The weather outside was frightful but the weather inside was delightfully air-conditioned during a recent record heat-setting weekend. The fundays for Pets on Wheels (www.petsonwheels.org) at the State Fairgrounds in Timonium were howlingly successful and, even though the 7^th annual fundraising outdoor dog walk itself was cancelled, pledges still mounted for this worthy cause, along with the outside temperature! Steve Lesser garnered the most pledges and, for his efforts, won a canine portrait by local artist Sherry Kendall of Wagging Tail Portraits (www.waggingtailportraits.com)

People and their dogs stayed all day to eat (fresh lemonade and popcorn, canine ice-cream by Howard County’s own Tiki’s Playhouse [www.tikisplayhouse.com] and plenty of canine treats, even a beer wagon!), attend fun classes (Knitting with Dog Hair and Search And Rescue were two well-attended talks), watch the dog sport of Flyball hosted by Oriole Dog Training Club, receive a canine kiss at the Canine Kissing Booth (my personal favorite!), have a stylist dress their dogs (optional) for a professional photograph, and much more!

Three dog artists had booths as well as a professional dog photographer!

A working dog from the Department of Natural Resources, black Labrador Retriever “Bear,” demonstrated his life-saving skills for us. And during the ‘Sammy Spinning’ (Samoyed hair) presentation, humans tried out a real spinning wheel. Another Flyball competition will be held at the Howard County Fairgrounds on Halloween weekend, so stay tuned if you missed this new sport at the Pets on Wheels weekend.

Pets on Wheels has provided “friendly pet visits to help lick loneliness since 1982.“ Put the Pets on Wheels Weekend on your calendar for next summer (and the World of Pets weekend also at the state fairgrounds in January). I’ll see you and your dog there!