Mutt Monday: Adopt a shelter dog

By Deborah Taylor-French

Mutt Monday: Adopt a shelter dog

Last Saturday, we joined in the fun the Animal Shelter League’s Mutt Strut. This fundraiser for Rohnert Park Animal Shelter, fits perfectly in autumn with fun for all. After hunkering down at dog level we awaited the returning fundraising teams. Great to see all the lovely mutts from the truly tiny to a Great Pyrenees. 

Plus we saw a dog from the Sighthound category. The breed’s name is Borzoi, but is also known as the Russian Wolfhound.  One of the largest dog breeds in the world. It originated in Central Asia and was brought to Russia. This large dog can reach a height of 80 cm at the shoulder. A dear friend of mine searched for years to find one available for adoption.

So when you see a purebred dog, you never know if that dog came to his people through buying, rescuing or adopting from a shelter as an older dog. I adopted two perfectly healthy and lovely keeshonds that had “failed” in three homes before they turned one year old.

What fun to see both leggy hounds, square-shaped terriers and tiny dogs all parading!

The Animal Shelter League’s Mutt Strutt 2013

Before we left we bought a book entitled The Rescue from author, Kristina Ashley. I liked her and her sign that for every book purchased at Mutt Strut she would donate a dollar to the animal shelter. After chatting for a few minutes, I remembered I had read about her book for children in my local newspaper. Find her book, The Rescue by clicking on the title in this line.

To visit, click on this Rohnert Park Animal Shelter.

Please adopt, don’t shop!

Shelter dogs wait for their forever families, go see the marvelous dogs at your local shelter. Volunteer. 

We saw a blood hound then watched a costume contest.

Costume contest winners patiently wore an assortment of dresses, and full body gear. All kids who entered won a goody bag. I liked that they offered one costume contest for kids and one for adults.

Here’s our favorite dog costume made by brother and sister. They won first place.

 What a great time everybody shared in the warm northern California afternoon.

Coming soon costume contest from Mutt Strut 2014

PS. We took a hundred photographs at this years Mutt Strut. Planning to upload them soon so you can see the fun dog and person costumes. Several pet parents came as a set or dressed in a theme for the costume contest.

Meanwhile, I am sharing a few of our Sydney favorites. We dress him up to brighten our days. Have to confess Sydney never wears a costume for long, yet he tries to stay patient to pose for a few photographs.

Sydney dressed as Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin