Dog Days event draws canine lovers

People love their dogs, so it is no surprise that smiles abounded around the Sisters Art Works building Saturday, August 4, during the annual Dog Days of Sisters Art Show.

The day began with the second annual Dog Days run, sponsored by Sisters Park & Recreation District, which featured about 20 runners, most of whom ran with their canine friends. The field included four 9-month-old Airedale-mix brothers, who added an extra dose of energy at the starting line.

The owner of one of the young dogs, Monika Piatt, found herself going at a much faster pace than normal for the first few hundred yards before Judah settled in to a more reasonable rhythm.

"I have not run in a situation like this with my dog before, and it didn't help that Judah's three brothers were also in the race with younger, faster humans attached," she said. "My dog desperately wanted to keep up, which caused me to do a fair amount of flailing in the beginning of the run."

Shea Krevi came through as the first individual, followed by Izaak Kanzig, who crossed the line with the first dog, Raven, one of the Airedale-mix brothers.

Following the run, the Sisters Art Works building opened its doors to display the dog-themed creations by a number of Central Oregon artists including Paul Alan Bennett, Kit Stafford, Sandy Melchiori, Kathy Warner, and organizer Kathy Deggendorfer.

"You know, people have strong connections to their dogs, so it's a fun subject matter to focus on during the dog days of August," said Deggendorfer.

Another artist, Mary Medrano who recently moved to Central Oregon and specializes in commissions from dog owners, enjoyed her first show in Sisters.

"A lot of my work is done via orders through my business on the Internet, so it's nice to be here in person and to also see the work of other artists," she said.

Outside the building, four nonprofits related to the well-being of dogs shared information with visitors.

Megan Wellinghoff of the Bend Spay and Neuter Project explained to passersby that the organization does an average of over 30 surgeries a day and is approaching a total of 30,000 during its six-year history.

"Our goal is to help all people in our region make the connection between our spaying and neutering work and the overflow of dogs in shelters," she said.

In other words, shelters would take in far fewer unwanted animals if pet owners would make spaying and neutering a priority early in their lives.

"Another advantage to having the surgery done is that dogs live an average of two years longer if there are neutered or spayed," she added.

Furry Friends Foundation of Sisters, best known for its annual food drive at Christmas, has expanded its vision to provide year-round support of dogs and cats in the area, including providing a fund for emergency health care and for assistance for spaying and neutering.

Kiki Dolson of Furry Friends noted that with the help of the Kiwanis Food Bank and the generosity of the local community, her organization gathered several tons of pet food last year.

"Our aim is to expand our support all year long, so we hope that people will look us up at furryfriendsfoundation.org and 'like us' on Facebook," she said.

All for Dogs Rescue of Central Oregon and the Humane Society of Redmond both had adoptable dogs on display at their booths. Greyhound Pet Adoption Northwest was also represented.

While the term "dog days of summer" dates back to ancient Rome and had nothing to do with earthly dogs, but rather the star Sirius, everyone present could agree that with dogs aplenty looking for shade on this hot August day, the scene fit the more modern interpretation of the saying.