PON Stories
Move Over Lewis and Clark (or Bronze Does Seattle)
In hope of reducing the number of AKC judges in the ring who say, "This is the first PON I have seen", Bronze went to an AKC Judges' Seminar in Seattle to show the judges what a real PON looks like and to get as many free rubdowns as possible. He also wanted to take in the city while in Seattle for the Judges' Seminar. He now lives in Phoenix, and Seattle proved to be a wonderful place with all types of new smells to explore (there might be a blade or two of grass and a tree that he missed, but not much else).
Bronze's grandpa and grandma came to see him - they had not seen him since he was eight weeks old - and to take him on a tour of Seattle on Saturday while his PON-mom was busy.
After a dinner in his honor at his grandma's cousin's home the night before (where he met some new furry friends and some new human friends), Bronze kicked-off his Pet Me Seattle Tour of 2003 at the Space Needle and then moved on to his next stop at the Seattle Center, where he drew a larger crowd than he had at the Space Needle. In order to prevent all of the color from being rubbed off of him, he next took a ride on the Monorail and went downtown to visit the original Starbucks. He just didn't understand the big fuss over brown liquid in a cup; he much prefers the whipped cream that some humans use to cover up that brown liquid, and - as the canine Good Samaritan he is - he offered to get it out of the way for many friendly people.
There were several distant canine cousins downtown, and he greeted them one and all with a big smile. Never one to neglect duty, Bronze had the opportunity to inspect a lot of neat little markets along the waterfront. But all work and no play makes a dull boy, and he found time to play his favorite game - the Guess What I Am? game - with everyone he met; he managed to stump every player, as not a single challenger came up with the correct guess as to his breed. He wanted to charge one treat per contestant and two if they were wrong, but Grandpa nixed that idea (mumbling something about having to be slim and trim for the judges).
Bronze caught word on the street of a place called the Pike Street Market where some funny humans threw a lot of smelly fish around, and he needed to find out if they caught them in their mouths like frisbees. The gang crossed the street and went into this really busy place where he received thousands of free rubdowns by passers-by. Sure enough, there were flying fish all over the place, but the peculiar humans did not catch them in their mouths; instead they threw them across the room and stuffed them in bags, then one human would take them away with a smile on his or her face (humans are so weird).
Bronze walked a long way down the market, stopping every five or six feet to let some strange human give him a free rubdown (oh the humanity!) and to play Name-That-Breed. He found some carrots at one of the little shops in the market and coaxed Grandpa into buying him a bag of baby carrots to give to him as treats (aren't grandpuprents great?). Upon seeing Bronze gobble down the baby carrots, the humans all wanted a chance to give him one as a treat, and - of course - Grandpa conceded. By the end of the walk, Grandpa's bag was half empty and Bronze had a huge orange smile on this face. Humans are strange: they eat carrots, so why can't a PON also enjoy them? Bronze is also a fantastic Chick Magnet; every pretty human wanted to take him home and Grandpa wanted to go and chaperone, but Grandma said it was a health hazard, mumbling something about an ambulance.
At the end of the long open market with the smelly flying fish, Bronze found a neat little park with a Totem Pole right on the waterfront. He had to go check out the Totem Pole and find out who among his canine relatives had stopped by earlier to leave messages for him. There were also some neat rocks and grass to smell - in fact, this place was just full of new smells he didn't have back in Phoenix - and he will have many fun memories of Seattle filed in his nose.
After his day at the massage parlor called Seattle (the two people in Seattle who didn't get to pet Bronze are both in intensive care), Bronze got back on the Monorail and went back to the Space Needle to find the four-wheeled thing he rode to the park so he could get back to his Grandpuprents' room for some much-needed rest before his Sunday show. But he made one final stop on the way home to see another piece of history (other than himself), the British Airways' Concorde, parked at the Flight Museum. (Grandpa flew on it more than anyone else - 244 times. He would have taken that bird, gone to do London next, and conquered Crufts, but that will have to be another story).
Bronze overheard Grandma say to Grandpa, "If someone had told me four years ago that I would be planning my next vehicle around the room we'd need for our three PONs and that I'd be taking trips across the country to see one of our pups, there would be one of those funny white jackets with buttons in the back involved!"
Bronze was a delight to take on a tour of the city and it was a beautiful weekend (with NO RAIN on Saturday during Bronze's siege on Seattle) where many wonderful memories for everyone were made (although not all of us are filing them in our noses).
Bill and Linder Gilchrist
Boris, Natasha and BeBe
Pompano Beach, Florida
Bronze is also known as Premier's BronzeHeart (age 8 months)
Owned By: Carol Anne Kriesel
All images and content copyright 2005 Premier PONS. All rights reserved.