Photo By Sgt. Apryl Bowman | A pet owner prepares to make his dog do a trick at the third annual Doggy Swim day...... read more read more
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The event made a good turnout, bringing about 120 dogs to enjoy the end of summer of splash.
“This is the end of summer party but for dogs only,” said Sarrah Morgan a marketing assistant for the Morale, Welfare and Recreation(MWR). “Kids open up the summer and the dogs close it out. This is a day where you get to focus on your pet and best thing about it is, when it’s over you take them home and they’re exhausted.”
During the event, there were three contests which included: best dog trick, best dressed dog and best dog and owner look alike.
“The contests are cool and it gets people entertained,” said Morgan. “Each winner gets a dog-themed prize for their dog.”
The MWR partners with the Community Pool to make this event successful every year.
“We are a marketing office and we don’t really facilitate events, but we saw a need in our community,” said Morgan. “Marketing and special events partnered with Aquatics and we got this event going.”
It all began, said Morgan, because the Fort Bliss community didn’t have any events where dogs could come and swim. This type of event only happened at the local city swimming pools of El Paso.
“I’ve always gone to the city’s Doggy Swim Day and I figured why don’t we just do one here,” said Morgan.
“When I heard about this event I was really surprised, because most of the dog events happen off post,” said David Ortega, a pet owner at the event. “I think it’s great that we can have an event that is just for dogs on post. No one is getting hurt and everyone is just having fun. It’s definitely an event we’ll be returning to.”
To plan the event, the MWR used their marketing channels such as: Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and posted event fliers to help spread the word fast, said Morgan.
The cost for the event was $2 for dogs and pet owners got in free. The requirements for participation are for each dog to be up-to-date on vaccinations and the dogs had to be neutered as well.
Though the event was mostly for dogs, their owners could get in the pool with them if the individuals were 18 or older.
“We, as MWR, safety is our number one priority,” said Morgan. “We don’t allow in children five and younger, because it’s an event for dogs. If a family brings their children as well as their dogs, maybe they are not paying attention to their pet and that’s the point of this event. if your child got bit or pushed into the pool we would be completely devastated and we don’t want that to happen. We just want everyone to be safe.”
The event happens once a year at the end of the season before the pool is drained and thoroughly cleaned.
“They are going to drain and clean the pools anyway, so why not let the dogs use them,” said Morgan. “Once the dogs are out, the cleaning begins to get the pool ready for next summer.”
Doggy Swim Day is expected to be a continuous end of summer success for the Fort Bliss community as pet owners look forward to the event.
The MWR really wants to get all dog owners in the Fort Bliss Community to come out and participate in the event.
“We hope people come out and enjoy this event next year,” said Morgan. “It’s one day out of the year where people can devote a couple of hours to their pets. It makes me so happy seeing people out here just enjoying the day with their pets.”
| Date Taken: | 09.23.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2017 01:17 |
| Story ID: | 249818 |
| Location: | EL PASO , TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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