Meet Corona – a dog up for adoption at A.D.O.P.T. Pet Shelter. This is her third time visiting local indoor dog park and pool Wag ‘N Paddle, thanks to free lessons offered by the owners.
“This is one small thing we can do to give back to our community and we are so happy that every week they come and they swim and we have met so many lovely dogs and wonderful volunteers. They are great, great organizations to work with,” said Wag ‘N Paddle owner Shannon Bergman.
Multiple Organizations Involved
Both A.D.O.P.T. and the Naperville Area Humane Society now send a dog each week for a private swim with a trainer.
“A lot of dogs in general don’t even get to go and swim on a regular basis, so it’s really good for them to get out and experience those things,” said A.D.O.P.T. Executive Director Chris Stirn. “It helps with their well-being, it helps with their physical activity, it’s just a really, really great experience for them.”
Good Exercise
And while the doggy paddle comes naturally to plenty of pups, others need a bit of an adjustment period before they’re comfortable.
“It’s good exercise,” said JoAnn Schaeffer, training and foster coordinator at the humane society. “If they really, really hated it, we would take them out. But it’s just a new thing and getting them adjusted [to] a new experience. A lot of them just have no idea what a pool even is.”
Finding Forever Homes
Both the humane society and A.D.O.P.T. post videos of their adoption dogs’ swim lessons on social media. Showing off the dogs in action seems to be working, as pups from both organizations have found their forever homes after being featured at Wag ‘N Paddle.
Shaking up how these dogs get adopted.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
