Coondog Day 2013

Once again, the town of Saluda, NC put on a great Coondog Day Festival! In fact, this year was the 50th year for the festival. Now, this is like many small town festivals…they shut down “the” street in town, people set up booths, everyone shows up for the parade and a good time is had by all. I went with Grannie, Daisy and Molly! Last year there were record high temperatures. I am happy to say it was around 80 degrees, and other than a few on and off rain showers, the weather was much nicer this year!

I went to help with the American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue booth-which is the rescue I am fostering Molly through. Sadly, there are many people who come to this festival with the view that a coonhound is only good for hunting. We are there to show that they can be happy members of the family.

The parade is quite an interesting experience. Basically-there is no registration. If you want to be in the parade just show up at call time and they will put you in line. A couple things to note-the folks with guns (the confederate reinactors, and they guy following the dog in the hospital bed) were actually firing blanks. Lets just say there were many freaked out dogs watching the parade. Heck, there were freaked out humans!

At one end of the festival is where all the breeders set up. They have a coonhound bench show, a treeing contest, and that night they go out for a coon hunt. This year, Daisy and I tried the treeing contest. Basically…they put a scented fake raccoon in a cage and run it up a pole under this tent. The dog is supposed to run up and tree the raccoon. I am proud to say….Daisy refused to bay. Why am I proud? Well, all these “hunting” dogs were going NUTS over this dead, taxidermied raccoon in a cage. Daisy? She walked in, took one sniff then looked at me like “Um, Mom, it’s already dead!! DUH!” Then proceeded to wag and be cute towards the crowd. She was not fooled! It was a fundraiser for one of their regular coonhound club members who has been diagnosed with cancer and doesn’t have health insurance. You had a five dollar entry fee and they “auctioned” off your dog-the one with the highest price won and got to split the pot of money.

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures. If you live in the area, we’d love to see you next year!

We've Been Invaded!!!

That’s right folks…our city is invaded by pirates every year.  They come in a huge flotilla firing cannons and guns. They force the Mayor to hand over the keys to the city then parade through the streets.  The citizens are powerless to stop them.

So of course…Daisy and I had to go see what the fuss was all about! Now, I do not recommend the average dog go to a very crowded, hot parade.  Daisy and I went early and started from the beginning of the parade and walked backwards, through the staging area. This way we could see all the floats, the people in costumes, hear the music, maybe get some beads but with less of a crowd.

The only issue I really see is Daisy decided the day was all about her. Everyone loved her! I let the kids pet her, and anyone else (who wasn’t crazy drunk).  She also got a lot of treats (from me) for her good behavior and posing for pictures. Plus, with the tens of thousands of people there someone recognized her!  She is a regular celebrity! There was a lady participating in the parade who was frantically waving us over to where she was waiting for the parade to begin.  She knew Daisy from the dog park. She also asked where my other hound was (of course, Bella is way to anxious to attend a parade).

We left when the cannon fire started. It’s a little much for even the most solid dogs. (and yes, there is lots of cannon and gunfire associated with a pirate invasion!)  So here is a peek at all the things Daisy got to see today.

Hard Rock Casino! Yay big money!

Go Lightning!

Go Bucs! This is #27.

Maybe I've had a little to much to drink....

Parade going by! Love the pirate ships!

Cigars?! Those smell funny!

I shared my booty with my sister, even if she was pouting about getting her picture taken.