Close to 200 local dogs enjoyed their once a year dip in the pools at Jellicoe Park on the 1st of May, when the YMCA ran their annual Dog Day Out before closing the outside pools for winter.
Fast becoming an Onehunga tradition, the afternoon was also a fund raising event for the YMC, with a fee of $5 per dog going towards sending a local family to one of the YMCA’s f amilycamps.
This year started with the dogs gathering in Jellicoe Park for an impromptu ‘meet and greet’ before the pools were opened. Some of the guests needed no invitation and were straight into the water as soon as they were off the leash, but others took a little more persuading. For a number of dogs the pool steps were a little confusing. They were used to the sloping banks of ponds and beaches, so underwater steps caught a few out.
The main pool was dominated by the bigger dogs. A steady relay of Labradors, Retrievers and Collies spent the afternoon chasing tennis balls and other toys thrown into the water. The smaller dogs tended to prefer the safety of the kids pools, where they were not getting swamped by the bigger breeds.
A few owners braved the cold waters with the dogs, but even those who stayed out of the pool could not avoid the occasional drenching as the dogs shook themselves dry.
