A late-summer-evening swim at the local outdoor pool isn’t exactly an appealing proposition when the temperature is reading single digits.
Unless you’ve got four furry legs, in which case it’s all paws on deck.
While the chilly weather may have kept some people and their pets away from the fourth annual Grosvenor Dog Swim last Monday night, there were still dozens of dogs and their people crowding around the pool.
Michelle Palmer is a regular at the Grosvenor Outdoor Pool during the warm summer months, and said she was thrilled to be able to finish off the outdoor swimming season by letter her seven-year-old Plotthound-Heeler cross Lucky get in on the action.
“I come here almost every day in the summer; it’s truly my place in the sun,” she said. “I’m familiar with dog swim, and I have a dog, so what more do you need?”
And as it turns out, you really can teach an old dog new tricks. Margo Baptista and her 15-and-a-half-year-old Westie named Molly had not been to the dog swim before, but certainly didn’t look like they regretted their decision.
“It’s a lot of fun. And there are a lot of people here with small children watching it, and they’re having a great time,” she said. “It’s fun to watch some of the older dogs; you can see they’re hesitant and (their owners) try to get them down the ramp, and they’re not sure they want to do it.”
The dogs that were perhaps most excited about the trip to the pool were the puppies or near-puppies who were experiencing the dog swim for the first time.
Peter and Linden McDonough brought their 10-month-old Husky Paddington for a swim, and he was visibly enthusiastic about the swim – although perhaps a bit more enthusiastic about a treat being offered to another dog.
“He’s still a puppy, so it’s still a real experience for him to be able to come swimming,” Peter said.
“And it’s good to be around all these other dogs,” Linden added.
It was not only dog owners at the pool, but also plenty of dog enthusiasts as well, including Jason Wywal and his family.
“We just came to watch,” he said. “It’s just fun to see these guys having so much fun in the pool. And the girls love watching it, too. They think it’s awesome.”
His daughters Elora, 8, and Wren, 5, were both clearly excited about the experience.
“I like that black dog, because he’s in the pool!” Elora said.
“I like the little one with the yellow life jacket,” Wren added.
While everyone was there to have a good time, there was nonetheless some security at the entrance to keep a handle on the ruffians – although these ruffians were the ones trying to get out rather than trying to get in.
Christina Firth is the third-party fundraiser for the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society, the local charity benefiting from the event. In between corralling the rambunctious dogs trying to escape, she explained the society typically brings in upwards of $2,000 from the dog swim.
SCARS volunteers foster rescue dogs, to the tune of about 1,000 dogs adopted out each year. Rather than having a bricks-and-mortar shelter, and the organization and its volunteers serve Edmonton’s outlying areas including St. Albert – so the dog swim can become a reunion of sorts.
“We’ve had quite a few residents from St. Albert adopt dogs from SCARS, so we’ve actually had quite a few of them show up here, just to visit,” Firth said.
For more information about SCARS, including how to get involved, visit www.scarscare.ca.
