Geraldton & Districts Kennel Club celebrating its 50th anniversary with three dog shows at Woorree Park

Dog lovers from around the State will gather in Geraldton this weekend to celebrate the Geraldton & Districts Kennel Club’s 50th anniversary — or its 350th in dog years — with fun-packed shows. The Woorree dog park will be closed for casual dog exercise from 4pm Thursday until Sunday afternoon while the club sets up to host two days of epic dog shows. Club secretary Corinne Comito said the event would be the second biggest the club has held, with some of the best show dogs from around WA attending. “The conformation show dogs are judged on how well they represent their breed and the agility show judges dogs on their speed and accuracy of how they complete the courses,” she said. Mrs Comito said the agility course did not require dogs to have pedigree papers. The Saturday show has more than 269 dogs registered, and 268 on Sunday with seven breed groups including toy, terrier, hound and working dogs. “Jen Mianich has been a member with the club for 50 years and will be attending the event. She has always had Old English sheepdogs,” Mrs Comito said. Registered dog breeds include Shar Pei, silky terrier, whippet, golden retriever, French bulldog, Staffordshire bull terrier, English springer spaniel and many more. Major prizes for best in show and runner-up include Rosettes and dog food supplied by major sponsor Black Hawk.