Two Days of Doggone Fun

The 3rd annual Claremore Dog Expo will be held August 25-26 at the Claremore Expo Center to benefit the local animal shelter.

Animal Control Officer Rocky Ambrister with a rescued dog and her pups.

f you love animals and are ­passionate about the issues ­concerning them, you will want to mark your calendar for one of the area’s premier events hosted to promote pet health and safety: the 3rd annual Claremore Dog Expo, held August 25-26 at the Claremore Expo Center and ­benefitting the Claremore Animal Shelter.

“We want this to be a ­loving, caring and positive ­experience,” says Debbie Kara, owner of Karalot Pet Care and active volunteer at the shelter. To facilitate this goal, two days of fun activities have been planned. The feature event will be Dog Docks, a water competition in which dogs jump in water and compete for height, distance, speed and retrieving, open to anyone over the age of seven and their dog (any type of dog is ­welcome). “Last year we had competitors from six states ­compete,” says Jean Hurst, supervising animal control ­officer at Claremore Animal Shelter. “And we look forward to seeing them again this year.”

Other competition ­categories include Herding, Agility, Schutzen, Rallying and Dog Drill Team. Fun contests will be held as well, including Best Costume, Ugliest and Cutest Dog, People/Dog Lookalike, and Best Trick. For a small fee (donated to the ­shelter), attendees may also enter their dogs in an agility course. Admission to the event is $6 for adults, $3 for youth ages 6 to 12, and free for children under 6. The youth entry fee is half price with a donation of dog or cat food or cat litter for the shelter pantry. Weekend passes will also be available.

Since one of the primary aims of the Claremore Animal Shelter is to adopt out pets to loving homes, it is no surprise that animals will be available for adoption at this event. “We will be featuring dog adoptions from local shelters and rescue groups like Lab Rescue, Corgi Rescue, Boxer Rescue, Zois Rescue and others,” says Rocky Ambrister, animal control officer at Claremore Animal Shelter. “This event got started not only because we wanted something for people in the community to come and participate in with their dogs, but so we could ­showcase shelter and rescue dogs that need homes.”

The event is also designed to be educational. The Tulsa Zoo will have a representative on hand to teach about native ­reptiles of Oklahoma, as well as to educate people on proper pet ownership. Jean reports that there will be veterinarians ­present at the event also. “We encourage people to bring a list of questions about pet health, grooming and training.”

Jean and Rocky hope this event will educate people about pets and pet ownership, as well as the goals of the shelter. “All of our volunteers are from the ­community, and we have received a wealth of support from Petco as a corporate ­sponsor for this event,” Jean says. “We are a family of animal lovers with the same goal in mind – to save abandoned ­animals.”

For more information, contact

Claremore Dog Expo

(918) 341-1260

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