I did really enjoy the agility trials because it was different from the super dog shows I am used to seeing. It was 100% agility and the runs were timed and judged professionally. Now that I do agility with my dog I am much more interested in the handling and judging of a sport rather than the entertainment of a show. It is so encouraging to see some of the people trialing facing the same problems I face on the pitch. When the agility trials had finished you could sign up to try running on their beginners agility course. I was very excited about that because I wanted to see if Khazi would perform outside of familiar territory. Everything on the pitch was tiny which Khazi did not like, I swear I could hear her thinking "what is this, an agility course for ants?!?" she also did not understand why I wouldn't allow her to run the entire course all in one go and why she had to wear her leash. It was quite fun and a great photo op.
After watching the two shows I was very disappointed because I had visited all the tents (all five of them) and that seemed to be it. Thank goodness we were mistaken and we were directed to follow a path for about four minutes to take us to the largest section of Woofstock. There were TONS of tents at the end of the path as well as a giant stage on which they were filming dog fashion show and breed shows for CTV. The tents were all vendors selling dog gear, food and accessories. The best part was all the free samples. We came home with three full bags of freebies, mostly food and treats. We also got a free paw print picture at a microchipping booth. They offered free dog photo shoots for anyone who wated to sign their dog up to me in the fido calendar and adds, I was going to sign up but the preson ahead of me in line took the last booking :(. Once you finished shopping you could go and eat at one of the food trucks. It was a fantastic experience but if you are thinking of attending next year here are some things to think about. Don't take your dog if it is aggressive/overly reactive, that seems pretty obvious but there were tons of aggressive/reactive dogs there. In fact one of the puppies that comes to the training facility I work in lost a big chunk of it's ear while it was at Woofsock. An aggressive dog came up behind him and bit it right off. Bring water for both you and your dog, it is very hot and a lot of the dogs were over heating. It will also help to take a seat in the shade during the hot hours. Wear sun block, shade is few and far between. There are very few places to sit so, if you are expecting to stay all day bring some light weight folding chairs. GO EARLY, if you are driving it can be extremely difficult to find parking so head out as early as possible.
If you have a pug or dachshund you can enter them in races, they are free and fun and I think you can win prizes. If you are interested in entering the cute dog contest you need to sign up before you go. Many people wanted to enter their dogs but didn't realize they had to pre register.
The All About Pets Show and Woofstock are the two biggest expos in my area so I am going to give you a rundown of which show I enjoyed more.
Dogs- Winner: Woofstock - You can bring your dog with you to Woofstock
Freebies - Winner: Woofstock There were TONS of freebies at Woofstock almost all the vendors who sold treats or food offered either food packages or treat samples.
2017 UPDATE - The All Aboout Pets Show now allows you to bring your dog and the freebies have gotten better. I go to the AAPS every year and have not wanted to go back to Woofstock after my first visit
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