MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Scott Timothy gets some strange looks when he's driving around town in his bright orange school bus.
It could have something to do with the slogans printed on the sides: "Improving lives one dog at a time," "Driver carries less than 20 milk bones." Maybe it's the license plate: "GoFTCH1."
But most likely, it's Timothy's passengers drawing the stares.
On Tuesdays and Fridays, the faces looking back from the bus windows, tongues invariably hanging out, are Bella, a golden retriever; Foster, an Australian shepherd; Zyli, another golden; Sammie, an Airedale; Jack, a cocker spaniel; Hero, a flat-coated retriever; Sam, a springer spaniel; Riley, a mixed breed; and Riley No. 2, a black Lab.
On Mondays and Thursdays, a different "pack" is riding in the bus with Timothy. And soon, a third pack will be on board on Wednesdays.
Timothy operates GoFetch! — a 6-month-old Missoula business catering to dogs and their owners.
GoFetch! is an upscale dog supply store that offers a dog-food home-delivery service. But the most unique aspect of GoFetch! is Timothy's "mobile K-9 mountain hike fitness program."
Based on the motto: "A fit, well-exercised dog is a happy, well-behaved dog," the program provides vigorous hikes of six to eight miles on mountain trails near Missoula. Timothy provides pick-up and drop-off service at the dogs' homes.
The fitness hikes are designed for dog owners who either don't have time or lack the physical capability to regularly exercise their own dogs, Timothy said.
"I pick the dogs up and drop them off at home," Timothy said. "People get home and find their pet well-exercised, tuckered out and tolerable to be around, rather than coming home to an overly energetic dog."
Timothy's K-9 mountain hikes are also based on the "the power of the pack" principle.
Each hike involves a maximum of 12 dogs. Timothy takes each pack out twice a week, with two days rest in between. Currently, he has a Monday-Thursday pack and a Tuesday-Friday pack. He's setting up a Wednesday pack for older dogs that don't need such a rigorous fitness regimen.
The power of the pack, he said, is a dog's "inherent desire to be part of a pack and to stick together."
"In an outdoor setting, dogs can, rather than be boxed in, have the opportunity to run at will and interact with other dogs if they want to," he said. "Within each pack there are satellite groups that work together."
Timothy, a former fly-fishing instructor and guide, heard about a man on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, who had started a business of running dogs in the backcountry for exercise.
"I thought it was fascinating," Timothy said. "I asked him if I could join him, and I was able to spend a few weeks with him and his dogs."
When he started GoFetch!, Timothy advertised his mobile K-9 hikes heavily, he said.
The cost for one hike is $20, Timothy said. But most of his customers prefer two hikes a week for their dogs. He offers a five-week "membership" with a package of 10 hikes for $175. A two-dog household can purchase two memberships for $300.
To enroll a dog in the fitness program, dogs and their owners must first submit to Timothy's "interview" process.
"If a client is interested in the mobile service, the first step is to interview the dog so I can figure out the dog's personality, and get a sense of how the dog works with other dogs, new dogs," he said.
All the information about each dog's temperament and background is recorded in Timothy's "dogumentation" files for pack placement.
A new dog generally is started out on a leash during the first two or three hikes, Timothy said.
"Depending on its behavior, I let it off the leash," he said. "Dogs see the benefit of being off the lead."
Not all dogs work out, however.
"I had to take two dogs out of the program," said Timothy. "They really weren't cooperative with the others."
Certain breeds tend to be less inclined to join the pack, he said, including hounds and huskies. But most dogs enjoy being part of a pack.
"The dogs look forward to seeing each other," he said. "They recognize the bus when it comes to pick them up and each house we stop at. The dogs all follow a routine."
Timothy's golden retriever Bella is a regular member of his Tuesday-Friday pack. She barks excitedly to greet each new passenger along the GoFetch! bus route.
"Bella is vocal," Timothy said. "I actually like that kind of talk. It's happy talk. This is designed around the dogs' happiness."
Foster, the Australian shepherd, is new to the pack and appears shy about getting on the bus. But Timothy coaxes him aboard with treats. And he's soon making friends in the back of he bus.
Jack, the cocker, knows the routine. He scampers to the bus and leaps in when it arrives.
"Jack always gets the bench," predicted Timothy. Sure enough, Jack jumps up into the bus's only seat. None of the other dogs contest his position.
Sammie, the energetic Airedale, bounds onto the bus and immediately assumes her role as a leader in the pack with her aggressive posturing.
"I'm dumbfounded how much the dogs like this," said Sammie's owner, Susanna Springer, who brings the dog to work with her in Missoula from her home in the Bitterroot Valley. Timothy picks up Sammie at Springer's business.
"My dog would rather be with other dogs than people," Springer said.
The scuffling, growling and barking that ensues as the dogs are loaded seems chaotic and somewhat ominous to a new human passenger. But it's apparently all a boisterous show of camaraderie. They sort it all out themselves and a semblance of order is restored for the trip to a nearby mountain trail.
"I like what's happening with this pack," Timothy said. "They've been together for several months. I like the fact that they're a pretty playful bunch."
Timothy takes his charges on one of six different trail hikes, primarily on public land, near Missoula.
He said he is getting used to the curious looks he gets when he drives by in the orange bus full of canines.
"I get looks of all sorts — quizzical, laughing, smiling, honking horns," he said. "Others just don't understand. They think I'm just a lunatic. Which I am, in the way that I love dogs."