The husband and father of two young children believes that he has learned trust, patience and compassion from his dogs.
Mario Perez: the Island's very own "Dog Whisperer"
An industrial engineer who became a dog walker
Life has a way of throwing us curveballs and sometimes, they force us to go in a direction we never intended to go, but was perfectly suited for us anyways.
When Mario Perez came to Canada from Mexico, in 2002, he fully intended to continue working as an industrial engineer. Having previously worked for international companies like Nestlé and Kraft Foods in his home country, he quickly went about getting his certification. But when the quality of the instruction, as well as the amount of time it would take him to become certified, disappointed him, he decided to become –of all things-- a dog walker.
A love for animals
Back home, he had left his beloved dog, Skala, a Siberian Husky, with his mom, a widow. While leaving his dog behind broke his heart he couldn't bear the thought of depriving his mom of her sole companion. In one of his classes, he heard of someone mention dog walking as a business venture and the thought of working with animals made him happy.
"Someone actually pays you to walk their dog? That was absolutely unheard of in Mexico," explains Mario. Having an affinity with animals, he decided to give it a try. Little did he know that his little "side business" would –in a few years' time-- become his full-time profession.
A business blooms on the Island
"I placed an ad in the paper and someone quickly responded," says Mario. Soon, more and more people asked him to walk their dogs. "Business grew so fast that my 'real job' was starting to interfere with dog walking, so in 2005 I officially started doing it full time and it became my main source of income."
On an average day, Mario walks anywhere from 30 to 35 dogs a day, usually three times a day. Clients can book him for any or all of the three daily 40- to 60-minute walks he takes with the dogs, morning, noon and night. His busiest walk is at noon, when most of his clients are away working.
"The maximum number of dogs I've ever walked in a given day was 70 dogs," he says laughing. That being said, Mario never walks more than 8-13 dogs together at the same time.
To anyone who has ever attempted to even walk ONE excitable dog at a time, the idea of someone walking 13 of them must seem daunting, but Mario has a secret.
We don't speak the same language
"You have to learn to speak the dog's language," he says enigmatically. "We humans relate to each other in a very different way than dogs do and so we tend to commit very obvious mistakes when trying to interact with them."
According to Mario, humans will smile, extend their hand in a greeting, and look you in the eyes when encountering you. All of the above are human ways of socially interacting with one another.
"Dogs perceive all of the above as threatening behavior," he explains. "You smile, you bare your teeth, you extend your hand to pet them and it's threatening to a territorial animal, you look them in the eye and you are challenging a pack animal. Dogs and humans don't speak the same language."
Mario's trick to get to know a dog and make it comfortable with him and the other dogs is to slowly get to know both the dog and the dog's owner.
"Dogs mimic their owner's personality, so it's very important for me to get a 'feel' for both of them," he reveals.
"I've walked both a Bull Mastiff and a Jack Russell Terrier at the same time, surrounded by ten other dogs. Once dogs are eased into a group and don't feel threatened, they can get along nicely. If I see a potential for problems, I take the dog out on a solitary walks first, then with another dog, then with the group."
Mario seems to have gained not only the trust of these dogs, but also of their owners. He has keys and access codes to a large number of client residences, probably making him one of the most trustest figures on the Island.
The Cesar Millan of L'Ile-des-Soeurs
Mario is often compared to famous dog behaviour specialist, Cesar Millan, also known as the "Dog Whisperer."
"That's a huge compliment to me, because I do focus on behavioural issues a lot," explains Mario. "It's more important for a dog to behave than to be trained," reveals Mario. "You can train a dog to sit, but that doesn't mean it will behave the minute it sees another dog or the ice-cream truck around the corner."
Among the litany of issues a dog may be suffering from, according to Mario, he notes separation anxiety, aggression, excessive barking, possessiveness, etc.
Mario also stresses the importance of walking your dog and the problems that can arise when failing to do so.
"Dogs
need to be walked and be around other dogs," he says. "They are the most happiest when being walked. People sometimes mistakenly believe that a small dog doesn't need to be walked as much, but that's not so. All dogs need to be walked and if someone can't commit to walking their dog (or are unwilling to pay someone to do it for them), then they should get themselves a cat or a goldfish or a plant," he says with conviction.
<@Ri>Mario Perez offers dog walking, as well as cat sitting services. He also provides dog boarding, but since it's in his own home it's very limited in space (two dogs maximum) and people must book way in advance. For complete information on his services and rates, you can log on to:
www.mariodogs.com and find out more.<@$P>
Météo: Montréal, 6 juillet 2008 / 26°C
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par Toula Foscolos 
Steven Guilbeault - 
