BarkWorld Pals of the Human Kind

Cosmo was one lucky dog to attend all three days of BarkWorld Expo, and we both had a blast meeting lots of the humans behind our Twittering and blogging anipals. The Shibbering Cheetos hosted a reception, sponsored by Wellness, that was a rockin' good time for all who attended.


Pictured at right are the humans behind the Cheetos, from left: Becky Kikukawa, momma of Mattie Dog; Mimi Chan, ma of Trailer Park Dogs Coco and Goose; and Heather King, mom of Brutus the Dane. Cosmo's right in the middle of things, and if you look really closely you'll see the Hookalopes, Blind Maximus, Mattie Dog and Boris Kitty's Edgar.


We think it's so much fun to meet our anipals' humans, we assembled a few more in the photo below.  Pictured in the back row, left to right: Vicki Boatright, known as BZTAT, and artist of the wonderful portrait of Cosmo; Pawpawty creator Lynn Haigh, holding Frugal Dougal on a stick; Hank the Doggy's mom Erin Monigold; Vicki Cook, mom to BunnyJean Cook and one of our first Pawpawty DJ buddies; Mattie Dog's momma Becky; Preston Peabody and his mom Rachel. Front row, left to right is: Heather, mom to Brutus the Dane; Cosmo and me, Mimi, ma to Trailer Park Dogs; and AmyJo Casner, the InformedFerret, with Manny and James... though James seems to be playing shy and hiding in his bag again!

We also enjoyed seeing Natalie Malaszenko again from Petco, below. She was one of the awesome presenters at the conference along with Rick Rockhill from Natural Balance. Rick issued a challenge at BarkWorld that for every new Twitter follower he gained that day, he'd donate a bag of food to the Atlanta Humane Society. With 88 new followers in one day, Rick donated 88 bags of Natural Balance food to the Atlanta Humane Society! Well done!

That's me, Cosmo, on the right with mom,
Rick from Natural Balance at left and Natalie from Petco, middle

Rick also shares a lot of cool things on his blog Palm Springs Savant -- like National Guide Dog Month and how you can help support guide dogs for the visually impaired. Cosmo was pretty taken with Rick as well, though in hindsight it may have been because of the Natural Balance Tillman Treats that came in our BarkWorld swag bag!  For a dog like Cosmo who loves a good snackie, soft training treats like these are ideal. You can easily tear off lots of small pieces for more training fun! Cosmo says they are barkilicious!

Next up, more BarkWorld pals and incredible swag!