Spring Training

So with the mild weather this past weekend, Roger and I decided to get a jump on our spring training to start gearing up for this year's Hike-a-Thon to raise money for Dog Scouts of America. Last year we raised $450 and came in fourth place nationally in our fundraising efforts. We hope to top that number this year with help from Pappy John and his four-legged friend Jasper. They were the real catalyst in getting our butts out to walk. Pappy just finished his first full round of radiation and chemotherapy, so Jasper thought that taking him for a walk at South Middleton Park would be a great way to celebrate.

Four dogs waiting in line to "water" the fire hydrant

In addition to logging 3-miles under our collars, Roger also collected 3 stray piles of the required 50 piles of poo towards his Clean Up America Dog Scout Badge. Rather than use up all our Bags on Board during this walk, next trip we'll be taking a poop scooper because it's obvious that many dogs walk their irresponsible owners along the pedestrian path of this lovely park laid out by Boy Scouts. What a shame!

Clean Up America Badge

It's a good thing that we didn't witness any of these inconsiderate folks in action or else Mom would have walked up to them and asked them if they needed a bag to cleanup after their four-legged friend. Believe me, Mom is not afraid to get on her soap box and lecture irresponsible pet owners, who make it "ruff" for those of us who do care about the environment and cleaning up.


As a matter of fact, she did very politely explain to an owner of a 4-year-old boxer the benefits of spaying and neutering. I fear that if we run into too many more unaltered dogs at the park, Mom is going to have the phrase "Don't litter. Spay and neuter your pets!" embroidered on to my Dog Scout uniform.

Another reason to make sure that I am in tip-top shape is because I am tentatively on the schedule to lead several 3-mile hikes at Troop 161's Blue Ridge Mini Camp which will be held in Swanton, Maryland in August. For more information about camp, please check out our Troop's Blue Ridge Dog Scout Mini Camp blog.