In the town of ‘Dogton’

The festival for man’s best friend is going on 112 years (in dog years, of course)

our furry paws shoot off across the grass, and four more legs follow in hot pursuit. A chocolate brown blur slows down just long enough to trample into a blue kiddie pool. Somebody laughs in the distance, and just like that, the blurs are off to their next destination, tongues dangling. A short-legged shaggy thing takes his territorial turn on a nearby tree set in the field of green. The best dressed, looking on, are not amused. They can hardly move, of course, what with the oversized sunglasses, rhinestone outfits, feather boas and comical hats.

Welcome to the city formerly known as Denton. Every summer, Denton becomes “Dogton” in honor of the Dog Days of Denton celebration. Oh sure, the mayor no longer reads his special Dogton proclamation, but the humans really don’t have much of a say anyway. It’s all about the town going to the dogs. If you apply canine math, the celebration is going barkingly into its 112th year. For those without tails, that’s 16 years of the fur flying.

The idea for a festival featuring man’s best friend was unique in 1994 when Julie Glover, then manager of a downtown Denton revitalization program, hit on the unusual idea while hosting a booth at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival (that’s for humans). “Everybody brought their dogs,” she remembers. “I saw people with hundreds and hundreds of dogs. I thought, ‘Wow, we should have an event with dogs.’ I went back to my boss and shared this idea; that it was just crazy enough that the media might be interested in it.” Sure enough, they were.

Dog Days is now one of the largest dog-centered celebrations in Texas, drawing in more people each year. “It seemed like it multiplied exponentially,” Julie remembers of the early years. This year’s estimated attendance is around 9,000 to 10,000. And that’s just counting the participants with only two feet. Even out-of-towners come. “We had someone a couple years ago from Pennsylvania who arranged their whole vacation to come to Dog Days,” Julie says.

Christine Gossett, the event coordinator, calls it a Texas original. It’s a mini-fair of sorts … a dog fair, minus the Ferris wheel. “It was the first in Texas. It has its own history,” says Christine. Besides the now-famous Spokesdog Contest, there are freestyle performances, an agility course, Frisbee catching, pool paddling, and (for the pampered type) “GlamFur” photo shots. On the serious side, trainers come out to show their skills with canines and educators exhibit the role of dogs in literacy programs. Volunteers on “poop patrol” make sure it’s all good clean fun.

The Spokesdog Contest is one of the main attractions — and a coveted prize. The winner holds the title for a year, performing Spokesdog duties when called upon. To enter, a good quality photograph of a primped pooch in costume and a small written paragraph explaining (in Fido’s own words, of course) why he would make the best Spokesdog is all it takes.

Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not an easy contest. The planning, the primping, the patience …. With an endless amount of dog treats, you might come up with one decent photograph. Mary Thomann, branch manager/VP of Synergy Bank, is proof of that. Her 4-year-old golden retriever, Sierra, took home the gold at the 2008 Spokesdog contest. “I said to my husband … ‘Come help me because I don’t think they’ll hold still while I do this!’” she says laughing as she remembers the amount of effort it took to prepare. Sierra’s costumes, she says, are put together “with a tie here, a safety pin there.” (Duct tape works too.)

And the costume? Well, Mary is very cost-conscious when it comes to adorning her prize-winning dog in the latest trends for the contest. “I do not buy dog costumes,” she says, sniffling with disdain. “First, because my dogs are too big and you can’t find them, and then they’re too expensive.” There’s something to be said for being thrifty, though. Sierra was magically transformed into “Hula girl” (complete with matching coconuts up top). The look was pure vintage travel poster for the tropics. Sierra herself “wrote” why she was the best canine for the job. Mary reads the first line in sing-song, “I’ve-got-a-lovely-bunch-o’-coconuts …” but trails off, laughing.

Once the essays and photos are in, the furry contestants parade around dressed to the nines while a professional announcer reads their essays as each dog passes by. The winner gets a shiny gold medal from the mayor and various other treats donated by local pet stores and sponsors. “There aren’t a whole lot of people that want to dress their dogs up and prance around,” Mary admits with a laugh. “But it’s great fun.”

Jane Schneider, one of the groomers at Fish & Chirps, participated as a judge on the panel for the Spokesdog contest even though her own dog, Esther, a small Yorkie, has never entered. Esther, of course, dressed for the occasion. “She’s prissy,” Jane smiles. “She wears this pink-and-white striped dress with watermelons on it. She loves the attention!”

Occasionally, the humans dress to match their favorite furry friend. Matching costumes aren’t hard to come by with all the vendors and booths selling merchandise at the event. “I had a woman one year that dressed up in a bumblebee costume,” Julie says, a smile emerging when asked about the funniest thing she ever witnessed. A woman? Not a dog? “A woman. In a bumblebee costume. With her baby in a bumblebee costume. And her dog in a bumblebee costume,” she says, laughing.

For the canine companion who would rather be pampered than performance-ready, there is the GlamFur photo booth, complete with feather boas and oversized sunglasses to capture that priceless moment in time forever. “The GlamFur shots were a ton of fun. When we first started this in the mid-’90s, everyone was getting ‘Glamour’ shots — the girls with the hair poofed, the makeup done, and the feather boas,” Julie says. It wasn’t long before that concept took hold of the canine category at Dog Days. For $10, it has become one of the most popular hits.

Pet education is key to the event, with trainers and animal handlers sharing their knowledge with children as well as adults. Literacy programs help educate the public on the use of therapy dogs. Clifford the Big Red Dog and Emily Elizabeth story times are offered inside the Emily Fowler Library.
Children are encouraged to read to their family pets. “I’ve learned a lot myself, especially when it comes to dogs’ abilities and in what ways they contribute to society,” says Christine, who finally added a Dachshund to her family last year.
“Take the literacy programs. A child is more comfortable reading to a dog because the dog won’t criticize them. It gives that child more confidence. There are a lot of therapy dog programs out there and it just goes to show that dogs truly are companions. It’s amazing to see what these animals are capable of and the way they give back to society.”

Dogton might be accused of prejudice, but so far no one is demanding to have cats present. “I love cats, but it’s just not feasible!” Christine laughs. “You’ve heard the term, ‘It’s like herding cats?’ I think that’s the term for a reason!” Julie, despite her role as instigator of Dog Days, has three cats and no dog. “Whenever the cats are misbehaving,” she says mischievously, “I’ll threaten them and tell them I’ll get a new puppy.”

Dog Days has found its home in Denton, and doesn’t plan on going anywhere for a while. After all, the humans know who is really running the town — and they’re proud of it.

By elise brooking