The running of the dogs: Meet Calgary's need-for-speed canines
Calgary business Dog Gone Running offers dog runs instead of dog walks
Sometimes man's best friend wants more than a stroll, a sniff and a pee — and so a Calgary business is tapping into Fido's primal instinct to sprint. For $40, you can have the fitness instructors at Dog Gone Running take your fur baby on a six- to 12-kilometre jog. And while that's almost double the going rate of a dog walk in the city — the owners say the economic downturn hasn't affected their business. In fact, they're growing.
"We're a community of dog lovers and it's a little bit of a 'spare no expense' to have a happy dog," said Tammy Nishimura, who co-owns the dog running business with her best buddy Ruth Everett.
Meet Calgary's speed canines:
Jax
This six-year-old Vizsla used to be a bit of menace — chewing his way through vacuum cords, remote controls and sofa beds. But that all stopped once Jax started going on regular runs.
Cooper
Cooper is one buff pup. The two-year-old boxer runs 9-10 kilometres, several times a week.
Buster
This is how Buster looks after his daily run. Before he took up jogging, the eight-year-old German short-haired pointer would try to escape his home by knocking out screen doors and scraping up walls.
Maverick
This Australian shepherd runs six to eight kilometres, several times a week. He is nine years old.
Mira
Janeen Webb, the owner of this four-year-old husky-greyhound cross, says running has saved her sanity and her house.
Ria
Ria will be nine this year. The shepherd cross is a runner — literally. Once she slipped away for a week-long vacation in Nose Hill park.
Molson and Roxy
She's eight, he's nine. These spritely golden retrievers recently crushed the six kilometre loop around Calgary's Glenmore Reservoir.
Kayto
Kayto, a two-year-old fox red Labrador retriever, uses the force of his "big puppy eyes" to lure his owner off the couch and out the door for a run.
Do you have a furry runner in your family? Send a picture and short bio of your athletic pet to calgaryphotos@cbc.ca
With files from the CBC's Sarah Lawrynuik and the Calgary Eyeopener