Saturday, June 2, 2007, brought canine and companion out to Broad Ripple Park for the 2nd Annual ARPO (Alliance for Responsible Pet Ownership) Dog Olympics. Registration began at 9am to sign dogs up for six Olympic events. Registrants paid $5 for one event or $25 for all six, with the proceeds going toward medical/veterinary expenses for ARPO's rescued pets.

The events of the day included a T-Shirt Race, Shedding Contest, Pie-Eating Contest, 3-Minute Makeover, Bone Sniffing Contest, and Obstacle Course. The array of events included something for every dog, large or small, athletic or not. Emcee Dean Metcalf guided participants through the events and announced the winners throughout the day.

The Shedding Contest had owners brushing their dogs and collecting the hair to see who could fill the most baggies. Winner Sebastian, a Great Pyrenees, had an obvious advantage as a large, fluffy white pooch. Owners Josh Morris and Angie Heidorn prepared by not brushing him before the contest.

The Pie-Eating Contest had teams of dogs and owners racing to finish a pie each. Neither canine nor human could use their hands, making for a messy race. The lovely dog pies donated by Three Dog Bakery were hard to resist for the dogs, making it a challenge to keep them from eating before the race started. Kevin and Sal won the prize for the large dogs. "I didn't know until right before the contest that I had to eat a pie too," said Kevin. He was confident the super eater Sal would tear through his own pie.

The 3-Minute Makeover was a costume contest for dogs. Event sponsor Pet Supplies Plus donated lots of doggie gear, like hair clips, wigs, hats, sunglasses, and even Santa costumes. Owners had 3 minutes to grab a costume and dress up their dog as best they could. The winner's circle included Picas the Purple-haired Pitbull, Super Dog Joey in his cape, Biker-Dog Peyton, and Emmie sporting the large shades.

Ongoing events included the Poopie Puppies Pet Waste Removal Service flower-finding contest. Dogs participated in this contest without knowing it: any dog to do it's business near one of the fake flower bouquets placed around the event won a gift basket.

The obstacle course was a challenge for some, while other dogs breezed through, leaving their handlers in the dust. Dogs had to run over Bower Bridge; jump through the Howlin' Hoop Hop; jump on, stop and sit at the Pause Box; leap over Tailwags High Jump; crawl back under Bower Bridge; and finish with a sit at the start/finish line.

The Bone Sniffing contest was a winner for all dogs. An ARPO volunteer hid a bone in a pile of hay, then the dog just had to smell out its reward. Another volunteer was keeping time, but the dogs were just happy to find the bone.

All the fun and events were put on to draw awareness to the ARPO causes. The Alliance for Responsible Pet Ownership is a non-profit animal adoption organization "promoting pet ownership as a lifetime commitment." Rescuing stray or surrendered dogs and cats, fostering them, and adopting them out are just a few of the things they do. Run solely by volunteers, ARPO provides medical care and spay/neuter services to all its foster animals. They work together with other pet organizations and businesses to meet their goals of reducing pet populations and providing safe homes or shelters for all animals they take in.

Some of these organizations were sponsors of the event, including Best Friends Pet Care, Camp Bow Wow, Circle City Animal Allies, Club Canine Doggie Daycare, Dog Dayz Playhouse, Dog in Suds Mobile Dog Grooming, Holiday Inn Airport, Parkside Animal Hospital, PetSmart, Platinum Paws Pet Salon, Spay Neuter Services of Indiana, and The Village Dog.

Board member Sally Helms went over some guidelines for responsible pet ownership. The most important thing is to spay or neuter your animal to help reduce the number of pets without homes. ARPO recommends keeping your pets indoors and in crates when you aren't home. Crating animals helps keep the animals safe, and your home from being chewed apart. Lastly, Sally recommends training and obedience classes for all puppies. These classes can help pet and owner get to know each other, as well as set behavioral guidelines.

For those interested in adopting an ARPO animal, they are at the Castleton PetSmart on Saturdays from Noon to 4 pm. See their website at www.adoptarpo.org.