TheBanyanTree: the Danes

[Barbara Edlen]

Today we took the Danes with us to the "Greening Up the Mountains"
festival in Sylva, NC. 'Bout 30 minutes from our house.
http://www.downtownsylva.org/greening-up-the-mountains/

When we take our Great Danes with us to our closest city (Waynesville),
it's always a nice meandering stroll with the bonus of most every shop
being very dog friendly. At the Mast General Store they even ask
permission to offer dog treats and always encourage us to come back.
Another store puts out bowls of water for dogs to enjoy on a hot day.
Occasionally someone will ask to pet the dogs, but we're pretty much
allowed to do our own thing. It's the same scenario when we go hiking;
which is where we usually take the dogs when in public.

Geez, Louise! Not so in Sylva!!!! We must have talked to at *least* a
hundred people today. We could not walk 2 feet (literally) without being
stopped by someone asking to pet Cissy & Zeus, kids running up full of
wonder and curiosity with their apologizing parents trying to corral
them or someone inquiring about Great Dane rescue (since we always offer
that info if asked). And then there were the wonderful stories that so
many people had to tell......about another Dane that they either knew or
had known in the past and how much they love the breed. And the
compliments. Wow. If I ever needed a boost in morale, taking the Danes
to an event in Sylva would do it. <g>

Cissy loved the kids (which I knew from having taken her to my school),
but could take or leave the adults. She was polite, but not effusively
interested in them. Zeus was all about stealth sniffing for food.
He cracks me up. People *think* he's so friendly and affectionate. But
in reality he is sniffing for a possible treat and once he discerns
whether they are offering food or not, he politely turns away.

Even though I am outgoing and very affectionate with my students (and
their parents if they are receptive), I am otherwise very reserved and
don't like to be the center of attention. Today was not only totally
surprising, but a tad exhausting from constantly being "on". At one
point we even took a walk down an empty street just to have some respite
from all the people. They were all super sweet and so polite, don't get
me wrong. We just weren't expecting the deluge of constant attention.

As we were driving home, I got to thinking about the opportunity to
educate and encourage support for our rescue group and decided that we will
host a table/tent for Ruff Love next year. We work to help end pet
overpopulation, neglect and abandonment in our respective communities in
Western North Carolina, with specific focus on special needs Great Danes.

It still boggles my mind that we elicited so much attention. And it
continues to make me smile when I think about how polite and
friendly were all of the people we met today.