5 Toronto dog walkers reveal their wildest stories, from flying sex toys to awkward owner run-ins

“Within five minutes of arriving at the park, a dog in my care vomited something red that looked alarmingly like an organ. I immediately contacted the owner, concerned. They responded, very embarrassed, explaining that there had been a home birth and the dog had gotten into the garbage. What I had found was actually a placenta that the dog had eaten and then thrown up.” —Chantal Ruivo, Wagging with Chantal

“I’ve had to pull everything out of dogs’ mouths, including garbage, bones, banana peels, condoms, napkins, dead birds and mice, and poop.” —Helga AuYeung, Liberty Pooch

“I noticed a fellow dog walker’s client struggling to poop. He proceeded to put a poop bag on his hand, walk over to the dog and gently pull this long sports sock out of his butt. He said it happens once a week — the mom told him the kids are slobs and don’t put their dirty laundry in the hamper.” —John Peat, Hogtown Dogtown

“I once saw a couple having a picnic in the off-leash area at Cedarvale Park when I had Angus with me — a notorious food thief. I unclipped his leash. I figured they were in the off-leash area, they would have to expect it. Once he arrived, he greeted all the people… then grabbed a bag of crackers. All the other dogs took off after him: he was like the Pied Piper, tearing around the park with cracker pieces flying through the air behind him and all the dogs chasing after him. I swear it sounded like they were all cheering him on: ‘ANGUS! ANGUS! ANGUS!’ The couple packed up their cracker-less picnic and left.” —Jennifer Donaldson, Citizen Canine

Random run-ins

“I showed up as usual, unlocked the door with my key, and walked in to find completely unfamiliar people inside — surrounded by moving boxes — staring at me in total confusion. It turns out the clients had moved out and never told me. The new homeowners were understandably alarmed that a stranger had just let herself into their house.” —Nicola Smith, We Wag Toronto

“I got off on the wrong floor once by accident and popped open (what I thought was) the client’s unlocked door. The dog bolted for the kitchen as I stepped in and found a man standing in front of the television watching porn in his underwear. It was then that I noticed the furniture was different. I yelled ‘sorry!’ and ran to the kitchen, grabbed the dog and promptly left.” —John Peat, Hogtown Dogtown

Always on-call

“One of my clients called me on a weekend freaking out because she thought her dog had a tick. She sent me a photo of it, but it was hard to tell via photo if it was or not. She Ubered her dog to the ER. It was his nipple.” —Helga AuYeung, Liberty Pooch

One-of-a-kind canines

“I used to walk a dog who would howl every time he pooped. His mom actually brought him to the vet multiple times because she was concerned, but he was completely fine. He was just… a very loud pooper.” —Nicola Smith, We Wag Toronto

“One of my dogs had his own business cards. He was a Hungarian puli and people used to always ask about him, so his mom made him his own cards.” —Helga AuYeung, Liberty Pooch

Amped pups

“Normally all the dogs I walk are at the door, excited to see me, but one day, the dog wasn’t there. I could hear thumping and banging going on in the apartment, so I went inside, where I found the dog had pulled a box full of sex toys out from under her father’s bed and she was grabbing them and flinging them into the air all around the living room.” —John Peat, Hogtown Dogtown

“I once had a dog jump up and hit me in the face. Five days later, I found a piece of her tooth in my lip. It had snapped off and was embedded in my lip. I had to go to the hospital to have an ultrasound and X-rays done and ended up having three surgeries to have all the dog-tooth fragments removed.” —Jennifer Donaldson, Citizen Canine

Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.