Woofstock 2010

The farm girl hit the city on Saturday for my annual trek to the Big Smoke and Woofstock. I've never felt as comfortable or as happy as I do when attending Woofstock. A huge festival held in honour and joy of the dogs.

The twins and I travelled to Toronto on Saturday morning filled with excitement and apprehension at all the people and pets we'd meet. The streets were closed and the pavement is filled with dogs and happy human counterparts.

Gizmo and Taz slept fitfully as we passed through Burlington and Oakville without a single touch of the brakes. We didn't hit any traffic and only came to a halt on Lakeshore Rd to turn left onto Jarvis. I was heading for the underground parking garage just north of Front street in downtown.

I was nearly in a panic as I lined up with several other cars trapped in the underground garage searching for a space. After ten minutes of stop and go I spotted a pair of youngish girls and their dog piling into their car. I rolled the window down and asked if they were leaving. Yes. Yes they were! We had our spot. We waited and Taz barked excitedly at every puppy that was being loaded or unloaded.

I backed into the spot and started unloading. As I was putting the wheels on the stroller a lady pulled up beside me and asked if I wanted her parking permit – Could Woofstock get any better than free parking in Toronto? I was in for a good time.

My best pal Billy lives in Toronto and he met me at the corner of Jarvis and Front Street to begin our puppy adventure.

Gizmo was fearful, but curious and Taz was in her glory. She only barked at dogs that weighted at least one hundred and fifty pounds or more. She turned her pushed in little brown nose up at small dogs and would give a cursory “woof” to the labs and rotties. The great danes, mastiffs and other monster dogs were her favourites.

We tried to get Gizmo to walk, but he kept jumping into the stroller to watch from the safety of his bike carrier slash stroller. He felt safe and happy to ride protected from unintentional feet and intrusive noses. I had a few people make comments that a stroller for dogs was ridiculous or that my Gizmo was horribly spoiled. He deserves it. He deserves to ride warm and dry in his stroller and be able to enjoy the world. Until you walk a mile in their paws...

I had more people ask me where I got the stroller than negative comments. There were ten times as many strollers as last year and I was very comfortable walking around pushing Gizmo or leading my Princess Super Tassel Puppy Dog. I was a proud puppy mama.

Taz was delightful and full of her usual personality. She had enough personality to earn her the diva title which enabled her to have at least eight dress changes.

We found so many treasures and couldn't help but purchase a Sex in the City pink slicker complete with removable belt. Gizmo delighted in his “Born to Ride” leather studded jacked and varsity sweater. The outfits were at complete odds, but Gizmo made it work.

We stopped at lunch and I ate one of the worst pulled pork sandwiches of my life, but I was surrounded by lovely and wonderful dogs.

We did have some spotty rain, but we came prepared with raincoats (for all), an umbrella and the stroller had a rain shield. During the worse of the downpours we took shelter in one of the many concrete overhangs that litter the city.

The event ended at six and we took a brief break to enjoy a glass of wine and a beer at a local outdoor pub. The pups happily curled up in their stroller tucked under a soft fleece blanket. My smile was wide, my stroller loaded with puppies and packages and the adventure was not over.

I drove the ten minutes to Billy's apartment on the edge of Cabbagetown. We dragged everything up to the eleventh floor and collapsed joyfully on the couch with exhausted puppies at our feet. We went through our packages and recalled each adventure and purchase. We decided on thai food and waited to feed the twins until we went out to pick up the food.

On our way for food there was a homeless man who was yelling and ranting to nobody on the street. My sweet Princess Taz barked viciously at this man until he apologized for offended her delicate nature. Billy and I couldn't help but chuckle as the man had bowed and apologized to the eight pound blonde bombshell.

We watched movies, ate thai and drank wine. It was perfect.

In the morning we showered and headed to he beach to build picnic tables. Woofstock went on for another day, but unfortunately we had to cut the visit short to get ready for our big Engagement Celebration this Saturday.

After a gruelling weekend of navigating large crowds we were now building picnic tables at the beach; and Billy would finally learn how to work a chop saw.