Halifax Doggie Expo 2012

Today we had a rather exciting outing — a visit to the Doggie Expo at the Halifax forum. This was a fundraising event for Greyhound Pets of Atlantic Canada (GPAC), a non-profit organisation that finds homes in the Maritimes for retired racing greyhounds from the US.

Google maps put the Expo at around a 40-minute walk from home. Fortunately it was a sunny day, and not terribly cold.

Once there it was a bit of a struggle to find the right entrance, but we made it in the end. And after only three people skipped the queue in front of us, we arrived inside. The area was packed full, with about 70 vendors and organisations, including the SPCA and GPAC. Hundreds of people and dogs — a good few of them greyhounds — were milling about.

One of the first booths we found was PetValu, where the team immediately recognised Apollo and showered him with treats. We also found Christine from Bark & Fitz, and right next to her was Jennifer (who gave Apollo his first bath a few months ago) had her own booth showcasing her lovely paintings.

At the far end of the room we found Dogs In Gear — they were also at last weekend's dog show, where I bought Musher's Secret to stop Apollo from being bothered by all the salt on the roads. There Apollo tried on one of their X-back harnesses which they custom make by hand. I am now having to decide how long I can wait for Apollo to grow before I buy him one. Or maybe I should get one now, and then he can have a new one later, and the first can be re-homed (or saved for a potential dog number two somewhere down the line… ). I did splurge on a mushing belt, the last one they had. The plan is for this to make long walks a little easier, especially as it frees up my hands for more picture-taking (stay tuned). Of course, this means I need to get an elasticated leash, and that harness, and and…

Photo courtesy of manmat.cz

After picking up a couple of bags of treats, we happened upon a table covered with dog coats, and I was delighted to see that they had one I'd been looking at online for a while, but hadn't dared to order because I wasn't sure how it would fit. Happily, it was the perfect length for Apollo! The only problem is that seeing as he's so lean right now, it fit very loose around his shoulders and chest. The seller offered to attach extra strips of velcro before delivering it to the house, so now we're waiting eagerly for his new raincoat. Until I can get pictures of Apollo showing it off, the one below gives some indication of the look.

Photo courtesy of Amazon

At the Expo we met several lovely dogs, including Apollo's Aussie friend from the dog show. This time they were able to play together a little more, since getting their coats messed up wasn't a concern. We also met a 3-month old malinois puppy — an absolutely beautiful girl with huge ears, a soft, glossy coat, and already a fair bit of black down her back.

The only negative experience was seeing one of the stands selling invisible fencing, using electric shock collars. With everything else there being so positive, this really felt out of place. My only hope is that they didn't get much business or interest.

After about three hours at the expo we headed back home. Within a few minutes of arriving, Apollo stopped being the energetic puppy and proceeded to sleep through most of the afternoon and evening. Success!

Walking home along Citadel Hill