‘Puppy Pool Party’ raises funds for animal shelter
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Teresa Baer and Katie Baer enjoy the Oak Ridge Puppy Pool Party with their dogs. - Ben Pounds
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Some dogs stayed on leashes while others swam freely at the Puppy Pool Party in Oak Ridge. - Ben Pounds
Dogs of different breeds and sizes paddled in the water, chased balls and disks, shook off their fur and dried off on dry land.
It was Oak Ridge’s annual Puppy Pool Party, marking the end of a summer of fun at Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool Saturday, Aug. 19.
Humans could only wade up to their knees in the for-the-day-un-chlorinated water. But the dogs had their day unlike any other day of the summer at the pool. The cost was $5 per dog or a donation to Oak Ridge Animal Shelter. Visitors brought food, bedding and paper towels. People from as far away as Knoxville came.
“I know that people enjoy it, and it’s something to give back to the community,” said Vonda Wooten, the Oak Ridge recreation manager for aquatics who started the tradition. “They have a safe place to bring their dog where it’s confined, whereas a lake is not.
“Especially, Oak Ridgers love their dogs. Everywhere you look someone’s walking their dog,” she said.
The Animal Shelter, she said, appreciates what people give.
“I’ll bring the physical donations and the monetary donations, and they usually write me a little ‘thank you’ card,” Wooten said.
Among the visitors were Leah Hunter, co-owner of the dog-care business The Houndry; and Houndry dog walker Jessica Nageotte.
“I love dogs, and I love watching them play,” said Nageotte, who has come to the Puppy Pool Party for the past few years.
“A lot of dogs love water, and just seeing how happy they are, I mean look at this one right here,” Hunter said. “It’s good exercise and just letting them be dogs. So nice to watch it in a safe environment, especially.”
Oak Ridge resident Jennifer Russell came with her three dogs for the first time this year. Her dogs include a labradoodle, a terrier mix and another mixed dog of unknown breeds.
“My dogs are in heaven,” she said. “One of them just goes in and out of the water, this one is just my lap dog; and the other one is just making friends with everybody here.”
Donna Collins came with her dog Fletcher. She said she appreciated “that the dogs can swim and be free in the water.”
“And we can be in the water with them,” Sandra Lawson added. She came with her dog Rooster.
Collins and Lawson came from Knoxville. They said they learned about the event through Facebook. They hadn’t been to the Oak Ridge Pool before, but had a good time.
Wooten said Oak Ridge had done this event for more years than she could remember, but the tradition didn’t start here. Having a day for dogs is common, she said, among pools that drain at the end of the season and start fresh the next summer. Wooten said The Oak Ridge Pool needs to drain for the city to winterize it, among other reasons.
Because it’s tied to that technical aspect, the event may or may not continue after the pool’s proposed replacement with a new pool or pools at the same site.
“It just is going to be determined by what kind of facility we are able to build,” Wooten said.
The city of Oak Ridge has yet to determine the date of that remodeling, but engineers have been taking ideas from the public. Engineers have cited leaks and code issues as reasons for renovations.
“I hope they continue it when the pool’s renovated,” Katie Baer said of the event, as she held her dog in the shallows.