It couldn’t have been a more idyllic picture of Hampstead life on a sunny bank holiday weekend.
With tails wagging and celebrity judges at the ready, NW3’s cutest canines gathered for the Heath’s first ever combined dog and cake show – The Great Hampstead Bark Off 2014!
Organised by dog rescue charity All Dogs Matter, the show attracted pet owners to Parliament Hill on Saturday to compete for their pooches to be named Mr and Miss Heath, Golden Oldie, Best Rescue or Cutest Pup.
But this year, for the first time, the show also included a dog-themed bake off, inspiring the name and a host of other puns.
“Do your cake creations have others barking down the door?” posters asked as organisers declared they were “seeking out the best barkers in town”.
The word play was catching as entries included pup cakes and nine-year-old Breanna Robinson’s winning Apple Poodle – a marshmallow festooned sponge just as fluffy as the breed that inspired it.
Judges were vet Mark Abrahams, TV presenter Bill Oddie, radio presenter Nick Ferrari, Jamie Belman of The Wag Club in Highgate, Dawn Doran of the Mutt Hut in Gospel Oak, Richard Gentry of the Heath Constabulary, and former Emmerdale actress and film-maker Georgia Slowe.
All money raised will be donated to All Dogs Matter, a dog rescue charity in north London that rehomes abandoned and stray dogs.
Run by a small dedicated team, the charity has found new owners for 300 dogs in the last year alone.
* To find out more visit alldogsmatter.co.uk or text ADMS23 £5 to 70070 to donate via Just Text Giving.
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