How January leapt four-legged into cyberspace from the pages of Chennai’s social diary

—The dog show by the Madras Canine Club cannot be unthreaded from the warp and woof — if you will forgive the pun — of the metro’s social life in January. Together with the Marghazhi music season and the book fair, it formed a trifecta of engagements that made January glint with pride as it sat beside its 11 cousins on Chennai’s social and cultural calendar. The Madras Canine Club’s dog show had a particularly wide-angled appeal, one that stretched beyond the show-dog fraternity to have even general dog lover eating out of its paws. It was a day out for the entire family — and often, just one lone dog lover in the family could succeed in the setting up a date for the entire family with canines. It was a photo op — in the age of selfie-friendly handphones, that amounts to a truckload of memories. Now, the question is: In these pandemic times, in every sphere, efforts have been made to keep the faithfuls engaged, virtually. How can you fit an entire dog show — with hundreds of canines with varied sizes, and thousands of spectators, dozens of judges — into a six-inch screen?

When Siddhartha Sudarsan and Jaisimha KB considered engaging with the regulars online, the thought of a virtual dog show did not even reach the utmost recesses of their mind.

Siddharatha, honorary secretary of Madras Canine Club, remarks that beyond the logistics, it would be a disaster on the plane of experience. Dogs are judged on a variety of factors, some of which — such as sociability and obedience — would come into play only in a pulsatingly alive, in-person environment. Besides, for the spectators, the real sensorial experience of watching a dog in action a few meters away cannot be replicated.

The duo decided on connecting with the community through a matrix of knowledge-sharing online sessions. “The pandemic had opened up a new avenue of content delivery,” notes Siddhartha. It would have been a shame to have this avenue closed for the fraternity, particularly because the extent of knowledge-sharing in terms of canines is as wide as the globe itself. As geographical boundaries had crumbled, if they went to the right resource persons, they could parade 'n' number of dog breeds.

“Our first session — on April 18, 2020 — was about common behavioural issues with dogs and it was handled by dog behaviour specialist Manjunath from Bengaluru. That was the only programme we did on Madras Canine Club-handled Instagram plage; all others would be done on the Club's Facebook page,” says Siddhartha.

Jaisimha, a committee member of the Madras Canine Club, adds that the sessions, which have been recorded, can be accessed by anyone at no cost from the Club’s YouTube channel as well.

“Our end goal was to reach out to the common man who did not know about dogs, but wanted to make a start somewhere. New breeds not seen in India would be something very different for them. We also featured many regularly seen breeds. However, somewhere along the line, we decided not to focus only on breeds, and moved towards offering a complete package about dogs, which included how to care for them, that is, for any dog,” says Siddhartha.

The focus on breeds was an eclectic offering, and the duo seems to have scoured every corner for subject matter experts.

“We had a session with the Australian shephered breeder Judy Flynn Vandersteen from the United States. One of the top breeders of the Australian shepherd, Judy had exported a dog to Australia, which had won the best in show at Sydney Royale, one of the top shows in Australia, with over 4000-odd dogs participating in it. The Jack Russell Terrier presentation was extremely detailed: the resource person Dr. Candice Lundin is a veterinarian, and one of the first people to get Jack Russell Terrier properly recognised by the American Kennel Club. She has done a lot of defining work in terms of standardising the breed,” elaborates Jaisimha.

“The session on Border Collies — handled by Heather Turner, one of the top breeders from the UK — explained how this breed evolved, with differences defined by where a border collie was raised, and how they were all amalgamated. We had a session with Vicky Collins-Nattrass, who is credited with helping bring in a day called Bull Dog Day in the United Kingdom. She has created considerable awareness about breed standards. She explained why a bull dog should not be too loaded — too heavy is not too good.”

The duo notes that sessions about popular breeds in India from the top drawer of experts ensured enthusiastic participation. Jaisimha remarks that these sessions have helped demystify notions around some of the breeds; one of which is about “woolly-coated Siberian Husky, which is often promoted as a desired rarity, whereas a woolly-coated Siberian husky is a deviation from the breed standards, as that is not the right coat type for the Siberian husky.”

“Where pugs were concerned, we brought in Jenny Whitney, a breeder from Australia, who was able to demystify false ideas that have accreted around the popular understanding of the breed. There is the notion that black colour is unique — which is not a fact — it is all down to the breeder’s predisposition of bringing two specific colours,” elaborates Jaisimha.

Siddhartha adds: " A session on German shepherds by Sanjit Mohanty (who has the prestigious Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde — in short, SV — certification from Germany turned out to be a monster session, one that went on for two to two-and-a-half hours. Usually, a session would go on for an hour or an hour and a half. There was also a session on the Dobberman, handled by Tammy Rabold of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America.”

Siddhartha draws attention to how many veterinarians and dog-care specialists came into the picture when the initiative broad-based its approach.

Jaisimha highlights this side of the exercise: “Discussing nutrition for dogs, Charley Gray from the United Kingdom was able to provide insights into naturally available food — it is called Bone And Raw Food (BARF) — for dogs. There is a school of thought that as descendants of the wolf, dogs should be able to digest naturally available food. She provided a lot of insight into how this food can be customised and made more beneficial for the dog. How food allergies can be managed. How one should exercise caution about BARF itself, taking great care about what naturally available food is fed to dogs. For example, grapes cannot be fed to dogs — not many people know this, and they persist in their ignorance. We reached out to doctors who could address various concerns dog lovers had about their pets: We brought on board Dr. Catherine Rebecca who is a generalist and then Dr. Nagarajan, a skin specialist, who has retired from the veterinary college, after having served as HOD of its dermatology department.”

He observes how these sessions on veterinary medicine made the initiative more inclusive, as it was relevant to anyone tethered by love to any dog.