The Greater Govan Environment Trust, in partnership with Govan Dog Training Club, held a very succesful community dog show, in Elder Park, Govan on Sunday July 29.

More than 250 p eople came to the second ‘Every Dog has its Day’ event bringing with them over 80 dogs from an amazing  variety of breeds.

The event had a very serious message – that dog fouling is a real environmental  blight. The clear message on the day was ‘They poop. You scoop!’. The council provided free poo bags for owners to use when walking their pets: these bags are available from all libraries in Glasgow area.

Ken Bussey, Secretary of the GGET said ‘It’s great that so many responsible dog owners came to Elder Park to support the event and have fun – and to  take the serious message out to other dog owners in the community. We would  work with any other community group to help organise a dog show in their area.’

Nancy Maclaren of Govan Dog Training Club agreed. ‘This is a health issue and an environmental issue. If you want to have a dog, it comes with re sponsibilities.’ She said that Govan Dog Training Club was always delighted to welcome dog owners to their classes and activities. She added, ‘We are happy to have worked with the GGET in organising this event.’

The title ‘Govan Mutt of the Year 2007’ went to six-year-old Jamie Lambie’s dog Cooper. A pupil at Greenfield School, Jamie was over the moon with the judges choice and the hamper of doggie goodies kindly donated by Asda Govan who sponsored the class.

Cooper went away looking very special with his new, hand-tooled  leather dog lead, engraved with his new title. It was specially commissioned from local leatherworker Alec Macleod.

Farley, the golden poodle, successfully  defended his ‘Dog with Waggiest Tail’ title, and owner Taryn Goodwin vowed to return for the hat trick next year.

The dog that looked most like its owner was Cassie owned by Margo. The best dog under one was Toby owned by Lesley. The owner and dog with the best 6 legs were Brian and Foxy. The best  junior handler was Kyle with his dog Coco and the dog the judges most wanted to take home was Bloxie – owned by a delighted David.

Strathclyde Police funded the event and Community Constable Claire Duddy was on hand to he lp with the judging.

Steg G, Drivetime presenter for Sunny Govan Radio, arranged a live link up with the studio, interviewing winners and those attending.

It was indeed a Sunny Govan Day. This was summed up by Sarah Findlay  the GGET chairperson, ‘This has been fun, it’s been a great day – and everyone has gone away with a smile on their face!’