Doo Dah Day in Birmingham

As far as I know Doo Dah Day and the Parade are unique... maybe not. Thousands of dogs (and cats) are brought to Southside's Highland area , just to be seen and be showed-off. Since I knew that Bama Bully Rescue was going to have a tent, I decided to go, for the first time in the 23 years we have been in Birmingham. I really wanted to meet these dedicated and utterly friendly folks whom I have "met" virtually, but never in person. I also decided to take Sándor along ... with some trepidation, I might add, since he has never been in a crowd before. He loves people and has been properly socialized, but he is kind of awkward with other dogs. He eagerly wants to play, but, until a couple of months ago, he was fairly aggressive. Not in a mean way, just playing too roughly. So we have been practicing with dogs in our neighborhood. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on your perspective, we have no leash laws and all sorts of dogs run around aimlessly. For my purposes, the best part is that most of them are uncontrolled and seem to never have had any training. So they come bounding toward us, with Sándor always on a leash. Using “Sit-Stay” and “OK, make friends” commands we have reached a controllable situation. I wish he would ignore other dogs, like he does cats, but that is not likely to happen any time soon.

So we went to Doo Dah Day, later in the day, hoping to avoid the busiest time. I needn’t have worried. Sándor behaved like a properly trained bully: loving toward all people who wanted to meet him, interested and friendly toward all dogs, small or large. He heeled as we threaded our way through Caldwell and Rhodes Parks. He handled with aplomb the immense noise, the bands playing loudly, and the myriad people on blankets scattered all over. I am so proud of him!

Meeting the ladies of BBR was a delight, too. Warmth, friendliness, and dedication just exudes from them. My pleasure, indeed, to meet them.