Sunday Morning, Weekend Overload Woofstock edition

Responding to the public, there have been several - okay two - calls for more info on Woofstock.

Woofstock is North America's largest outdoor festival for dogs, now we were expecting a few stalls and some dog owners wandering around at the side of the road near St Lawrence Market.

Wow - how wrong can you be?

Wissy and I arrived at the St Lawrence Market end having used the rental bikes to cycle there, when we arrived we were greeted with closed roads and stalls stretching for half a kilometer in two directions, in total 2.5 kilometers of roads were closed, and these were not back streets, this is the equivalent of closing  Oxford Street to all traffic.  Apparently last year there were 300,000 visitors, having seen what we saw yesterday I can well believe it!

We saw, and met, dogs of all shapes and sizes, the dog population of Toronto is very diverse, Great Danes as tall as my waist down to a 3 month old Chihuahua which was about the size of a new born kitten. Guide dogs in training, Leonburgers - which are very soft when they are puppies, to Dalmatians.

There were stalls for everything you could ever need, and lots of things you may want but really don't need, we saw sunglasses, sun hats, sombreros, and sandals, there were 5 different types of organic foods and treats that looked like cupcakes, maple carved dog tags, elk antler dog chews, slings so you could carry your dog like a handbag and so much more.

Luckily most of what I would consider ridiculous was way too small for Lola... we did see a dog in pink sandals, we missed although were told of a Chihuahua with pink painted (toe nails) claws, outfits too diverse to discuss although the tiny dog in a wedding dress on a chaise longe was a treat.

All of this has increased Wissy's desire to get home to see Lola, I think she managed to pet about 80% of the dogs as we wandered about and the grin took a while to wear off.

We didn't see any dogs fighting or barking, everything was ever so friendly and even Jaclyn who we met and who is scared of dogs didn't seem to freaked out, maybe just a little jumpy.

All in all a great mini festival and something we may even return to this morning, this is the sort of thing London needs, an all inclusive bring your pet dog meet and greet...