A Dog's View of "Doggies in the Park"

     If you were Bella, a Boston terrier owned by Phyllis Pierce, here's what you did during Sunday's "Doggies in the Park" event, sponsored by the Gilroy Foundation Youth Board:

• Watched the . The Merriman family donated fifty thousand dollars to be used for planting trees, building park benches, and updating other aspects of the dog park.
• Listened to Gilroy police officer Ryan Hollar explain how he trains his police dog, Cento. Hollar had Cento attack a volunteer, the fearless Victor Olmos. Afterward, Cento patiently submitted to being petted by a few dozen children.
• Heard Gilroy veterinarian Greg Martinez talk about pet well-being and nutrition.
• Paid close attention as Matthew and William Anderson picked out ganache-covered pretzel sticks from the PennyCakes Bakery stand. Despite Bella's fondest hopes, the Anderson brothers didn't drop any of their treats on the ground.
• Eyed the tantalizing display of dog-only treats at the Barkn Belly Bakery stand. Barkn Belly in Morgan Hill is owned by Jesse Figueroa, who showed a crowd examples of his custom-made birthday cakes and treats for dogs.
• Took part in the pet parade. Pierce dressed Bella in a floral jacket trimmed with bright pink faux fur.
• Thought "I can do that," while watching dog trainer Chad Culp put his dog Nikita through some agility training. Nikita crawled through a flexible tunnel and soared easily over a high jump before bounding onto a picnic table at Chad's command. Bella opted out of the tunnel but sailed over a jump. Gilroy resident Culp is the owner of Thriving Canine.
• Socialized with rescue dogs Chia and Monty, who are both available for adoption. Shawna Murphy and Rebecca Shevchenko brought Chia and Monty from the San Martin Animal Shelter.

     After a full day and one last longing look in the direction of the Barkn Belly Bakery treats, Bella trotted out of the park, ever stylish in her pink floral jacket, headed for home with Phyllis.