There were 1212 pampered pooches at the Royal Canberra Show's championship dog show, The Canberra Times reported on this day in 1986. There were more than 100 different breeds of dogs parading around the ring, from miniscule Chihuahuas to large Labradors.
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The dogs had probably spent more time getting ready than any of the humans attending the show. The particular fashion that year was a gelled look, as many of the dogs paraded around with gel slicked through their fur.
Adrena and Adrian Fielding of Burra went a step further, dampening the fur of their West Highland white terriers with water, setting it with gel, and placing them in a box full of with white chalk dust. The terriers were then brushed down before the showing, leaving them with a flat coat, and fur as white as it could possibly be.
The dog show was just one of many opening events at the Canberra Show in 1986. Many other animals were there and looking their best, as champion goats, bulls and cows made their owners proud.
Meanwhile, police were on the look out for a Mrs Esther Jones. Not because she was in trouble, but because the tourist had left her purse in a city telephone box. They were trying to find her to return it after someone found it and handed it in. She had been due to leave the city on a bus for her holiday.
