Salt Lake hosted a dog show after many months on Sunday and dogs and dog lovers poured in. The approach to the venue — AB-AC Park — was choc-a-block with cars from every side and the collective excitement knew no bounds.
“This was our first show and we had expected at most 150 entries in our all-breed category but ended up with 175. Our gun dog and working dog specialty rounds drew more entries than we had thought too,” said Anirban Nag, on behalf of Loyal Legacy Kennel Club. “And so many visitors came down that the police had to ask them to leave for about half an hour in the evening. But the show went on undisturbed.”
A playful Boxer jumps on a lady. Basudeb Behera
Naughty and noble
The show had its share of mischievous pets. “Our American Akita Amy has noble stories as well as naughty ones but for the noble ones I’ll have to rack my brains,” laughed Suparna Majumder, who had come from Howrah.
“We got Amy after watching the film Hachi: A Dog’s Tale but she’s not as calm as the Akita in the film. She’s obstinate and dominating and wants to be the leader of the pack. She’s slightly unpredictable so we aren’t allowing visitors to pet her today. They’re welcome to click her though,” Majumder said.
Also in the ring were Boxers Gabbar and Basanti. “The most common question I get asked is if their kids will be named Jai and Veeru,” laughed Devyani Paul. Her daughter, eight-year-old Adri Chakraborty, attested that Gabbar was the naughtiest in the house, “as he has been caught red-handed stealing ilish machh, fried chicken and Basanti’s toys. But I love having dogs at home. They keep me happy and active,” she chirped.
There was also a brave feline present in the dog show. Persian cat Joyee had come with sister Olly, a Cocker Spaniel. “Since she’s used to living with a dog at home, she isn’t perturbed by them and is exuding calm confidence today,” said Moumita Mitra of Behala. “It’s our cat who bullies our dog. We have rabbits too and I suspect Joyee sometimes thinks she’s a rabbit as they share the same white fur and she pulls their leaves too.”
Young fans
While some visitors were too scared to go near the dogs, three-year-old Damayanti Ray Chowdhury was in tears for a different reason. “Ami doggy ke niye dolna chorbo,” she cried, pointing at a Dachshund as elder sister Divyabrata tried to pacify her by putting her on a merry-go-round, albeit empty-handed.
Indrayudh Chakraborty, all of seven, was overheard asking others to overcome their irrational fear of breeds like Doberman and Rottweilers. “It all depends on how you bring them up,” he explained, proudly presenting his Doberman Skye as an example. “See how friendly he is!”
A Rottweiler named Duke barked away to glory as visitors approached him but his five-year-old guardian Aayushi Golui was all smiles. “See! Duke has won this medal,” she told passersby, showing them the medal hanging from her own neck. “I’m proud of him but I shall wear it now.”
There were rare breeds too. Russo, a Corgi, had come from Durgapur. Corgi is the breed Queen Elizabeth has had since her childhood. There was Babu, a black Chow Chow from Jamshedpur, and even a high energy Fox Terrier puppy Milo from Howrah.
The best in show prizes in the two rings went to Moumita Bhattacharjee Ray’s German Shepherd Dog (GSD) Zorro and Manas Ghosh’s GSD Dyana.