Now that we’ve had a little chance to recover, we’d like to say the most enormous thank you to everybody who helped to make our Annual Dog Show the most successful event we’ve ever had at the sanctuary! As this was not only our first independent dog show, but also our first event following the pandemic, we really didn’t know what to expect, but you amazed us all. We were absolutely bowled over by your support and the sheer number of you who came out – a record number in fact!!
Thank you to every one of you who came from near and far. YOU helped to make this day so special, a day that we are all still talking about here!
Thank you to our sponsors, the amazing caring team at Home Instead Sandwell & Dudley. They have been as excited about this event as us from the beginning and it was wonderful to finally meet the team (thanks for the goodie bags, sweets, and calming pep talks!). We’d also like to say an enormous thank you to Lillie at Moo Dog Training who sponsored our rosettes, donated treats for our goodie bags, and was with us every step of the way with help and advice – and a surprise puppy visit before the show to make us all smile! We couldn’t have done it without these amazing people.
A very special thank you to Lisa our Judge who kindly volunteered her time for the day to meet all of you and your wonderful dogs. It’s a tough job choosing between them and while we believe they’re all winners, someone must choose – we think she did a wonderful job! We’d also like to thank Nicky who kindly gave her time to help her out.
Thank you to our stallholders; all local businesses, crafters, and charities – buying from these stalls supports local small businesses and this is so important now more than ever. One of our stalls even sold out before the end of the day thanks to your custom, and you also helped the very deserving Little Paws Cat Haven to raise an amazing £443.50 towards their work!
Thank you to Rainbow Mutts Agility for their amazing agility displays and have-a-go agility fun throughout the day. They also kindly raised funds for our animals and the very worthy Kelpie Welfare UK fundraising page. Keep an eye out for more from these in the future.
In a first for the sanctuary, Hrafn Vaeringi, our resident Viking re-enactment group invited groups of visitors into their village to proudly show you their hard work behind the scenes so far, a little insight into our colourful history, and what they hope to achieve in the future with your help – there is still much work to be done! These tours of Hrafnsaeti viking settlement proved to be so popular, they ended up having to cancel their planned battle to be able to take even more people around the village. Again, we can’t thank you all enough for your interest and support, and the group – all voluntary, for their hard work!
Our thanks to Alastair of Wild Times Adventure School who was probably the coolest of us all set up in our shady woodland walk, demonstrating some of the woodland/bushcraft skills you can learn with him here at the sanctuary.
Thank you Annice Bradford Photography who volunteered her time for the day to take photos for us – as we were so busy for much of the day we missed a lot of the action and it has been wonderful to look back at some of what we missed. If you took photos, please feel free to share them with us, we’d love to see them! You can see more photos on our Facebook page (look for our Dog Show 2021 Album).
Thank you as well to a couple of our fantastic neighbours, who when our car parks became completely full, kindly let visitors park on their drives - if this isn't community spirit, we don't know what is! Thank you for your kindness and for helping us in your own way.
We’d also like to say a HUGE well done to our amazing team of staff and volunteers who worked around the clock to make this event a success. We have lived and breathed this dog show for weeks and we’re so proud of what we achieved together! While we did have the odd technical hitch, we’ve learned a lot and can’t wait to make our next even better for you – see you next year!
…because most of all, we’d like to thank YOU!! It was a pleasure seeing so many of you here, especially after a very long lockdown earlier in the year. We also can’t begin to say how wonderful it is to see so many happy dogs here. So many breeds, ages, shapes and sizes. As a sanctuary sadly unable to rescue dogs, we love seeing them here. Don’t forget we are a 100% dog-friendly site and your waggy friends are always welcome back.
Thanks again, from the Brockswood Team!!