Suffolk Dog Day - August 2010
On 1st August, we had a stall at the Suffolk Dog Day, which was held at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk.
The show was held in the beautiful grounds of Helmingham Hall, which is a stately home owned by Lord and Lady Tollemache.
Thought that we might get a chance to explore the house and grounds, but due to us being so busy, we didn't get a chance!
The day was very popular with dogs and their owners - apparently people were having to queue for at least 40 mnutes just to get into the car park!
It was a lovely surprise to see Sue and Dixie, who called in after they had been on the Greyhound Walk at Brandon (bet Dixie slept well that night, Sue!)
We were kept busy all day - once again the tombola was a big hit and we had some enquiries about greyhounds as pets.
We really enjoyed our day at Suffolk Dog Day - it was definately the nicest 'big' dog show that we have been to and would recommend it to everyone.
It was very well orgainsed and a great day out for all dog lovers.
Fingers crossed that we are invited along next year!
The show was held in the beautiful grounds of Helmingham Hall, which is a stately home owned by Lord and Lady Tollemache.
Thought that we might get a chance to explore the house and grounds, but due to us being so busy, we didn't get a chance!
The day was very popular with dogs and their owners - apparently people were having to queue for at least 40 mnutes just to get into the car park!
It was a lovely surprise to see Sue and Dixie, who called in after they had been on the Greyhound Walk at Brandon (bet Dixie slept well that night, Sue!)
We were kept busy all day - once again the tombola was a big hit and we had some enquiries about greyhounds as pets.
We really enjoyed our day at Suffolk Dog Day - it was definately the nicest 'big' dog show that we have been to and would recommend it to everyone.
It was very well orgainsed and a great day out for all dog lovers.
Fingers crossed that we are invited along next year!
Tractor Show - July 2010
We took along our usual awareness stall and tombola and in addition to this Claire & Freddie, owners of Castledon hound Slippy, very kindly made us some lovely fairy cakes to sell.
The weather was SO hot - we had a job keeping ourselves, the dogs and the chocolate tombola prizes and cakes from melting!
Graham popped over to support us with his faithful friends Benny and Gemma, along with Steve and Mandy with the ever-so handsome Rodger.
Freddie enjoyed climbing over the tractors!
Although it was a tiring weekend, we had a great and successful time.
Thanks for inviting us, Eddie and Cathy.
St John Payne School Fete - June 2010
We gladly accepted the invitation and one sunny Saturday afternoon in June we packed up our awareness stall and tombola and headed off to the north of the county.
The weather was great and so was the turnout.
Our tombola proved to be very popular, especially with the children who seem to love the fact that, unlike a raffle, the prizes are instant!
- think that there are a lot of candidates in the Chelmsford area for 'tombolaholics annonymous!'
A good time was had by all and we raised some badly needed funds for our rescue - see you next year!
Essex working trials companion dog show-May 2010
This year, the weather was kind to us and our gazebo stayed put for the entire duration of the show!
There were many different breeds in attendance and we took Minto along from the kennels, who had a great time meeting some of them!
He also had the honor of being the first dog to try out one of our new 'I Need A Home' jackets, which proved to be very eye catching.
Lennie, an ex-Castledon resident, brought his owners Sharon and Ray along all the way from Hertfordshire and was duly rewarded with a new wardrobe consisting of a stylish spring coat and Kitsch collar. - Very smart, Lennie - what a lovely pose!
Many thanks to the organisers for putting on the show and inviting us once again.
Barking Mayhem - Graveley, Hertfordshire 3rd May 2010
On a rainy and grey Bank Holiday Monday, we packed up our awareness stall and headed off to Hertfordshire in the hope that the weather would brighten up as we headed north.
Unfortunately, we were wrong - we spent most of the day clinging on to our gazebo and dodging the showers!
Although the weather was disappointing, we still did a good trade on our tombola.
It was great to see 'Sonny', Jill, Pat and Amber there, too.
There were plenty of other breeds there but the greyhounds were undoubtedly the best behaved.
A final defiant gesture by the weather of a hail storm forced us to admit defeat and return back to Essex!
3rd Greyhound Walks Show April 2010
Castledon were pleased to accept an invitation to attend and we took along our awareness stall, tombola and our 'greyhound grotto', selling a selection of greyhound-related products.
Carly took along her clippers and offered her 'pawdicure' service, which was once again very popular.
Castledon dogs did us proud in the showing arena with noteable successes from Benny & Gemma, Sophie, Tootsie, Holly, Dumbo and Roscoe -well done to all of them and their proud owners!
The day was once again a great success and very enjoyable - Thank you to everyone who supported us and everyone who worked so hard to put the show on once again..
Vanity Fur Santa Paws
Despite the freezing conditions, there was a good turn out of festive hounds.
We took along Pauly, who is looking for a home and he enjoyed himself very much - especially trying out the biscuits from Vanity Fur's Canine Cookie Company!
He managed to take time out from his biscuit taste-testing to make friends with a Tibetan Spaniel, who kept licking his face!
Santa Paws himself was also in attendance, and Pauly managed to collar him and give him his Christmas list, the top of which was his greatest wish to find a home of his own - here's hoping Santa delivers for you, Pauly!
Many thanks to Stephanie and all at Vanity Fur for once again inviting Castledon and also for the lovely big bag of their treats that they gave us for all of the hounds back at the kennels.
Vanity Fur 2009
We were delighted to say ‘yes’, as last year the event was so enjoyable and such a success.
We took along our awareness stall and tombola and were accompanied by Dixie from the kennels, who behaved impeccably and also made a lot of new friends.
We all had a lovely afternoon and as a bonus also raised £150 in much needed funds for the kennels.
Many thanks to Stephanie and all her staff at Vanity Fur, who worked so hard to put on the party and also donated the proceeds of the raffle to Castledon.
Braintree Dog Show
Castledon were invited by the new owners of Ben (previously called 'Turbo') and Sophie to have a stall at the dog show that their dog training club was holding in aid of the Dogs' Trust in August.
The event was held at the rugby club in Braintree and we were pleased to attend along with our awareness stall and tombola.
She was an excellent 'PR' dog for Castledon and greyhounds in general, showing what gentle, affectionate natures greyhounds have.
It was also lovely to see Ben and Sophie looking so happy and relaxed with their new owners.
All in all, a great day was had by all.
Thank you Derek & maureen for inviting Castledon
Royal Veterinary College Fun Day
In August, Castledon were invited to have a stall at an open day held by The Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire.
As you may know, this is the place that helped put Trigger on the road to recovery when others would have given up, so we were honoured to attend.
We took Corey and Lacey along, who both enjoyed themselves immensely.
There was a companion dog show, which was very well attended.
Even though the weather was a bit blustery a great deal of money was raised towards the college’s hydrotherapy tread-mill appeal.
It was great to see Trigger looking so well and happy.
He was so pleased to see everyone and insisted on giving us a hand on our stall, checking out our merchandise!
Thank you to everyone who came along and supported us and a special thank you to Nicole who worked so hard making us all the lovely house collars and beds for our stall.
Greyhound Walks Show
Greyhound Walks Show held in April.
The weather was fantastic, there was a huge turnout and a great day was had by all.
It was great to see so many Castledon hounds there - Bully and Dolly, Missy, Benny and Gemma, Reggie, Buddy and Isis, Ruby, Lacey, to name but a few!
All of the dogs that came for their paw-dicure left not only with lovely
short nails but also with a smile on their face! We must thank Carly for volunteering to do the Nail-clipping for the day, she did a great job!
Thanks to the generosity of the greyhound-lovers who visited our stall, we raised in excess of £300 for our rescue - fantastic!
A BIG ‘Thank you’ to you all.
And once again, thank you to Janet & Dave and all the Greyhound Walks team for all of their hard work in organising such a great show.
Essex Working Dog Trial Show
The event was held at the police headquarters in Chelmsford, on a blustery Saturday.
Luckily the rain held off but we had to hang on to our gazebo for dear life, before deciding to take it down and save it (and us!) from taking off across the field!
Although the weather wasn’t great, there was a good turn out of dogs of all different shapes and sizes.
We took Dixie along with us from the kennels and he did a fantastic PR job and even got a 5th place rosette in the ‘Best Rescue’ class!
The dogs were all impeccably behaved and did us proud, as always. They were a credit to their breed and hopefully made more people realise just what terrific pets greyhounds make.
Finally, many thanks to everyone at Essex Working Trials for their hard work in arranging the show and for donating the profits to Castledon – it really is much appreciated.
Vanity Fur
Vanity Fur, a pet bakery and dog spa in Leigh-on-sea, kindly invited us along to their ‘Howl-o-ween’ dog fancy dress event on Saturday 25th October.
The event was very well attended, with dogs of all shapes and sizes dressed in their best howl-o-ween costumes!
Obi, one of our Castledon hounds looking for a home came along to do his PR bit and enjoyed all the attention that he got, especially the homemade treats that Vanity Fur gave to every dog!
We had a tombola on our awareness stall, and there was a lot of interest in greyhounds as pets.
At the end of the day, Stephanie from Vanity Fur very kindly donated all the takings from their raffle to us, and in total we raised just over £180, which is fantastic!
Vanity Fur have invited us to their next event on Saturday 13th December, which is ‘Santa Paws’ – more details to follow.
If you’re ever in the Leigh-on-sea area, do pop in to Vanity Fur – apart from loads of lovely homemade dog treats and the doggie spa, there’s a café where you can have a coffee and a bite to eat with your furry friends!
www.vanityfur.co.uk