Pooches in the Park: Sheffield’s ‘leading’ dog show is back with awards for scruffiest dog to top fancy dress

This weekend, on Sunday October 8, Thornberry Animal Sanctuary is bringing back Sheffield’s ‘leading’ dog show and artisan market to Millhouses Park.

Pooches in the Park is an annual event that attracts hundreds of dog lovers and their four-legged friends from around the region to enjoy an afternoon of fun. It had previously been due to take place last month on September 10, but soaring temperatures saw the event postponed “in the interest of animal welfare”.

From 11am to 4pm, the event will see three competition rings and an agility ring. Each competition ring has various classes for all types of dogs, including ‘The Most Handsome Hound’, ‘Best Fancy Dress’, ‘Scruffiest Dog’ and ‘Dog Most Like Its Owner’.

At the end of the event, all the dogs will get to compete in Thornberry’s famous and hilarious sausage race where - as the name suggests - dogs and their owners must race to eat a sausage.

An obstacle course in the agility ring will also see dogs compete throughout the day to win a prize, and there will be a live demonstration and a have-a-go section from Sheffield Speeders Flyball Team.

Millhouses Park will be filled with stalls and activities for both humans and pooches, including craft stalls, a dog bakery, a bird aviary, axe throwing, dog photographers, artists, games, food and drink and much more.

The event is completely free to enter for all the family with a small fee to pay for anyone wanting to enter their dogs into the competition classes, agility or flyball have-a-go.

All money raised by the event will go towards Thornberry and its work in caring for unwanted and stray animals across South Yorkshire.

This year marks Thornberry’s 35th anniversary, which is one of the largest animal rescue centres in South Yorkshire. In the last year alone, the charity has rescued and rehomed just under 1,000 animals, and sadly they are seeing more and more coming through their gates - many in desperate need of medical care. It is thought that this is due to overbreeding during the pandemic, and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

For more information, please see Thornberry Animal Sanctuary’s Facebook page or website https://www.thornberryanimalsanctuary.org/