On Sunday, August 12, the place to be for pooches and people alike will be the USSC Marina lawn for the 21st annual Dog Days of Summer. Make sure to come in costume because we kick the day off with a costume parade and prize for best-dressed dog (and it is really fun when the dog owner comes in a matching costume).
Contest registration begins at 11 a.m. and the events start at noon. Only $5 per dog (humans get in free) and all the proceeds will be donated to B.C. Guide Dog Services. Do your part by contributing to a great cause and have fun at the same time.
BC Guide Dog Services is a registered charity dedicated and committed to the development of the guide dog movement. It is a very successful organization committed to helping visually impaired people get valuable support dogs that will provide them with safety, independence and comfort. Their aim is to improve availability and increase level of service. Autism Support Dogs is a new sister organization aiming to provide professionally trained Autism Support Dogs for children with autism aged four to 10 years.
This year's Dog Days of Summer are sponsored by the Bowen Island Building Centre, Bowen Island Dog Ranch, Bowen Island Veterinary Services, Cormorant Marine, Dee Elliot Personal Real Estate Corporation for MacDonald Realty, Doc Morgan's Inn, First Credit Union, Korna Natural Pet Supplies Ltd., MIKSA Restaurant, Snug Cove General Store, T-Rex Excavating Inc.and the Union Steamship Co. Marina. We would like to thank these sponsors for their generous support.
Their sponsorship will help assure the success of Dog Days of Summer and benefit the B.C. Guide Dog Services. Formal training with professional trainers who teach the dogs how to guide a person who is blind, typically costs between $20,000 to $30,000 per canine.
We would also like to thank the businesses on Bowen Island that are providing us with prizes for our contest winners and prize raffle.
Please come down and join in the fun this Sunday, you do not have to bring a dog to participate. The contests are fun to watch, there will be a Triebball demonstration and Ducks and Dogs are back. The Bowen Island Brewery and Sysco foods will be sponsoring a beverage and food tent.
If you would like to participate as a volunteer, we'd be glad to have your help with contest registration, selling beverage and food tickets, running the raffle table, selling T-shirts, serving hot dogs, helping with the games and contests, taking photographs and handing out awards. Every volunteer will receive a Dog Days of Summer T-shirt and a hot dog lunch. Call Basia Lieske or Margaret Grey at 604-947-0707 ext. 2 or email [email protected].
Program of events:
11:00 Registration (on registration each dog can be measured for the following contests:
Longest ears
Longest tail / shortest tail
Smallest dog / largest dog
12:00 Opening ceremony and welcome by Bill Thornton (director, B.C. Guide Dog Services)
12:10 Costume parade and best costume judging
12:20 Hot dog bob race
12:35 Triebball demonstration.
Trieball is a new demo sport where dogs push exercise balls to a goal post where the handler stands.
1:00 Musical mats (for kids aged 13 and under)
Frisbee toss
1:20 Dog and ducks demonstration
1:40 Best trick
Dog owner look-alike (in front of the judges' table)
Peanut butter race
2:15 11-legged race
2:30 Dog of the Year presentation
Raffle prize draw
2:40 Ocean ball retrieve and drop in the bucket
(Dog Day finale at the beach - event involves swimming, retrieving a ball from the ocean, bringing it back and dropping it into a bucket. The more tennis balls you purchase from the registration desk, the more chances your dog has to win a cash prize).
