Apooch party was held at the Cave Gardens on Sunday, a family-friendly event for dogs and their owners which raised funds for the Pink Paw Program.
The event was organised by Ray White Mt Gambier and dogs of all shapes and sizes came along to enjoy a fun afternoon filled with treats, live entertainment and educational classes.
Local businesses provided plenty of treats for everyone, including a sausage sizzle, platter boxes, cupcakes and cookies, coffee, handcrafted dog treats and face painting.
Brenton Williams entertained with live music and people could purchase “doggy gift bags” with dog treats, human treats and a dog bandana inside.
Pink Paw Program founder Taylor Wheeler travelled from Newcastle to attend the event, which she said received an amazing turnout.
“The pooch party looked fantastic, Ray White did an amazing job, the bandanas on the dogs looked amazing, it was beyond my expectations that’s for sure,” Ms Wheeler said.
“Every little detail just turned out beautifully, we’re so thankful and grateful to have been a part of it today and I was so glad I could fly up from Newcastle to be here.”
The Pink Paw Program helps to educate and support dog owners, educate kids on dog safety and teach the community how to train their dog effectively in a positive manner.
“The aim of the program is to keep every dog within their forever home and also help our foster carers, because they’re the ones that are helping us get the dogs re-homed as quickly as possible,” Ms Wheeler said.
Ms Wheeler held a ‘Kids and K9’s’ seminar at the Pooch Party, followed by energy training classes and teaching leash manners.
She also held a children’s book reading with their book ‘Meg’s Doggy Adventures’ and taught kids how to keep safe around dogs.
Ms Wheeler said it was important to spread awareness about dog safety because thousands of children were bitten by dogs in Australia each year.
She said their other major focus was educating parents on recognising the warning signs and not letting kids run over to every dog to give them a pat.
“We want to really protect our children as much as possible but also protect our dogs,” Ms Wheeler said.
“Because if kids are not taught to effectively notice the warning signs, it just puts our dogs at risk as well by becoming scared, fear reacting.”
Ms Wheeler said they were very grateful that Ray White Mt Gambier considered the Pink Paw Program as a charity to support.
“It’s really, really nice to get that support,” she said.
