Olympia Pet Parade held last Saturday

Trish Lynn and Thom Donitz and friends

JOLT staff photo

Paws fur thoughts

Better than all the gold in the world, better than diamonds, better than pearls, better than any material thing, is the love of a dog and the joy that it brings.” ”

Laura Jaworski

The 92nd Annual Olympia Pet Parade was held again last Saturday, June 22 in downtown Olympia alongside LoveOly SummerFest activities. 

This year's Olympia Pet Parade was hosted by the Hands On Children’s Museum and sponsored by Olympia Veterinary Hospital. Prior to the pandemic, The Olympian newspaper was the event's main sponsor. 

We had the great pleasure of meeting people and their pets during the Pet Parade. Even people who were not in the parade but brought their pets down to give them some bonding time and fun, seemed to be part of the whole event, the first held since 2019. 

We didn’t get names of all the pets we took pictures of, but we talked to many and took pictures of some we weren’t able to talk with.  We visited with Bethann and her German Shepherd, Hazel. Bethann is a "sitter" who works through Rover.com, a service that matches pet owners with independent pet sitters whose backgrounds they screen and whose work they certify.

We talked with Neil out at the Yelm Prairie Days on the same day (a very busy day for us) and he was having his dog, KD, taken care of that day by another Rover.com sitter.  He told us he was very comfortable leaving KD with them.  

The German Shepherd is Hazel, her owner is Bethann.

We met Bruno, a two-and-a-half year-old Newfoundland who was quite the hit with people, a real gentle giant. Then there was Autumn, the cutest Mini Golden-doodle dressed as Wonder Woman.  Cosmo, a 14-year-old Dachshund riding in a wagon decorated in leaves.   

We met John and his two 12-year-old Schnauzers Buster and Boyster -- hope I spelled that right John --and Mickey (Ninja Poodle) who were dressed in identical Hawaiian outfits. There was Nugget, a one-and-a-half-year old Corgi enjoying the ride in a Radio Flyer wagon.  Of course, we need to mention the Family of Snails, mom, dad, daughter and three little sweetie snails.   

Must admit, one of our favorites was a Golden Retriever dressed as the Mayor of Munchkin City from the Wizard of Oz.  Accompanying the Mayor was one of the members of Muttz-K-Teers, Thurston County 4-H club.  The club is dedicated to teaching children to raise, train, groom, care and show their dogs.  (We wrote a paragraph about this worthwhile group in our story on the 2nd Annual Tumwater Dog Days as they were doing demonstrations.)

We saw a parrot, a little girl in the parade dressed as a turtle holding her real pet turtle, who came dressed with a red bow on his (or her?) shell. One little dog, dressed as Batman, brought his family, all dressed as superheroes.  It’s great when the whole family is involved in this celebration. 

Thom Donitz and Trish Lynn are neighbors and close friends who share their love of animals and wildlife. Trish and Thom are residents of Tumwater. Contact them at pets@theJOLTnews.com.