As we've been learning even more about what Chicago has to offer, this week we decided to combine culture and dog-walking as we moved our dog-walking club up to a sculpture garden. This is a 2-mile grassy trail lined with several large-scale sculptures. Perfect for soaking up culture and grassy rolls.
When we originally started our group, it was kind of like our experiment: we weren't sure anyone was going to join. But as someone mentioned on our walk, we really have grown. And there is nothing better than taking our morning walk with such a great group. With distinguished Torre who has made every walk, sweet Maple who had such a great time on her first walk, and adorably matching brother-sister duo Willie and Nabi.
We love how this is a controlled way to socialize our dogs, and as they walk they fall into a pack through the rhythm of walking. Newly-adopted Nala enjoyed the water break getting in a grassy roll.
Handsome Jack, demure Izzy, and regal Monkey waiting patiently.
Brindle-beauty Lily had a huge smile on her face the whole time, and sweet Maize seemed so proud and confident to be leading the group.
And little Levi had a blast brushing up his skills as he searches for his new family.
Despite the holiday next weekend, we will still be having dog-walking club on Sunday.
20 comments:
What a good looking group!! I have a feeling Levi won't be around very long!
I need to kiss Levi. Hes too cute.
Just found your blog guys. Love it. Great looking dog group. Bar, Sean and I will have to visit Chicago one of these days and join!
Ali
www.barleyandali.weebly.com
This is so great! I'm trying to convince mom that we need to visit you guys on a Sunday so we can join!
-Corbin
I love reading these recapts - everyone always looks like they're having such a great time.
I would love to start one of these in my town, but my concern isn't so much getting other people to join up; it's encountering people along the way who are walking their dogs, who may not understand the "rules" of the group and allow their dog to be impolite or something.
Long question short: How do you handle encounters with dogs that are NOT in your dog walking group?
@ Liz-I am sure that Two Pitties can answer that question more firmly, but we DID encounter that scenario yesterday on the walk. Wild, maniac, crazy, barking dog lunging at our group. I think the whole group were saavy enough about our own dogs to pull away quickly and re-direct. Heaven knows we all enocounter it on a daily basis, so at least for me it was interesting to watch other handlers and their re-directing. Plus, it was a great training thing to run up against. I saw the crazy kid as a positive tool for working on with our girl.
On a side note, this was the first time my leash reactive dog was able to walk so closely with others (on leash) and have little to no reaction. It almost made me teary to see her make that kind of progress in one day. These pack walk is a fantastic thing and we look forward to doing it as often as possible!
Loving all the great pictures of these walks. I hope Levi finds a great home very soon!
There is a pit bull walking group in Vegas we can't wait to meet up with!
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com
Wow - your dog walking group has really taken off! Looks like fun!
What a great and fun way to socialize the furry kids. Do non dog owners look at you guys like oh no, we wish dogs weren't allowed here
Benny & Lily
I've never heard of the sculpture garden, but I'd love to visit it! I'm so glad your walking club is taking off so well!
Still find this to be a great idea!
I LOVE it! So many pit bulls (and furry friends) together behaving wonderfully. A great message to the masses! How I wish we lived much, much closer so we could join you!
All of the dogs are so beautiful! It must be so much fun to get to meet new dog friends every week and to talk to dog people. Your Levi is so cute. I'm sure he's having a blast with you guys.
Thanks for the positive comments! Liz--The one thing I was really worried about when starting the club was how to deal with dogs that might be off=leash, on retractables, or otherwise disturbing our group. I've been trying to pick locations where there isn't a lot of dog traffic, plus we go a bit earlier on a Sunday morning where there aren't so many people. Like Mrajcox mentioned, it is something that we do encounter so much that it isn't completely new, and I think our group did handle it wonderfully working with their dogs and making sure there was still enough space between us to not get too antagonized. It has been a really positive experience, and let me know if you have specific questions about starting your own group.
aww i dont know which it is but one of them looks like my coco chanel ... soooo cute... too many adorable faces i love it ....
Thanks for the replies, mrajcox and Two Pitties!!!
If you have any more information about how to go about starting a group, I would love it. I'll take whatever I can get!
Liz--If you'd like to email us using the icons on the side of the blog, we can talk about some ideas for helping you start your own club.
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