Your friends at the Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) asked Mount Baker resident Tony to convey any May Day greetings that O'Doul the Collie wished to extend to his legion of fans, including, perhaps his friends at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
At present time, O'Doul has taken a hiatus from his weather-prognostication tasks. "He's not going to work (Saturday)," Tony said "He's going to take the day off and enjoy the nice weather."
The collie -- rough- and smooth-coated varieties -- was bred to herd livestock in Scotland. The American Kennel Club (AKC) classified the collie as a member of the Working Group until 1983. Then, in a year of newsworthy beginnings and endings -- the first flight of the Challenger (STS-6) space shuttle, signing of federal legislation designating the third Monday of January as a federal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., broadcast of the series finale of M*A*S*H* that drew 125 million viewers -- the AKC created the Herding Group. Members of the Working Group, including the collie, were classified in the herding category. Think of Major League Baseball (MLB) reconfiguring the American League (AL) West division in 1994 with the California Angels, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.
Regardless of AKC labels, Tony said, O'Doul identifies himself as a "working" dog. "He considers anything he does as working," Tony explained.
When asked of O'Doul's final thoughts, Tony offered, "Working dogs of the world unite."
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