Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Dog Days


On Sunday, Addy and I attended the Dog Day on the Green event on the lawn of Soldier Field hosted by the Chicago City Clerk's office. The event seemed to be a way to promote spay/neuter, rabies vaccinations, and overall responsible pet ownership. I was excited to see the list of rules on the event's website, as they required that dogs ben friendly, on-leash (no retractables), old enough to have all of their shots, altered, etc. Unfortunately, the rules were NOT enforced at all and there were many dogs too young to have been vaccinated, dogs off-leash (harassing other dogs, trying to steal people's food as they ate on the grass), dogs on retractable leashes (these are the worst ever unless you are walking in a field or something), unaltered dogs, obviously aggressive dogs... You name it. Overall, I'd say the experience was a fun and positive one, but I was disappointed with some of my fellow attendees.

At any rate, Addy and I had a great time. There were a lot of booths set up for local organizations as well as local pet businesses. There was an agility course that Addy tried out (and did GREAT at once she realized that CHEESE was at the end of each obsticle). We met up with one of Addy's friends, Michele, who drove Addy on her road to rescue from Iowa to Illinois. There were so many free giveaways at the event that I was glad I'd brought a backpack and when I went home, I put all of the free treats into a giant mixing bowl!


After a few hours, Addy was tired. Her one widdle front leg has to do double duty, so it gets tired easily. I carried her for a little bit and eventually she started climbing under the vendors' tablecloths to try to take a nap out of view. :) So,we said goodbye to Michele and her family and headed home. Overall, a great day!

On Monday, Addy started advanced obedience back with Rendy at Anything is Pawsible. There is only one other dog in class this round, so we get to work a little more quickly through some of the things that both dogs already know. Addy was acting up and biting at her leash and me and generally not wanting to work until Rendy got out the bitter apple spray. The look on Addy's face was priceless the first time she smelled it and the first time she forgot herself and bit the leash she couldn't spit it out fast enough. Hahahaha. Sorry, lady. No messing around allowed!

3 comments:

Princess said...

Ahh!! I just want to give her lots of smooches. She's sucha beautiful girl. I'm glad you're able to take her to events where she can show everyone what a well behaved dog looks like! ;o)

Chris said...

Addy is so adorable!
We have a leash biter too! Ed gets antsy when we stop to talk to people on walks and goes after his leash. Do you spray the bitter apple on the leash? We use regular Lysterine and give him a quick spritz, doesn't work all the time though.

Nicole said...

Thanks Princess's mom! :)

Chris, Yes. The bitter apple was just sprayed right on the end of the leash where she bites and she stopped right away! I guess it does not taste good. :)