June 23rd marked the fifth annual festival dedicated towards our canine companions – DogFest!
In 2005, Noel and Kira Fitzpatrick founded Fitzpatrick Referrals; a world-class veterinary centre that combines their lifelong love and compassion for animals with their excellence in veterinary medicine.
They were then inspired to create DogFest, much to the delight of doggo owners across the country.
“DogFest is a day for all dog lovers, vets, nurses, physiotherapists and rehabilitation practitioners, trainers of canine athletes, doggie guardians and people who just love dogs and everything they represent to come together in a field, have a laugh and smile with the dogs. It’s about dogs coming together and meeting each other and having a marvellous time. It’s about all of the unconditional love that dogs bring to our lives.” – Neil Fitzpatrick
There are three separate DogFest events each year. This time round they took place in Cheshire and Bristol, with the final festival happening in Hertfordshire on July 7th.
We took a trip to Bristol to help celebrate in true Fancy Dogs style!
The fun-filled day comprises of live music, the ‘great dog walk’, a doggie school, a ‘dogs with jobs’ showcase and TONS more activities for everyone to enjoy. (Both two legged and four legged!)
It was a super-hot day, which made it especially great to see paddling pools dotted across the fields. The cool down spots were accompanied by a huge pool setup for the ‘dog diving’ event – potentially our highlight of the day.
Seeing the confident pooches jump right in was fantastic. The shyer dogs weren’t as quick to take a dive, but they soon found themselves splashing around with a little help from their owners.
We made a lot of new furry friends throughout the day of all shapes and sizes. One little guy that we spent some time with was the dashingly handsome “Maurice”, a tiny French Bulldog.
DogFest Bristol was a wonderful day filled with smiles and laughter from start to finish. We will be attending their final event of the year in Hertfordshire and can’t wait to see some more waggy tails and happy faces!
– Oh, and in case you didn’t know – Dogs can skateboard!
Scroll through our gallery below to see the full photo set from the weekend.
