COMMUNITY NEWS - Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - 1
www.rivertowntimes.com
Tall ships sail past Amherstburg... pg. 10
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
www.rivertowntimes.com
Town goes to the dogs at Woofa-Roo Pet Festival By Ron Giofu
People and their pets from around Windsor-Essex County and beyond converged on Amherstburg over the weekend for the Woofa-Roo Pet Festival. The annual pet festival was held once again at the Libro Centre and while organizers and those in attendance had to combat high heat, particularly on Saturday, a number of events and activities were still able to be presented including dock diving, dog agility shows, guest speakers, demonstrations, vendors, pony rides and more. “We’ve never been before so we thought we’d check it out,” said Heather Lane from Kingsville. “So far, so good.” Heather and daughter Macy Lane brought their 16-month-old dog Dakota to the event, with Dakota being just one of many dogs brought out by their owners. “We’ve only had her for five months,” said Lane. “We’re trying to get her used to being around other animals and people.” The Lanes said they could see themselves coming back. “We’ve tried some new products, got some new treats,” said Lane.
Tammy Bourgoin, owner of Pawsitively Comfortable out of Windsor, brought her wares to Woofa-Roo, which included custom designed dog and cat beds.
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The Woofa-Roo Pet Festival was held last weekend at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg. The Border City Barkers held dog agility shows (above) while dock diving was a hit again this year with Corey Schill of Oshawa and his dog Riot showing their stuff.
“We love it,” Bourgoin said of the festival. “We’ve been with Woofa-Roo for about three years now. We love the festival. We love the people. It’s so fun. We intend to come back next year too.” Bourgoin said the animals and people are the drawing card and that while it’s a lot of work transporting her products to their tent, it was worth it. She said it leads to a lot of business, particularly after the festival concludes. “It’s good for business,” she said. Jacob Reddam and his dog Leo came in from Lakeshore for the event and even participated in one of the demonstrations inside the Libro Centre’s indoor soccer facility. “My girlfriend saw an ad for (the festival),” he said. “We’re big dog people. We thought we’d get (their seven-year-old German Shepherd/Lab mix) out here and also see a bit more of Amherstburg.” Reddam said “it’s a lot of fun” but admitted “I spent a little more money than I expected.” Reddam said the only flaw he noticed was that they had difficulty finding the outdoor stage at first, but was impressed with the festival overall.
“It’s a good use of the space,” he said, adding he liked the flexibility of having it indoors and outdoors. “I thought the event was put together well.” Charlotte Osborne and Bill Findlay were with the Chatham-Kent Parrot Club and Findlay said they had about 15 parrots to display. “The reason we’re here is to try and educate people on parrots,” said Findlay. Findlay added they thought the festival was great and came in from Thamesville for it. He noted they put Woofa-Roo Pet Festival bumper stickers on their cars to help advertise the festival in that area. Deloni Leslie and her dog Safari-Ari took part in the dock diving competition. Leslie said she got into dock diving a few years ago at Woofa-Roo and is now the president of Ontario Dock Dogs. “I started here five years ago and got involved with the club,” she said. Leslie said she travels with her dog around the province and will soon head to Dubuque, Iowa for the Dock Dogs World Championship in October. Festival director/founder Lorene Clayton was pleased on how things turned out overall, though there were
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