Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort Pet Parade

Hi "Y'all" -- Dianne here. (I'm starting to feel like a Texan.) You know that I would NOT pass up a pet parade!

I'll warn my very few friends who are not dog lovers, that this blog will not have much for you!

This blog is mainly photos of the annual pet parade, which was held today at Bentsen Palm Village RV resort, where we are spending the winter. The purpose of the pet parade (other than fun) is to benefit Cinderella's Pet Rescue, the local no-kill pet shelter. Many of the Bentsen Palm Village winter residents volunteer their time at the shelter every year while vacationing down here. I haven't learned how to make a clickable link on blogger yet, but if you want more information on Cinderella Pet Rescue, their web site is http://www.cinderella-pet-rescue.org/main.html?src=%2F if you want to copy and paste it.

There were lots of people and dogs participating in the parade.

Those few who didn't participate brought lawn chairs and gathered around the circle to watch us parade slowly past. We circled twice around so that they could decide who they wanted to "vote" for (for a price.) Folks were encouraged to stuff the ballot box, since it's all for a good cause.

Roger and I didn't spend much time on costumes like some of the veterans did, but we knew it would be fun to see Jasper & Chaplin's dog park friends dressed in clever costumes.

My

favorite costume of the day was a Pittsburgh Steeler cheerleader, complete with pompoms on her front paws! She won second place. My boys couldn't resist flirting with the cheerleader!

(First place was won by the pair

of Yorkies, who had a large donation credited to their voting block).

There were dogs of all shapes, breeds, and sizes in the parade.

The largest was Jasper's good friend "Bud," an Anatolian Shepherd.

Bud is a gentle giant, who looks more like a big bear than a dog.

The smallest was a Pomeranian puppy dressed in Texas Longhorn gear (to match his mom).

Other dog park buddies who participated in the parade were our

neighbor's Italian Spinones, "Dharma" and "Greg."

They are as spoiled as our two whippets. As you can see from my favorite photo of the day, Dharma finally decided she'd had enough of the nonsense! I think this photo is worth a click to get a larger view!

This beautiful white powder puff

of a dog is a Japanese Spitz, another dog park regular, named "Chula." Chula was adopted in Mexico by one of the RV park residents. She's a beautiful pup and loves to run from her dad when she knows he's ready to leave the dog park (he's still working on that!)

"Taz" came dressed appropriately (his full name is Tasmanian Devil).

Taz is a Schipperke, and really is a live-wire at the dog park.

As you can see, all that canine meeting and greeting made

Jasper and Chaplin ready for their afternoon nap.

All the dogs got along well, with no skirmishes; just lots of sniffing to "check credentials."

I'll leave you with more photos of what some might term "clever," and others "canine abuse!"