For a few hours each September, the chlorinated waters of Flowers Park Pool belong not to the city's swimmers but to its dogs. The Doggy Splash Day in Doraville has become a late-summer ritual for local pet owners, a chance to let their pups paddle, fetch, and play in a municipal pool that, for one day, is theirs alone. The event has typically carried a modest fee of $5 per dog and a simple requirement: proof of up-to-date vaccinations. But this year, the event's future is uncertain, and the pool that has hosted this canine celebration for years may be swimming its last laps.
Flowers Park, at 5921 New Peachtree Road, has been a community anchor for decades. Its pool has offered summer relief to generations of residents, opening each Memorial Day weekend and closing after Labor Day, and in those final days of the season, the city would drain the water, adjust the chemicals, and throw open the gates to the four-legged set.
The Doggy Splash Day, as it came to be known, was a simple affair. For $5, dog owners could bring their vaccinated pups to swim in the pool, with humans staying dry on the deck. The rules were straightforward: dogs had to be up to date on shots, and no human swimming was allowed. It was a chance for dogs to experience the joy of a pool without the crowds and noise of a typical summer day, and for owners to watch their pets paddle with unbridled enthusiasm. The event was listed on the city's parks and recreation calendar each year, and local parenting sites like Macaroni KID would dutifully note the date and fee, helping families plan their end-of-summer outings.
But the event's future is now in question. The Atlanta on the Cheap website, which compiles dog swim days across the metro area each year, still lists the Doggy Splash Day, but notes that "No 2026 info available yet" and that the event "usually takes place in mid-September at Flowers Park Pool." The city has not made an official announcement about the event's fate, and the listing remains a placeholder, waiting for details that may never come. The Atlanta on the Cheap page itself offers a wry note: "Doraville is notoriously poor at communicating events."
For dog owners who have made the Doggy Splash Day a family tradition, the uncertainty is frustrating. The event was more than just a swim; it was a community gathering, a chance to see neighbors and their pets in a shared moment of joy. The sight of a golden retriever launching itself off the pool steps or a small terrier paddling furiously in the deep end was a reminder of the simple pleasures that make a town feel like home. And for the dogs, it was a rare opportunity to do something humans do all summer long: cool off in a pool on a hot Georgia day.
But for now, the dogs of Doraville are left to wonder. Will there be a final splash at Flowers Park Pool? Will the event move to a new location? Or will the Doggy Splash Day become a memory, like the Drool in the Pool event in Alpharetta, which disappeared after the pandemic? The city has not said. For those who want to give their dogs one more chance to swim in a municipal pool, the nearby Brookhaven Doggy Dip Day offers an alternative, but it's not the same as the homegrown event in Doraville.
As September approaches, dog owners in Doraville will be watching the city's website and social media for any word about the event. If the Doggy Splash Day does go on, it will be a fitting farewell to a pool that has served the community for so long. If it doesn't, it will be a quiet end to a tradition that brought joy to both two-legged and four-legged residents alike. Either way, the spirit of the event—the simple, unbridled happiness of a dog in water—will live on in the memories of everyone who ever brought a pup to Flowers Park Pool on a September Saturday. And perhaps, one September, the dogs will get their day in the sun once more.