Tales of the MS Walk, dogs and sit-down strikes

Thank you to everyone who supported me, Dave, and Loki & Thor in the MS Walk yesterday. We're really close to raising $1,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. We're at 90 percent of our goal - $900 - and hope to collect a few more donations after-the-fact.

It was a gorgeous day for the walk, sunny and about 63 degrees at the time.

While the humans enjoyed it, a certain team-leading dog, whom we shall call "Pokey" Loki, thought it was way too hot, and after valiantly walking the first 2.5 miles, decided to put in a few protest sit-down strikes during the last half-mile. Her strikes were always staged in a cool shady place, especially if she saw a long open sunny stretch coming up ahead. (If she could talk, Loki would say something to the effect of: You try walking in the sun wearing a long, black fur coat. Oh sure, Thor did it, but he's an idiot. No common sense. Plus I'm bigger. And all that pulling on the leash takes more energy.)

Don't worry. There were lots of water stops along the route. And lots of passing praise for Loki and Thor from other walkers.

Thor did really well on the walk. He didn't mind the crowd, as long as people weren't trying to pet him. The few times they tried, our friendly but shy Thor was able to skirt away and let Loki take the brunt of the attention. He proudly wore his "BARC'N for rescue" bandana (BARC, the Bernese Auction Rescue Coalition, is the rescue society we got him from), but Dave said a few people were confused by the bandana, thinking he was available for adoption.

After the walk, the dogs were rewarded with a fully airconditioned ride back home, with a stop at a local restaurant where the four of us ate lunch in the shady outdoor beer garden. Again, Loki & Thor earned lots of praise for laying so calmly at our feet. It helped that they had minimal energy left.

Shortly after noon when we got home, the dogs happily spent the rest of the day indoors, napping. The humans, on the other hand, had a few hours of yardwork to dig into.

Thank you again to those who supported us. Next year, we promise to get Loki off to an earlier start. Perhaps it will even be overcast and rainy.