First Christmas Parades
I would march with Allie in the Paulding county Christmas parade. We would march with a group called Dreamworkers (they did therapy dog work). Allie never was able to do therapy work because of her fear of slick floors (like the ones you find in hospitals, nursing homes and schools). But, she did great at the parade.
The first year I had buddy I took him to the parade instead of Allie. He had already done well in class and I wanted to get more exposure for him (he didn’t have any fear of floors, or anything that I could tell). He was a hit. Walking along the crowd stopping for any kid that wanted to pet him, he showboated the whole parade. He pranced as he walked so excided about all the attention.
Even thought he was a big hit with everyone, that wasn’t what made him special that day. At the very end of the parade a little girl sat all alone with a big pout on her face. Buddy walked up to her and laid down at her feet, rolled over onto his back and smiled up at her. The girl slowly reached down and started rubbing his belly, causing his tail to wag furiously. The little girl who had just had the biggest pout on her face now had a grin that stretched from ear to ear. After a few minutes buddy got up, stuck his nose to her nose (he was never much into licking) and took off to catch up to the other dogs in our group.
As we caught up to the others in the group I could hear the little girl yelling “Goodbye Mr. Doggy”.
Second Christmas Parade
By the second Christmas parade, Buddy had become very attached to me. He actually became too attached. For all of Buddy’s goofy, fun loving, marshmellowy, easy going looks, Buddy was strong. It had become hard to hand over his leash to someone to hold. I often would find Buddy and the person holding the leash standing next to me (this can make using the restroom awkward).
So at the second Christmas parade I decided to bring Buddy and Allie, and have my sister walk Buddy. I figured this would be good practice for Buddy. It would give him a chance to see that walking with someone else was OK. Besides, my sister has Great Danes. It shouldn’t be too difficult to handle a dog that weighs half of hers.
We started off walking next to each other and Buddy was fine. Slowly we drifted apart, as Buddy became distracted by all the people and noise. He was fine until the point when he noticed I wasn’t holding his leash (it didn’t matter that he knew my sister and loved her, she was not me). He became panicked and started looking for me. Once I was spotted, he had to be next to me. It didn’t matter what my sister wanted, he was coming. I watched as he pulled my sister, a dog trainer and owner of giant breed dogs, across the street like she never handled a dog before. After that he would not let me leave his sight. He wouldn’t even walk near the spectators that wanted to pet him. Half way through the parade my sister and I switched dogs (Allie also has separation issues, but not to the extent of Buddy). Once the leash was in my hand Buddy was back to entertaining the crowd once more.
Buddy was much stronger than he looked.
I would march with Allie in the Paulding county Christmas parade. We would march with a group called Dreamworkers (they did therapy dog work). Allie never was able to do therapy work because of her fear of slick floors (like the ones you find in hospitals, nursing homes and schools). But, she did great at the parade.
The first year I had buddy I took him to the parade instead of Allie. He had already done well in class and I wanted to get more exposure for him (he didn’t have any fear of floors, or anything that I could tell). He was a hit. Walking along the crowd stopping for any kid that wanted to pet him, he showboated the whole parade. He pranced as he walked so excided about all the attention.
Even thought he was a big hit with everyone, that wasn’t what made him special that day. At the very end of the parade a little girl sat all alone with a big pout on her face. Buddy walked up to her and laid down at her feet, rolled over onto his back and smiled up at her. The girl slowly reached down and started rubbing his belly, causing his tail to wag furiously. The little girl who had just had the biggest pout on her face now had a grin that stretched from ear to ear. After a few minutes buddy got up, stuck his nose to her nose (he was never much into licking) and took off to catch up to the other dogs in our group.
As we caught up to the others in the group I could hear the little girl yelling “Goodbye Mr. Doggy”.
Second Christmas Parade
By the second Christmas parade, Buddy had become very attached to me. He actually became too attached. For all of Buddy’s goofy, fun loving, marshmellowy, easy going looks, Buddy was strong. It had become hard to hand over his leash to someone to hold. I often would find Buddy and the person holding the leash standing next to me (this can make using the restroom awkward).
So at the second Christmas parade I decided to bring Buddy and Allie, and have my sister walk Buddy. I figured this would be good practice for Buddy. It would give him a chance to see that walking with someone else was OK. Besides, my sister has Great Danes. It shouldn’t be too difficult to handle a dog that weighs half of hers.
We started off walking next to each other and Buddy was fine. Slowly we drifted apart, as Buddy became distracted by all the people and noise. He was fine until the point when he noticed I wasn’t holding his leash (it didn’t matter that he knew my sister and loved her, she was not me). He became panicked and started looking for me. Once I was spotted, he had to be next to me. It didn’t matter what my sister wanted, he was coming. I watched as he pulled my sister, a dog trainer and owner of giant breed dogs, across the street like she never handled a dog before. After that he would not let me leave his sight. He wouldn’t even walk near the spectators that wanted to pet him. Half way through the parade my sister and I switched dogs (Allie also has separation issues, but not to the extent of Buddy). Once the leash was in my hand Buddy was back to entertaining the crowd once more.
Buddy was much stronger than he looked.
The Last Christmas Parade
Last year at the Christmas Parade, Buddy did something that made me swear at my parents. We where with our group, waiting for the parade to start, and Buddy walked over to one of the marching band and laid down in the middle of a cluster of high school girls. All of the girls stopped what they were doing and started fawning over Buddy. He just smiled at them and wagged his tail.
I thought to myself, if my parents had gotten me a golden when I was in high school, I could have had more success with the ladies.
Damn my parents for not being dog people.
1 comment:
Buddy really enjoyed those parades, didn't he?
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