A Winter Wonderland for dogs was held in Orpington

Dog Den put on the two-day event for the dogs they care for in the lead up to Christmas.

Jay Simmons, 34, manager at Dog Den, began the day care centre in 2021 and started putting on dog friendly seasonal events for holidays such as Easter and Halloween.

Dogs had their photos taken in front of festive sets (Image: Dog Den)

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Jay said: “There are so many events for children and their families around the holidays and I felt that I wanted to do something fun for dogs and their owners as well.”

This year marks the first year that the day care has hosted a Christmas Winter Wonderland event, and Jay said the centre went to great lengths to make it special.

The dogs had a special visit from Father Christmas (Image: Dog Den)

Jay said: “The entire centre was decorated with lights and decorations.

“Our pens were decorated for Christmas with different festive sets where dogs and their owners could there photo taken.

“We had a ‘snow-ball pit’ there so dogs can dig in massive ball pits with white balls for snow.

“We had Father Christmas there so the dogs could meet him and get photos taken with him on his sleigh.”

According to Jay, the event was just as much for the owners as it was for the dogs.

40 dogs attended the first night of dog friendly Winter Wonderland (Image: Dog Den)

He added: “It’s nice for the owners to be able to come have a hot chocolate and watch their dogs play and chat with other owners.

“They share tips on best dogs walks and can just listen to Christmas music and relax.

“But it’s also a chance for them to have really special photos with their dogs and make some lovely memories.”

One of the dogs, Rocky, who attended the event also had his photo featured on ITV’s This Morning.

Rocky made an appearance with his winning festive photo on This Morning (Image: Dog Den)

The event ran over two nights, with 40 dogs in attendance on the opening night along with their owners.

The Winter Wonderland was open exclusively for customers and their dogs; however Jay said he plans to open the events to all next year following their success.

Jay also told News Shopper he plans to put on even more events next year, starting with a Valentine’s Day event in February, and then an Easter Egg hunt in March.

He said: “We want to keep doing these events and we want to open them up to everyone and hold them on more days.

“People have absolutely loved them, and we really want to share them with more dogs and their owners.”