A beach bar on the Croatian island of Rab has found an unusual way of attracting pet owners — by organising a swimming contest for them and their dogs.
About a dozen owners and their pets jumped from a boat moored about 100 metres off the Adriatic island, swam to shore and then jogged back to the bar.
Ervina Kriskovic-Pahlina and her poodle Bonnie came first, to the owner’s surprise. “My dog loves swimming a lot... but when I saw all those larger dogs in good shape lining up, I thought he doesn’t stand a chance. But in the end, it turned out he really was faster than anyone else,” she said .
After their swim, the pets faced another contest — to see which of them was fastest to gobble down a helping of special soy milk-based ice cream and drink a cup of non-alcoholic beer made to suit a dog’s taste.
Bar owner Ruby Montanari-Knez said it was about how important pets are in our lives.
