City Dog: How to Prepare Your Pooch for a Street Festival

In Chicago, we know how awful the winter can be, so we all make every effort to be outside.Our city is known for the many street festivals held every weekend. They are usually the same: closing down a major street and paying $5 to hang out, hear live music and grab a beer and an 'elephant ear' or two. Though we also find this to be something our whole dog and human family can do together. The pooches love the chance to meet people and be petted, we like letting people meet our pitbull-type dogs. It's also the perfect place to expose our adoptable foster dog to a lot of people.
Last weekend we went to our first festival of the season (with a few dog friends). We realized the winter has made us a bit rusty, though here are some things we have learned over our years of festival-going:

Knowing Dog Triggers:

It actually took me awhile to take Miss M to her first festival because festivals have so many of her excitable triggers. She is always searching for discarded food scraps, and the mere smell of beer causes her eyes to grow large (I think her original owner used to drink with her!). We had to work on 'leave it' and focusing on me alot before I could even bring her to a festival. Though she still uses the opportunity to lunge after every loose french fry, I now know to anticipate it before she does.
The festivals also have a lot of drunk people grabbing at the dogs, loud bass, and other noises. Back in the day Miss M and I used to practice by sitting outside the parameter for awhile, so she could get accustomed to the bustle without it surrounding her.

Awareness of Space and Crowds:

The festivals can get really busy, so we're always mindful of the crowds. We usually go in the early afternoon because later in the afternoon, and definitely in the evening, it becomes too crowded for us to walk.
We also notice a lot of other people who bring their dogs will just let their dog come right up to our dogs, many sneaking up from behind, and even with retractables which can end up getting tangled. Miss M, usually isn't even aware of other dogs, but she didn't like all the dogs who kept getting in her face. It has been easiest for us to just find a place on the curb to sit with our pooches so we have more awareness of who is approaching. Plus the pooches like watching the parade of people.

Planning Ahead

Just like people, pooches can get hot and sunburned. We make sure to plan ahead with one of our pre-packed 'City Dog Essentials' bags so we have water and a bowl, sunscreen for the pooches white areas, and a sarong to throw over the curb so they don't have to sit on the hot pavement (though we do try to find the shady spots).

How does everyone else prepare their pooches for crowds in the summer?

PS. Flashback to this same festival last year where we brought our sweet new foster.