Dogs Playing for Life! is coming to HSSC!

1st April 2019

Made possible by a generous grant from the Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust, the Humane Society of Summit County (HSSC) will be hosting a three day Dogs Playing for Life! training seminar from Sunday, April 7 to Tuesday, April 9. The curriculum includes a classroom presentation, demonstrations of techniques, and hands-on instruction on managing a successful canine playgroup to develop experience and confidence for participants.

This special, hands-on seminar will help our staff and volunteers further develop our current canine playgroup program, inspired by the success of Dogs Playing for Life! and introduced in 2017. Since then, we have been dedicated to developing the program for the benefit of our rescued dogs. Canine playgroups increase opportunities for exercise, improve behavior, and offer socialization for our rescued dogs through controlled and moderated playgroup sessions. Even in its introductory stages, our program has helped our dogs maintain a higher quality of life and find their adoptive homes more quickly.

In an effort to provide the best possible outcomes and effectiveness from the seminar, HSSC will be closed to the public from April 7 to April 9. We hope to allow our participating staff, volunteers, and dogs to focus on the seminar and program during this time. While we have been proud to offer space in the seminar to other animal organizations throughout northeast Ohio and beyond, the program is now full and cannot accept additional participants. If you have questions about the seminar, please contact Kristin Branagan, Director of Animal Operations, at kbranagan@summithumane.org.

A grant awarded by the Pedigree Foundation in 2018 allowed HSSC to renovate our outdoor canine enrichment area to create a specially-designed Play Yard space with a fencing system that facilitates the playgroups. A gift from ForeverLawn NEO will provide special synthetic turf, called K9Grass, to optimize the space and help keep dogs and the area safe and clean in all weather. Our canine playgroup program has also been supported by grants from The Welty Family Foundation and the Petfinder Foundation.

Please note, our Humane Law Enforcement Services will not be affected by the seminar and our receptionists will be available to callers during normal hours.