Saturday, March 31, 2007

Pet Expo - I'm Popular and PUPular

It's our annual Pet Expo today and tomorrow. This happens every year where there are an array of things regarding pets (ie, rescue clubs, products, seminars, shows, etc).


This year, we have a larger show ground and hoomans are allowed to bring their bosses to the show on leash (I know, isn't it an oxymoron??). So my well behaved mum and Veronica brought ME (who runs the house), and STINKY (the bottom of the pack) to the show.

It was a bit of a drive as the Expo was located in Abbotsford, BC, about 70 km east of Vancouver. Yes, even further than my rehab center. The drive was not very enjoyable for me, not that I don't like being in the car, but because of this.....


Yup, SunshadeMOBILE became STINKYmobile!! I had to sit with him the entire hour. Do you see how I laid as far from him as I could???

Finally, we arrived at the TRADEX show grounds,


I was able to breath some non-STINKY air....... with STINKY by my side...



Why I'm Miss PUPular:

Reason 1 - I'm irresistible.

See this handsome Weimeraner?? He LOVED me, he couldn't get enough of me. We played and played. (mum: SHE flirted and flirted.)


I picked him out right away from far away. I love Weims, especially the male kind ya know.

(mum: you should just say "males are your favourite breed")



See, I knew exactly where to sniff!



Reason 2 - Boys fight over for my attention.

This dog below, I thought he was pretty handsome too, (mum: seriously, as long as the dog is BIG or UN-NEUTERED, he is considered worthy of a flirt session from this girl.) I tried to flirt um... play with him, and he wanted to come over to see me too, but my handsome Weimeraner boyfriend....I mean, friend, told him off!!!


(mum: two un-neutered males, not liking each other.)


Reason 3 - Little dogs LOVE me.

See, I said HI to this little guy,


But he loved me too much and didn't want me to leave.


Same as all other little guys/gals,




Reason 4 - Cropped ears BIG, HANDSOME boyz LOVE me.

This Boxer LOVED me. (mum: and you loved him right back.... and showed him your muscle bum...). His mom was giving out food samples, but I didn't care about the food, he was far more appealing to me!!


This is Steadman, he told me he really wanted to come out of his pen to see me because he thought I was cute, but he was there with his mom for the Great Dane Club of BC so he couldn't... bummer.


How did I know his name?? Well HE TOLD ME of course!!


This is Justin, the Bouvier. I've always liked him. I used to see him all the time at dog shows because mum used to show a Bouvier.


OH, he was dreaming about ME in this picture of course!


Reason 5 - They always have their eyes
(mum: or butts....) on ME.

The two Shibas on the left were trying to impress me with their butts, and the little guy on the right was obviously mesmerized by the sight of a real beauty.



Reason 6 - "stinkies" LOVE me. (mum: I believe her "stinkies = puppies")

Here is a four months old Shepherd stinky. I could careless about her, I've had enough with stinkies!!


Now this guy Ben, he foooled me. I saw him from far away, and I thought "oh, must go see another BIG, HANDSOME guy". But when I got there, I realized he was only a 5 months old stinky. He's a Great Dane, that's why he was so big. Boy was I disappointed....... Yes, I walked away.


Here is STINKY doing weird things to Ben. I was pretending I didn't know the weirdo STINKY. And then........ I located my next HANDSOME target. (mum: she was a little too forward I think.)



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Why I'm Miss Popular:

Reason 1 - People LOVE me, they think I'm boootiful, they think I'm cute.

This is mum's good friend Kristi giving me a head rub!


Kristi's mom and dad make my fooooood.


Whenever my dog food order comes late, I complain to mum, mum calls Kristi, and Kristi calls her parents, and magic happens - yes, I get FOOD!

Reason 2 - People ADORE me, they tell me I'm very "handsome".... (mum: Sunshade is built quite masculine.)

A few people asked mum if STINKY and I were show dogs and where we came from. Some told mum she should show STINKY because he's built very nicely and very handsome. I told those people I was too smart for conformation dog shows, and as for STINKY, everyone attending the show would require oxygen masks if he were to be shown.

Reason 3 - People want MY babies (or borrow STINKY!)

A man, came up to mum and told mum he's got two Airedale girls at home. He got them from a local breeder here in Chilliwack, BC, and wanted to breed them. He heard mum said STINKY was my nephew and assumed mum bred Airedales. So he asked mum when "I" was gonna have more babies!!!!! Mum of course told him that STINKY wasn't my son, and that she didn't breed. The man proceeded to asking mum if he would be able to use STINKY. He offered to pay stud fees. Without any hesitation, mum told him NOOOOOO, and said STINKY was to be neutered as that was her contract with the breeder. My breeder is VERY protective of her bloodlines, she doesn't want any of her pups landing in the wrong hands or have her bloodlines out there with people who aren't trying to breed for the betterment of the breed. Mum and I wholeheartedly agree with my breeder, STINKY will never be studded out, and he will be neutered (HA HA HA).

Reason 4 - People LOVE me, and want to FEED me.

This is a nice lady offering me dehydrated liver treats, and salmon treats.


However, this lady had been petting other dogs before me, and since I don't like other dogs' smell on my food, I spat her treat out. Mum apologized, I don't see why she needed to. I was just being hygienic. (mum: Sunshade is very sensitive about other dog's smell. She will not drink from the same water bowl others have drank from, will not eat food others have touched.)

I preferred these packaged samples, and since the sign said "FREE SAMPLE", I decided to ask for some.



Reason 5 - People who I have never met recognize ME because of my BLOG!!

There were two ladies who recognized ME. The first lady was a lady who had contacted mum via e-mail regarding getting an Airedale pup after seeing my blog. She ended up getting a Standard Poodle instead because there were no Airedales for sale at the time. We had never met before, but she recognized ME, and introduced herself to us. She said I was so beautiful, and seeing me in real life made her want to get a second dog - an Airedale.

The second lady was the COOOOLEST. She came up to us and said "Is this Miss Sunshade the SuperDALE and STINKY????" Yes, she actually said "STINKY"!!!!! How very cooool was that??? She of course adored me, and unfortunately, STINKY too, even tho she was warned about his stink.. She said she reads our blogs everyday and really enjoys them. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

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The three special friends I met:


While mum, Veronica, me and STINKY were walking, a man, holding a very cute little dog asked "Is this Sunshade???"

He put the cute little dog down for us to say Hello. Do you recognize this cute little dog wearing a little pink dress??



How about this one??


YES, they are Toby's friends, Baily, Tasha, and Maddie - they BLOG too!! We've been reading each other's blogs and we finally got to meet. You can visit their blog here:


Tasha was the one wearing the pink little dress, she was the littlest one and oh so cute! Here are two pictures I took with Tasha,



Hey guys, it was soooo nice to meet all three of you!!! Did Maddie get her chicken in the end???

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There were lots of booths at the expo, however, it was so crowded we weren't able to take that many pictures. See how crowded it was?



People were lining up to take pictures with this yellowy slithering Albino Boa (Thanks Zach!!)


There was a face painting booth for hooman pups to get their face painted,


And a Bouncy Castle for the hooman pups too!


There were demonstrations going on all day long, this was Jeff the Safari guy talking about crocodiles and alligators.




Now, the REAL cool part: The Petting Zoo


There was a baby moo moo


Some chickens,


I love to learn about circle of life you know? Here I was, trying to understand the life cycle of a chicken,



Now, I finally know where THIS came from!!!


Then, something got my attention....


What's Georgie doing in there???



But I was told it was a she..... She did look much smaller tho, but so similar to my Georgie.

There were baby Georgies too, they won't get as big as Georgie because they are of a different breed.






Personally, I think it was a great show, there were lots of handsome boyz. However, after two hours, I was ready to go. Sun and fresh air sounded good.

Mum and Veronica took me and STINKY to the empty extended parking lot and let us stretch our legs.


Yes, I got right to it...



I decided to play with STINKY for a bit, and we started running. Yes, my Iliopsoas muscle is still strained. (mum: she usually doesn't play with Jaffa, so I didn't have her on leash. But.....)





Something caught my eye at the end of the video,


A ROCKIE!!!


I tried to dig it out myself, but...

Thursday, March 29, 2007

7th Painting of ME

This is the 7th painting of me done by Barbara Keigher.


Drippy Dale



It is being listed on eBay, and 15% of the auction goes to Airedale Terrier Rescue and Adoption (ATRA).

e-Bay link to Drippy Dale

Barbara does a great job at capturing that special "Sunshade-Look". This painting was created from the low quality, scanned photo of me taken a while back. See what my EVIL mum made me wear???


To see all the previous paintings of me, please click the following links: