What a spectacular event to cap off the 2011 pet event season...and raise money for DOGPAW (Dog Owners Group for Park Access in Washington) at the same time! Crisp fall weather, happy dogs frolicking free, sweet music filling the air, zany-fun contests, and hanging with friendly peeps in the 'Couv, it was simply a perfect afternoon.

Always a great event for dog peeps! Spot held the Annual Cover Model Search for the Portland area at the event and 101 pups showed up for their time in the spotlight. The Spot crew was hard at work (hence not a lot of photos here) but the winner of the day was David Childs. His shots were fantastic along with his patience and tireless work ethic (he never even took a break!)

Pets and their people entered Spot's Cover Model Search at events all last spring and summer. Winner, Penny Love, graces this month's cover. All the beauties who entered are featured here.

Portland's biggest dog wash was a rocking success! Don't have the exact numbers but word is over 550 pooches were spiffied up by 136 volunteers. While the dogs were being bathed, their peeps got to enjoy the sunshine, food, beer, music, raffles & vendors.

Spot spent a rainy Saturday at Petco with some great rescue organizations and vendors celebrating pets & pet owners.

The wonderful thing about Westies...is Westies (and friends) are a wonderful thing! And seeing them all gather in one spot is incredible! The Walk raises funds for the DoveLewis Velvet Assistance Fund.

Celebrating the big ONE year anniversary, Fido's Indoor Dog Park's birthday party was a blast with good food, drink, friends, and dogs!

Held in beautiful Esther Short Park in Vancouver, this first annual event put on by Must Love Dogs NW had everything a perfect dog day afternoon could want. The title of the event speaks (woofs) for itself...along with these candid photos.

Elk Rock Bar & Grill was the host for the 1st annual Bark at the Rock. Over 20 vendors braved the first 90-degree day this summer to support local area dog rescues. A huge thanks to Barbara Roach of Oregon Dog Rescue for making it all come together!

Who doesn't enjoy a pool party?! These lucky pups did at Stay Pet Hotel's annual Pool Paw-ty to benefit DoveLewis.

Despite the iffy weather, pups and their peeps came out to enjoy the Pet Party! Harrison Forbes was engaging, gracious and fun, answering pet questions, signing books and announcing the pet contest. Thank you Beaverton Toyota, Harrison and all the vendors who made it a great afternoon!

It was a little different but fun to set up in the middle of a huge nursery surrounded by plants on such a gorgeous sunny day for the Wine & Wags event at Garden World in Hubbard, OR. The event featured rescues, shelters and those supporting them. It was awesome to see the sweet adoptable pooches that found their fur-ever homes!

Over 300 runners showed up to support Dove Lewis in the Run for the Love of Dove event. More than half of these humans brought their four-legged friends. These pups came in all age, shapes, sizes, and hairiness. Here are some shots from a great morning!

Whole Foods & DoveLewis partnered for a furry and fun street fair at HollyWOOF. The weather was perfect with the first day of 2011 of the temps inching into the 80s! Lots of pups and their peeps came out to enjoy craft vendors, Whole Foods market samples, and everything canine. Everyone had a blast!

Put a Pug on it! The pugs were everywhere at this year’s Pug Crawl to benefit OHS. Plus, there were several other dog breeds representing the Fans of Pugs category. After attempting to capture these adorable pups in pictures, it quickly became apparent that there was just too much going on to get most of them to focus or sit still for long!

Nutrition, health, journalism, environmental science, recess and adoptology! All covered at this “Saturday school” for pets and their people. Thanks LeRae for this fun event!

Spot had a great time at this year's Bark in the Park. Tons of dogs and their people ran and walked and spectators and runners alike enjoyed the many vendor booths, free giveaways, and other activities like the agility demo! Thanks Greenhill.

Dogs, dogs, everywhere there's dogs! Word is there were over 6,000 entries...not sure on the dog count but there were a ton. Here are photos of just a handful of them. If you happen to see your baby in the bunch, let us know!

Nearly 1,000 people and 500 animals did not let a few showers and a couple downpours intermixed with some sun breaks stop them from enjoying the annual Walk for the Animals event at beautiful Esther Short Park. As a “student” of David Childs’ Photography 101 classes in Spot, I thought I could take some good photos but realized quickly that taking photos of excited dogs in this active environment was a little difficult. I took hundreds of photos and ended up tossing most of them out! The dogs were so stimulated by what was going on that they would look away from the camera immediately or come charging at it to check it out. It was good practice and I did manage to capture a few good shots plus a blue sky sun break. All in all, everyone had a great time no matter what and that’s what really counts. Photos by Vonnie Harris.

Lots of dogs and their people didn’t let the threat of rain stop them from enjoying the 5th Annual March for Mutts at North Clackamas Park. Here are just a few snapshots of the faces that came out. You’ll even see the inside of one enthusiastic dog’s mouth…just couldn’t leave that out! Proceeds of the event went to Meals on Wheels and Animeals of Clackamas County.

A record number of dogs and their people entered the Portland area Cover Model Search held at the beautiful World Forestry Center during the Doggie Palooza event this last October. The photos were all shot by well-known photographer, David Childs and all proceeds went to Oregon Spay/Neuter. The winner, Bo graces the cover of the January 2011 cover, and all the precious pups that entered are featured here.

Just a few snapshots of the warm and cozy evening for the PAW Team Open House. A good time was had by all. Thanks for having us, PAW Team...you guys rock!

Thank you Spot fans for sending in photos of your festive pets!

Spot fans send in photos of their good times over the weekends!

Great event to support OFOSA! Vendors, a food court, adoption clinic and a costume contest were just some of the afternoon's festivities.

What a great event! Over 105 dogs showed up for the Annual Cover Model Search (watch for all of them in the January issue) along with two Spot Walks, goodie bags and a fabulous local artist showcasing his work. Here are a few photos of the long lines of patient owners & their pups and the Spot Crew hard at work!

Lots of costumed pups (and a chinchilla!) brought their peeps to the 2nd Annual Pet Spooktacular inside Jantzen Beach Mall for a day filled with yummy treats, fun contests and super-cool vendors!

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Dogtoberfest this year! The 16th annual event at Lucky Lab Brew Pub was a great success. 528 dogs were washed and over $17,000 was raised for the DoveLewis Blood Bank!

Pets and their people entered Spot's Cover Model Search at events all last spring and summer. Winner Yozzer blesses this month's cover, and all the beauties who entered are featured here.

Hundreds of little white dogs and their friends gathered at Marshall Park in NW Portland on a chilly Saturday for the 2010 Westie Walk. The 1 ½ mile walk raised money for DoveLewis’ Velvet Assistance Fund which helps low-income clients in need of emergency care.

"School" was in session for these excited pups and their people!

Awesome turnout & weather for the Doggie Dash! So many happy dogs, a few cats & their peeps for a great event. Here are tons of photos taken by Spot's own Vonnie Harris who enjoyed trying to capture 'em all!

Imperfect NW weather on Saturday, May 1st didn’t stop hundreds of dogs and their people from gathering to support the Humane Society of SW Washington. Check out some of the smiles from the day — big and small! Many were hungry for treats, several were pooped, a few decked out, some ultra-hairy and even some wet ones! A huge Thank-You to everyone who came out for a great day!

What a great day & event to support AniMeals. Photos taken by Spot's Vonnie Harris.

Photos taken by Paula Wessells of Doxzen Pet Photos.

Photos taken by Spot's Photo Intern, Amber Soule.

A great time inside the Jantzen Beach Mall for Pet Spooktacular! Hundreds of people came out with their pet friends....dogs, cats, birds,ferrets. Even Rojo, the Dove Lewis therapy llama showed up all decked out in costume.

Hundreds of people and canines put on their costumes and enjoyed checking each other out before going on a Monster 5K Run at 10 am and a Monster Mash 5K-9 Walk starting at 10:05 put on by Slocum Center For Orthopedics & Sports Medicine - "Live In Motion" - Eugene, Oregon.

Daria, Mitch and Ted from The Buzz were there to help choose the best-becostumed pooch during this Halloween-themed Mutt Mixer!

Check out Mitch & Ted "demonstrating" the proper way to walk a dog, and Daria posing with a precious furry one.

Photos © Josh Alsberg

The Spot crew was out with the beers and the barkers at this year's Dogtoberfest hosted by the Lucky Lab Brewery.

Pictures from the amazing good time we had at Hotel Monaco in August. Come Join us on October 1st for more drinks & doggies!