Choppy and I attended a conference this last weekend outside of Washington, D.C.: BlogPaws 2013, a pet social media conference.

And yes, that is as dorky as it sounds. If ever you wanted to hear as many puns related to pets as possible, this is the right conference for you.

An image from the program. Puns abound. And other pet-related words that are not likely to be found on other conference programs.
An image from the program. Puns abound. As well as other pet-related words that are not likely to be found on other conference programs.

Although yours truly engaged in much eye-rolling at the beginning of the conference regarding the puns, by the end of the weekend, I was punning along with the best of them. I guess the spirit was catching.

Yappy Hour: like Happy Hour, except Choppy spends the whole time barking at other dogs until I get tired of her interrupting my cocktails and take her back to the room.
Yappy Hour: like Happy Hour, except Choppy spends the whole time barking at other dogs until I get tired of her interrupting my cocktails and take her back to the room. That’s right, Choppy: you act like a child who can’t control herself, I lock you in the room while I go to the bar. Thank goodness you are a dog, because I am pretty sure this would be followed by a trip to jail for me if you were a child.

Even though I didn’t win the award I was nominated for (I was robbed!), I still had a good time. Some more pictures from the weekend:

I'm pretty sure if you called food "food" over the course of the weekend, you would be corrected in LOLspeak.
God help you if you don’t speak LOLcat, or you’ll never find the food at a conference like BlogPaws.
The conference had everything, including celebrities! Remember that video of the dog (Norman) riding the scooter a few years ago? He was there. Grumpy Cat, not approving of dogs, was not in attendance.
The conference had everything, including celebrities! Remember that video of the dog (Norman) riding the scooter a few years ago? He was there. Riding a scooter. Grumpy Cat, not approving of dogs, was not in attendance.
Thanks to the awesome BringFido.com, Choppy and I went on a boat ride. Here she is, probably contemplating when I will next dress her up.
Thanks to the awesome BringFido.com, Choppy and I went on a boat ride. Here she is, probably contemplating when I will next dress her up.
Also on the boat. Choppy decided she hated all the other dogs on the boat, and as I couldn't ditch her once we were on the boat, I used a different method to keep her from killing one of the four-legged passengers: I fed her for the entire trip. Do you know who disapproves of this method of dealing with this problem? Every single dog trainer who has ever existed.
While on the boat, Choppy decided she hated all the other dogs who were there. Unlike when we were at the hotel, I couldn’t ditch her once we were on the water. And so, I used a different method to keep her from killing one of the many four-legged passengers: I fed her treats constantly. Do you know who disapproves of this method of dealing with this problem? Every single dog trainer who has ever existed. Do you know who approves of this method? Someone who wants to enjoy a cocktail while on a cruise.
Want to know how to gather a crowd in Washington? Dress up your dog in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Want to know how to gather a crowd in Washington? Dress up your dog in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Somewhere in Asia, there is a group of people who have pictures with Choppy in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
Not pictured: the 30 other people who insisted on getting a picture with Choppy dressed up in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I can only imagine what their friends and relatives back home will think when they see these pictures. Probably that Americans are crazy. Nothing in this post will serve to dispel that belief.