Teddy Bear Surgery 2010

Each year, my hometown of Rock Hill, SC holds a welcome to Spring Come-See-Me Festival. Countless activities are held all across the city in a span of nearly two weeks. Each year, my employer hosts a Teddy Bear Surgery event for the kids at Glencairn Gardens. This year, 200 injured stuffed animals were handed out to kids that lined up. Each kid gets to sit down with a veterinarian and have their injured teddy bear sewn up. It's our way of contributing to the yearly festival. Being that my suit is finally completed as of FWA in March, I conjured up the idea of helping out with the event by wearing my suit. I was weary at first thought, but it seemed like a no-brainer to me. I have the suit, I've been inspired by Helping Pawz in BC to do public service work with my suit, so here's my opportunity!

I suited up for 30 minute increments Sunday afternoon from 2pm til 5pm. I think the adults showed more interest in Kane than the kids! The kids loved me of course. A few were shy and reluctant, but I'm a harmless big doggy and they warmed up to me. I have to say I had a lot of fun with it all. I'm pleased that it turned out well. I was nervous about keeping the suit clean since the event was held outdoors, but I managed to keep all the dirt off. I'm still getting used to being in suit and moving around and being 100% aware of my surroundings, so it was a learning experience for me as well. I've learned that kids like to hide under my muzzle next to my leg where I can't see them, but that's what handlers are for. I'm not sure what will be next for Kane, but I look forward to having more fun for sure!

Click Here for pictures!

I'm not very public with my lifestyle; you know, the somewhat taboo furry one, so this was a pretty big step for me in opening up to friends and coworkers. Obviously, there were lots of questions following the event. "Where did you get the dog costume?," "How did you get into that?," "What do you [furries] do?," "I want to see more pictures and other costumes!," and so forth. I think I've done well in explaining it all. A couple of coworkers were even interested in having art made or interested in having (theoretically, I presume) a suit of their own to go romping around in! It's been interesting to see how people have reacted to it, and I'm sure I'll get many more questions over time. I have to say that I am very pleased that no one has given me the glaring eye about being a furry. I can't control what people know and hear about the fandom, but I can do my best to represent it well and educate truthfully those wanting to learn about it.