Last Sunday, I went along to the Birmingham Bizarre Bazaar for the first time in a long time due to various work commitments… however, this month I had extra motivation to go – I was taking part in the demonstration on ‘Pony and Pet Play’ as one of the pups involved.
We were running slightly later than we wanted to be, so we arrived at the venue, paid our admission and I went and got changed before heading up stairs to the demo room. It was there that I met Sir Guy, who explained what the format of the demonstration was going to be, and what was expected of me, and also my owner who was roped in to help.
At this point, I completed getting changed, putting the knee pads, pup hood and paws on and meeting some of the others involved in the demonstration. Thankfully, there were two other puppies, a cat and quite a few ponies – along with two carts. One of the other pups had a squeaky ball ….. oh dear … puppy wanted to play! As the start time approached, the room started filling up (which I hadn’t noticed as I was deep in my pup mind state now!) and the ponies made their way on to the ‘stage’ as they had to get their carts on too. As the demo started, the pups were called on and my owner and I led the other pups out.
Sir Guy did a bit of speaking about pup and pony play, explaining that you don’t need expensive ‘gear’ to make you into a pony or a puppy – for pups it could be a simple as a collar, right through to full outfits, paws hoods etc. The same for the ponies, you could be a pony in as little or as much ‘gear’ as you like and / or could afford. There’s no right or wrong way of doing it.
After this small explanation, the first thing I was involved with was leading everyone; pups, ponies and owners; around the stage area as if on parade – we wandered around 3 times, before the pups stopped and I had tried to interact with the audience by going under the edges, but the people I picked on did not seem to want to engage with me straight away. After the parade, we stood at the side, and I lay down like a pup while Sir Guy carried on explaining and talking about Pet Play. The pups and handlers were then asked to demonstrate some of what they do in pup play… so I played tuggy and fetch with my chew ring, and then I was given some chocolate buttons as a treat for being a good pup! Though I did get side-tracked by that wonderful squeaky ball!
On the sound of an air horn, the previously mentioned cat broke ranks through the crowd and the three pups all chased after, me barking loudly and we ended up running round the top floor through the crowds. The car took a break for freedom by heading out from the top floor, and down the stairs to floor below, where I stayed in hot pursuit! By the time the car and I returned, there was a Question and Answer session in progress, so I sat by my owner… but then became distracted.
For the last 10 – 15 minutes of the demonstration, I was in my own little world, pushing a straw around the floor and playing with various things, wandering around to the edges with the crowd, and almost tripping the presenter up *paws over eyes*. It’s amazing how in the pup world, even the simplest things amuse me!
At the end of the demonstration, we hung around for a bit longer on the top floor so that people could come and ask us direct questions if they had any… Quite a few people came up and spoke to me asking me questions about my kneepads, my puppy hood etc. and also commenting on my behaviour (in a good way!). I was also told that my bark was very true to a real dog, and when I’d disappeared into the crowd and they couldn’t see me whilst I was chasing the cat, they would have been convinced there was a real dog on the top floor.
I was also able to show my puppy hood off to one of the ponies who liked the looks of the RubberDawg hoods, which meant she could now see them ‘up close’, while also getting a chance to talk to a few more people socially, since I’d taken my puppy-hood off as I was getting too hot!
After getting a drink to cool down, we proceeded to have a wander around the rest of the BBB and look at anything we might want to purchase… While wandering around, there were still people coming up to me and asking me questions about pup play or the demo, which was nice.
The big question, I’m sure you’re all asking, is ‘Did you buy anything?’ and the answer to that has to be ‘Yes’… but probably not what you think. A couple of years ago, I did a photoshoot for Naughty Art and I bought a print of one of the pictures of me that I really liked.
I also ended up travelling to and from the BBB in some potentially rather revealing lycra (and sat in a restaurant having food)… “N2N Bodywear PX Sports Runner Blue” running tights and a t-shirt:
Sorry the picture isn’t great, but it was taken on the way home – by which point it’d become dark …
Hopefully in time there may be some pictures from the demo… and so when they arrive I’ll add a post with them in 🙂
*woofs*
Spot
