SuperZoo Day 4: Exploring Las Vegas

Walking booth to booth on the trade show floor, I was excited to be a part of the process of finding new products for Jeffers. There were literally thousands of products laid out for us to consider, which felt both inspiring and overwhelming. Collars, leashes, crates, beds, bowls, sweaters, treats, toys, shampoos, and the list goes on and on. We all had so many catalogs and literature from different companies, my arms were sore by now from carrying it all around. My wise colleagues had been through this many times, and were experienced enough to know to bring a small rolling suitcase to keep all of their materials in. While exploring the different booths, I discovered the Grooming Show stage, and found that they were beginning their Super Jackpot Contest any minute.

I had never been to a Grooming Show or knew anything about how it was judged. Luckily, I was sitting next to a woman who is a groomer in Germany and she was a wealth of information. She knew all the groomers up on stage and gave me their backgrounds. She also taught me what the judges look for and how the dogs are selected by the groomers. This was a brand new arena to me, and I was amazed to find out some of the detailed judging criteria, including symmetry and direction the hairs are going in. The stakes were high, as the first place winner would receive $10,000, a trip to Belgium and a championship trophy. I could feel the anxiousness in the air and see it on all their faces as they stood up on stage, constantly fluffing and combing their dogs. They finally started announcing the winners, and the Grooming Show floor had all eyes on the stage, standing in silence while the judges made their decisions. One by one, names were called, dogs were brought up and photographed, and everyone waited for the jumbo check to be awarded. Thankfully, I had my German friend with me to let me know who she thought it was coming down to, so I knew who to watch.

“And in first place of the Tom McLaughlin Super Jackpot Contest…Kenichi Tange from Japan!”

As large as the convention floor is, I’m sure people on the opposite end could hear the cheering following that announcement. After a few hectic moments, I made my way out and back to the main trade show floor to check out the “New Products” exhibit. The rules were a bit more strict in this area, including a security guard constantly reminding everyone that pictures are not allowed. It was exciting to see some products that I thought would be great additions to Jeffers’ line, and I couldn’t wait to talk to Ruth and Renee about them. The show was closing down by the time I got through this portion of the trade show, and I went back to the hotel room to ditch my heavy bag and various samples.  We had an early morning flight to make, but it was our last night in Vegas, and I had yet to see some of the iconic sites. Ruth and I walked the strip from the Mandalay Bay to the Bellagio to watch the fountain show. In a couple of days we’d see on the news that there was a rooftop pool fire at the Cosmopolitan, one of the hotels we passed on our route. Walking down the strip, seeing all of the famous hotels and casinos, was the perfect end to our trip to Las Vegas.

Thank you for reading about our SuperZoo adventure in Las Vegas!