THE hunt is on for budding young fashion designers in Great Yarmouth to help a charity create the Ultimate Dog Coat.The Retired Greyhound Trust, which home dogs when they retire from their racing careers, has launched a competition to find the Ultimate Dog Coat design for its greyhounds.

THE hunt is on for budding young fashion designers in Great Yarmouth to help a charity create the Ultimate Dog Coat.

The Retired Greyhound Trust, which home dogs when they retire from their racing careers, has launched a competition to find the Ultimate Dog Coat design for its greyhounds.

The winning creation will be made into a real coat and paraded at the Trust's annual show - the Great Greyhound Gathering - at Nottingham Race Course on Saturday, September 19.

Professional dog coat designer Laura Bailey from national doggy design house Petite Pooch will be on the judging panel to help the Trust find the very best coat and then transforming the design into a real life coat.

The competition is open to two age groups - under seven and eight to 11. There will be a winner from each age group in every region across the country, a national winner for each age group and an overall winner whose design will become the Ultimate Dog Coat 2009.

All winners will receive Retired Greyhound Trust goodies and the overall winner will snap up a �50 voucher for WHSmith.

David Jones, from the Retired Greyhound Trust in Yarmouth, said: “Greyhounds can feel the cold very easily and often need to wear a coat when the weather turns. We would like boys and girls across the country to get their pencils or paints out and help us to create the best looking dog coat ever.

“The winning coat will be made up and paraded by Greyhound of the Year at our flagship event, the Great Greyhound Gathering, during I Love Greyhounds Week in September.

“We help to home retired greyhounds when they have finished their racing careers and we hope this competition will really help to raise awareness of what we do and the fact that there are hundreds of greyhounds across the country who need loving homes with new families. Greyhounds can be extremely docile dogs. They are couch potatoes who get on well with children and like nothing better than to sit around getting fussed,” he added.

Doggy coat designer Laura Bailey, who is judge and the designer who will take the winning entry and create the coat, said: “I can't wait to have a look at all of the entries. It is going to be fun to see the work of some of the country's budding fashion designers. It can often be very dull in the winter, so I am looking for something bright and vibrant that stands out from the crowd. Good luck everyone. “

Entry forms can be downloaded from the Retired Greyhound website www.retiredgreyhounds.co.uk, where you can also view the full terms and conditions or from the many Retired Greyhound Trust run or supported dog shows around the country during the summer.

For further information about the competition, taking on a retired greyhound as a pet or supporting the charity, please contact the national office on 0844 826 8424.