Today we went to the HUGE annual Reindog parade in Mt Adams. It was definitely warmer and better weather than the carriage parade last weekend! .
UPDATE: an estimated 650 dogs and about 3,000 people attended the parade. Here's a news article about it:
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20081214/NEWS01/812140341/
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We started by meeting a few other troop members at a pub type restaurant, which had good food, but REALLY slow service. Thankfully we arrived there early to try to get a good parking spot and had some time to kill. Dazzle did a fantastic job of settling in and relaxing during our time there, even catching a nap, even though there were other dogs on the outside patio that were playing, barking and coming up to the floor to ceiling window right next to him. He also ignored the young kids who were literally running around and yelling/squealing right past our table. Though he did nicely greet the polite kids that came up to say hi.
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After lunch, I put "hot hands" type heating pads on my knees and back, bundled up (it was still cold, just not frigid, and the sun was out) and we headed out to the parade site. I don't know how many hundred dogs were there, but it was a LOT of dogs! Most had some type of costume on and there were people in costume as well (wise men, santas, clifford the big red dog, snow princesses, etc.) Dazzle treated them all as if people and dogs wearing strange outfits was a normal thing he saw every day. :-)
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I had his boots on him at first, which everyone seemed to really like. They were amazed he kept them on, but after our time at the TX camp with all the grass burrs, he doesn't mind wearing boots. But with the sun being out, and standing in a location that was protected from the wind, it was relatively warm. So I had him get up on a landscaping wall so I could take his boots off. I also took his cape off since he didn't need to wear it. So he watched the parade "naked."
We didn't walk in the parade because Mt. Adams isn't just on a hill, it IS a hill, steep hills that require parking brakes be set and I don't think there is any part of their roads that are level. The parade just went around a few of the blocks, but we took up a position along the sidewalk to watch. I should have gotten a picture down the hill of the huge crowd held back by barricades and the swarm of participants that filled the street from sidewalk to sidewalk, it was quite impressive!
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I lasted long enough to watch all the participants go by, but then needed to sit. So we walked across the street to the steps of a church? and I put the blanket I had brought on the steps so I could rest. Dazzle climbed in my lap and started to fall asleep. But sitting out of the sun was cold, so I didn't stay there long. I waited till I saw the troop members come back and said our goodbyes. It was still early and I considered heading to the museum of art, but decided I'd prefer the natural history museum.
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I borrowed a wheel chair and Dazzle did great staying beside me or going in front and backing up when space was tight. I was tempted to let him pull the few times he started to, especially UP the slopes, but I didn't have a harness on him so I discouraged him from pulling. We went through the bat cave and the glacial cave and wondered around the other exhibits. He was a bit spooked by the life-sized, realistic wolf sculpture that was directly on the floor beside the path that didn't smell right and didn't move. After I petted it, he relaxed and came up to sniff, then ignored it. We only spent two hours there, but I saw what I wanted to see and Dazzle was getting tired so we headed home. A very successful training day!
