After a couple of successful events in Invercargill, HPNZ decided to take Dogs Day Out north, all the way to Tauranga on 7th & 8th of October.
The weekend kicked off with the Paws & Learn seminars on Saturday evening at the amazing Waikato University facilities on Durham St. Dr Jess Beer got the seminars underway with a fantastic review of the post-Covid behavioural challenges in cats and dogs many of us are seeing - yes, our company can be too much of a good thing! Dr Beer helped demystify some of the behaviours we see as well as gave guidance on what we can do to help.
This was followed by Michelle Le Long giving us a picture of what the pet insurance industry is seeing as far as the most common breeds, injuries and illnesses, as well as what to expect from pet insurance and why it is increasingly important to ‘pet parents’.
Following a yummy supper kindly supplied by the New Zealand Veterinary Association, our final speaker was Prof. Nick Cave taking us through the pros and cons of raw feeding. As a world veterinary nutrition expert, it was great to hear a balanced review of what is known, as well as what we’ve yet to learn about feeding cats & dogs; while reinforcing the message there is no excuse for nutritionally deficit diets in the modern world no matter how you feed your pets.
Fortunately the heavy rain of Saturday night cleared to blue skies and a calm morning on Sunday, all ready for the Dogs Day Out carnival at the Tauranga racecourse. By 9am the market was all set up and the demonstrations ready to go and Tauranga locals and their dogs were starting to arrive. More and more people and dogs kept pouring through the gates as the weather proved the forecasters wrong 
and the sun continued to shine.
With the local Mt Maunganui agility club leaping, tunneling and weaving their way through the main arena, Leo and his trusting canine mates from the Waikato sheep dog association showed what working dogs are made of just out the back. Millie the rodent detection dog from DOC was having a bit of an ‘off’ day with all the doggy distractions, but her handler Scott gave a great summary and demo of the work they get up to clearing our wild places of unwanted rodent invaders.
The highlight of the day appeared to be the PD Insurance ‘dog walk’ though, with some amazing costumes on display. From the tuxedo’d greyhound; to the rainbow spaniel team; to the impressive Cruella Deville costume, our dog walkers really got into the theme! With a handful of other competitions to take part in; lots of certificates acknowledging our canines friends of all shapes, sizes and hairstyles; along with a buzzing dog-
centric market and yummy food treats for the humans too; the day was a huge success.
We couldn’t have done it without the support of our wonderful sponsors: PD Insurance (event partner), Royal Canin (speaker sponsor), NZVA (food sponsor), TWBCEF Grant, The Weekend Sun (media sponsor), and CS Signhouse. We also really appreciated the support of all those companies; small and large; that supported us by coming along as exhibitors or providing product for us to give away in raffles and as prizes.
Watch this space for next year’s edition!