A Dogs Day Out event is being held in Prestwich next Monday, offering a range of fun activities for Greater Manchester dogs and their owners.
The festival is taking place outside Sedgley Rugby Club between 11 and 5 and will involve 6 half-hour dog training master classes, 5 dog shows and a Dogs Got Talent event.
There will also be stalls of independent Greater Manchester retailers, selling a range of doggy goodies, as well as food for both humans and their pets.
The event will be raising money for Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary, as guests can make small donations to take part in activities such as the races or the ‘Smooch your pooch booth’, a kissing booth where owners can smooch their pooch and have a portrait taken.
Kelly Jo Harris, a production manager from Events Club Mcr, the group hosting the festival, said: “I really wanted to put something on that was focused on the dog having fun. A lot of the dog festivals that I’ve been to are heavily focused on the retail side of the event, so what I wanted to do was have fun games that people could do with their dogs, I wanted them to learn lots of tips and take part in lots of fun master classes with a variety of really great trainers from across Greater Manchester, because there’s been an influx in people buying dogs throughout lockdown and not everybody knows that there’s so many different ways to train a dog.
“It will just be a fun community day, we’ve got dogs coming from all over Greater Manchester which is great. It’s our first event, and I’m really excited to see what it’s going to be like, and it helps that the sun’s going to be out, because that means people can enjoy it for longer, and hopefully help us raise more.
“We just want to raise as much money as we can for that animal sanctuary, they’re absolutely unbelievable with what they do and they’ve obviously suffered a lot because they’ve not been able to open for a long time.
“Then all the suppliers are supporting Bleakholt but we also want to support them because we all know how hard it’s been, one of the main ethos’s of the events club is that everyone that we work with are independent suppliers so they’re all Manchester based, all independent and they all really need the support.”
Tickets can be bought online, with one dog costing £10, two dogs £15, and 3 or more £17.50, although guests can also pay on the day.
Owners can then enter their dog into the individual dog shows on the day, and there are also prizes for those who complete challenges, with many being donated by the event’s retailers.
MediaCityUK-based dog trainer, Kirsty Walker, also known as Quays to Success Dog Training, will be hosting a puppy master class at the event and performing demonstrations throughout the day with Meg, her assistant dog in training.
Kirsty said: “It’s my first in person event of the year so it’s exciting, and basically it’s a way for people to meet other dog owners in a Covid secure way.
“There’s lots of different things happening to what you’d normally expect at an event, it sounds amazing, Kelly’s got some really amazing speakers there, so there’s talks going on, classes going on so you can participate as well and meet different trainers, so yeah it will be really really nice.
“I’ve really missed going to dog events, I love going as a pet owner so it will be really nice to join in and help people out and just have a good time.”
Quays to Success Dog Training has been taking place over Zoom during the pandemic, which Kirsty says actually speeds up training due to the lack of distractions, and the comforting atmosphere that home provides.
During the Dogs Day Out event, Kirsty will be handing out vouchers offering a free month of her puppy club, which includes free games to play with your pup each day, as well as weekly online classes.
Those who cannot attend can also make use of the offer by visiting Quay-to-success-dog-training.teachable.com/p/puppy-club and entering ‘PUPPYFREE’ at checkout.
Quays to Success Dog Training’s in person classes will be starting at Media City at the end of June, and anybody interested should contact Kirsty via quaytosuccessdogtraining@outlook.com or phone on 07500872140.
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