KC Pittie Pack and Friends

KC Pittie Pack and Friends

On Saturday I met with a dog walking group, KC Pittie Pack and Friends, at Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. It was quite chilly so I bundled up with two layers of pants, a short sleeve tee, a long sleeve tee, a sweatshirt, fingerless gloves, a scarf and a headwrap. Needless to say, it could have been a blizzard and I would have been warm. I made sure my camera battery was fully charged (the cold drains life out of it very quickly) and off I went.

Jan 21, 2012

I make it a habit to arrive a little early to any photo shoot, because I like to scope out the area and take a few shots to test my exposure. Okay, I admit, I arrived way early and sat in my car for 30 minutes reading up even more on the group. Here is what I knew going into the walk:

1. KC Pittie Pack and Friends “are a dog walking group in Kansas City that strives to create a safe environment for dog owners to work on socializing their pets.” – Facebook

2. This was their second walk. The first one had seven dogs in attendance.

3. One dog per walker, no retractable leashes, bring poop bags and treats!

4. Their inspiration to start a dog walking group came from Two Pitties in the City, a blog written by a couple in Chicago who focuses on having two large breed dogs, Mr B & Miss M, while living in the city. This blog is one of my favorite ones to read and look at photos. They delve into everything that involves being a dog owner -  how they decorate and accommodate their apartment for two dogs, training (I especially like the post on walking two dogs at one time – still working on that myself), even dog gear where they write about costumes and the GoPro HD Hero camera, a compact camera that attaches to Mr B’s harness. I wrote an email asking questions and was pleasantly surprised with a very quick reply!

Once everyone had arrived, we all stood in a circle with plenty of space between every dog. I really like how they reinforced a ‘no nose to nose’ interaction. This takes the pressure off the dogs and doesn’t lead to any problems with leash aggressive doggies. We did short introductions and some people even said what training they would like to work on while on the walk. They put a lead dog in the front of the pack once the walk started. Everyone made sure to keep a safe distance from each other, but after the dogs relaxed a bit, little packs were formed. It was a really neat experience and one I had never participated in before (but will in the future!)

I love this idea of bringing not only the dogs together, but dog owners as well. I had the opportunity to chat with dog bloggers (Our Waldo Bungie & Wayward Dogs) , fellow photographers and all around great people.

THANK YOU to KC Pittie Pack and Friends for letting me part of such a great event. So happy you more than doubled the dogs from your first walk! I look forward to watching your group grow and inspire other groups to form!

KC Pittie Pack and Friends

Tags: dog, dog walking, fetch, fido, fido fetch, kansas city, KC Pittie Pack and Friends, overland park, photography