Squirt weighed five pounds soaking wet.

Literally.

The Pomeranian-poodle mix, or pomapoo, got a bath Saturday at Dallastown Community Park -- the site of a future dog park that will cover about an acre.

To raise funds for a fence around the proposed bark park, members of the Dallastown Recreation Board held a dog wash.

"I think it's a great idea," Dallastown resident Nancy Geesey said of the planned dog park. Her daughter, Brittany, owns Squirt -- a rescued dog. "We live on Springwood Road, and there's no where to walk a dog there."

Nancy Geesey also liked the convenience the dog wash offered.

"I usually wash (Squirt) in the sink," she said.

Scott Shaffer, a volunteer organizer for the dog wash, said a fence around the dog park will cost about $5,000.

"It's a community-involved effort," he said of raising money for the park.

A dog park is needed in the area, said Bonnie Lepson of York Township.

"We have eight acres at home, but the important part is the socialization . . . interaction with other dogs," she said. "I think it's very important . . . It will get a lot of use."

Lepson's golden retriever, Chloe, got a bath at the event.

"She got the works . . . she's all cooled off," Lepson said.

Other pooches weren't so cool about getting clean.

"She hates to get wet," Beth Garber of Red Lion said of 8-year-old granddaughter Lexy Reeser's brown and white mixed English setter, Katy.

The dog wash made life a little easier for Carol Seitz of York Township. Her yellow lab Max can be a challenge to clean, she said.

"Actually, I'm going home to get my other one," she said of yellow lab Tanner. "They're just too big, and they won't stay in the tub."

Article Referenced from York Sunday News (Sunday, Aug. 2nd, 2009): http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_12974033