Bowen Islanders of the two-legged and four-legged variety: meet Moguly, the 2011 Dog of the Year.
Moguly will be honoured at the USSC annual Dog Days of Summer event, this Sunday August 7. He has also been asked to ride in the Bowfest Parade.
Here's a copy of his nomination, which shows why Moguly is such a worthy recipient of this year's title.
You can also check him out on Facebook under Moguly Culver.
PAMELA CULVER
Bowen Island
Moguly is a very special dog. He is a Newfie/Retriever who we rescued from the SPCA as a puppy. He is very old, especially for a big dog. He is almost 100 in dog years, although we believe that he is actually around 114.
He is a nanny dog and has looked after our six children on the water, on the snow, and on the road.
He used to lie in the middle of Melmore Rd at the intersection, with his feet in the air, suntanning himself; vehicles had to drive around him. He rode the school bus with his charges, and has taken solitary ferry rides from time to time.
He spent many summers swimming around our bay making sure that our children didn't run into any trouble out on the water; he swam out to save my friend, Jennifer, when she was having an asthma attack in the middle of our bay. (He recognized that she was in trouble, ran down the beach and then swam out to her where she was hanging onto a buoy and then presented himself for her to hang on to him to get back to shore).
He loves to go to the tennis courts and visit with all the children (and adults) who have known him all their lives. He can balance treats on his nose until he is allowed to throw them in the air and catch them.
His hips are kind of sore these days and he doesn't "do stairs" very well; it takes him a long time to sit down and get back up. Although he seems to go on and on, we know that he can't live forever. But he's here now and very happy about it.
We need to celebrate Moguly while he's still here to celebrate with us.
