By Barbara Rowley
Every Big Sky dog will have its day on
Saturday, Aug. 13, at the first annual
Dog Day Festival at the Big Sky Community
Park.
A fundraiser for Big Sky’s longest
operating summer day camp program,
Camp Big Sky, Dog Day promises to
be a fun-raiser for all. The day will
begin with a Doo-Dah Costume parade
for dogs and their owners who like to
‘dress up’ for special occasions, and will
follow with a pet tricks contest, a 2K
dog/owner run (leashed and unleashed
welcome) dog agility demonstrations
and a dock-diving competition at the
pond with big and small dog categories.
Throughout the day (which begins at 9
a.m. and ends with dock diving wrapping
up around 2 p.m.) canine vendors
will also be on hand with dog food
samples, dog products, and even a few
dogs (ready to be adopted from Heart
of the Valley). In addition, says Camp
Big Sky Director, Katie Coleman, there
will be patrol dog demonstrations
and plenty of treats for lucky dogs to
sample.
“The $20 entrance fee gets your dog a
fancy bandana filled with coupons and
goodies, and admission to all events,”
Coleman said.
Dogs and their humans can also pay
a single event admission fee of $10 if
they are only interested in one competition
of the day.
“The dock has been donated by
Kirkwood Marina at Hebgen and Men
at Work is graciously installing it for
us for free,” Coleman said. The dock
will then be stored until next year’s
Dog Day event. “We want this to be
an annual event. We need a regular
fundraiser to underwrite the costs of
Camp Big Sky and allow us to keep offering
the best programming we can,”
she said. “But in the spirit of camp, we
wanted our fundraiser to be the most
fun possible.”
Camp Big Sky’s programming this
summer has included a basic dog training
camp and agility training camp for
kids and adults and their dogs run by
the “Dog Lady,” trainer Anne Dixon.
Dixon’s campers will be showing off
their skills and Dixon will also be on
hand for those interested in future
camps and dog trainings for dogs who
want to learn agility or even rescue and
avalanche dog training.
For more information about Dog Days or
to donate goods or services, contact Katie
Coleman at Camp Big Sky at camp@bsccmt.org or (406) 209-1643.
