Poodles and their owners descended on a Kowloon Bay mall yesterday, stealing hearts and drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd as they danced, leapt and cleared obstacle courses.
The Christmas toy poodle pageant at Telford Plaza aimed to draw attention to proper care for the animals, as one in five Hongkongers now kept pets, one of the event's organisers, Pet Pet Season magazine, said.
The magazine also released figures from its year-long survey to determine Hong Kong's most popular dog breed. So far, 5,964 respondents have put the little guys on top with Pomeranians, pugs, poodles, Shetland sheep dogs and chihuahuas leading the charge.
'It's keeping in trend with the rest of Southeast Asia,' said Celia Chan Mei-yee, one of the judges and the founder of Poodle Dynasty, a shop that sells and breeds poodles.
'People here tend to prefer smaller dogs.'
They say the miniatures are popular because they are better suited to smaller homes in Hong Kong.
