Dog lovers and enthusiasts weather the rain to see German Shepherds shine

Winners will represent Pakistan at international competition.

ISLAMABAD: Dog lovers on Sunday braced the cold and rain when they turned out in great numbers to witness expertly trained German Shepherds on the second day of the Sieger Dog Show 2012.

Enthusiasts flocked to the park to watch double-coated Shepherds, arguably the most respected pedigree, who came from different parts of the country, compete. At least one pair arrived at the show from China.

"The double-coated are the most beautiful of the Shepherds - in any competition, they stand tall," said organiser Shehram Niazi.

In the open category for females, Zubair Malik's Waka Waka zum Kolbenguss placed first while Thomas Kern and Tahir Shah's Herbie vom Ortshern took home the prize in the category for males.

In the Open Sieger and Siegerin categories, Major (retd) Aftab Anwar Lodhi and Usman Baloch's Grappa von Tronje won in the female category, while Malik Yousuf and Tahir Sheikh's male Shepherd Natzo Bad-Boll took first in its category.

The two-day show was jointly organised by the Kennel Club of Pakistan and German Shepherds Dog Club (GSDC) at the Fatima Jinnah Park. With 183 entries received from across Pakistan in different categories from Karachi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sheikhpura, the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and China.

The GSDC is associated with the World Union of German Shepherd Clubs (WUSV), according to organisers. The Seiger show winners will then go onward to compete and represent Pakistan at the annual World Championship for German Shepherd Dogs held in Germany under the WUSV.

Pakistan has had two prizewinning dogs at the international competition, first in 1982 and more recently in 2010.

The show was judged by foreign experts, Germany's Hans-Peter Rieker who visited Pakistan after 25 years and Luciano Musolino from Italy. They were both given shields at the conclusion of the show. GSDC Pakistan founder Anwar Hussainwas given a lifetime achievement award by the organisers who promised to return to Islamabad and incorporating additional territories.

View pictures of the event here.