Pet expo 2012

tk123

Tbh I would have gone a lot sooner only I was waiting to talk to somebody I know and there was somebody with her every time we passed for a good 20 mins!

andreac

Hi Bullbauld, nice to meet you, remind me what Rufus looks like so i can remember who you were?

LisaO

We were there on Saturday & can only echo what everyone else has said. The venue was a good space but seemed very empty - I thought there were less stands than at RDS previously? Also found it very difficult to know what was going on - would have been handy if they put a big notice up at ticket desk or somewhere to say what was going on & when. Although big thank you to a lovely lady from Dog Training Ireland - my daughter asked her if she could have a try at some of the agility with our little guy & lady said to come back & ask in 20 mins when rest of group would be there. We headed off for a cuppa & the lady came to find us to say they would be doing a "beginners agility" lesson in 5 mins. So headed back to main arena & both daughter & pup had great time.

We spent a good few hours there, as my daughter had been really looking forward to going and it was fantastic for the pup to meet lots of new people & dogs. Were a bit worried by the notices up at ticket desk about restricted breeds but not a word said & plenty of restricted breeds there & not a muzzle in sight!

Daughter had entered in dog show but there was no publicity for it & in the end it was cancelled due to lack of entries

Picked up a good few food samples , some new toys and leads & collars, so a successful day for us & say we would probably go again next year.

BullBauld

andreac wrote: »

Hi Bullbauld, nice to meet you, remind me what Rufus looks like so i can remember who you were?

Hi andreac

This is Rufus. He's an Airedale. You met so many dogs over the day it would be hard to remember them all.

Flo had her dancing feet on when Rufus came over, all play
Rufus was only interested in getting the leg over though

John

andreac

BullBauld wrote: »

Hi andreac

This is Rufus. He's an Airedale. You met so many dogs over the day it would be hard to remember them all.

Flo had her dancing feet on when Rufus came over, all play
Rufus was only interested in getting the leg over though

John

Oh i remember now, he was lovely. They had great fun, Flo is such a flirt with the boys!!

Inexile

I was there both days with a stand. Thought the space was better than last year but there wasnt the volumne of people and it needed some more stands. I picked up some bedding,, lip balm (for me) a few leads and christmas cards from two of the rescues and some fried dried raw food called K9 Natural. Hope the dogs like it as my usual dog food is no longer available. Has anyone else tried it?

I didnt see any of the demos but did see the sheepdog trial outside. Well I didnt realise what it was - I just thought someone had brought his dog and some sheep down there for a bit of practice. The event needs a bit of tweaking to work in this venue . But all in all I enjoyed it.

andreac

What stand were you there with? Wonder did i see you.

westies4ever

BullBauld wrote: »

Hi andreac

This is Rufus. He's an Airedale. You met so many dogs over the day it would be hard to remember them all.

Flo had her dancing feet on when Rufus came over, all play
Rufus was only interested in getting the leg over though

John

Fab looking dog you have there!

Inexile

andreac wrote: »

What stand were you there with? Wonder did i see you.

With the Greyhounds .... and you did

andreac

Inexile wrote: »

With the Greyhounds .... and you did

Ah yes, think i know who you are now

Inexile

Perhaps I should put this under a different thread but is anyone going to the show in the INEC in Killarney called Pet Kingdom?

mosi

Inexile wrote: »

Perhaps I should put this under a different thread but is anyone going to the show in the INEC in Killarney called Pet Kingdom?

Don't think I could make that one...if college wasn't so hectic it would be a great excuse to get down to Kerry. I'd be really interested in hearing how it compares to this year's Pet Expo.

Narsil

My friend and I went up on Saturday with our two GSD's.

I thought the breed areas were excellent and it was lovely to see and meet all the different types, especially the rotties and andrea! My Ghost seemed to love Flo

I was actually really annoyed at how the cat people were treated and I would not blame them if they didn't bother going next year. They were supposed to have a separate area so dogs couldn't go in and instead they were just shoved against the side wall:(. In the RDS at least they had the upstairs area to themselves. Very, very disappointed at this being a cat lover

Never heard anything about sheepdog trials and my friend was wondering if we could take part in the agility, but this didn't appear to be the case.

All in all it was an interesting day out, but the organisation was so lacking that I don't know if it is worth going next year:(

BullBauld

westies4ever wrote: »

Fab looking dog you have there!

Thanks. He's not as innocent as he looks in that pic

Sigma Force

Maybe the charge for the stands the exhibitors had was too costly for some buisnesses, not sure what they charged this time around but sometimes it's not worth a small buisnesses while maybe if they lower the cost for next year they might get more stalls in.

westies4ever

BullBauld wrote: »

Thanks. He's not as innocent as he looks in that pic

Terriers never are lol!

Shelli2

I was there on Sunday with Bradley and my little boy and my cousin, cost of €25 to enter.

Have to say Bradley had a great time meeting loads of other dogs and gettings loads of attention, and was treated to a lovely new harness.

My little boy was bored and just wanted to go on the kids slides, but at €3 a slide a said no way! I couldn't understand why there was no timetable, nobody seemed to know what was going on? The fire alarm went off constantly and was a little distressing. There was no GS stand. The cats area was disgraceful. Got a decent amount of samples and vouchers from Red Mills stand, but not much else.

I won't be travelling to punchestown again for it. If it was closer I might pop over on my own.

unclebill98

Very dissapoined by it. Went Saturday, 2 people and no dog.

Cons,
Thought the animal stalls where tiny, no reason, why the place is huge.
Again, no idea when anything was happening.
Fire alarm going off due to food place.
Serious lack of chairs to sit down.
Most of the dogs stalls we went do tried to give their contact details to buy a dog.
Cats area......what a laugh...three tables!
Kids area far to expensive.
Not a great range of shops.
Serious lack of bins.

Pros,
The general public with their dogs, not one person refused an aul pet of their dog.
The eagle was class.
The chap in the insect part was very informative and the amazon centipede was gross.
The snake, big yellow one was fab.
Parking was simple.
Dog musical chairs was very good
Also the agility which I missed some of it

Not what I thought it was going to be and defo not worth going back. Maybe Ireland just does not have the interest to hold a bigger event.

Themadhouse

I exhibited one yr in the cat section. I think a cat show is a better place for the general public to view cat breeds and learn about the breeds we have in Ireland. A pet expo is rarely set up right for the cats comfort.
It is sad that there were so few cat exhibitors this yr but anyone that I know who exhibited on the saturday did not go back on the sunday due to where the cats were situated and that people insisted on letting their dogs up to the pens. Some cats are not brought up in a dog environment and react badly to this.

I found the yr i was there that the general public were quite rude and tbh most openly laughed at the various breeds. It was not appreciated by the cat owners there.
If I was to do it again It would have to be in a secluded or cornered off area away from dogs ( mine are reared with dogs but still dont like strange dogs up in their faces). Better signage within the show to indicate the cat world and perhaps people who are interested in cats having a say on the set up of it.

SillyMangoX

While I was chatting to the lady with the Burmese, someone came up with their collie, put his 2 paws up on the table and was as if she was talking to a child.. Now have a good sniff of them cats... Like do people not have any common sense? I know the set up wasnt fantastic but it could have been aided by people having the faintist bit of cop on and not forcing their dogs onto the cats or not letting their children poke toys through the cages after said toys being shoved in every other cage, dragged along the floor and licked by dogs. Cant blame the exhibitors for freaking out when this toy is being shoved in her cats faces despite her telling the childs mother to control her. I would have loved to have stayed and chatted for longer but I could see stress levels rising!

BennyBlanc0

BullBauld wrote: »

I actually got a raw food sample(1k chubb) off Dogsfirst stand and Rufus made little work of it later on when we got home

We got a sample too. I'm already converted to raw by DF but have a picky eater here and she hammered it down! First time she harassed me in the morning for food. Fair play to him, he was busy, bit obsessed with poo maybe! Find myself getting drawn to same. Great poo this morning anyway! Ordered it online today from petshop.ie. 20hr delivery apparently, will let you know how I get on

JustAThought

The eagle guy was great - as was the amazing eagle!!! I could nit believe I was seeing an eagle up close & for real- must visit that place in Sligo with 200 of them! Budda the yellow snake was just incredible - the guy & girl " on" the snake were just SO interesting & informing - they really saved the event.
We had great fun looking at the Limas (?!) & the little horny goats & the donkey sanctuary were a great hit, as was the pet pig on a lead munching a carrot.
But, TBH, I was MORTIFIED that I'd persuaded my cat friends to come on the strength of last years RDS cat section - it was SO far for us to go & we spent a total of e40 getting in. If you wernt into reptiles or dogs IMO you were in big trouble with the event.

I agree that it was. " spacious" but it really felt empty ; we couldn't find the pet shows, not the dog mastermind & waited at the ring for the sheepherding which apparently was happening in the great abyss somewhere outside. Shame
By accident two of us were some of the very few that saw the chicken herding on the Sunday which was just hysterical & really great- but at that stage the awful non-stop shrieking of the stageschools " Annie" etc turned up to horrendous volumes had driven most people & their poor pets home.

At a tenner in to effectively " shop" I really felt that this was extremely poor value. The dog breed area was extremely cramped despite the huge space & their popularity & small sizes meant that not more than 2 or 3 at a time could really look & see- the hallway was very narrow there & constant jams & Q's . I would certainly address this for next year; and give a photocopied schedule & location of events so that people can actually plan .& see what they paid to get into.



My non-dog friends will neverbe persuaded to go again. unfortunately.
I felt so cheated at tbd " late announcement" of 3 " new" cat -displayers that appeared on FB a day or two before the show - it appears that they were the ONLY cats - despite a cat section being clearly listed on their website along with a dog breeders area.
Very misleading & for me, very embarrassing. Punchestown is a lot of petrol, and driving