But Sunday wasn’t the only time Paddington had upstaged his fellow pooches at the RSPCA Million Paws Walk at Reddall Reserve, Lake Illawarra.

Spray-painted orange and made up to look like a lion, the attention grabbing samoyed dog’s pride was clear to see as he brought out his inner lion.

Owners Kim and Paul Halley from Flinders said Paddington loved taking part in the walk and enjoyed dressing up as well.

‘’This is like Christmas Day for him, he gets so excited,’’ Kim said.

‘’We dressed him as a panda one year and he absolutely loved it. He got best dressed that year. We are hoping he a gets another trophy this year.’’

Unanderra RSPCA shelter volunteer branch president Ann Dewson said Illawarra’s dog lovers had once again come out in big numbers to support the event.

‘’It’s a great day. I reckon we have in excess of 1000 dogs and of course their owners,’’ she said.

‘’This is our biggest fundraising event for the year.

‘’Last year we raised $30,000 and the aim is to raise a similar amount this year.

‘’The money will mainly assist our Princess Plan where we allocate money to special needs animals to enable them to be adopted.

‘’The money raised will be used to pay for veterinary treatment to enable these animals to be adopted.’’