Paws Pack in Wagener offers canine fun and fitness facilities

WAGENER — Pigeon Road can offer a challenge for travelers after a hard rain, but the unpaved stretch of road has proven to be worth the effort for hundreds out-of-town travelers each year, including many with four legs.

Paws Pack Dog Training and Sports draws business from around the Carolinas and Georgia, offering the chance for pooches and their people to explore dock diving, agility courses and swimming.

Co-owner Patty Weathers recalled, “I actually moved from New York in February 2019, and I’ve been building the business ever since.” 

“Building,” in this case, has meant clearing about 20 acres and adding such features as an agility ring on natural turf (with lighting included) and a pool measuring 45 feet long and 21 feet wide, to allow even the most accomplished thoroughbreds and mutts to stretch their legs without fear of flying out of bounds.

“It’s a wonderful facility, and apparently a lot of people go there,” said Aiken resident Debbie Webb, who brings her cane corso for Paws Pack visits, having started about a year ago, when Mercy was 6 months old.

Mercy “is just like an overachiever for everything she does,” Webb said.

Greenwood resident Kayla Brazel is also a regular, bringing her Labrador retriever, Remington, who didn’t immediately jump into the festivities. “He’s a little bit older, so he’s not as confident as he would be if he was little,” she said, adding that Remington is about 3½ years old.

As for the Paws Pack facility, Brazel added, “He loves the water, so it’s something I figured he would love.”

Aquatic action is not just a summer pursuit at Paws Pack, Weathers noted. “There are some dogs that will opt to go in the water in… winter months, and that’s why we leave the pool open all year… Some dogs will not do it, and then some dogs are like fish. They’re like, ‘It doesn’t matter how cold. We just love water,'” she said.