{"id":291469,"date":"2026-09-22T10:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291469\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T10:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T10:54:09","slug":"acct-philly-pupventures-gives-shelter-dogs-a-day-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291469\/","title":{"rendered":"ACCT Philly Pupventures gives shelter dogs a day out"},"content":{"rendered":"

A day away<\/p>\n

Our first stop was Fisher Park, where Amaya immediately started exploring.\n<\/p>\n

We walked for a while before stopping at a bench for water. I pulled a squeaky plush toy out of our backpack, and we played tug-of-war.\n<\/p>\n

With a few treats in hand, I also learned that Amaya knew how to sit and stay. When I asked her for her paw, she gave it to me.\n<\/p>\n

I had only known her for a short time, but I was already learning things about her I couldn\u2019t have known when we first met.\n <\/p>\n

Grace Weinstein, ACCT Philly\u2019s director of development and marketing, said getting dogs out of the shelter allows them to decompress.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dogs can spend 23 hours a day in their kennel, which really is incredibly stressful,\u201d Weinstein said.\n<\/p>\n

While ACCT Philly provides enrichment activities for animals throughout the day, Weinstein said getting dogs completely out of the shelter for several hours offers a different kind of break.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just nothing that compares,\u201d she said, adding that it \u201cbrings them back down to a more calm level and breaks them from that stress a bit.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The outings can also help ACCT Philly learn more about the dogs.\n<\/p>\n

After a Pupventure, participants fill out a report card describing their experience and what they observed, according to Alisha Bristol, who works in lifesaving management at ACCT Philly and is part of the team behind Pupventures. Photos and videos from the outing can also be added to a dog\u2019s adoption profile to allow potential adopters to see a dog\u2019s unique personality.\n<\/p>\n

In almost no time, Amaya was already showing me some of hers.\n<\/p>\n

We left the park and headed to Rita\u2019s for some water ice. Amaya was getting a pup cup.
\n\"AmayaAmaya ACCT Philly shelter dog Amaya enjoys a pup cup. (Jassmyn Nesmith for WHYY)\n<\/p>\n

At the mention of one, she stood on her hind legs and put her paws on the counter.\n<\/p>\n

She seemed to know what was coming.\n<\/p>\n

She tore through the treat and then started eyeing my water ice.\n<\/p>\n

A Pupventure doesn\u2019t have to be elaborate.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main activities is definitely taking a pup to a park,\u201d Weinstein said. \u201cPeople will also just take them to their house, honestly, just to get a good nap on a couch.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

ACCT Philly has offered day trips for shelter dogs since around 2022, Bristol said. The program was revamped and expanded in April 2026. In all, volunteers have completed about 500 Pupventures. The program now averages about 30 to 50 each month.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPupventures allow these dogs to go outside of Philadelphia and meet people who have never even heard of us,\u201d Weinstein said.\n<\/p>\n

Bristol said that is ACCTPhilly\u2019s measure of success.
\n\"ACCTACCT Philly dogs taken out on Pupventures. (Jassmyn Nesmith for WHYY)\n<\/p>\n

More than a day out<\/p>\n

Eventually, Amaya and I had to head back to ACCT Philly.\n<\/p>\n

We waited together in the play area until it was time for me to leave. I was sad to say goodbye, but what I learned about her during our few hours together could be useful after our Pupventure ended.\n<\/p>\n

Weinstein said photos and videos of dogs outside the shelter can help potential adopters picture them in their own lives.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSo having an animal, not just having a in-kennel photo or one in a play yard, but one in a car, one on a couch, you know, it makes the animal feel a lot more relatable and someone that they can envision in their home and taking on their own little adventures,\u201d Weinstein said.\n<\/p>\n

Bristol said participants often report seeing dogs become more comfortable and show more of their personalities as an outing goes on.\n<\/p>\n

That was true for Amaya. By the end of our few hours together, I knew she could sit, stay and give her paw. She liked car rides, loved treats and could become comfortable with unfamiliar people and environments.\n<\/p>\n

Those details went into my report card.\n<\/p>\n

Now ACCT Philly could tell potential adopters those things about her, too.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A day away Our first stop was Fisher Park, where Amaya immediately started exploring. We walked for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15451,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-291469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-acct-philly","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}