Party Pooches

As we can see from the frolicking buddies in this picture, the Sept 20 dog party was a big success. About 30 people and their pooches came to enjoy a mostly sunny afternoon of fun and food, and 3 of them took home some pretty nice raffle prizes.

In what is starting to look like a tradition, partygoers had to make their way past a very large wedding photography shoot, featuring what looked like 20 people on the bridge. Although at one point the photographer demanded that we move the party setup, it all turned out OK, although I think the wedding guests were a little discombobulated by the sight (and sound) of so many dogs. ;)

It was great to see so many old friends but also wonderful to see new faces, and it may be my imagination, but it looks like more people have been coming to the park on a daily basis since then.

And what about our goal of raising $400.00? We reached it!!! I met with Park Tech Drew Williams last Friday to hand over the money to the City. The disappointing news is that instead of paying for 2 signs, the City is now saying that it may not be giving us the same cost-sharing arrangement as they did for the first set of signs, which means that we'll only get one. Drew is talking to his boss on our behalf, and I hope to hear good news sometime this week. Keep your fingers crossed, folks! In any event, we're assured of getting one sign at the Labyrinth side of the off-leash area....and it may happen before the snow flies!

Once again, many thanks are in order, and I hope I remember everyone who contributed to the success of the event. I apologize in advance if I've left anyone out. It's just fantastic to see so much support for the project, and that so many people use and appreciate the off-leash area.

So big a thank-you (in no particular order...it's early & my brain is slow!)goes to the following people & pooches for their contributions, and to everyone else whose names I don't know, who made the party a big success:

Petr, Iva and Grizzly

Hedy, Shady & Tasha

Holly & Emily

John, Ursula & Tia

Paul, Jeannie, Jonathan, Gwendolyn & Meggie

Mitch, Gloria & Carmen

Enrique, Lynne & Guapo

Nevin, Marianne, Cody & Tegan

Astrid & Sammy

Leslie & Claire

Mary Jane, Bart & Luna

3 sleeps 'til the party!

Only 3 more sleeps until the dog party on Saturday! The weath

er forecast is excellent this time around, so it looks like we won't have to keep an eye out for tornados or hail like last time. ;) Thanks to Petr Cerny, we now have pictures of that party. 

This Saturday's fun starts at 4pm and goes until 6pm or whenever people and pooches are done. The potluck is shaping up, and the raffle is coming together. The raffle will have a basket of large dog treats, a basket for small dogs, and a special picnic basket for humans. All money will go towards completion of the signag

e project. 

What is the signage project, you ask? If you're a regular park user you'll have noticed the 2 beautiful off-leash signs - one posted at the bottom of the half-moon bridge and the other at the southeast corner of the off-leash area. These signs were the result of a partnership

between the King's Park Dog Association (KPDA) and the City of Winnipeg. Using a design submitted by the KPDA, the City created and installed the signs you see. The cost for ea

ch sign is 400.00, which the KPDA and the City split evenly.

With the publicity surrounding the unveiling of the newly refurbished Carol Shields Labyrinth, it's becoming more urgent to have good signage posted there so that both dog owners and park visitors don't find themselves in unpleasant situations. To complete the "set" and pay for 2 more signs, (the final one at the northeast off-leash corner) we need to raise $400.00.

Several dog owners and regular parkusers have already donated some funds, so we're close to paying for one sign already! The goal for Saturday's dog party is to raise the final $200.00. To help in the fundraising effort, the City has agreed that all donations $10.00 and over 

qualify for a tax receipt. 

Bring your dog(s) a chair, some munchies and spare change & we'll see you in King's Park on Saturday at 4!!

Dog Island

Imagine a place where dogs could roam free and live off the land, as nature intended. No leashes, no fences, no crates, no people, just canine bliss day after day. Welcome to Dog Island , the ultimate offleash park and a paradise on earth for our furry friends!

Too good (or too preposterous) to be true? In my work life I teach university students how to do research, and one of the areas I focus on is how to find and evaluate Internet content. People can be amazingly gullible, and there are a lot of sites out there which take advantage of that.

While some of those sites are designed to separate you from your money or credit, there are others which have been created just for fun. Dog Island is one of those. I'm not sure if it was created by dog lovers, or was designed to poke gentle fun at dog lovers, but it's definitely good for a chuckle. My particular favourite is their fundraising Empathy Leash , which comes with an explanatory T-shirt that reads "Yes, my dog is walking me..."

Need a smile today? Take a little trip to Dog Island http://www.thedogisland.com/index.html