I feel a disco song coming on...

A week ago this past Saturday, Alice, the Human Male, and I went to a dog wash fundraiser at Fur-Get Me Not, Alice’s dog school. The event was to benefit Homeward Trails, an animal rescue group here in the DC area. We didn’t know about Homeward Trails when we were looking for Alice, but since we’ve gotten her, we’ve learned they’re extremely active in the area—Yappy Hours at local restaurants and bars, a store and LaundroMutt, and regular adoption events (in fact, we went over to the Dog Store afterwards and Homeward Trails was doing an event there later in the afternoon). A number of people we’ve met have gotten their pets there, too.

It started at 9A, and by the time they got there at 9:20, there were about a dozen dogs signed up already. We spent maybe 5 minutes or so hanging out in the lobby, where we met Bernie, a loveable lug of a dog (who I believe might also be a Homeward Trails success story). If he wasn’t there with his owner, I absolutely would’ve taken him home. He was some kind of big mix with German Shepherd somewhere along the line, with funny ears and a concerned look on his face. He was precious. I bent down to pet him, and he came in for a snuggle. It was pretty funny—when he did that, Alice felt the need to come over and huff at him. It cracks me up when that little goofy puggle thinks she needs to act tough.

Alice and Bernie were taken out back at the same time, where there were about nine to twelve volunteers, towels, and hoses. Let me tell you, they were some of the cheeriest, kindest people I’ve ever met at 9A on a Saturday—and not a drop of caffeine in sight. I talked to one of the washers who’d gotten her dog from Homeward Trails and was giving back—I think it was an instance of people who are truly passionate about and dedicated to the organization. So wonderful! Too bad you can’t heat that up and pour it into a cup.

Not only did they treat Alice like gold, we brought a couple towel donations along (I’m still fixated on donating them), and they treated us like we were Ed McMahon’s people dropping off a giant check.

Alice came out clean, shiny, and fluffy (whatever soap they used was great), and I thought it was pretty cool to watch a couple of rescue dogs help other ones like them. I’m sure that they’d probably prefer to help in other ways than get a bath, but still.

One thing in particular cracked me up. FGMN is located near a Jiffy Lube and car wash. It didn’t quite register at first, but I realized that the dogs and the cars were getting the same kind of scrub-down. It was like a multi-tasking clean freak’s dream.

(In an interesting twist, I found out later in the week that there are actually places that cater to both in real life. Who knew?)