Dogs have their day at Berkeley Park pool
It was a dog day morning at Berkeley Park in north Denver on Sunday, as hundreds of canines cooled off in a city pool on the final day before the pool is drained, cleaned and closed for the winter.
The animals leaped from the sides of the pool, or belly flopped, chased balls and dog paddled. Some required human aid getting out of the water, but most climbed out easily. Some reluctant pooches required human aid getting into the water, too.
For Sampson, a Border Collie mix who lives near the park on 46th Avenue, it was a chance to watch his owner, Lance Ballew toss a tennis ball. Sampson then eagerly swam, grabbed the ball and paddled back to drop it on the side of the pool — repeatedly.
“This is his 18th time retrieving the ball, said Ballew, 75. “We’re going for 30.”
Ballew said he has attended the annual “Dog-a-Pool-ooza” event at the William Scheitler Recreation Center in the park every summer for the past few years.
Every year, he said, more people attend.
Just’us Reid, the pool supervisor, said during the first of two sessions Sunday, a couple of hundred dogs and owners had taken advantage of the Denver Parks and Recreation event. There was a long line waiting to get in at 11 a.m., when the pool reopened after a halfhour break.
“I don’t know how many we’ve had in the past, but it has progressively grown through the years,” Reid said.
Deanna Main, 19, a lifeguard at the pool, said some dogs get tired and need help making it back to dry land, and some don’t catch on to swimming right away. She remembers a schnauzer that “jumped from the deep end and sunk like a rock. “I was like, ‘No!’ ”
Ali Nichols, 30, brought her 1½-year old labradoodle, Norman.
“This is a fun, little, end-of-summer treat for dogs,” she said.
Josh Reed, 34, said he has taken Tron, a 3-year-old border Collie/Australian shepherd mix, to the event for the past three years. It is the only place nearby where his dog can legally swim, he said. Owners can get a ticket for letting their animals swim in the park lake, he added.
Mary McNeley, 82, came to watch and sat outside the fence that surrounds the 25-meter-long, six-lane pool.
“This is wonderful,” she said. Parks and Rec held a similar event at Cook Park Pool, 7100 E. Cherry Creek Dr., on Aug. 13.
Reid said people moved in and out of the pool at Berkeley with their dogs quickly, spending up to 30 minutes or so, and were replaced by others.
“If we get too crazy, we hold the line up,” she said.
Once the event ended, she said, “that will be the end of the season. Pool maintenance will start draining the pool tomorrow. Summer’s over.”