It rained like cats and dogs, but mostly dogs, in downtown Juneau on Saturday, which was Pawlentine’s Day, a day that saw several businesses offer dog friendly shopping for the February holiday.
Tami Wahto, general manager of McGivney’s downtown, said that despite the weather they welcomed a fair amount of pups through the doors while walking their owners in the rain.
Lucy, a 6-month-old puppy, with owner Janie Woolard participate in a No Bad Dogs class at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center on Saturday with Til Valhalla Working K9s and Honsigners Shepherds.
“We’ve never had dogs in the restaurant, for one thing, and when the Downtown Business Association put this out, we asked the hotel if they’d mind and then said, ‘let’s do this.’ Myself and my staff worked pretty hard at putting the kissing booth backdrop together and we’ve had over 20 dogs so far. I’m happy to say no dog fights and lots of happy dogs. It’s been fun, it’s our first time doing something like this with dogs and I feel like it’s been a success.”
From noon-3 p.m., participating locations handed out treats for pups of all shapes and sizes, as well as special discounts and photo-ops with free belly rubs included at every stop.
Participating locations included, Bustin’ Out Boutique, Juneau Drug, Resolute Boutique, McGivney’s Downtown, Wolfsong Wellness Boutique, The REAL Juneau Home Group, Shoefly and Juneau Arts & Culter Center.
CC, 1, with owner Miranda Guizio attend Saturday’s No Bad Dog Class at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center to help with CC’s anxiety around other people and dogs. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Additionally, there was a dog training class offered at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center, No Bad Dogs, taught by Jaymie Gomez with Til Valhalla Working K9s and Brittany Honsinger with Honsigners Shepherds. Honsinger said the class was aimed at teaching dogs and their owners how to better communicate. Advocating for responsible ownership and correct methods as far as training tools go.
“We try to bring this to Juneau quite often just because it’s really needed here in town, especially with COVID, Petco shut down its training facility, there are less options for dog training now,” Honsinger said.
Katherine and Brian Beers listen in on training tips while 3-year-old Mable takes a much needed break on Saturday during the Juneau Arts and Culture Center’s No Dog Class hosted by Til Valhalla Working K9s and Honsigners Shepherds. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Katherine and Brian Beers said they brought 3-year-old Mable to the basic training class because they got her early on in the pandemic and at the time had limited options on classes they could bring her to.
“We didn’t have a lot of public interaction for her during the pandemic, so it became very apparent that we all need, not just Mable, but we all needed some training,” Katherine Beers said.
Brian Beers added: “She did really well, it was definitely beneficial. We also learned a lot on how to actually train Mable and go to that next step on communicating with her.”
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com.
