Pit Bull Awareness Day 2011

Saturday was Pit Bull Awareness Day 2011, and we had perfect weather in Indianapolis for the event!

To celebrate, John and I took Cooper to Indy Pit Crew‘s annual march and festival. The event had a HUGE turnout, with over 200 dogs registered to march.

Not only was it a great way to show our support, it was also a great training opportunity for Cooper.

Overall, we were super proud. Despite being really overwhelmed at first, he came out of his shell after meeting a few dogs. He walked in between me and John, and he did his “watch me” almost perfectly, which helped immensely getting him through bottlenecks or past rambunctious dogs on the crowded walk.

The highlight, though? Cooper met one of his brothers! Like, not Emmett and Lucas, but an actual brother from his same litter!

His brother Brody – dressed as a hot dog for the costume contest – towered over Cooper. Brody was closer to Emmett’s size, and his people were really surprised to see what a pipsqueak Cooper is in person! Even though they look pretty different, you can totally see their relationship in their eyes. It was awesome to meet Brody’s people and see how happy one of Cooper’s littermates is. Brody is a very good boy!

At the end of the day, Cooper was wiped out. We visited the booths, met lots of people and dogs, marched in the parade… then Cooper crashed the second he got in the car, and he didn’t wake up until we pulled in our driveway over an hour later!

All in all, it was a great day! Thanks to Indy Pit Crew for their hard work and dedication. The event was a huge success with an amazing turnout!

To view the full Pit Bull Awareness Day 2011 album (with TONS more pics of adorable Cooper!), click on the Oh My Dog! Facebook album.