30 breeds attend the 34th Annual Dog Expo

The Annual Dog Expo in Humboldt is a time to gather with good friends and even gooder boys and girls. The 34th year was no exception.

Susan Hutchison, chairperson for the expo and treasurer of the Humboldt Dog Obedience Group, also known as HumDog, spoke about the event.

“Dog Expo is for the community to come and look at all the dog breeds that we have and learn to see what breed might be suitable for their family life and get some kind of knowledge as to the different types of activities that are available for the dog community,” Hutchison said. “It brings people that are dog lovers together.”

The expo had various demonstrations and vendor booths as well as dog breed booths. There were 30 breeds of dogs at the expo.

Bayard Smith, a Scottish Deerhound owner, wore a kilt to the expo.

“I brought my Scottish Deerhounds, hence the outfit,” Smith said. “The tartan is a Scottish Deerhound Club of America tartan.”

Laurie Sperry, owner of North Coast Animal Massage, came with her two black Labradors, Emily and Ruby.

“I’m here to basically represent the Labrador sporting group,” Sperry said.

Hutchison’s Golden Retriever had a unique American Kennel Club (AKC) name, as is required by the club.

“This is my dog. Her call name is Jenna,” Hutchison said. “Her AKC name is ‘Grass Fires When Calls the Heart to Jenna.”

Humboldt is lucky to have such an active dog community for being a rural area.

“We have a really amazing dog community presence for a really rural area and for me it has kind of helped me find my community, the people that I want to be with and hanging around with,” Sperry said. “I don’t know that every community is as fortunate as ours and we’re a pretty tight knit group.”

Having a thriving dog community is important to owners for several reasons. Bill Johnston, the owner of a dog named Angel, offered the benefits of being part of a network of dog lovers.

“It just gives people a lot of choices on different things they can buy for their dogs and the availability of training,” Johnston said. “The more training and discipline they get, the safer they are, the closer they stay with you and listen”