NILES — Katrina Andrews, founder of Ruff & Tumble Dog Park, said she has seen more and more people decide to become longtime dog owners.

“It’s a good time to be a dog,” she said.

That could be especially so for Niles dogs. Ruff & Tumble Dog Park, off Bond Street, received a $3,500 grant for educational and aesthetic improvements.

The Southwest Michigan Association of Realtors met with Andrews and other Ruff & Tumble board members at their park to present a check from its public relations committee at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

“I’m very, very grateful to you all,” Andrews said after holding back tears. “Thank you.”

The money is expected to go toward educational signage, which will be installed this fall, and a pollinator garden.

The signs will inform dog owners and non-dog owners how to best interact with and care for pooches. Andrews hopes the future signs in the dog park will make for better owners, which will in turn create better “canine citizens” and a better community.

“There’s a lot that goes into a dog besides having it for a pet and taking it for a walk,” she said. “It needs regular exercise. It needs social relations. It needs all its shots and training.”

The pollinator garden will be installed this fall or next spring outside the dog park to help beautify the larger park Ruff & Tumble is part of, Riverfront South. Andrews hopes it will attract animals like butterflies and hummingbirds.

The realtor association’s public relations committee awards organizations money that are making the communities they are in better for the public and for homeowners, and Ruff & Tumble was a great fit, said committee chair Mary Watkins.

She said the committee attempts work to enhance community, be engaged in government affairs and be involved with things that affect property. It does so by becoming sponsors and awarding grants.

Southwest Michigan Association of Realtors’ second district director Lisa Livermore encouraged Andrews to apply for her association’s grants. She said she has been a fan of the park since Andrews opened it July 28, 2018.

“We’re real people,” she said about realtors. “We have real families. This is our community, too, and why not make it better? Why not contribute to it to make it better for everybody?”

Bud Bair, a board member for Ruff & Tumble, remembers when the areas around the park were used to dump trash decades ago. When Riverfront South Park was created, the space that Ruff & Tumble now occupies did not improve much.

With Ruff & Tumble established and a future garden coming in, however, Bair said he has noted the change the dog park has made to the area.

“I think it’s great, I really do,” he said. “There’s so many cool things we can do with it.”

Bair said he almost always sees at least one dog and one dog owner at the park whenever he stops by to mow it.

The $3,500 grant and Ruff & Tumble’s recent anniversary come as the dog park is set to host Chamber Dog Days from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The Greater Niles Area Chamber of Commerce’s free public event will feature dog photographers, demonstrations, trainers, pet rescues with animals to be adopted, as well as a rally, an event that mixes obedience with play.

Donations for Ruff & Tumble will be collected at the chamber event, Andrews said.