Excitement, barking, and the sight of lots of people all greeted my senses at the same time when I walked into the Pittsburgh Pet Expo located at the David Lawrence Conference Hall on the evening of Nov 18th 2022. From the moment I first walked into the heated and well-lit building the crowd was bustling and lively, and more people than not had a pet in tow or in a pack. This event is pet friendly, and by all appearances, pet owners took this opportunity to take Fido out to meet old friends and make new ones. Just over 16,000 participants were at the event throughout the weekend.
Soon after I arrived, I happened upon the “Lure Coursing Arena”, where a line was quickly forming. Lure coursing is basically a sectioned off area with a cable going all the way around the area about 6 inches off the ground. The cable goes through a little motor, and has a flag on it. An operator makes the cable go around and around, and by doing that it makes the flag look like a little animal running around at top speed. For $15.00, your dog gets to spend 2 plus minutes inside this ring chasing a flag. Some dogs take to it immediately and try as fast as they can to catch whatever is on that cable, while others merely look at it a bit and then go sniff around. I’ve seen these at a few different events I’ve been to, and it’s always interesting to watch.
Probably the most amazing thing I saw on Friday night was the Canine Weight Pulling Competition. Laurel Highlands Working Dogs hosted the competition sanctioned by the World- Wide Weight Pull Organization, and the basic idea for this is to have dogs of various sizes pull a weighed down 4 wheeled cart. Each dog wears a harness that evenly distributes the weight across their complete body, and they need to pull the cart 16 feet. On Saturday and Sunday, they actually opened up the ring so that anyone in the crowd could see if their dog is a good fit for weigh pulling by trying it.
Imagine my surprise when the first dog in the ring turned out to be a long-haired Chihuahua! Lemon is a 5lb dog, and one of the most famous Weight Pulling Chihuahuas in the world right now, with a current value of about five hundred thousand dollars. And guess how much weight she pulled! Over 200 pounds! That was incredible to see! Later on, I saw a dog weighing a little over 100 pounds pull the cart weighing 1800 pounds! If you think you’re amazing, try pulling a cart weighing 18 times your body weight!
Also doing demonstrations all weekend long was the Daredevil Dogs, a part of Purina ProPlan Performance team. This is a group of amazingly talented dogs doing all sorts of incredible tricks and highflying Frisbee actions. These dogs have performed all over the United States at NFL games, military bases, fairs, festivals, TV shows and more. Not only did that put on a great performance, the trainer also shared some neat training tips on how to get your own dogs interested in Frisbee sports. These dogs were definitely used to performing in crowds and stay focused and attentive.
The Dock Diving event was presented by North American Diving Dogs (NADD), where dogs could get scored by two different performances.
Distance; Dogs are scored by a certified NADD Judge on how far they jumped based on where their tailset entered the water, and Hydro Dash; Dogs are scored on how quickly they swam to retrieve a suspended toy (that was held at the 38 ft mark) and swam back across the 10ft mark in the pool.
You could actually purchase a try-it to get on the dock and try it, or you could also compete with on site sign-up spots. This was an opportunity to qualify for the 2023 NADD Regionals held across the US and Canada, (where teams compete to qualify at the National Finals) as well as earning scores to work toward the various Dock Diving Division Titles NADD offers.
Throughout the show all weekend were over 250 vendors of various different products and services. Toys, jewelry, art, chews, and even doggie ice cream. These vendors put on a great array of industry related products and services. They even had food vendors in the building with seating where you could sit down and take a break over a good burger and fries. While I wasn’t actually at the event on Saturday and Sunday, they had a lot more going on then. Doxie Downs hosted a dachshund race, Santa was there, pets participated in a costume parade, and much more. If you’ve got a hankering for some big city action, mark your calendars for next year and make sure to attend! So long!
How many dog groomers could possibly exist? That’s one of the first things that went through my mind as I stepped inside the Hershey Event Center in Hershey, PA on Friday, September 8th, to attend the Groom Expo. Even before we registered, I could see the crowds of people, feel the energy, and begin to understand why this event is truly a destination for dog groomers across the country
Portuguese Water Dogs, also known as PWDs, have a rich history that dates back centuries. These highly intelligent and athletic dogs were originally bred by fishermen in Portugal to assist in their daily tasks on the sea. PWDs were trained to retrieve lost gear, guard boats, and even herd fish into nets. They were also skilled swimmers and would often jump overboard to retrieve items that fell into the water.
Antler shed hunting. If you’re one of the people who haven’t
heard of this sport, then you may be wondering what it consists of or what it even is. In this article, we will dive deeper into what antler shed hunting is and how hunters around the world
are making this a well-known sport.
