Craig Carlson and his staff had the music turned up, but it was unable to drown out the excited barks as more than 50 dogs and their owners descended on John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool Sunday evening for the annual Dog Days of Summer Swim.

Sponsored by Island Pet Center, the swim brought to an end the summer season of activities at the pool.

Carlson said the pool was in the process of being drained as the canines frolicked in the water. The facility is closed this week for yearly maintenance and painting.

“We were going to have the owners of the dogs spray them down before they got in the pool, but the dogs didn’t like it so we scrapped that idea and just let them jump right in,” Carlson said.

Just like little kids, the majority of the dogs were reluctant to jump into the pool’s deeper water, so their owners introduced them first to water in the splash pool.

“The majority of the dogs are well behaved, but we have a few that are adding to the excitement,” Carlson said, as a German short hair raced along the deck with a shepherd mix in hot pursuit.

Of course the “water dogs,” Labrador retrievers and the like,

were right at home but others, like a full-grown Harlequin Great Dane and a black and white sheltie, had to be coaxed. Tennis balls and Frisbees did the trick.

Working in the shallow water of the splash pool 12-year-old Allie Hiddle from Oak Harbor and her black Lab, Emma, could have been a training film for Ducks Unlimited on how to retrieve.

“When her dad got back from Afghanistan, he promised her a dog,” Allie’s mother, Cassie, said. “Emma is just eight months old and Allie has her really trained.”

Carlson said they might have some contests during next year’s dog days.

“We could have things like the best jumper or fastest swimmer.

Maybe have some races, too. That might be interesting,” he said.

Carlson had a busy weekend and said he served 150 hot dogs at Saturday’s Frankfurter Fun Fest Final Fling at the pool.

All in all, it was a great final weekend as the curtain came down on another successful summer season at John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool.