[Dailydrool] DH's First Waddle Experience (sorry, long)

[Yolanda]

My husband and I attended our first Waddle in Michigan last weekend.  In order to appreciate this story, you need to know that my husband is not a "social" person.  He doesn't like long trips, he doesn't like being around crowds of people, he is hard-of-hearing (so lots of noise is irritating to him), and he is not someone who will start talking to people he doesn't know.  We started for downstate Michigan with a lot of strikes against his having a good time, right?

We had bought two 10-pound boxes of small Milk Bones to take with us.  We did not take Buddy "Da Holy Terrer uv Mishgun" with us because he is not at all socialized; he is almost three years old and the only dog he knows is our ten-year-old Harvey, so we decided to check out the Waddle first and then perhaps take Buddy the next time.  After kenneling Buddy and Harvey (who have never been kenneled before, but that's a whole other story), we headed out.  Feelings of guilt overpowered my husband and I was afraid that he might want to turn around, pick up the boys and just go back home.  But finally, almost four hours later, we got to the Howliday Inn in Southfield.

The first thing I did was fill up two gallon-sized bags with Milk Bones.  I explained to DH that he could not just go around handing out treats to every dog he saw; he would have to ask their families first if it was OK before he just popped the treats into waiting mouths.  We then set out to meet-and-greet houndies and humans alike.

That was pretty much the last time I saw DH for the entire weekend.  During the auction, we did sit together and he spent the evening smiling.  He watched all of the houndies like he was an excited rock band groupie.  I don't think he saw or heard too much, except for the Bassets.  The next day, we walked out of our room to the ballroom for the picnic; I caught occasional glimpses of him off-and-on as he circled the room and then went to sit by the ballroom entrance.  About four hours later, we went back to the room for a minute and guess what?  His entire bag of treats was gone!  So I once again filled up his bag and we went back to the picnic; I finally made him leave when he had once again run out of treats.  Sunday at the registration area went exactly the same way, except when his bag was gone, he stole mine off the chair where I had been sitting!

DH had the most wonderful weekend possible.  He smiled until I thought his face would crack.  He laughed out loud so many times that I had to keep looking to make sure it was actually him.  And he talked the whole way home about the dogs he had met and how much fun he'd had.  I am sorry that we didn't take Buddy, but we found out that it was the best decision, both for Buddy and for us.  However, I am so glad that my husband decided to go because he was happier than I have seen him in a long time.  After we got home Sunday night, he gave the few remaining treats to Buddy and Harvey.  Everybody was content and asleep shortly thereafter.

Yolanda Lyons  
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