This is our tenth annual Pacific NW Petnic. We hope that all our area Wheatens and their humans will be able to join us for this unique event. Since we started the Petnic, similar events have been started in many other places.

If you haven't had the chance to come to one of our past events, here's a brief description. The Lowell family has been kind enough to let us hold every event at their farm near Newberg, Oregon. The farm provides a huge, open, fenced area for the dogs to run and play with each other. There are also llamas outside the fence to tease and distract the dogs. We also try to provide some sort of human-Wheaten activities for fun.

While the dogs are busy playing, we bipeds get a chance to talk, share stories and advice, and indulge in a potluck dinner. Every year, the potluck has been a wonderful feast with quite a variety of food and drink. This year, to ensure we have enough of everything, we have an on-line signup for the potluck. While you're free to bring whatever you like, we ask that you signup and tell us what you're bringing. It just makes planning easier.

Once again, we will be having a raffle to raise money for Sam our Wheagle. Sam is part of the Wheaten Health research that you can read about elsewhere on this site (see the link marked "Sam" on the left). PLN/PLE is a disease that endangers all our precious Wheatens. This research is necessary if we are to find the mode of inheritance, prevent breeding Wheatens with PLN/PLE, and maintain and extend the life those affected.

The directions are found at the link above. We start around 11am on September 14th (Sunday) and we find that the dogs are about done at 5pm. Its wise to arrive on time as the day goes quickly and we'd hate to have you miss any of the events.

Here are some suggestions of things you could consider bringing with you to the Petnic:

• Canopy tent, umbrella, or some sort of "shade creating device" if you have one and if it looks like its going to be a warm, sunny day or a possibly wet day!
• Chairs
• Water bowl (there is always water available). By the way - its for your dog! ;-)
• X-pen, in case your Wheaten needs a time out!
• A bandana or some other way to distinguish your dog from others. With a crowd of 50+/- Wheatens, finding yours can be a challenge - especially at a distance.
• Camera! Every year, we have some really fun, memorable antics that must be recorded.
• Towels for your car for the dirty Wheaten you will be taking home!

Besides the wheaties and other 4 legged critters, the Lowell's also have the ultimate recycle machine, chickens. Please help with the recylcing effort by separating your garbage. Cans will be marked for paper, recyclable cans and bottles, recylcable plastic and glass, and food (for the chickens!)

And, to those of you who might have lost your Wheatens, please know that you are still welcome to attend. We know how much it hurts to lose a Wheatie that we love and, if you've been missing a proper Wheaten greeting, this is an excellent place to get one.