Humane Society - Savannah Morning News

My dog, Zoe, is nearing her 16th birthday, and nowadays, she goes for strolls. Her elongated sniffing pauses encourage even cows to come home. Once upon a time, though, she ran with me. The running has ceased and today, we simply walk.

Fortunately for Savannahians, we live in a dog-friendly, ?walking? city. We?re blessed with aesthetically pleasing landscapes where sidewalks are lined with mighty oaks dripping Spanish moss and azaleas paint city streets each spring.

?The purest joy can come from walks with our dogs.?

Might it be that those routine potty breaks offer an appreciation for life often unnoticed? When did you last stop to smell the flowers? It may have been while you were waiting as your canine chum marked the same spot he?s been tinkling on for eight years. No matter; you stopped.

Through the years, my dog-walking joy has evolved to include observing other dog lovers during their own outside adventures. You can learn so much by just watching a dog while he takes his walk. There are those that circumnavigate the puddle and those that splash straight through it. There are the beauties that prance as if their paws barely touch the ground and those that drag their people as if hauling a sled.

Before my time with the Humane Society, Mutt Strut, a fundraising dog walk, brought many avid walkers together for a circuit around Forsyth Park. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond its control forced the Humane Society to abandon the November event. Fortunately, over the past six years, The Dog Lovers? Walk at The Landings has grown into a major dog-walking event, extending its reach far beyond The Landings.

If you were a Mutt Strutter and would like to rekindle that spirit ? and help raise money for the pets and programs of the Humane Society ? mark your calendars and plan to join The Dog Lovers? Walk faithful on March 2. Come with your dog, or build a team and walk together. Come for just the fun of it, or get competitive and set up a fundraising page. There will be prizes for the top fundraising individuals and teams.

Of course, I?ll be there ... with Zoe, just one month shy of her 16th birthday on April 2. She will participate in another organized pack walk, or, in her case, saunter. It?s a cause she figuratively strolls for every day, the Humane Society cause ? re-homing shelter pets, one walk at a time.

For more about the seventh annual Dog Lovers? Walk at The Landings, go to www.firstgiving.com/hsgs or email me at efontes@humanesocietysav.org.

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Erin Fontes is volunteer and special programs coordinator for the Humane Society for Greater Savannah.

Source: http://savannahnow.com/accent/2013-01-10/humane-society-landings-dog-walk-takes-run-mutt-strut

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