THE Easter bunny will avoid Hastings Cunningham Reserve this weekend as over 100 dogs will be ‘chomping at the bit’ to impress their masters as the Blue Lake Obedience Club Easter trials are held.
Canines will descend on Mount Gambier from as far as Melbourne and Adelaide to compete in the obedience rally, agility and jumping trials tomorrow and Sunday.
Trial manager Karen Brooksby said the event has attracted around 860 entries across all competitions over the weekend.
“Our entries closed three weeks ago and we almost had 900, but a few scratchings brought us back a touch,” Ms Brooksby said.
“The Easter event is huge, there are people who will be here with multiple experienced dogs, so it is quite exciting.”
She expected a high standard of competition with dog lovers and their furry friends needing to put on a show as they try to claim first place.
“You have people who have achieved their agility champion, which is a very high honour, so there will be some quality competition,” she said.
“At the end of the day though it is just about having fun and we have divisions from novice to the more experienced competitors.”
A free event for general public, Ms Brooksby said it is worth attending to watch how dogs respond to commands.
“It’s great watching the big guns who are really experienced – their dogs just move so nicely around the jumps and agility ring,” she said.
“Also in the obedience ring, when a dog heels right next to their master and really wants to please them is really amazing show of loyalty.”
While the competition is on for young and old, Ms Brooksby said the most exciting part about the event was having dozens of dogs and dog lovers in the one place.
“It is great to see friends and make new ones, but also just share in the common interest of our love for dogs,” Ms Brooksby said.
“Dogs bring out lots of good qualities in people.”
The event will be catered by the Gambier Lions and Made by Jade Coffee and supported by the Blue Lake Dog Obedience Club committee.
“We have a great committee and support group and an event like this cannot happen without a good network of people behind it,” she said.
“We are really proud of this club, we just celebrated our 40th anniversary, so it has been around for a long time and we are lucky to be able to host two trials a year.”
