Santa Paws, Hanover Hounds, and that warm fuzzy feeling

On Saturday morning, mom was very stressed. She was worried we wouldn't have enough treats for our Dog Scouts bake sale fundraiser to benefit Hanover Hounds Canine Search & Rescue, or that I wouldn't be finished with my bath in time for us to make it out to Cold Harbor and be set up by 2. But the vet's office promised I would be clean and dry by 12:30, so mom spent the morning putting together and packing my piano, skateboard and other tricks props and the Dog Scouts booth stuff in the car and trying to fix the problem of not having enough treats.

So mom found a recipe for dog biscotti and much to my dad's amazement and dismay, began to zip around the kitchen and mix stuff together. To say mom doesn't like to cook is an understatement.  She's really kind of a disaster in the kitchen.  And dad gets nervous when she tries to cook. So I suspect he had a fire extinguisher close at hand.

But mom found a recipe that was so easy even she could do it (here's the recipe), and she baked up a batch of doggie biscotti, and somehow picked me up in time to make it to the moose lodge in time to set up. And Willow and her mom and dad came and brought a whole big basket of cookies, so mom felt like we had enough treats with those and the cookies and cake from Juneau's mom and the cookies from Bailey's mom. Then Gauis came with his mom and dad, so we had enough Dog Scouts for a good tricks demo!

Willow and Santa!
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Willow
Photo by Willow's daddy

So we did a couple of tricks demos to entertain people who were waiting in line to see Santa. Willow went first, then Gauis, then me.  I rolled over and did the penguin, pressed the "easy" button, honked my horn, spun, crawled, weaved, and skateboarded.  Then for our grand finale we had a doggie band -- with me on piano (of course), Gauis on tambourine, and Willow doing vocals. We were a huge hit! (See "Dog Scout Troop #194 Huge Hit at Santa Paws Fundraiser" - Hanover Hounds - In the News)

Walking backwards with mom
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Crawl
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Gauis on tambourine!
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Gauis and his mom doing a chorus line!
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Gauis catching his tail!
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Roll over
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

And over
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

My piano performance
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Skateboarding (not quite ready for the half pipe!)
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Spin
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Unwind
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Lots of people brought their dogs to see Santa Paws, and there was even a cat, a ferret, and four amazing exotic birds! We were very happy for our Hanover Hounds friends that they had such a great turn-out. And we were very pleased that we raised $104 for Hanover Hounds selling homemade dog treats baked by our troop members.

I suppose even birds want to see Santa
Photo by Carla Edwards Lawrence

Hanover Hounds Canine Search and Rescue is an all-volunteer search and rescue group based in Hanover County, Virginia. These people and their dogs spend huge chunks of their free time training in search and rescue, so they will be ready to assist in the search when people go missing. So while most people are enjoying their weekends, these guys and girls are training. And most of us don't think about search and rescue until someone gets lost, like the little boy who was lost in Hanover this fall -- and amazingly was found okay after being lost in the woods for 6 days. If you'd like more information about Hanover Hounds, or if you'd like to support them (which we highly encourage!), here's a link to their website: Hanover Hounds K9 Search & Rescue.

Our Dog Scout troop has done a lot of fundraisers for various groups over the past year and it always makes us feel good to help out local nonprofit groups. But this time, it was extra special because everyone in Hanover Hounds was so nice and so appreciative. As we were packing up and getting ready to leave, we must have been thanked by a dozen people -- one man even gave my mom a big hug! We left with such a warm fuzzy feeling, like we had done something really good and made some new friends on top of it!

Gauis working in the Dog Scouts booth

Gauis taking charge of treat sales