Bash/Waddle Review

We arrived to Dwight, IL at around 2pm on Saturday. At first, it was very overwhelming to see hundreds of Basset Hounds everywhere. For most of the Bash, Adam and I sat around taking everything in. Madison did well, for the most part. There were, occasionally, some Bassets that just sniffed her the wrong way. Madison has issues if a dog (or person) give her too much face time while sniffing.

We watched the agility games to start with. It's pretty funny seeing 50+ lb. dogs with stubby legs trying to run their fastest over a hurdle, through a tunnel, and through a baby pool of water. I didn't get any pictures of it because we were too far back. I'm sure you can get a nice mental picture, though. :)

Throughout the day, the coordinators of GABR brought up some of the dogs that needed to be adopted. I think I melted inside everytime. They were all beautiful, but the ones that had the bad past lives really got to me.

We left the Bash at about 6 pm. Adam and I were ready to grub and to sleep. We got to our hotel in Pontiac, IL (about 15 miles away from Dwight) and started unpacking. There were quite a few people there with dogs. There were probably 20 dogs there and maybe 15 or so people. We made our rounds and introduced ourselves to most of the people. We were told that there would be a pizza party at 8 pm. Prior to this knowledge, we were going to go to the only Mexican restaurant in town. They said they, "HAVE THE BEST MARGARITAS IN TOWN!" Well, I was certainly down for a margarita.

We put Madison up so we could leave. Of course, she carried on howling and crying. We decided just to get delivery. We really didn't want to piss off the rest of the people there with Madison's problem. She's not normally that bad, but we think she was confused since we weren't at her house.

We got out food and went to bed. We were pooped! (Imagine that!) We got up the next morning at around 7:30 am. They had a church service at a Lutheran church in Dwight. Adam and I both decided to pass since we both have/had issues with the Lutheran church. We got ready, had breakfast, and headed back toward Dwight. We got to the beginning of what would be the Waddle. We started to get out of the car, and I realized I couldn't find my camera. I was freaking out, as most people would. We turned my car upside down trying to look for that thing. I had no idea where it was. I remembered having it in the car on our way to the hotel, but after that was mostly fuzz. So, I frantically called the hotel to see if they had found it. The woman asked me to call back in about 5 minutes while she asked the housekeeping lady. As soon as I hung up, I then realized I had also left my body pillow there. I wasn't so much worried about the body pillow as I was about a $400 digital camera. So, we started heading back down to Pontiac, and I called the hotel back. They had found the camera and had it behind the desk. I also told her about the pillow while I was on the phone with her. We got back to Pontiac and got my camera and pillow, and then we were on our way, once again, back to Dwight. I know I'm a dingbat, but this was ridiculous.

We finally got to Dwight, camera in hand, and parked our car. Much of the morning was walking around and meeting new people. Adam had noticed that nearly every dog there had a personalized bandana with their name on it. I think, deep down, Adam was starting to feel a bit jealous. When I received the information to order the bandanas, I really didn't have the $10 to purchase one. As we were walking around the retail tent, Adam saw some women with an embroidery sewing machine there. He asked if we could get a bandana that day. They said we could, so we picked out a purple bandana (to match Madison's collar and harness) and had her name put on it. Adam really wanted it to read Madison B. Hound, but I wasn't having it, really. So, 15 minutes later, Madison had her very own personalized bandana. Around this time it started getting hot outside. I mean, pretty damn hot. Of course, I didn't really plan on it being so hot outside, so I was wearing my blue Chicago Cubs t-shirt. That shirt had to go. I should really just part with the damn thing, really. So, GABR had t-shirts for sale. They were 18 bucks. Jeebuz! Let me step back a day while I'm talking about expensive clothing. At the Bash, they had the GABR clothing retain "tent". I, being addicted to wearing hoodies nearly all year, fell in love with a dark brown embroidered hoodie. Adam had somehow coaxed me into spending 50 bucks on a new hoodie. I guess it's because I didn't buy the lavendar hoodie I saw at school a month ago, but at least GABR isn't a money mongering cesspool of fees like IUPUI. ;) So, I had to keep reminding myself that the money went for a good cause and an organization I really believe in. So, within 5 minutes, I was stylin' in my very own Guardian Angel Basset Rescue t-shirt hot off the iron, literally. They were making the shirts to order with their iron ons in the back of a van. I felt so much better. Even though the shirts are heavy weight t-shirts, I felt much cooler (literally) wearing a white t-shirt. I think Adam started getting a little jealous that I had bought myself two articles of clothing and Madison a personal bandana. I kept asking him if he wanted a shirt. He said no, but I think I should have bought him one anyway. Now I feel guilty, but I paid for the hotel and the gas for the trip. Not to mention I paid for most of our trip to Missouri two weeks ago. I'm sorry Adam, I love you, but you can afford your own shirt.

After I bought my shirt, we stopped at the Membership table. I told the Membership coordinator that I would definitely buy a membership before the end of the year. She gave us a bag of information to hand out and also, a video from last year's waddle. I can't wait to see this! After we saw her, we decided to go find a small spot of shade for the three of us. We sat down and met more people and more bassets. Madison really loves Basset puppies, so we were in search for more puppies. When we sat down, a girl had a one year old pup with her. His name was Willie, and he and Madison got along great! Then another couple with a puppy came up to us and asked how old Madison was. We told her 3.5 years. Their puppy was as big as Madison and was only 6 months old. I have a feeling they're going to end up with a horse instead of a dog. Madison and Gus, the 6 month old, started cuddling and kissing. It was cute! Of course, I have pictures of this. After about 15 minutes of this, it was time to waddle. We all started lining up. As we were getting to our beginning destination, we noticed some of the waddler humans were carrying signs with their states (or countries) on them. We looked all over for the sign for those from Indiana, but we never found it. When I had mentioned this to Adam, the couple and Gus were behind us. They said they were from Indiana, so of course us Hoosiers had to stick together, that and Gus and Madison were busy playing kissy face. We got to talking to them and asked where they were from. They said, "Some small town south of Indianapolis." Well, I'm from "some small town south of Indianapolis", so I pried to get it out of them. They said they were from Nineveh. Well, I'll be damned! Nineveh was part of the school system that I went to from 5-12 in Trafalgar. Neat! So we made semi-local friends but never got their info. :(

As the waddle began to end, several dogs were getting pooped. I certainly was getting pooped myself. There was one dog in particular I was worried about. He was a puppy, probably less than a year old, that just crashed on the street. Adam tried telling the guy to pick the pup up and put him in the grass. The guy just wasn't listening. I was started to get mad. Adam took the dog the last of our water along with our collapsable bowl we had for Madison. The guy kept telling everyone his dog was fine but that his wife just left him back here. Okay, buddy. We don'g give a crap that your wife is way up yonder, but your dog could die if you don't bother to do anything about it. So, between Adam and a few other people trying to cool this puppy off, the guy keeps rambling about his damn wife. At this time, we all were beginning to get mowed over by bassets and owners. I would have liked to have stayed with the puppy, but the pooped puppy wagon was coming. I really hope he was okay, and that the guy learned a lesson. He just seemed like he didn't want anybody's help, and that pissed me off. I mean, I woud at least thank people if that happened to Madison, but I probably expect too much from people these days.

So, we go to the end of the Waddle and found a grassy shady spot to sit in. Adam goes to get Madison a bowl of water since we gave ours up. He came back, and Madison got her drink. Adam then, bless his heart, started taking the bucket to all of the Bassets around us for a drink. Those people thanked him dearly. Go Adam!

After that, I was getting very hungry and tired. We decided to leave during all of the raffles going on. I passed out in the car to fight hunger. We didn't stop for food until we got to Lafayette, IN. Oh well! It was a great weekend, and I'll be posting pictures soon! :) Thank you to everyone who helped us raise over $300 for Madison! We look forward to doing it again next year, so be prepared! :)

I'm not sure what the final money count was by the end of the Waddle for funds raised, but I'll post that as soon as I find out.

Finally, I'll add that Lori pointed out to me that St. Francis Hospitals has volunteers for PET THERAPY. What it is is you donate some of your time and take your pet into the hospital to help with morale. Now, I have the cutest Basset ever, and she thinks I should spread her joy with other people. I'm definitely going to look into this! :)