Gone to (see) the dogs

I spent Sunday at the Pedigree Bench Dog Show and I am not complaining. It was loads of fun.

The venue was the Tent at The Fort. From the looks of the dogs and the humans present that afternoon, there seemed to be a bias for big breed dogs. OK, so it’s true I was out looking for the Toy Poodles and the like and I didn’t get to see any of them out there.

But the pedigreed dogs at the Pedigree show were really the best we have around.

There was a line of humans patiently awaiting their turn to enter the Tent. The bouncers were on hand to prevent any dog-wagging incident – and as far as we saw, the humans were so patient, no matter the heat.

"We have a Filipino dog here," said Nita Lichauco, Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) president, to me. So off we went to check out the Filipino dog at the PAWS booth. Eight-month-old Alicia, a rescued dog, patiently sat at the booth as PAWS volunteers took turns cradling her. Nita told us that although PAWS is not for the breeding of native dogs, they would like to be able to establish a breed standard for the Filipino dog. "It’s not easy," Nita whispered, more to herself than me. I nodded in agreement. It ain’t easy to set a standard for a dog which has often been considered a delicacy in some parts of this country. How now?

As we moved about in the very crowded Tent, we were greeted by all sorts of doggie smells and barks, too.

There were many dogs who had opted to sleep under the chairs their humans brought for them. Others preferred to hog the electric fans which produced cooler air.

Yes, although the Tent is a big place, it seemed small that day. After all, there was a two-ring, full-breed dog show going on in one half of the Tent. The other half served as the bench area where humans could go around and ask all they wanted of the breeders about the different methods of caring and raising these precious pedigreed breed. Pedigree is proud of the fact that this Bench show was patterned after the Crufts Dog Show abroad where people not only get to see the best of the dog breeds but also get to meet the people behind these pedigreed canines. And when you get to meet a breeder, there are all sorts of them, and then there are others who truly love their breeds and are perfect conversationalists when it comes to their doggies.

But, hot it was. We pitied the dogs who remained calm and cool through it all. The only sign we saw they were feeling the heat was in their eyes which all looked really beat. A black French Bulldog, for instance, stared out into empty space with his big, goo-goo eyes. He was probably daydreaming about open fields, blue skies and cool breeze caressing his face.

But leave it to their creative and loving humans to find ways to make their canine lives comfy.

There was Oliver Tan, breeder of Miniature Schnauzers, who was with Boo and Hans, his two Mini Schnauzer companions. Oliver let Hans and Boo sleep on the grooming table where it was a bit cooler. I gave the two cuties a pat on the head, but neither of them stirred – they were really sleeping. "It’s so hot, the dogs are just dead tired," said Oliver to me. But when I asked if Jun Mendoza could take a photo of Boo and Hans, Oliver gently nudged them and prepared them for the photo op.

Boysie Villavicencio, who is a board member of the Philippine Canine Club Inc. (PCCI) and an excellent breeder to Whippets, was there, too. He gamely posed for us; so did his two Whippets.

The Bulldogs were drooling heavily, a clear sign that they too were feeling the heat. Malone, a champion Bulldog, was being fed Clover Chips and he looked mighty happy about it.

The Jack Russells, which are normally a frisky little breed, were also lying down and trying to conserve their energy.

We spotted some great-looking Chow Chows, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Shih-Tzus, and many more.

Before we left the Tent to go outside and watch the obstacle course we watched as a Giant Poodle was being groomed. He sat, and sat and sat. It’s no joke being a Poodle, a good-looking one at that.

Outside, we watched as Max, a Labrador Retriever, did the obstacle course demo for us. Cindy was handling him and both of them looked great.