Every man and his dog will be at the UK’s largest outdoor pooch show, Paws In The Park.Chris Price took a look at what goes in to running a dog display team.

Paws in the Park, the UK’s biggest outdoor dog show, has moved from its traditional home at the Hop Farm to the Kent Showground, near Maidstone.

With the showground’s 200 acres and 4,500 square metres of indoor facilities this year’s event looks poised to be more successful than ever.

However, behind the arena displays, obstacle courses and dog shows, there are teams of people giving rescue dogs a second chance in life, like the owners of the Paws For Thought Dog Display Team.

The team – which is made up of 10 rescue dogs and 10 pure breeds – came about almost by chance because of cuts in police budgets.

Until about 15 years ago, most police forces in the country had a dog display team but as these were phased out, retired police dog instructor Stuart Brace found himself still being bombarded with requests to run a show at various fetes and fairs so he set up a team to deal with the demand.

“It is like a sport really,” said Stuart, who has run Paws For Thought since 1994. “We are like a football or rugby club.

“We have a changeover of personnel because owners move, their dog gets too old or they decide to have a baby. But the nucleus of the team has been together for 10 to 15 years. Some are on their third or fourth dog in the team.”

All the dogs are pets and the owners all meet twice a week to train. All kinds of dogs make up the group of 20 hounds from labradors, rottweilers and dobermans to german shepherds, spaniels and collies. The group do 35 to 40 shows a year, filling up the majority of weekends between May and September. Despite the long drives and punishing schedule, their enthusiasm never wanes.

“The reason I keep doing it is I love dogs,” said Stuart, 67. “Until the day I die I cannot see myself ever being without a dog at home. It is not a child replacement or anything like that. I just love dogs.

“It is more than just a hobby. I just look forward to the weekend to get out with the dogs.”

Paws In The Park is primarily about having a good time but Stuart, who lives in Hereford, tries his best to get a bit of owner education into their displays, which sees their dogs jumping through hoops of fire, running through tunnels and performing agility stunts.

“The dogs get not just physical exercise but also brain exercise,” he added.

“Mental stimulation is equally important. That is why people have problems as owners of working breeds. They take their spaniels or collies out for 10 minutes a day and think that’s enough but then the dogs go crazy. So we promote responsible dog ownership.

“The display is there to entertain people but I take time to talk about not letting your dog off the lead to terrorise children and clearing up your pet’s mess.”

It all takes place at the Kent Showground at Detling, near Maidstone, from Saturday, September 17 to Sunday, September 18. Details atwww.pawsinthepark.net.