Roughly 60 people and their dogs gathered at a Wilsonville pumpkin farm for PDX Goldens’ annual Halloween meetup and costume contest. The group began with people hoping to meet Scout, a golden retriever whose free-hugs walks through downtown Portland attracted a large Instagram following. Scout died in 2021 at age 7 from a heart tumor; the gatherings now bring the community together without him.
How a Sign Around Scout's Neck Started It All
The group’s beginnings trace back to a sign Melissa Heinonen put on Scout more than 10 years before this year’s gathering, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Heinonen, who worked as an oncology nurse before staying home with her children, walked Scout through downtown Portland with the hand-lettered sign. Scout developed a signature move: nestling his nose between someone’s legs and leaning in for affection. Heinonen has said she never trained him to do it.
Scout became a certified therapy dog and volunteered with Heinonen, including appearances at stress-release clinics, per Portland Monthly. The OregonLive account says he was also invited to community gatherings, college campuses, assisted-living centers and weddings. He offered affection to people experiencing homelessness, a detail also reported by Woof Republic.
Public Appearances Beyond Portland
Scout’s public appearances ranged from a Travel Portland event at the Oregon Convention Center to a backstage visit at Keller Auditorium, where he collected hugs from the cast of The Sound of Music, according to the OregonLive report. He also traveled around the West Coast and visited landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, Multnomah Falls and Cannon Beach.
During the pandemic, Heinonen organized what she called Scout Hugs Venmo challenges, pooling followers’ small donations to help people in need, the OregonLive account states. Scout’s online audience had grown to more than 120,000 followers by the time of his Portland Monthly profile; Woof Republic later reported that he had 238,000 followers by the time he died.
From Online Following to Regular Meetups
PDX Goldens grew out of people who followed Scout on Instagram and wanted to meet him in person, according to OregonLive. Heinonen organized the first gathering at the beginning of 2016. Accounts differ slightly on its size: OregonLive describes roughly 10 dogs, while the Lake Oswego Review reported four owners and their dogs at the 1,000-acre Sandy River Delta dog park in Troutdale. The second gathering was at LexiDog in Lake Oswego. By December 2017, the group had held its 24th meetup, with crowds sometimes reaching 30 goldens or more, the Lake Oswego Review reported.
PDX Goldens now meets about every three months at dog-friendly locations around the Portland metro area and sometimes travels to places such as Cannon Beach and Oregon vineyards, OregonLive reports. Heinonen has said the meetups became a community of golden retriever lovers, and she has continued organizing them in Scout’s honor.
Pumpkins, Costumes and a New Dog by Her Side
This year's Halloween meetup and costume contest unfolded at Yesteryear Farm in Wilsonville on Sunday, where participants paraded their dogs around the farm before judges awarded honors to five dogs and their humans. Yesteryear Farm's fall hours run 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Sunday and 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, according to the OregonLive report.
Heinonen now has a new companion, Archie, whom she adopted through Golden Bond Retriever Rescue. Archie is a service dog trained to assist people with post-traumatic stress disorder, a role distinct from Scout's therapy-dog work but one that keeps a golden retriever by her side as she continues to lead the community her first dog inspired.
Therapy-Team Volunteering
For readers wondering how therapy-animal teams prepare to volunteer, Pet Partners says joining its program involves six steps, most of which can be completed online. That formal volunteer pathway is distinct from PDX Goldens’ community meetups.
