The most festive dog owners in London embarked on a world-record breaking day of canine Christmas celebrations in Battersea on Sunday.
Dog-walking service BorrowMyDoggy teamed up with Save the Children in an attempt to break the record for the most dogs wearing Christmas jumpers at one time.
Battersea Park saw hundreds of pups shiver their way through the sleet and snow for doggy beer, a mini hurdle run and a final group photo, which ultimately took 15 minutes to orchestrate and involved dogs being raised ceremoniously into the air, Lion King style.
Rikke Rosenlund, founder of Borrow My Doggy, said: “Save the Children reached out to us and suggested we do something together.
“We’ve always done Christmas jumper day in the office so we thought, why not!”
Howls and barks could be heard even before entering the park’s clearing, and the sight of more than 300 dressed-up dogs was something even Santa would have marvelled at.
Sheltie puppy Lily braved the elements with owner Veronika.
“She’s only 6 months old, so she’s still really nervous around people,” Veronika said.
“She seems to be coping okay today though!”
Bo was found excitedly running between the picnic benches, sniffing the festive treats on offer.
“He’s actually much better behaved now,” owner Fetenc said.
“When we first got him he used to really enjoy eating things, especially important stuff.
“He particularly liked my girlfriend’s financial documents she’d leave lying around.”
Users of the dog-walking service also showed their support – Georgia brought half brother and sister Nala and Simba, who she regularly walks using the BorrowMyDoggy.
“They’re super enthusiastic and love licking people’s faces – we’re not sure how much other people love that though!”
And while no official record is out yet, Rikke was positive about the outcome.
“As far as we could find out, we are the first people to try to make a record for the most dogs in doggy Xmas shirts so we should have set a world record today.”
Save the Children’s official christmas jumper day is on December 15 and costs £2 to enter.
