Parading Pooches

My fellow Lawrence Humane Society volunteers and I helped make history last weekend as we participated in the largest ever St. Patrick's Day parade in Lawrence. My friends Brenda and JoAnna and I walked three shelter dogs behind the LHS float through the throngs of cheering onlookers. The crowd was crazy huge and there were over 100 groups, organizations and businesses with floats or entries into the parade.

I didn't want to carry my camera with me, so unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. The Lawrence Journal-World didn't really get very good pictures either, since there isn't a single picture in the photo gallery that shows an actual float in its entirety! What's up with that? I actually thought the Humane Society float was one of the better ones they've had in the last few years--I wish I had a picture to share! They are currently raising money for an expansion, so the float was a small half-finished building decorated much like the shelter, with the staff riding along dressed like construction workers. Although the shelter didn't win, they did receive an honorable mention from the judges.

The dogs who walked along with the float were all very well behaved, aside from Astris pulling Brenda almost the entire way. I walked Charlie, a wonderfully behaved and very handsome yellow lab mix who was a complete angel! He walked nicely on the leash and would sit and shake whenever tempted with a treat. He had small children reaching out to pet him the entire parade and didn't seem to mind a bit. There were hundreds of other dogs downtown and he didn't bark at a single one. He was such a good boy, even though he had to wear a pink "Adopt Me" bandanna because we couldn't find any other color. Hopefully our downtown trip gave Charlie, Astris and their friend Cookie some much needed exposure and some much enjoyed time away from the shelter!