Seven-year-old Tanishka carefully wiped off dirt from her nine-month-old Cherry's face so that the pug could qualify for a show conducted for canines.
"My father gifted me Cherry on my birthday two months ago. I love Cherry and she too loves me a lot. Everyday I wake up around 8am and the first thing I do is to go and check what Cherry is doing. I give her a bath once a week," said a smiling Tanishka.
She was the youngest dog owner in the All-Breed Dog Championship organised by Canine Club of Bihar on Sunday.
The show saw around 100 dog owners bringing their "best friend" to the championship. Apart from the pug, a St Bernard, Pomeranian, Lhasa Apso, French Mastiff, Dalmatian also participated.
Tanishka's father Dr Vikash Sharma, who had accompanied her to the competition, said: "Tanishka shares a very special bond with Cherry. Apart from Cherry, she has other pets, including fish, rabbit, turtle, even lovebirds. She is emotionally attached to all her pets. She is so attached to each one of them that when a fish is about to breathe its last, she asks me to help it with a drip. On some occasions when a fish died, Tanishka said I was not a good veterinarian," said Sharma. Cherry stood first among more than 10 in the pug category.
Mrinalini Sinha (55), another dog owner seen cuddling Peterson, her two-year-old Pomeranian, said she has developed an emotional bond with the Pomeranian.
"Four years ago my earlier Pomeranian (Dolly) died. I had asked my son to get me a dog but because of some reasons he couldn't. Last year in July, I was surprised when one of my son's friends gifted me a Pomeranian. This was so far the best gift of my life," said Sinha adding: "Peterson loves eating soyabean. At my place you would get many soyabean packets but that is exclusively for Peterson," said Sinha.
Raja (15), who had brought his St Bernard named Pasha at the show, said his companion follows every instruction of his. "He is fully trained. When I ask him to bow, sleep , jump and attack, he does everything," said an elated Raja.
While Pallavi Ranjan's French Mastiff Deberyl won the best puppy award, in the German Shepherd category, dogs Shadow owned by Suraj Prakash and Noni, a dog owned by Intekhab Alam, shared the best in show trophy. In the Rottweiler category, Volt, a dog owned by Rishik Sharma, won the best in show award.
