Who let the dogs out? If you had visited Front Street at Jarvis and Church Sts over the weekend, you may well have wondered. Streets were closed to traffic, booths were set up and dogs walking around with their humans had taken over! Big dogs, little dogs, puppies and older dogs, some were clothed, some were shoed, some had their humans pushing, pulling or carrying them (who says that cats have the brains?).
A discussion could be made over a society that has an event with about 200 vendors of products that range from dog treats to dog clothing to dog spas (though note that there were also canine rescue and awareness information and events), but for this weekend, I chose to go with “religion is a smile on a dog.” In that context, this was a very spiritual event. I pulled out my camera, sat on a curb and enjoyed the parade from a dog’s point of view.
For an idea of what the general dog person is, go visit a park in which dogs are walked. Now amplify this. In other words, it was a very friendly event, with lots of smiles and good-natured talk, especially about dogs.
(If there are any pet owners reading this, please note that I never cared when folks referred to any of my pets as ‘it.’ They have genders and they have personalities. But here “it” was a more convenient word than ‘he or she’ (unless gender was evident), so I hope that you’ll pardon its use.)
This happy camper looks like it was part of the fountain play!
Big dogs, little dogs…some breeds were more recognizable than others, but they were well-socialized. There were a couple of quick little scuffles, I think caused more by an animal being caught off-guard by something, but it was nothing that a jerk on a leash and a “quiet” didn’t quickly remedy.
This is one of the smallest guests of honour. Small doesn’t mean lack of attitude!
This isn’t really a Yorkshire Terrior, it’s a horse. How do I know? You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. And as much as the human tried to point out one of the many conveniently-placed manmade watering holes to this little fella, it could not be persuaded to drink.
Looking at the scene at a dog’s eye view, you can see how some of the younger and smaller dogs could easily feel overwhelmed and a little nervous. When walking around, it was necessary to be conscious of short things, especially when areas became particularly crowded.
This adorable little puppy saw my lap as a safe refuge from the commotion. He climbed up and snuggled in. Prompting from his human to move along had no effect. She let me enjoy the puppy love for a short while then picked up the adorable fluff to go on with the day.
Can’t beat puppy love.
Heck, even the bigger dogs felt a bit overwhelmed at times.
Most dogs strutted around with a lot of confidence.
This baby Yorkie was not feeling very confident. It was shaking at times as it waited patiently for its human to finish a conversation and maybe pick it up.
This dog had absolutely no worries about being stepped on or tripped over!
Some puppies were still getting that leash thing down.
Drool happens.
If you’re lucky, you’ll have a human who will bring along a roll of paper towel, ready to clean things up when they get a bit out of hand.
Someone had to show up wearing it: The Cone of Shame. The perky behaviour of this little one seems to suggest that no one explained it properly.
Friends were made!
Some friendships were sealed with a pawshake.
This little girl loves dogs! After hugging and kissing this one, she hugged and kissed a member of the K9 unit, then petted her way down the street. Not only was I at dog level, I was also at kid height, so when passing me, she gave a big smile, her arms expanded to encompass the scene and said, “It’s CRAZY here!” She continued down the street with her mother, making more canine friends as she went.
These two puppies are testing that socialization thing out.
Two pugs introducing themselves to each other.
The pug not too certain about the much larger German Shepherd.
As large as the German Shepherd breed is, here one is being made to feel like a little dog. While smaller breeds are used to being tiny around others, I expect that it’s not as familiar a feeling for the larger breeds. It would have been great to have then gotten a photo of a Great Dane meeting a Russian Wolfhound!
For a sense of the extreme: see that foot to the left? Great Dane. These little ones barely come up to its ankles.
The head that belongs to that tall leg.
“I am glorious!”
“Do not mess with me today.”
“I am little, a puppy, tired and it’s time for a break. Yes, in the middle of the street.”
“I am little, a puppy, and am going to take a rest in the shade! Too many feet on the street.”
This puppy is sitting in a woman’s small hand, so that should give you a sense of scale. Too young to be walking in the fray and so adorable that the woman had to keep stopping while folks fussed and cooed.
The eyes on this dog make it easily visible in a crowd. In fact, they draw you to it.
I hadn’t realized that so many dogs had blue eyes — startling so, in many cases. A few huskies had different-coloured eyes, which added more diversity in eye colour. I had seen blue-eyed huskies in the past, but hadn’t thought it a very common canine trait.
This Husky is arresting in many ways.
This puppy has two differently coloured eyes. Furthermore, one eye is in itself two colours.
Blue eyes closer to the ground.
“Look into my eyes, you can’t avoid me forever.”
Blue eyes with an orange coat — very fetching.
The scarf brings out the blue eyes – nice to have a sense of colour coordination.
Ever see that cartoon with the bull dog walking along with the little dog prancing around him, talking about what they might be doing? Like that.
Happy and photogenic. And so interested in that treat!
The internet suggests that this is a Chinese crested dog. Because there is no natural coat protecting it from the sun, I can imagine that both sunscreen and a covering make sense with this breed.
“I may be little, but I am mighty.”
“Life is good.”
“When I open my eyes, will you still be there?”
Afghan hounds: they feel as soft and silky as they look.
“We’re shopping for a new leash!”
“Human, what is that stuck to your face?”
This is a great area in which to socialize a dog and teach it to avoid distractions of many sorts.
Another working dog.
“My tongue is ‘this’ long.”
A water fountain was made available for the cooling down of dogs during the hot afternoon. There were Frisbees and rubber ducks, splashing and shaking. Here a ball has just been thrown in the water.
This fellow is in the water waiting for its human to throw something interesting to make it more fun.
Most of the dogs in the fountain were larger breeds, so this little one is uncertain as to whether it should really take the leap.
Cultural note: Folks living in the city have different standards of “normal” than do those who have grown up in less urban areas. My dearly departed dogs were lucky to have a lot of property on which to run and where I grew up, well, clothes on a dog weren’t even a thought unless maybe a kid was playing dress-up with what usually resulted in a very depressed-looking animal. As the temperature cooled, coats thickened so that the dogs would be comfortable outside. Boots? Neighbours would have mocked openly. I did talk about this with a city dweller after I moved to “the big city” and he made a very reasonable case for canine footware. Country dogs don’t have to worry about walking on much in the way of salt. City streets, however, are salted regularly in winter months and salt is very corrosive, so those boots could really help keep feet healthy. In hot summer months, when city dogs are walking on hot pavement, likewise, footwear could be a welcome relief for paws that only walk outdoors a few times a day. I do wonder, though, how that animal handles feet being confined inside boots on a hot day, since dogs sweat through their paws. A look on the internet suggests that most of the cooling is done through panting, so perhaps it’s not significant enough to be a concern?
Clothes and dyed fur? There are some breeds with not much in the way of dense coats, so maybe a sporty jacket helps. The rest? Well, let’s just suspend judgement for now knowing that folks generally love their pets. If it does no harm…and some of these little critters seemed to genuinely love the attention they were getting as much as their humans were.
Watching the trust with which the dogs were looking at their humans was a beautiful thing to see, from even the pets that were showing that they were a bit nervous being around the crowds and all the feet striding by. It makes it more heartbreaking when you hear about an animal being deliberately harmed, but over these few days, the apparent devotion was something to bring a smile to one’s face.
Doesn’t everyone put on shoes when they walk outdoors?
“If only these weren’t yellow!”
Even some larger breeds were wearing boots.
It’s an occasion, so why not a flower?
A jaunty little number that has no practical use other than to draw attention from humans who might be more inclined to make a fuss over the fellow.
Oooh la la.
Looking at the boots, this outfut doesn’t seem so out of place.
Yes, a dress. How else would you know I was a girl?
A tutu always dresses up an event.
“Could have been worse, I could have been wearing a tutu.”
“See those pink lips over my body? That is why I am wearing a muzzle.”
By the one skirt, two males and a female?
I overheard a little girl tell her mother after passing a number of dressed dogs, “I NEVER dress up as much as these dogs.”
Nothing says ‘party’ better than purple ears and a pink tutu.
Standard poodle cut with a little extra for that touch of elegance without being garish.
Dog owners not only love their animals, but they love animals generally. The human belonging to the dogs in the three images below did a lot of ‘splaining to other concerned dog owners about having the dogs’ fur dyed. There was a concern that hair dye is not good for dogs. However, the said human reassured folks that it was done by professionals who knew what they were doing and had used food colouring as hair dye, which is supposed to be very safe. And the outfits? Well…the bottomline is the dogs’ wellbeing. You can tell by their body language that they are happy little campers. While we may be seeing circus animals, they are seeing humans giving them a lot of attention. I saw these three a few times during the day and they always had a large group of people clustered around them — at least one guy wanted his little dog to have its picture taken with these three, particularly the dude in the mohawk. The dogs always looked perky, bright and happy. Unlike most other dogs, they weren’t doing a lot of straight walking — they were frequently stopped to enjoy the attention of the crowds so truly looked like they were feeling lots of love.
“Yes, you may take my picture.”
This little fellow was very popular.
The three amigos.
No hair colour or clothing, just a lot of glamour.
Really long dog. Nope, not really.
Doggie equivalent of a wheelchair. There was nothing wrong with this fellow’s attitude or front legs.
“Walk? When I can roll?”
If this doesn’t make you smile, you need to take a nap and come back to it.
Pondering the meaning of life while being pushed around on a beautiful day.
Yet another dog in a doggie stroller with the mesh part down and sunglasses fashionably pushed up on head.
“It sure looks crazy out there!”
“Forward, James, I’d like to head towards the milk bone display.”
Leopard print for an extra bit of class.
Why spend a lot of money on a stroller when you can add wheels and a handle to a milk crate? Same thing, dog is not required to walk. (Ok, it’s not quite a milk crate, but looks like one.)
No bugs!
“Do NOT try to smack the ‘insect’ from my head! I am being festive.”
“I know that you bought me this stroller, but what I really want is to be in your arms.”
“Other dogs get their own stroller and I have to share one with junior?”
Family affair! This keeps everyone from tripping over a bunch of leashes…
Babies don’t hold the patent on body slings. For those not wanting to push or walk their dogs, there appears to be a variety of sling-type contraptions in which to carry your canine ‘baby.’
The old-fashioned approach — human arms.
This face makes me smile.
“Laugh if you feel you must, but I bet that I get I get more stations that you do!”
Foot placement looks good, but if only I could have synced those tongues!
Dogs love carrying things in their mouths, and this one seems proud to be of use.
But why risk dropping things? Some dogs are more than capable of carrying loads on their backs.
Packs can even be a little stylish.
This little one? Totally ripped off! Other dogs its size were being carried around or pushed in strollers instead of walking around with a pack almost as big as it.
“Ok, guys, I’m feeling a little violation of my personal space…”
“I just tipped a plank! I earned that reward!”
So much more dramatic when fur is flying in the wind!
And that’s a wrap.
If you’ve made it to the bottom, you will have a great sense of what it was like on that curb. It was busy and crowded and very special to be around that much doggie love.