Tuesday, October 8, 2013

EXPO CAN 2013 Part 2




      This show was held in the World Trade Center near downtown in Mexico City. Armbands were picked up in the lobby, which was very time consuming. Dogs were allowed in there and there was plastic and sawdust strategically placed to make any accidents easily cleaned up. Even in the show area everything was very well protected.
                                                        

                                                       
                                                                World Trade Center
 
                                                             Area around the show site
 

       This was day seven, so the big rush was probably on the first day.The same numbers were kept all 10 days, you could enter as many days as you wanted. It took Alberto about 45 minutes to get his armbands.
 
 
 

                                                             Lots of plastic and sawdust


 
 
 

    Parking and unloading opened at 7AM, we were there shortly before it opened every morning. No one had  RV's. There were some large panel trucks used to haul dogs.

   The colors of the show were red & yellow, The carpets were red and every morning a large riding machine vacuumed them and the floors were hand mopped, using a bucket of water and a rag mop.

 
                                             
                                                             Early in the morning................


 
 
 
  

   Grooming areas were a little different than from the States, at least I've never seen it there. Handlers can rent a private space to groom in, that can be locked. They can keep what they need inside of it and many even kept the dogs in there overnight.They come in different sizes. We had one about 8x10. The expo hall was on the ground level, as was the loading dock, which is where others groomed. There must have been a bathing area out there too because I know people were walking somewhere to go wash their dogs. Pedigree dog food supplied small personal areas to groom in but they were open booths.
 
                                               One of the lines of private grooming rooms
 
 
  Some handlers had a lot of dogs and had to move out in the public area, but everything there was cleaned up and put away by opening time, which I believe was about 9:30-10:00AM.
 
 
 
 Looking into our grooming room. The dogs in here went home each night

 
 
Pedigree private grooming area
 
 
 Loading dock grooming area

 
 

There was something going on from morning till night. The Federales did demonstrations with their dogs each day, Agility, and other Agility type competitions, Frisbee, all kinds of what appeared to be relay races, Rally, and I am sure there were things I didn't get a chance to see.
 
 



 
 

And the booths were a shoppers delight. In Mexico families almost always include their children. So in many booths the whole family was working there. There were rescue booths and booths that sold puppies. Many of the visitors dogs wore clothes, which seems to be very popular, some even had shoes on. And yes there are MANY Chihuahuas, even in my small town.  I've never seen the snippy, snappy ones so frequently seen north of the border. Here they are regular dogs that walk in the ground --- mostly.
 
 
                                The whole family is there to work in the booth, very typical.
 
 
 
     Very interesting collars............................
 
 

     These little nuggets were the cutest thing... this picture does not capture how tiny they were


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 You could even buy a mini pig ........ this was Mama
 
And these were babies, again this picture doesn't capture how tiny! OHHHHH  I wanted one!
 







 
 

                                         And one of several Chihuahuas that had on shoes!
 
 
.  It appeared people picked up after their own dogs even in the ring, I only saw a clean up person a couple of times.  I saw an Obedience person whose dog fouled the ring and he pulled a bag out of his pocket, picked it up and, of course, was excused from the ring.With all the pet dogs you would think the floor would have been a land mine but I only saw one pile on the floor all the time I was there. Everything is protected from urine with sawdust and plastic sheets .  It's around the wall, garbage cans, everything, to protect it. I think it's a good idea.

 

  Handlers in the breed ring wore everything from suits and dresses, like in the States, to blue jeans and a work shirt. It's nice to see everyone come together in a common interest. Every one seemed to have respect for everyone else no matter what they were wearing.The judges were all in suits or nice clothes, They were from Italy, Russia, U.S.A.,Argentina and Hungary. The Groups are different from AKC. I think there are more plus there are quite a few different breeds than AKC recognizes.

 

  I don't know what his class was called but he and his young puppy were practicing his handling with his father. You can use an empty ring up to one hour before a class starts in it. You can even play with your dog in it, if you want or practice obedience.
 
 
 
 

                                           These are the two little kids showing their dogs
 
 Looking down the center aisle for the handlers and owners
 
The crowd of people are in the middle aisle waiting to show or watching their dog being shown
 
This was some kind of a puppy class.
 
                                                            Australian Shepherds
 
                                                     Boxers, notice the one with a tail.
 
  Rottweilers, I liked the one with the tail. Great attitude.

 
Standard Bull Terriers, no minis
 
                                              I really liked this little dog.. Chinese Crested
 

     It was ten days of showing. I don't know how handlers and dogs did it.  Alberto only showed four days and was exhausted. I was too! But it was fun and a great experience. Again thank you Alberto for letting me hang out with you and meeting so many nice and interesting people. Now it's time to pack it up and for them to go home.
 

   Waiting to load up....How many Chihuahuas can you put in a crate? Kind of like gumballs.
 

 
 
                               The best little Corgis ........ Paul & Ivy going home for some R&R.
 
                                                             Waiting for our van.
 
 
                     For me? I go to my hotel and pack up for my next adventure in Mexico City. Almost a week of seeing wonderful things. Watch for my next Blog in about a week or so.