PawsAbilities Weekend 2013

This weekend, the Farm Show Complex was full of laughter, barking, music, and splashing! That’s because it was PawsAbilities weekend! Did you bring your dog to join the fun?

Dog’s tested their mettle in the Dog Olympic Games. The Clean Plate Club seemed to be a favorite, especially since the object of the game was to eat everything on the plate! In one heat, we had three dogs who ate everything on their plate, including the celery and lemon slice. We had to do a tie-breaker with a piece of garlic. Watch this dog devour the garlic!

Dogs also competed on Dog Olympics like the Doggy Limbo, Musical Hoops, and Par for the Course.

Dogs and their owners went all out this year for costumes for the costume contest. Check out this peacock, Big Bird, and Raphael, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

For dogs and handlers who wanted to try the sport of Rally-Obedience, we had a practice Rally-O course. Dogs and handlers move through the course and perform the behaviors and movements at designated stations.

If you wanted to see fast dogs, you came to the right place! Flyball Dogs Anonymous gave several demonstrations throughout the weekend. These dogs sprint over a series of jumps, release a tennis ball and catch it midair, then race back over the jumps to the finish line. Check out how fast they are!

This year, WestWind Air Dogs, sponsored by Ultimate Air Dogs, joined us for PawsAbilities! They held a Splash competition, where dogs run and jump off a dock, trying to leap as far over the water as they can. Many of the competitors leaped over 15 feet!

People and dogs new to dock jumping could try it. In between Splashes, attendees introduced their dogs to the dock. Many of the dogs stopped when they got to the edge of the dock, but a number of them jumped in, after a little coaxing. The toy that handlers threw in the water certainly provided some incentive to make the leap!

Besides games and activities, attendees could visit over 60 vendors. Our vendors had everything from dog treats to collars and leashes to jewelry to hot sauce! Big thank you to all our vendors for joining us this year!

Some of our vendors and attendees tried their hands at baking dog treats and competed in the Great Biscuit Bite-Off! Check the blog tomorrow for a post about the Biscuit Bite-Off, including the recipes for these yummy treats.

We hope you’ll join us next year!