Pet-a-Palooza

I used to think that Rex and I were pet fanatics, but that was before I saw the people pushing their cat around in a stroller.  Their cat, by the way, was wearing a bow and a tutu.

Okay fine, I'll admit it.  I didn't really see the cat; Rex did.  I'm really sorry that I missed it, though, because it sounded pretty awesome.  Those pet owners could make me look normal!

This wonderful pet experience stemmed from a e-mail that I sent to the Southern Nevada Pug Rescue a few days ago.  Here was my first paragraph of that e-mail:

I am writing to you because I absolutely adore pugs and want to help the pug rescue out in any way I can.  I think I'm the biggest pug fan in the country who doesn't actually own a pug.  My husband and I moved to Nevada last summer, and Pug-O-Rama last October was like Christmas to me.  I don't own a pug myself because my husband loves dogs but thinks that pugs "look like someone threw them face-first into a wall" (a common misconception of the unenlightened).

I went on in the rest of the e-mail to explain that my husband studies a lot, leaving me with more free time than I care to have.  I would love to spend that time volunteering with the pug rescue...did they need any help?  I got a response almost immediately from Saira, one of the board members at SNPR.  She said that she would love to have me help out, and was I available to meet her and the rest of the board at "Pet-a-Palooza" this Saturday?  Of course I was.

I looked up Pet-a-Palooza online, and I was surprised that I hadn't heard of it before.  Apparently it's a huge annual event.  I told Rex that we had to go.  He didn't really argue...last year there were 15,000 people and 4,000 dogs.  Who wouldn't want to go to that party?

We arrived at the fields where Pet-a-Palooza was located, and our first reaction was "WHOA."  It was a lot bigger than we had imagined.  Picture a county fair that is completely made for dogs.  There were countless vendor tents, bounce houses, small roller coaster rides, and even a "food court" of vendor tents.  It was crazy.

It probably took about a half hour for me to find the SNPR tent, but I finally did.  I'm so excited to get involved with them!  The ladies there seemed really nice.  One large old lady who works there really looks like a pug...it kind of freaked me out a little.  If I hang out with pugs too much will I start looking like one?  I feel my eyes getting buggy...

Once we left the SNPR ladies, we kept exploring Pet-a-Palooza.  We had a total blast.  There was a jumping competition, and we watched one dog do a seven foot vertical jump.  WOW.  That was really cool.  We periodically took Elvis to the "watering tent," where they had about a dozen kiddie pools set up for the dogs to splash around in.   That was probably my favorite part.  There was always at least one pool that was completely filled up by some huge dog who just decided to plop down and cool off  (it was 96 degrees out, poor dogs).  The littler dogs jumped around and splashed each other, and then they jumped out and shook all of the water off of their coats, drenching their owners.  No one really minded, though, because it was so hot out.  Elvis made some cute beagle friends, and we got invited to join their owner's beagle club and go on beagle hikes together.  Cool!

Pet-a-palooza also had a mainstage where concerts were being performed.  It made me wonder - people think they've "made it" if they get a performing gig in Las Vegas, but does it really count if you're performing at a giant afternoon dog party?  I couldn't decide.  The performers seemed happy, though, so I figured they were counting it.

I guess the name "Pet-a-Palooza" doesn't really specify which types of pets were invited, but the overwhelming majority of attendees were dogs.  I already told you about the stroller cat - I feel like that's still a pretty normal pet (even if her owners were weirdos).  Here's what I want to know - who brought their PONY?  Yes, folks, someone was walking around with their pet pony.  I at first thought, "Okay, that is a HUGE dog," but then I felt dumb when I realized it wasn't a dog at all.  Oops.  Another person brought a giant pig that is probably the size of my students.  It spent most of the time rolling around in the mud.  It's owner went to go get it and the pig tried to bite her, so she let him keep rolling.  He's probably still in that mud patch as I type this.  There were other assorted ferrets, rabbits, etc.  I would not bring my rabbit around a bunch of dogs, especially breeds that have instincts to hunt rabbits, but oh well.  Not all pet owners are thinkers.

Anyway, our little Webb family had a great day.  Elvis fell asleep in the car on the way home, and he's been pooped ever since.  Here is what he's been doing for most of the evening:

Pet-a-Palooza was a lot of excitement for a small dog!  Just wait until I convince Rex we should be foster parents to a rescue pug...Elvis is going to flip out.