Redlands’ Furry Residents Celebrate a Happy HOWLoween

The Redlands Dog Park on Sunday, Oct. 27, hosted its 3rd annual HOWLoween. The R.U.F.F. corporations (Redlands Unleashed Fidos and Friends), a public non-profit corporation, worked in partnership with All Four Paws and the City of Redlands to create the event, which has become a pet tradition in the city. All Four Paws is a pet-caring business owned by Elizabeth Kulbin and the R.U.F.F. corporation, solely made up of community volunteers, and works to provide ongoing maintenance support of the dog park. The organization also promotes responsible dog ownership and healthy canine behavior to help strengthen the canine–human bond. R.U.F.F. emphasizes the importance of human–dog interaction through socialization, exercise, companionship, learning, and fun. The R.U.F.F. organization also assisted in the building of the Redlands Dog Park with donated funds. R.U.F.F. keeps the dog park running, along with All Four Paws and the city of Redlands, through events like HOWLoween, which adds importance to the annual event. Elizabeth Kulbin, All Four Paws owner, said, “This event gives families the opportunity to come out and enjoy a day at the park with their pets. At the same time, we hope to increase awareness of the fact that there is a volunteer component of dog park maintenance … we encourage people … to take an invested interest in helping to support it as well.” Through these events the businesses, organizations, and corporations collaborating not only hope to raise money for maintenance but also to be able to educate the residents of Redlands on the importance of establishing a healthy relationship with their pets and provide assistance to animal-related causes. B.A.R.C (Benevolent Animal Rescue Committee), an animal rescue organization, was invited to the event by R.U.F.F to help promote the importance of rescuing stray animals. “Beyond trying to maintain the dog park we hope to really make the most of the volunteers’ energy and the efforts of the community to help other organizations like the animal shelter here in Redlands, B.A.R.C. the local rescue group, YAPS in Yucaipa, and countless others. We want to do even more than what we’re doing to help animals in the community; not just dogs, but all animals,” Kulbin added. Dog lovers gathered at the park, along with their pets dressed in costume—little Supergirls, Batmans, football players, and other characters—to show their support. The event began with a series of games for the dogs. The games were: Musical Sit, Most Unusual Talent, Treat on Nose, Longest Sit and Stay, Small Dog Race, Big Dog Race, and Bobbing for Hot Dogs. Winners took home dog treats as their prize. Stacy Fraser, who brought along her three dogs, Teddy, Bella, and Zoey, said, “We came last year and we had a really good time so we decided to come again this year. There are a lot of vendors out here giving away free goodies and, well, who doesn’t love free goodies? It’s still really nice to come out here and get the dogs out for the day. I like to bring them out here to interact with other dogs,” she said. While Fraser had participated in the event in the past, many attended with their dogs for the first time. New to the event was Lisa Dewey, who brought along her pet, Holly. “This is my dog’s first trip to a dog park. My friend actually told me of this event and I decided to see how she would do at a dog park and so far she is doing very well and she is enjoying herself very much,” Dewey said. As the second game ended, the series of games was interrupted by a K-9 demonstration given by Officer Prinz and his trusty canine Vix, courtesy of the San Bernardino Police Department. Officer Prinz demonstrated Vix’s obedience level by sending him to attack the “bad guy,” a volunteer officer dressed in a strong protective suit, and then commanding him to stop, which the dog did as soon as he was commanded to. A doggie costume contest was the day’s highlight, with plenty of dogs participating. Among the competitors were Sarah Fisher and her dog Sandy, who came dressed as bumblebees. Fisher explained she was glad to be a part of the festivities, “because I am having fun and I know Sandy is too.” “There are a lot of dogs here and they’re all dressed up. It’s so cute watching them in their costumes,” HOWLoween volunteer Christy Blackman said. After the costume contest, the event almost drew to a close, but before concluding there was a silent auction to complete and many prizes and coupons to give away. “It’s really a great socializing opportunity not only for the dogs, but for the dog owners as well, so it’s a win–win all the way around,” Kulbin said. [END] HOWLoween Date: Sunday, October 27, 2013 Time: 2:00 p.m. Google Map Event Location: Redlands Dog Park Address: NW corner of Ford Park, adjacent to Fire Prevention Demonstration Garden Redlands CA 92374 Description: Thru 6 p.m. Costume contest & festival. Dog games, raffle & silent auction. Have some howlin’ fun! CONTACT INFO Email: ruffdogpark@gmail.com Brissa’s original article: Perhaps one of the best loved holidays for kids is Halloween. It’s that time of year where, for one day, imagination runs wild, they can be anyone or anything they want to be, and, best of all, they can accumulate bags of candy by simply saying “trick-or-treat.” It’s a holiday that can’t be missed, so it’s no surprise that dogs joined in the fun this year. They dressed up, and, instead of “trick-or-treat,” barked their way to their own set of goodies of delicious dog treats. This past Sunday, the Redlands Dog Park hosted it’s 3rd annual HOWL’oween. The R.U.F.F. corporations (Redlands Unleashed Fidos and Friends), a public non-profit corporation, worked in partnership with All Four Paws and the city of Redlands to create this event, not only for the dogs, but their owners as well. All Four Paws is a pet caring business owned by Elizabeth Kulbin and the R.U.F.F. corporation, solely made up of community volunteers, works in an effort to provide on going maintenance support of the dog park and promote responsible dog ownership and healthy canine behavior to help strengthen the canine-human bond. R.U.F.F. emphasizes the importance of human-dog interaction through socialization, exercise, companionship, learning, and fun. R.U.F.F. actually helped in building the Redlands Dog Park with donated funds to create a safe haven for dogs where they can go and have fun while interacting with other dogs. As a result of their accomplished goal, R.U.F.F. keeps this dog park up and running, along with All Four Paws and the city of Redlands, through events like HOWL’oween, the reason for which this event is crucial and has become so popular amongst Redland’s dog owners. Elizabeth Kulbin, owner of All Four Paws, said, “This event gives families the opportunity to come out and enjoy a day at the park with their pets. At the same time, we hope to increase awareness of the fact that there is a volunteer compnent of the dog park maintenance so that we encourage people who are coming and enjoying it to actually take invested interest in helping to support it as well.” Through these events the businesses, organizations, and corporations collaborating together not only hope to raise money for maintenance but also be able to educate the residents of Redlands on the importance of establishing a healthy relationship with their pets and provide assistance to animal related causes. B.A.R.C (Benevolent Animal Rescue Committee), an animal rescue organization, was actually invited to the event by R.U.F.F to help promote the importance of rescuing stray animals, emphasizing the idea that they have just as much right to live as humans. “Beyond trying to maintain the dog park we hope to really make the most of the volunteers’ energy and the efforts of the community to help other organizations like the animal shelter here in Redlands, B.A.R.C. the local rescue group, YAPS in Yucaipa, and countless others. We want to do even more than what we’re doing to help animals in the community; not just dogs, but all animals,” Kulbin added. Sure enough, many dog lovers gathered together at the park along with their little Supergirls, Batmans, football players, and countless other characters to show their support and, at the same time, provide their dogs with a nice trip to the park. The event began with a series of games games for the dogs. The games were: Musical Sit, Most Unusual Talent, Treat on Nose, Longest Sit and Stay, Small Dog Race, Big Dog Race, and Bobbing for Hot Dogs. The games were successful as many dogs participated and winners ended up taking home delicious dog treats as their prize. Stacy Fraser, who brought along her three dogs, Teddy, Bella, and Zoey said, “We came last year and we had a really good time so we decided to come again this year. There’s a lot of vendors out here giving away free goodies and, well, who doesn’t love free goodies? But I mean it is still really nice to come out here and be able to get get the dogs out for the day. They’re not the friendliest dogs, so I like to bring them out here to interact with other dogs and hopefully gain some social skills. But they’re doing really well so far. I’m proud.” While Fraser was no new bee to the HOWL’oween event, many people attended with their dogs for the first time and were more than satisfied with the event. New to the event was Lisa Dewey, who brought along her her pet, Holly. “This is my dog’s first trip to a dog park. My friend actually told me of this event and I decided to see how she would do at a dog park and so far she is doing very well and she is enjoying herself very much,” Dewey said with a smile on her face. As the second game ended, the series of games was interrupted by an intense K-9 demonstration given by Officer Frinz and his trusty canine Vix, courtesy of the San Bernardino Police Department. Officer Frinz demonstrated Vix’s obedience level to the spectators by sending him to attack the “bad guy,” which had on a protective suit on (to prevent risk of any possible injuries) and then commanding him to stop, which the dog did as soon as he was commanded to; it was rather impressive. At the end of the demonstration, Vix expressed love to Officer Frinz by jumping up and giving him licks of appreciation, warming the hearts of the HOWL’oween attendees and reassuring the idea that dogs are a man’s bestfriend after all. Succeeding the games, there was a costume contest. The contest was intense since there was so much tough competition. But, regardless of who won, it was only fair to say that each and every costume contestant dog participants were winners. Among one of the most fierce competitors were young Sarah Fisher and her dog Sandy, who came dressed up as couplets and were the most adorable bumblebees. Sarah Fisher claimed Sandy had specifically told her to take her to the HOWL’oween event and excitedly said, “Glad I listened, because I am having fun and I know Sandy is too.” “There’s alot of dogs here and they’re all dressed up. It’s so cute watching them in their costumes and seeing them do all these adoable stuff, “ HOWL’oween volunteer, Christy Blackman, said. After the costume contest, the event almost drew to a close, but before concluding there was a silent auction to complete and many prizes and coupons to give away. Once all these were completed, the event officially came to the end and left the dog owners and their pets very happy, many of them leaving with full hands. “It’s really a great socializing opportunity not only for the dogs, but for the dog owners as well. So it’s a win-win all the way around,” Elizabeth Kulbin said. HOWL’oween was a definitly a fun event. But, aside from all the happiness, smiles, and laughter it brought, it brought something even greater: unity. It united the community as they expressed a tremendous amount of support to the Redlands Dog Park and all other organizations that acknowledge the stance of animals as living beings that deserve just as much love and compassion as humans are given.