THE first Longrun Dog Festival saw more visitors than expected as pets and owners alike turned out for a canine carnival.

The event, at Longrun Meadow, took place on Saturday, with organisers losing count of the number of people coming through the gates.

Katharine Brunsch, dog behaviourist and one of the event organisers, said: “It was such a fantastic day especially as it was the first time we ran the event.

“It was a great educational day as more than 45 stalls were there to teach everyone the importance of being a good dog owner.

“We raised awareness for medical detection dogs as well as having the coast guards around telling people what to do if they get in trouble while walking their dog on one of our beaches.”

The organisers are still calculating how much money was raised from the event, but once a final figure is revealed cheques will be presented to St Giles Dogs 4 Adoption and Oldies Dog Rescue.

Pam Shaw, dog behaviourist and one of the event organisers, said: “We would like to thank everyone that attended our first celebration of all things canine.”

Particular highlights of the day for the organisers was dancing with dogs from Mary Ann Nester, the display by Sian Murphy and her Wonder Collies, and the dog show.

Miss Brunsch added: “We got a lot of good feedback from our first event. We are looking into what we could do better as we have had a lot of interest in making this an annual event.”