Dog Show and Ranch Capomo

Dog Show
We saw the advertising for Puerto Vallarta’s first Perroton (dog show) so we wanted to see it. It was at the sports stadium near the Sheraton. Friday we just went to watch. There was a demonstration of police dog skills that was quite impressive. There were drug sniffing dogs and attack dogs. Another demonstration was a dog and his handler who are national champions in French Ring skills.
Saturday we took the dogs to the show. It was pretty unclear what categories there were so I registered Sarah for agility. As it turned out, they ran out of time and didn’t have all the categories. They had golden retrievers, Labradors, Chihuahuas and poodles as separate groups. Then large, medium and small dogs had their own groups. It was funny because the whole show had a very informal feel to it, except the judges seemed very serious when looking at the dogs. There was a competition for costumed and trick dogs and one for obedience.
Sarah, the 3-legged Dalmatian, got special recognition in the show. She and Harold were in the ring with the MC while she told Sarah’s story. She used it as an example of how well a dog can adapt to injury and how much people love their dogs.
The dogs enjoyed the show because there were plenty of things to sniff, plenty of new dogs to meet and they got out of the house for a day. There were quite a few people at the show Saturday, Mexican families with their dogs, ex-pats with their dogs, and some tourists who just came by to watch. Of course there were food and beverage vendors and displays by vets and animal groups.

Rancho Capomo
We volunteered to drive a group of kids from RISE, the children’s shelter, to a field day at Rancho Capomo. We met at the house and found that we had 5 cars to transport 20+ kids and an equal number of adults. We loaded 4 adults and 6 kids in our Mazda Tribute for the 45-minute drive to Las Palmas. As soon as we got there, a group of kids went horseback riding. The other kids played on the playground while they waited their turn for the horses. The second group of kids and one madre rode the horses later. The ranch greeted us all with glasses of Jamaica. After the riding, lunch was served The restaurant is set up with mostly table for 4 and 6. Volunteers sat at the tables with the children and ate. Harold and I ate with Beto and Chuey. They are two adorable little boys. Beto kept saying “yo quiero” as plates of food went by, and licking his lips loudly. The waiter brought him a big plate of chicken, rice and beans. Both boys had good appetites and enjoyed their dinners. After the chicken, plates of shrimp were also served.
When the kids finished lunch, they went down to play in the river. Almost all the kids and madres went wading in the river.
After the fun-filled afternoon, we all headed back to the Refugio. Many of the kids slept soundly on the return trip. Harold and I really enjoyed spending time with the kids and meeting the other volunteers.