Why is it that we say someone dressed to kill is  the “cat’s meow” or the “cat’s pajama’s” but we  don’t have anything akin to those expressions for  canines? Well, opening day of Coquille’s new dog  park was most definitely a Doggie Designer Day!  Part of the Gay Nineties celebration, the dog costume  contest, held at the Fifth Street Park, was well  attended by both humans and their pets.

The contest was divided into three classes: small,  medium and large breed dogs. There were a good  half dozen entries for each category and many more  undressed canines to cheer them on. Judges for the  competition were Linda Short, city council member  and originator of the dog park concept, Anne  Conner, Coquille librarian, and Colleen Balles, a  customer representative for Sterling Bank. Prizes  were baskets of dog goodies, toys and accoutrements.

Small dog category winner was “Maggie,” a  five-month old Boston terrier/Chihuahua mix. Her  owner, Gisela Colbert, of Coquille, made her frilly  outfit of a brown and cream print and an abundance  of ecru lace. She had a matching hat but resisted  wearing it for very long.

Her “brother,” “Chester”,  a pug, wore a complementary ruffle but was not a  contestant. He was quite put out but is a star in his  own right as a local “Furry Friend” therapy dog,  who pays frequent visits to the Myrtle Point Care  Center. Gisela is hoping that Maggie will join him  when she is old enough to receive training. All the  Colberts plan to visit the new park often.

Another “Maggie,” a 14 –year-old American  Cocker spaniel, won the medium size dog category,  dressed in a designer-made Can-Can girl costume  of black and white striped satin with underlying  layers of red taffeta and crinolines and a black and  white petticoat. She wore a matching headpiece of  striped satin and red netting. The outfit was conceived  by her owner, Jackie Dotzauer, owner of the  “Doghouse Grooming Spa,” and created by Mary  Graham, one of the new dog park commissioners. Maggie  looked enchanting but was exhausted by the ordeal and anxious  to get into something more comfortable.

The winner of the large breed category, “Chloe”, is a  five-month-old chocolate Lab, owned by April Smith of  Langlois. She sported a yellow and green satin and net  tutu, originally made for and worn by April’s mother, as a  little girl, many years ago. April said that she was very  proud of Chloe as she had never been dressed up before and  “I thought she might eat the costume!”

This was the fashion debut for all three winners and they  conducted themselves admirably, posing for pictures and  prizes following the contest. Other entrants included a  boxer wearing a hula outfit, a tiny dog dressed as a bumble  bee and a lab with electric blue aviator goggles. At the conclusion  of the festivities, attendants repaired to the newly  opened facilities, where refreshments awaited them.