By
Virginia Harrington, Feature Writer
The second annual Strut Your Mutt program and contest, sponsored by Uintah
Animal Care, was held Saturday, August 11 in the amphitheater at Western
Park.
Special guest for the event was Denise DeVynck and Save a Dog and Kids, Inc.
from Provo. DeVynck and several youths demonstrated a dog training technique
called "click and treat," which DeVynck said is a successful training
method for dogs of all ages. The idea is to sound a "clicker" every
time the animal responds to a command in an appropriate manner and then provide
a tidbit of a treat. The dog soon learns to associate the sound of the click
with a treat and then to associate the proper behavior with the click.
Strut Your Mutt also involved several competitions between dogs, both purebreds
and mixed breeds. A large number of dogs and their people entered 16 contests.
The top winners of each contest were then entered into Best in Show.
Sarah Bingham, daughter of Debbie and Scott Bingham of Vernal, and her dog
Maggie, won best trick dog and most obedient dog, then won Best in Show for
Mutts. Drew Jackson, son of Phil and Lisa Jackson of Vernal, and his dog Cobra,
won best short-haired dog, then won Best in Show for Purebreds.
Other winners were Forrest McMickell (Mack), for dog resembles owner and
curliest hair, Rikki Smith (Roxy) for best frisbee catcher, Jessica Johns
(Angel) for best long-hair, Scarlett Olson (Billy) for kissingest dog, Becky
Jones (Rocco) for waggiest tail and most spots, Shelby MacLee (Dana) for most
unique mutt, Kim Turner (Ruddee) for most unique purebred, Kaylee Roloff (Gertie)
for smallest dog, Cliftia Purcell Johnson (Worf) for largest dog and longest
tail, Deserie Jackson (Dugan) for longest legs, Collett
Burgess (Bugs) for shortest legs, and Shaycee Mohar (Licorice) for prettiest
eyes.
The part of the program that many dogs seemed to enjoy best was "bobbing
for dogs." Hot dogs were placed in a child's wading pool filled with water
and any dog not minding a cooling dip could jump or reach in to snag a tasty
treat.
10533 Sara Bingham and her dog Maggie win Best in Show for Mutts at Strut Your
Mutt.
10532 Drew Jackson and his dog Cobra won Best in Show for purebreds at Strut
Your Mutt.
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Save a Dog
Save A Dog & Kids Inc. has been bringing beautiful puppies and purebred dogs to Park City for the past two years. Everyone wants to know what the "Kids" part of our nonprofit program is about. Denise De Vynck's 20 years of Social Work experience with teens and kids gives them an opportunity to learn to love, care for and train puppies. This gives them compassion, responsibility, confidence and many other important lessons in life. If your teen would like to care for a puppy, crate-train them and clicker train them, we will provide everything they need.
One of our teen foster homes told us that this has been the best experience for their 12 year-old daughter. With our volunteer teens, and help from local residents and Michelle and Ariel of Bad Ass Coffee, we have adopted out over 300 dogs in the past year: Great Pyrenees, Saint Bernards, Australian Shepherds, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, Yellow Labs and many more. We microchip all dogs, give all Vaccinations including Bordetella, Spay/Neuter and have a great Clicker Training course at a discount in Park City at Silver Creek Animal Hospital with an expert Rescue Arctic Dog trainer Marren Partridge.(See pictures of some of the dogs adopted by Park City Families, adoption days, Marren our trainer and current pups for adoption attached)
We are in need of an indoor location to do our weekend adoptions in Park City because the weather is getting colder. We have never had a fundraiser yet, and save these pups with Adoption donations only. We would love to hold a Christmas Ball for the Dogs if we had a location. We work hard to save as many of the 50 plus dogs and litters of puppies dumped at the Utah County Shelter at a time, where 25 a day have to be put down because there is no room. We donated over 5,000 Pet Resource Guides with $20 off Spay/Neuter and Training coupons for the Utah County residents at this summer's 22 city festivals, rodeos and parades. Education and resources are needed in Utah County, and we need your help because Park City is up to date on responsible dog ownership. If you want to be a part of this great program contact Denise at Save A Dog & Kids Inc.: 801-225-6491 or leave a message at 801-808-4424. We want to thank all our loyal and dedicated supporters in Park City.