Three-day dog show a howling success

THREE kennel clubs combined for a packed weekend of championship dog shows last Thursday to Saturday at the Bendigo Showgrounds.

The Bendigo and Eaglehawk Kennel Club finally held their show, originally scheduled for August, while the Castlemaine and District Kennel Club were able to hold their first show since 2019.

Secretary of the Bendigo and Eaglehawk Kennel Clubs, Helen Leech said there were over 4000 entries and over 700 different breeds across the successful “huge” weekend.

“It went brilliantly,” she said. “It went really well, there were so many positive comments that came out of it, people want us to do it again next year.”

“Castlemaine’s not big enough to run the whole event, so we brought it all back to the exhibition centre at the showgrounds, which is a most magnificent indoor facility for having dog shows, best one in Australia.”

Exhibitors came from across the country for the events and Ms Leech said many were happy to be showing again.

“People travel all over, they set off and do circuits, they go up to Cairns, they go through Alice Springs and up to Darwin, they take their dogs everywhere,” she said. “It’s a hobby.”

She said the format would return to normal as per Dogs Victoria’s schedule, with Bendigo and Eaglehawk’s next shows to run in August.

Ms Leech also works in administration for the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society.

“I’ll be running four dog shows for them hopefully next year when they run their big show, we’ve tried for two years now but it hasn’t happened,” she said.