Hundreds of dog breeds shown at Pantai Mutiara

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of breeds were shown in a one-day dog show yesterday sponsored by the All Indonesian Kennel Club and Dharmala Intiland, the club's spokesman said yesterday at Pantai Mutiara, North Jakarta.

Hadi Iskandar said about 450 local and imported breeds were classified into five groups, including Boxers, Dobermans and poodles, and scored only on their anatomies, not skills.

"Most of the dogs brought here today are of imported breeds," Hadi said, adding that non-club members could attend and that participants could bring more than one dog.

Hengky, a participant with a German shepherd, Great Dane and Great Pyrenees at his house at Sukabumi, West Java, brought his 20-month-old Pyrenees named Barbara.

He said Barbara eats a daily mix of one-kilo dried dog food and 10 capsules of calcium, and drinks a mix of two glasses of milk and two egg yolks. "I spend up to Rp 700,000 a month on foods and vitamins for the three dogs."

American Debbie Cozart brought two of her three black standard poodles and won eight trophies.

Debbie, who served on the dog show jury for the last three years, takes care of the dogs herself. "It takes two to four hours to bathe each of the dogs and another two to four hours to groom them. They are cleaned once every one or two weeks."

Another participant, Boedi Soeryanto, brought 12 of his 25 dogs to the contest. He has to provide at least six kilos of dried dog food and two kilos of fresh meat a day for all his dogs. "I also pay about Rp 200,000 a year for dogs licenses."

Boedi, who also runs a pet shop, said he tried to keep his dogs in good health by routinely giving them vitamins and medicine.

"Antibiotics can be given to cure a dog with the flu. A puppy weighing around five kilos like Tackle could be given about 75 milligrams to 100 milligrams of antibiotics."

Many people love dogs and do not mind spending money on them, Hadi said, adding that the club has 5,000 members nationwide.

"Unfortunately, many dog lovers still prefer to breed imported dogs because they are not aware that Indonesia has three of its own breeds: the Kintamani from Bali, from Tengger and from West Sumatra," Hadi said.

But the government, he said, has yet to explore the local breeds due to a lack of funds and experts. (04)