Olympics for Pets - Olympets !!

By Radha Deep

I am writing this just as Micheal Phelps takes his eighth gold medal in the Beijing Olympics and is declared the greatest Olympian ever, beating the record of seven gold medals of Mark Spitz, created 36 years ago!  

The Beijing Olympics began with a spectacular opening ceremony and continues to enthrall the whole world with its magnificent show of sportsmanship.

Yet, as the whole world watches, either in Beijing, or glued to their TV sets, there is one enterprising pet shop owner in Hong Kong who feels our pets too are good enough for tournaments!

I read about this yesterday in the newspaper and then did a search on “Olympets”. Given below is the long and short of what I read about this unique attempt.

Howard Cheung of the PetMAX store in the city, is believed to have decided to set up matches for animals after the Olympics started. He also believes that this would provide a great avenue for healthy exercise routines for the pets.

Pets are very popular in Hong Kong in spite of unavailibility of space and dogs being banned in some parks. There are so many pet grooming parlours and also a bakery that caters exclusively to animals!

The Olympets will therefore evince great interest , enthusiasm and participation by the pets and their dedicated owners. The various events will last for all of 70 days!

For want of space, the pets have lesser opportunities to exercise in open air. The “Olympets” will hopefully provide a premise for this, according to Howard Cheung.

Here you can witness parrots climbing ropes, rabbits leaping across hurdles with elan and cats showing off their agility, besides many more….According to Howard Cheung, 400 animals have so far participated in the heats.

The PetMAX store will also be giving away medals in the prize ceremony scheduled for the end of August!

However lovely the medal may appear, the animal that enters the competition would prefer a treat every time, not a gold medal! Use the treat wisely while training the dog, so that he is always firmly persuaded to do what you bid, in order to excel.

If you want more tips on training, do have a look at Clicker Training your Dog