We had a brilliant day out at Nedfest 2017 at the weekend.
North East Dog Festival is held at Kirkley Hall, an outdoor pursuits centre and agricultural college in Northumberland.
There was more than 150 stands plus a show ring, a fairground, and an education marquee and thousands of gorgeous dogs!
So plenty for your furry friend to see and do and lots for us humans as well.
It’s always fun to check out all the stalls filled with gorgeous dog gadgets and accessories.
We treated Daisy to a fab cartoon print lead, bandana, collar and poo bag set from the Eco Dog Design Company.
It’s the one in blue on the picture.
Paula set up her business making gorgeous hand crafted accessories four years ago.
She’s got some brilliant designs which you can see at ecodogdesigns.com.
Georgie and Emma from Canine Camp made Daisy’s day by giving her a pack of posh Wild Boar Beco Pet treats.
The girls are both biologists and work in the pet shop and daycare centre in North Shields advising owners on the best nutrition for their pet.
We met Roo, a dog who was born with only her back legs.
She was rescued from Romania by a family from Northumberland, and her team had organised a dog show to raise funds for her treatment.
As well as a cart to get around, she needs regular hydrotherapy and physiotherapy and you can keep updated on her story on her Facebook page.
So her family put on fundraising events and this weekend she hosted her own dog show.
Daisy came 9th in the Golden Oldies – and tried to eat her rosette!
It was brilliant to see so many rescues at the event raising awareness of the work they do helping all kinds of breeds, from huskies to French Bulldogs.
We met Teresa Cargill from Phoenix French Bulldog Rescue, who we’ve written about on the blog.
She shared her expert tips if you’re considering a Frenchie on the blog with ‘Things you need to know before getting a French Bulldog’
Her story about rescue dog Pipkin featured in the Sunday Mirror.
It was great to meet in real life and learn about the work she does for this popular breed.
Teresa explained the extremely thorough vetting process adopters go through to make sure the dogs find the right fur-ever home.
And she told us that she’s seen an alarming rise in dogs needing rehoming in the first week of September.
A recent Dogs Trust report highlighted the ‘Back to School’ effect.
They said the number of dogs they were asked to take in DOUBLED on September 5th, the start of the school year.
I think any owner in their right mind would find this staggering – the charity claim people use dogs to keep kids entertained over the summer.
I’m a firm advocate of rescuing dogs rather than buying from breeders.
Teresa’s work shows that whatever the breed – Frenchies are the most popular in the UK right now – you can offer one in a rescue a loving home.
Daisy meets Dominic Hodgson
Daisy and Teresa of Phoenix Rescue
We met up with Dominic Hodgson, a dog trainer and behaviourist who we’ve been chatting to on Facebook.
He gave a talk on ‘How to be your dog’s Superhero’ which is the title of his training book.
The key, he says, is to find something in the house that your dog LOVES.
It might be a smelly sock, a dishcloth, teddy bear or a stinky slipper (the smellier the better for Daisy!)
Take that out on walks with you and use it to help get your dog’s attention.
Dominic ran a dog adventure business and fell into dog training.
He was tearing his hair out as he struggled to get the attention of the dogs he walked.
He learned how to make walks stress free and decided to write a book so other owners could do it too.
It’s well worth a read and you can learn more on his website mydogssuperhero.com
We take our hats off to the organisers.
It was an absolute awesome day with something for everyone and everything for dogs!
Daisy was worn out by the time we left and snoozed for the rest of the day.
We can’t wait to go back to the North East Dog Festival next year!
Visit www.northeastdogfestival.com for updates.