All About Pets Show 2014

This post is so very late, I went to this show over the Easter weekend but I didn't actually post it because I was going to add pictures, then I lost them, it was a whole big thing. If I ever find them I will add them to the post, anyway here it is, enjoy!

Last weekend I attended  the All About Pets Show for the first time ever and I have to say I am never going to miss one again. I am going to talk about all the products I bought and the different shows I saw but first here is just a little personal note on my experience.
 There were some really great vendors and shows today but I have to say, the best part of my day was being surrounded by people who are happy to talk about dogs all day long. At home it's just me, nattering on about my dog and all the interesting facts I have learned and I can see my family trying their best to be interested but they just aren't. Today I talked nonstop to everybody I met about their dogs and my dogs and that is something I would NEVER usually do (the talking to people thing). I finally found my people, and they are the hard core dog people. I learned a lot today and it was really cool to be able to tell all these people all about my Bernedoodle. I would say about 99% of them had never heard of the breed before. I took my tablet with me to the show specifically because I was hoping people would want to see pictures and I am happy to day I whipped that thing out every ten minutes.

The facility was split up into different sections for dogs, cats, horses, reptiles, various farm animals, kangaroos (that was a very small section but awesome nonetheless), birds and fish. Within those sections there were subsections to cater to the various needs of the animals like health and nutrition, grooming, various supplies, as well as the animals themselves. I spent most of my time going through the dog section (of course) looking at the various dog breeders and breed specific rescues (they didn't have any regular city rescues represented). Hardly any of the dogs there were actually buyable or  adoptable the breeders/rescues brought in the best of the best which were usually either their own family dogs or the dogs they use to breed. Like I said I talked to everyone and I probably met every dog in the building. My favourite dog that I met was a rescue Grey Hound, I fell in love with it. It was actually one of the tallest dogs I have every seen, it even made the Grate Danes look short.

I love to learn every thing I possibly can about the different breeds of dog so I asked a lot of questions. I mostly asked about size and behaviour because when I read up on the facts I only get generalizations and I wanted to know the specifics. Like when you research Pit Bulls you get all the aggression nonsense but if you talk to a breeder or an owner you will get the real deal about their temperament and behaviour (I didn't actually actually meet any Pit Bulls, I was just using a very basic example). I made sure to talk to the Bernese Mountain Dog Breeders obviously because I LOVE them but also because I had some questions about behaviour as Khazi seems to be more Berner than Poodle in that way. I was a little upset the other day because I was wishing that Khazi would be cuddly but she isn't at all. When I asked the breeders if their dogs were cuddly they all said yes but they also said that their dogs were not cuddly when they were younger, they all became cuddle monsters around the age of four. OK now,  if anyone reading this owns a Berner, please let me know, were your dogs were cuddly from the beginning, did it developed with age or would they rather not be cuddled. I know every dog is different but it gives me some hope.

There were a lot of fun shows to watch and I saw all but one of the dog shows. They had the Super Dogs perform but they used a different name. I know they were the Super Dog performers though because I recognize a lot of them and because the owner actually lives across the street from me and I saw he and his son there. I actually found watching the show much more interesting now that I do it with Khazi and work as an apprentice trainer in agility. Watching the different techniques the trainers use and the way they communicate with their dogs is awesome. I also saw what a small tight community the world of dogs sports really is. After the show I went to ask one of the trainers a technical question and his dog happened to be a Frenchie. I told him the trainer I work with also did agility and other sports with her two French Bulldogs (she also has two Boston Terriers and a Border Collie who compete as well) and it turned out he knew her very well. I really liked him, his Frenchie Sabba (that could be wrong the building was really loud) was his first dog ever. His daughter moved in with him  for a few months and brought her Frenchie along, he fell in love with the dogs and when she moved out he decided he needed to get one of his own. I think it's awesome that he started later in life and is totally excelling, I would have loved to have heard how he got started in sporting.

On a side note, the superdogs are the reason I got Khazi into agility. When I was really young, a few times a year I would see the massive trailers pull up to my neighbours house and tons of dogs would get out. Their property would be covered in dogs. Over an acre of extremely intelligent, adorable dogs, it was like my heaven. I only ever watched from afar but I wanted so badly to run over there to play with them and learn how they taught their dogs for myself. Eventually, after a few years they stopped having the dogs come to the house, I was so sad. They only ever had their own dogs there after that and funnily enough their son's dog, Bungee - a Jack Russel I think (it was a long time ago)- was always running away. I brought Bungee back countless times and it always made me laugh that a guy who's dad owns the Super Dogs has a dog that runs away at every opportunity.

Now back to the shows, after the Super Dogs they had, get this, the Super Goats! Yes you read it right, goats! I did not know Goat agility was a thing, I mean I was surprised when I found out cats could compete in agility. The goats were amazing, they could do everything the dogs could do and just as well, there was just more "accidents" on the field. The trainers also has massive treat bags. One of the goats was only like four months old but that one was very intent on running away after doing a trick, hmmm sounds like my dog :P . After the goats we met up with some the two little girls my family helps look after (Zeda, 8 and Leigh Lynn, 6 months) and their mom.Next there was a dock diving competition. There were three tiers, the juniors, seniors and the masters. The junior group jumped 0-4 Feet, the Seniors jumped 5-12 Feet and the Masters jumped 15-27 Feet. Most of the dogs were great but there were three dogs who were scared and I felt so bad for them. The announcer said that it is normal for a dog to be fearful of indoor venues because the lights reflect off the water and the dogs think if they jump in they will land on something other than water. Two of the dogs made me kind of sad but one just made me laugh, rather than standing in the ready jumping position trying to get the courage to jump like the others it stood there barking at it's toy in the water like he was telling it to come back to him so he didn't have to get wet. Those three dogs were all actually natural water dogs they were a Yellow Labrador Retriever, a Golden Retriever and a Nova Scotian Duck Tolling Retriever . There were many different breeds of all sizes, even a tiny American Eskimo Dog who could jump very far. The three farthest jumpers were 1. Bearded Collie 2. Belgian Mallinois 3. Unknown Mix. The fourth farthest jumper was a Austrailian Cattle Dog who refused to get out of the water until he had sufficiently hearded his toy by swimming around it in the water, Oh ACDs.

After the dock diving semifinals had finished there was a break in the show times so it was time to do some shopping. Some of the vendors were expensive, they were mostly the people selling homemade dog products. It makes sense that they would be more expensive but I couldn't justify spending money on products I know I can make easily. The one item I did consider buying was a bowtie collar made out of Frenchie fabric. The collars were $20 each so there was no way I was going to buy them but they were really cute and I thought they would be the perfect gift for my two coworkers/friends who have Frenchies. I found the fabric on Etsy if you want to check it out Click Here. There was one vendor that was far better than any of the others and I am so happy that I decided to wait until I had seen everything before I went shopping because I found everything I wanted for a tenth of the price. The guy running the little shop actually supplies pet stores so everything was under $10. I found so many great toys, most of them cost about $20 retail and I spent $1-$3 on each toy.

The big purchase I made was a $20 Frisbee. I was looking at the Frisbees and I started talking to the lady who designed the toys and asked her about increasing toy drive. Khazi is not an easy dog to get going because she is not food or toy motivated so I try as hard as I can to make her want to embrace her playful side. It was a great, informative talk and she helped me find the proper product for my dog as well as showing me how to introduce Khazi to Frisbee play.

I went to see the dog breed parade by myself and I found it very enjoable. I am fascinated by the different dog breeds so I spend a lot of my free time researching and taking dog breed quizzes. I was so proud of myself, I knew every dog breed before they announced the type. There were more rare breeds than the everyday breeds and I loved being able to see them in person rather than in a book or online. I understand the host of the show was famous but the name Beverly Mahood (?) means nothing to me. Let me know if you know why she is famous. After that was over we all went back to the dog shows after for another round of agility and the dock diving finale.

I went to this show specifically to see the grooming seminars and I missed all of them. We finally found the grooming center when there were five minutes until closing. I was happy to find the Chris Christiensen booth as I have never seen their products in person. I didn't buy anything from them because the prices are very high and buying any of their products would involve a lot of thought. If I had money I would probably have bought that place out. The product I wanted most was the Andreas Boar/Nylon brush because it would be perfect for Khazi's hair but it cost $70. Instead of buying anything I just took a catalog unfortunately I found later that there are no prices listed.

Congratulations for making it all the way to the bottom of the post, I know this was kind of rambily. I can't help it, that is the way my brain works when I am happy and excited. I highly recommend going to the show if you are ever around the area in April. I know I will buying next year's tickets as soon as they become available. If you do want to attend just know that you are not allowed to bring your dog with you to the show unless you are a vendor or performer. If you want to take your dog to an event like this try Woof Stock as it is pet friendly. I hope to be attending on May 24 so expect another post like this next week (if I can get my act together).

Have a great Victoria Day Weekend,

XOXO J and Khazi