Do the doo

>> Pup lover finds every day a walk in the park

by CHRIS BARRY

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Leanne Turner

Age: 36

Occupation: Dog walker

Salary: Around $20,000 per annum

Bio: This feisty Côte-St-Luc resident put her promising career in recreation therapy on hold last year in order to devote herself to the more leisurely and spiritually satisfying pursuit of professional dog walking. "Working with Alzheimer's patients every day can get discouraging after awhile." Within days of opening her business, Leanne's Loving Care, she claims she was overwhelmed with customers eager to hire her services and was forced to turn people away. A vegetarian, Leanne is "into animal rights and everything but not crazy," and no longer feels the need to work out in the gym because of all the exercise she gets running with the hounds.

Who her customers are: Professionals who are out of the house all day. New mothers who feel they don't have time for their pets anymore.

What pro dog walkers talk about when they get together at dog runs and parks: Shit and different methods of picking it up.

Her preferred turd-scooping method: The good old-fashioned plastic bag method. "I like the hard firm poops because they are a lot easier to pick up than the mushy stuff--especially if the turds have been deposited in thick, uncut grass."

How many turds she will pick up on an average day: Between 40 and 50 good ones. But that also includes picking up shit that her dogs are not responsible for.

The predominant smell inside her Pathfinder: Dog shit. "I try and maintain it as best I can but it doesn't usually make that much difference."

Have any disgruntled property owners ever picked out a sack of dog shit she has deposited in their garbage can and thrown it at her? Yes.

Is she familiar with the work of shit-kicking rock 'n' roll genius GG Allin? No.

Best part of the job: "The affection and the way I am greeted by the dogs when I show up to walk them."

Worst: Dealing with some of the lunatics who hang out at dog runs.

Something she does when she is not walking dogs professionally: Walks dogs as a volunteer for the SPCA 20 hours a week.

Another thing she does: Finds foster homes for SPCA dogs in their 11th hour. So far she's found homes for 15 pooches.

Does seeing new animals brought into the SPCA every day ever bum her out? Yes. "I break down and cry all the time from that place."

Her immediate ambition: To open a doggy daycare/boarding/rescue facility in the next year or so.

Hobbies: Leanne likes to sing and recently performed a breathtaking rendition of Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" at her friend's wedding. She's also a pretty decent artist and likes to paint flowers and abstract stuff in acrylic.

Musical tastes: Techno, dance music, old disco.

Last book read: Spontaneous Healing, by Andrew Weil, M.D.

Favourite TV show: Leanne just loves Sex and the City.

Words of wisdom: "What goes around comes around. Things happen for a reason." :

Comments? dimwit@openface.ca