Canine lovers made a beeline to Gandhi Memorial Museum ground here, to showcase their pet dogs at the 17th and 18th All Breed Champion Dog Shows organised by Madurai Canine Club on Sunday.
A large number of locals visited the venue to witness the 194 dogs belonging to 34 breeds that took part. Canines from Kerala, Karnataka and from different parts of Tamil Nadu participated in the competition judged by Jacqueline Ann Perry from Thailand and veterinarian Agus Wardhana from Indonesia.
Common breed like German Shepherd, Labrador, Doberman, Pug, English Bull Dog and Rottweiler were seen in abundance.
The new entries for this year’s show were Chow Chow, Chinese Chrest, Poodle (smooth) and Poodle (toy).
The competition was held in two arenas and the participants were categorised into seven groups - toy, terrier, utility, hound, gundog, working and pastoral.
“From 10 a.m. in the morning, the participants were short-listed based on the traits of their ears, tails and running abilities.
Later in the evening, for the final round, the short-listed participants did a final line up in the arena to compete for the top honours”, said S. K. Bardhan, one of the promoters of the show.
“Not many in Madurai own Mudhol Hounds. Though they are ferocious dogs, they have taken exceptionally well to the region”, said Muthu Mahalakshmi, one of the few persons who had brought two Mudhol Hounds to the competition.
“We have 25 dogs in our home at Thirupalai. For this year’s competition we have brought three dogs”, said N.S. Raja, who had brought a Great Dane and two other dogs with him.
People from other States had brought their pets in special vans and the dogs were seen taking respite under the trees during the show. This is the ninth consecutive year the show was organised.
S. Ramanathan, president of Madurai Canine Club, and S. Balasubramanium, Secretary of the Club, were present.
