Pet Palooza | Manhattan, KS

Have you ever made it out to Pet Palooza in Manhattan? Whether you are a dog owner or not, this is a Manhappiness must see!

Pet Palooza happens at the end of the swim season each year in Manhattan.

Before they drain the water out of the pools, they open one of them up to all of the water-loving dogs in town. I’d hate to be the person cleaning the pool filters, but for everyone else, it’s an absolute blast!

One of the most baffling moments of motherhood for me was several years ago when I took two of my kids and my magnificent mutt to Pet Palooza at CiCo Park. Sirius was chilling out in the shallow end and my two kids were…BORED.

Are you kidding me? We were surrounded by dogs having the time of their life and my kids were bored?! There is something very wrong with my offspring! I couldn’t be happier running around trying to photograph pups diving into the water, meeting a new soggy friend, or my favorite, catching them mid-shake. Sorry, kids! I choose happiness and I’m not ready to leave!

You’d think it would be really easy to get great pictures of dogs shaking off. I had actually gone into the experience planning to take slow motion videos of that hilarity and patching them together for a hopeful viral video. But, it was far more difficult than I’d imagined! YES! They were shaking constantly. I’d follow the sound of the collar tags rattling. But, the dog was usually blocked by another dripping beast, had just finished shaking off, or I was looking at the wrong end of the performance. I quickly gave up on the videos and stuck with fun pictures of silly dog faces.

And for those wondering, this event is Pet PALooza, not Pet POOlooza. Thank you for picking up your pup’s poo!

This truly is my favorite event in Manhattan each year and I cannot wait to get my camera back on the furry fun. Keep an eye on my Little Leapling Photography Facebook page after the event for lots of fun pictures!