Dog Days of Summer with the Padres & Steve Garvey

Yesterday was a fun day at work. Some of you may be aware that my company has been hosting a series of "Bark in the Park" events at various major league baseball parks across the country. It's a day when you can take your dog to the ball park to watch the game. Baseball legend Steve Garvey is a spokesperson for Natural Balance Pet Foods and heads up our sports marketing. (Steve sure had an amazing career). We've had an incredible summer of baseball games with literally thousands of dogs and their pet parents in tow. Last weekend was the wildly successful Bark in the Park with the Dodgers in Los Angeles (great video here). This weekend has two more such events; Friday was the "Dog Days of Summer" with the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, and Sunday is the Bark in the Park with the Giants at AT&T park in San Francisco. So yesterday Steve Garvey and I made the rounds to a series of appearances on local TV stations to pitch the Padres "Dog Days of Summer" event.

above: If you've never seen the set of a TV station, this is a very typical news desk set. The anchors had not sat down yet...

above: Steve Garvey was waiting on the set with a few rescue dogs from the San Diego Labrador Rescue. They had on site adoptions during the event at Petco Park.

above: on the set just before the interview. Steve was ready to go as the dogs were given a delicious treat to keep them busy! Watch the KFMB TV segment online here.
Earlier in the day, Steve appeared on CW Channel 6. Watch this segment here
Dog Days of Summer at Petco Park:

above: Steve Garvey signed autographs at the Natural Balance booth for well over an hour to a long line of fans. Some of the fans were four-legged, but that was what made the day so cool!

above: Steve had another interview with KUSI TV, at Petco Park.

above: Look closely. This tiny little Boston Terrier was perched on his motorcycle, wearing a Harley Davidson jacket and goggles. Such a cute dog with a great personality. It was great being with Steve again all day. Wherever we went, people recognized Steve and said hello, asked for autographs, photos, etc.

above: the parade of pups, waiting in line for judging.

above: who would be biggest, smallest or "best look-alike to owner"? Everyone waited patiently...

above: the pressure of the competition didn't bug this Pug. He was thrilled to have his Padres jersey on and be at the ball park!

above: the grassy knoll, center field was a hub of activity.

above: meanwhile, back at the Natural Balance tent, Steve Garvey continued to sign autographs to a long line of fans.

above: this Westie did all sorts of tricks for our Tillman Treats!

It was a fun evening, despite the Padres loss to the Phillies later. It's clear to me that baseball and dogs are both great family events. My day started in TV studios pitching to the media and ended with the dogs, but that's exactly the way I like it.
-Rick Rockhill