New group wants to share region's dog pawsative places

As the city grows in population, so does the number of dogs. But with only one city-operated dog park, a small space on Maple Grove Road, some dog owners feel it's time for more.

“Cambridge definitely needs more space for dogs. With the city growing in population, having a space for dogs in close proximity to homes would be ideal,” says Stephanie Gick, who owns two dogs and lives in an apartment. 

Founders of Dog Friendly KW, who put together seasonal dog guides with places to take your pet throughout the region, including a list of dog parks, says Cambridge is very dog friendly.

They noted that although Cambridge only has one dog park, there are many trails and local businesses where you can bring your pooch to get them some socialization. 

“I think Cambridge is pretty dog friendly. Within our guides there's lots of great stores, patios and breweries that do allow dogs in Cambridge,” says Justine Sparling, one of the two founders of the site that promotes dog-friendly areas and businesses in Waterloo region.

Sparling and co-founder Mackenzie Drinkwater hope to see more businesses adopt dog-friendly policies in the city as the population grows, noting how many more people adopted pets throughout the pandemic, Sparling being one of them.

She adopted Marshall when he was a puppy, which inspired her to create dog guides for local dog owners with her friend Drinkwater after not knowing where to bring the new puppy for some socialization. They have created numerous dog friendly events throughout the region since then, including St. Pawtrick’s Day Party, Dawg’s Got Talent and their upcoming spring dog event in Kitchener. 

“Overall, Cambridge is fairly dog friendly. From patios, to breweries; Four Fathers and Wavemaker being a few favourites, to dog-friendly shopping and walking along the Grand River and enjoying beautiful trails. However, There’s always room for more dog friendly businesses,” says Drinkwater. 

Sparling noted that although her dog doesn’t do well in the dog park, with more education around them, and more improvements, they could be beneficial for Cambridge dog owners. 

“I know they’re are many dog parks locally that can get muddy. Having an adjacent small park like the one at Maple Grove Rd can benefit dogs. Exploring things like wood chips instead of dirt. I think there are a lot of opportunities in how dog parks could be improved," she says.

"Dog parks can be high-risk environments, so education around dog parks is very important and maybe more research could be done to see how we could make dog parks a bit more enjoyable.”

Dog Friendly KW has been expanding their operation over the years now looking to dig into bigger projects, such as researching which breweries in Ontario, mainly southwestern Ontario, are dog friendly. They quickly noticed this region’s breweries ranked at the top of the list in terms of dog hospitality.  

“We were really shocked to learn that Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo - our region has by far the most concentrated number of dog-friendly breweries,” says Sparling.