PAWSibilities

If you have a dog, then you know that the dog can help you meet other people in your neighbourhood. What if a dog could help people connect to each other downtown, and this could support feelings of safety and wellbeing? After all, safety is more than the absence of threat - it is also the presence of connection.

So, this prototype is about nourishing connections between people who have different backgrounds and experiences, and come downtown for different reasons. It experiments with using a wellness dog to bridge social divides. The hope is that people will have joyful interactions with each other involving the dog - that this will help people to feel more connected to each other - - and that this in turn could support wellbeing and safety.

A wellness dog & handler alongside two city staff have been spending time in the outdoor areas around the Stanley Milner Library, Churchill Square, and Edmonton City Centre Mall. They are welcoming all types of people to meet the wellness dog in hopes of bridging connections between people who spend time downtown.

We have gone through one round of testing, have made modifications, and are now doing another round of testing to gain information on what elements of the prototype work, or don’t work, for whom, and what elements of the prototype are worth continuing to pursue and potentially modify into an ongoing initiative.

This prototype is being done in partnership with the City of Edmonton’s Community Safety Team and with Chimo Animal Assisted Wellness and Learning Society (CAAWLS).