Dog Day Afternoon 2011

On the 30th of July the dogs and I went to the Hazeldale Dog Park annual fundraiser, Dog Day Afternoon. Wow do these guys put on a great event. They always have common performance sports on hand - X-Fidos, UFO disc dogs, a rally obedience course, Canine Good Citizen program and testing, our JAG Agility Group, and much more.  Local businesses were also present to sell, socialize, and contribute: Pup-a-razzi, Petutopia; non-profit organizations such as Animal Aid. People come out en mass from the pet community to support this dog park community. Hazeldale Dog Park is the oldest dog park in the area, and for many years was the only one on the west side of Portland. They also are self-funded...that is, they have to lease the land and provide all their own amenities (water, waste pickup bags, etc.).

Their raffle was amazing as was the host of activities they put together including contests. In fact, Vegas participated in several contests. You could say she was a hit....

We'd already run a couple of times on the agility course and it was mid-day at this point so things were heating up. It must have been low 80s and for a black dog, it might as well be 100. Plus I jumped into this spur of the moment so did it all on the fly. Nonetheless, third place isn't bad!

She'd had a bath that week and was particularly shiny...of course she normally is; it's just a sign of a healthy dog. She placed again, first this time.

The Best Kisser competition was a bit tricky. I *thought* they had someone else that was going to offer up their face to be kissed clean. Oops! Turns out the individual owners had to let their dog kiss them. Ew! Vegas was all too thrilled to be given permission from me and took liberties with a little chin nibble, too. Alas, she scored with a first place again!

Not only did they give certificates for each placement, they were sweet enough to have goody bags plus allowed us to choose a toy.

Both dogs thoroughly enjoyed their "spoils." In fact, the turtle already lost his head and had to go to stuffy heaven. The shark is still a favorite for V. All in all, a great way to spend a summer day and for a great cause.