show to the 8th Best in Show. There is a Best Puppy in Show and also a Best Bred in India which is chosen from amongst the top winners, to encourage breeders in India. Awards are also given for best Handler and Best Child Handler among others.
In India, there is a special group for Indian breeds. Awareness on native Indian breeds like Mudhol Hound, Caravan Hound, Indogs among others, and is growing which is evident from the entries of these breeds. Organisers of the show showed their gratitude to the management of KIITS-KISS group of institutions, with whose permission they made use of the wonderful ground and infrastructure.