The 2011 Raleigh Christmas Parade: I walked with the AKC group

~Saturday~  My friend Bob invited met to participate in the 2011 Raleigh Christmas Parade, as part of the American Kennel Club contingency, where his two adorable dogs, Frances and Vincent, represented the Cocker Spaniel breed.

Here we are while waiting our turn to join the parade. Vincent is on the left and Frances is on the right. Bob’s dogs are not English Cocker Spaniels, they’re American Cocker Spaniels or just plain Cocker Spaniels, but such a sign was not available.

Clockwise: John, Bob, Frances, Vincent

By far, the biggest “hit” in the group was this little princess, who made both children and adults squeal with laughter as she pranced by.

Bulldog with a pink frilly skirt on her backend

My thoughts of the experience:

  1. People love dogs.
  2. I loved how people would come up to a certain dog’s owner and say, “May I pet him (or her)? I have (or used to have) a dog like that.”
  3. For a period of time, I held on to Casey’s leash, while her owner Susan, the head of the AKC, ran around taking photos. Casey was a Corgi and I said “Thank you,” to people who said, “She’s so cute!” even though she wasn’t my dog.
  4. The weather was just wonderful for the parade, especially since it was so cold early in the morning.
  5. It was so fun watching people point at their favorite dogs as our contingency walked by. In most cases you could tell that they were looking for the breed that they either currently had as a pet, or had had at one time.
  6. I’m a better person for having met Frances and Vincent. Oh yeah, and Bob, too. 🙂

My favorite comment of the time while we were waiting, and while I was watching Casey the Corgi—who had one brown eye and one gray eye—on her leash, was a lady who walked by and said, “Oh, you have such an adorable eye.” What was the other one, chopped liver?

If you’re interested, we made a spot on TV in this video. Slide the slider to about 9:20 and we’ll appear in the center of the screen shortly.

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