Pup Aid 2015

 

Last Saturday was the amazing Pup Aid 2015 Fun Dog Show, a date that has been in my diary all year! 

After watching many horrendous documentaries and news stories over the past year about the horrors of puppy farming this has become a cause close to my heart. As a huge dog lover myself, nothing upsets me more than the mistreatment of these incredibly loving companions. You will only have to do a little search online to see the absolutely disgusting conditions within puppy farms and the sorry little existence that these dogs lead kept locked up in filthy cages alone and uncared about. 

Pup Aid are doing an incredible job of raising awareness about puppy farms whilst also campaigning for this cruel industry to end and I, along with many others, really wanted to go along on Saturday to show my support for this wonderful cause. 

It was also a great excuse for a doggie day out with my two boys and a trip to Primrose Hill, which if you've never been before is really lovely for dog walks and mooching around lots of cute shops & cafes. So we packed the dogs up in the car and set off to London for the day!

There were lots of dog show classes on at the event and I really wanted to enter my little Zen in for the most handsome dog category but sadly he can be a little temperamental when people approach him and far too excitable around other dogs so I didn't feel it would have been appropriate but I'm sure he would have won anyway :-) Other fun categories for the day included 'Dog That Most Looks Like A Celebrity', 'Best Rescue', 'Waggiest Tail' and 'Most Stylish Pooch of London'.

Once we made it to the main show area it was amazing to see how many people had turned up, despite the unpredictable weather, and there were just so many cute dogs everywhere! If you're a dog lover this is definitely the show for you. I spent a lot of time cooing over other peoples dogs whilst trying to control the excitement of my two! I don't think we have ever been anywhere with so many other dogs so both of mine went a little crazy! 

It was great to see so many charitable stalls at the event including the RSPCA, Wood Green Animal Home & Dogs Trust. There were also many stalls selling an abundance of doggie treats, clothing and accessories. We could have spent a small fortune! 

This event also had a high celebrity profile with the likes of animal campaigner Peter Egan making an appearance and Meg Matthews with her daughter Anais Gallagher were also present and have played a huge part in raising awareness for Pup Aid. There were also a few TV personalities in the VIP area and some faces from TOWIE. It really is so good to see so many high profile people getting involved with an event like this and it definitely helps to get the event into the press whilst also managing to raise awareness with the general public. 

I was so pleased when event founder Marc Abraham announced that Pup Aid would be a purely Vegan event and I think this should be the case with any animal related event. We were also pretty excited to have a look around at the food stalls to see what we fancied trying. We couldn't resist going in for some of these chilli nachos which were delicious! 

I also loved the Vegan cake stand by Cat Food and there was no way that we could go home without one of her stunning cupcakes. She had also made some really lovely dog treats which she kindly gave to our two boys. 

It was really interesting finding out more about some new dog related businesses and products. When  Pooch Pal offered us a family photo at their stand we jumped at the chance! I love the sound of this new business which is basically like a social network for dogs and their owners which helps your dogs to find new friends and play mates in your area. 

After all the fun of the show we decided to have a walk across the field and let the dogs off the lead for some play time with other dogs. It was such a lovely atmosphere having so many dog lovers all in one place and seeing lots of dogs playing together. We met this very cute long haired Chihuahua called 'Hunter' who Zen pretty much fell in love with straight away! Chihuahuas are so addictive and I would really love a long haired one but I think two dogs is our limit for the moment. 

We really love Primrose Hill so we took the dogs for a little stroll around the area and made a pit stop at a pub for a drink. We really wanted to get some lunch here too but the Vegan options were very limited so we made our way back to the high street where we saw a falafel street food stall. 

BTW - I love this photo so much! They're just the cutest and I feel genuinely lucky to have an amazing husband and dogs in my life :-)

Mr K said this was the best falafel wrap he'd ever had and I think he was right! It was so yummy! So if you're ever in the area be sure to grab one of these. 

Once we got home it was time to put our feet up with a cuppa and one of the pretty party ring Vegan cupcakes we'd picked up at the show. We were trying to be well behaved by only buying one cupcake to share but we could have easily have eaten a few of these that evening! And if you didn't already know, party rings are indeed Vegan friendly. 

I'm so glad that we made the journey down to London on Saturday and supported the Pup Aid event. It was a perfect Saturday spending time with my man, my dogs and meeting lots of other lovely pooches and their owners. If you didn't make it to this Pup Aid then be sure to keep an eye out for the next one!