Dog Days

Elvis → Vinyl → Nipper → Hound Dog Day

Hound Dog Day ~ August 23rd-ish

(Confession:  I made this one up, sort of. )

Back in high school I dated a guy – let’s call him Rick – for quite awhile.  Thirty years later, well… that’s another blog post for another time.

Anywho… back when we were in school, Rick was mildly obsessed with Elvis.  In a healthy way, but still.  Rick has a pretty awesome singing voice of his own, and he used to listen to Elvis All The Time, trying to emulate his tone and style.  It was sweet, and he was good.  But for my tastes, a little Elvis goes a long way.  (I’m more of a Boston/Journey kinda girl.)

The thing is, Rick and I met the year Elvis died, and so as each August came around, we would kind of marked the occasion in some way, and by the time we broke up, it had become permanently engraved on my personal inner-calendar.   The other thing is, Elvis died on my Dad’s birthday, but I have somehow psychologically completely separated the two events.  I never remember Elvis’s death until a week later, but I never forget it either.  So August 16th is always “Dad’s Birthday,” and over the years August 23rd-ish has become what I have come to think of as “Hound Dog Day.”

It’s an exercise in free-association.  When I think of Elvis, I think of records – old vinyl records, spinning round and round on the turntable in my basement.  And when I think old vinyl, I think of Nipper on the label, spinning along with them.  And when I put them all together – Elvis, vinyl, and Nipper – I get Hound Dog.  And when I think of Hound Dog, I think of Elvis again, and when I think of Elvis again, I think about a boy and a girl and a guitar on a white porch on a hot August evening, and it makes me smile a just little.

Prologue:  That boy… Rick?  I’m the part-time manager for his  band these days.  Life can be a very strange ride.   

National Dog Day – August 26th

If Hound Dog Day is just too out there for you, why not celebrate National Dog Day this Thursday?   The mission of National Dog Day is to honor dogs, and to rescue dogs from homelessness and abuse.

From the National Dog Day website:

“This day is intended to honor dogs for all that they do for us. In addition to giving love and companionship, dogs help us out in countless ways. They are watchdogs for our safety. They lead the blind. Dogs aid in search and rescue, and they seek out bombs and drugs.

The second goal of National Dog Day is to rescue dogs in need. On occasion, dogs need us to save them from homelessness and abuse. The goal of the National Dog Day foundation is to rescue 10,000 dogs a year. Lend a hand to help a dog in need today, or any day.”

I’m the proud owner of a rescued pooch.  I found Charlie four years ago, shivering in the rain and coughing up cigarette butts.  At the time, we already had a pretty robust menagerie at our house, and I never intended to keep him, but when no one reported him lost to any of the local shelters, I just couldn’t bring myself to give him up.  By then the kids had fallen for him anyway.   He looks like a giant version of Toto, digs up the yard like a fiend, and once tore a 12-inch hole in our couch.  My dear, patient, wonderful husband has spent days of his life repairing and dog-proofing our yard.  But despite all that, Charlie is really a great dog – he’s smart, funny, and loyal to a fault.  Moreover, he’s become a member of our family, and that’s reason enough to love him, and definitely something worth celebrating.

Click here for more information on National Dog Day.

National Dog Day was founded by Pet Lifestyle Expert & Animal Behaviorist “Colleen Paige,” and is sponsored by the Animal Miracle Network

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