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From the Des Moines Register:
Canine Craze offers agility training, day care
From the Humane Society of the United States:
Emotional Recover is Key to the Future Success of New Orlean's Displaced AnimalsFrom the Des Moines Register:
Dog's Day of SummerFrom the Des Moines Register:
Canine Olmypics Set: Let the Games Begin
Published in the Des Moines Register
May 14, 2005Canine Olympics Set: Let the Games Begin
By Mary Challender, Register Staff Writer
A West Des Moines dog training center's event gives pooches a chance to perform—and play.
Your dog doesn't have to be best in show - or even best on the block - to join in the action at the Des Moines area's first Canine Olympics this weekend.
From puppy bowling to mini-dog dock diving, the emphasis of today's games, to be held in the parking lot of Iowa Pet Foods and Seascapes in West Des Moines, is strictly on play.
"The purpose is to have a fun time with your pet," said Joey Iversen, co-owner of Canine Craze Performance Center, the West Des Moines dog day care and training center that is hosting the event.
"The games are silly; they're fun," she added. "They're not things that require the dogs to really have any particular skills."
Exuberance and a bottomless stomach are likely to be big assets, though.
"Puppy bowling," for instance, requires the puppy to simply mow down as many bowling pins as possible while running to his or her owner. "Fear Factor Feast" involves feeding the dogs treats ranging from cheese to anchovies and seeing if they'll scarf them down.
The entrance fee for each event is $1 per dog. Participants will be rewarded with dog treats, ribbons and medals.
Other events on the schedule include bobbing for hot dogs, a ball catch, a pooch smooch, a six-legged race and a wet T-shirt/wet boxer contest that has almost nothing in common with the bar variety. In the Canine Olympics version, dog and owner run through a plastic wading pool and then the owner must attire the dripping pooch in an equally dripping undergarment.
The mini-dog dock diving, complete with a tiny dock built over a kiddie pool, is for all the pint-size Lab-wannabes out there, Iversen said.
"There are some very athletic little pups," she said. "They're not just lap dogs or purse jewelry. We're doing our event just for the little guys."
Since this is an Olympics, the event will begin with a torch procession by the Canine Craze drill team, which consists of a black Russian terrier, a German shepherd-Rottweiler mix, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, a Dalmatian, two Australian shepherds and a yellow Labrador.
Iversen's dog, Pirate, will push the button to light the torch.
The drill team will also perform at noon and 3:45 p.m. for owners hoping their dogs might pick up a few obedience pointers.
