Dogs of Sewickley returns after 2 decades

Two decades ago, Nancy Kury’s ex-husband saw images of multiple colorful entry ways from Ireland and New York that were photographed and stacked in rows on a poster. The Doors of Dublin and Doors of New York posters inspired the Dogs of Sewickley.

“He said, ‘If there can be Doors of Dublin and Doors of New York, why can’t there be Dogs of Sewickley?’” said Kury, of Marshall, who used to live in Sewickley. “It was a great idea.”

Twenty years later, Dogs of Sewickley are back and will again be a fundraiser for the Child Health Association of Sewickley.

The organization’s mission is to nurture children by supporting programs and services that directly address their emotional, cultural, physical, educational and recreational needs.

One of the original posters was recently discovered at The Bark Barn in Sewickley Hills, owned by Jen DeSalvo. She teamed up with her friends Shelley Murray — a dog owner and creative entrepreneur who runs Rescuing Photos in Sewickley — and Laura Cherock of Sewickley, vice president of Child Health and a photographer known for her high school senior portraits, along with Child Health president Amber Gregg.

“When I found that vintage Dogs of Sewickley poster in the barn last year, it sparked an idea for how we could raise money for our community grants,” said DeSalvo, a longtime supporter of Child Health who also owns Pittsburgh Paws Pet Resort in Haysville. “I reached out to Amber, Laura and Shelley and we got to work answering the big question: how do we make it viable today? Things were very different 20 years ago.”

DeSalvo said when she first started talking about the old poster, she found someone had mentioned that Kury had led the fundraiser.

Kury shared her process with the initial poster. She thought the idea would be a way to raise money for Child Health, where she was the organization’s vice-president and chair of its ball that year, with the theme “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.”

She started making calls, and the spots filled up — 104 of them. They had to turn dogs away.

Dogs were photographed at Kury’s house and the Sewickley Harvest Festival. Some pet owners delivered printed pictures of their dogs.

A Child Health board member’s husband had a connection to Geyer Printing, which helped with the layout and printing. Kury asked for 100 to be printed, but received 400. She got some people to be judges to select 12 dogs that might have been used on a calendar. From those 12 people at the ball voted with $1 bills for the Top Dog.

They raised $2,500.

Kury is helping again and was at a recent photo shoot for the dogs at The Bark Barn.

As the dogs entered the barn, Kury, Cherock and DeSalvo greeted them. DeSalvo made a big deal telling the dogs they looked so good to have their picture taken.

”Having support from Kury, Murray, and Chernock to spread the word about Dogs of Sewickley has been instrumental in bringing the project to life,” DeSalvo said. “Being so involved with the community’s dogs, and knowing so many dog-owning families, I really thought we could make a go of it.”

Seeing all the different breeds of dogs then and now is fascinating, Kury said.

Owner Palmira Gerlach of Sewickley brought Puck and Fonzie, two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, sporting bow ties.

Gerlach said the barn setting is the perfect location for the photo shoot.

“I love that they are bringing this back,” said Gerlach. “It is such a great idea. Dogs are a big part of our family. I can’t wait to see the other dogs of Sewickley.”

The response to the first one and now 20 years later, has been overwhelming, Kury said.

The original poster with 104 dogs still hangs in various homes and businesses throughout Sewickley.

People paid $35 and received a copy of the poster 20 years ago.

DeSalvo said they calculated that if they charged owners $250 and $100 for additional dogs from the same family, they would be able to reach their goal of donating $20,000 to Child Health.

There will be 99 dogs on the new poster.

DeSalvo said they’ve exceeded the goal because their only cost is the printing — photography and design services were donated by Cherock. They’ve raised more than $26,000, which means they will be able to clear about $24,000 to go directly toward funding community grants.

For that money, owners will receive a digital download of the canine’s photo, which will appear on a 24 x 36 poster and also a 2026 calendar. The poster and calendar will be unveiled at this year’s Backwoods Ball on Nov. 22 at the Edgeworth Club, which is being chaired by Naomi Marshall and Tamey Zahrobsky.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see how this fundraiser — rooted in creativity, collaboration and local support — will make such a meaningful difference for children’s charities across Western Pennsylvania,” said DeSalvo, who is also co-chairing the New Year’s Eve Around the World Soiree with Michele Rollman to be held at the Edgeworth Club on Dec. 31.

During the photo shoots at The Bark Barn, classical music was playing in the background. They had squeaky toys to get the animals’ attention to look into the camera.

And, of course, there were treats.

“Pets are like children for some people,” DeSalvo said. “People love their dogs and you see so many people walking their dogs in Sewickley. Our dogs do everything with us and we humanize them. They’re just as much a part of the family as any human member, so any chance we get to celebrate them, we do.”

Dogs of Sewickley is a fun, creative way to raise money, but the impact is deep — Child Health Association of Sewickley grants help to provide meals for kids after school and on weekends or send them to summer camps where they can learn, grow and be fed alongside their peers, DeSalvo said.

“I contacted Nancy to learn more about how she did it back then,” DeSalvo said. “While we ended up making some changes to update the concept, Nancy was thrilled to see her brainchild revived and has been so supportive of bringing Dogs of Sewickley back to life.”

DeSalvo said Dogs of Sewickley has inspired requests to open it up to other pets — “so we may need to work on another project very soon,” DeSalvo said.