How to Organize a Pet Meet-Up

PetSmart - Catherine Mabe / Pets.com

If your dog is as much of a social butterfly as you are and you’re looking for a new outlet for you both to have some fun, consider attending or even arranging a dog meet-up. Dog meet-ups are popping up at dog parks around the nation and if your neighborhood hasn’t yet caught on, you might be just the person to clue dog lovers in your community in to the fun.

Stacy Franz of Phoenix, Az,, and lover of all things Boston Terrier-related, did just that. “I’d been searching for other people with Bostons to meet up with. Our trainer had Bostons and would arrange ‘Boston Tea Parties’ so that Pet Parents and their dogs could meet at the store,” Franz said. “She went away for a bit and the parties dwindled. I kept checking online for local groups. The most interest had formed at the Meetup.org website, but no one had stepped up to organize an event.”

When Franz saw that over 50 people on the site had indicated they’d be interested in attending a Boston meet-up, she took the reigns and paid the fee to arrange a meet-up. “I was always hoping to recoup the cost by charging folks a couple bucks to attend the meet-ups.” 

Today, the meet-up group Franz started now boasts 113 members who come from every corner of the Phoenix metropolitan area to join the fun. “We’ve even had people who were planning on relocating to Arizona from other states come visit the meet up before they moved,” Franz said.

Here are some tips for arranging a meet-up:

1. Decide what kind of meet-up you’re interested in. When it comes to dogs, ask yourself, what’s your passion? Do you like active dogs? Working with a service or rescue dog? Or do you have a senior dog, a puppy, a toy dog or big dog? Decide what types of dogs you’d like to meet up with and then do some research to see if a group already exists around that interest. If one does, sign up to join in the fun. Once acquainted, you can always offer your help to the organizer. If no such group exists in your area, start one!

2. Register with a meet-up web site. One suggestion is Meetup.org, a popular tool that allows you to gauge whether or not people in your area would be interested in your meet-up. Some sites like Meetup.org charge the organizer a fee, so if you go with that kind of site, consider charging attendees a one-time attendance fee and then set some sort of mandatory attendance requirements so that you can recoup the money. Once your group is established, you can always move your meet up to a free site like Yahoo Groups. 

 3. Choose a location. Local dog parks work well for meet ups, but be prepared for a crowd. Stacy’s meet ups generally boast about 10-15 people and their pets, but she’s had as many as 25 Pet Parents (some with up to 4 Bostons each) in attendance! Start out arranging meet ups at times when the dog park is less crowded—this will allow you to identify meet up attendees, get to know each other, and let your dogs interact without too much of a crowd. Consider checking out all of the dog parks in your metro area so that you can become familiar with them and rotate the location of meet ups for everyone’s convenience.

 4. Make it easy to identify everyone in the meet-up. Consider investing in name tags or making up small signs so that everyone visiting the dog park for the meet-up knows you’re the organizer, can make a proper introduction, and can identify other attendees. Make everyone feel welcome and be sure to introduce members to each other—after all, that’s what most people are there for!

 5. Promote the group. Don’t forget your camera! Snap some shots of all the fun and post them on whatever site you choose to use to communicate with your meet-up members. Also consider creating a digital photo album so that everyone in the meet-up can relive the fun and those interested in joining can get a taste of what it’s like.

6. Have fun! “We’ve spiced up our meet-ups by holding some drawings for t-shirts and artwork,” Franz said.  “On St. Patrick’s Day we all wore green (even the dogs!) and on Valentine’s Day, the dogs wore love-inspired outfits.” Franz said she has also had requests to do more formal meet-and-greets and she’s seen other meet-ups celebrating dog birthdays at the park. She said she's looking into doing some of those things in the future and recommends that all organizers stay connected to their members and listen to what they’re looking for in a successful meet up.

 “I think the most rewarding aspect of being involved in a meet-up is the support it provides. Everyone in the group is a dog lover and there are so many of us—the group offers nearly-instant support when a member is in need. We’ve helped lost dogs be found, helped homeless dogs get adopted, addressed breed-specific issues, provided training support, shared vet recommendations, and given each other shoulders to cry on during times of grief. Members are so appreciative of the group and we all enjoy being a part of it.”

Comments

11 Mar 2010 4:12 pm

bb_2442 said:

a great way to socialize is to just take ur dog to pet smart! if Bella and i get bored, we just go to pet smart! there are plenty of dogs and fun people to interact with!

07 Jul 2009 4:10 pm

animaluvr2772 said:

nicely done. I was wondering if my dog ACE, (Australian cattle dog) can be trained to communicate with other dogs. But my brother and I are planning to get him neuter/spayed before we do all the fun stuff. I also hope that theirs a good school for my one year old dog to be in so that he could get along with strangers and his kind.