Paw prints, puppies, and obedience-school themed obstacle courses set the tone for DAK’s Dog Ranch’s inaugural North Alabama Canine Expo held on April 22 at the Limestone County Sheriff’s Rodeo Arena.

The dog day care center said that their goal in organizing the event was to “educate, engage, experience, and enjoy” time with dogs, their owners, and the 62 vendors that came out for the first year of this event. They “learned a lot” and have plans to come back next year “bigger and better.”

The event was to foster community among North Alabama’s dog lovers, but it served a greater purpose as well. Besides, contributing to the sheriff’s office K9 program revival, they provided an opportunity for some of their vendors to educate visitors.

Tina Baxter, assistant chief of Limestone Search and Rescue, said that they had already used their K9 services twice in 2023 and that this event is a great outreach opportunity.

“It lets the community know that we’re here,” Baxter said. “… It lets them know that if you get lost or you’re on a boat or whatever, we’re the ones that are going to come to you.”

The Limestone Animal Alliance came out to educate on their mission, specifically the importance of spay and neuter access for pets.

“Really, they don’t need the spay and neuter? Go to the shelter, and you see thousands (of animals) … You need to take care of them, because there’s an overpopulation,” Phyllis, one of the women representing the alliance, said.

While some were there to educate, others were there to entertain. There were plenty of food vendors set up to provide refreshments on the beautiful day, and others provided activities for families to participate, such as dog demonstrations and field games for the kids. Some played cornhole while others were able to participate in the obedience-school themed obstacle course, featuring a chair labeled “sit” and bars labeled “jump” among other challenges.

Not all of the treats were for the human visitors, though. The Treat House, an in-home pet bakery from Scottsboro, enjoyed coming to the event to show off their all-natural, hand decorated cookies, came to the expo to feed the four-legged visitors.

When asked, April Culpepper and her daughter, Caleigh, said that the biggest benefit The Treat House was “meeting new people, reaching out to a new community.”

Along with food, there were vendors set up that provided reusable goods for visitors to browse. Melissa Jackson was hoping to make connections to provide full demonstrations later for Rainbow air purifier vacuum cleaners, a product that is perfect for “pet hair and allergies … most people have those issues.”

Stephanie and Ashley, owners of The Twisted Sisters usually focus on “color” in their shop, but for this event they embraced their love of dogs and created a paw print design.

“We’re going to a dog event. Let’s see if we can do a paw print (design), and instantly it was putting a paw print together.”

Several vendors brought their dogs, and almost all of the visitors seemed to have fulfilled DAK’s Dog Ranch’s goal to “show the community that there is a lot you can do with your dogs to include them in your life.”