This year has been full of “firsts” for us, so why stop now? You all know that I’m obsessed with pet events, and my goal this fall has been to check out new ones that I’ve never been to before. Wynston and I were blessed to get the invitation to attend Strut Your Mutt Phoenix, a national pet event hosted by Best Friends Animal Society. Wynston would be making a celebrity appearance and taking photos with attendees at the Instapet Tent, along with Instagram stars Stogie and Princess Lily Grumps. Count us in!!! That same evening was Dogtoberfest, a small local event a few miles from our house, and I wanted to be sure to check that out as well. Here’s a recap (with lots of photos of course) of the events!
Strut Your Mutt Phoenix
Some of you may remember that I wore Bobs by Skechers in December for my wedding. The Bobs I wore benefited Best Friends Animal Society, the largest pet sanctuary in the country. I love and support everything the organization is about, so when Wynston was asked to be a part of their Phoenix event this year, I jumped on the opportunity.
Strut Your Mutt Phoenix took place at Cesar Chavez Park in Laveen, AZ. Although it was a 45 minute drive from our house, the park was beautiful and it happened to be a gorgeous day outside. We arrived at the event after the 5k walk and made our way to our own personal Instapet Tent! Participants had the opportunity to have their photo taken with Wynston. After all, he is a famous PetSmart model! It was so much fun to meet people from all over the valley and pet so many different doggies.
Luckily we were right next to a booth that was offering paw print painting! I admit it was extremely amusing to see dogs making paw art (and even more amusing to watch the pet parents ooo and ahhh over their dog’s masterpieces) but it was absolutely adorable. Of course Wynston had to get in on the fun, which ended up giving me some inspiration for a new tattoo…
I’m happy to report that the fundraising goal for Strut Your Mutt Phoenix this year was $50,000 and it was well exceeded. Donations can still be made through 10/31/17 but as of now they’ve raised over $68,000! How amazing is that?! Thanks to everyone who came out and supported Best Friends Animal Society at the event or donated online. You can click this link to see more Strut Your Mutt Phoenix photos. If you’d like to find a Strut Your Mutt event near you, check out their website!
Dogtoberfest
Dogtoberfest is an event that I just heard about this year. I was most interested in it because it was located just three miles from our house. What I also found attractive about this particular event was the fact that it was Halloween themed and at took place night. Most October pet events are simply “fall” themed and are scheduled during the day or in the morning. We still experience super hot temperatures during the day in October, so seeing a nighttime event for pets was refreshing! The weather becomes significantly cooler in the evenings, making the concept of Dogtoberfest especially exciting.
I decided I wanted to take Khloee to Dogtoberfest. She deserved a night out away from the house and her siblings. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the event, but I figured if it didn’t go well I was close enough to home to allow for an easy escape with Khloee (she gets anxiety in certain social situations). When we arrived at the event, I saw lots of bright Halloween lights so I knew we were in the correct location. But parking. Was. Terrible. I mean, it was an absolute freaking nightmare. We ended up parking in a neighborhood with everybody and their mother. Something told me the host of the event was not expecting so many people…
Khloee was greeted at the event by the wafting smell of delicious food trucks. That Poodle nose was going crazy. We saw lots of humans and dogs dressed up for the fun as we made our way through the maze of people. What stood out to me the most was the fabulous Halloween music and magnificent decorations. They really went all out!
I felt like we couldn’t enjoy ourselves as much as I would have liked because it was so packed with people due to lack of space. I kept wondering if they planned on so many people attending, or if it was just poorly laid out. I was honestly kinda bummed. I wanted to spend more time there but we just couldn’t. We could barely walk, let alone check out the vendors or anything. I was super mindful of the great music and decor, so at least there was that!
The next day, I left some feedback for the event, stating that the concept was awesome, and the atmosphere was amazingly fun, but the parking was a nightmare and the location needed to be bigger. I found out that the event host did not, in fact, plan for such a massive turnout. They only expected a fraction of the people, which explains everything! I was honestly relieved to hear that, because we will definitely be going again next year!
Strut Your Mutt Phoenix and Dogtoberfest were very different yet both super fun events. I’m hoping that Strut Your Mutt is closer to my house next year and I’m already looking forward to Dogtoberfest at a larger venue!
Have you been to any fun pet events recently?
View a list of upcoming fall and winter Arizona pet events here!
ajinkyaa says
Hi very good article
Thanks for sharing up the good work