Dog-friendly needs to mean more than 'dogs technically allowed'.
A useful event should consider the route, livestock, venue rules, water, crowding and whether dogs need to stay on leads. A plan that works brilliantly for people may not automatically work for every dog.
Always use the current event information rather than assuming a future meet is dog-friendly because a past one included dogs.
Dogs can make the first conversation easier, but they should not become pressure either.
People naturally ask a dog's name, breed, age or personality. That can take the edge off the first interaction because the conversation has somewhere obvious to begin.
At the same time, not everybody wants close contact with every dog. Give people and animals enough space and follow the event rules.
The social benefit is still the repeated human contact.
The dog may start the conversation, but friendship grows when you recognise the same people, chat again and join another plan. The wider community gives that process somewhere to continue between walks.