Mighty Texas Dog Walk

Today was the 6th Annual Mighty Texas Dog Walk, benefitting Texas Hearing and Service Dogs.  Oddly, I’d never heard of it before, but presented with the chance to walk one of my menagerie for three miles surrounded by several thousand other dogs, well, I couldn’t pass that up.

Since the wife is still recovering from sinus surgery, I had to go by myself, so this morning I piled Smith in the Mazda and off I went.

The event itself was a blast, and very well put together, complete with water stops every half mile or so.  But the best part, for me, was Smith.  As usual, he found a way to stand out in the crowd.  Okay, several ways.

First, at the staging area, there were several vendors set up with all manner of organic dog treats.  Smith was everywhere, sampling everything.  One of the vendors had cleverly placed their treats in a kiddie pool filled with dirt…Smith just saw free treats and snarfed about four before I could pull him back.  In another instance, he snagged a treat out of a woman’s hand as she was feeding it to her dog.  He loves him the treats, he does.

Fast forward to walk.  For Smith, the first mile was more like a sled pull.  He wanted…needed…to be up front.  So did every other dog.  There was barking and howling and yipping…and then Smith opened up with his "death yowl".  This a pain-stricken, high-pitched, whine-scream not unlike what I would imagine emanating from a howler monkey.  People within a hundred foot radius turned around, expecting, I don’t know, that somebody had stepped on a chihuahua or something, but no, it was just Smith, all seventy-three pounds of him, wanting to be up front.

A half mile up, we came to the first water stop.  Dozens of plastic water dishes are laid out, filled with water for thirsty dogs.  Most head up to a dish, drink, and move on.  Not Smith.  No, he has to drink from every single one. 

But the water antics did not end there.  Oh no.  Later in the walk we wound through a neighborhood, and here the local Girl Scouts had set up watering stations.  Again, Smith had to sample each dish.  But then he came to a kiddie pool (the plastic kind, not the inflatable type) filled with water.  Other dogs were lapping daintily at the edges when Smith, water dog that he is, steps right in.  He puts his head under, drinks for a moment, looks up, and then, in clear view of everybody, pees in the kiddie pool.

As I tell everyone, with a dog like this, who needs television?

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