Willow Paws Social Dog Club

The Willow Paws Social Dog Club is a local dog social club based in counties Mayo, Roscommon and Galway for dog owners who want more than chaotic public events. It’s a safe, structured way for your dog to socialize and for you to connect with other responsible dog owners.

We host:

🐾  Friendly and supervised group walks 🐾
🐾  Low-stress dog meet-ups 🐾
🐾  Social events for owners 🐾
🐾  Free dog training workshops for members 🐾
And other events that keep your dog's well-being in mind while keeping the social aspect of having dogs!

Who Can Join?

🐾  Previous and current clients of Oak & Howl 🐾

🐾  People who have attended one of our social walks 🐾

🐾 Dog owners who are genuinely interested in improving the well-being of their dog and the welfare of animals in Ireland 🐾

How To Join

🐾  Request to join our private Facebook and/or WhatsApp groups below 🐾

🐾 Answer the short questions - we verify all members 🐾

🐾 Wait for approval! 🐾

Is There a Cost?

Membership is FREE

Social walks are FREE for members of the social club

Some events may have a small fee to cover costs (like location rentals or treats for both humans and dogs!)

Why This Club Exists

In Ireland, animal welfare is at a crisis.
The country is struggling, with dog attacks on the rise, and sensitive dogs being a part of many households.
Dogs in Ireland are not being heard, and even if we love them, we don't always do what is best for them, and instead do what appeals to the community.
Community is important, and a lot of people love dogs, but the truth is, most dogs don't enjoy public events or so-called pet friendly days out.
These events are usually supposed to show how much we love dogs, and give the dog a fun day out as well. Sometimes they are made with good intentions, such as a charity event or a fundraising opportunity. Some of these events are set up simply because the organizer loves dogs and thinks the dogs and their owners will love it.
Dogs are often considered to be having a great day out and having fun, but they most often really are not. The dogs in question usually try to show that they are uncomfortable but their body language is either unnoticed, ignored or misread as positive. This very easily creates dogs that are nervous or unsure of their surroundings.

This club exists to help create dogs that are heard, understood, and who feel safe and calm and truly enjoy being out and socializing with their owners. The more effort we put into understanding our dogs and treating them with respect, the less likely we are to have a dog who is anxious or uncomfortable and thus more prone to lunging, snapping or biting.

We put extensive focus into making our social walks and meet-ups enjoyable for both the dog and the owner, and ensure that all dogs are treated with respect and true animal welfare in mind, while aiming to prevent fearful, anxious or aggressive behaviours in dogs in Ireland.

In short, we believe that animal welfare can be improved by considering quality over quantity.

Why It Matters

It's a common scenario, a dog owner sees an advertisement for a pet dog show, a dog-friendly petting farm, an open day at a pet shop, or a public dog park. It sounds like a great idea, a day out for your dog, possibly your children too, and you get to meet the other locals and have a chat amidst it all.

The issue with these events is safety for all: dogs, children and yourself too.

These events don't normally have a maximum amount of allowed dogs and there is usually quite a big turnout. They are usually held in a single area like a public town park or a pet shop. These are places that are usually open to the public so alongside dogs and their owners, there will be other people there, and the events usually get quite crowded. Dogs are required to be on leads, and these range from short, tight leads to uncomfortable retractable leads, all which put tension on the dogs and make it difficult for them to move comfortably among a crowd of dogs and people.

Then, a chain of events unfolds... Someone, let's call them A, sees an old friend they haven't spoken to in a while: they greet each other, start asking catch-up questions and having a conversation. A's focus shifts to the conversation and their backs are now turned away from their dogs. A doesn't see the other dog behind them, pulling someone to get to A's dog, and A's dog gets increasingly nervous with the other dog running up to him. However, A was focused on talking to someone else and was not paying attention to their dog, which had tried to signal that he was becoming nervous and was not heard, and now felt the only way to respond to the dog pulling towards him was by barking loudly at the other dog. A gets startled hearing all this commotion behind them and pulls their dog away from the situation, continuing their conversation after. A's dog has now been annoyed, and being pulled away with tension on the lead has now made it worse. A's dog would likely want nothing more than to go home or walk away from the event by now, but A and the dog stay there to continue enjoying the event.

However, at this point the only one of the two enjoying the event is A. A's dog is now panting and looking directly at people and other dogs, sometimes maybe even putting his paws up on his owner or even on people who come up to him, trying to say, "I'm very uncomfortable." This then gets misread by owners, passer-bys, and organizers of the event as A's dog being happy and sociable, when it could not be further from the truth. To make matters worse for A's dog, people will think it's very cute, and will start to talk to him in a high-pitched and exciting voice, further stressing him out, all while thinking he is having so much fun!

Sometimes, one event is all it takes, and other times continuously exposing your dog to this stress adds up and eventually you have a dog that is nervous, fearful, does not feel safe to communicate when he feels uncomfortable, and eventually snaps, growls, or even bites.

It matters to take care of our dogs' welfare and respect them because it is the simplest way that we can avoid any kind of behaviour issues and any kind of aggressive behaviours.