Cantigny Park will put out the welcome mat — and plenty of water — for canines when it plays host to its eighth annual Dog Days celebration Saturday in Wheaton.

“It’s the one day of the year you can bring your dog to Cantigny,” said MaganAscher, director of visitor services at the park at 1S151 Winfield Road. “They’re free to roam, on leash, all around the park.”

Dogs entering the park between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. must be current on vaccinations, social with other pooches and people-friendly.

The event is popular with Cantigny visitors, Ascher said, with 1,500 dogs and their owners participating last year.

“Everybody wants to bring their dog,”

she said. “We don’t allow dogs on a daily basis because of cleanliness, safety and security concerns.”

The one-day amnesty is celebrated with agility and flying disc demonstrations, contests, kids’ crafts and about 50 vendors from training facilities, shelters and pet food and supply companies, Ascher said.

The peanut butter-licking contests, set for 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and the Hula-Hoop contests for people teamed with their dogs, set for noon and 2:30 p.m., are among the favorites, she said.

There are also provisions for keeping animals cool should the day prove to be a steamy one.

“There is a dog pool area where kiddie pools are set up,” she said. “Dogs can go and cool off in the pool.”

Dachshunds, known informally as “wiener dogs,” will race each other across 50-foot expanses of Cantigny grass beginning at 3 p.m.

The races are open to any dachshund or dachshund mix, including those with special needs, said Linda Conro,founder and president of West Burb Wieners, the nonprofit group presenting the wiener races.

The registration fee is $5 per dog. Division winners will receive goody bags with treats and toys; a small trophy awaits the grand champion.

Conro’s group rescues dachshunds that are elderly, have health problems or have other special needs. “We foster them and try to find the right match for them,” she said.

Conro, of Elgin, said the appeal of “doxies” lies mainly in “their silliness.”

“I’ve never known anybody who looked at a dachshund at an event and didn’t smile,” she said.

The dogs are grouped by age in divisions labeled “little smokies,” “frankfurters,” “bratwurst,” and “senior sausages.” There’s even a race for special needs dogs in what’s called the “Tootsie Roll” division. They compete with enthusiasm, she said.

“They’re very quick. They’re bred for hunting,” she said.

Just how fast are they?

“I wouldn’t know how to clock that,” Conro said. “I know they can run faster than me.”

She said West Burb Wieners have been making an annual visit to Cantigny’s Dog Days for several years. “It’s the one day the whole family, including the four-legged family members, can go to Cantigny,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful venue. You could spend the whole day there.”