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The 13th annual First Run Halloween Parade - NYC's first dog run and first dog run Halloween event. Dozens of dogs (and their owners) will dress up to compete for prizes such as best costume, best trick and the "Spirit of the East Village" award.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26th, 2003 at NOON

The Tompkins Square Dog Run will host the latest yearly edition of New York City’s oldest dog Halloween tradition this year on the Sunday before Halloween, OCTOBER 26th 2003 at NOON.

Dogs and owners will be judged in four main categories: best big dog costume, best little dog costume, best trick and best yodeling. There will be a bevy of prizes such as pet portraits from local artists and $25 gift certificates from sponsors Dawgs on Park and Crittercafe.net.

We’ll also have a professional photographer on hand to snap photos of the participants, which will be available for purchase online after the event.

This year we are proud to have, starting at 1:30, Stacy Alldredge from Who's Walking Who Dog Training, who will be holding Canine Good Citizen Evaluations and awarding the official AKC certificates to all dogs and owners who complete the 10 item CGC Test. The purpose of the Canine Good Citizen Program is to ensure that our favorite companion, the dog, can be a respected member of the community. To receive the CGC certificate, dogs take the 10 item Canine Good Citizen Test.

For complete test procedures go to her website at: http://www.whoswalkingwhodogtraining.com/class_cgc.shtml

RAINDATE: Sunday, November 1

Background: The Tompkins Square Dog Run is the city’s oldest off-leash dog community. The Parks Department let dog owners experiment with the run on the condition that we maintain the area and self-police it. Now dog runs – and dog Halloween events – are found all over the city. First Run currently operates under the auspices of the East Village Parks Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation.

On Saturday October 18th we will be participating in the citywide "It's My Park Day" from 10am - noon. We will be recieving bulbs to plant from the Parks Department so it will be a good day to come if you've been having the urge to plant something in the out of doors. We will meet at 10am at the Tompkins Square Parks Offices. No need to bring anything except yourselves. It should be a lot of fun and you'll get to see the results later on when your flowers pop up.