For the first time ever guests can bring their four-legged family members to the Ridge Meadows Home Show’s free outdoor Family Fest where a new event aims to inspire, engage, and educate dog owners about fantastic local products and services.
The Paw Patch will be located in a tented area on the Family Fest grounds, and here dog owners will be able to catch expert speakers, interesting demonstrations, and learn about different services and supports to pamper their pooch.
Kelly Tynan and Becki Bookham, owners of the local pet food company called Earth Options Pet Food, are hosting the Paw Patch.
They said they wanted to create an area at the home show that is dog-focused – showing owners everything that is available to them locally including things like: health and nutrition, how to have fun with their dogs, teaching dogs tricks, rally obedience, and more.
“It’s not just about feeding them quality food, but really bringing some balance into a dog’s life,” explained Tynan.
Tynan and Bookham are also breeders of golden retrievers, some of which they will be bringing to the show.
“There are a lot of pet people out there, most of them are pet families,” said Tynan.
And, although they don’t and show their dogs like Tynan and Bookham do, there are still a lot of services available for the average dog.
Guest speakers will be talking about things like CBD oil treatment for dogs – also known as cannabidiol, a compound found in cannabis and hemp, which, according to the American Kennel Club’s chief veterinarian, is used by dog owners to treat conditions like stress and anxiety, or help with other issues like inflammation, cardiac, nausea, appetite stimulation, and possibly even cancer. Although, Dr. Jerry Klein noted, no formal study has been done on how CBD affects dogs, just anecdotal evidence from dog owners.
There will also be guest speakers talking about how to mentally stimulate your dog.
And, there will be a variety of different live demonstrations, including agility.
In addition, Heather VanOene will be bringing her two dandie dinmont terriers, Geordie and Emmylou, to the show, who will be showing off their talents skateboarding and on piano.
The dandie dinmont terrier is a small Scottish dog breed that has a long body, short legs, with a distinctive top-knot of white hair on top of its head.
According to VanOene the terriers are a rare breed with only about 16 registered in British Columbia.
Tynan says people should have fun with their dogs and keep them engaged.
She really wants to interact with people and their dogs at the show and she is hoping to build a new community that supports dogs locally.
The Ridge Meadows Home Show is taking place May 1-3 at the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge, and is one of the largest home shows in the province.
Each rink in Planet Ice and the Golden Ears Winter Club will be lined with close to 300 exhibitor booths featuring everything a person needs to know about renovating, decorating, and landscaping their home.
Inside guests will also find Tina Clelland’s spiritual and wellness fair called “Body, Mind & Spirit Psychic Fair”.
Dogs will not be permitted inside the buildings, but will be allowed, on-leash only, at the free outdoor Family Fest, which will be packed with children’s activities, live entertainment, food trucks, and artisan vendors.
Shooting Star Amusements will also be on site.
Tickets for entrance to the inside portion of the Home Show are $5 per person, or $8 for the family.
For more information go to: https://www.ridgemeadowshomeshow.com.