Live Love Animals Exercise (NPO Knots)
This is an exercise for both owners and their dogs. The physical contact between human and canine, together with accompanying music, includes basic dog disciplinary techniques (such as ‘sit’ ‘stay’ and ‘shake-hands’). Many dogs and their owners participated in this exercise which was held on the games court.

Frisbee Dog Demonstration (Japan Frisbee Dog Association Hyogo Branch)
Within the games court and its surrounding flags, a frisbee dog demonstration was given, a dog-sport which is now a highly popular in Japan. The frisbees thrown by the handlers were caught brilliantly by the well trained dogs. Spectators cheered and were clearly impressed while the dogs themselves looked really proud of themselves. Students from the Kobe Pet Beautician College (Kobe Aiken Senmon Biyo Gakuin) also tried the performance with their dogs; and we heard that some of them are adopted dogs.

Darumasanga-koronda (Japan Pet Care Association Hyogo Pref. Branch)
Both dogs and owners were able to participate in this game which was held on the court. When the words ‘darumasanga-koronda’ (the tumbling doll falls down) are called, participating dogs must ‘sit’. After the rules were explained, the game started in earnest. The participants all took it very seriously but enjoyed themselves very much.

Hearing Dog Demonstration (Japan Hearing Dogs for Deaf People)
In Japan, there are still only a few hearing dogs. Ms. Arima, president of the Japan Hearing Dogs for Deaf People came all the way from Nagano prefecture to give a talk on hearing dogs and a demonstration on the stage. Ms. Yoshiko Kishimoto from Osaka and her tandem hearing dog, Shin-kun, joined for the demonstration. For many people, this was the first time to experience a hearing dog at work. We hope that the number of hearing dogs will increase.

Let’s be Friends with Dogs (Japan Pet care Association Hyogo Pref. Branch)
In order to ensure that playtime with dogs is a safe experience, the right techniques for close interaction with dogs were demonstrated. These skills are mainly aimed at children (so that they can learn how to play with their pets safely), but it is also just as important for their parents to know what is right and wrong behavior. Some families specifically asked to participate even before the on stage program had even begun.

Bread-Eating Obstacle Race (Dogs Life)
This was a game which was great fun for both dogs and the owners alike. There was probably a greater advantage for those owners with especially greedy dogs ! The game consisted of a course which included a cardboard tunnel and various obstacles to overcome before reaching the goal point. Many pairs took part in this game and the winning dogs were the relatively older ones, aged 7 to 10 years old. This was a game which favored the veterans.

Mobility Service Dog Demonstration (Japan Service Dog Association)
For this part of the program, a trainer and a user came from Tokyo and Hyogo respectively. Mizukami-san and Kimura-san (who lives with his partner and Mobility Service dog, Elmo) talked about their daily lives and how the Mobility Service dogs help them. They illustrated their comments with demonstrations. The audience could really appreciate the importance of the Mobility Service dogs to their users, and how they also provide psychological support as well as practical support.

Canine Free Style (dancing) Demonstration (Dogs Life)
This was a showcase of dancing for dog / human pairs. Accompanied by music, the pairs performed well-matched dance routines that were surprisingly elegant at times. The last 8 pairs were especially outstanding and received rapturous applause.

2007 Live Love Animals Awards Ceremony (NPO Knots)
This part of the event is a ceremony of appreciation and is always held to honor those activities or products which have, over the past year, contributed to better human / animal co-existence. The prize is divided into three categories, namely: Corporate Products, Corporate TV Commercials (advertisements), and Cooperative Activities. Every year, nominations are submitted by the general public and decided by the judges who vote for the winners in each category. A special Grand-prix is also awarded.

The Grand-prix and Products category award was won by Uni-Charm Pet Care Co. for their ‘paper nappies for pets’ product. The Commercials category winner was the Soft Bank Mobile Co. for their popular series of ads depicting ‘Members of the White Family’. The winner in the Activities category was the ‘Pet dependent allowance system’ created by Kyoritsu Seiyaku Co.

Softbank Mobile Company was represented by Mr. Uchiike, Deputy Manager from the Marketing Division, Marketing Communications Management and Publicity Department, Advertising Section. Kyoritsu Seiyaku was represented by Mr. Terada, Office Manager of the Mid-Japan Sales Management Office. These two winners received their award plaques on stage. Unfortunately, a representative from Uni-charm Pet Care Co. could not attend so the award has been forwarded with our congratulations.

Mr. Uchiike of Soft Bank Mobile Co. said, “I am honored to receive such an award. Our nomination has become the talk of the company and crossed different sections”. Mr. Terada of Kyoritsu Seiyaku Co. also said a few words; “I am very happy to receive such an award to recognize our company’s system and we hope very much that this type of system will spread to other companies.”

The person who nominated the Grand-prix winner, Ms. Ushi, was at the venue and received a prize voucher from Mr. Terada. This voucher allows for a ‘hotel stay with pets welcome’, one of the ‘Ace-JTB Accommodation with Pets’ plans.

Y2 Day with Dogs 2008 Awards Ceremony
The Y2 Day with Dogs, a fun day with a multi-faceted program, was nearly over. In this part of the ceremonies, the winners from the ‘Darumasanga-koronda’ contest and the ‘Bread-Eating Obstacle Race’ were also awarded prizes.

For these awards and prizes, the top 3 winners were presented with both a certificate and prize. All top three winners were presented with your product, a large 9kg bag of Pro Plan! Winners spent some time happily taking pictures in front of their super-sized award together with their proud looking dogs.

The ‘Janken’ Taikai (Paper, Scissors, Stone game)
Janken refers to Knot’s staple and popular end-of-day ‘eliminator’ game. It is popular because we receive, every year, a great many lovely prizes from our on-site supporting companies and stores. While always held at the very end of the day, many people are keen to stay on and the game provides an exciting and lively finale.