Sunday at Mt Doug

When I tell people that I walk dogs for a living they generally envision several dogs all constrained by leashes.

While some dog walkers do this, Victoria is blessed with having a variety of great places where dogs can be let off leash.  Mt. Doug is one of our favorites.  It has an abundance of  variety in terrain...from the lower relatively flat trails...to the steeper climbs that take you to the summit where the view is spectacular.

I like to park in the small lot at the end of Glendenning Road because it is really safe.  When I open the door to my van and several dogs bound out I know I don't have to worry about them getting into any traffic.

 The other parking lot, off of Cordova Bay Road, is a lot busier, especially after noon when they open the gates that allow the traffic to proceed to the summit.

 On today's walk I took all of our house guests.  While we're not really in the business of boarding dogs, we do take dogs in on a limited basis.  Normally two or three is our limit, but for some reason we found ourselves overbooked this weekend.  In addition to Jake, a border collie that we've been looking after for more than a month now while its owner is in the hospital, we had Sam, another border collie, Pepper, a shepherd cross, Buddy, a yellow lab who just arrived this morning, Hunter, a Hungarian Vizsla, and Issie, a Maltese/Schitzu.





Hunter

When I first started walking Hunter three years ago she was very, very nervous and timid.  I couldn't let her near other dogs.  She spent all her time looking around her shoulder, her tail tucked firmly between her legs.  I didn't dare let her off leash.

I slowly introduced her to some of my regular dogs and it was wonderful to watch her gradual transformation.  Before too long she was joining in with the others.  I took a video of her playing on the beach and sent it to her owner who was flabbergasted by her behavior.  She couldn't believe it was the same dog.