Whisker Walk 2018

For those of you in the New England Area it is time again to think about this year's Whisker Walk Sunday June 3 from 10-3 at the Bolton Fairgrounds in Lancaster, MA. This event is hosted by the Sterling Shelter and is attended by many local shelters/rescues and there are many vendors and activities for the family. Come out and support your local rescues and shelters and have some fun. The walk is only part of the fun. There is much to see, do, shop, and eat.

You can read more about the event here.

Whisker Walk 2016 is coming June 5 in Massachusetts

After having crossed the line first at the Paws in the Park walk, Katy and her handler are in training for the longer Whisker Walk. Not that there is actually a race, but Katy has wanted to finish first for years now. This could be the year.

For those of you in the New England area come out and join us for the Sterling Shelter's annual Whisker Walk fund raiser at the Bolton Fairgrounds in Lancaster on Sunday June 5, 2016 from 11AM-3PM. While Katy is determined to be at the head of the walk, Bailey and Mom will be strolling through the many vendors that populate the fairgrounds. It is a very kid and dog friendly event with plenty for everyone to see and do.

It is a great chance to connect with many local shelters and rescues and to help them raise funds for their groups. I am hopeful they will still have the dog fetch game as Bailey has brought home some great prizes over the years.

You can read more about the event here.

Whisker Walk 2014 is Coming

Whisker Walk is one of our favorite events of the year. This year the event is being held on Sunday June 8 from 11-3 at the Lancaster Fairgrounds, in Lancaster, Massachusetts. You can find all the details about the event here.

While the event is important because it raises money for so many of the local rescues and shelters, it is also just lots of fun for dogs and humans. It is fitting that it takes place at the fairgrounds because it does have the feel of a dog fair. Where else have you been that you can win a prize in a poop raffle for having a responsible pet parent scoop your poop and get a ticket for a raffle? Like tennis balls? Compete in the Tennis Ball Fetch and win a prize for you or your human. Bailey won the comfy bed he and Katy use downstairs at the event. These are just some of many exciting fun events that await you at the Whisker Walk.

This is the last of our walking fundraisers this year. Mom contacted Baypath Animal Shelter and was told they because they have a new Board of Directors they’ve opted not to run Bark in the Park at Hopkinton State Park this year. They are doing a golf tournament instead. They said they might bring it back next year. We will miss the event, but hope their new fundraiser works out for them and brings them new people who might not already be involved.

We do have some concerns with Bailey's foot. The Vet seems to think he should be up for the day. If not the walk ,perhaps just a chance to be outside and visit some of the exhibits. DH and I will decide based on how he's doing. Thankfully, unlike a child, he can't read a calendar and won't realize the date has come and gone if he’s not physically able to manage the trip. I do hope he's up to it as I've seen huge growth in Katy's social skills every time we've been at one of these events. Generally, she isn't a fan of crowds and busy places. However, there is something about these dog events that she loves.

If you are in the area, please consider coming out and supporting the Whisker Walk. Bring family and friends; it is a great event for all.

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Whisker Walk 2012

We had such a good time at Whisker Walk. There is something magical about this place. Last year it was one of the first places Katy really opened up and enjoyed herself outside the house. She came home a much happier dog. This year she got out of the car a little scared, but instead of taking up her usual spot right next to or underneath me, she had a new companion, Dad and Mom's niece.

I confess I get excited at events like this. There are many things to see and smell. Dad was going to walk Katy and I was going to go with the niece. Well I did take advantage. Dad has a firm hand on the leash. I know I cannot get away with pulling and tugging. So, they decided to try an experiment. Katy would go with the niece and Dad would lay down the law with me. We were worried Katy would shake and panic, instead she blossomed. No more clinging to me, she found her own path. She completely bonded with the niece. Mom and Dad were thrilled.



Along with the walk, we were able to visit some of our favorite booths. The niece was thrilled with the carnival food. Do to the nieces car trouble we arrived later than last year, but we still saw just about everything. I finished the agility course this year. Dad was so proud of me. They decided since Katy had such a great day that she would just watch and cheer me on. Last year she refused to try anything but the tires.





At the Tennis Ball Fetch, I was able to win prizes, Katy still is not anxious to participate.



One human had donated handmade jewelry as a prize so for the first time Katy and I gave the niece a birthday present we won ourselves. She was impressed. She had never been given a birthday gift that a pet won for her.



We had a wonderful time. Our rescue, New England Sheltie is in CT and does not participate in these events. Therefore, the past two years, our group has walked for the sponsoring organization the Sterling Shelter. Mom got a purple t-shirt for the donation our group made.

We are looking forward to attending Baypath’s Bark in the Park on June 17.

Wordless Wednesday:Whisker Walk

Whisker Walk is Sunday June 3, 2012

Mom told us she saw the announcement for the Whisker Walk in the paper Saturday and we are so excited. For those of you in the Massachusetts area the 5th Annual Whisker Walk is being held on Sunday, June 3rd from 11AM-3PM at the Lancaster Fairgrounds. You can find all the information here. Along with the walk, there is a whole fair to enjoy. This is a big fundraiser for local animal shelters in the area.

Last year we not only walked, but we had a wonderful time at the fair. Bailey won the bed you constantly see us photographed on at the dog games last year. Mom and Dad had professional pictures taken of us that now are on t-shirts and coffee mugs. It was very dog friendly event.

This was us waiting as we lined up for the walk

This is where we won the bed. We did not do so well at the agility. However, the bed more than made up for our embarrassment at the agility arena. After all, there were no prizes in agility. The ball retrieval won us a comfy TV watching bed.

We encourage all of you who will be in the Massachusetts area to come out for the Whisker Walk and support the local shelters and rescues in the area. It is a great fundraiser and lots of fun for dogs and their family members.

Looking at the Agility Course

Mom and Dad took us to a booth hosted by a group trying to raise money for emergency pet shelters. The man at the booth said animals are not allowed in human shelters during emergencies so his group provides a place for animals to go. Mom says she is going to blog about this group next week. Mom and Dad decided we should have a chance to look at the field.

Bailey treated this as if it was a doggy playground. He thought the obstacles were fun. The woman led him around the obstacles. With treats, he tried each one. I did not mind the jumps. Those were OK. However, I just could not understand the point and I did not like strangers. Mom ended up leading me around.

I was sorry to disappoint Mom, but I just did not understand why she wanted me to go through all these exercises. Dad says we might do better next year.

Bailey Wins a Bed

Mom said there would be things to do, but she never mentioned how much work it could be at this Whisker Walk. Mom took us to the Tennis Ball Fetch Booth and she was so excited. Katy was no help, so it was up to me to take on the challenge. How hard can it be to fetch one tennis ball you ask. Well I froze.

There were all these tennis balls I needed to herd and protect so they would not escape. I have never seen so many tennis balls. How was I possibly going to be able to protect them all? I actually froze. I could not possibly be expected to watch all these tennis balls. While I was trying to process how best to take care of all of them, Mom is trying to distract me by tossing tennis balls to me. She did not understand the gravity of the situation. While she is throwing balls to me, one could escape. The fencing was flimsy and not designed for tennis ball capture and retention.

Eventually I got distracted and caught a ball. Mom was so excited. There was some writing on the ball. Mom called it a number. The woman looked at the number and then at her paper and Mom got to pick out a bed for me, just because I caught a ball! Katy was still refusing to help, so I caught another ball and the lady checked that number and we got a box of treats.

Mom said I helped doggies at the Sterling Shelter by playing the game. Dad says both Katy and I will do better next year. I am not sure about that, but I love my new bed, which is big enough for Katy and me to share. Mom says she will post a picture of it when she gets one with both of us in it.

Wordless Wednesday

Before:

After:

Walking in a Pack

We are not sure why Mom and Dad decided to take us for a walk in the woods with all these other dogs, but it was so fun. There were dogs of every size and shape. Bailey and I were confused because some dogs were riding in doggy strollers. We had never seen one before, but we saw several on Sunday. Dad could never keep us in one of those things.

There was only one scary loud dog and Bailey practiced what Dad calls the Bailey pick and put himself between the other dog and me. The dog seemed surprised to find Bailey there, but moved on without incident. I followed Bailey and Dad the whole mile and there was so much to see and smell. The only bad thing was Mom fell in a pothole and twisted her ankle. That slowed me down a bit. She has to be more careful.

Dad was disappointed because we would not use his new water bottle. We were just too excited and we did not even drink from the water bowls the walk people provided. Mom said something about training us to use them in a less stressful situation. I told Bailey I think that means cookies so that is a good thing, right?

After the walk, we got free doggy frozen yogurts. Bailey ate his quickly. Katy got all nervous and only took a few licks of hers. How could she waste such a delicious frozen treat? Mom would not let me finish hers.

Whisker Walk was Wonderful

The dog's worst fears were not realized we made it to the walk and it was a wonderful event. We could not find the Buddy Dog booth to make our donation for the walk with so we donated our money to the Sterling Animal Shelter and got two Whisker Walk t-shirts. We chose Sterling since they seem to be the main sponsors of the event. Our first choice New England Sheltie Rescue being located in CT was not a likely participant for a Massachusetts event.

The dogs had a wonderful time. They will be blogging their stories about the event all week. Katy did so much better than I expected. She loved the actual walk. She had such bounce in her walk and was not at all intimidated by the huge numbers of people or other dogs. As long as she trailed Bailey, she was happy as could be during the mile walk.

Bailey and Katy discovered dog sports. I have blogged several times, about how they love to watch human sports with their Dad. Well for the first time Bailey saw humans and dogs watching doggy sports. There were flyball and agility demonstrations and Bailey and Katy were fascinated spectators. His head would jump up, as a dog would miss a tag or a gate while watching flyball, just like his Dad does when watching a play on TV. He had the same reaction to watching agility.

Katy and Bailey will be discussing their own first experience with the agility ring later on in the week. Let us just say Bailey loved it and Katy could not see the purpose. She still needs more time getting used to strangers and being comfortable with new situations before we would ever consider doing any training in this area. However, she did do a few exercises and was quite proud of her success.

The crowds were wonderful. When you bring that many dogs and humans together, it can be a challenge. We had no bad dog or human incidents. Dogs were restrained and we had no incidents of children attacking the dogs. I cannot speak for anyone but myself, but I was amazed to see what a great respectful community assembled. I hope that that spirit spreads out to more events that are not dog centered, but still have dogs and humans interacting.

We came back from Whisker Walk and did fulfill one of the dogs’ fears, the evil veggie’s are in the garden. This means no more playing in the gardens or as Katy refers to them, the sandboxes.

I will leave the dogs to tell the stories of our adventures. I will say if there is a Whisker Walk 2012, we will be back. I have no association with the group that planned this, but I want to say thank you for a wonderful day.

Full Speed Ahead to Whisker Walk

Keeps your paws and fingers crossed everyone. Mom and Dad said we are on for Sunday's Whisker Walk. We are so excited, but Sunday is still so far away and they can still get in trouble between now and then.

Dad bought us a new water bottle to try out. Bailey can be a bit tricky about drinking while traveling. Katy has never tried so she has no idea about the challenges of drinking in strange places. Katy also has a new leash for the trip that she did not get to try out at Paws in the Park.

Dad is going to do battle with the evil veggie gardens on Saturday. They could attack him and leave him unable to go on Sunday. We have watched these evil veggies at work. Well Bailey has and he says they can be very dangerous.

For anyone in the area interested in attending the event is at the Lancaster Fairgrounds in MA. The directions or address for those with GPS can be found here. Hopefully, we will be there to see some of you.

Whisker Walk 2011

Mom put the banner up on the blog for Whisker Walk as soon as she heard about the event. Many rescue groups are coming together at the Lancaster Fairgrounds in Massachusetts on Sunday, June 5, 2011. The event includes a walk and lots of family and dog related activities to raise money for local shelters.

Bailey and I are hoping Mom and Dad get better so we can go. We are even supposed to be joining some of Dad's doggless family. Mom and Dad really need to pick up the pace on this healing stuff. Dad bought Katy a new leash for Paws in the Park and she is very disappointed that she did not get to show it off. She is getting rather impatient with this sickness stuff. I want to get out and finally go to an event that is about dogs.

Mom says to tell you that the directions or the address for those who like to plug it into their GPS system are available here.

Send healing wishes our way, as Bailey and I really need to get Mom and Dad out of the house.

Why No Doggy Friendly Museums?

We were so excited. Mom and Dad said we were having a guest come to see us on this weekend. Then she told us the bad news. They are going to the Science Discovery Museum in Acton and we cannot go because no dogs are allowed. We hear this all the time and it does not seem to bother Mom and Dad. They constantly pick sites that exclude us. Can you believe it?

Mom did say there she will take us to the Whisker Walk in Lancaster which is something like a fair in June, but just when is June! It is tomorrow we want to be included in the activities. Dad reminded us we do go to concerts on the common in the summer every week with Grandma and Grandpa. That is cool. Summer is still a long time away. Dad promises we will play ball and Frisbee with our weekend guest. I guess that is the best we can have to look forward to this time.

There must be many activities to explore at one of these museum places. We could learn about the science involved with a dog Frisbee catch. We of course would want this to be paws on minds on project. We could visit an exhibit exploring the physics of squirrel chasing. Again, activity would be essential to the success of the exhibit. How about a room full of doggy puzzle toys? Mazes? The possibilities are endless. Mom is not very encouraging about this situation.