Many thanks to Alfie Penfold for contributing this piece:
The Littlehempston Fun Dog Show had to be postponed to the Bank Holiday weekend in August due to a severe storm in July. The Met Office were predicting lightning and thunder this time, but fortunately we were spared any bad weather and instead received some glorious sunshine and no rain. We were also graced by Judy Comer-Calder known as the ‘Devon Dog Lady’. Judy kindly agreed to be the judge for this year’s event and her passion and vast experience with dogs was evident, as she worked through the various classes with ease.
Everyone enjoyed the delicious spread of home-made cakes accompanied by elderflower cordial and Pimms, and most people won prizes on the Tombola and Raffle and stocked up on local vegetables kindly donated by Deapp Farm. Bunting around the stalls helped transform the dog arena and community meadow into a spectacular venue for the show.
The opening dog class was “Best Handler under 12”. Despite some of the less experienced dog handlers, the many children very quickly displayed no shortage of skills and definitely rose to the occasion. A young boy called Archie with his dog Barry ultimately impressed the judge most and was rightfully rewarded.
The second dog class was no less technical, “Dog with the best trick”, up next. With so many different tricks, judge Judy and her assistant judge Helena Penfold, eventually decided on a winner and ended-up selecting a dog called Peg with her dog handler Maggie.
With the next class, “Dog Most Like its Owner”, the main prize went to Willow and her dog handler Margaret. The Judge did comment on how most dogs tend to look like their owners, but this clearly was no challenge for Judy.
“The most friendly dog” category proved to be a more difficult class to judge with most dogs very happy to be at the dog show. The winning prize went to Katy and her handler Sam, who took time off from running the Pimms stall to scoop first prize.
The final class “Cutest Cuddly Toy Dog” resulted in a very cute toy called “Inkey Oscar” belonging to a young girl called Tallis. For the first time at these dog shows, we had several adults participating in the class including Sally Ingle with her hand-knitted dog coats on display. They proudly exhibited their dog toys, which helped add to the occasion and in keeping with the event being a ‘Fun’ Dog Show.
Special thanks to Halls in Totnes, Dart Vale Vets, Seymour Vets and Bluebird Care for sponsoring the event. Thanks also to the many volunteers and helpers that donated so much of their time and to Cllr Sam Penfold for supporting the event and helping with the awards and prizes. Around £500 was raised in aid of the Littlehempston Community Space – the local “village hall”.