Cobleskill Hosts First Annual NYS Canine Expo at Fairgrounds

By Lei Rowan

COBLESKILL – Last weekend, the first annual NYS Canine Expo took place at the fairgrounds as a two-day event. With a variety of informational booths, clinics, and lectures, as well as a market, turnout was excellent. Exhibitors came from all over New York State.

A large number of canine clubs came together to make the event possible. Some clubs include Fast Cats who hosted individual races, North America Diving Dogs who had dog diving competitions, KMK9 who hosted a tracking workshop with Kyle McCraith, and Hudson Valley Agility Club who had an agility workshop with Heather Adams.

Several local businesses attended as well, including Schoharie Valley Vet, the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley, the Black Sheep Honey cookie truck, West Creek Farm, and Brett’s Fried. SUNY Cobleskill also had a booth set up.

Sharon Hunsbury brought guests through an hour obedience lecture. Hunsbury touched on recall and focus. “‘They should just do it because they love us,’ yeah no, we don’t work for free… teach them what your household requires and set those boundaries early.” She stated, going into depth on how training requires reward and consistency.

Cherry Hills Training Center had a herding seminar. Several dogs already trained were used to highlight herding dogs' roles and different breeds. “The most boring herds are when they’re just walking, and that’s just what we strive for.” Amanda Farnsworth told the audience. Farnsworth brought out two kelpies to demonstrate herding, before turning it over to a fellow trainer who worked with an Australian Shepard named Smack, who only likes to listen to his owner. Farnsworth discussed how herding breeds have a natural good sense of group, “We have to let go of our ego… It comes naturally to the dogs, it doesn’t come naturally to the handler.” Training is individualized per dog, since each dog has a different amount of eye use, power, and confidence. “Meet the dog where they’re at, not where we want them.”

Barn hunt was an event hosted at the Expo where dogs had to find a tube with a well-cared-for rat inside. The rat tubes were hidden in a pile of hay, along with tunnels and stacks of hay bales. Dogs had to give a signal to their owner if they found a rat tube, then the owner would call out “Rat!” pick up the tube, and hand it gently to a judge. Similarly scented litter tubes were scattered around as a challenge, as dogs had to not signal when they found the litter. In each hunt, the dogs had to find all the rat tubes, jump on at least one bale, and go through at least one tunnel.

North America Diving Dogs had a hit competition where the owners threw a toy, and the dogs would jump off a platform to catch it and “dive” into a pool. Dogs competed to leap the furthest in their dive.

Other events include enrichment, agility, Happy Ratters, K9 training, rally, rescue, speedway demos, testing, and therapy dog potential tests. Various sellers and informational vendors set up booths in the marketplace, selling bandanas, leashes, harnesses, homemade treats, and more. Woofs for Warriors, Inc. had an informational booth about ESA dogs and how veterans can potentially get their own.

A “Meet the Breeds” section was set up, highlighting different breeds and more information on each of them. Breeds chosen include the American bully, russel terrier (no jack in front!), hound, heeler, spaniels, mini American shepherd, bichon frise, puni, standard poodle, and cane corso. The three attending cane corsos were happy to greet visitors, get lots of butt scratches, and give kisses.

This was the first year the Canine Expo was hosted, with plans to turn it into an annual event. All exhibitors are grateful for everyone attending and helping make the Expo a community event. For more information, visit https://www.nyscanineexpo.com/event-type/speedway/