Welcome! AAWL is proud to host Dogs Playing for Life style playgroups at our facility that allow us to provide enrichment for the dogs physically, emotionally and behaviorally during each session. We are even more proud that our playgroups are 99% volunteer run - a rarity in the field of shelter playgroups across the country. However, this means we can’t successfully run playgroups without your help! Playgroups are fun, stressful, exciting and sometimes scary so they aren’t for every volunteer, and that’s OK! Please review the following information and see if playgroups are something you would like to explore. If you have any questions, please email volunteer@aawl.org

 

Why Playgroups and Why Dogs Playing for Life?

Playgroups provide our shelter animals with the exercise, social interactions and enrichment that we can’t duplicate when spending one-on-one time with our animals. We believe that the dogs in our care need a well-rounded day which includes walks, one-on-one time, and playgroups to ensure they are thriving while with us. Playgroups also:

  • Help us determine social skills more accurately and provide great assessments for our animals.
  • Support physical and mental health by engaging all of the animal's senses during a playgroup session.
  • Help us make the most of our limited resources. This is especially true in summertime when volunteerism is at its lowest - a small number of volunteers can filter through most of our population through a playgroup before it gets too hot for other activities!

AAWL spent a lot of time researching several playgroup styles before landing on Dogs Playing for Life. Ultimately, we felt their approach to letting dogs be dogs was the best option for our shelter and our volunteers. DPFL was specifically designed for shelters to safely run playgroups and while we have made a few tweaks from the original program to better fit our environment, the heart of the program remains the same: “Dogs live to play. Now let them play to live!”

 

Criteria to participate in PG: You must be an active K3 volunteer to participate in playgroups. While you don’t have to review all the information below before you sign up, we strongly suggest you do so that you are aware of what to expect during playgroup sessions. We also ask that you be comfortable with most of the dogs on campus - this means our bigger and more rambunctious dogs as well.

 

Roles:

All participants are responsible for keeping the yards clean during PG and assisting with the setup and breakdown of a yard. There is no hierarchy in the yards between experienced helpers/retrievers and new helpers/retrievers - all are created equal and perform the same tasks.

  • Yard Lead - Makes decisions about which dogs enter and exit the play yards. Decides when to interrupt or redirect the dogs. Determines how to handle the dogs in general. *Styles between leads will vary slightly based on their comfort level.
  • Helper - Second set of hands in the yard. They take their direction from the Lead.
  • Runner/Retriever - Brings dogs from the kennels to the yard. Must be willing to handle any dog on property. Takes direction from the Lead.

Basic Playgroup Rules:

  • Do not enter the yard without a verbal OK from the Lead.
  • Refrain from unnecessary talking. Talk should be reserved to topics that include the animals in the yard.
  • Avoid sounding panicked, reactive, or excited. Keep voices gentle, calm, and confident.
  • Limit talking to the dogs. Playgroups are for dog-to-dog interactions.
  • Limit interactions with the dogs – unless indicated as OK by the Lead.
  • Phones should be used at a minimum. This doesn’t matter if inside or outside of the yard – excessive phone usage is a distraction.
  • Questions regarding dog body language and play styles may be asked after the play group has finished.

 

To view the complete DPFL training packet, click here (link to PDF). We also have copies available to borrow at the Volunteer Check-In counter!

 

View DPFL’s online training tools, here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c7szMtuJkKyjdI9rcztC0m2M5-pase0Q

 

Watch some of DPFL’s training session views here to learn what to expect during a Playgroup. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_LoLjjTc7n75ovGKPuwjJ5FsaJO4g6DQ

*Please note, these were all filmed at other shelters so styles and techniques might vary slightly at AAWL to accommodate our setup, etc.

 

We are working on creating a more formal training for new K3’s that want to participate so stay tuned for more details!