Must love dogs and humans, too

MANILA, Philippines – A father-and-son bond has been strengthened by their love of dogs. Edgardino “Dino” Tan, a hardware store owner, and his son John Carlo Tan, a second-year high school student, who dreams of becoming a doctor someday, have a kennel with nine purebred dogs — five pugs, two Mini Pinscher, and two Shih Tzu.

Their love of dogs has brought them to the show rings of Philippine Canine Club, Inc. (PCCI).

It all started in 2005 when a friend of Dino’s gifted the family with a Miniature Pinscher. A year after this, Dino got invited by an online group to attend a pet owner handling seminar, where Dino asked son Carlo to accompany him.

Although his father was not able to join the competitions himself because of his slipped disk, Carlo was the one who picked up from where his father started.

After attending the dog-handling seminar, Carlo practiced his newly acquired skills with his pet dogs with the help of Landel Bueno, a professional handler. Soon enough, in 2006, Carlo started joining PCCI shows. His efforts paid off as his Pug won the Best of Breed and Group 2 placement in the May 2007 PCCI show. He was also able to finish their first homebred Pug to its title under the name Perfect Ten Kennel.

Small but terrible — like the dogs that he handles — Carlo is now a regular in PCCI Dog Shows where he always stands out.

After all, starting at 10 years old and now aged 13, petite Carlo is the youngest owner-handler in these premier dog competitions where he has been competing with both professional and pet-owner handlers in the show ring.

Dino would not miss any of his son’s competitions. The proud father watches by the sidelines every time.

Instead of playing computer games on weekends, you can find Carlo in a show ring, leash in hand, parading a pampered pooch before finicky judges and adoring spectators. The awards he has garnered from joining these competitions have already piled up.

But more than these awards, Dino said that it is the development of his son’s personality and learned responsible pet ownership that is the most treasured.

“What is fulfilling in dog handling is that you learn and master an entirely new discipline where both you and your pet benefit from. As his dog learns to behave and socialize, Carlo also increases his confidence and socialization skills. He learns how to socialize more with both his peer dog handlers, as well as with the audience,” Dino pointed out.

Asked for his advice to kids who would like to follow in his footsteps, Carlo said, “An aspiring dog handler, or any pet owner for that matter, should be close to his dog and always be attentive to its needs, know all the strong and weak points of his dog.”