ST. LOUIS – This past weekend, the International Puppy Contest made it’s debut in it’s new home, The Bad Dog Bar & Grill in Saint Louis.
Thursday’s Meet & Greet had an amazing showing of Handlers, pups and friends alike. It had the feeling of almost like a family reunion with everyone coming together and meeting for the first time or seeing each other after many months. The four contestants were announced and numbers drawn – #1 – Pup Frogger Midwest Puppy 2013, #2 – Pup Figaro Northwest Puppy 2014, #3 – Pup Havoc from Ohio and #4 – Pup Wolf from Indiana.
Friday’s activities included classes held at the Bad Dog including Puppy 101 by Papa Woof Roth and Puppy Boo, Advanced Puppy Play presented by Pup Wolf and family and then the afternoon everyone took the afternoon to see the sights in St Louis. Friday night included a Country Western themed Puppy Ho Down and bar crawl ending at Club St Louis for the Puppy Pool Party.
Saturday – the big day – started with contestant interview at Club St Louis followed by the days classes. Featured was Safe Puppy Wrestling by Pup Hercules – Midwest Puppy 2012 and Puppy Grooming by Sir Den and Pup Oz including a history of how hair cutting fits into the Leather Community. Piglet Offered his 12 Step meeting as well. Everyone took some decompress time before the main event.
The night started off with a dinner open to all prepared by Chef Papa Woof and Puppy Boo with an awesome show featuring Pup Frogger, Karma Cassidy, Jinger Fahrenheit, Dick Nail-Em, Nine Behind, Team Figaro and the comedic styling of Debi Baker. During Debi’s set, she gave us a bit about IPC’s charity Rainbow Ranch Project and the work they do in the animal rescue community.
The Contest (which actually started almost on time) had a great feel to it. Everyone was having fun from the contestants, to the judges to the audience. The pups really showed their stuff and it was a very close race throughout the evening. The pups showed off their public speaking as well as their puppy play skills.
During intermission, there was a memorial for those that have been lost to illness or suicide. The various groups came to the stage and shared the stories of those lost and what they meant to them. A surprise to all was Georgy Rock (Her father was in the famous Spike Jones Orchestra) coming to the stage and doing an a cappella rendition of “Angels Among Us” that left very few dry eyes in the house.
Before the winner was announce, International Puppy 2014 Pup Tripp gave a warm and emotional step down speech
It was a long but wonderful evening and in the end, Pup Figaro came out as Top Dog as the International Puppy 2015 with Pup wolf as Runner Up. Pup Scout from Chicago won the Bill “Trooper” Boyd Best in Show Award.
Sunday’s Victory Brunch was well attended and everyone had a great time before saying goodbyes.
More information on International Puppy can be found at http://www.intl-pup.com
Photos courtesy of Skytrain Photo-Graphics
