ARTdog Walk at Parys Arts Festival

The new Parys Arts Festival is underway. It started on Friday and runs for the next two weeks with a focus on activities over the weekends. On Saturday I toured a bunch of the galleries with my mom; we've got a number more to tick off in the remaining time. A number of the artists exhibited are local - there is a good dose of talent out here.

An event that we were really looking forward to was the ARTdog Walk, which we attended this morning with our dogs Rusty and Tansy.

I've never done a dog walk before. Rusty isn't always the most sociable as she is more a people dog and than a dog dog. Dogs like to run up to her to entice her to play - she doesn't really play and finds them intimidating. She'll usually tolerate them but is more likely to back away and ignore them.

Some of the many dogs and humans waiting for the start. Everyone kept a respectful distance from each other.

Before the start people were milling around with their dogs. Rusty was definitely wary but got into a bit of sniffing.

We were set off in small groups with an interval between groups. Along the way, dog treats were handed out (really nice dried-wors type dog treats), which Rusty loved. I had given her half of her breakfast. Many treats later she definitely did not need to get the rest of her breakfast at home!

My mom and Tansy.

The 'art' component of the dog walk consisted of three station with coloured paint in trays through which the dogs were to walk to paint the sidewalks and canvas sheets in paw prints. Most of the dogs were not very keen to go through the trays. I got Rusty to add her prints in different colours - and we added some warrior stripes to her face.

Tansy behind Rusty - wearing her rainbow ears 'wings'

The loop of the route was little more than 1km and was a lovely walk with a friendly vibe and happy people with their dogs.

At the finish the dogs were all chilled, sitting around and next to each other. No barking, no issues. It was really lovely to see.

There were prizes for the best dressed dogs and also a lucky draw. We won a dog blankie in the lucky draw. Rusty will enjoy snuggling up in it during winter.

A lovely event and one that we'll attend again next year.

This event was held to benefit our Parys SPCA. Like most SPCAs, they are often in dire need just to buy food for the animals in their care.

Lovely atmosphere at the ARTdog Walk.

Photos from the morning

My Rusty girl

My mom with Tansy

Photo by Deon Terblanche - beautifully captioned as "I love you mum..."

Rusty with a bit of colour - Photo by Deon Terblanche