Dog-O-Rama 2025: ‘Fun for the sake of having fun’ — Inaugural occasion set for Sept. 13

LONG BEACH — David and Jessica Anderson love canine. In reality, they personal two — together with Duke, a two-year-old yellow lab whose athleticism and pleasure impressed the couple to launch the primary annual Dog-O-Rama for canine and canine lovers, set for subsequent Saturday in Long Beach.

With backing from town, a bunch of native sponsors and organizations together with the American Kennel Club, organizers are hopeful that Sept. 13’s dog-centric day of enjoyable at Veterans Field and Culbertson Park can change into an annual late-summer staple on the peninsula.

And for the Andersons, who personal and function the Coastal Class Crepes meals truck at The Sandbar Food Court, enjoyable — for each the canine and their house owners — is the driving power behind the occasion. Dog-O-Rama’s motto, Fun Pro Fun, is Latin for “fun for fun,” or having enjoyable simply because you’ll be able to.

“ Basically, we want everybody to have fun for the sake of having fun,” mentioned David Anderson. “Just come out and have a joyful day.”

Inspiration

The Andersons moved to the peninsula from Minnesota through the covid-19 pandemic, and opened Coastal Class Crepes in 2023.

Since doing so, they’ve been mulling how they and their enterprise might have interaction with and assist construct up the neighborhood, in an analogous vein to when David was president of the Minneapolis-based James Page Brewing Company. During his tenure, the corporate established the James Page Blubber Run, a 5K race via town’s downtown the place runners are inspired to cease and chug a beer on the midway level.

According to David, the occasion grew from eight individuals — and a single pony keg — in its first yr to almost 500 individuals in its second and 1,500 individuals in its third yr. The race was finally capped at 5,000 runners in future years, he mentioned.

“ We also encouraged running in costumes, running with dogs, running with baby joggers, and then we gave prizes for all that, and then we followed it up with a rock concert and two free beers and lunch and a t-shirt,” he mentioned. “So it became a city of Minneapolis thing.”

The Andersons regarded into making an attempt to duplicate that 5K right here, together with utilizing Discovery Trail as a route, however discovered the logistics to be too difficult.

Then alongside got here Duke, whom they adopted after Jessica noticed a poster on the meals court docket of a litter of yellow labs that have been on the market. “I got suckered in,” she joked, though it was really their different canine, Bella, who selected Duke among the many different 5 puppies.

They might inform early on that Duke had an inherent ability for athleticism. When he was one years previous, David remembers throwing him balls and frisbees on the finish of their avenue.

“He was  just going way up in the air, like skying it,” he remembers. “And I was just like, that’s it, that’s  what we’ve gotta do. We’ve gotta do a dog event.  So basically the inspiration came straight from our dog, Duke.”

Duke was rewarded by being chosen because the grand marshal of the Dog-O-Rama. The brand for the occasion got here courtesy of the Andersons’ daughter, Maggie. An homage to the long-lasting MGM brand, it reveals Duke sporting a crown with a confused look on his face.

“ Inspiring moments happen I think to all of us,” mentioned David. “I think they happen every once in a while and you can’t conjure them up or control when they’re gonna happen. They just occur. And all you can do when you have ’em, when you see ’em, when they’re given to you, is just say yes and do something about it.”

DiscDogathon

One of the headlines of subsequent Saturday’s occasion can be a nationwide DiscDogathon qualifier placed on by Skyhoundz, a company that payments itself as staging the biggest disc canine competitors collection on the globe and who Jessica mentioned has been seeking to department out additional to the western U.S.

After reaching out to Skyhoundz officers about internet hosting an occasion and receiving the thumbs up, Jessica traveled to Oklahoma City earlier this summer time to observe an area membership and learn to placed on a DiscDogathon occasion firsthand. Shadowing that membership, she realized about judging, the precise discs that should be used and the size of the sphere wanted for the occasions, amongst different issues.

“This is an official points qualifying event for Skyhoundz,” mentioned David. “If you get enough points, you can go to the regionals and if you can do well enough there, you can go to the nationals and then go to the worlds in Tennessee.”

The qualifier will consist of 5 totally different disc occasions, measuring expertise reminiscent of accuracy and pace. It additionally features a freestyle spherical, the place canine and their house owners get to indicate off their creativity.

“ Literally it’s the dog handler and the dog, and they have the disc and the dog will, like, jump off the back of the person and catch the disc,” mentioned Jessica. “And they come with their own music, too, like they play a song while they’re doing it for 60 seconds. It’s pretty cool, and people really get engaged.”

One factor Jessica took away from her journey to Oklahoma is how one can higher companion together with your canine. “  I always thought I was a dog lover and did fun things with my dogs, but it takes it to a whole other level.”

Other actions

Flyball, a fast-paced relay race the place canine bounce over hurdles to retrieve a ball from a field and return it to their proprietor, can be featured on the opposite subject at Culbertson Park, with a Flyball membership from Salem coming to supply demonstrations. The occasion has steadily been aired through the years on tv networks reminiscent of ESPN.

Through a reference to Dog-O-Rama supporter Cathie Skreen, two American Kennel Club certified evaluators may even be in attendance to check canine of any breed in a number of classes at Veterans Field, together with Trick Dog, Canine Good Citizen and Fit Dog — the latter of which focuses on enhancing and sustaining the well being and health of canine and their house owners. Canine Good Citizen is a 10-skill check centered round good manners for canine, reminiscent of being accepting towards pleasant strangers, strolling via a crowd, and behaving politely round different canine.

“ They sent [us] coloring books for kids, and just this whole idea of promoting being a good dog owner and things you can do with your dog that you might not have thought about,” Skreen mentioned in regards to the membership’s involvement. “ All the AKC does really is promote this partnership between humans and dogs, so they were happy to help.”

Keeping habits and security in thoughts, organizers may even be handing out non-retractable leashes in addition to color-coded ribbons. A yellow ribbon signifies a canine is pleasant, whereas a crimson ribbon, based on Skreen, means “just don’t get in my face; give me distance.”

There may even be pleasant competitions, reminiscent of a fancy dress contest and a contest for finest trick, with prizes being awarded to prime finishers. And you’ve little doubt heard of bobbing for apples, however organizers have discovered a extra canine-appropriate exercise lined up: bobbing for decent canine. Musical hula hoops — fairly than musical chairs — additionally figures to be a sight to see.

Entry is free for these solely wanting to observe the motion, and ranges from $30 to $90 for house owners desirous to register their canine for the competitions and actions. A $60 ticket gives entry to the non-DiscDogathon occasions, in addition to the official Dog-O-Rama t-shirt, a voucher for a free crepe and drink from both the beer backyard or Sandbar Food Court, and a goodie bag in your canine. A $90 ticket consists of all of these perks, in addition to entry into the DiscDogathon qualifying occasion.

Visit coastalclasscrepes.com/event-details/dog-o-rama-2025 to pre-register for Dog-O-Rama 2025.

Community assist

The metropolis of Long Beach and native companies and organizations have stepped as much as assist the occasion, which is being held the week after Rod Run — historically the final huge occasion of the summer time on the peninsula. Evergreen Coast, the advertising and marketing arm of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau, helps to advertise the occasion.

Activities can be held on each Veterans Field and Culbertson Park, with metropolis employees committing to portray the sphere at Culbertson Park for the wanted DiscDogathon dimensions. Mayor Sue Svendsen will function one of many judges for the costume contest.

North Jetty Brewing and Ilwaco Cider Company are every donating two kegs for Dog-O-Rama, which can be served at a beer backyard that the SW Pacific County-Peninsula Rotary Club is internet hosting to boost cash for its marketing campaign aimed toward ending polio.

Oceanside Veterinary Hospital has made a donation to assist the occasion, and workers may even be readily available to supply any wanted emergency veterinary care. Dennis Company additionally donated and is crafting bandanas that can be included within the doggy goodie bag for many who register, whereas the Sou’wester is offering lodging and donating passes for its artwork workshops.

Registrants may also select to make a $5 donation to the South Pacific County Humane Society when registering. The humane society may even have a sales space on the occasion.

Ultimately, the Andersons say the occasion is about having enjoyable and creating reminiscences together with your four-legged buddies.

“I don’t want any of the stuff to intimidate people at all or go ‘Oh, I can’t do that with my dog,’” mentioned Jessica. “It’s about educating and just having fun.”