The Redzone Dogs group, which organises walks around the city, is the brainchild of Lena Tiebosch. She noticed her dog Benji seemed to get bored on their daily walks.
"I thought: 'Wouldn't it be cool if we had a group and we could just, you know, have this constant flow of doggy playdates'.
"So he would have a great time. But at the same time, I would also meet more people in the community."
"It's really awesome just to, like, meet new people and, yeah, mainly for the dogs but also for the people and it's so good for your mental health as well."
Roper has started organising her own event for smaller dogs every Sunday at Waimairi Beach. She said the walks have been growing in numbers.
"Now there's quite a few people that I see every single time, which is so awesome, and all the dogs know each other really well now and they, like, get so excited to see their little friends."
The owners are free to organise events anywhere in the city but Tiebosch picked the red zone because it is spacious and gives dogs the freedom to run around.
"I think the red zone makes a really nice place for dog owners, it has a lot of beautiful nature, it's got a bit of history which people quite like."
She felt walking as a group was safer, especially on cold, dark winter nights.
The group aims to expand into walking spots across the city to include even more dogs and their owners.
For more information on the group, visit https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556724411860
-By Emily O'Hagan, made with the support of NZ On Air
