A few weeks ago on April 17th, my trainers and I had the opportunity to attend the Idaho Family Pet Expo! The expo is offered annually for pet enthusiasts of all ages. There is an array of pet vendors from local businesses and nationwide shops offering a variety of products for family pets. This includes food items, toys, grooming supplies and more! There was something for everyone, both two- and four-legged.
The expo was pet-friendly, of course, which allowed for an excellent training opportunity. We love bringing our personal and client dogs to events to proof their training. I brought Havok and Zoey, Jenna brought Scout a Service Dog in Training, and Samantha brought her Belgian Malinois Savannah and Sloane, as well as her Labrador Retriever client puppy Stella. All the dogs did great and got to work around a variety of distractions from kids to other dogs and exotic pets like alligators. Talk about a busy event!
Samantha with Stella
We enjoyed meeting local vendors, small businesses and non-profits like:
Go Team, a not-for-profit group that certifies crisis response Therapy Dogs
https://goteamdogs.org/
Meridian Canine Rescue, a no-kill non-profit dog rescue
https://meridianrescue.org/
Our friends at the Idaho Humane Society
https://idahohumanesociety.org/
Idaho Barkery, a doggie bakery that specializes in healthy, awesome-looking and tasty treats for dogs!
Idaho Barkery Facebook page
and more!
We love being involved in our communities and look forward to Boise’s next big event! If you ever see us at an event, be sure to stop us and say hi. We love meeting our fans and followers in person, and of course it’s always great running into our clients!
Tips for events: To set your dog up for success at busy events, we have a few tips. First, exercise your dog so he is somewhat tired. A tired dog is a good dog. Next, make sure your dog is hungry and bring a high value reward. Third, put on any equipment your dog may need (like the prong collar- assuming your dog is trained using a prong collar). And lastly, advocate for your dog. Never let out of control, obnoxious dogs charge at your dog. A professional trainer at this event had his dog off leash (e-collar only) and that dog charged ours. Fortunately we saw it coming and body blocked the dog. This ensured our dog trusted us and the other dog wasn’t allowed to make contact with our dog. ALL dogs should be leashed at events like these, regardless of whether they’re off leash trained. Follow the rules!
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