Last Updated on: 4th May 2015, 01:36 pm
Back a while ago, I mentioned the Halloween charity dog walk for Guelph Animal Hospital. Well, despite not making it home until nearly 3 a.m. the night before, I dragged my sorry butt out to the walk, and I’m glad I did.
I was originally going to go with the shoe thief, but Shoe was perhaps smarter than me and said that he was not up for a 5-k walk around some trails. Steve had thought about going, but he too was in no shape to go for a trek. So, I hornswoggled, er, convinced the huppy’s parents that they really wanted to do this. It’s a good thing I did.
So, as we set out for the walk, we noticed a bit of snow in the air. Snow? Maybe this was a bad idea. But we were getting a ride, so we pressed on.
It looked like they got a pretty good turnout. There were lots of little dogs dressed up as all kinds of things, from pumpkins and doctors to bumble bees! We all gave our donations, and heard a little speech about keeping our pooches under control, to scoop if one pooped, and they even told everybody about Trix’s guide dog status.
This was another reason I wanted to bring a buddy. Trix might get distracted by all these dogs, and I needed to know there was someone there who I knew was with us. The dog distraction issue turned out not to be a problem.
We set off, and the huppy immediately started objecting to being made to wear mittens and a hat. So, he would take them off. His mom would put them on, and he would take them off. Off? On! Off? On! Waaa! Repeat. In not too long, we were at the very back of the pack. But I didn’t care. It was not a race.
At one spot, the huppy was not a happy huppy, so his mom turned back and took him back the way we’d come. The poor little guy was just too cold even when he was covered up. So it was down to the huppy’s dad and I.
For a while we were just cruisin’ along, when…there was no more nice gravel trail! It was time to do some off-roading. It was at this point that we realized it was good that the huppy’s mom turned back when she did. The stroller would not have made the trek over roots, rocks, bridges over swamps, and scary narrow places.
Trix was doing her best, but it was hard for her to warn me about every root. Nearly every step was a root. But she definitely slowed her pace to fit the terrain. When we hit flat trail again, ho boy did she pick it up! I had to chuckle.
At one point, the huppy’s dad said “keep left. On the right is a deep drop.” All I could think was “left, sensei!” I know it wasn’t 1000 feet down, but it still would have hurt. At one point, I got ahead of the huppy’s dad. Trix was enjoying the flat terrain so much that she was puttin’ the juice on. I was still behind the vet tech whose dog was dressed as a bumble bee, so I wasn’t worried. But at one point, the vet tech said “Hmmm I think we should stop and wait for your friend.” When he caught up, she said “Should we go this way, or that way?” to which he responded “Yikes!” That is not what I wanted to hear. We made it, but I got a lot of help from my friends that’s for sure.
It was a good time. The poor vet tech whose dog was dressed up as a bumble bee was all scared once I said I’d blogged about the walk. She said “Oh god, now you’re going to put up on your blog that we tried to kill you with this crazy trail!” No no no. Trails usually have some interesting parts.
I came home and my legs were stiff as hell. But a hot bath seemed to have cured them and I didn’t pay too much for that walk. It was a good time and I’d do it again. I’d just recommend to other blind folks that they bring a friend who doesn’t mind helping them a bit over the crazier parts of the trail. I hope Guelph Animal Hospital was able to raise a ton of money, and I hope they got a ton of photos.