News

Several area swimming pools are going to the dogs before they shut down for the summer.

With Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer past, swimming pools and water parks are closing up until next spring. But before they drain the water and lock the gates, pools in Dormont, O'Hara and Munhall have partnered with local animal shelters to let pets take the season's last swim.

"A few years ago, Sandcastle approached Animal Friends and said, 'Hey, before we drain the pools, how'd you like to open the park up for dogs to take a swim?' " said Jolene Miklas, spokeswoman for Ohio Township-based Animal Friends. "Dogs love it. They absolutely take over the park."

This Saturday, Animal Friends will hold its fifth annual "Last Splash of Summer" event at Sandcastle, anticipating up to 600 dogs in two sessions. The first session, from 10 a.m. to noon, already has sold out, but the organization has plenty of open spots it needs to fill for the 1-3 p.m. session, Miklas said. By charging $25 per dog, Animal Friends hopes to raise about $15,000.

Since the pools are about to be drained, cleaned and winterized the next day as part of the transition from summer to fall, organizers have no qualms about letting hundreds of dogs take a swim, said Melissa Kelly, director of group sales at Sandcastle. A little dog hair in the filters is no problem, she said.

"We'll have the wave pool open for bigger dogs -- we get a lot of labs, retrievers, that kind of thing," Kelly said. "Then we also have the Sandbar Pool -- we call that the 'calm' pool -- for smaller dogs, or more timid dogs who are just learning to deal with water."

Owners will be allowed to wade in up to their waists to help unsteady swimmers or to fetch toys, but can't start swimming laps themselves. To further emphasize that the pool party is for the dogs, Sandcastle will offer snow cones Saturday that forgo the usual sweet flavors for cold chicken broth, Miklas said.

At the Chapel Gate Swim Club in O'Hara Tuesday evening, the second Doggie Days celebration attracted about 80 dogs, including Princess, a 10-year-old fox-red Labrador Retriever who eagerly plunged into the pool in pursuit of a bobbing yellow toy hurled by her owner, Byron Falchetti of Fox Chapel.

"It's great having the chance to donate to Animal Friends," said Falchetti, 55. "She usually likes to swim in creeks and streams when we go walking, but this time of summer they're all too dry to swim in."

Children and owners bobbed in the water beside their pets, or cajoled them from the edge. Other dogs chased each other around the grounds and zeroed in on a basket of treats by the gate.

"When is it you see so many people happy and smiling like this, in these cynical times. ...," said Sara Szalinski, 57, whose small terrier mix, Marvin, had shed his pink sunglasses and was darting in circles around seated children and deck chairs at Chapel Gate.

The swim club collected about $1,100 for Animal Friends from $10 tickets at the door, a raffle and food sales, said organizer Caryn Campbell.

Monday afternoon, the Dormont Pool joined with the North Side-based Western Pennsylvania Humane Society for its second annual Doggy Dip, bringing as many as 500 dogs and about $5,000 that will be split evenly between the Humane Society and pool maintenance, said Kim Hoffman of the Dormont Recreation Board.

"In the past, people would take their dogs with them to lakes, beaches, rivers," said Humane Society spokeswoman Gretchen Fieser. "But to actually do something like this, like a large dog party, is something that's growing."

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News