Lots of Labs, Oodles of Poodles!

On a recent Sunday in September, our great friends at Mt. Hood Skibowl Adventure Park joined with dog lovers from across the Portland area to celebrate Mother Nature with their first-ever DOG DAY, all in support of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Along with big-hearted friends like those at Lexidog Boutique and Social Club, as well as The Hotel Monaco (Portland's most pet-friendly place to stay), more than 100 dogs and their buddies assembled on Mt. Hood for a day of fun and exercise.

This inaugural event offered three different hiking courses through the Mt. Hood National Forest: an easy one mile path, a moderate two mile trek, and a challenging six mile hike. Along with the fresh air and exercise, a variety of dog-oriented vendor booths were set up (featuring everything from canine oil portraits to doggy raincoats), as was a dog-friendly Beer Garden. There were also great prizes for the Best Pet Tricks!

We are thrilled that there were so many dog lovers who got up early on a Sunday morning to come out and play! Within the first 15 minutes of registration, we’d already been emptied of the donated doggy goody bags – and folks just kept on coming. As you can see from the photos, we had more wagging tails per square inch than any other place in Oregon that day!

It was an incredible response to this first attempt for a special day to recognize Guide Dogs. To our huge delight, everyone is already talking about next year! We hope this is just the beginning of another wonderful relationship between GDB and some very special folks in our community.