Denby Dog’s Olympic Adventure!

Guest post by Caryl Bahner-Guhin
Exclusive to The Daily Corgi

Hi all! Caryl back with another guest post here at the Daily Corgi. Many of you may remember Denby Dog and his Dog of the Day post in October, 2013. Recently, there was a fundraiser auction to help with Denby’s ongoing medical bills. I was the lucky high bidder on Denby Stuffy #9.

Denby’s Mum Denise made ten of these adorable Stuffys in 2013. Soon after the auction, a box arrived addressed to “Team Denby.” There were multiple goodies inside, and my heart melted when I saw my Denby Stuffy.

Denise asked me if I would be willing to take Denby Stuffy #9 somewhere and take a picture for her. She wanted the Stuffys to do all the things Denby never would. I cried at the thought and told her yes. And thus, Denby’s Olympic Adventure was born.

I live about forty-five minutes from Lake Placid, New York. My Mum and Da went to the 1980 Olympics as part of the press. And yes, they saw the Miracle On Ice happen. So on Saturday March 22, 2014, my husband Sean and I packed up our three Corgis, Hunter, Pippin, and Tanner, and headed out. Denby Stuffy #9 got his first taste of snow! There’s been a lot of it this year …
 

Our first stop was Whiteface Mountain, where all the downhill skiing took place at the 1932 and 1980 Olympics.
 

 
It was snowing like crazy, but Denby Stuffy #9 got to see the trails, even though the top of the mountain was enveloped in snow.

No visit to Lake Placid is complete without visiting the hockey rink where The Miracle on Ice took place in 1980, when the U.S. men’s hockey team beat Russia to take the gold. Denby Stuffy #9 was proud to be in that storied venue.

When he spied the Zamboni prepping the ice, he so wanted a ride, but they wouldn’t let him.
 

And he saw the banner for the Miracle on Ice. That seems so appropriate, since Denby makes me believe in miracles.

He saw pictures of some of the legends from the Olympics.
 

Denby Stuffy #9 read about the game in the display outside.
 

 
We took a picture of him in the Lake Placid snow. Believe it or not, they have snow at this sign year-round — even in the summer!

 
Denby Stuffy #9 saw the entrance to the hockey rink that was used in 1932.

He insisted we take his picture with the bobsled inside the building. Lots of people stopped and asked what we were doing, since they had seen us at the hockey rink and outside. We told Denby’s story over and over, and people were amazed because they saw Denby Dog himself in the picture Cindi included with the package.
 

He posed with all the flags flying in the wind.

We finished our Olympic tour at Mount Van Hovenburg, the site of biathlon, cross-country skiing, the luge, the skeleton, and the bobsled run!

It was snowing harder than ever.

And he wanted his picture taken with the posters for the 1980 Winter Olympics! Naturally.

Did you know you can take an actual bobsled ride there? They were sold out for the day, but Denby wanted to be a part of it all, so he posed for us on one of the sleds from 1980.