Pooch Olympics in Japan

Canine lovers in Japan gathered at Dog-Olympics or Inulympics, in Japanese, to enjoy games and competitions with their mutts. Our correspondent in Yokohama has more.
Today is a special day for dogs and their owners. Its the 2008 Inulympic Games in Yokohama, and canine enthusiasts are here to have a great time.

Metropolitan cities in the region of Kanto are densely populated, leaving only very small areas for dogs to run around and play. The Inulympics is the event for dogs to fulfill their dream of friendly competition and fun games.

[Uichirou Fujino, 2008 Inulympic Games Organizer]:
Japan has very few places you can take your dog to. We started this event to help establish places where man and his best friend could socialize freely.

Field Retrieve is one of the competitions at the Inulympics. Its a game of fetch, but with a point system based on distance and time. Owners throw their dogs favorite toy into different zones to accumulate as many points as possible in 90 seconds.

Here we have the 50-meter dash. Each dog is timed and ranked to determine the winner.

Other events like the Obstacle Course and Wine Steward Balance require good coordination between dog and owner to win.

Japans limited space makes it very important for dog owners to be responsible for their pets behavior and respect Japans social manners. The Inulympics' main goal, according to Uichirou-san, is to improve peoples conduct as a pet owner. Uichirou-san believes that a more harmonious society can be created by improving ones own courteous character, rather than making laws to govern bad social behavior.

[Uichirou Fujino, 2008 Inulympic Games Organizer]:
If we can be careful and understand each other, we can move forward this way rather than making countless laws. This is what I believe.

Im Yukichi Negishi. NTD News, Yokohama, Japan.

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