New additions to this years festival sure to be a hit with the dogs
This year The North East Dog Festival welcomes two new have a go activities to the event which takes place over the weekend of Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September. The Festival will showcase all there is to love about dogs; with thousands of dogs and their owners expected to attend. The festival will take place at Northumberland College’s Kirkley Hall Campus in Ponteland, a specialist animal and land-based training venue that is perfect for the scale of the event.
One of the biggest attractions of the weekend is the opportunity for owners and their dogs to have a go at several different canine activities. Dogs will be able to try their paw at everything from agility to gundog scurries, flyball to hoopers and much more. There is also the chance to win prizes in the My Pet HQ Activity areas in games like Fastest Recall and Temptation Alley. Plus a new small paws area has been introduced for those littler legs.
Festival Directors Dawn and Rebecca commented “As a team we are always looking to grow and improve the festival, thanks to some fabulous local dog training clubs we are very excited to welcome Dog Parkour and Scentventure. These two brand new activities have never been seen before at the festival and we expect dogs and owners alike to have a great time giving them a go”.
Katie Guastapaglia of Scentventure commented “Scentventure is a new, exciting dog training experience sweeping the U.K. It helps your pulling, barking, lunging dog and keeps them fit, healthy and happy. Learn new skills that are as tiring as a long walk and leave your reactive, excitable or anxious dog calm, focused and confident. Scentventure is a complete lifestyle approach to training and behaviour!”
Nathan Squires of The Dog Log and Louise Birkett of Fellowship Dog Training commented “Also known as urban agility, dog parkour is a great sport to add to your daily walks. It's great for increasing your dog's confidence, teaching them some new things and it's just a great bonding activity. Whether jumping over logs, onto walls or under branches, you will have great fun with your dog. We can’t wait to show people what dog parkour is all about at this year's festival”.
As well as having a go at activities, visitors can enjoy display and demonstration rings which welcome crowd favourites like flyball and sheep herding, with a dog and falconry display being another new attraction for this year's event. In addition, the Wellness Tent will welcome expert speakers on topics ranging from dog behaviour to dog nutrition, offering visitors the opportunity to gain knowledge in a number of subjects. This year sees three charity dog shows with lots of classes across the weekend giving the chance for winners to go forward to win the coveted North East Dog Festival Festival Show Champion.
Everyone is welcome at the event, even if you don’t own a dog you can enjoy a weekend of displays, shopping, demonstrations, seminars and even a funfair.
