Our Dog Show took place online on Saturday 24th April after a decision had been taken to cancel this year’s in-person Dog Show. Nine dogs joined their owners on Zoom to compete in classes including Best Pedigree, Best Rescue and Waggiest Tail.

The competition was judged by Lucy Rogers from Easter Ross Vets and included, for the first time a class for Best Rescue. This category was won by Jessie the Lurcher who was adopted by Stefan Teufl and Lorna Barton in Brora at the end of 2020 after her previous adoption was unsuccessful. Jessie also then went on to be awarded Best in Show. Morag Macpherson in Helmsdale rescued her Husky/German Shepherd Cross Bandit from Abu Dhabi after he was left at a boarding kennel and never collected by his owner. Bandit won the top spot in the Most Appealing Eyes class.

In addition, as the event was online local puppy owners were able to enter their young dogs which would not normally be possible in standard Dog Shows. Maisie, the 8-week-old Toy Poodle and Pomapoo Cross, owned by Tracy Collins of Golspie, was therefore able to join and won the judge’s heart, being awarded the accolade of Dog the Judge Would Most Like to Take Home.

Seven-month-old Womble the Whippet, owned by Kirsty Robertson from Thurso, scooped both the Waggiest Tail and Best Pedigree and displayed some very good behaviour while Lhasa Apso Pudsey would surely have made his owner Simone Severn of Helmsdale proud by winning the Best Lockdown Hair award.

Ruth Whitaker of Helmsdale introduced her Miniature Yorkshire Terriers, Magnus and Loki, describing them as ‘huge dogs in little dogs’ bodies’. Magnus was announced as the Best Small Dog while the award for Best Large Dog went to Max the Lurcher, owned by Wendy Simmonds, our Project Lead for the Helmsdale and Golspie Villages Hubs. Ruth’s little Loki won the Best Puppy. His great character shone through, impressing Lucy, our judge.

Sarah Kerr, Communications Manager, said of the event, ‘With us having to cancel the Helmsdale Dog Show for a second year, we really wanted to give local dog owners a bit of a treat and something to look forward to as lockdown comes to an end. We were very pleased with the turn-out and although there were significantly less dogs than we have had at the Helmsdale Dog Shows in the past, it was a manageable amount and people were able to get a chance to find out more about each other and their dogs. We’ve had some really positive feedback from those who took part and the dogs were so well-behaved on the day.’