Peterborough dog charity makes world record attempts to have the most dogs sitting simultaneously

A Peterborough dog charity made valiant attempts to set two new Guinness World Records for the most dogs sitting at its first annual dog show last weekend.

Saving Saints Rescue UK – which is a charity that is dedicated to protecting the welfare of St Bernards and other large dog breeds – made the attempts at Ferry Meadows and Nene Valley Railway (NVR) on Sunday April 16.

The first Guinness World record attempt was to have more than a hundred dogs sitting simultaneously for 30 seconds.

The second even more difficult challenge, was to have more than a dozen dogs sitting on a steam train at the same time

Charity leader and event organiser Rachel Wesley told the Peterborough Telegraph how the attempts fared.

“We didn’t get, unfortunately, enough dogs, to do the Guinness World Record attempt,” she said. “We had 37 dogs – you have to have a hundred dogs or more.”

Undeterred, Rachel explained how she and her fellow organisers were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

“There is a general world record attempt – nothing to do with Guinness – for 35 dogs sitting, and we achieved 36 dogs sitting for 30 seconds simultaneously.”

The railway-based attempt was made a few hours later aboard an NVR steam train. Amazingly, Rachel and the other handlers managed to not only get more than a dozen dogs on board the train, but to get them to sit simultaneously.

“We achieved 17 dogs on the steam train,” she said proudly, adding, “Which we understand has not been attempted before.”

The 50-year-old trauma psychotherapist said food was key to achieving such an incredible task. “Thankfully you can feed the dogs while they’re doing the sitting.”

As well as the world record attempts – which were included to help raise the charity’s profile – the fun-filled family weekend featured rescue and disabled dogs in show, doggy Easter egg and treasure hunts, barbecues, live music and overnight camping

Saving Saints Rescue UK is a charity dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming dogs, many of which are rescued from European countries where there are no official dog rescue or animal shelters.

The aim of the dog show was to raise money so that the charity’s volunteers can continue to help more dogs in need.