At the Athens City Pool on Saturday, the most popular stroke was the doggy paddle.
Friendly Paws, a pet shop on East State Street in Athens, held the city pool's annual dog swim on Saturday and sought to raise money for the Athens County Humane Society, said Shelley Lieberman, owner of Friendly Paws.
“We started this probably eight or nine years ago; I had been wanting to do it for a long time since I’d seen it done in other communities,” Lieberman said. “It just looked like a ton of fun and an easy way to raise money for good charities.”
Lieberman estimated that this year about 130 dogs attended. The event raised $792.
“Some of the dogs just run around and they have a great time even if they don’t swim,” Lieberman said. “We check for vaccinations and everything, and we’ve never really had any problems. People are really good about bringing dogs that are good with other dogs.”
Mariapaz Hermosilla brought her dog, Snoopy (pictured above).
“He comes every year, it’s like his third or fourth year,” Hermosilla said. “He loves the water.”
Sue Carano said she found out about the event through shopping at Friendly Paws, and brought her English Bulldog, Iris, to the event for the first time.
Carano said Iris is a social butterfly and that “she thinks she’s a diva.”
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