WIFs of Years Past

wag it forward 2023

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY by
Gone to the Dogs Photography
Vermont's Pet Photographer
Jilian Turner

Click image below and use password PFW2023 to view gallery, access social media sized images, and to buy $10 full-sized images:

PFW staff google photos

The Event

Thank you to everyone who joined Pet Food Warehouse to celebrate our 40th anniversary with the biggest and baddest 80’s themed Wag It Forward: A Nonprofit Festival for Pets at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT, with the aim of drawing attention to the many animal welfare groups we have in Vermont, and to provide a fundraising opportunity for these groups and the animals they benefit. We raised over $16,000 for the 32 participating nonprofits (our most groups, yet!) That is over $500 for each nonprofit!
This year we had the perfect weather, and we were joined by 1,200 humans, 450 dogs, a cat, and a rabbit (and 2 goats at the Ghost Dog Dairy booth!).
Wag It Forward 2023 kicked off again with the Chase Away Canine Cancer 5K fun run; Dock Dogs was hopping with competition waves and practice dives; our local 99.9 The Buzz Bash crew and we cut the rug to Pontoon's live sets of 80's tunes; 80's costume contest a fantastic array of creative costumes on pets and people; and dozens of dogs were able to run off some energy on the lure course from 802 K9 training. We had two informational demonstrations from dog experts Laurie Lawless and Emily Lewis; scarfed up sweet nourishment from the Sausage Shack and El Gato food truck; we made tie-dye a bandanas in the PFW Fun Zone; marvelled at the agility demonstrations by NOMAD Agility; visited the 32 local animal nonprofit groups attending as beneficiaries; and chatted with the 30+ pet-loving vendors and sponsors throughout the grounds!

2023 Sponsors

WAG IT FORWARD 2023 WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THESE BENEFACTORS:

MOST TRIUMPHANT (MAIN SPONSORs)

Wellness Pet Brands: Wellness, Whimzees, Old Mother Hubbard, Sojos

Pets Global Family of Brands: Zignature, Fussie Cat, Essence, Inception

tubular sponsors

Andy's Dandys, The Honest Kitchen, Pronature

bodacious sponsors

American Natural Premium, Identity Pet Food, The Pour House, Rock Star Real Estate, Vital Essentials

righteous sponsors

Bellcate School Dog Treats, Beco Pets from Only an Ocean, Caru, Darford Baked Dog Treats, Dominion Tech, Fera Pet Organics, Fetch the Leash, Ghost Dog Dairy, Healthy Hemp Pet, Hemp Vet, Island Memorial, Koha, M&T Bank, OC Raw, PetSafe, The Richards Group, Tickled Pet, Vetriscience

wicked sponsors

Andy & Audie, Charlee Bear, Fido Biotics, Goodness Gracious, Grandma Lucy's, Hugglehounds, Lennox, Nature's Own Dog Chews, Northfield Savings Bank, Simply B Vermont, Under the Weather, Waggle Woof & Wander

Excellent sponsors

4 Legs & A Tail, Adecco , Drs Marko Family Chiropractors, Ice House Farm, Invisible Fence of Northern Vermont, Kelly's K9 Cookies, Rawz Natural Pet Food

Totally Rad sponsors

Best Western Plus Windjammer Inn, Myers Container Service, The Wild Bone Co.

additional support from...

Artvark Pet Products (manufacturer of select WIF brand products); Mammoth Pet; Naturally Fresh Cat Litter; Ruffwear; Sticky Brand; Vanness Pet Products; Zippy Paws

wag it forward 2022

Thank you to every single human, dog, and cat that participated in Wag It Forward 2022! We had over 1,250 people and about 500 dogs, and 3 cats attend.
We had a fun-filled (albeit a little chilly) day, and we raised $20,781 for 21 Vermont animal nonprofits (that's $989.56 to each group!) Total WIF dollars donated since 2017.... $94,942.39!!!

WIF 2022 PHOTOS

wag it forward 2021

Wag It Forward: A Nonprofit Festival for Pets 2021 raised $17,691 for 25 Vermont animal nonprofits (that's $707.64 to each group!)

2021 PHOTOS:

Many thanks to Jillian Turner of Gone to the Dogs Photography for the amazing captures of the best Wag It Forward Festival yet!
You can enter the gallery below using password "WagItForward". Digitals may be purchased for $5 each susing discount code "WAGITFORWARD".

GONE TO THE DOGS PHOTOGRAPHY
GALLERY

802 Events joined the Wag It Forward in 2021 with an out-of-this world photo booth station! Register to view and purchase prints here with the code "SPACE".

wag it forward 2020

Thank you to everyone who helped make 2020's Wag It Forward event so successful! Even though we were not able to host the annual festival at the Champlain Valley Exposition as usual, we were able to raise $20,959.39 in-store to equally benefit the 32 participating animal nonprofit groups! That's over $650 to each group, thanks to support from our sponsors Wellpet brands, Pets Global brands, and Rock Star Real Estate. Pet Food Warehouse also donated 10 cents of every dollar from sales from October 1st through 3rd and our amazing customer base donated over $8,000 at registers all September long! Thank you for all the support to assist Vermont's animal welfare nonprofit groups at this time when they need it the most, while staying safe and distant! And a special thanks to Palmer Lane Maple for providing creemees for humans and dogs Saturday, October 3rd!

What was it?

From September 1st to October 3rd, customers donated any whole dollar amount at checkout to the WIF fund.
Thursday, October 1st through Saturday, October 3rd, PFW donated 10¢ of every dollar spent to the WIF fund! All proceeds were split evenly between participating local animal welfare groups!
October 1st through 3rd 10% of all Pets Global Family of Brands (Essence, Fussie Cat, Inception, and Zignature) sales were donated to the WIF Fund
October 1st through 3rd 10% of all Wellpet brands (Eagle Pack, Holistic Select, Old Mother Hubbard, Sojos, Wellness, and Whimzees) sales were donated to the WIF Fund.

Wag It Forward 2019

Wag It Forward: A Nonprofit Festival for Pets 2019 raised $15,936.26 for 24 Vermont animal nonprofits (that's $664.01 to each group!)

2019 PHOTOS:

View our photo booth gallery in our Google Photo Album below:

Western Photo booth

Event photos courtesy of Joshua Dustin of The Dog Blog Magazine:

Photos submitted by staff and guests:

Wag It Forward 2018

Wag It Forward: A Nonprofit Festival for Pets 2018 raised $10,235 for 27 Vermont animal nonprofits (that's $379.06 to each group!)

2018 PHOTOS:

Photobooth Planet joined Wag It Forward 2018 with a custom photo booth that provided guests with photo strips onsite! View the gallery below:

photobooth planet gallery

Event photos courtesy of Joshua Dustin:

joshua dustin gallery

Photos courtesy of staff and guests:

Wag It Forward 2017

Wag It Forward: A Nonprofit Festival for Pets 2017 raised $9,339.89 for 26 Vermont animal nonprofits (that's $359.23 to each group!)

Photos courtesy PFW staff:

WAG IT FORWARD 2017 PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO BOOTH GALLERY

Wag It Forward 2015 & 2016

Before it was a full on festival, Wag It Forward was a one-day in-store celebration with bake sale, in store promotions and sales, whole dollar donations by customers, and 25¢ of every $1 sale donated by Pet Food Warehouse to the WIF Fund. In 2015, we were able to round up the donation to $10,000 to 38 local nonprofits ($263.15 each)! In 2016, we did even better, with $13,200 for 33 groups ($400 each)!

Past WIFs