Blog the Change: Paws on the ShorePupLove

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Blog the Change: Paws on the Shore

Posted on 15 January 2013 by AJ

Today is January 15th, well-known around the “pet blogosphere” as the first “Blog The Change For Animals” day of the year. On the 15th of January, April, July, and October, pet bloggers spread awareness about a cause they believe in. In the past, I’ve written about the Be A Tree program from Doggone Safe, and about Pinups for Pitbulls. If you missed out on those posts in the past, go check them out – both are fantastic organizations doing awesome work!

This time around, I’ve decided to write about a local effort that I think is absolutely fantastic. It’s called: Paws on the Shore.

Paws on the Shore is a local hiking group for dogs with a twist: Every dog is welcome at their events. All breeds and temperaments, including reactive dogs. There’s no judgement, only support, and Paws on the Shore believes that all dogs benefit from an opportunity for socialization and exercise. In addition, each of their monthly hikes raises money and awareness for a local rescue organization or cause! Some of their upcoming walks are in support of organizations such as Loyal Rescue, Hershey’s Bill (against BSL), Toronto Street Cats Spay & Neuter program, and more.

My good friend Vanessa of VBV Photography told me about Paws on the Shore a few months ago, after she had attended one of their hikes to take some photos. As someone with a reactive dog, I love the idea behind this program. Jack is such a touch-and-go dog. I have no idea what to expect from him when he’s meeting other dogs. You’ve all seen the photos of him and Dutch happily romping around, and he likes frolicking with Mya, a rottweiler we sometimes meet on walks, so I know he can make friends with other dogs… but his usual first reaction when he sees another dog is to snarl and snap at them (which, for the record, he did with Dutch before he decided Dutch was alright). Most people aren’t keen on approaching after a reaction like that… and who could blame them? With the Paws on the Shore group hike, if you find that your dog is making another dog uncomfortable, they just ask that you reposition yourself within the group – no stares of horror, no muttering under their breath.

This spring, Jack and I will definitely be trying out a group hike with Paws on the Shore to see how it goes. I don’t want to overwhelm him or take him over his threshold, but I’ve seen in the past that once he gets that snarly reaction out of the way, he tends to change his mind and decide he wants to play after all. If it’s too much for him, we can always break off from the group and go on a separate hike.

I think that Paws on the Shore is a fantastic idea for people struggling with socialization, and I’d love to see more groups like it popping up all over the place. With a chance to work on reactivity, I feel like there’s a definite chance that fewer owners would find themselves overwhelmed by a fearful pet that they don’t know what to do with, and maybe fewer dogs would end up being returned to shelters. Kudos to the organizers of this unique program!

Website: PawsOnTheShore.ca
Facebook: Paws on the Shore Facebook Group

About the Author

AJ is the founder of PupLove.ca. She's a freelance web designer/developer with a certificate in Dog Obedience Instruction, and she spends most days (and nights) in front of her computer, snuggled up with her dog, Jack. When AJ isn't working on client sites or posting on PupLove, she can be found practicing yoga in her living room, losing games of chess against The Monkey, or eating an obscene amount of dessert.

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http://twitter.com/GizmoGeodog Gizmo

I love the inclusive nature of Paws on the Shore…it looks from the photo that the group gets a good size turnout on the hikes which is great…I’d be interested to know how Jack does with the group

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

I’ll absolutely post about it once we’ve gone to our first hike!

Peggy Frezon

I love that you wrote about such a positive group. My Kelly reacts a lot like Jack. Because of that, I tend to keep her away from group activities. I also tense up when we encounter another dog. It would be awesome to have a group like Paws on the Shore where we could both learn to be comfortable and gain valuable experience with other dogs. This sounds like a fantastic group. I hope Jack enjoys the next hike.
Peggy Frezon
Team BtC4animals

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

Peggy, I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe you can find a similar group near you!

Elizabeth Bergesen

That sounds like such a great group to be a part of! I’m going to google my city to see if there are groups like this to join

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

Great idea! I think every city should have a group like this!

http://twitter.com/JackieBouchard Jackie Bouchard

What a great group! I’d love to do something like that! Rita is fine off-leash, but reactive one-on-one on-leash. I’d love to try taking her to some of the big dog walks, but I’m not sure how she’d do. Would love to be able to take her to something like that! Great post

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

I wonder if there’s anything like it in your area? I have high hopes for Jack’s reactivity after a couple of these hikes… fingers crossed!

http://www.thedailydogblog.com Julie Melfi

Sounds like a great group! Dogs and hiking, two of my favorite things My dog Cali doesn’t really like “dog events”, but she might enjoy hiking with other dogs! Great post!

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

Jack isn’t one for “dog events” either, but I’m hoping he’ll enjoy a group hike. I’ll let you know how it goes!

http://twitter.com/CindylusMuse Kim Thomas

What a cool group – and awesome concept! It sounds so tolerant, supportive, and helpful. Nothing but win-win!

Thank you for blogging the change for animals!
Kim Thomas
btc4animals.com
cindylusmuse.blogspot.com

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

Thanks for the event!

Vicki Stringfellow Cook

Thanks for participating in Blog the Change Day! I love the idea of an organization that accepts all dogs in their events. How are you supposed to socialize a dog, if the only dogs allowed are already perfectly socialized? It gives pet parents with less-than-perfect dogs an opportunity to meet other pet parents for advice and support too. Thanks for sharing!

Vicki Cook
Team BTC

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

Glad to participate!

Bailey

It sounds like a great group. It also sounds like people are expected to be responsible. I have no problem including dogs with challenges. As you stated how is a dog with issues supposed to get better without experience? However, you give a specific response to the problem when it happens and the owners are expected to comply with the request. The dogs aren’t allowed to terrorize the dogs who are behaving.

I fully support responsible dog owners who are working on their dogs’ behaviors. My issue is with those that show up at events and let their dogs terrorize other animals and do nothing to work on the behaviors. Those owners do deserve the looks.
Relays House

This sounds like such fun, and a great opportunity for pet owners and rescue groups alike. I’ll be sure to share this on http://www.poochieproject.com

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

Some of the pooches out on the walks are actually there from rescue organizations, getting some socialization before they head to their new homes!

http://twitter.com/shivathedog Kristine

What a terrific idea! I’ve long been wishing for some sort of meetup group for dog walkers in my area. Sadly, the only ones I can find are all breed-specific, which would be great if I had a dog of a specific breed. I’ve played around with the idea of starting a walking group for people with rescue dogs but have yet to actually take any action. I don’t know how much interest there would be, nor do I know what costs or requirements are involved. But it would be a lot of fun!

I hope you do check this out with Jack and report back. It’s definitely worth a shot!

http://www.puplove.ca/ AJ

I absolutely will. I’ll even try to convince Vanessa to come take pictures.

Jodi

What a great program. Delilah can sometimes be snippy and snappy with other dogs (and Sampson will as well, if someone is trying to infringe on his petting time) so I tend to try and keep them away from other dogs. It’s just easier. The problem for me is once I’ve seen her react I tend to be overly anxious and it’s not fun because a lot of people just don’t understand what is going on. It would be nice to work with a group like this.
http://www.GoPetFriendly.com/ Amy@GoPetFriendly

I’m a bit behind on my blog reading, but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate hearing about this group and I sincerely hope that many more pop up, too! Also – I loved the illustration you did for Jodi. Absolutely adorable.