A North-East dog show has been temporarily relocated this year after a century and a half in Darlington. Olivia Richwald headed out to discover how the pampered pooches and their proud owners took to the North Yorkshire air.

YESTERDAY'S blustery winds ruined many a hairdo as it whipped through the crowds at Newby Hall, near Ripon, in North Yorkshire.

It was the coiffured locks of the hound, terrier and utility classes, which bore the brunt of the conditions on the first day of the Darlington Dog Show.

The show was forced to move out of Darlington's South Park this year, while the park undergoes restoration work - and there has been some debate on whether the contest, staged since the 1860s, will return to its traditional location.

Vice-chairwoman Sarah Allsopp remains undecided. "We don't really know. It really is in the lap of the Gods, but there is no animosity between ourselves and Darlington Borough Council," she said.

The pampered pooches at the championship show, which is a Crufts qualifier, appeared not to care, so long as they were able to strut their stuff and pose proudly before the judges in the parade rings.

Entries into the various classes are up by 400 - a total of nearly 9,000 canine competitors, many of which could be spotted receiving last-minute grooming in the doggy dressing rooms.

A short walk around these beautification suites will teach you the tricks of the trade -hairspray, shine gloss, styling crme, baby talc and a larger selection of combs, scissors and brushes than you will find in an average high street hairdressers.

But ask a stern-faced dog handler at a show such as Darlington what breed they are preening and they will look at you like a right pedigree chump.

Accepting the whiff of disinfectant and ignoring the faint purr of a snoring British bulldog from a nearby pen, bank worker Melanie Shand-Clarke, from Leicester, was grooming one of her five long-haired Lhasa Apsos.

"They get bathed every week and I use a cream rinse to stop their hair from getting tangled," she said while gently clipping Mallissa's hair back from her eyes. "I normally bath them all in one day, it takes seven to eight hours."

This year, the dog show has a special section for vulnerable native breeds - British and Irish breeds which have only a small number of puppies born each year.

The show continues today with working and pastoral dogs - including boxers, dobermen and rottweilers - and Sunday with gundogs and the toy category, including labradors, retrievers and spaniels.