June 19th - Coventry street fair

We took Kodo up to the street fair in Coventry on Thursday. We had gone to it last year, and it is always a tangle of people, dogs, vendors, food, entertainment, and live music that is great to see, and we figured it would be a great socializing opportunity for Kodo. And especially with all those dog-people there, we just love getting a chance to show him off!

We got there, and he was his usual self, schmoozing the crowd and drawing lots of attention and admiration before we even got to the main street! He was pretty well behaved- did a bit of leash-pulling till he settled down a bit, but other than that... The performers on stilts didn't make him nervous, small children petting him didn't phase him, all the noise and bustle were just fine. He just ambled along the street smiling his happy smile with his tongue hanging out.

He made friends with a beautiful black husky mix with piercing blue eyes, and an interesting airedale mix. He also met a Cavalier and a Scotty who each took exception to him sticking his !VERY LARGE! nose too close to them and warned him off with a growl and a snap. Near the end of the evening there was one mixed breed who lunged at him growling when he was walking by- scared Kodo for a second since he hadn't even seen the other dog until that moment. He cringed back against Brian's leg and was a little nervous.. for about 10 seconds, then he forgot about it again and was back to his normal self. I saw the same dog try to go after a couple other random dogs walking past- makes you wonder what his people were thinking bringing a dog-aggressive dog out into a fair environment like that? Anyway, other than that, the evening was a great success..

It surprises me over and over how much dogs can get people to open up- we have had lots of complete strangers start petting him and end up telling us all about their dog, or a dog they lost, or other personal things you generally don't talk about to someone you just met. It is incredibly touching to watch, and part of the reason I think he will make a great therapy dog once he gets a little older and more settled- he seems to draw people in even more than most dogs because he looks so much like a big teddy-bear.. and because he is so attuned to people in general that the tail starts wagging and the smile starts any time someone looks at him or starts walking toward him...