It’s an Animal Adoptions and Pet Expo in Brentwood on April 6th with the Twist

Well, it’s way more than that! There will be something for the whole family at The Greater West Los Angeles Chamber Business Expo and Brentwood Art Festival.

This year’s festivities include a debut event – Dancing With the Dogs! So in addition to being a wonderful adoption venue for local animal groups, including Best Friends Animal Society, this will be an irresistible draw.

Robin Harmon a longtime staffer with the Los Angeles Program of Best Friends said, “Each year this event is getting bigger! We’re going to be there with an educational booth and of course, adoptable pets. We had quite a few adoptions last year at the Bow Wow Meow, so we’re excited about participating this year. It’s a great location and a fun event. We love being a part of it!”

“This is the first time we’re doing Dancing With the Dogs competition,” said Sandra Lollino, founder of Four Legged Friends Foundation, and curator of the animal events at the fair, “and we are thrilled!”

It’s all in the hips!

To check out the teams competing for top “Dancing Dog” click here.

“There’s going to be a lot of activities and information beyond the Dancing With Dogs competition, like agility and a spay/neuter & microchipping. We’re also highlighting the adoptable animals from places like L.A. Services – we were surprised that so much of the public had no idea there was a West L.A. shelter practically around the corner. We’re able to get the public thinking about rescue and showing them how easy it is, it’s in their backyard.”

“Our goal is to get more dogs adopted and we thought this would be a great way to get more people to the event. How animals contribute to our lives, that’s the foundation for our organization – Dancing With the Dogs is amazing because you can see the bond. This activity is all about the joy and it’s so much fun to watch, it’s hard to know who is having a better time: the dog or the person!”

Judy Gamet of Dogs Can Dance is the champion of the sport and has brought it to the Bow Wow Meow this year. She has a Bachelor of Science in Dance and has been teaching dance for 36 years. She loves and rescues Rottweilers and a few years ago she rescued a 6 year old obese Rottie with an artificial hip named Bella. She knew the dog needed to lose 20 lbs, but what would be a good workout?

Bella has all the right moves

You know the answer this rhetorical question – dancing, of course! It’s low impact if you don’t include jumps and it works out the entire body and with all over movement. The movement goes in different directions too, so it’s not a repetitive motion that could hurt joints. She shared that Bella lived until 14 years old, lost the 20 lbs and danced everyday of her long life!

“I focus on the dog when I’m training a team,” said Judy. “And it’s a fantastic exercise for every stage of a dog’s life: from puppies to seniors, any dog can benefit from dancing!”

“It’s all about the dog! When the handler has vanished into the background and you see the dog doing his or her routine and beaming, that’s what it’s all about! And the dog picks out the music! Every dog has a natural gating tempo, when the dog likes the music you can see the response. You can’t take your eyes off the dog when the music is right!”

Judy has trained the teams for Bow Wow Meow dancing competition, and while they’ve only had 2 hours of trainings, she thinks the performances will be fierce!

“I have so much pride in showing how proud the dogs are when they’re dancing. Showing how special they are, and showing the special bond between the handler and the dog, it’s magical!”

Indeed! Don’t be behind the times – join the Brentwood event this weekend!

Animal Adoptions and Pet Expo

When: Sunday, April 6
Where: San Vicente Boulevard, Downtown Brentwood
Click here for a map of the area.

by Denise LeBeau, Best Friends staff
images of Bella courtesy of Dogs Can Dance
main photo by Clay Myers, Best Friends photographer