Good things come in small ‘furry’ packages

While the cheerful four-legged golden retriever has secured an eternal spot in the hearts of most dog-loving people, nowadays, smaller sized pure-bred dogs and other petite cuddly pets have also captivated animal enthusiasts in Denpasar.

“The smaller dogs eat and poop less than their larger canine counterparts. So saying, they are relatively easy to groom and friendlier on the pocket,” said visitor Ngurah Gustra, while looking for a pug and a beagle at a pet shop in Jl. Setiabudi in Denpasar on Thursday.

The shop’s grooming and spa services, for instance, are all based on the size of their furry clientele. The prices for grooming treatments, which include bath, blow dry and nail cutting, range from Rp 50,000 (US$5.4) for petite dogs to Rp 150,000 for extra large ones.  Meanwhile, canine spa and massage treatments vary from Rp 150,000 to Rp 500,000 according to size.

Coming from a family of animal enthusiasts with a love for reptiles and larger dogs, Gustra, who already owns a mini pinscher and Pekingese, said he was thinking of opening a pet shop of his own that would specialize in selling small pedigree dogs. He estimated that start-up capital of Rp 50 million would be enough to begin his small-dog shop. “The start-up investment is affordable, while the selling prices are promising,” he said.

A dog’s small size does not necessarily indicate a small selling price.

At the shop, a shar-pei costs Rp 8 million, a shih tzu Rp 6.5 million, a cocker spaniel Rp 12 million, a Chihuahua Rp 8 million, while a toy poodle can be up to Rp 15 million. The larger canines are just as expensive, a Labrador costs Rp 5 million, with a rottweiler Rp 7.5 million, the same prices as an imported breed of golden retriever, while locally bred ones are about Rp 4 million.

Pet vendor War, whose tiny shop on Jl. Hayam Wuruk offers Pomeranians, mini pinschers and pugs, to name a few, highlighted some of the qualities of the smaller breeds. “Although they are small, some of them are noisy enough. They can serve as good house guards too,” said the former trader of larger breeds, including German shepherds, pit bulls and golden retrievers, who prefers to go by his one syllable name, War, while pointing at his continuously barking mini pinscher.

A senior member of staff at a pet shop-cum-kennel with 32 air-conditioned rooms on Jl. Teuku Umar, Komang Suryani, acknowledged that the fad for small-sized dogs in Denpasar has grown over the past year or two. “Since six years ago, large purebred dogs, like golden retrievers, Labradors and rottweilers, have been warmly welcomed here, and they still are. The smaller breeds are now following suit over this last year,” said Suryani.

Today, apparently, it’s not only the large and small pooches that are capturing the hearts of animal enthusiasts throughout the capital, as the cuddly rodent pet known as the golden hamster is also stealing some of the spotlight among the youngsters.

Hamster pet owner, Wayan Riska, whose parents have a Kintamani dog at home, said, “My dog only looked cute when he was still a puppy. I like my hamsters more because they stay small and are cute forever.”

The 17-year-old teenage girl has apparently already sniffed out some business opportunities from her rodent pets as they have been breeding; she initially had three, but now has 15. “They breed so fast. Sometimes I give away the pups for free, other times I sell them from Rp 25,000 to Rp 250,000, according to their type,” giggled Riska.

By Agnes Winarti 
Photo by Anggara Mahendra
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post, Friday, May 25 2012

Dog’s day: A member of staff at a pet grooming service trims a dog’s fur. BD/Anggara Mahendra

Bonsai lovers hope to revive local, int’l markets

The Bali chapter of the Indonesia Bonsai Lovers Association (PPBI) expects to revive the huge potential of bonsai and open up Bali’s opportunity to export these artistic miniature trees to overseas markets.

“As Indonesia’s international window, Bali has welcomed many wealthy visitors and foreigners who show huge market potential for purchasing bonsai,” PPBI Bali chairman, Winarto Selamat, told Bali Daily on Monday.

He cited demand for bonsai from European countries such the Netherlands and Germany, as well as South Asian countries like India.

“However, Indonesia has not been able to make the most of these demands,” said Winarto, stating that currently bonsai buyers from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand usually make individual purchases from Indonesian collectors, while large-scale bonsai exports are monopolized by a Belgian national who only buys mass-produced bonsai plants from farmers in Malang, East Java.

“We hope to break that domination,” said Winarto, who is hopeful that within the next two years bonsai hobbyists in Bali would be able to break into the global market with more professional promotions in online media and at various exhibitions.

Winarto emphasized that Bali has been home to numerous bonsai hobbyists-cum-artists who are highly skilled at training the trees, planted in shallow tray-like pots, into the beautiful forms required; bonsai literally means “planting in a tray” in Japanese. There are more than 500 bonsai lovers here on this island alone, he estimated.

Winarto’s initial efforts since he started chairing the PPBI Bali last year include inviting more bonsai hobbyists in Denpasar to collaborate in reviving the bonsai market and take up places among the rows of decorative plant and landscape businesses along part of Jl. Hayam Wuruk.

One of the hobbyists joining the collaboration is bonsai lover I Made Simon, who has 300 bonsai in his collection, worth around Rp 500 million (US$54,000), displayed at an outlet belonging to the street’s most senior bonsai trader, Hadi Subeki, whose father Mohammad Tawi was the one of the island’s first generation of bonsai traders.

“The creative process for making bonsai never ends, which makes this art an eternal kind of hobby,” said the garment businessman, who developed his passion for bonsai over the past 20 years and started bonsai trading only three years ago. As more bonsai hobbyists join the collaboration, it will lead to better transfer of knowledge among hobbyists, who will be able keep improving the artistic form of bonsai from many kinds of plants, which in turn will result in increasing value.

“For example, I learned from Pak Winarto to prune the ficus species of bonsai, while he learned my specialty, pruning the santigi species [Phempis acidula],” said Simon.

According to Hadi, bonsai prices have a huge range, from as cheap as Rp 50,000 for a dwarf plant that simply looks pretty to the eye, to a starting price of Rp 200,000 for a bonsai that adheres to the basic movement of the tree and shows a certain character and style.

“The most expensive bonsai, however, could be worth up to Rp 1 billion,” said Hadi, citing a number of elements that determined its value, including the rarity of the tree, the visual balance, the basic movement, the harmony it creates, as well as the tree’s health, impression of age and the anatomical balance between its main stem and branches.

“In Bali, bonsai art has been a remedy for the Balinese who were previously addicted to gambling. That’s a good effect for the Balinese people, I believe,” said Hadi, whose father started bonsai trading in 1980s.

By Agnes Winarti 
Photo by Zul Trio Anggono
Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Wednesday, May 16 2012

Miniature: Bonsai enthusiasts stroll through a spacious garden showcasing a variety of their beloved plants. BD/Zul Trio Anggono