Dog Daze of Summer

Meet Shenzi.  Shenzi was at the K9 American Idol contest yesterday held in Columbia Park. I honestly don't know if Shenzi is a boy or a girl but I looked up the definition of the word Shenzi and it stands for the Lion King so I'm guessing Shenzi is of the male persuasion.  Shenzi has great peeps! When they were on vacation last year, he escaped from the pet-sitter and went missing for a week. My friend, Darice, told me the story of how she finally found him, huddled next to a gravestone in the cemetary. It was February and quite cold here in the Tri Cities. Darice told me they have always walked a certain path so she was sure that's where she'd find him. She placed Petula Oil on her shoes (because Shenzi would recognize it) and walked that path, hoping Shenzi would pick up her scent. I remember following the story last year on FB and feeling the heartbreak of my friend over the loss of her dog. All of us were so happy when he was found. I'm not sure what contest Shenzi was in yesterday but I was happy to meet him.

I loved spending time at the K9 American Idol contest yesterday. We don't have nearly enough dog events here in the Tri Cities but they seem to be well attended when there is one. Yesterday I didn't take my "Missy" because she doesn't really do all that well in crowds of people and, honestly, I really wanted to just enjoy the fun competitions and take photos without the distraction of a high-maintenance dog.

One of my favorite events yesterday was the daschund dash. Those little legs can really cover some ground when they see their peeps behind the finish line. There was even a dog who had paralyzed legs in a cart. He didn't win but he wasn't last either.  The funniest thing I saw yesterday was a runaway wiener dog who took a little girl who was about 8 years old on a very long goose chase trying to catch him. When he got tired of the game, he finally went back to his mama.

I really like this photo I took of two older dogs. They were so sweet and well behaved. It was great fun to just sit and watch the parade of different dogs and people interacting in one place. There are no prouder people than dog lovers. My friend Bonnie,  who is visiting from Phoenix, and I just walked around and visited with people and she got to hold some puppies and I got to scratch chins.

The folks from the Columbia Basin Dog Training Club were there to demonstrate agility. It was great fun to watch the dogs running around the course jumping and weaving through the weave poles. I had Missy in agility last year but she got a bad case of fleas and I pulled her out while I got those treated. We haven't gone back to class and now she's gotten fatter and so have I. It's a little embarrassing when I start huffing and puffing during agility class. Note to self: must get those extra winter pounds off .... soon. Missy is still practicing the weave poles in our back yard and she's really good at it.

It's going to be hard to beat the fun we had yesterday but today is a new day and I'm sure there is fun to be had.  Gotta go now and see what adventures I can find!

love, susan