Kinnegar Brewing’s inaugural Dog Show at the brewery’s Ballyraine premises proved an overwhelming success, lucking out with a day of bright April sunshine after the shocking weather on Easter Sunday.
There was plenty of cover outdoors under tents and marquees when the day’s one outburst of rain descended but for most of the 5-hour event the crowds were thronged around the show ring on Kinnegar’s “Front Lawn”, one of many spaces the brewery uses to welcome guests and run events.
“We had 86 dogs pre-registered on line, and a further 39 registered on the day”, reported co-owner Libby Carton. “There were 125 dogs registered in total, ranging from miniature Chihuahuas to the noble Irish Wolfhound.”
Martin Potts, well-known and much-loved local judge demonstrated his endless patience and kindness with a huge variety of amateur dog handlers who were experiencing such an event for the very first time. The handlers, like the dogs, came in all shapes and sizes, young and old.
A big crowd enjoying the Kinnegar Brewing Dog Show last week.
“And each dog brought an average of 3 humans with it to the event, so together with non-dog-owners, we probably welcomed about 400 people to the brewery on the day,” reports Kinnegar’s dog-loving Sean McCarthy.
“They enjoyed pizzas from Pizza Napoli, coffees from Sells Coffee, and of course plentiful local beer from our Kinnegar Taproom.”
For many the highlight of the event was the centrepiece of demonstrations. A fascinating and unusual showcase of Ireland’s nine native Irish dog breeds was brought together by top Irish Red & White Setter breeder, Jim Sheridan from Rathmullan, and included dogs from a number of very generous breeders and owners who went out of their way to bring their dogs on the day to make the showcase possible.
“It was a real highlight on the day”, explains Libby, “and was only possible because of the goodwill of these supporters of our native breeds.
“It’s not often you have the opportunity to see the rarer breeds like the Glen of Imaal Terrier, Kerry Beagle and Irish Water Spaniel in real life.”
Judge Martin Potts having a busy day.
Tania Carron and her brilliant team from Academy Dog Training (also in Rathmullan) wowed the crowd with a thrilling demonstration of dog agility followed by an exciting speedball challenge that pitched dog relay teams from different local areas against each other.
Ger Brogan from Drumoghill demonstrated the precision obedience of a working dog with his gorgeous black retriever, and also used the opportunity to give his young red retriever an outing.
The second half of the dog classes gave young handlers, veteran dogs and rescue dogs an opportunity for show ring glory before the final two classes of Pedigrees and Crossbreeds completed the schedule.
The Best in Show for the Rusty Cup was awarded to Max, an eye-catching and most endearing tri-colour Bernese Mountain Dog who was handled by a delighted Eimear Doogan.
“We’ll be running plenty of events at Kinnegar Brewing this year”, explained Sean McCarthy. “We have a great facility in a very accessible location and we want to make the most of it.
“Expect a summer Street Food Festival and of course, Oktoberfest.”
Kerry Beagles on show.
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