A Helena dog park celebrated Saturday morning, as new shelters are providing more relief from the sun.
The “Made in the Shade Pet Party” was held at Paws Park, part of Centennial Park. Dozens of dogs and their people were there for the fun.
The event included a variety of activities and games – everything from a “best-dressed dog” competition to a peanut-butter-eating contest.
Paws Park was temporarily closed this week while city staff installed two new shade structures, one in the area set aside for larger dogs and one in the smaller dogs’ area. Lithia Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat helped pay for the large dogs’ shade, and the Pad for Paws Foundation contributed to the one for small dogs.
Justine Woodend attended the event with her dog Ozzie. She said she had been bringing him to the park for several months to help socialize him, but they had stayed away for about a week because of the heat. She said the new shades will be a great addition.
“Usually Ozzie just will sit under the benches, but now that this nice little shade is over here, he definitely loves coming down here a lot more,” she said. “We’re going to definitely be coming down a lot more now no matter what the weather is.”
