The Santa Barbara Poodle Parade

The 17th annual Santa Barbara French Festival was a tres bon party this year, with the Poodle Parade on Sunday afternoon drawing oohs and aahs all around. Even for some entrants who, according to the Santa Barbara News-Press, appeared to be somewhat less than poodle-ish.

That hulking 100+ pound Burmese Mountain Dog named Gunther didn’t fool very many parade attendees, despite his French racing cap or the fact that he was pulling a cartload of four toy poodles in the parade. Nor did Alan Fay’s Chihuahua named de Gaulle. Last year Fay entered his Doberman named Fifi, so he obviously believes his canines are French ‘enough’ to pass muster. That Chihuahua’s got “a lot of de Gaulle to get in this parade,” Fay joked. Joking has quite a bit to do with the Poodle Parade. It’s all in good fun.

“They say poodles are supposed to be smart,” said Allen Harrison of Burbank of a certain Winslow [a genuine poodle]. “But he made several mistakes on my income taxes.”

In the end there was general agreement that this year’s Poodle Parade was no more or less hilarious than any of the past parades. “To me, it was all just one endless stream of canine topiary,” remarked emcee and director Steve Hoegerman.

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