Are playgroups safe with owners present?

Does the thought of running playgroups with owners present worry you? Do you imagine the owners will get hurt, do the wrong things, or cause the dogs to behave differently? Do you think the best playgroup is one in which the owner is not present?

I used to think all of these things too…until I tried it. And I realized that you can do playgroups with the owners present. In fact, I highly recommend it because there are some great benefits to running these types of groups which include the pet parent.

Two big advantages to having playgroups with the owners present are an increase in revenue because you are offering an alternative service to your clients and the opportunity to educate owners on canine body language. Since I believe both of these are great things, why not give it a try?

Our bonus item this month, Playgroup Dog Evaluations Process, includes information on how to run a modified short-term playgroup session. Be sure to refer to that document for some of the basics about evaluating the dogs. Then use these additional guidelines for knowing how to handle the owners on the other end of the leash:

• Be strong but polite in giving instructions to owners. Tell them where to stand, when to take off the leash, and when to call their dog to them. Ensure dogs don’t interact before you are ready for them to do so.
• Help clients get their dog to sit before removing leashes so that you can reinforce good training, and calm the dogs down (and possibly recommend training if the client is having trouble!)
• Provide a running commentary on good dog behavior to the clients. This will help them know what they should look for when the dogs are interacting with one another.
• Discuss the things you don’t want to see from the dogs…be generic. Don’t point out a specific dog with bad behavior. Let the owners make the connection themselves unless there is a danger of injury.
• Instruct clients to keep their eyes on their dog and be prepared to recall and leash their dog when instructed.
• Ask folks to move if dogs congregate around them in order to prevent any possible resource guarding scenarios.

If you can do a great job of making everyone comfortable and using the play session as an opportunity to educate the pet parents, you will soon have great supervision of your groups by the owners who attend. You are also creating great dog advocates who will go out and tell others how dogs should act at the dog park! And at the same time, you’ll be adding to your revenue!