Pet Expo 2009

EGAR

EGAR was invited to participate at the Petexpo 2009 next weekend and I am going to have a stand there as well . So if you have nothing on, please come to the RDS and have a look! It will be a great day out for the family!

dee o gee

Il hopefully be going on the sunday so might pop over!

ghost_ie

Will be there on Saturday or Sunday, hopefully

giddybootz

do you have some more info or a link please?

DBCyc

http://www.petexpo.ie/

dee o gee

This is it: http://www.petexpo.ie/
Its in dublin in the rds this weekend, good day out loads to buy and loads of freebies!:D Very interesting and definetely worth a visit if you have a pet or thinking of one.

li-evo7

Think im going on sat or sun. Cant wait! EGAR what is your stand??

toadfly

Just seen the front of The Irish Examiner, the two yorkies look just like my Tilly so cute! Hoping to go up on saturday as well.

PetrovthePrat

Myself and herself are going on Saturday. Any idea about parking there? Website says it's e6 for th whole day,but is there much space? So,lots of freebies? Nice one!

Orla K

I'm going, didn't know it was going on until I saw this. I went onto the website and saw mollys.ie best rescue, where you enter your rescue pet into it. I figured it would be mostly dogs so I email in my cat (the one with three legs) and they want her to go, she'll also be the only cat.

If it gets too noisy for her my brother lives across the road so she can camp out there. I might stay in his place over night and get someone to feed the other cat, while I'm away.

gidget

Did they ever find the turtle that got stolen last year?

bookerboy

Went last year with one of the kids and thought it was really good.
Going on Friday with both of the kids,can't wait.

EGAR

Think im going on sat or sun. Cant wait! EGAR what is your stand??

EGAR will only be there Sat and Sun as I can't manage Friday at all with all the animals and my son to look after.

The EGAR (East Galway Animal Rescue) stand will be at B8 near the agility ring.

This is the work I do:

http://www.egar.org

ca3nie

I am hoping to go on Sunday myself went last year and had a brilliant day! There were alot of peoples pets at it last year when it states in the website you cannot bring your pet, so I dont know if I should bring my dog this year? I want to enter her in the 'fashion dog show' but there is notinhg on the website about it, does anyone know if they are holding it agian?

funlovintapir

I'm looking forward to this but its a pity I can't bring my dog Virgil. I'll feel bad leaving him at home during it, he would just love it. You should be allowed if you've got proof of their vaccinations, it would be brilliant.

toadfly

ca3nie wrote: »

There were alot of peoples pets at it last year when it states in the website you cannot bring your pet, so I dont know if I should bring my dog this year?

they had a competition on it, Cesar were running it, where you can enter your small dog into a draw for one of 300 passes. As far as I know they have been given out (Tilly got one!) but maybe email and ask if there are any left.

just wondering can I def buy tickets on the door for some reason I cant buy them on ticketmaster keep getting an error message. anyone manage to buy them?

Hellrazer

Ill be bringing my lot on either Saturday or Sunday.

MaeveD

Is this mainly for dogs and cats....?

I just have one little parrot at the moment, will there be any stands of interest to me?

PetrovthePrat

MaeveD wrote: »

Is this mainly for dogs and cats....?

I just have one little parrot at the moment, will there be any stands of interest to me?

I had a look at the website, www.petexpo.ie , there's a group with birds of prey and bird watching ireland if that ruffles your feathers,hehehe.

ThunderCat

MaeveD wrote: »

Is this mainly for dogs and cats....?

I just have one little parrot at the moment, will there be any stands of interest to me?

Same as that. Dont get me wrong, i do like cats and dogs but ill be going to see the different species of birds they have on display as I keep birds myself. Never been to one of these expos before but im really looking forward to it. Can you buy pets there by the way, or is it only pet products that are for sale??

ca3nie

TillyGirl wrote: »

they had a competition on it, Cesar were running it, where you can enter your small dog into a draw for one of 300 passes. As far as I know they have been given out (Tilly got one!) but maybe email and ask if there are any left.

Yeah I seen that competition thats for small dogs only, the competition they had last year was for any type or size of dog. i dont think my Shiba Inu would pass as small:)

Paul91

ca3nie wrote: »

TillyGirl wrote: »

they had a competition on it, Cesar were running it, where you can enter your small dog into a draw for one of 300 passes. As far as I know they have been given out (Tilly got one!) but maybe email and ask if there are any left.

Yeah I seen that competition thats for small dogs only, the competition they had last year was for any type or size of dog. i dont think my Shiba Inu would pass as small:)

i don't know, they are classed in wiki as a small dog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiba_Inu

EGAR

Although I am there in official capacity as an animal rescue, I am hoping to have a chat with poultry peeps as I am thinking about adding a few chicken to my menagerie and also a have a look at the fish.

It's not just about dogs and cats, there will be LOTS to chose from!

petchums.com

See you there, warning! I'll be the one wearing the pink hippo mascot costume!! mortified already... ha ha

bookerboy

I was at this yesterday with the kids.Small enough show but really top quality.If you like dogs,go.Really impressive mutts around the building.
On the downside.Admission for adults €12(can live with that),kids €8(a bit steep)The real killer is the parking charged by the RDS €6(rip off Ireland comes to mind)
Well done to the organisers and i appreciate you have big costs and was more than happy to pay.I did feel i got good value for money when leaving the show.
<snip>I'm sure they charge the organisers enough to use the hall.

funlovintapir

i went there this morning, its totally rubbish, i left after an hour. there's not many dogs at it even, the website says "Dog Breed Village" as if they have lots of different types, there must be representatives for less than 10 types scattered around the place. plus there's a whole lot of things on sale that are tacky cheap stuff and have nothing to do with animals, like shoes and clothes. the food was overpriced, and the even the charity christmas cards were really expensive, what a rip off, one of the only good things was the photographers who were taking free photos of pets, well you're not even allowed to bring your dog unless you win a a competition so its no use. i wanted to buy toys and treats for my dog, there was hardly any variety, i ended up just buying him a rain coat because he hates getting soaked, which was good value from the Outward Hound stall for 10 euro. i wouldnt recommend it to anyone though, unless you know someone who has a stall or something, the whole thing is so amateur.

Vel

I agree, it was totally rubbish and a complete rip off for what was on offer. Way too many non animal related stalls and I felt there wasn't enough variety with the animal stalls. I couldn't believe how small it was too. I was expecting another room full of stalls. We did a circuit of the place in less than 10 minutes. €30 for entrance fees and parking equals the biggest waste of money I have spent this year :mad:

YOURFACE!

I'm just back from Pet Expo after being excited about it all week. I needed to get a few things for the brats so held off to buy them today. I was unfortunately disappointed though I was under the impression that it was going to be a wonderland of all things pets but it wasnt. There wasnt alot of varity as one poster just said. I needed to get a collar and lead as Kula has grown out of hers (well the collar!) and I wanted to get a lovely set but there was nothing really there
There was a few cool things though! I loved the dancing dogs, that was great fun! We got some fantastic toys from a few stands, which the dogs are playing with right now and they're totally hyper! Of course I made my usual donantions to EGAR, Guide Dogs, The Donkey Sanctury and a few others so I guess not a total waste of a day. Lets hope next year will be better.

Our man in Havana

So the same as last year then? I don't get them allowing non animal related stalls in. It is Pet Expo not some sort of causal trading arena for clothes and shoes that can be found in any reasonable sized town in Ireland.

I was approached last year about having a stand there and based on their rules and costs I certainly would not be bothered with them. Obviously it is making them money each year and hence it has not gone away.

funlovintapir

the more i think about it the more offensive it is. it ended up costing me 30 euro to get in, and then they're selling things like framed michael jackson pictures

FAYESY

As bond has said we were approached for the first pet expo because they wanted us to bring our exotic animals & have them on display - I was worried about security as my pets are my babies & I would hate to leave them alone over night in the stables! Coming home each night is not an option.

The stalls were also very expensive & not good value for smaller businesses like ours. One day I will go & have a look for myself.

Shzm

Total rubbish, would rather have gone to a petshop and bought something with the entrance fee!

Allgäuerin

I agree too, it was totally rubbish and a complete rip off for what was on offer!!!!:(
Went today at lunch time. still angry that we spend 24 euros for NOTHING what i cloud have spent for doggie treats!:eek:

bookerboy

I have to agree it was expensive and they should not have those rubbish car boot sale stalls.I'd say they accept any kind of stalls because their rent is so high.
For me it was worth it as i met some amazing dogs and the kids really did enjoy it to.

lrushe

Was at Pet Expo today, didn't enjoy it as much as last year for some reason? Most worrying thing I saw was a girl walking a Chocolate Lab pup of about 5-6 weeks old, I know its tempting to show off your new baby as I have a 13 week old pup at the moment myself but the animals well being is more important. There was no way that pup was old enough to be fully vacinated, v.foolish considering the amount of strange dogs it would have come in contact with:(

Sigma Force

By the sounds of it very glad I didn't go and end up spending a fortune travelling the 100 odd miles to get there and back. The first year it was on it was excellent except for one pet stall with birds.

There were loads of animal related stalls from Ireland and some came over from the UK as well.

Was approached the other year to do a stall but it was too expensive considering I make cookies for fun and don't make a cent on them. Would of still loved to of done a stall because I love making the cookies and the fun shapes etc.

Totally understand that it's a very expensive venue and they need to cover the costs by the entrance fee and stalls but if they had a lower enterance feel and cheaper stalls relating to animals then they would of made the money. Bad time of year to be charging that much in esp. since a lot of families with 2 or 3 kids would be going.

The one in Cork was rubbish the other year, a few good stalls but weather was awfull and half of it wasn't indoors.

No matter what animal event you go to there's always some child or idiot adult with a tiny puppy drives me mad.

Hope they won't give up on it though and perhaps put more effort into it next year perhaps having it outside of Dublin but with easy access from Dublin so they will still get the crowds perhaps somewhere more open with plenty of free or cheap parking and a really large indoor space perhaps larger than they need to people can feel comfortable strolling and relaxing while they look and shop at stalls that way people may stay longer and buy more.

kamaosju

I was there today, was very impressed with the club that promotes exercising with your dog, think they have meets every so often.
I ended up coming home and getting my old bike out of the shed, going to give it a good dust down tomorrow. Looking forward to getting my guys going with the bike. My neighbors will think I've gone mad!
They were the highlight for me today, enjoyed the display too.

bookerboy

Good idea Guineapigrescue.They shoul get to hell out of the RDS with this show.There must be some cheaper options in the greater dublin area.
This would solve all the problems.
Organisers i hope you made a profit this weekend and don't give up on a great show.

PetrovthePrat

We were there on Saturday. Dogtraining Ireland were worth watching,Dublin Falconry put on a great demo and there were some very cool exotic animals. I got to talk to some groups I'd wanted to meet,and even got some freebie dog food and the most annoying squeaky toy which of course our dog loves! The biggest plus was meeting a pup E.G.A.R. had with them,which got herself thinking about getting our second dog. But overall it wasn't great. For e12 x 2 and e6 for parking it was a bit too steep. As has been said before,there were a lot of car boto sale and gimmiky stalls and very few animal related stalls. Country Hounds was the only commercial stall we bought from (very helpful,even knocked a fiver off a 20 quid lead)! I don't think I'd go again.

Adventure Pout

was also at petexpo today and was very very disappointed..it was better last year. There were so many rubbish stalls and there was absolutely nothing for cats!!! I thought I will bring home some nice stuffs for my kitty and there was nothing interesting, or if there was, it was quite pricey!!
But glad to see again irish seal sanctuary crowd (pls support them if you can)..hope they will do better and cheaper next year....

Howitzer

€12 entry into somewhere you will end up spending more money on food / shopping is ridiculous.
I knew it would be a rip-off, but went as I'm looking at dog breeds at the moment. Thanks to all who brought their own dogs - it was the best way to see those breeds.
I saw a lovely Shiba Inu and a nice Jack/springer cross.

Absolutely rubbish representation for cat owners. Poor.

petchums.com

Petchums.com had a great time at Pet Expo and really enjoyed meeting all fantastic kids and their parents at the show.. You never know where the pink hippo & dinosaur will show up next time! Stay tuned .. Woofs!

EGAR

I am back home and am knackered, Morgan is so conked out, he didn't even want to go and do his wees. It's great to put names to many faces I only know from the boards and was surprised at the volume of peeps who came to the stand and knew EGAR. There were quite a few people who knew about poor Bruce up North and enquired about progress in the matter or lack thereof .

We did well on the raffle for the hamper and the other prizes, and Morgan drew a BIG crowd including Amy Huberman and Brian O'Driscoll and we've got the pics to prove it !!

I cannot fault the organisers, they were helpful to the extreme when we came to set up the stand and even loaned us a trolley, gave us time on stage to do the raffle draw, a place for Morgan to chill out when it got to hot for him etc all this was not pre-planned and got offered and was gratefully accepted by us.

I've met TONS of nice peeps, had only two negative comments about Bull Breeds and did ALOT of networking .

I want to thank all those who supported EGAR and bought raffle tickets.

Bea's Bloodhound drew quite a crowd as well!! And Jack the Lad has a VERY serious enquiry from one of the petexpo peeps .

All in all I enjoyed it massively.

Oh and Morgan stayed with me overnight, I had petfriendly accomodation . The stand was sponsored for EGAR otherwise I would not have been able to afford it.

Hellrazer

We didnt bother in the end.A friend was there and said it was way too overpriced for what it was.

It would have cost us the best part of 50 euros for the whole clan :eek::eek:

ThunderCat

Went there yesterday for the first time and was dissapointed. There is no way that they should be allowing people that sell carpets, vibrating chairs and shoes in the door. For a Pet Expo there wasnt even that many pets.
All credit to the few people who did buy stalls to showcase their pets. I enjoyed looking at the different types of pigeons, snakes, birds of prey and donkeys and the highlight for me was holding a harris hawk. Lovely animal. But the ironic thing is, I popped into a pet shop in santry on the way home and had a better time there!
The organisers should take heed. We dont mind spending the money if we are getting value for money, and unfortunatly yesterday was certainly not.
But once again, fair play to the few pet lovers that did showcase their pets there and the people who were there to generate awareness for animal rescue causes etc. Well done to you.

Sean Quagmire

I went to this two years ago and it was the biggest load of rubbish! Absolute rip off and we left after about 40 mins. Im only seeing this thread now and Im sorry I didnt get in here earlier to tell people about it.

Its all a big money maker for them, stay clear next year!

Kyri

3 of us went and as it was our first time we didnt know what to expect.
Thought it was rather expensive but we did enjoy looking at all the animals.

Very dissappointed that we couldnt find anything for the kittens bar from Molly's which we buy online from anyways. Was hoping to get a nice cat climbing frame from the place advertised on the petexpo site but they weren't there on saturday not sure if they where there at all.

Got a few different types of food for them to try and that was pretty much it.

super_metroid

you would find just as much pet stuff at a market....

What do shoe sellers and carpet salesmen have to do with pets lol...

and we paid to see them...

Bluefrog

I think you must mean Tails n' Trails - www.tailsandtrails.ie.

I can't comment on the Pet Expo as I wasn't there but I can say that www.lostandfoundpets.ie saw a large increase in traffic over the weekend and I guess it was most likely because of Pet Expo and particularly because TnT have been really generous supporters and promoters of the site so I'd like to publicly thank them for showing no bs commitment to lost and found pets in Ireland.

Take it handy on the bike!

kamaosju wrote: »

I was there today, was very impressed with the club that promotes exercising with your dog, think they have meets every so often.
I ended up coming home and getting my old bike out of the shed, going to give it a good dust down tomorrow. Looking forward to getting my guys going with the bike. My neighbors will think I've gone mad!
They were the highlight for me today, enjoyed the display too.

Alun

Vel wrote: »

I agree, it was totally rubbish and a complete rip off for what was on offer. Way too many non animal related stalls and I felt there wasn't enough variety with the animal stalls. I couldn't believe how small it was too. I was expecting another room full of stalls. We did a circuit of the place in less than 10 minutes. €30 for entrance fees and parking equals the biggest waste of money I have spent this year :mad:

TBH the same goes for each and every expo/exhibition they hold there regardless of the subject matter. Utterly pathetic. I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition or whatever they call it, and if it weren't for the fact that I got the tickets for free, I'd have asked for my money back.

TskTsk

Alun wrote: »

TBH the same goes for each and every expo/exhibition they hold there regardless of the subject matter. Utterly pathetic. I went to the Ideal Home Exhibition or whatever they call it, and if it weren't for the fact that I got the tickets for free, I'd have asked for my money back.

Agree absolutely. Is there really a complete lack of quality products for pets in the marketplace, or could they just not be bothered to attend? I don't remember seeing anything interesting for cats there.