I wrote on Friday about Lilly going into total overload at class last week. Well, it was my turn on Saturday when I attended the Colorado Family Pet Expo. Here’s a recap of a few things I found amusing and annoying.
The Noise
First, let me paint a picture of the venue. It’s an indoor facility with a bank of bathrooms dividing the large space in two. On one side are a bunch of booths in aisles, like what you’d see at in any industry exhibit hall. On the other side, there are more booths and three demonstration areas:
- one for canine freestyle
- one for a rotating schedule of flyball, disc dog, and other training demonstrations
- one large above-ground, indoor pool and stage set up for dock diving
So, there’s music for dancing in the back, dudes with microphones explaining what’s going on in the center ring, and a long line of mostly labs barking their heads off waiting to jump in the pool in the front. Add the typical crowd noise of at such a venue, and it’s cacophony. Utter and total noise.
It really wore on me. I cannot imagine how all the dogs there with rescue groups or to draw traffic into other booths felt. Seriously, my ears are still ringing.
Food, Food, Food
It seemed like every other booth promoted pet food. I scored a bunch of free samples to use as training food, which is cool, but it was seriously overwhelming … and I’ve written at length about canine nutrition for veterinary and consumer magazines.
Contrary Advice & Opinions
I found the mix of behavior services interesting. Unless you know the insider lingo, unless you know what certain phrases are code for, then you’d have no idea exactly how different the various options are. My favorite was a trainer, whose banners proclaimed what is not used (like NO clickers) but didn’t really say what is used in training. Hmmmm…
The rescue/adoption gamut also played out in the aisles, including one private rescue that promotes prosecuting mainstream ones for animal cruelty and another small-time one that (I kid you not) had an 8-week-old chihuahua with a heart condition requiring surgery. Now, call me silly, but if you had such a tiny, vulnerable pup, would you bring it to such a stressful, potentially germy spot for 2 days?
Sure, he attracted attention, but at what cost to his health?
Pushy Loses the Race
The aisles between booths were quite small, so it was hard to avoid pushy people. At one, I politely declined materials offered, only to be forced to take them by the second person at the other end of the booth. Practically demanding my contact information in the process only steeled my resolve against your “cause.” Seriously, back off … you’re creeping me out. Too bad I can’t just growl at people who get too close, like Lilly does to dogs that invade her space.
Guilt or Praise By Association
The problem with such events is that I think the average consumer believes that if a person or group takes part then they must be OK … that event organizers or sponsors approve of them. They all must be essentially equal. They all must essentially agree. Clearly, that is not the case.
Perhaps the worse example of this came from a veterinary hospital & boarding kennel in Denver. Inside the goody bag staff handed out were 2 fliers for pet stores (the kind that sell puppy mill dogs). Are you kidding me?
Wow! That was depressing!
I came home feeling pretty sad on the whole. The noise, the promotion of old ideas, and the reminder of just how many dogs end up in rescue took their toll.
I met a 5-month-old female lab who was untrained but very sweet. She’d been given as a gift to an elderly woman. I met a 7-month-old male Weimaraner who was given up for medical reasons but who is perfectly healthy. I met a scrawny adolescent male German Shepherd mix who’d been picked up as a stray. I saw photos of a 2-year-old female Dalmatian who looks strikingly similar to my late Penelope Grace … and on and on and on.
Good News to Come!
Among the usual and the annoying, I spotted a few cool things. Tune in later this week for those.
P.S. A Bright Spot
Rocky Mountain Dog
is a new regional magazine and a new client of mine. This year, I’m
working on a several-part series on canine cancer for them.
Editor/Publisher Debbie Mock was there with her team, so it was fun to
see them. I often “meet” my editors over the phone and via email. I
rarely get to see them in person.
Yep. It was nuts. It also was super hot and smelled really bad just inside the doors when I arrived. Because of the crowds — lots of kids, lots of strollers, I was glad I was traveling alone with a big thing of ice water. I’m also glad I went sort of early before the crowds got worse.
I chatted with the BC rescue girls. I always make a point of thanking them for transporting Lilly before I adopted her at Boulder Valley Humane. They said they have about 20 dogs in rescue right now. That sounded like a lot to me, but who knows?
Wow, I’m glad I didn’t go. BC Rescue was looking for volunteers to help man their booth and I thought about volunteering but I knew it would be a nice weekend and couldn’t bear the thought of being inside for 3-4 hours. I feel bad about not helping out but I’m glad I gave it a miss, I hate being in noisy crowded areas.