Petco's Natural Neighborhood Festival

Saturday I went to Petco's Natural Neighborhood Festival at the beach in Santa Monica, California. I brought Sheldon and Duncan along to see what it was all about and have a day out together. I was impressed by the set up- a huge patch of real grass, tents and lots of activities too. When we walked in I was greeted by an enthusiastic Petco associate who took our photo and gave me a nifty re-usable bag. The festival had several natural pet food vendors with tents, each giving out free samples and coupons for food and treats. All the brands they had were high quality natural foods, no junky grocery store brands or foods filled with cheap fillers. This was to educate people about why better food will help provide a healthier lifestyle. Being by the Santa Monica beach was a perfect setting. People were jogging, riding their bikes and walking their dogs. As they passed by their curiosity drew them into the festival to check it out. When I arrived, ABC TV was there filming, and also the folks from Greenwala.com were interviewing all sorts of people asking about how they are going more green with their pets. I took a bunch of photos, click on them to biggify for easier viewing:

above: DOG YOGA. Yes, you read that correctly. People doing yoga with their dogs. After all, this is Southern California, and you know how we all are here.

above: the Dog Yoga instructor was really good and kept the group in shape.

above: Natural Balance had Tillman's tour bus on site. Look closely, you can see the youngest bulldog, Sully in the car window waiting for Tillman to get ready to skateboard.

above: Tillman in the far distance, riding his skateboard along the beach walk. You can't see it, but on the right side was a huge crowd of people watching him go...

above: Tillman loves being on his skateboard, he is smiling here.

above: Ron Davis, Tillman's dad is interviewed by the lovely Ms Apple Levy from Greenwala.com

above: My Sheldon gets a mini-groom touch up by the beach. He stood on the table as Wendy clipped, brushed and fluffed him up!

above: click on the photo above left. The grassy area is so inviting, don't you think?

above: Me with Tracie Hotchner, author of the Dog Bible and Cat Bible. She is also a radio host on Sirius XM radio's Martha Stewart Living Radio. Above right is Dr Marty Becker, a well known vet who really knows his stuff. He spoke about the merits of natural pet foods and natural health care.

above: Sheldon checks out the Natural Balance booth and sniffs all the treats.

above: I love the dog in the photo above right- he is waiting while his mom gets some free samples and coupons from Lori at Natural Balance.

above: the dog agility area was a lot of fun to watch. Dogs just love this kind of stuff. I was really impressed by the entire natural festival. It reinforced to me that there are lots of pet parents who live healthy lifestyles who want the same for their pet. It's great that Petco hosted this event, it reinforced why Petco is where the pets go...for natural food especially!
-Rick Rockhill