Bring Your Dog to PawsAbilities!

Who’s coming to PawsAbilities on Saturday?

We’re holding canine festival on March 30 from 9 am to 4 pm at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center. You and your dog can shop at all the vendors, run the lure course, try your luck at Paw Draw, and of course, play your favorite Dog Olympic Games!

Most of our Dog Olympic Games are based on the skills we teach our service dogs. But don’t worry! All dogs are welcome and able to play these games.

Some games will test your dog’s self-control, like Temptation Tower where you build a tower out of dog treats while your dog ignores it. Self-control is at the foundation of our service dog training. Our dogs have to ignore food and other enticing things in the environment.

Other games will test your dog’s ability to move around in space, like the fan favorite Doggy Limbo. What does the limbo have to do with service dog training? Our dogs need to be able to go under tables and benches, and curl up in small spaces like under the seat of an airplane. They may need to crawl under a chair to retrieve an item that rolled under there.

Some games will test your dog’s ability to listen to and perform cues promptly, like Musical Hoops, where your dog must sit with at least two paws in the hoop when the music ends. As working service dogs, our dogs must not only perform tasks promptly, but also enjoy their work. For example, if their partner drops something, the dog will need to pick it up every time.

Other games are just for fun, like the Clean Plate Club. What dog doesn’t want to eat dog biscuits, cheese, and hot dogs? The majority of the dogs we train are labs, and they’re incredibly food motivated. (That’s why self-control is also so important!) Biscuits and cheese? Yum! Hot dogs? Delicious! How about lettuce? Lemons? Play the game and find out what your dog will eat!

We hope you and your dog will join the fun at PawsAbilities! Tickets are available online. And parking is free!

You can find all the details at PawsAbilities.net.