Dog Walking

We are very excited to have so many wonderful people from our community interested in walking and/or running with our adoptable dogs! To keep things fun and safe, we have some important guidelines to follow:

• Fill out a waiver at our front desk
• You can show up anytime during our open hours which are listed on our website. If you can only come on Sunday please let us know ahead of time by contacting Lizzy at [email protected]
• Dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. During the winter it can be quite slippery, please use your best judgment. There will be days during the winter months it may not be safe to walk but you are more than welcome to come hang out in one of our visiting rooms with some of our dogs! On nicer days we also have two play yards out back if you’d prefer to hang out with a dog in a yard. One of our staff or volunteers can show you where they are.
• When you come in to walk dogs, give your name to a staff member or volunteer at the front desk and let them know you are here to walk or run with our adoptable dogs. Based on your comfort and experience we will match you up with appropriate dogs.
• Unless you have learned from staff how to pull dogs on your own, we ask that you please wait up front and our staff or dedicated volunteers will bring you a dog. If you are open to learning to pull dogs on your own please communicate that to staff and we will train you on how to do so and show you where to write your name on our white board to mark which dog(s) you’ve taken out.
• You can walk as many as you’d like. We get very busy so please be patient. Please keep the dogs out for at least 20 minutes on our property or around our loop, and if weather permits you can keep them out longer.
• Staff or a volunteer will give you a bit of information about the dog they hand you and let you know if they have any dietary restrictions.
• There is a cute basket with poop bags and treats in the front office on the bookshelf-it is labeled for our walkers and runners!
• Please be mindful when exiting and entering the shelter when you have a dog, there could be other dogs coming in and out, and not all of our dogs enjoy canine friends! Yelling out “DOG” when you are coming in and out is a great way to give a heads up and avoid potential accidents.
• Please DO NOT let strangers, children, or other dogs interact with our dogs when you have them out.

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, or need assistance please call our front desk and someone will be out right away to help you: 315-454-4479. Staff and volunteers may also share their cell phone numbers with you if they choose to so you can call them as well.