Orsa Animal Expo 2013 in Pictures

This past weekend was the highlight of this summer. I was invited to give four lectures at the Orsa DjurExpo´s premiere. It was loads of fun, meeting many interesting people, sharing thoughts and experiences with animal behaviorists and experts, great food, great talks and tons of inspiration.

It was also a result of a lot of hard work that I have put into my writing and speaking career and I am so extremely grateful for not only this opportunity and event, but also for the feedback and response and am overwhelmed by the compliments received.

And because it was a long and intense weekend, I thought to give you the feel of it in pictures:

After a crazy and wild six hour drive I actually managed to be only one and half hours late for my birthday dinner. Jachym and I opted for Wasa Stugan restaurant in Mora - excellent food in a romantic seventeen hundreds log building. We had great steak, red wine and fabulous cheese cake dinner and I got some totally sweet presents, including a lazer pointer for my speeches :)

We managed to help the Djurläkaren i Orsa to set up their booth and despite a rather tough morning after week of 18 hour days, I was finally ready to give my first presentation, connected with signing of my book Feeding Your Pets The Natural Way. It´s Swedish translation in print is coming very soon, stay tuned!

The expo was held at Orsa Bear Park in Grönklitt. If you haven´t been there yet and have a chance, do not miss it. It is an outstanding place, far from a typical ZOO setting. The philosophy of the park is genuine and very natural.
I had a hearty discussion with the park´s founder and CEO, author and photographer and bear specialist Anders Björklund, who´s presentation about Alaska´s Kodiak Island was a must see. Anders was kind enough to give me two of his books and we had a great chat about the natural nutrition of carnivore animals, and about their choice of wild flowers and herbs in their diet. Very cool and motivating!

These Corvets do not belong to the lecturers or to the visitors :) They were a showcase, parked in front of the Carnivore Center. Although I do not have the cravings for such a car, I must say I wouldn´t mind driving one :)

In front of the Carnivore Center, by one of the numerous wooden sculptures. Enjoying sunshine before my second lecture.

I was honored to have Swedish cat behavior specialist Susanne Hellman Holmström visit my lecture "Raising Puppies The Natural Way". We had coffee together afterwords and discussed behavior of pets as well as the most common issues pet owners face these days.

This is Susanne´s car. Her license plate reads "MJAU" :) Maybe an inspiration to put a "WOOF" or other personalized plate on mine :) :)

Krtek and Mouse enjoyed the warm sun. Krtek, being born shy, did not prefer the amounts of people, but she handled it quite well.

Some of the many booths with pet products, advice, animals (Jachym got to pet a snake for the first time in his life, saying "omg, it is so smooth! why do people say slimy like a snake?" haha), music, bird house building, chain saw wood carving and more.

Yup, these are the toilets at the Carnivore Center :)

Beautiful bear sculpture at the park´s restaurant Uglan och Björnen (The Owl and the Bear). Very cool interior and great food. 

Susanne´s lecture for the vets, to which we´ve been invited as well.

Glass of wine at the bar after busy day shared with like-minded folks was a great and soothing wrap up of the first day.

The girls resting by our cabin on the morning of day two. It was their time to shine :)

During my presentation "Happiness and Performance" I actually took the audience outside the conference room and demonstrated on Krtek and Mouse some simple diagnostic moves, massage, stretching and a few gymnastics dog owners can do to prevent and even cure some injuries.

Mousey catching a dog treat :)

Krtek showing stretching techiques :)

Great performance at the outside exposition.

With Susanne. If you have any questions about your cat´s behavior, or have any cat related issues, I highly recommend her services. She is fully devoted to helping cats and their owners, highly experienced, super kind and fun. Visit her website at http://www.catproblem.se/

I got a hug from the park´s mascot - the Polar bear :)

Jachym checked the teeth from close, of a bear. He confirmed that he does not prefer to meet one so close in the woods.

My presentation called "Wilderness Adventures with Huskies" turned out into sharing my love and passion for the dogs and their special connection with each other and their humans.

The gallery at the Carnivore Center has some amazing wildlife photographs on display.

We promised ourselves that before we leave, we will take a swim at the Orsa lake. And promisses must be kept, even if it is an evening swim :)

One huge special thank you to my dear friend Susanne Simonsson and the Djurläkaren i Orsa veterinary clinic, as well as to Maria Spring from PR Media Leasing!