Tails to wag at the charity dog show

Four legged friends across the Isle of Wight are being invited to show off their smiles and practice their best party tricks for a charity dog show in Bembridge.

Colleagues at Southern Co-op’s Funeralcare in Shanklin are brushing up on their dog handling skills for their first ever dog show on Sunday 2 September.

The show will be held at the Bembridge Scout Hut, in Mitten Road, with a long list of dog show categories to enter from most handsome and best working dog to the most obedient and best party trick.

The event will be in aid of Miss Isle and the MissIsle School of sip-puff sailing as part of Southern Co-op’s community engagement programme ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’.

Miss Isle aka Natasha Lambert has athertoid cerebral palsy and uses a sip and puff system to control her sailing boat. The school is for physically disabled individuals who want to go sailing but aren’t able to sail a conventional boat.

Karen Cooper, Funeral Co-ordinator at the Shanklin funeral home, said: “Natasha is such an inspiration to other people and she is always smiling. She sails to a mountain and then climbs it! We just want to try and raise some money so they can get more kids out on the water.

“I’m sure the dog show will be good fun. I’m an animal lover and I love dogs in particular. We regularly hold charity events but this time I wanted to do something a bit different and I know that there are a lot of people on the island who love their dog as much as me.”

The dog show will start at 11am and entry will be £2 per category or £5 for three categories with 1st, 2nd and 3rd rosettes. Judging the competition will be Helen Bull from Calm Dog Training Academy.

There will also be a range of other activities to get involved in including a raffle, guess the name of the puppy, a stand offering tea, coffee and cake, and other stalls selling a range of doggy delights.

Miss Isle is the funeral home’s chosen cause as part of Southern Co-op’s community engagement programme ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’. This initiative addresses four key social themes for promoting: ‘Greener’, ‘Healthier’, ‘Safer’, and ‘More Inclusive’ neighbourhoods.

To find out more about the Love Your Neighbourhood scheme, click here.