Circus Theme For This Year's Chiswick House Dog Show

Lots of fun for locals and their pets at the popular annual event

Chair of the Chiswick Dog Show, Jan Preece tells us what is in store for this year's show on 23 September.

We had a bumper Dog Show last year, thanks to all our supporters, and we were able to give a substantial donation to Chiswick House & Gardens Trust for the upkeep of the beautiful gardens, and for the supply of free poo bags. We also made a sizeable contribution to the cost of a new buggy for the rangers and gardening team.

We couldn’t do this without the support of the local community, and by this we mean not just the 150 or so volunteers it takes to keep the Dog Show going every year, but all those local businesses, shops, restaurants and cafés who donate prizes every year; and similarly those who make their own contribution by sponsoring a class.

Our theme this year is CIRCUS250 which is part of the national celebration commemorating the first ever circus held in the UK and should give plenty of scope to all those entering the fancy dress class (humans and dogs). So let your imagination run away... clowns, acrobats, ringmasters, even performing dogs perhaps?! The Womballs’ Flyball Club will be , and the Dogs Trust (Harefield) will be having their Re-Homing Parade at 1pm.

We enjoy a very special relationship with The Dogs Trust, who support us each year by not only having a stall and running their Dogs Re-Homing Parade (of dogs looking for a new best friend) but last year they put on the Doggy Dash for the first time, and a great success it was too. Similarly, the Womballs Fly-Ball Team have been a feature of our dog show for many years now, and we are indebted to them for turning up each year and entertaining us with their exuberant and energetic exercises! Lastly, and probably most importantly, the staff of Chiswick House and Gardens (including the café and gardening staff) have been more than helpful and supportive over the past year.

The ever-popular Egg-and-Spoon Relay Challenge is well worth watching or if you do want to take part, all you need are two humans, two children and a very co-operative dog. It really is great fun! Entry forms for this are available from our website or you can also enter on the day at the Registration Desk.

A new class last year (Next Top Model) proved overwhelmingly popular, so this year it will be separated into two categories (under 20 kg and over 20 kg). My Dog’s Got Talent in Ring 2 always turns up some quite amazing and entertaining dogs, as well as celebrity judges too!
The judges are a closely guarded secret until the event itself but past years have seen radio and TV presenters including Jeremy Vine, Michael Ball, Mel Giedroyc, Ant McPartlin and Clare Balding, actors Richard Lintern and David Tennant, comedian Al Murray and dancer Wayne Sleep passing judgement along with local vets and veterinary nurses, dog groomers and dog walkers.

We have the usual wide variety of food stalls, as well as beer and wine bars. This year the show has gone ‘international’ with a Swedish company selling ice-cream for dogs, one ring sponsor is a recently UK-launched American company specialising in CBD dog biscuits and oils, and one of the new catering stalls is a Japanese bakery (Gu Choki Pan).

The theme of this year’s show is ‘Circus250,’ part of the national campaign commemorating 250 years since the first circus was held in London (on the South Bank) circus250.com. Finally, our ‘Face of the Dog Show 2018’ is Mylow, adopted (by Carol) from the Dogs Trust Rehoming Parade in 2016!

The Chiswick House Dog Show is organised entirely by volunteers in association with Chiswick House Friends, to raise money towards the upkeep of Chiswick House Gardens including dog-walking-related facilities, in conjunction with Chiswick House Gardens Trust.

September 14, 2018