A Warm Up Your Mutt event was held for the first time on Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. in Daybreak. Residents and their furry friends gathered down at SoDa Row to enjoy the company of other pet enthusiasts, enjoy hot cocoa and other treats and to collect items to donate to Rescue Rovers, a local animal shelter.

“We’re just welcoming people to get out on a cold January morning and come on down, enjoy some hot chocolate, get a dog treat and help out some dogs in local shelters looking for their homes,” Live Daybreak Program Coordinator Wendi Pettett said.

About 15 dogs of all shapes and sizes turned up for the event, with their owners in tow. Swirly Girls Gourmet Bakery baked pupcakes (cupcakes made to be safe for the dogs to enjoy) for the dogs to wolf down.

“We know that we have a lot of furry Daybreak residents around, so we’re trying to do more events for our residents that do have puppies,” Pettett said.

Taylor Proctor showed up with her 8-year-old dog Owen, an Australian shepherd, blue heeler and border collie mix. Proctor bought him from a family in American Fork when he was just a puppy.

“When I bought him—there were several puppies—he was the only one who didn’t have a home because he’s really shy. He kind of doesn’t like being around everybody. But he came running up to me, and the owners were like, ‘He doesn’t do that for anybody.’ So we got him, and it’s been great,” Proctor said.

Kim Osieja came up with the idea for this event, so she was there with her 10-year-old dog Bear. Osieja just moved to Daybreak about three months ago.

“We moved here because it’s a very dog-friendly area . . . Bear just loves it,” Osieja said.

Bear is a German shepherd mix that Osieja adopted from the Humane Society when he was just 7 months old. Osieja’s niece Torrie also turned up with her two Great Danes named Scooby and Shadow.

“We wanted to put together more dog events to get a dog community together and socializing, so that people with dogs as a common interest can get together. I don’t have any kids, and so my dog is my baby. It’s fun to get together with other people who have animals too,” Osieja said.