As the summer winds down, we find ourselves attending one of the last pup festivals for the season.  It has been such a great experience and so much fun to meet people and pups alike from all over the GTA who have come out to celebrate a summer of family fun and doggie delights!  I was happy to end the pooch festival series in the east end where I could drive past my old city Bowmanville and reminisce about all the fun times my hubby and I had as we started out our lives together with our old lab buddy, River.

Congratulations to Sandra Howlett for hosting another incredible year for Bark in the Park!  Due to their great success in previous years, Sandra has had to move the pawty from a baseball field in Bowmanville to the more expansive grounds of the Orono Fairgrounds.  I sat at the front entrance so I saw the constant influx of people coming in from all over to have a great time with the kids and their pups!  It was so great to see all kinds of different breeds being represented and we even met a few Bernese Mountain dogs, just like our Titan!

You may have recalled a recent blog bringing attention to the Therapeutic Paws of Canada and a very special pup names Gordon.  I had the distinct privilege of meeting Gordon personally; a hard working Golden Retriever who brings peace and calm to so many people in need.  I could have petted him for hours!   One can truly feel the energy of calm and peace he brings!  It was an amazing feeling!  Thanks for all your work Therapeutic Paws!!

My hubby and Titan worked hard to speak to everyone as we were raffling off two two-month supply bags of Earth Rated biodegradable poop bags as well as a $25 gift card to Pet Smart.  Congratulations to the winners!   For everyone else, keep an eye out on our website for more chances to win prizes on our online giveaways!

After all that hard work, we needed to attend to our bio-needs!  There was a great array of eats that weekend including Gangster Cheese which I had never tried before…mmmmm, Smokes Poutinerie which is always a favourite and of course after lunch comes dessert!  On a beautiful sunny day, the ice cream truck was a welcome treat that I saw many of the kiddies enjoy.  For more refined palates there was a strudel vendor “Strudelicious”, which, I must say, I wish I had spent more time at.  Last but not least, a shout out to the very hard working Girl Guides who were selling their delicious cookies!  Good job girls!

One thing that really impressed me was the number of rescues that were present.  It really brought awareness to the public of how many pups need loving homes and I hope there was a lot of traffic and interest at these booths.

Of course there were booths to satisfy everyone’s needs and shopping interests, from the artistic (a caricaturist, pet art, and photography booth), to the foodie (pet snacks, Rens Pets, Global Pet Foods and Iron Will Raw food booth), from the spaw treatments (jealous… massage treatment for the pups – I almost hopped onto the table myself!) to the vet, I think every four-legged and biped had a great time!  Thanks Sandra for the free water and juice boxes, the doggie pools and water bowls!  We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next year!