Howden-le-Wear Fun Dog Show – A Proper Village Afternoon

Sometimes the best events are the simple ones.

I was asked along to photograph the Howden-le-Wear Fun Dog Show, held at the Village Hall, and was happy to give up a few hours of my Sunday afternoon to cover it.

Running from 1pm until 4pm, it was exactly what a local fun dog show should be: plenty of dogs, plenty of people having a natter, a bit of friendly competition and, thankfully, some decent weather thrown in too.

There was certainly no shortage of characters in front of the camera. Big dogs, little dogs and all impeccably behaved dogs. In other words, ideal photography material.

One of the things I enjoy about photographing events like this is catching everything around the actual show. The dogs waiting for their turn, owners proudly showing them off, chance meetings between four-legged competitors and all those little moments that happen when you put a load of dogs and their humans together for an afternoon.

And yes, inevitably, there were a few dogs who knew exactly how good-looking they were.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The organisers had obviously put a lot of work into making the afternoon happen, and it was good to see a proper local event being supported and enjoyed.

I wasn't there as a paid photographer – I simply volunteered my time and photographs for the afternoon – so the lovely gift from the organisers at the end was completely unexpected and very much appreciated.

All in all, a really nice afternoon at Howden-le-Wear Village Hall, some cracking dogs to photograph and another reminder that you don't need anything massively complicated to bring a community together.

Here is my full album from the day: https://howdenlewear-fun-dog.jasonallison.co.uk/

Thanks to everyone who organised the show, everyone who came along and, most importantly, all the dogs who tolerated having a camera pointed at them.