The Doggie Easter Egg Hunt is an annual event where hundreds of dogs congregate in Savannah for an afternoon of fun in the sun. Erin's tail moves a million miles a hour as she greets old and new friends alike while her freckled nose remains on sensory overload from the multitude of scents. Many dogs are dressed in their Sunday best...Bonnets dresses, ribbons, jewelry and pink bunny ears are donned in an effort to catch the judges attention and ultimately claim the best bonnet award but I simply refuse to humiliate Erin in this manner.
Vendors hawking pet-related goods and services plus several pet adoption agencies with available dogs line the north side of the park and the animals are too cute to just ignore. Erin sticks her snout through the wire pens openings to say hello and becomes really excited when yelping youngsters are lifted up for closer examination. As glammed up dogs stream into a roped off area for the bonnet competition I lead Erin to the egg hunt starting point where we could get a paw up on the other pooches. Plastic Easter eggs filled with dog treats have been scattered across the field and are available on a first-come first-serve basis; it was my intention to gather as many eggs as possible in the short time allotted.
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The crowd swells behind us with every passing minute until the moment arrives...The countdown begins then the human/canine wave is released with Erin and I leading the charge. Festive colored eggs in our path are scooped up and tossed into a plastic bag, fallen leaves and Spanish moss are overturned in an effort to locate the treat-laden eggs. Young boys without dogs sprint pass us and snatch up eggs in a frenzy while my eyes dart from side to side looking for a splash of color. On the move an egg is cracked open and without breaking stride the treat is handed to Erin; this certainly got her attention and needless to say her enthusiasm for finding eggs increased. The number of captured eggs steadily rose the further we ventured out, I hear the winded boys ranting something about finding golden eggs which contain extra treats thus my attention turns to locating one. A golden egg is eventually found and tossed into the bag with the others thus our mission is complete.
Back at the starting point folks discuss their haul while dogs anxiously await their rewards; Erin is weaved through the crowd to an isolated bed of clover where we inspect the spoils of our victory. The bag is bulging with dozens and dozens of eggs and I'm giddy at the amount we were able to collect. I kneel down and slowly crack open the eggs one by one...The treats are fed to Erin while the plastic shells are heaped into a discard pile. Hypnotized she refuses to take her eyes off my hand for fear of missing out on something delicious and believe me she got her share before we headed home where the remainder were consumed over the next week. It was a magical fun day with my best friend and a time that I'll always fondly remember!!
Unbeknownst to me a photographer was snapping photos of the days events and captured the endearing images above.
Our Golden Egg
P.S. Cody enjoyed his first Easter Egg hunt last weekend
