On Sunday 6th October, we took our Golden Retriever Dudley to Pawfest 2024. The event started at 10am and being an early bird, we got there for the start time. You could get tickets in advance for £15 per adult or on the day for £18. We ended up buying our tickets on the door as originally the forecast said it was going to be a wash out so we weren't completely sure whether we were going to commit to it or not. Luckily, it turned out to be perfect Autumn weather for the dogs! With your entrance fee, you picked up a Goody Bag at the entrance (which included tokens to use on 'try me activities') and then you were on your way!
We were advised to head straight down the end and work our way back so that's exactly what we did. We used one of our tokens to have a go at the Flyball. Dudley loved it - he had a good 3-4 go's at running over the jumps and getting the ball at the other end. It was all fully enclosed so even though we couldn't quite grab him at first when he finished as he was just so excited, we knew he wasn't going anywhere! Phew!
We then wandered along the stalls and bumped into Pete Lewin with his black Newfoundland Ralph who were going to be doing a talk and rescue demonstration later on in the day. I loved how he was just happy to chat with us about his dogs and the truly inspiring work they do!
We then ventured off to find some more 'try me activities.' Dudley had a go at 'Temptation Alley' where he had to run to me at the other end without touching any of the toys or treats en route. By some miracle he did it and got a mini certificate. Not on the way back though - he couldn't resist picking up the soft toy beefburger!
He got himself on the leaderboard in 3rd place for the 'Agility Run' too - even though he didn't go through the tunnel but apparently all the dogs were just going round it too!
We then had a go at the 'Rally Race' where he was timed how long it took him to track down a 'roadkill' looking soft toy on a wire for 100m. He smashed it - almost catching the toy and getting himself on the leaderboard too! I think he did it in just over 10 seconds - a dog Olympic record maybe?
After a couple of hours, we had a lunchbreak and ate our picnic on the grass bank which was gorgeous in the Autumn sunshine. A nice rest for us and a little down time for Dudley, watching the comings and goings of the day.
The Fun Dog Show was starting around midday so I signed him up for 2 classes. It was £2 per class and if you handed in your entry leaflet on the way out, you were also entered into a competition. Our first class was 'Any Variety 12-18 month year old.' Dudley had just turned 18 months so it was nice that he could go in a 'youngster' class as normally these events only do 'Puppy' and then straight to 'Adult.' There were 7 of us in the class which was a lovely amount as we could keep our distance from each other - which meant Dudley was less distracted - and the judging was over quite quickly. I think we were in there for maybe 15 minutes. We were very pleased to be awarded a blue rosette for 2nd place. It had a pin on the back so you could quickly slip it onto your dog's collar to wear with pride - though Dudley was too fascinated by it and wanted to eat it so that had to swiftly be returned to me and put in my bag!
We then ventured off to do some more activities starting with 'Mantrailing' where we slipped him into a harness and long line and he couldn't wait to find the missing person! A bit too easily I think from how my arm felt by almost being pulled off! Straight away we moved onto 'Scentwork' where the instructor gave us a good insight into how it all works - I didn't realise that dogs can't see red which is why the Kong company make them predominately in that colour so they are perfect for scent enrichment. He had a go at finding the Kongs amongst hay bales and in pipes with a very waggy tail!
We had a couple of tokens left so he had 2 go's on the 'Bale Race' where he was timed to jump over 5 sets of hay bales to the other end. He was rapid and made it onto the leaderboard doing it in only 3 seconds! We were rung up at the end of the day once we got home to say that he managed to keep his name in the top 3 and they were sending him a rosette. How lovely!
We finished the day with some swimming. There wasn't a very big queue at the Hydrotherapy Pool so we paid £8 for him to have a vet check and a go at swimming in the pool. We thought that was quite a decent price. He was fitted with a life jacket and after lots of persuasion using tennis balls, toys and very enthusiastic humans, he got in and had a paddle! Bless him!
Overall, a great day out and we appreciated that he then slept for the rest of the day and night! Well done Pawfest, another fabulously organised event!
What we liked:
The choice to pay in advance or on the day - and to pay cash or card.
The goody bag this year had more quality items included such as poo bags, treats and poo bag dispenser.
You can bring your own picnic which is great as some events say 'no food or drink' making you have to pay for food on site.
You had the option to buy more tokens at £1 which I thought was reasonable.
They had some new events this year including the Newfoundland Rescue Demonstration.
There were lots of activities to try out with your tokens which also meant you didn't have to wait around too long to have a go.
I love the idea of the Yellow Space Zone where anxious dogs could have a run around in a controlled environment.
There was a vast variety of stalls for humans and dogs.
I like the fact the event isn't too busy - there are lots of places you can go and sit to give your dog some downtime and chill.
The event runs for approximately 6-7 hours on each day which means you can have a full day out with the family and there is a good turnover of people - once again, making it less busy.
There was a First Aid station clearly signposted.
There was a good amount of bins for rubbish and dog waste as well as dog water stations scattered around.
All the staff and event organisers were very helpful and friendly!
There were some nice 'freebee' opportunities too such as a free dental check up and free Pet Photoshoot with the official sponsor tent of Animal Friends Pet Insurance.
All activities were enclosed well so we didn't see any escapees!
What we thought could be improved upon for next year:
A gentle reminder on your way out to put your 'Dog Show Entry Leaflet' in the competition box. This was more my fault but I did it last year as someone on the gate was reminding people as they left.
Perhaps a bit more seating around activities with a longer wait such as the Hydrotherapy pool.
I think the pricing was quite high. I'm confident it was a bit cheaper last year especially as you have to pay for parking on top too. I've been to other similar events where 1 adult pays and then any further adult/child is at a significantly reduced price.
I think there were too many dogs in some of the dog show classes. I think they keep it as a maximum of 20 but that made for dogs being quite close in the ring and there was quite a lot of waiting around. Dudley found it hard being patient in the same spot for half an hour and looking around, you could see the majority of dogs were getting a bit fidgety too.
I believe each dog class had rosettes for 1st to 6th place. I would say this was probably a bit too many as some classes only had 7-8 dogs in the class so it was a bit more obvious if they didn't receive a price. I would say 1st, 2nd, 3rd is sufficient.
We looked at the event map and tried to find 'Poppy's Playfield by Pawfest' to give Dudley what we imagined was a space for off lead fun with other dogs. We couldn't seem to find it and nothing was signposted for it so that was a bit disappointing.
We were meant to be 2 tokens in the goody bag but we only had 1 - so did the other members of my group - so I think it was a mistake as the people on the activities said we should have had 2. Luckily, they took our word for it and trusted that we only had 1 token and allowed us to take part in the activity without any fuss.
Next year, perhaps you could use a token for an entry into a dog show class. Just a suggestion.
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