Do you have a dog? Do you find yourself reminiscing about walking your dog? Well, now you can join the UBC Canine Adventure Time Club to socialize with other lucky owners and students who miss their life buddies. Colin Szeplabi, dog owner and creator of the club, took some time to tell me about the club and the thought behind it.
Szeplabi's inspiration for starting up the Facebook group was a post he made on the UBC Class of 2019 page, which had a lot of feedback and made it clear “that this club has a place in the UBC community." Petey Szeplabi, terrier mix, also had a role in the creation of this club.
"When my parents told me that they had decided to let a dog into our family I was ecstatic," said Szeplabi. "We found Petey's [adoption] profile, and ... we were intrigued by his compact size and noted personality of 'spunkiness.' From there, we arranged a meet, fell in love, and brought him home.
“Socializing your dog is necessary for its mental/physical health and I saw this as an opportunity to introduce him to new friends and new places."
While the club specifically targets dog owners, dog-lovers in general are welcomed with open arms. Their main activity is meeting every weekend to walk their four-legged canine best friends. Last weekend, we got to join them on their first Canine Adventure at Pacific Spirit Park.
The event was quite social, friendly and open, and also created tons of positivity in everyone. Szeplabi brought Petey, and club members Jessica and Stephen Su brought Mo. There was also a number of us without dogs, but with a lot of love for them. At the end, the human to dog ratio was 4:1, so Mo and Petey definitely stole all of the attention. Taking a break from academic stress to spend time in nature with two energetic individuals and their humans was quite invigorating. On our way, we ran into countless canine friends who were sociable and open to pats.
Although this club is not yet registered with the AMS, Szeplabi has quite ambitious visions for its future — think sponsorship, throwing large events and welcoming the public of metro Vancouver.
"But the weekly meets will still be our staple!" stressed Szeplabi. "For now, we will continue to run these weekend meets as we pick up some numbers.”
