Beneful Play Date at Chicago's Grant Park with Arden Moore

Rocco walks in like he owns the place and then practices his jumping
skills. Uh oh, he may have photo bombed a pic or two! 

Last Wednesday while we were visiting Chicago we had the chance to attend the Beneful Play Date Tour at Grant Park, a super fun event that Rocco enjoyed along with his pal Sugar the Golden Retriever!

Designed to inspire more play, the tour is visiting eight parks across the country to celebrate the special relationships people share with their four-legged buddies. At the Chicago tour stop, pet expert Arden Moore also made an appearance and we had the chance to chat with her about the importance of play!

In addition to Chicago, events have already been held in New York Ciy, Nashville and Kansas City. But if you're in Denver (8/21), Los Angeles (8/26), Austin (8/31) or San Antonio (9/1) you can still check out the fun and track the tour at Beneful Play Date on Facebook.

Rocco and I had a blast, but then Rocco doesn't need a whole lot of encouragement to get out and have some fun! 

In addition to checking out the agility equipment, water misters, and a photo booth, Rocco and his pal Sugar participated in some of the special activities like the Toss and Fetch game, Spoon Race obstacle course and Squeaky Toy Pit with hidden treats! 

Check out Sugar's blog to see how much fun he had with the activities, all inspired by childhood games and designed for dogs and owners to play together.

Sugar and Rocco first headed to the pit filled with squeaky tennis balls and hidden treats! Rocco caught on quickly, sniffing out the treats and gobbling them up fast as he could! 

Next, Rocco headed over to the obstacle course where he showed off some of the agility skills he's learning.

Then, there were some dogs that were just plain showing off, all in good fun, of course! Look at these mad ball catching skills.

We took a short break to chat with Arden Moore about the benefits of play for both dogs and owners. Take a look...

Arden is the creator of Four Legged Life and host of the popular show "Oh Behave!" on Pet Life Radio.  She was terrific with all the pups and interviewed us for her radio show!

All the pups had so much fun and their humans learned more about the 4th Annual Beneful Dream Dog Park Contest. The contest awards a $500,000 renovation of a dog park in the Grand Prize Winner's area and the winner will receive $10,000 cash and a one year supply of Beneful brand dry dog food. If you're thinking of entering, don't wait too long. Entries close Sept. 17.  More details on how to enter, here!

Now, go out and play! It's good for you!

Beneful Dream Dog Park Opening Day!

Yesterday, the Beneful Dream Team unveiled its first Dream Dog Park, and we were there! The $500,000 dog park makeover in the Atlanta area was all made possible when Pat McNeely and his dog Koda were named Grand Prize winners in the Beneful WagWorld Dream Dog Park Contest and provided the inspiration for the renovation.

No dream dog park is complete without features that provide both fun and function, like this doggie-sized drinking fountain.

Or this giant bone-shaped ramp with tunnels. That's Koda resting in the shade underneath.

A closer look at the lovely Koda, a Siberian Husky, on this hot day at the Newtown Dream Dog Park in Johns Creek -- near Atlanta, Ga.

Next, we had the chance to chat with Jason Cameron, TV design personality and head designer for the park renovation. Cameron talks about some of the park's most interactive and unique elements, including the bone bridge and water splash pads.

Cosmo says agility features are a must for a dream dog park. Cosmo gives the "tire" a test run.

And then there was the water feature, our favorite for hot Atlanta summer days!

Truly interactive, the water splash pads are enjoyed by dogs, kids and grown-ups!

And a great place to grab a drink... the ultimate dog bar!

Another nice feature is the separate small dog area, with scaled down versions of the splash pads and tunnels.

Poodle siblings share some refreshment in the small dog area!

It was a fabulous day, and all made possible because Pat McNeely entered the Beneful Dream Dog Park contest a year ago. We had the chance to chat with Pat, too.

Now in its second year, there's still time to enter this year's Beneful Dream Dog Park contest. From now through June 21, the contest invites dog owners to get creative and answer the question: If you had $500,000 to spend to create the ultimate dream dog park, what would you do? The Grand Prize includes a half-million dollar makeover of your community dog park, a $10,000 cash award and one year supply of Beneful brand dog food. So get dreaming and enter here!

Thanks Beneful for an amazing opportunity to share the adventure. We feel a house is not a home without a dog, and a dog park is not complete without plenty of dogs and humans to share the adventure. Dog pawty ON!

For more photos from our adventure, visit the To Dog With Love Facebook page.