The championships commence on Friday, October 20 with an international judging panel drawing in competitors from around the state and beyond.

Show secretary/manager of Wellington Valley Kennel Club, Don Mahoney, said between 300 and 350 entries have been registered for the club’s annual show.

This year’s judging panel will consist of Margaret Jones of Canada, Gary Doyle of New Zealand and Jacson Kim of Korea who will judge for his very first time in Australia. 

“This is the second highest entry we’ve had in our six year history, but it isn’t as big as last year,” he said.

“People want overseas judges who they haven’t had the opportunity to show under in recent years or ever before.”

Don said it is a credit to the committee to be able to host the championships which attract numbers on par, or in excess, of dog shows in Dubbo. 

“We’re a small committee, we’re a committee that works very well together and as a body we’re very pleased with the support that we get,” he said.

“We’re also very pleased that it brings dog showing to Wellington, and with it a lot of what I call dog show tourism dollars which helps local businesses – hotels, motels, restaurants, fuel stations, supermarkets, and the race club benefits out of it because they have a number of campers who stay there.”

He added the committee is thrilled to work in conjunction with the team at Maranartha House this year.

“One of the things we’re very pleased with this year is that for the first time since this club formed, Maranartha House is bringing some of their aged people to come have a look at the dog show,” Don said.

“We’re arranging special seating for them to sit in the shade and watch dogs being shown and see some breeds of dogs they’ve never seen before.” 

Judging will commence at 11am on Friday at the Wellington racecourse, concluding at 5pm.

Saturday’s judging will commence at 10am until 5pm, and 8.30pm-3pm on Sunday.