Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows Vendors: Expect the Unexpected

Visitors to the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7, will find vendors selling the usual pet collars, toys and snacks.

At the same time, the estimated 60,000 Cobo Convention Center patrons will discover a number of one-of-a-kind items that may cause them to look twice.

Innovation abounds among more than 600 vendors of products and services, says Erik Bergishagen, Detroit Kennel Club president. Vendors offer electronic fences that prevent dogs from straying outside their outdoor properties. Arrangements can even be made for obtaining retired greyhound racers as house pets after they have seen their final days on the Florida betting tracks.

Arnold Richards co-owns Richards Harness Coat Company with his wife of 25 years, Ruth Richards. Both say the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows is their favorite event and among their most productive.

"It's a chance to interact with professional handlers and groomers, people who really know dogs, and to expose our products to them, as well as to the general public," Arnold Richards says.

"The vendors at the Detroit shows offer such a large variety of products, many of them Michigan-made products," he explains. "I frequently say before we go to Cobo each year that I'm not going to buy and that I'm just going to sell, because I'm here just trying to make a living. But then I see the variety and the original items, so much more than we would see at a pet store, and I realize how much value is available to be found."

Hammocks for Dogs

The pet cot, a hammock that a dog can play around or sleep on, is among a number of items featured by Jeremy Benatar and Matt Blass, both 23 years old, a pair of recent graduates from their hometown Queens College in New York City.

They took ownership of Pet Frontier a year ago with desires not only to be creative, but helpful and affordable.

"When we are at dog shows, people look at the pet cot and their first reaction is, 'What is that, a trampoline?'" Benatar says. "They find it comical and ask why a dog would ever want to go on it, but then their dogs hop right into it and turn right around and love playing on it."

Sooner or later, Blass adds, many dogs will learn that the hammock is good for more than playing.

"I gave one to my girlfriend, and her poodle sleeps there all the time," he says.

Benatar and Blass tick off various benefits of their pet cot, and among the most prominent is that a dog that sleeps in a hammock will be a healthier dog. Bones will remain stronger and coats cleaner compared to a dog that rolls on the ground, and ventilation is provided in warm weather.

They supply their cots in three sizes, the largest accommodating up to 200 pounds, so even a Great Dane may discover enjoyment and relaxation.

Blass and Benatar were at a Baltimore event last year when they encountered Flint's Ken Scarnegie, founder of the Classic K9 Show, which features canine entertainment. Scarnegie is also an ambassador for the Detroit Kennel Club, and the New York City duo followed his suggestion that they come to the Detroit show.

"We decided to give Detroit a shot," Benatar says. "We're trying to expand our business, to provide new angles and initiatives, and we are really hungry to succeed."

A Web site, http://www.thepetfrontier.com, is under development and scheduled to go online by April.

Dogs Get Their Own Version of a Cat Toy

Chase It Pet Toys are the invention of Plymouth's Janet Brown-Smith. She says she noticed about six years ago that her pair of frisky shelties didn't want to play with their Frisbees or their other dog toys. Instead, they would chase her three cats' tethered toys. She decided to give the dogs what they really wanted: "cat-type toys" in dog-size dimensions.

The product she came up with is a flexible rod that's about the length of a pool cue, which is connected to a cord of equal length. A toy squirrel or any item that will spark the dog's pursuit dangles from the cord.

She explains that as she conceived the Chase It Pet Toys concept, other thoughts occurred. Dogs, unlike cats, are trained to obey. Therefore, she saw that dangling a desired object before a dog's eyes in circular and zig-zag movements could "reward with positive reinforcement" by allowing the canine to eventually capture the prize.

Another need for dogs, says Brown-Smith, is exercise. "Dog owners may feel that the only way to exercise their pets is to take the dog on a 30-minute walk, but often the dog owners are pressed for time," she explains. "You can use a Chase It Pet Toys product right at home for 10 minutes, and the dog will get some good exercise."

Brown-Smith has been featured twice on QVC, which awarded her for innovation. Past vendor work at the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows has reaped benefits because of encounters with groups of professional pet trainers, she says. She also meets veterinarians who recommend her products for its exercise benefits. For more information on the Chase It Pet Toys, visit http://www.chaseitpettoys.com.

Harness Coats Keep Dogs Comfortable

Arnold Richards boasts that wife Ruth had a brilliant idea six years ago with the concept of combining a dog harness with a coat.

"We had decided we would like to have a pair of little lapdogs," Arnold Richards explains. "Ruth was told not to put collars on them, but to just use harnesses. But when we wanted to take them out in cold weather, we had to cut holes in their coats in order to fit their coats over their harnesses."

Ruth Richards already possessed artistic skills as a sign designer and painter, so she undertook a quest to design a combined dog harness and coat. Richards Harness Coat Company was born, which is based in Lake Orion. A one-piece harness coat that keeps dogs warm is the company's main attraction, but they also offer a rubber harness coat for rainy days, along with a cotton harness coat to keep things cool on hot days.

Once the company's Web site (http://www.richardsharnesscoat.com) was established, online orders for harness coats started coming in from places as distant as Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Panama and Venezuela.

Customers appreciate the innovation, says Arnold Richards, but other dog owners wrongly believe that canines don't need coats in the cold, the rain or the heat.

"Dogs have become mammals who are domesticated," he tells skeptics. "Dogs don't live in packs and dens and foxholes any more. Dogs now live in homes, and for the most part, they need a little extra protection."

At the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows, Richards will have a chance to continue these discussions with his fellow dog enthusiasts. This aspect, he says, is what makes the Cobo Center event so special.

Tickets for the Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows are $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and children 12 and younger, with family and group rates available; children 2 and younger are admitted free. Recommended hours for attendance are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Sources:
http://www.chaseitpettoys.com/about-us.htm
http://www.richardsharnesscoat.com/