Bark in the Park – 17th June 2012

Posted on May 17, 2012 by russellmh

THE BARK IN THE PARK 2012

The Queens Park Fun Dog Show

Best in Show winner Brandy with owner Kathleen Tepperies

(For all the pictures of the day visit our photo Gallery)

“With this deep low pressure blowing in from the southwest Atlantic, heavy rain is forecast for the southeast of England for the weekend . . .” blah, blah, yeah, yeah. Didn’t the Met Office know it was the Bark in the Park that Sunday? Maybe I should have tweeted them. The Bark always seems to bring out the sun, and the best in people, and this year’s was no exception.

Thanks to Annabel Giles as MC, every dog got it’s 15 minutes of fame; well, nearly. And judges Hanna Pook and Heather Ryan from Coastway Vets bravely made the impossibly hard decisions of who won and who didn’t; rather them than me. One verdict they didn’t have to make though was Best Sausage Catcher, with hot favourite Seamus having victory snatched from his grasp (jaws?) at the last moment by new-comer Alfie. Next year we are going to have to make the initial heats easier, after so few contestants got through to the second round. Not really their fault though – it’s all in the throw, ladies and gentlemen, so practice, practice, and give your dog a chance next year. Of course, some dogs were better suited than others; Lovis, a Chihuahua who was small even by Chihuahua standards and whose mouth was actually smaller than the sausage he was being asked to catch, had a bit of a challenge. Though his reappearance in the Best Fancy Dress class as a wood-louse really played to his strengths, though he was pipped to the post by Stan who came as Biggles.

Some competitors are proving hard to beat; BJ won Best Veteran for the 2nd year running, and Brandi, last year’s Prettiest Bitch, this year walked away with Best Trick and Best in Show.

Our great thanks to our Sponsors – Snaffles Cuisine, EdwynUK, The Brighton Dog Photographer,, PawPrints, Rewards4Paws, MetroDeco ,The Kemptown rag and The Camelford Arms, to our wonderful Park Ranger Lindsey, and of course The Friends of Queens Park.

“You were lucky with the weather” someone said. Luck had nothing to do with it.

Winner of Dog Most Like Its Owner: ‘Mrs Pickles’ Owned by Sylvie Webb, pictured with Dad.

Winner of Best Fancy Dress: ‘Stan’ as Biggles, owned by Clare Smith.

Winner of Best Rescue Dog: ‘Bentley Hogg’ owned by Sonia Hogg

Winner of Handsomest Dog: ‘Dandy’ owned by Ann Brown.

Winner of Prettiest Bitch: ‘Molly’ owned by Colin Chadwick.

Winner of Best Puppy: ‘Django’ owned by Tessa Moss.

Winner of Best Toy dog class: ‘Candyfloss’ owned by Bonita Williams. Pictured with Sandra Magson, Chair of Friends of Queens Park.

Winner of Best Veteran: “BJ’ owned by Jackie Glass

Winner of best Sausage Catcher: ‘Alfie’ owned by Neil Carrett and family.

Best in Show – top three class winners pictured with judges Heather and Hannah of Coastway Vets and compares, Crispin Wynne-Roberts and Annabel Giles.