Northwest Pet Fair

Zoe & Phee with their Pet Fair Haul

On Sunday I took the girls to the Northwest Pet & Companion Fair. I posted the picture above on my social media with a caption that said "We survived the Northwest Pet Fair!" This was the first big event that we've been to where I was solo with both dogs. I was actually sort of nervous about taking them by myself, I'm not sure why. I take them places together by myself all the time but expo type situations kind of make me nervous.


We were really excited to see Kathi from Galaxy Dog Treats, I did a review for her a while back and the girls love her treats. We also got tons of samples from other vendors. It was a good experience for Phoenix, especially since there was someone at every booth ready to hand her a cookie. She was pretty pleased with that and because everyone around every corner was handing her cookies, she wasn't worried about them! It was a great "counter conditioning to people" opportunity. 

I'm proud to say that both girls did really good. Phoenix did really well with her on leash greetings with passing dogs. They were being so good that I decided to stay and watch a "Shaping" (dog training) demo. There were a bunch of people in the audience but only two of us (another woman and myself) were answering the trainer's questions.

"Mom, this training demo is boring!" Zoe says.

The girls were a little bit antsy during the demo. They caused a mild disturbance during the demo part of the demo. The trainer decided to show how shaping works by teaching a human volunteer to walk around a chair. The volunteer was like a border collie trying a bunch of things at once and acting a little bit weird and it caused both of my dogs to whine and bark a bit at her. They don't think humans should be that weird. Luckily, the audience laughed and it was great comedic timing. I got their attention back on me and they went back to settling. I will be honest, I laughed, too. It was pretty funny.

I'm finding that when I go to these sort of events, I need to find a quiet corner and get them both to do some tricks and whatnot before jumping in and walking around. They do so much better when I get their attention on me and they calm right down after performing some behaviors they know. I think also letting them take it all in before wandering helps, too. I'm really glad they did well because we have an even bigger event we're going to in May.

After we were done at the event we found a green space outside the expo center and played for a little bit before going home. Phee decided this would be an excellent time to climb a tree. She's about 6 feet up and I helped her with the dismount. :)

We had a great experience at the Pet Fair and I'm really glad that I went despite my husband not being able to come. I'm looking forward to going again next year!