I had a great day out at the 'No Voice No Choice' event held at Ruxbury Farm, the Company of Animals (COA) in Surrey on 6th August.
The COA kindly donated the use of a huge field which was plenty big enough to fit in over fifty stalls/stands, a dog show arena, display dog & obedience training ring, agility ring area, k9 hurdles with additional walking spaces and car parking, what a great venue!
It was an early start to get there with plenty of time to set up and get organised. I was one of many volunteers who had all come together to help the day run as smoothly as possible, the event had been planned some time ago and as always the run up for all the fantastic people who offered up their time and energy, had been nothing short of a roller-coaster ride!
Setting up early morning, gazebo after gazebo (not a lover of the marked poles and instructions which just look too complicated at 8am) was achieved with everyone’s help, which was handy as there was indeed lots to do. I think we all wore our footwear out with the amount of walking covered in just one afternoon and went home with sore throats from much talking but high spirits!
The field soon packed out with stalls promoting canine and animal rescue and welfare, campaign groups, educational material and trade stands with lots of beautiful items to purchase.
There was a dog show which ran all afternoon and was well received, everyone receiving a certificate and rosette from the celebrity judges.
The agility ring was great fun too, with agility displays from the experts as well as a chance for many to ‘have a go’ with their dog. The canine hurdles team set up and offered a huge amount of organised fun, in fact many people mentioned that they really enjoyed this as it was so exciting to see their dog running full pelt down and over the hurdles!
Colin Goff ran a competent handler course in the ring and the display ring offered talks and dog obedience from Dima Dogs display team (pictured left) for all to enjoy.
There was even clicker training with chickens from the COA, bouncy castles & face painting for the young ones, plus food and a beer tent for the adults too! On offer also was a slide show and talk and the deaf dogs’ network mingled around on the day. In fact, there was so much on offer, you would be hard pushed to fit it all in in one day!
I was co-manning the EDDR stall on the day, (pictured here early morning & still looking tidy) which had come together well at the last minute, we were sited next to the COA trade stall which was run by the ever so cool PC the dog who was pretty much in charge there for the day and wandered over for treats under the table during his breaks.
We had a ‘Bargain Basement’ table too next to us which after many attic raids & a lot of collecting through the previous weeks was heaving with bargains with all proceeds given to the ‘extraordinary eight’, currently in kennels and in need of much support whilst looking for new homes of their own.
I just about managed to find time to walk round to visit each stall, putting names to email addresses, swapping contacts and information, each time I looked over at the ‘vet world’ tent it was full with dogs having free health checks and free micro chipping, the dog show classes looked a lot of fun too.
It was great to meet up with many friends this year, including rescue workers, dog trainers and Roger Mugford (Pictured here with a fist for unfair dog law-I'm on a thumbs up for a great day out!), Pamela Rose the barrister and Tina Hay the solicitor all involved with canine legal situations, as luck would have it the beer tent was placed next to the PA tent, which was next to us, this was a bonus!
Ozzie coped amazingly well, it was a long day for him, pictured here with barrister Pamela and myself, he met lots of lovely people and dogs taking a busy crowded & noisy environment in his stride; this fabulous dog needs a home – details are here.
I met some lovely registered and exempted dogs the ‘pit bulls types’ marked out by their compulsory muzzle and leash, having previously owned several exempted dogs, it brought back memories of years of life under the law. All were welcomed and made to feel comfortable and at ease which is always good for the owner of any exempted dog. They had their own class in the dog show and a registered dog actually won best in show which was judged by singer/ songwriter Maria Daines with the help of several young volunteers!
The grand raffle went well at the end when it was drawn, everyone had been busy over the previous weeks selling as many tickets as possible, our rescue dog Charlie pulled one of the tickets from the box, lucky for someone!
Pictured here is DDA watch with the 'fairy dogmother' drawing a ticket having wandered round the show all day entertaining and raising much needed funds to help dogs in need.
Sadly I didn’t get to see the clicker training with Chickens – but next time!
At the end of day, the sun goes down and unfortunately all the displays and tents etc. have to come back down, it never does all fit back in the car does it!
Part of the M25 had been closed causing traffic chaos to some, the sun had shone all day but thankfully it wasn’t uncomfortably hot and the venue offered plenty of moving around room for all.
There was even clicker training with chickens from the COA, bouncy castles & face painting for the young ones, plus food and a beer tent for the adults too! On offer also was a slide show and talk and the deaf dogs’ network mingled around on the day. In fact, there was so much on offer, you would be hard pushed to fit it all in in one day!
I was co-manning the EDDR stall on the day, (pictured here early morning & still looking tidy) which had come together well at the last minute, we were sited next to the COA trade stall which was run by the ever so cool PC the dog who was pretty much in charge there for the day and wandered over for treats under the table during his breaks. We had a ‘Bargain Basement’ table too next to us which after many attic raids & a lot of collecting through the previous weeks was heaving with bargains with all proceeds given to the ‘extraordinary eight’, currently in kennels and in need of much support whilst looking for new homes of their own.
Looking good for the camera is our Charlie the rescue in front of the EDDR information board with myself and Nikki from Epsom canine rescue who also had a stall. Read EDDR's blog here for more on this.
It was great to meet up with many friends this year, including rescue workers, dog trainers and Roger Mugford (Pictured here with a fist for unfair dog law-I'm on a thumbs up for a great day out!), Pamela Rose the barrister and Tina Hay the solicitor all involved with canine legal situations, as luck would have it the beer tent was placed next to the PA tent, which was next to us, this was a bonus!
Around about 2ish I headed for a snack having had my eye on it for a few hours but never quite made it, on route I was handed ‘Ozzie’ a Whippet x Staffie rescue dog looking for a home, we ended up wandering round for two hours meeting lots of people and other dogs.
Ozzie agreed to have his photos taken (pictured to the right with young Hope who is having a fab day out) to help gain attention to the fact he did need a home of his own.
To help gain further attention for Ozzie, we volunteered to enter the ‘competent handler’ obedience task ring organised by instructor Colin Goff, lined up with four other dogs, the rather tired but excited Ozzie and I were joined by 9yr old George who thankfully helped us through, watched by a small crowd thanks to an announcement on the PA from the guys there doing here an excellent job and not missing a trick!
Ozzie agreed to have his photos taken (pictured to the right with young Hope who is having a fab day out) to help gain attention to the fact he did need a home of his own.
To help gain further attention for Ozzie, we volunteered to enter the ‘competent handler’ obedience task ring organised by instructor Colin Goff, lined up with four other dogs, the rather tired but excited Ozzie and I were joined by 9yr old George who thankfully helped us through, watched by a small crowd thanks to an announcement on the PA from the guys there doing here an excellent job and not missing a trick!
and in front of spectators, all to help a dog who needs a home! We passed the ‘gold’ Ozzie, George and I were all very proud of ourselves and we had our certificates to prove it!
I met some lovely registered and exempted dogs the ‘pit bulls types’ marked out by their compulsory muzzle and leash, having previously owned several exempted dogs, it brought back memories of years of life under the law. All were welcomed and made to feel comfortable and at ease which is always good for the owner of any exempted dog. They had their own class in the dog show and a registered dog actually won best in show which was judged by singer/ songwriter Maria Daines with the help of several young volunteers!
The grand raffle went well at the end when it was drawn, everyone had been busy over the previous weeks selling as many tickets as possible, our rescue dog Charlie pulled one of the tickets from the box, lucky for someone! Pictured here is DDA watch with the 'fairy dogmother' drawing a ticket having wandered round the show all day entertaining and raising much needed funds to help dogs in need.
At the end of day, the sun goes down and unfortunately all the displays and tents etc. have to come back down, it never does all fit back in the car does it!
Part of the M25 had been closed causing traffic chaos to some, the sun had shone all day but thankfully it wasn’t uncomfortably hot and the venue offered plenty of moving around room for all.
DDA Watch pulled off a great event and much needed funds were raised for the dogs currently in their care – if you can spare a pound to support these dogs, some of who were born in police custody and have only ever known a kennel, please make a donation today, if you are thinking about adopting a dog, maybe you could offer a permanent or foster home?
Photographs are copyright Amanda Dunckley 2011
