Mutt Strut '09

Mom Dad and headed down to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Mutt Strut. They said I would get to see lots of dogs. I was pretty excited. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm, but not too warm.

The Mutt Strut is a fund raiser for the Humane Society. When I was really little, I lived with someone, and they dropped me off at the Humane Society. I call it "my stint in juvie". Living at the Humane Society was not fun. I wish I had started blogging way back then, so I could remember everything better. But, I do remember that after a few weeks in juvie, I was happy to get out of there and into my forever home. So anyway, I guess this fund raiser will help to make sure that dogs living at the Humane Society can be taken care of better until they get adopted. Since every person needs a dog, that means there have to be a lot of dogs waiting to get adopted, so then they can join the bark park where I can wrestle with them.




Walking into Motor Speedway with mom. I hope some other dogs show up.


This place is huge. We walked a long way just to get to the check-in area. But, I was seeing lots of people, and lots of dogs. Just about everyone I saw had a dog. I don't know why people don't just take there dogs with them everywhere all of the time.



Finally found the check-in area.


We ran into a couple of my bark park buddies. That was fun to see them.



Sandy (pouncing on me) and Laney in the background are my buds.


The closer we got to the actual race track the more people and dogs we saw. They were everywhere. All kinds of dogs. There were some great big dogs much bigger than me, and there were some that were smaller than our cat Gnarly. Dogs are cool. I saw this one that I was pretty sure was a horse. But, mom said it was an "Irish Wolf Hound". I think it was more like an "Irish Horse Hound".



Irish Horse Hound




So, what do you eat... Hay? Cats?


We checked in and got our instructions, and headed out to the race track to put in our lap.




Hey! Boomer is a cat! Not right!


When we got to the track I could see a lot of dogs that were all ready coming around to complete their lap



Strutters coming in to the finish line


We finally got on the track, and everyone was all excited about playing on this "yard of bricks". I don't really get it. I like "yard of grass" a lot more. Who would want bricks in their yard? Whatever... people...




Me and Laney on the yard of bricks





Me and Sandy on the yard of bricks... oh yeah, mom and the Laney's mom, and Sandy's parents are there too.


Finally we are off to the races. There were 100's, maybe 1,000's of dogs and people on the track. It was quite an amazing sight. The track is huge. Bigger than the bark park. They had a lot of people and water along the track when we started, but it seemed like the more we walked the farther it was between the water stations.




Me on the Indy 500 race track. "He is on it!"



We are ahead of a lot of people.





Coming out of turn 4 and heading down the home stretch.


As we kept walking it seemed to be getting hotter and hotter, and the track was getting longer and longer.

I started making "Varooooom" noises and pretended I was driving a car. I think I could drive a car. I've seen dad do it, and it doesn't look that hard. But, he does get a lot of help from mom.


After walking a lap around the track on a warm sunny day, we all knew the meaning of the phrase "hot lap"




Mom and I are coming down pit lane, slowing down after our hot lap.



I don't like brag... and I know it wasn't really an official race, but there did seem to be a lot of people that wanted my picture in the "Winners Circle". I mean... it is called the "Winners Circle". And, there I was.



Me and my buddies in the winners circle, after walking down Victory Lane.


On the way home we stopped at a place called "Ritters". Mom and Dad got me something called "A single scoop of vanilla on a cone". I think it is safe to say that "A single scoop of vanilla on a cone" is my new favorite food. We saw some other people with dogs there. One of them told us that they were just coming home from the Mutt Strut too. There were some people there without dogs... not sure why they didn't bring their dogs there.

Mutt Strut

My parents just told me that they signed up for the Mutt Strut!

It is going to be at a big car race track, and there are going to be a lot of dogs.

Dad said it will be like the biggest bark park in the world.

OOOoooo I'm getting so excited thinking about it, I have to run outside and pee.

Hope to see you there!

My new favorite holiday

My faithful readers know that I had a really bad Thanksgiving. It was almost like I was in the way or something. And, I barely got any turkey at all.

So, as Easter rolled around I was hopeful about getting some ham or other good stuff. I saw a lot of activity in the kitchen. But, I was pretty worried about being locked away while the people ate all of the food.

Then a wonderful thing happened. My big brother Adam showed up with his friend Amanda.



Amanda brought her dog Chloe. WOW!!! I didn't know dogs could come to visit me. This was the first time in my life another dog had come over to play.


Chloe is beautiful (in a non-Golden Retriever kind of way).






She already knew how to play some great games.



She already knew how to wrestle.



She chased me, I chased her. It was a lot of fun. It wasn't the bark park, but not bad for being at home. And, I think the best part was, that Chloe like to chase Gnarly, so whenever Chloe was around, Gnarly just stayed on top of the couch... Ha! that was funny...



Except one time Chloe jumped up on top of the couch (even though no one is really allowed up there... that is right Gnarly you aren't allowed up there!), and Gnarly shot out of the room to hide. It was pretty sweet.

Then to top off an already great day, when my people were busy playing cards after they ate, I swear I heard one of them say something about "Gizmo", and "Ham", and "Go ahead"... So, I jumped up on the stove and made off with a pretty good sized hunk of ham. As it turns out I apparently misunderstood what they were saying, because they sure didn't act like they wanted me to have the ham after all... But, I think it is safe to say that ham is my new favorite food.

I'm looking forward to next Easter! I had a really good one this year, and I hope you did too.

Spring Walk

It is a beautiful Spring Saturday morning. Dad and I headed out for a walk. I like going to the Bark Park. But, sometimes my people like going for a walk. Walks are OK. But, I don't get to play as much.


Pear trees are blooming in the neighborhood.

Sometimes we even meet people on the walk that don't even have their dog with them. I try and jump and ask them "HEY!!! Where is your dog???". But, they just keep on going. Dad says not everyone has a dog, but that sounds wrong to me. Every dog I know has a person... just makes sense every person would have a dog.


C'mon Dad, try and keep up.



Entrance to the "Hoosier Woods"

We have a couple of different little wooded areas close to our house. I like walking though the woods a lot more than just walking down the sidewalk. Dad likes the sidewalk. But, I say to him "Who do you think this walk is for me or you?" And, then Dad says the walk is for him... and then I say "If it wasn't for me you would be on the couch watching cartoons." And, then Dad shrugs and we go through the woods.


The "Bunny Trail" Geocache.

Do you see the Cache in the picture? It is a little plastic Easter egg in the trunk of the tree. I have blogged about Geocaching before. It is a hobby that people do with their dogs. I'm pretty sure it is a rule that you can only do it with a dog. I know I only do it with people, so I think they can only do it with dogs. Makes sense. This is one that my mom hid. We decided to check on it while we were out. I had to put on my official Geocaching bandanna while I was on official business. The location of Geocaches is supposed to be top secret! But, I have a hard time keeping secrets.


In the "Hoosier Woods".

Back on my walk, just having fun now, so the bandanna comes off. This little section of woods is next to a grade school, where little people pups go to learn "sit", "stay", etc. If you walk all around in here, there are little experiments and things that the students put in here... Collect rain... grow plants... identify trees... You know... they are trees... Duh... how hard is that, not sure why you have to put a sign on them... oh well.



This is another little wooded trail. The trail connects two different neighborhoods. This trail is about a 5 minute walk from the "Hoosier Woods"


Back on official Geocaching business.

Dad likes walking on the trail, but you really can't have any fun in the woods until you get off the trail. Luckily there are a couple of the Geocaches in this woods too.



This one is called. Gizmo's Adventure. Hee-hee... yeah, named after me. It is one of my favorite ones. Do you see it there? it is a tennis can wrapped in tape.



Geocachers have put a little toy snake, and some other little toys in this cache. Geocachers are fun like that.


Heading on down the trail.


The "Grandma's House" Cache.

Back on the job. Do you see the cache there? It is in a little taped up container.



HA! This cache had three little cars in it. Geocachers are really cool.


The Bridge.

The last Geocache is called "Grandma's House" because it is over the bridge and through the woods. I don't get it, but my people think it is funny. Whatever. I like to walk around the bridge.


Hanging out by the bridge.

Someday... someday... I'm going for a swim in there.



The other side of the bridge.

The trail continues on into another neighborhood. But, we just turned around at the bridge and headed back today.


It is was no trip to the bark park. But, all in all it was a fun walk. I think it is good for dad to get out and walk around some. Too bad he doesn't know how to chase me with the stick.