The dog show at Basanti Puja Ground in Rourkela. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, Feb. 10: Eighty-two dogs of 12 breeds took part at a canine show organised here yesterday.

The adorable and faithful domestic animals yesterday showed various antics and charmed the audience.

The dogs had every reason to wag their tails as they returned home with prizes at the end of the day.

Salil Patnaik, president of K-9 Club, said this was the first time that they had organised the show.

Earlier, there was a pet lovers’ club that used to organise dog shows for eight years. But that club has disintegrated. “This is our first attempt, and it is a huge success. The participation of so many dogs says volume about the love of local people for their dogs and the show,” said Patnaik.

Talking about the objective of organising the show, he said: “We had organised the event to create a bridge between dog keepers and dog lovers, we are organising the show. We will organise it every year,” Patnaik.

He said dogs of several breeds such as Doberman, German Shepherd, Labrador, Golden Retriever, Pug, Alsatian, Beagle, Pomeranian, Dachshund, Cocker Spaniel, Spitz were on show.

Vice-president of the club Rakesh Jena said the dog owners from the city as well as from places such as Rajgangpur and Sambalpur had come to take part in the show.

As the dogs were pets and were not trained, the judge commanded them to carry out some basic acts.

The pet owners were also trying to get their pets do some tricks. “Based on the tricks and how the dogs have been kept and reared, the judges declared them winners,” said Jena, a dog lover whose pet bagged prizes in several categories. Happy at the good turnout, Patnaik said that earlier people were reluctant to take part in large numbers as their dogs were kept in a conditioned environment. That has changed, he said.

“We are planning to make the show big and organise it at the state-level,” said an organiser.