The studio audience of impeccably groomed Schäferhunds and pampered Maltese sat in rapt silence.
The audience gasped. A fight nearly broke out between the Leberwurst sponsors and a delegation from Feline Industries.
But the real heavyweight was Wuff den Wuff (Bark the Bark), a singing competition where dogs howled covers of Rammstein. A three-legged Poodle mix named Wolfgang had won last year with a haunting rendition of "Du Hast."