Pet Expo 2015

muddypaws

A few years ago there were numerous threads about Pet Expo, it was on over the weekend in Dublin and I have seen no mention of it anywhere. Did anyone go, or has everyone given up on it now?

baby and crumble

muddypaws wrote: »

A few years ago there were numerous threads about Pet Expo, it was on over the weekend in Dublin and I have seen no mention of it anywhere. Did anyone go, or has everyone given up on it now?

I didn't even know it was on, heard nothing about it anywhere. Shame, it wasn't too bad, and I'd liked to have gone now that we have a pet you can actually get things for. If nothing else we got a great deal on our alarm system for the house at the last one...

tk123

I was at a workshop all weekend with Lucy but after last year (and previous years tbh) I wouldn't go again. Waste of money for me anyways! Also a lot of the dogs seem to be on their annual public outing and are unsocialised - not fun when they're barking and snapping and not the type of dogs I want to be around with my two.

baby and crumble

tk123 wrote: »

I was at a workshop all weekend with Lucy but after last year (and previous years tbh) I wouldn't go again. Waste of money for me anyways! Also a lot of the dogs seem to be on their annual public outing and are unsocialised - not fun when they're barking and snapping and not the type of dogs I want to be around with my two.

That's a fair point. A lot of the kids there were also not really being looked after appropriately and were just wandering up to dogs (as kids will do!) and it was just a bit of a recipe for disaster really.

I did love the cat show last year, it was really cool to see so many breeds and gorgeous animals. A lot of the judges were great too, really explaining what they were looking for and why in the judging.

fathead82

I went and I wouldn't be in a rush to go to it again. It was good to see all the different breeds of dogs and I got a lot of information about a breed I'm interested in but I thought the alpacas looked very stressed and had no where to escape from people who were trying to touch them when they clearly didn't want to be touched.

Inexile

fathead82 wrote: »

I went and I wouldn't be in a rush to go to it again. It was good to see all the different breeds of dogs and I got a lot of information about a breed I'm interested in but I thought the alpacas looked very stressed and had no where to escape from people who were trying to touch them when they clearly didn't want to be touched.

I was there for a day and a half, on a stand, and I missed the alpacas completely. Visit to specsavers needed . II missed last year but comments from others say space was better. Breed village was a bit empty on the first day but apparently there was a show on so some exhibitors may have been at that. I decided the best way to save money was to stay on the stand as I always end up buying stuff. Got two lovely collars from Swaggles, some nice dog treats from the Petstop stand and a Christmas deco from Last Hope.

It definitely needed more advertising. We had no issues with badly behaved dogs - just one bad owner who didn't pick up after the dog

Overall I enjoyed it but then I just love seeing all the different dogs.

Knine

I normally have a Breed Club Stand there every year but I had a Show on the Saturday which I chose to go to as it was to raise funds for the National Show Centre. The person organizing the Breed Club Stands was very unpleasant to me because of this. He probably did not cop that I represent 2 different breed Clubs. I can't see myself ever having a stand there again.

From the photos I did see it looked quieter then other years.

Raminahobbin

This years was very meh. I usually enjoy them, especially meeting the dogs and owners, but the standard has been waning for a while now and after this year I certainly won't go out of my way to go again.

It was an improvement not to have the farm animals right at the front door this year, but they still didn't lay it out very well. The front of the hall was very cramped, everyone walked straight in on top of the breed village and the rows were very close together. Considering how empty the back of the hall was, they really should have spaced it out a bit better.

The farm animals, as usual, seemed very vulnerable to being poked at by kids, and had nowhere to retreat to. "Cat World" apparently wasn't there on Saturday, only Sunday, but consisted of 4 cats looking completely miserable and jaded. Really, I think the dogs are the only animals who enjoy being at this type of show and I don't think it's fair to subject the others to it, especially when their needs are not being catered to and crowd control is almost non-existent.

I think, from now on, the dog shows in the National Show Centre are where I'll head. Better laid out, dogs and owners are more relaxed and open to a chat, and the visitors are generally much more respectful of the ethos. I've been to 2 or 3 All Breed shows there this year alone as a visitor, and I never get stressed the way I do at the Pet Expo.

SingItOut

I was there on the Saturday. Not impressed at all. The breed village was very badly laid out, I was happy the cats weren't there on Saturday because they were right beside the dogs and noise. The amusement rides right beside the farm animals? ridiculous. Not many stalls at all, we brought my boyfriends puppy and bought her a new harness. Only things I bought were a tea towel and a bag of sweets for my own two dogs!

The therapy dogs, the pyrenean/bernese mountain dogs and the pygmy goats were adoreable, other than that not much to say other than it was a dreadful show this year. We left after about two hours, if that.

tk123

You did well lasting 2 hours! I think we were done after 20-30 mins last time but did a few extra laps to stay a bit longer. Anyone I knew there thought it was crap too.

SingItOut

I wanted to leave after 20 mins believe me! It was my boyfriends parents first time there and we wanted to socialise the puppy so we had to stick it out.

tk123

Yeah I was the same the last two years - it was just to socialise Lucy! Luckily we have a few spots now we can use for socialisation instead and have a bit more control of who we meet. Apart from it being a bit crap Lucy is not comfortable with toddlers coming at her so I wouldn't have taken her anyways for that reason and have her worried!

SingItOut

I know what you mean, there was one toddler who was let rush up to the little phalenes and the white dogs beside them (were they spitz?), luckily he wasn't bitten. Zelda was fine, only adults came up to her. She had a little snooze on that hammock bed while we spoke to the company owners

Ashbx

Yeah I went and thought it was crap. We got there at 11 and there was barely anything there. Stayed till 1 and it really didn't get much better. Waste of money and don't think I will bother go next year. Its a pity because it could be a great day out.

Someone mentioned above about people seem to bring their dogs to their annual outing for socialising! Please don't judge! My collie is extremely well socialised and has no problems BUT the organisers decide to put bloody farm animals in the middle of the show (thankfully they put them at the back this year....last year it was at the front which was a disaster). The moment my dog saw them....bark bark bark!! And she is not a vocal dog! And then they started walking the goats and pigs around on leads among the other dogs which sent my collie into a frenzie again!

So yes, I will put my hands up and say my dog probably was one of the barkers you mentioned, but its not due to the "annual outing" and you shouldn't be so quick to judge! Had to put her in the car because she was getting too strung out with the other farm animals.

muddypaws

Ashbx wrote: »

Someone mentioned above about people seem to bring their dogs to their annual outing for socialising! Please don't judge! My collie is extremely well socialised and has no problems BUT the organisers decide to put bloody farm animals in the middle of the show (thankfully they put them at the back this year....last year it was at the front which was a disaster). The moment my dog saw them....bark bark bark!! And she is not a vocal dog! And then they started walking the goats and pigs around on leads among the other dogs which sent my collie into a frenzie again!

I think unfortunately this shows why it has declined, the organisers don't really seem to understand animals. I did demos there for a couple of years, but we were messed around so much by the organisers, I said I'd never go again. I know quite a few animal care professionals who have had stands at it, but won't go again for similar reasons.

Such a shame, as it was great for the first couple of years and I think it really did have huge potential.

Inexile

To me the venue this year was spacious and comfortable to move around in. I thought the stalls were better than 2 years ago though I still miss all the freebies that were there in the early years. Maybe its because I missed last year I wasn't found the show ok this year

I'm not connected with the organisers of the show. However, I do help on group that have a stand at it so I suppose I have a vested in interest in the event.

I would really like to know what Boardies would suggest the event needs to bring it back to what it was - whats missing - what needs to go - etc.

SingItOut

The cat show was a brilliant informative feature last year, I enjoyed that so much. Also there were many dog breeds missing which were scheduled to be there which was disappointing. Regardless of what went on behind the scenes a lot of the exhibitors did not seem enthusiastic about being at the show which put people off speaking with them and engaging with their breeds. The Scottish terriers in the breed village were badly socialised and jumping and snarling at dogs walking by. The music at the show was far too Loud for the animals there. The amusement rides need to go, they have no place at a show like that and especially not beside farm animals, whoever was in charge of the layout needs to step down. The cats should not be in the same room as the dogs. More pet expo appropriate/relevant stalls and more enthusiasm from the breed exhibitors would probably contribute towards a better show. I'd be very hard pushed to go next year, the last two years have been a huge let down and considering the over priced ticket, not including the €6 for parking, you didn't get value for money.