More than 50 members of Fort Belvoir's canine community enthusiastically took to North Post Pool to celebrate the annual Pooch Plunge dog swim Saturday.

Dogs great and small -- from Saint Bernards, German shepherds and golden retrievers to pugs, poodles, terriers and yorkies -- spent the day enjoying the end of summer celebration with more than a hundred of their human Family members.

According to Romel Voellm, Fort Belvoir Community Center special events coordinator, the event is one of the most popular celebrations of the year.

"We usually have at least 50 dogs come to this," he said. "This is one of my favorite events. We also have some contests, like the ice cream eating and best trick events. It's just a lot of fun."

The event proved to be just as enjoyable among the dogs' owners as it was for the canines themselves.

"My wife is a wounded warrior nurse and when she heard about it we just had to come," said Robert Coger, who, with his Family, attended the Pooch Plunge with his two inseparable golden retrievers, Maggie and Murphy. "This is the first time we've done this and the dogs are having a blast. They both love to swim and they love each other, too."

The Pooch Plunge is the one day out of the year when the dogs can enjoy free reign over the pool, diving into the water to retrieve toys and balls, swimming laps, enjoying a snack or two or just interacting with their fellow

animals on a warm September afternoon.

Coordinators from the Fort Belvoir Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation and the Community Center put the event together and volunteers from the American Red Cross made the rounds answering questions and providing information on the services the organization provides with its many canine volunteers.

The Pooch Plunge provided attendees a welcome opportunity to spend some time outdoors with the Family dog and meet other members of the Belvoir community.

"I just adore this event," said Barbara Zimmerman, who attended the event with her German shepherd, Gunnar. "There aren't a lot of dog parks here (in the Washington, D.C. area) so something like this is perfect."

Red Cross volunteer, Kay Leget, who served as primary greeter with "Molly Malone," a snow-white poodle that works as a service dog, summed up the feel of the event as a whole and noted the positive effect the Pooch Plunge has on everyone who participates.

"This is a wonderful event; dogs just change your whole day," she said. "Dogs are such a big part of the population here and they play such a big role in our programs at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital."

The Pooch Plunge marks the end of the summer swimming season each year at Fort Belvoir and traditionally takes place at North Post Pool.

Additional information is available by contacting Fort Belvoir's DFMWR office at (703) 805-2532, the Community Center at (703) 805-3714, or by visiting www.belvoirmwr.com.