What could be better than a big dog walk...with lots of dogs?
The Big Dog Walk With Lots of Dogs is a synchronised dog walking event in different cities, all at the same time. You're walking along in Wellington and you know that someone in Auckland is also walking a dog with thousands of other people at the same time. Last year, there were even helicopters filming it because it was a slow news week!
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW HERE TO COME ON THE WALK WITH ME!
The Key Message? You don’t have to own a dog to come along, you just have to really like dogs! Alice Brine created the event with dog lovers who don’t yet own a dog in mind:
"I just wanted to go on a walk with lots of dogs and I thought the best way to do that was to make a public event and ask anyone if they would want to go on a walk with lots of dogs - and it turns out they did."
The event was started by Wellington-born comedian Alice Brine in 2016 (she talks more about it here) as kind of a joke, which then spread and went viral. It all started with a single Facebook event for Wellington which viral very quickly. It even spawned copycat events in Sydney and even Japan. This year is no different, with the Auckland and Wellington events currently at 2.4k and 2.7 attending respectively.
While last year I was unable to attend, 2017 was going to be the year I let the dog off the leash, so to speak. Despite my parent's dog Timmy being on vacation, I went with some friends who had a beautiful poodle-owning friend, Coco (the dog's name, not the owner) and like 2000 other people descended on Waitangi Park on 22 April 2017 at 9 am.
While the aim of these events is to just go on a fun walk surrounded by dogs, it’s also for a good cause. Each event is linked to a local animal charity. The Big Dog Walk With Lots Of Dogs are collecting for not one, but four great causes: HUHA, Passion 4 Paws, Chained Dog Awareness and the SPCA. To find out some of the good work these charities do, you can read my interview with the SPCA here.
"I just wanted to go on a walk with lots of dogs and I thought the best way to do that was to make a public event and ask anyone if they would want to go on a walk with lots of dogs - and it turns out they did."
This year, I was excited to hear that The Big Dog Walk teamed up with cool dog brands Mashbone (aka Garage Project's Dog Snack Co) who are sponsoring the Wellington event (and Omega Plus sponsored the Auckland event). On the day at Waitangi Park, we saw lots of other dog-friendly brands like Wolves of Wellington, DENTASTIX, Bow Wow Boutique and more were on board to create an awesome atmosphere, supply treats and giveaways galore. The park even had offerings for humans with food stalls and plenty of coffee.
We did the short walk to the end of Oriental Parade. If you've been on the fence about attending, next year you should certainly go! It is an incredible awe inspiring sight to see so many dogs and dog lovers all in one place.
Were you at The Big Dog Walk With Lots Of Dogs? What did you think? What dog did you bring? Why do you love dogs?
Surrealism at Te Papa is where it’s at this winter with these wonderful events…!