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It has been a long-running joke in Christi Tapella’s neighborhood that she and her red-blonde cocker spaniel, Misty, look alike. And after walking away Sunday with a blue ribbon proudly hanging off Misty’s collar, the three judges at the Blue Springs’ Pooches on the Parkway dog and owner look-alike contest would have to concur.
“It’s the hair,” Tapella said, laughing as she leaned over the temporary fence where an off-leash dog area was placed for the day. “When we adopted her, her name was actually Kristy as well. But we had to change it because we couldn’t have two Kristys in the house.”
Tapella and Misty, with their identical colored locks, were among hundreds of dogs and their owners to attend the fourth annual Pooches on the Parkway event at Wilbur Young Park on Sunday. The event, sponsored by Blue Springs Parks and Recreation and R.U.F.F., is held annually to raise funds for the off-leash dog park located just off Adam’s Dairy Parkway. The main fundraiser of the day was a dog walk, which included a one, two and three-mile walk for dogs and their owners.
R.U.F.F., Responsible Unleashed Fun for Fido, was formally organized in June 2005 with the goal of providing an off-leash dog park in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Department in Blue Springs. With that goal accomplished in August 2007, the group is now focused on raising funds for additional amenities for the park.
Lori Glover, a member of the Pooches on the Parkway committee, said some of the amenities wanted for the park include fencing for a small dog area, more benches, a light for the parking lot, and fencing for the back side of the pond.
“We want to make the park more fun for dogs and people,” she said, noting that she is still surprised so many people do not know the park even exists, and hopes the event will help raise awareness.
The fenced dog park currently includes benches, a water fountain, a wash-off station and an enclosed pond.
Around 700 people, 33 vendors and 12 rescue dog units were in attendance at Sunday’s event, according to Pam Buck, superintendent of recreation at the Blue Springs Parks and Recreation department.
The events of the day included the look-alike contest, a dog trick contest, agility course, sheep herding demonstration, and a demonstration by the Missouri Search and Rescue K-9 unit.
It has been a long-running joke in Christi Tapella’s neighborhood that she and her red-blonde cocker spaniel, Misty, look alike. And after walking away Sunday with a blue ribbon proudly hanging off Misty’s collar, the three judges at the Blue Springs’ Pooches on the Parkway dog and owner look-alike contest would have to concur.
“It’s the hair,” Tapella said, laughing as she leaned over the temporary fence where an off-leash dog area was placed for the day. “When we adopted her, her name was actually Kristy as well. But we had to change it because we couldn’t have two Kristys in the house.”
Tapella and Misty, with their identical colored locks, were among hundreds of dogs and their owners to attend the fourth annual Pooches on the Parkway event at Wilbur Young Park on Sunday. The event, sponsored by Blue Springs Parks and Recreation and R.U.F.F., is held annually to raise funds for the off-leash dog park located just off Adam’s Dairy Parkway. The main fundraiser of the day was a dog walk, which included a one, two and three-mile walk for dogs and their owners.
R.U.F.F., Responsible Unleashed Fun for Fido, was formally organized in June 2005 with the goal of providing an off-leash dog park in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Department in Blue Springs. With that goal accomplished in August 2007, the group is now focused on raising funds for additional amenities for the park.
Lori Glover, a member of the Pooches on the Parkway committee, said some of the amenities wanted for the park include fencing for a small dog area, more benches, a light for the parking lot, and fencing for the back side of the pond.
“We want to make the park more fun for dogs and people,” she said, noting that she is still surprised so many people do not know the park even exists, and hopes the event will help raise awareness.
The fenced dog park currently includes benches, a water fountain, a wash-off station and an enclosed pond.
Around 700 people, 33 vendors and 12 rescue dog units were in attendance at Sunday’s event, according to Pam Buck, superintendent of recreation at the Blue Springs Parks and Recreation department.
The events of the day included the look-alike contest, a dog trick contest, agility course, sheep herding demonstration, and a demonstration by the Missouri Search and Rescue K-9 unit.
“Every year there is more and more people that come out,” said Bob Mayhew, a vendor with the Mo-Kan Dock Dogs Club who has attended Pooches in the Park all four years with the club. Stationed next to the stage area, Mayhew’s favorite event of the day was the pet tricks.
First-time vendors Shannon and Bob Wilson, owners of Camp Bow Wow in Lee’s Summit, said the event was lots of fun and they would be back next year.
“I was impressed by how many people brought dogs,” Shannon Wilson said. “Some people had two or three kids and a couple of dogs with them. They are real troopers.”
Other vendors were selling items such as homemade dog biscuits, collars, paintings and caricatures. Several pet rescue groups were on-hand to give out information about their breed and organization. Dog training services and boarding facilities were also present.
While sponsorship and walkers were down a little this year, Buck said, she and fellow Pooches committee member Ralph How said they were still very pleased with the outcome. Around 30 volunteers from the area committed their time to the event, and 100 percent of concessions proceeds go directly to the funding of the park.
“People continue to come back and help,” Buck said of the volunteers. “It’s all people with a general interest and love of dogs.”
How said their next goal is to create an additional off-leash dog park in south Blue Springs within the next two or three years.
Other events to provide funding for the park include the Chili Dog Supper, which was held in January. Glover said Pooches on the Parkway expanded in 2008, and now features Pooches in the Pool, which is held the first Saturday in September. At $5 a head, water dogs can swim Centennial Pool, and small dogs will be included with a “kiddie pool.”
“We have been getting a lot of positive feedback from the community,” Buck said about the off-leash dog park. “It has been utilized a lot since the opening, and everyone gets to know each other at park. It has really become a community in itself.”
