The Wisconsin Humane Society aims to provide dogs with exercise and supervised socialization with a program it calls “Pooch Playtime.” Tom Kelly has more on this story. 

 

Thomas: It’s a meet and greet for dogs at the Wisconsin Humane Society in Milwaukee.

 

People are able, for an $8 fee, to bring their dogs to the Milwaukee campus to meet other dogs and engage in playful exercise in a supervised controlled environment.

  

Half a dozen dogs can play  with each other and run around in and out of a pet tunnel that lies in the center of the room. Judith Nance, is one of the volunteers and supervisors of the event.

 

Judith: The purpose of Pooch Playtime is to give dogs an opportunity to interact with each other, to wear off some stream in a controlled environment. Often times especially in winter or bad weather, people don’t get their dogs out as much and dogs need a lot of physical stimulation, a lot of mental stimulation, so this allows them to interact and wear some of that dog energy out.

 

Thomas: Sharon Witkowski says her German Shepherd, Isis, needs the socialization. 

 

Sharon: In my neighborhood I don’t know that many dogs that Isis can play with and be around so I thought that it would be a really good way to reintroduce her back into playing with other dogs.

 

Thomas: Tracy Sperl, another of the event supervisors, says Pooch Playtime helps the dogs improve their behavior.  

 

Tracy: When we started these classes, it became clear to help a lot of people keep their dogs rather than turn them in because they were doing things they didn't like.

 

Thomas: Having dogs is a big responsibility and sometimes training them to behave well can be very stressful. Events such as this one aim to give dogs the training, exercise, and socializing they need. I’m Tom Kelly, reporting from the Wisconsin Humane Society & Pooch Playtime.