The Kirkland Canine Festival & Dog Walk took place on July 23, 2011.  KDOG raised money for the dog park at our “Fetch a Wave” Photo Booth.  Big thanks to our volunteer photographers, Kimberly Gauthier and Lynn Anselmi.  Kimberly is a past Go Dog, Go Sponsor and supporter of KDOG.  She drove in from Marysville to take pictures of our happy dogs and their families.  Check out her blog, where she enjoys sharing what she is learning about digital photography, http://www.kimberlygauthier.com/blog/.  Lynn is a member of KDOG, and we are grateful for her help with photography all afternoon at the festival.  She took over 30 fun photos…….that’s a lot of families in 3 hours.

If you had  a photo taken at Go Dog, Go! and lost the information about how to retrieve it, email us at  kdog@kdog.org. Thank you to everyone who made a donation to the dog park for their photo.

Help KDOG get the message out about voting for Kirkland in PetSafe’s Bark for Your Park Contest Finals.  Download and print flyers here,

Vote for Kirkland!  Flyer

and a 2nd Flyer

Kirkland Dog Park Activists marched along at the 2011 Kirkland 4th of July Parade, celebrating Independence Day.   Greyhounds Stella and Maylie represented KDOG with many other dog park enthusiasts, including Dooley’s Dog House. Adorned in a festive hat, and sandwiched between two “Bark for a Kirkland Dog Park” signs, Maylie was a trooper.  Her owner, and KDOG Fundraising Committee Member, Wendy Koob said Maylie can’t wait for the dog park to open, and mentioned the parade was a lot of fun.  KDOG Members enjoyed seeing all the smiles these dogs brought to the parade audience’s faces. Big thanks to Dooley’s Dog House for the water, treats, and bandanas for all the dogs!

KDOG has been moving at greyhound speed the last several months with plans for Kirkland’s 1^st Dog Park.  Committee members have dedicated themselves to fundraising and park planning.  Here are just a few of these tasks our dedicated volunteers have accomplished and  goals they continue to work on:

• Developed a park budget

• Applied for park grants  (Continuing to apply for others)
• Launched a fundraising campaign for individual and business sponsors, and added this to the KDOG website, http://kdog.org/Donate.
• Secured ongoing park maintenance sponsorship
• Secured sponsorship of park fencing installation
• Developed a park logo, park rules, and other signage and tips for a fun, safe experience at the park
• Made plans for our 2 booths at Go Dog, Go!. Kirkland Canine Festival.  1 booth is about Park Sponsorship and the other one is our “Fetch a Wave Photo Booth” fundraiser.  Most important is that we are volunteering at Go Dog, Go! and will raise funds towards the park based on volunteer hours donated.  More volunteers are still needed.  Email Amy at kirklandcaninefestival@gmail.com to volunteer.
• Became semi-finalists in PetSafe’s “Bark for Your Park” Dog Park Contest.  Wrote a script,  and filmed and edited a video for the contest showcasing Kirkland’s support for our 1^st dog park.  We are very grateful to have had the City as our partner in this contest.  Their dedicated creative video team  made our vision for this video come to life.   Also, huge THANKS go to the stars of our video, Jennifer Stearns and her dog, Lucky.   Jennifer is a member of KDOG, and the owner of PupStrut,  www.pupstrut.net, a Kirkland dog-walking/petsitting business.  Her fiancé, David Harris, composed the original music for the video.  We appreciate the video appearances by Mayor McBride and Park Director, Jennifer Schroder, along with community supporters.  The signs of support for the dog park donated by Bob Sternoff were also a terrific edition to video scenes.

• Securing donations for the Silent Auction for a Wine Tasting Fundraiser benefitting KDOG on August 11^th at The Grape Choice (hosted by Dooley’s Dog House and The Grape Choice)

We still need more volunteers to join our Fundraising Committee to help with grant writing, and promoting  our park sponsorships through visits to businesses and sharing sponsorship information at events.  Contact Jean if you can lend a hand with this.  We also need help with securing donations for the upcoming Silent Auction and Wine Tasting benefitting KDOG and Pasados Safe Haven on August 11^th.   If you would like to donate an item or service  contact us at kdog@kdog.org.    The quickest way to help open our park is to become involved as a volunteer and a park sponsor.

Over the past three years several local businesses have supported KDOG’s efforts to establish a dog park in Kirkland.  Your support helped us continue on the path to opening the park.  THANK YOU! KDOG has been hard at work since the City Council approved the park site last November.  We’ve developed a park plan, rules and safety measures for the park, and a fundraising campaign that will begin in the next week.  There are wonderful new opportunities for businesses to partner with KDOG, so check in with us soon to find out how to become a Park Sponsor.  We look forward to creating a more dog-friendly Kirkland, along with you!

On Sunday, November 14th, Dorothy Moore (owner of the Dining Dog Cafe, www.diningdog.com) and her staff had the undivided attention of dozens of dogs.   The diners began arriving in their favorite ties, bows, and doggie couture, and soon were treated to a a 5 course Thanksgiving meal, along with a goodie bag, and a gift certificate for their next visit to the cafe. Seemed like every dog brought along a pet food donation for Hopelink (http://www.hope-link.org).  Thank you Barksgiving participants for helping KDOG fill the shelves at Hopelink this holiday season with dog food. KDOG also raised funds for the future dog park.

KDOG  had a wonderful raffle basket at the event, full of goodies for the dog owner and the dog.  Annette Lanker was the winner of the raffle.  KDOG would like to thank several wonderful businesses for their raffle donations. When you choose to shop this holiday season, don’t miss out on these businesses that helped us with Barksgiving:

Dining Dog (http://www.diningdog.com/) Edmonds, WA.    The Dining Dog is a full service cafe for dogs, offering reservations for private parties, events, and is available for catering your event for your dog.

Bear Creek Country Club (http://www.bearcreekcc.com) Woodinville, WA.    Bear Creek Country Club has an 18-hole championship golf course, along with a practice green and practice range, golf shop, club storage, fitness room and restaurant. It is an ideal setting for  your upcoming special events, such as a charity fundraiser, weddings, parties, business events, retreats, seminars, and holiday parties.  Contact Leslie Robert at events@bearcreek.com to schedule your next event.

Kathy Evans Beauty Studio (http://kathyevansbeautystudio.com/) Kirkland, WA.     One of the fabulous new additions to Downtown Kirkland is Kathy Evans Beauty Studio.  Kathy and her team of experts are devoted to helping you look and feel your best.  Stop in or make an appointment for a make up lesson, special event makeup, haircut or color, and brow shaping or waxing.  This studio promises individual attention, and exceptional professional, and caring service.  Oh….and don’t be surprised if they ask you all about your dog or the upcoming dog park.  They love their dogs!

Heads to Tails Grooming Spa (http://www.headstotailsgrooming.com) Kirkland, WA.  This Full Service (and Self-Service) dog grooming spa and pet supply store is just a few minutes from the future Kirkland Dog Park.  It’s located across the street from Ford of Kirkland (where the  711 is).  This is the only grooming spa where my dog runs into the store and not out of there.  This business offers doggie massage, many lines of healthy dog food, treats, and supplements, dog toys, dog clothing, and leashes.  Small dog owners, stop in for the small dog play groups throughout each week.  Call Vanessa at 425-825-9663 for a play group schedule.

Petlane (http://www.petlanehome.com/holycowcritters)     Looking for more time in the day to get the holiday shopping done?  Shop online at Petlane 24 hours a day.  Petlane provides a variety of HEALTHY NATURAL pet food and treats as well as products that are SAFE, FUN, and HEALTHY.  Petlane caters to dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, and ferrets.  Petlane Advisor, Annette Lanker (holycowcritters@aol.com) is happy to plan a get together for you and your friends.  Party hosts earn free and 1/2 price products!  Annette has been a big supporter of KDOG’s effort to build a dog park.  Don’t forget to shop with her for great doggie gifts!

Rockin Doggie Dog Treats (http://www.myrockindoggie.com)   Kirkland dogs are logging on to the Rockin Doggie Dog Treats Website.  They must have heard that there is free local delivery for Pupcakes, Biscui-otti’s, Alphabet and Holiday Shaped Treats, PowerPup Nutritional Bars, Gift Baskets, and more.  There are even wheat free and vegan selections.  Kristan (Rockin Doggie Owner), a member of KDOG and local resident, has been a huge supporter of KDOG (a top sponsor of Go Dog, Go!, and is involved with fundraising for the Humane Society.)  All of Kristan’s dog treat packaging is reusable and recyclable.  Feel free to contact Kristan to order your dog some well deserved treats this holiday season.

CityDog Magazine (www.citydogmagazine.com)     Looking for the perfect holiday gift for yourself and your dog loving friends?  CityDog is the definitive Dog Lover’s magazine about life and living with dogs in the West — Seattle, Portland, San Francisco –and everywhere in between.  Each issue overflows with informative, insightful, and often humorous articles on topics from cool canine products & the latest doggie trends, to regional activities for dogs and their people.  Whether your purpose is sniffing out new places to visit with your best friend or digging up the latest from the local puparazzi, CityDog covers the canine beat. Thank you CityDog for your support of  KDOG’s Go Dog, Go!  Kirkland Canine Festival & our recent Barksgiving.

The fantastic news we’ve all been waiting for – the Kirkland City Council voted unanimously (and enthusiastically, I might add) in favor of the Park Board’s recommendation to enter into an agreement with KDOG for the creation and maintenance of an off-leash dog area to be located on the Schott Property off of 124th Avenue in the North Juanita/Totem Lake area. We’re on our way! Next steps are to create a park design, fundraising and grant applications, inviting some determined goats out to help us clear the site, fence building and arrangements for other “infrastructure.” There will be work parties in our future, and that’s great news!

We owe special thanks to the following folks with the City of Kirkland for their commitment and help in getting us this far:

Jennifer Schroeder, Director of Parks and Community Services
Michael Cogle, Park Planning and Development Manager
Mike Metteer, Business Services Program Manager
Robert Kamuda, Park Board Chair (and the other members of the Park Board too)

KDOG looks forward to working with the City of Kirkland to get our dog park opened and fulfill a great community need for the residents of Kirkland! You can help by volunteering, attending fundraising events, and donating funds. Look for future updates on fundraising events and work parties, and to donate, please send a check to KDOG, 716 2nd Street, Kirkland, WA 98033 (note for Microsoft employees that KDOG is in the matching gifts system so please remember to request the matching funds)

Articles of interest:

http://www.kirklandviews.com/archives/21426

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/kir/news/106557848.html