Chicago Part Two

Hobey's weekend began with his usual Saturday activity.  It started with outdoor play time with a few of his canine friends at The Dog Den.  After an hour, we moved inside for his last Puppy Socialization Class; he successfully graduated.  Then we "raced" home to finish packing for race weekend at Chicagoland.

Already tired, he slept through the three hour car ride to Joliet.  He was awakened briefly as we stopped at our hotel to drop off luggage.  As we walked to our room, he displayed a potential issue.  Walking past a couple rooms, he would start barking.  Not sure if his superior hearing noticed something that we did not.  Fortunately this behavior was not repeated throughout the rest of our visit.


At the race track, there was not much on track activity, but we did manage to test out his new Mutt Muffs.  They appeared to work.  We observed a practice session from the front row and his slumber wasn't disturbed by the noise.  The primary activity was a trackside party where Hobey was able to meet fellow spectators.  Our planning could have been improved with some puppy boots to protect Hobey's paws from the hot blacktop.  He didn't seem to mind, but it would have offered another level of protection.

Sunday, race day, was another long, hot day.  First, Hobey bordered a bus which took us to the infield.  We toured the pit area and visited victory lane.  While there qualifying began with cars loudly traveling around the track at 174 mph , we brought out the Mutt Muffs and used them as we walked around.

Hobey added to his meet/greet totals as we walked around the sponsor areas gathering as many freebies as we could before the race.  He met a few of the horses that were being used by security staff; he barked upon initially seeing them.

Although warm, the race presented an opportunity for our puppy to catch up on his nap time.  With 43 cars racing around the track, the sound is louder, so we actually put ear plugs in his ears before positioning the Mutt Muffs.