2003
Wiggle Waggle Walk for the Animals 10/11/03
www.myprincessdaisy.com
Be sure to check out the Movie Clips section of myprincessdaisy.com for movie clips of the Wiggle Waggle Walk!
I woke up at 7:10am this morning. That is something I don't really do normally. Check-In for the Wiggle Waggle Walk began at 8:00am and I wanted to make sure I was there as soon as possible, just in case there were a billion people there waiting to check in. Knowing my luck, I'd be at the end of the line. I threw on my myprincessdaisy.com sponsorship T-shirt and headed out the door, with Daisy of course (can't forget her).
My girlfriend picked me up at 7:40am. She was going to walk with Daisy and I, and help take pictures and all that. Thanks to her for helping me out with pictures today. We got to the Pasadena Humane Society a little before 8:00am. As we pulled up to the street, we could see that the street was blocked off, and there were hundreds of dogs all over the street. It was amazing to see so many dogs in one place.
We got out of the car and Daisy stayed with my girlfriend on the blocked off part of the street with the other hundreds of dogs while I checked in with the Pasadena Humane Society. Over the PA they were playing the Olympic song. It was pretty funny. I was walking back to where Daisy was and saw her from a distance. She was already socializing with the other dogs, something I thought wouldn't happen. Daisy is pretty shy. She is real timid and careful at first when meeting new dogs. Daisy was being careful, but at the same time, she was being social and showed an interest in the other dogs.
We stood around for about 45 minutes, socializing with other dogs. The owners of the dogs were also really nice. Most asked if Daisy was a beagle. Daisy isn't like your traditional Tri Color beagle. If you've seen from the pictures, Daisy is mostly black on her back, rather than having a traditional saddle. I guess it throws most beagle lovers off. People also asked about the T-shirt I was wearing. Of course I had to tell them all about the shirts, my website, and my sponsors. It was great!
At about 8:45am, a priest or minister or some holy man came out, over a microphone, and did a blessing of the animals, which was pretty cool. I wish I could have heard what he was saying as he did the blessing. The speakers weren't very loud. As the time neared to begin the walk, Daisy was growing more and more comfortable with the huge presence of other dogs.
It was 9:00am and they opened the barricades. The race....or uhhh...walk was on! It was like a huge herd of dogs, which technically I guess it was. People were all around Daisy and I with their dogs on the move. At first, I was afraid Daisy would freak out and not want to walk, and I would get stuck carrying her the whole 3 miles. No way! Daisy looked as if she was a pro at this sort of thing. She was moving along just like the others. It couldn't have been more perfect.
About 2 minutes into the walk, I heard some screaming behind us. I turned around and saw that someone's dog had gotten away from them and was on the run! It was kinda funny at first, because I thought that might happen, but soon realized it wasn't so funny, since we were coming up to a busy intersection in about a block. As soon as the people noticed there was a dog on the loose, they would try and grab him as he zipped on by. No way... that dog was gone... well, until this one guy finally caught him right before that busy intersection. Whew! Close call!
After that, the walk was going and so was Daisy. I couldn't get over how well she was doing with all the other dogs around. I felt like Daisy was my child. I felt so proud. As the walk went on, the people began to spread out so it wasn't as congested on the side walk. At every 3 or 4 blocks, there were water bowls and poop bags available to those that needed them. Daisy didn't poop at all the whole walk, thank God! Other people's dogs were pooping all over the place. It smelled really bad in some places. I was starting to wonder what these people fed their dogs. Some of the dog poop I saw was the size of Daisy!
Block after block, we arrived at Central Park at 10:15am for the fun & educational dog activities. All the dogs gathered there for more socializing. Nutro brand dog food sponsored the event, so they were there giving out dog food samples. Very cool, considering I just switched Daisy to Nutro Max puppy food a few weeks ago. They were right when they said that switching your dog to Nutro brand dog food would make your dogs coat shiny. Daisy is so shiny she almost looks like a ocean seal.
The fun dog activities ranged from doggy Tic Tac Toe to agility obstacles. They even had the Pasadena Police K-9 unit there to do demonstrations. Now THAT was cool! One of the officers put on that big puffy suit and let the German Shepard attack him. I've never seen that in person, so it was pretty awesome to watch. See a video clip of that in the movie clips section of this website.
We left the park at about 11:30am and headed home. Daisy, my girlfriend and I were pretty tired after the 3 mile walk. As we got home Daisy hit up the lawn and did her thing and we headed for the bed to watch some TV on our Saturday afternoon. We ended up taking a 2 hour nap and Daisy slept for another hour after that. What a fun day! It was everything I thought it would be. I can't wait for next year.
