We went to the Pet Expo yesterday. The only word I can think of is appalling.
I arrived a few hours affter it started and the first place I went to park they were charging $10. Yeah, right, $10 to park in a vacant lot full of potholes and mud. Thanks I'll go park on the street. (Ok, that has nothing to do with the rest of this post, but it was indicitive of what was coming up)
On my way in I saw more odgs on flexi leads then I cared to cound. Most were little dogs, but not all. Many people were letting their dogs wander at the end of their leashes and were being allowed to approach and greet strange dogs without speaking to the owner first.
I went in and paid my entry fee and was immediately greeted by two dogs. I didn't ask for them to walk up to me, and since they had different owners who were paying no attention to them, I had no idea if they were going to get along themselves.
I went to find Jenn.
I walked down the middle aisle to see more handling that bordered on frightening. I found Jenn and her daughter at the Bandit's Bath House booth. That's the place I bring Riggs to give him a bath. They are fantastic and have no problem respecting my requests to keep dogs away from him and not let them wander the shop while we are there. **highly recommended**
After we left that booth we met an adorable "little" Pit puppy and his owners. He was 16 weeks and 25 pounds, he's gonna be a big one! We got talking and found out that they were having some trouble with him and I promptly handed a card. While we were talking the puppy was quietly sitting at her feet. A man approached from behind and allowed his adult Golden Retreiver to stick his head between her legs to stuff his nose up the puppy's butt. The puppy lost it and the guy seemed rather mystified that that was not appropriate behavior from him or his dog. I scooped up the puppy and quieted him down. No harm no foul. He had been attacked by a Yorkie recently so he was not really comfortable with small dogs but was fine with larger dogs if allowed to be introduced correctly, not accosted from behind without warning. I'm hoping they stop in here soon!
From there, we headed to the SPBR booth. I should have just kept on walking. They had an x-pen set up with an adorable pile of sleeping puppies in it. I was standing about three feet away and could smell them. These were not 5 week old poopy-puppies, these were 10ish week old pupppies that had serious "shelter stink." A woman was holding one and speaking to an SPBR volunteer, so I stepped closer. Their adoption fee is
$300. Waaaaay above the norm in this area. She commented at how expensive that was and he explained it was because it would already be spayed and vetted and the money goes to "making sure the dogs are as healthy as possible." (You can pull a puppy from any of the area shelters for about $110, also altered and with basic vet checks done.) He also told her that they currently have
seventy five dogs and puppies available for adoption.
My next stop was the crate with another pile of sleeping puppies. There was a mini-Riggs in there, and I asked to meet her. The woman pulled her out and handed her to me. She
reeked. I commented on the stink and she explained that they all needed baths. Are you kidding me? They brought
filthy puppies to an
adoption event! Way to make a good first impression on potential adopters. I had enough and we continued.
A few booths down was the booth for the local pet cemetary, it's where I had Mordred and Pavarotti creamated and I stopped and looked at their urns. The woman there commented about the SPBR booth and told us about the adult Pit who had grabbed a small breed dog earlier in the day
by the head. She said it took a while to separate them, the Pit just clamped down. I asked how they got them apart, and she said that they
just kept pulling and the Pit eventually let go. Thank God the little dog wasn't hurt, but that's only because the Pit didn't feel like killing it (obviously.)
A few minutes later we met the guy with the
blind adult male Doberman, who quite understandably was pretty freaked out. The dog kept wandering up to people and other dogs trying to figure out the environment. Now, I will give the handler credit, he did step out of the building a few times to give the dog a chance to calm down, but frankly the dog shouldn't have been there in the first place. Now, guess what rescue the guy told us the dog came from, and guess which rescue didn't tell him that the dog shouldn't be there?
There was a stunning intact male Great Dane, the handler mostly paid attention to him, but numerous dogs were allowed to wander up to him. A few times he turned around so he was facing the opposite direction of the handler and started sniffing dogs.
More than one dog peed on the floor and the handlers just walked away.
My eyes started bugging out and Jenn laughed and asked me if I was ready to go. Uh... yeah... before my head explodes!
From there we went to Sticky Lips BBQ **highly recommended** where I ordered a blank and tan made with Guinness and Woodchuck cider **highly recommended.** I returned from the bathroom to find
three bottles at my seat. A bottle of Guinness, a bottle of Woodchuck and a bottle of Black-and-Tan. Um... I then proceeded to order an appetizer for lunch - machos with pulled pork. I got a pile of nachos that was bigger than my head.
The saving grace of teh day was hanging out with Jenn and her friend, but that about covered it.
The next time one of these events rolls around I think I'll just stay home.