The Sunday Times February 6, 2022 15Travel USA special
at small-dog level, and Frankie
was all over me. Moments
later, emboldened to follow
suit, Sammy came and sat in
my lap. Bailey wept, in a good
way — it was Sammy’s first time
out and she’d been expecting
blood. All we got, though, was
dog slobber and a waggy tail.
The first uphill section is
paved, then it’s an off-road
scramble to get back down. We
were out for two hours and
walked about two and a half
miles, stopping often for water,
chats and pats. For a first-timer
Sammy was very well-behaved,
even though his copying
Frankie involved wanting to
bite the noses of the many
other inquisitive canines who
presented for a “hello” sniff.
Full adoption-ready rehab
might take some time.Runyon Canyon rescue dog
experience from £26pp
(freeanimaldoctor.org;
airbnb.co.uk)It was the first
outing for Sammy,
who’d spent most
of his life in a crateFrankie (chihuahua/terrier/
who knows?) had been left in
the desert outside San
Bernardino — no food nor
water; snakes, tarantulas and
coyotes to contend with. Dog-
spotting at ground level amid
dense desert scrub is difficult,
so FAD uses a drone.
Despite having been
abandoned, Frankie is still
ridiculously friendly and was
more than happy to be
rescued. After being cleared
of fleas and ticks, and having
14 teeth removed (hence the
Elvis lip curl), Frankie is now
ready for a new home.
It’s not often I move a
woman to tears, but that’s
what happened before we’d
even set off. I sat on the floor,whatever) had spent most of
his life in a crate, covered in
filth, with next to no human
interaction. He managed to
escape and was hit by a car,
breaking his back legs, which
is how he ended up at FAD.
His muzzle was still caked with
dirt because the veterinary
nurse who cleaned up the rest
of him was in danger of losing
fingers and wisely retreated.Stephen Ferns
bonds with
two pooches
in need of
love in LA
W
hen we
travel we
miss our
dog
(Murphy,
Irish terrier — bit smelly, bit
barky). We assuage our guilt,
and what we imagine to be her
separation anxiety, by leaving
her in the hands of staff at
Bruce’s Doggy Day Care in
Cobham, Surrey — one of
whom takes her home each
evening and spoils her rotten.
Every day of our trip to Los
Angeles we were sent photos
of a dog who didn’t seem to
be missing us at all.
A walk without a dog is
somewhat pointless, so while
we were in LA my wife, Jane,
ventured on to the Airbnb app
and found this experience:
“Hike Runyon Canyon with
a rescue dog.” It promised a
morning hike with “stunningcity views” in a dog-friendly
park, with no more than ten
“guest walkers” each time.
“As you climb your way up
the hill you’ll be exercising
and socialising the dogs, and
letting locals know they’re up
for adoption,” it said.
This two-hour experience
ticked so many boxes —
exercise, meet new people,
raise money for a worthy cause
and help abused dogs to learn
to trust humans again, and
eventually find a new, loving
home. And there would be a
grandstand view of LA’s
blanket of traffic smog.
To a UK sensibility
the US can seem slightly
paranoid about dogs.
Runyon Canyon is one
of the few (if not only)
places in Los Angeles
county where it’s
legal to walk a
dog off-lead, with
fines issued for
noncompliance
elsewhere — Candy Bailey with Frankie, left; the view from Runyon Canyonew people,
a worthy cause
dogs to learn
again, and
new, loving
would be a
of LA’s
smog.
ility
slightly
dogs.
is one
only)
geles
shCaWALKIES!
WITH A RESCUE DOG
Murphy doesn’t know how
lucky she is.
We arrived at the canyon
park gate at 9am, and were met
by Candy Bailey, Frankie and
Sammy. Originally from
Birmingham (not the one in
Alabama), Bailey works full
time for Free Animal Doctor
(FAD); Frankie and Sammy are
two of her recent housemates.
Sammy (maltese/shitzu/ALEXANDER SPATARI/GETTY IMAGES; STEPHEN FERNS