Facebook page.Geyser was an angel
. I decided to go just for the parade, and forgo the eariler events (choirs, bands, etc.), as I really thought that'd be too much for her at one time, at this stage. It was a good decision. (She's only 6 months old now.)We got there about 10 min to 6, and the parade was to start at 6. My contact had told me where to watch the parade from, and it was a great suggestion; we were at the corner where the parade turned, just before the end of it's route. I lucked out with the last parking spot in a lot, too. Whew!
It was dark dark when we got there, and the crowds! Tons of people...adults, oldsters, lots of kids, strollers and others with dogs, too. We were standing at a T intersection, on the outside of the turn for the floats and vehicles. We were in the front row, with people behind and next to us, and of course, lining the streets all around several people deep.
The parade did start at 6, but we were at the end of its route, so we spent a lot of time just standing there, waiting, in the freaking cold. She was so good! :fluffy: She mostly sat in front of me, waiting for treats. I took like 1 1/3 pounds of hot dogs, and a good thing, too, as we used up most of it. When she seemed to get too bored, we'd run thru little behaviors (hand touches, right foot/ left foot, sit ups, spins, etc.). She did well with that, too, in such a highly distracting situation.
She was nice to anyone who reached a hand to her or wanted to greet her. In crowds like that, you can't control those kinds of things, and she was just wonderful about it.
When the parade started to get to us, I swear, every emergency vehicle that town owns was in it. Fire engines, ambulances/EMT trucks, police vehicles of all kinds, garbage trucks, you name it, and they were all woo-wooing their sirens and making a ton of noise. Did it phase her? Nah. I was very pleasantly surprised at that, let me tell you. And they were festooned with lights, too.
Lots of cars with lights all over them blowing their horns, horse trailers, miscellaneous vehicles including nasty-exhaust-spewing muscle cars, and floats. Lots of floats. And every time something would come by, the crowd would go wild, screaming for candy to be tossed their way. Lots of noise! Then, of course, we were all yelling "Merry Christmas!" and stuff like that at the floats. Every time I yelled that, she'd jump straight up in the air and touch my face with her nose. I have no idea what that was about. Perhaps she was just showing her Christmas Spirit
.Horses with riders, horses pulling carriages and wagons, and miniature horses all decked out and walking on lead.
Bands. There were two. The first one wasn't too loud and was no problem. The second one, well, it was very very loud, and it had a bunch of drums
, and it seemed that all of them were on our side and going nuts when they went by us. That was the only thing that concerned her...the very loud, banging drums and loud music of that band. Still, she was fine and recovered quickly, as soon as they'd passed, she was like, "OK, I'm ready for more treats now..."RotoRooter had two trucks in the parade (let me tell you, this cracked me up but good...RotoRooter and Christmas?), and a float. On the back of the float, there was this Santa with a gushing toilet that was geysering water into the street behind it. (Did you notice I slipped her name in there as a verb?
Guess I could've said "gushing" but it was shooting way up into the air...geysering!)Tons of candy got thrown, and she left it all alone to stay focused on me. Every time candy was tossed, tons of people and kids would rush and skitter forward to grab it off the ground, and it reminded me of tossing food into a lake and all the fish darting up to grab it. All that darting activity happening around her, and she just stayed focused on me and didn't give it a care.
I was so incredibly proud of her and so pleased with her good behavior. She was just awesome.
It was a long parade, and lasted at least an hour. It was so cold, I was so ready for it to be over! I'm very glad we went, and think it was a great experience for her. I just can't get over how well she behaved. What a good girl!
Jingle Bells to You All!
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But right now, I plead guilty to not having kept up with what parade takes place where. It would be a good thing to go to, and your story (congrats!) will have me researching my (missed) chances. 
Judith Van Neerland Dutch Shepherds 
