Fetchapalooza

On Saturday morning, I took my dogs out to run a little earlier because I needed to be at the ABQ Journal (where Fetchapalooza was to take place) around 7:30. As I was coming back to the house with Daisy, I stopped to say hi to an older woman who walks regularly in the morning. She remembered Daisy's name and went to pet Daisy. I was a little nervous because Daisy has this bad habit (thanks to everyone who encouraged Hattie to jump on them when she was a puppy...) of wanting to jump on people. Daisy, however, forgets that she is not 25 pounds anymore and when she stretches, she is about 6 feet long. But Daisy went and stood next to the woman and let her pet Daisy. Whew. Then when I brought Nestle and Hattie out, I saw a woman in the next block. But she didn't have her dog. I knew instantly the dog had to have died but I didn't want to assume. She confirmed my suspicion when I asked and Nestle went to her and leaned on the woman so the woman could pet her. The woman said she needed some dog attention and was glad to see us. So before I even left for Fetchapalooza, my dogs were offering hope to others. All before 8 am on a Saturday! The Fetchapalooza event was incredible. About 630 dogs found homes! I was there for two days speaking several times about Ginger's Gift, talking with people, and watching people with their pets– both old and new. I partnered with TLC Pet Hospital (my vet clinic) for the booth. You can see the crowd coming in. They had to hold people back until all the pet organizations had unloaded and were ready. It was incredible watching people come by with their new additions. I saw two kids arguing over who was going to walk the new dog to the car. My hope is that in several years they still will be arguing about the same thing! But many of these people appeared to already have pets or had pets in the past so hopefully all 630 found new and happy forever homes. Some animal organizations went home without any pets and the event set a national record for adoptions in a single event. Enjoy the photos! I am shameless about posing with the Petco mascots by the way. I buy my food there for Nestle, Daisy, and Hattie as well as Ginger's food when we are in Chicago. We need that free 10th bag!