Nearly 100 people and 50 dogs celebrated the grand opening of the Tails and Trails Dog Park off of Mukilteo Boulevard near Japanese Gulch – in the pouring rain.

“Mukilteo has gone to the dogs today,” said Sally Osborn, who advocated for the creation of the dog park years. “The weather can’t hold them back.”

As people tried to keep dry under a tent during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, their dogs played together in the off-leash area, running, barking, sniffing around and splashing in the mud.

Many of the dogs came dressed in Halloween costumes. Mayor Joe Marine awarded first and second prizes to the owners of the dogs with the best costumes.

For many people there, the grand opening was the culmination of three years of effort to establish Mukilteo’s own 3/4-acre dog park.

“It was a community effort,” Osborn said. “It’s been a dream three years in the making, but hard work pays off.”

Sheila Phillips won first place for the costumes her dogs wore. Phillips' Italian greyhounds Mussolini and Rocco wore matching airplane costumes with little pilots on their backs.

-Sara Bruestle