Another successful ‘Dogs Day Out’ in Invercargill at the weekend gave dog lovers a chance to reconnect and learn something new.

Organised by Healthy Pets New Zealand, the two-day event started with the Invercargill ‘barkrun’, attracting about 90 participants and 12 dogs despite the weather being “a bit of a damp affair,” Cath Watson said. The post race ‘dog cookies’ proved popular too.

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This was followed by a very engaged audience of around 50 people for the three speakers on Saturday evening at the dog education seminars sponsored by Royal Canin and hosted by Southern Institute of Technology.

Cath said the highlight was definitely the very well balanced views on Raw Feeding by keynote speaker Assoc. Prof. Nick Cave from Massey University.

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Interestingly, the take home message from both Dr Cath Rivron of Veterinary Behavioural Therapy and Christina Rock of Happy Hound Vet limited, was just how important pain management is to both ageing, and behavioural problems in any age of dog.

Sunday’s Dogs Day Out at the Ascot Park raceway involved a number of local business and clubs as proved popular with both humans and their pets. All were all on their best behaviour, with at least 100 dogs involved, she said.

The team from Event partner PD Insurance were thrilled to be able to meet some of their southernmost customers face to face and get in on the action with the face painting and demonstrations by the dog clubs.

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Cath said while the agility demonstrations by the dog training club are always exciting to watch, it was great to see the new sport of ‘scenting’ become a success, with all dogs finding the scent in their first public appearance, full of plenty of other distractions.

“The Southern Sled Dogs are always a noisy affair, but also so much fun to watch. The club were really pleased with how many people were keen to give it a go with their own dogs on the day too.”

A special demonstration by Murray Milne-Maresca of the NZ Fire Service at lunchtime was one of the event highlights. It was amazing to see just how good a dogs nose is, with Boss finding the accelerant scent within seconds of being released.

The day finished up with the Southland Kennel Association running their most popular Ribbon Parade in some time, attracting 32 entries.

Healthy Pets New Zealand would like to say a huge thanks to everyone involved and thanks for supporting the work Healthy Pets NZ does to help Kiwi pets live healthier, longer lives.

Something for everyone at Dogs Day Out

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