The 24th annual Dog Olympics will be hosted by NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine on Saturday.
“The Dog Olympics event was started by the doctors of veterinary medicine students at the College of Veterinary Medicine 24 years ago to help raise awareness of and funds for the shelter and breed rescue dogs,” said David Green, Director of Communications at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
There are competitions for dogs of all breeds and sizes — ranging from high jump and limbo, to howling and musical sit. Demonstrations will be hosted by the Cary K-9 Unit with Officer Phil Humphries and his dog Robby, and performers from the Dog Gone Fast Flyball and Triumphant Tails team.
The event will run from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the College of Veterinary Medicine’s campus. The price of admission is $1, and all proceeds will support participating rescue groups. Children five years and younger can attend the event for free.
Fourteen local rescue groups are participating in this event, including CARE for Animals, Hope Animal Rescue and Vets to Vets United. Some of these rescues will host booths for canine health and other pet and rescue-related resources.
“While the day is fun for the family, there is the serious side of good pet ownership,” Green said. “The Raleigh Kennel Club each year donates microchips and hosts a free microchip clinic in collaboration with CVM.”
As a day-long service, the College of Veterinary Medicine students will be inserting microchips into one pet per family, making for a learning experience for the students and a helpful service for the families.
“This year, we are also hoping to educate the public who bring their dogs about canine influenza and providing disposable drinking bowls to decrease the risk of any influenza outbreak,” said Laura Keener, the president-elect of Companion Animal Wellness Club and a second-year doctoral student studying veterinary medicine.
The Veterinary Hospital will also be providing canine health information, and there will be more than 20 vendors offering goods, services and foods.
“We know that more and more people attend each year,” Green said. “Event organizers have had to set limits for vendors and rescue groups because of their increasing numbers.”
Keener, along with the chief coordinators of the Dog Olympics, contacts rescues, demonstrators and vendors to organize the event.
“Everyone who works the event is volunteering their time,” Keener said. “The judges for each event are faculty and staff from CVM, and the microchip clinic has clinicians from the CVM hospital.”
In addition to the funds raised for the rescue groups through the annual Dog Olympics, the rescues and shelters get another benefit from the event.
“The other value for the groups, of course, is to talk to people who are thinking about adding a dog to the family,” Green said. “This is the perfect event for it because you can talk to both the representatives from different rescues and to owners of dogs competing in events.”
More information about the events, admissions and schedule can be found online through the College of Veterinary Medicine’s website.
“We’re hoping for lots of visitors this year so that these great rescue groups can gain exposure and benefits from the donations to our event,” Keener said.
A boarder collie grabs a tennis ball during a flyball race at the 23rd Annual Dog Olympics at the N.C. State Vet School Saturday. The Dog Olympics featured different events ranging from flyball to longest tail.
