The Basset Waddle!

Have you ever seen a Basset Waddle? I saw my first Basset Waddle at the Dwight Harvest Days Parade on Sunday, September 19th! It was the cutest! The dogs were heart wrenchingly adorable. The best thing about the parade was knowing many of these hounds are rescue dogs.

The event took place in Dwight, Illinois. Dwight is along the Route 66 Corridor. The Dwight Harvest Celebration is a fall festival celebration!

What is the Basset Waddle?

The waddle is bevy of Basset Hounds. Many hounds are dressed with hats decked out waddling down the street. They waddled in the Dwight Harvest Day’s Parade! This event brought joy and smiles to all watching the parade. The dogs led the floats and bands. They headed up the parade.

The Basset Hounds in part represented the Guardian Angel Basset Rescue Group. The group was started by Larry Little and his wife Emmie. “This is the 24th year of the Waddle,” Larry said in an interview for Senior News & Times.

“It has developed into quite a thing,” Larry said. Besides the Basset Waddle, over the four day Dwight Harvest Days event they also have a Basset Hound Bash. The Guardian Angel Basset Rescue is located at the edge of town. They have five fenced in acres. To date they have rescued over 5,000 hounds! During the Dwight Harvest Days event, they crowned a Basset King and Queen.

Basset Waddle 2021

Ashley Maskel of the rescue group said this year over 500 Basset Hounds came to the event. Not all were in the waddle though. “Fifty senior dogs stayed behind,” she said.

The day was quite hot. It was too much for some of the older senior hounds. The Basset Waddle Bob Ohlendorf of the Dwight Economic Alliance shared is not as long as the entire parade. It is too far for them to try to go. The parade route was lined with decorations. In fact, one decoration was even designed to look like a hound.

The Waddle King and Queen Ashley explained are selected because of their rescue stories. “Baylor was our Queen. she came from Louisiana. It was assumed that she was strangled. Both of her eyes were removed. The King Freddy was thought to be 14 or 16. But, he is only 8 or 9. He needs 24-7 care.”

Thankfully Freddy has a home. Ashley said his foster family adopted him. He lives in Hampshire where there is also a Guardian Angel Basset Rescue! “There in Hampshire Freddy is welcome in all the businesses in town,” Ashley said “Except the grocery store.”

Dwight Harvest Days

Besides the parade, there were vendors, music, tractors and more! Carol McGrath, a friend and neighbor traveled with me to the event. We enjoyed the food, the time checking out all things Dwight. The Basset Waddle caught my heart! This may have to be an annual event!

If you enjoy this, read all there is to see and do in Dwight!