Pups Make a Splash at Water World Pool Party

On Sept. 9, Water World Colorado invited pups of all sizes to splash, swim, fetch and play in four of the park’s signature attractions. The annual event, Bow Wow Beach Doggie Day, was organized in partnership with Adams County’s Riverdale Animal Shelter with a portion of the proceeds supporting the shelter’s efforts to care for nearly 6,000 animals each year.

Canines old and young spent the day making friends. Nine-year-old Golden Retriever Travis met another Golden named Bailey while playing in the Cowabunga Beach wave pool. The two enjoyed chasing a tennis ball in the water. Travis’ owner Jeff, from Denver, also brought his two-year-old dog Rio, who was more of a solo adventurer. 

“I think it’s gonna be difficult pulling [Travis and Bailey] apart at the end of the day,” Jeff said. “They’re best friends now.” 

Candace and Greg from Littleton brought their two dogs, 16-month-old Deuce and three-year-old Roscoe, to the event. They were difficult to keep track of as they ran all around the wave pool and the park. 

“Roscoe likes to chase balls, but he’s not the best at bringing them back to us, so I’m just trying to keep an eye on him,” Candace said. “We brought them out today just so they could play in the water on a hot day. We plan on going to other events like this one in the near future if we can. We actually got Roscoe from the shelter that Water World works with, Riverdale Animal Shelter.”

Over 700 dogs took part in the sold-out event this year. They chased toys in Water World’s famous Thunder Bay, met new friends—both canine and human—at Cowabunga Beach and Turtle Bay, and dogs under 25 pounds enjoyed exclusive access to Wally World. All dogs, big or small, had the chance to enjoy snacks from Bone Apetreat, Denver’s first dog food truck, and snag one of the hundreds of souvenir tennis balls provided by Water World.

“We’re so excited to have such nice weather this year. Last year, we were rained out,” said Kellie Flowers, communications manager at Water World. It was sunny and in the mid-80s on Saturday, and dogs of all sizes came to splash and play in the water.

Sampson, a seven-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog, loved playing with the other dogs at the event but would only get in the water up to her ankles. Her three-year-old sister Dolly, however, was like Michael Phelps in the water. She’s a smaller dog, but she didn’t seem too aware of her small stature as she swam all the way out to the end of the wave pool and interacted with the bigger dogs all day. 

“Sampson has been here all day and is probably ready to head home with me for a nap,” said their owner Ryan, another Denver resident. “She normally avoids water altogether, so it was fun watching her at least get into it up to her calves today. All of the dogs here have been super well-behaved, which has been awesome to see. And her sister Dolly, she loves the water. So today looked like a really cool opportunity to get some exercise, make some friends, and just enjoy being outside.”

Owner Danny brought his one-year-old Springer Spaniel, Emily, out to Bow Wow Beach Doggie Day, and threw tennis balls out to the water for her all day long. 

“I can’t believe she isn’t tired yet, but that’s puppies for you,” he said with a laugh. “She needed this to burn off some energy.” 

Although humans weren’t allowed to swim in the water with their dogs, there was a human lifeguard in the biggest wave pool, Turtle Bay, who stayed in an inflatable raft and wrangled any dogs that were getting up to mischief. 

“Today’s been a blast,” said Brett, one of the lifeguards, as he finished his afternoon shift. “None of the dogs needed rescuing which is always what we want. It’s just been fun to see all of the people out here with their dogs having a good time.”

With the dogs headed home to dry off, Water World will begin to drain and clean the pools to prepare for winter and the 2024 summer season. This was the water park’s final event of the year after hosting approximately half a million human visitors this summer. Water World closed to humans on Labor Day and will re-open in 2024 on Memorial Day weekend.