Pet Expo 2011

Well, I'm thoroughly exhausted!  It's amazing how long it takes to recover after a busy, busy day.  What did we do?  We went to Pet Expo 2011!!  Hans and I first attended Pet Expo in 2009.  I was still in training to become a trainer, and I wanted to work with Cody on social situations.  I was also transporting a dog from NC to Richmond, and figured this would be a great chance for her to practice as well (that dog's picture is featured with Cody on the home page).  Hans and I had a blast, and I knew immediately that I wanted to be a vendor at this thing.  So, last year that's what we did.  I set up a booth, handed out cookies and dog treats, and got to know as many people as I could.

What did I learn from that experience?  First, 10 to 4 seems much longer when you're on your feet and talking over music.  Second, it's not only stressful on me, but it's really stressful on Cody.  He did great for about an hour or two and then just wore out.  This year, I was prepared for my part, and I decided to leave Cody at home.  Mom helped out by transporting and running errands.  Cody did get to walk around for a bit, but then we sent him home.

This year was much busier than last year.  Part of this had to do with our booth location (we had a lot more traffic), but I also think the event was simply busier this year.  We ended up running out of cookies and biscuits.  Luckily, Mom was there to save the day.  She brought extra biscuits from home (which was luckily only 10 minutes away) and picked up a few extra cookies.  

This year we did something different, too.  This year we started selling dog products.  There are so many toys that I love, but they're often hard to find.  So, I decided to carry them myself.  What was the number one seller?  The dog beds that Hans built!  My goal was to sell three.  At 3:50 I had sold two.  I was happy, but a bit disappointed that I hadn't reached my goal.  In the last 10 minutes, though, I sold an additional three!!  Apparently a lot of the volunteers at the show liked the beds, but they didn't have a chance to purchase one until the very end.  Woot! 

The day ended with Chinese delivery and much needed sleep.  Hans and I got to bed fairly early (for us anyway), and I thought I'd be fine on Sunday.  Yeah, Sunday brought lots of sleep too.  Luckily, Hans has today off, so we're doing some chores today.  Question:  Does anyone know a good recovery method?  Yesterday my whole body ached.  Am I just out of shape and need to tone, or is there something I could do to lessen the agony?

Anyway, here's the day in pictures:

Mom and me at my extra-large booth with Kyla and Alex.

Doggie Goodies for sale!

The toys are super-fun.  I promise!

Doesn't Hans make some beautiful beds?

I love visits from clients.  Meet Roxie and Shadow!

And Luke and Lily

And Connor

And Ashley!  Her dog isn't quite ready for Expo yet.  :)

Mom and Alex doing agility.

Mom and Kyla doing agility.

Boomer and Gail doing agility.  Boomer used to be our foster dog.  She has thrived under Gail's care.

All in all, it was a super-fun day.  I still have to take inventory to make sure no one had any sticky fingers, but I think we did alright.  And you know the best part?  Quite a few people recognized me from the previous year.  Go name recognition!  Yay!