• Justus Rohlfs (left) and Lu Zhang (right) with dog named Tom Brady who is dressed as Captain America.

MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Many people love their furry friends and those in attendance at the Third Annual "Howl"oween Dog Party on Oct. 26 brought their dogs dressed up in all kinds of costumes.

With spiders, Superman, a jack-o-lantern and a hot dog, the dogs and their owners showed their Halloween spirit in style.

Mike Devlin, a specialist for Meridian Township Parks and Recreation Department, led the event and made sure all the dogs and owners were kept in line. He said this event is important for the community because 700-800 people using the township's dog parks and events like this help bring the community together.

"I think it's just a great community event to brings dogs and owners together and [it's] just a different venue and have fun with participants in our program," Devlin said.

During the event, dogs and owners completed different games for a bag of prizes. The events included:
- Musical sits, which was a form of musical chairs but for dogs.
- Barking contest for both the dogs and owners.
- Costume "paw"rade
- A race to their owner
- Who has the best sniffer, where dogs had to find treats scattered in the enclosure.
- Treat catching contest
- Best dance moves

The event went from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., and although it was cold, the dogs and owners were all in good spirits and having fun.