``With an increase in the number of dog clubs and the growing frequency ofdog shows in the country, more people are getting an exposure to thelucrative opportunities in the business of breeding and training dogstoday,'' says master trainer Suresh Sherawat, proprietor of Canine World,one of the leading training and breeding agencies in the country. Sherawat,who has 20 years of experience in the profession, claims to have establishedpersonal dog squads for celeb dog buffs like Amitabh Bachchan, SanjayGandhi, Lalit Suri, Lalit Khaitan and former minister Kamal Nath, amongothers.

``A major reason for the proliferation of dog breeding centres in thecountry is the realisation that this business spells big bucks. The factthat the infrastructure required for setting up a kennel is not difficult toorganise, helps the phenomenon,'' says Dr Man Mohan Sharma, a secondgeneration veterinary surgeon. Sharma's father, renowned veterinarian Dr S DSharma, edits a quarterly dog magazine and co-authored the Dog LoversManual, in 1961, one of the seminal studies on the subject in the country.

``The history of dog breeding in India goes back to the British. Given theirpenchant for sports, they were treating Cocker Spaniels, Pointers and GoldenRetrievers as hunting companions on their shikaars. Later, some princelypatrons like the late Yuvraaj Pratap Singh of Alwar who imported St Bernardsand Nawab Nazim Yar Jung of Hyderabad, who adored Alsatians, continued thetradition. But all these were carrying out breeding as a hobby. It was inthe eighties that the commercial gains of the profession gainedprecedence,'' says Sharma.

Till then, there was only one dog regulatory authority in the country: TheKennel Club of India based in Chennai. Today,there are three more- the NewDelhi-based Federation of Kennel Clubs of India, the Indian National KennelClub in Mumbai and the recently-formed Bharat Kennel Club, again in Chennai.A certificate of pedigree and registration from one of these, is a must formost authentic sales of pups.

``Today, we have reached a stage where breeders and trainers are advertisingin yellow pages and dial-in services, replete with video previews and livedemonstrations of the training,'' says Sherawat.

The canines do not cost a fortune either. One can buy a German Shepherd forRs 4,500 and a champion breed certified one comes for Rs 20,000. However, ifyou want to import one from Germany, it will set you back by Rs 1.5 lakh.The German-bred pups come for anything between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000.

But dog dividends are stupendous. One can sell a German Shepherd pup for Rs20,000 and even if one buys a champion breed pair for Rs 40,000 and theybear a litter of 8-10 pups a year, the annual earnings could be in the rangeof Rs 1,60,000-2,00,000. Given that the feeding and maintenance costs arenot more than Rs 1,000 every month, the profits are obvious. One could alsosupplement the sale income with payments from stud services which a pet canprovide to other owners at Rs 10,000 for one breeding session.

In the wake of the huge of commercial gains, all norms of proper breedinghave been thrown to the wind, though. ``Improper breeding is just one of thelacunae. Shady pedigree, lack of proper infrastructure for breeding andutter ignorance of the basics of animal psychology are rampant,'' saysSharma.

``For example, an ideal kennel should be air-conditioned. It should have atleast 6-foot of running space for the dogs both inside the kennel and aroundit, ample sunlight, toilet facilities for the pets, cross-ventillation and aprovision of a pesticide channel over the shed to prevent any infectionsfrom pervading the kennel premises. This is hardly followed, even by thosewho can afford it,'' says Sherawat.

Sherawat himself has been initiating a few rich men into the nuances ofproper pet care, at a cost. He charges Rs 200 per hour for his effort. ``Itusually takes 12 sessions of 3 hours each in the orientation programme whereI educate the owners about their pets in terms of training, feeding andmedical care,'' he explains.