What a fabulously busy show this year!! After a quick, complete rearrangement of K9ABCs booth, whew that was hilarious. Along with my neighbours we decided that the tent had to move, so with 10 minutes to show opening we moved it lol.
This year, K9ABCs was asked to be the show's official pet first aid volunteer. So when I requested the space to have my tent to assess and treat any injured or sick animal they provided. Thank you Nanette. It's important to have a calmer environment for an animal who is no doubt already a tad (if not terribly) stressed. Thankfully the space wasn't used to much but it certainly was appreciated by the few who did need it. A few injured paws got cleaned and wrapped and an elderly pug who was on the verge of collapse was able to rest, hydrate and cool off without interruption before going home with his Mom.
A big shout out THANK YOU to Stacey Joliffe, one of my Dogsafe 101 students for recognizing the pug was in distress and directed the ladies to me. Playful Paws Pet Service is Stacey's business in Abbotsford if you're looking for a truly caring person for your pet. Dogsafe 101 is definitely a great course for any dog professional. She just told me that she's sending her husband in for my course in May. Cool.
Also, a HUGE thank you to a few true friends for helping me appear professional at the show. No easy feat, lol. Tatiana and Aida, From set up to tear down and all in between, thank you thank you thank you. Melissa, you and Haven sure spiced things up on Saturday lol. I love Haven's voice and she certainly drew a crowd. Thank you Melissa for your support both Saturday and Sunday. Kirsty, thank you for stopping by Sunday. Perhaps your new mobile pet grooming business will allow you to be at the show yourself next year. It's a big job having a booth at the show and having friends support me makes it all possible.
We (Quincy and I) gave two seminars each day with great participation from the crowd. Topics covered included, Canine CPR, muzzles and hiking with your dog. Quincy was a stellar demonstrator, showing people how to gradually train their dogs to accept a muzzle because a muzzle=reward.
We saw a lot of past students and wish we had more time to catch up with everyone but the crowds kept us on our toes.
The new CPR barriers were a success and I still have some left to have for sale in future classes. Along with some slip leads and syringes to add to first aid kits.
Michelle from Dogsafe kindly donated the In Case of Emergency door stickers to the show and they all, but a few, were gladly accepted. There were a lot. My guess, 1000.
Approx 1000 of the wallet cards from K9ABCs and the Pet Poison Helpline stickers were handed out also. That's a lot of great info shared.
I haven't heard how much was raised for PADS by the show raffle but I heard that the Rescue Harness donated we donated was a hot ticket. I'd love to know who won.
If anyone got pictures of my seminars I'd love copies, please.
Based on the interest shown for a Dogsafe class in Langley by people there and in Surrey a class has been scheduled for April 27th. The location is up between a couple of places at this time but will be announced soon. There's only 12 spaces available, so if interested, register soon. Just use the registration form on this site, link on the left side column. And there's a class is Chilliwack May 7th.
So that's where the focus is now, upcoming classes. Later all, take care.