Trainer launches nonprofit with Dog Derby in Plum

Say It Once Dog Training hosted what is hoped to be an annual Dog Derby to help fund the Say It Once Rescue League, a new nonprofit that will send trainers, or “superheroes,” to rescue shelters to work with their more difficult-to-train dogs.

The event, which was planned over the past four months, took place Aug. 14 at the Boyce Park Ski Lodge in Plum and featured a 5K course that included 15 different obstacles for dogs and their owners, such as walking through tires and navigating a slip-and-slide.

Designed by Say It Once owner Vinnie Somma, the obstacle course was intended to help build confidence in the dogs being tested.

“The best part was we limited each space to 30 dogs, so there was enough space for people to enjoy the obstacles,” he said. “The obstacles had a little bit of everything: little bit of jumping over, ducking under, a little bit of crawling in between and going in through..

“At the end of the day, the dogs had the best day of their life. Dogs that were coming off of here looked as happy as a dog could look. And people really enjoyed it.”

In total, 297 dogs participated, and the event team estimated 1,000 people attended. The event raised $7,000 in sponsorships, $14,000 in ticket sales, a $10,000 donation from Somma, $3,500 in merchandise sales and $1,000 in donations from the general public, for a grand total of $35,500, without including cash transactions at the event.

Three food trucks were on hand — 412 Brewery, Galaxy Donuts and Dad’s Pub and Grub — alongside 10 vendors, allowing owners to get refreshments while their pups enjoyed a well-earned “puppoccino.” There were an additional 13 sponsors of the event.

“I’m elated,” said Kimmi Rasky, the coordinator of the event. “At the beginning of the week, we started with 200 dogs, and by the end of the week we ended up with around 300 total dogs and who knows how many people. I mean, 412 Brewery kicked their kegs. It was lovely.”

All proceeds are going to the Say It Once Rescue League, which received its incorporation status on Aug. 12. The Dog Derby was considered as the launch date for the nonprofit.

The plan is to make the event a yearly occurrence, with a September date being looked at for 2023 and proceeds continuing to go toward the new nonprofit. Somma expressed a desire to more than double the amount of dogs at next year’s event.

“As a business owner, as somebody who lives in this community grew up in Plum, I had tears to my eyes multiple times throughout the day with people coming up and saying, ‘what your business does for the community is unbelievable’ or ‘you putting on something like this.’ And it wasn’t me. Let’s be honest: It was my team,” he said.

Somma — whose parents run Somma’s Pizza, another community staple in Plum — credited Rasky with helping lead the event, along with the employees at Say It Once Dog Training for running the event. Many of the volunteers were clients of Somma and/or residents of the community.