THOUSANDS of pampered pooches strutted their stuff this weekend at one of the region’s biggest dog shows.

Almost 7,200 dogs took part in the three-day Darlington Dog Show, held at Newby Hall, near Ripon, which is a qualifier for the national Crufts competition.

Dog owners travelled from as far as Russia to the Kennel Club event, which moved to Newby Hall from its previous venue in South Park, in Darlington, in 2005.

Sarah Allsopp, chairwoman of the Darlington Dog Show Society, which organises the event, said this year’s show had been excellent.

She said: “The turnout was brilliant and we were really lucky with the weather. On Saturday it felt like a garden party - everybody was laughing, the sun was shining and the dogs were really enjoying themselves.

“Luckily we were all inside the best in show ring when the rain came on Sunday, so it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits.

“We had 7,181 dogs competing over the three days, and were 29 dogs up on last year’s entries. Judges came from across the UK, and we even had some travel all the way from Sweden.”

This year’s event also featured an obedience show for the first time, which was well attended.

More details on the show and results can be found at highampress.co.uk