Every dog has his day – out

The recent spate of nastiness won’t prevent dog owners gathering in force for ‘Dogs’ Day Out’, the premier annual event for Leichhardt pet owners.

This year’s event is being held on Sunday, October 10, near local establishment Café Bones in Hawthorne Canal Reserve. Previous iterations have attracted over 1,500 people and their fluffy companions.

As well as inviting the RSPCA to run its ‘Prevent-a-bite’ workshops for kids, organisers have secured the services of renowned dog trainer Steve Austin as MC. Boasting experience and knowledge gleaned from working with dogs all over the world, Austin has recently returned from his latest project in Namibia, training dogs to detect Cheetah scat for the Cheetah Conservation Foundation.

Leichhardt Council figures show some 7,900 dogs are registered in the municipality, with the trend for pet ownership on the rise in the inner west. Nationwide, around 36 per cent of households own a dog, giving Australia one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world.

Dogs’ Day Out runs from 11am to 3pm and is an on-leash event.