Vale Park Animal Hospital hosted their first ever Dog Days of Summer event on a muggy, but sunny, Sunday afternoon. The event was put together as a day of fun for Vale Park’s staff, customers, and their four legged patients.
The idea first came up when Dr. Lisa Booth, an Associate Veterinarian for the hospital and who chaired the project, wanted to give back to their fantastic patients. Dr. Booth explained that after thinking it through Dog Days of Summer was the perfect way to benefit the community. “We wanted to have something that benefited the people who live here, so we asked a bunch of vendors and people who sell dog things to come out and sell their stuff. It’s something we wanted to do for the pure good of doing it.”
Chris Majchowicz, Practice Manager for Vale Park, agreed that Dog Days of Summer was all about giving back, “It’s a feel good type of event that’s free. Dog Days of Summer was put on to draw people over and to see what we’re all about because we’re always here and always accepting new clients. This was a good way to get our name out there.”
Twenty vendors came out to support Vale Park. Broken Bone Pet Products, Wood Edge Jewelery Studio, Heartfull Impressions LLC, Hungry Hound Boutique and Grooming, Anne Jane Designs, Bella’s Dog Collars, Tastefully Simple, Inc., MaryKay Cosmetics, ThirtyOne Bags, Kat Tales Embroidery and more all set up shop in the hospital’s parking lot. All of the vendors there were contacted by Dr. Booth to hang around for the three hour event.
Sheri Floyd, who makes dog treats for RuBi RawHide, came out to show her support for Vale Park, “We’re here for Vale Park today. It’s more of a ‘get your dog out to look and see’ type of event but we’re here for the good of the dogs. It’s nice to come out and show support for events like this one.” Kristen Jeffery, who attended the event, also said that showing her support for hospital was important, “It’s great. There’s a lot of vendors here, it seems to be getting people out with their dogs. It’s an easy way to support not only Vale Park but the community as well.”
Besides the vendors there were also tons of freebies given away for the attendees at Vale Park’s very own booth. Some of the freebies, like free nail clippings and a heartworm test, were given away by a raffle. There were also free things given for the pet owners. Free face painting, free t-shirts and free hotdogs were handed out throughout the afternoon. Dr. Mary Ann Sheller and Dr. Jerry Rodenbarger were given the duty of handing out the food, but there weren’t any qualms about standing next to the grill.
Dr. Rodenbarger explains that the afternoon was a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a summer day, “It’s hard work all day everyday and the staff does a wonderful job. So being able to do something like this where they can come out and have some fun while being able to say thank you to all our loyal patients is awesome.”
In the end all of their loyal patients were satisfied. As they walked around looking at the vendor’s many different products, showing off their dogs and saying hello to Vale Park’s staff it was obvious that Dog Days of Summer was a doggone good time. Even though this year was the first for the event, it’s no doubt that Vale Park Animal Hospital will make Dog Days of Summer a splendid tradition.
Click here for more information about Vale Park Animal Hospital.
