SKANEATELES - Boo Boo Kitty is used to strutting her stuff in costume.
The 1 1/2-year-old Pekingese-poodle mix confidently pranced into the ring at Skaneateles' Austin Park dressed in a white shirt, bubble-gum pink cheerleader skirt and a bow on her ear perfectly matching her owner Jily Ervolina's pink sneakers.
"It's like having a little, living stuffed animal," said Jily's mother, Cindy. "They dress her in costumes from Build-A-Bear all the time."
Boo Boo Kitty was up against about a dozen dogs, some more than twice her size, in the Finger Lakes SPCA's costume contest at its ninth annual Pet Walk and Festival.
The competition didn't phase the pint-sized powerhouse; her owners, 5-year-old Jily and her sister, 10-year-old Giorgi, had trained her well for her moment in the ring. But even then, Boo Boo Kitty didn't win.
While the girls loved the thrill of competition, Giorgi and Jily enjoyed seeing more than a hundred dogs of countless breeds and mixes at the event Sunday afternoon.
But there was a time when the girls would have been happier in a room full of cats. Part of the reason Boo Boo Kitty got her name was because the girls originally wanted a cat, but Cindy was allergic.
"She's the closest I could come," Cindy said while scratching Boo Boo Kitty behind the ears.
The SCPA fund-raiser earned about $9,000 for the shelter's rescue efforts last year with hopes to top $10,000 this year, said shelter director Carol Russell.
"It's a totally different affair," she said. "It's really turned into a festival."
If it's a festival, the dogs themselves have become the main attraction. One of the most popular diversions this year was the agility course, which set dogs jumping through hoops and over hurdles, weaving between posts and crawling through tunnels.
But one fixture in the course stumped most pups, including Jennifer Myers' papillion Loki: the teeter-totter. The 9-month-old pup breezed through the rest of the course but froze at the teeter-totter. Not even a treat could help.
"This is their nemesis," said SPCA volunteer Mary Fischer, who did all she could to coax the dogs along the plank. She only saw one dog - a Chihuahua - successfully complete the stunt.
Loki's performance on the agility course wasn't the only thing Myers, of Chittenango, wanted her dog to get out of the festival.
"I wanted to bring him out for socialization," she said. "He doesn't get that too much."
"It's like having a little, living stuffed animal," said Jily's mother, Cindy. "They dress her in costumes from Build-A-Bear all the time."
Boo Boo Kitty was up against about a dozen dogs, some more than twice her size, in the Finger Lakes SPCA's costume contest at its ninth annual Pet Walk and Festival.
The competition didn't phase the pint-sized powerhouse; her owners, 5-year-old Jily and her sister, 10-year-old Giorgi, had trained her well for her moment in the ring. But even then, Boo Boo Kitty didn't win.
While the girls loved the thrill of competition, Giorgi and Jily enjoyed seeing more than a hundred dogs of countless breeds and mixes at the event Sunday afternoon.
But there was a time when the girls would have been happier in a room full of cats. Part of the reason Boo Boo Kitty got her name was because the girls originally wanted a cat, but Cindy was allergic.
"She's the closest I could come," Cindy said while scratching Boo Boo Kitty behind the ears.
The SCPA fund-raiser earned about $9,000 for the shelter's rescue efforts last year with hopes to top $10,000 this year, said shelter director Carol Russell.
"It's a totally different affair," she said. "It's really turned into a festival."
If it's a festival, the dogs themselves have become the main attraction. One of the most popular diversions this year was the agility course, which set dogs jumping through hoops and over hurdles, weaving between posts and crawling through tunnels.
But one fixture in the course stumped most pups, including Jennifer Myers' papillion Loki: the teeter-totter. The 9-month-old pup breezed through the rest of the course but froze at the teeter-totter. Not even a treat could help.
"This is their nemesis," said SPCA volunteer Mary Fischer, who did all she could to coax the dogs along the plank. She only saw one dog - a Chihuahua - successfully complete the stunt.
Loki's performance on the agility course wasn't the only thing Myers, of Chittenango, wanted her dog to get out of the festival.
"I wanted to bring him out for socialization," she said. "He doesn't get that too much."
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