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14 Sep 15

Dogs take over Splish Splash! ...

by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com

End of summer – pools close down, water parks drain their pools – but wait, why not open them to our DOGS?  I am starting to see this happen more often – last year was the first time I heard of a waterpark in New Jersey opening up to our canines for a fantastic romp in the pool – and I thought ‘what a great idea!’  I love it when people come up with new and creative ideas for our pups to enjoy (and us!).

I literally wrote down on a post it, put it in my calendar ‘Splish Splash evening swim for dogs – contact them next summer’ – but never actually contacted them (I am a bit busy here!). Then over the summer one of our members of American Pet Professionals Jodi Ekberg of The Husky Brothers – organized it for the Meetup Group the Empire State Snow Dog Club – and my dog Cody and I were lucky to get an invite.  Hey Cody is a wanna be husky as he is very, very vocal and makes some crazy sounding noises – and he can almost say momma!

"Hey you went in, was it cold?" haha

I was so happy when I heard from Jodi that she organized this (if you own a husky – you have to check out her page and go to one of her well organized events – they go all over!).  Since it was the first one that Splish Splash hosted and not my event to promote – (cause you know I wanted to!) – I was curious to see how it went, was run, etc.  And boy can I tell you it was very well done, the people that were there were responsible dog owners – and of course some good suggestions came of it for next year.

Cody swimming in one of the pools at Splish Splash!

If you’re dog is not dog friendly (be honest with yourself), or afraid of water/pools – it might not be something you want to attend with him.  Just like if you shouldn’t be heading to the dog park if your dog is not well socialized or is aggressive toward other dogs.

All the dogs were having so much fun!

Dogs and their owners enjoying a beautiful day at Splish Splash

All in all – it was a fabulous event – and Cody, just like a little kid did NOT want to leave! He dragged me back to one of the pools for a final dip (dogs are crazy smart aren’t they!)

Another cool aquatic dog event I saw was New Hyde Park pool had a doggie swim for residents.   I have been seeing this happen more and more across the country where public town pools are having doggie swims before they drain the pools. What a great idea for the town to make some extra revenue before they shut down for the season.  OR a great idea for the town to host a fundraising event for their local animal shelter.   Just think if every city, town and village pool did this across Long Island for one day – how much moola could be raised – and how many happy dogs there would be.  I bet even some dogs could be adopted if they held them in conjunction with an adopt-a-thon.  Anyone getting good ideas?

Ok, you have a year to plan!  To see a TON of pictures from the event, CLICK HERE!

What a beauty, look at those eyes!

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