NewfStock Day Two: Main Event

After a busy, action-packed day like we'd had on Friday, we slept very well but still managed to drag our poor tired Newfie bodies out of bed so we could wake our people up at 7 a.m. for potty time walkies.

It's so important to keep to your regular routine when you are traveling. If you don't keep your people on a tight schedule, they can get cranky!

So anyway, we got up bright and early and the Mama threw on her incredibly attractive "sleeping bag" down jacket that goes all the way to her ankles, and a pair of waterproof shoes she'd bought the day before in Sandra's store, and then we dragged her out into the ankle-high, dew soaked grass of the large meadow behind the hotel and Pooka immediately commenced Operation Pee Everywhere that Any Other Dog Has Ever Peed, Ever. I, Nanook, commenced with a secondary and supportive operation, entitled, "Sniff Wildly and Circle Aimlessly Until the Perfect Poop Spot is Found."

In the distance we could hear a guy yelling, "excuse me!" and we all turned around. The Mama thought we were going to get in trouble for pottying there, because maybe the meadow didn't belong to the hotel after all. (OF COURSE she was picking up after us, but she thought maybe the guy yelling owned the neighboring property and didn't want large hairy dogs going to the bathroom on his grass, even if we WERE picking it up.) Instead it turned out it was the manager of the hotel. He said, "You can go ALL the way to the back, if you want, we own all of this! Go wherever you like!"

It was nice that we didn't get yelled at. Instead he was telling us that the entire world, as far as our noses could sniff, was our toilet.

We liked that guy immediately.

We ran into a bunch of other folks we knew, and their Newfs, in the hotel parking lot, and we all had a good sniff and speak.

Shortly after that we were off to Tim Horton's for our people's breakfast, (we tasted their sausage and egg breakfast sandwiches for quality control), and then back to the hotel for OUR breakfast, and then it was basically time for NewfStock to begin! We headed over to Millenium Park, (conveniently located right next to the hotel), to register and drop off the pledge money we had raised.

Right next to the registration tent were the "merchandise" and "art auction" tents. Guess who got into trouble at both of them? (Hint: they only have TWO legs...)

(Mama's Note: In our defense, who wouldn't want shirts that read:
"It's all fun and games until someone gets drooled on"
"Got Newf?"
or
"Have Newf, Will Travel: NewfStock, 2010"?)


(Mama's Note: And the artwork was lovely! We won the two pictures to the far right above - of the Landseer pup with a red stocking cap, and the Newf backpacking in snow, and also the stained glass piece that the lady in the black pants and green shirt is blocking)

Set up next to the art auction tent, right in the middle of the action, was Thunder and his humans, Emmie Lou and Ron. One of the best things about NewfStock was getting to see old friends, (Murphy and his mom Jen, Sandra and ALL of her pups, Peter and his Gander Bear & Christmas Belle, Patti and her Ozzy & Stevie, Tina and her crew, Judi and Joan and Tikka and Splash...

Here we met Thunder and his people:

(Thunder and his Papa - Ron)


(Thunder's Mama, Emmie Lou, giving Nanook pets.
In the back, in green, is Scarlet's Mama Sylvia.)

Thunder and his people drove ALL THE WAY FROM FREAKIN' FLORIDA to be at NewfStock!!!

And the OTHER great thing about NewfStock was making NEW friends!

(Pooka making eyes at Sulley's mum)

(We met Tug and Beau, and their people...these pictures are of Beau.
The Mama said she was catching Puppy Fever. I hope she doesn't give it to me.)








(Tug and his Mama)


(Beau and his Papa Eric, with me. Note my suspicious eyeball.)


(Beau got a lot of attention, and he was way too young to know how to properly appreciate a good Kid Mobbing. I, on the other hand, as a seasoned Newf, felt that the attention that was obviously my due was going sadly astray...)


(Hellooooooo...doesn't anyone want to pet ME?
READ MY FREAKING BIB!)


(Luckily this one little boy knew enough to pay his respects...)

We also met these guys above - their names are Black and White. Pooka took a shine to Black, and not in a good way. He attempted to make sweet love to Black's head on Friday night, while we were setting up the tents at the park. Black took exception to this in somewhat spectacular fashion, so what happened was - Black's dad was holding him back by the collar, and Pooka was up on his hind legs with his paws wrapped around Black's face, and the Papa was lifting Pooka bodily up into the air away from Black. But Pooka was NOT about to let go of his Kung Fu death grip on Black's head! Ha ha ha! He looked so determined! Not mad, just DETERMINED, to hang on.

Needless to say, the Papa won. So all of our pictures of Black and White from Saturday are at a distance! Hah!

(Peter testing that puppy's carting aptitude,
to see if the puppy liked it and was willing to do it.)


(Boum and Siyesha)


(Joan and Tikka taking a little girl for a ride...)


(Judi and Splash waiting for a customer...)


(We met Sully Without an E and his Mama, Emily)




(Pooka met LOTS of admirers...)

You may have noticed that Pooka's bib changes a lot in these pictures - the truth is, he soaked through FIVE bibs in the course of the afternoon! FIVE!!! He was really drooling. We had set up all our stuff over in a corner of the park, by a picnic table and a tree - and by the end of the day the tree was festooned with dripping bibs. If Dr. Seuss had seen it, he would have composed a story about the Bib Tree on the spot!

We marched in the Newf Friends Rescue parade - the event that we had raised pledges for! We don't have any good pictures of that because we were IN it. Sorry. Just picture us marching proudly, and looking handsome.

The BEST things about NewfStock was meeting new friends and seeing old again - but it was also awesome just to be among all Newf people! No one yelled "Ewwwwwww!" when they petted our chests or chins and got a handful of floogers. No one seemed upset when Pooka leaned on them and left big wet marks on their pants. No one minded the fur flying through the air. And EVERYONE expected there to be fur in the food!

(They didn't even charge for it!)


(Nom Nom Nom!)

Then, you guys, something totally insane happened.

I met...




MY MINI-ME!!!!

OH MY DOG!!! OH MY DOG!!! HE IS SO TINY!!! I COULD SQUISH HIM LIKE A BUG!

Mama, mama, seriously what is he? Is he a baby Newf? Like, two days old??? IF HE IS ONLY TWO DAYS OLD HE SHOULD BE HOME WITH HIS MAMA!!!

I AM FREAKING OUT!

But then the Mama told me that he wasn't a baby Newf after all. He was a mix puppy of some kind, she knows he was part spaniel, at least. And that it was okay that he was out away from his mama because he was a lot older than two days old. But you guys, I'm still worried about my Mini-me. If he stays that little he's going to get picked on. He needs a big strong...well...ME, to protect him.

We also posed for our formal portraits to be taken, for the 2011 Newf Friends Calendar!

We were the first dogs to have our portraits taken, and the photographer kept saying to the Mama, "wow, they're so well behaved. They're so good. They're so good..." because the Mama had taken off our leashes, and then posed us, and was standing by the photographer making us look at one camera and then another, and I wanted to go over to him and say, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY FREAKING PICTURES WE'VE HAD TO SIT STILL FOR IN OUR LIFETIMES, ALREADY?" Plus I wanted to point out that at least we didn't have to hold any stupid passports in our mouths for these pictures...but I couldn't break my sit.

They announced that the Papa had raised the most money of anyone for Newf Friends, and he got a prize! (It was a blanket. I have already drooled on it and thus claimed it for myself for snuggly time.) Thank you to everyone that supported our march - the money is going to a very good cause. Newf Friends has already rescued another six dogs, since Newf Stock - and they're bringing in another two this weekend. They wouldn't have been able to afford it without everyone's support. We really appreciate it, you guys.

And then there was the art auction, which we had to lie still for. But by then we were so tired we didn't mind. After we won art, it was time to go back to the hotel and have a nap because we were ALL exhausted. Then the people had dinner out in town, and Pooka and I had to stay in the car, which was boring. The Mama only vaguely redeemed herself by bringing us fish and chips in a doggie bag.

Then we went back to the hotel, and everyone was soooo sleepy, but the Mama had promised Murphy's mum Jen bottles of champagne because Murphy had nearly died like, 5 times, since the last time we'd seen them and the Mama said Jen deserved to get a little tipsy in celebration of his return to health. The Papa said it was almost 10 o'clock and everyone would be sleeping, and the Mama burst out laughing and said, "clearly you don't know Canadians..." and sure enough, when she went outside all the Canucks were sitting around with beers and glasses of wine and their Newfs sleeping on their feet.

Except for the two ladies who had come from Pennsylvania with a Newf named Chumley. He was a total spaz and kept stealing their socks and slippers and flinging them up into the air and pouncing on them. It was very exciting.

The Mama, the Papa, us, Tux, Beau and his people all hung out in the hotel lobby area drinking beer and eating candy and talking about what it is like to live with gigantic but gorgeous dogs, but after a while it became obvious that we were all going to have to head to our beds. Mostly because Pooka kept getting up, heaving himself slightly closer to the hotel room door, and then barking, pointedly, at all of us. "It's BEDTIME!!!" He did this every fifteen minutes, like clockwork, after he decided that we had been up too late. He's totally the Sleep Police, at home AND abroad.

So we went to bed, and that was the end of Saturday's festivities. You guys, NewfStock ROCKS.