This bark bus promises no ruff rides

Man’s best friend now has a fun mode of transportation to and from private dog parks without having to worry about their humans’ busy lifestyles.

Ruff and Puff owner Denzel Morrison has loved dogs since he got his first when he was 12 years old.

“When we got our first dog, my mom was scared of dogs, but she started to fall in love with them and then she kind of became a crazy dog lady and started a dog rescue,” Morrison says.

Morrison’s mom now owns and operates the CB Rescue Foundation, to which Morrison donates 10% of all proceeds from Ruff and Puff.

All in the family

The CB Rescue Foundation is where Morrison began training dogs when he was about 16 years old.

When Morrison saw a video of a man driving a van full of dogs three years ago, he was inspired to start the service in Calgary, which is billed as the city’s first adventure school bus for dogs.

“It was a yellow van and he was talking about how it was the best job in the whole world,” Morrison recalls.

“I wanted to do my own thing, but a little bit safer and more fun with a bus.”

With that inspiration, Ruff and Puff was created and has been operating in the city’s southwest for the past two years.

Wagging tails

Morrison is greeted with wagging tails and eager, smiling faces as he pulls up to his clients' houses each day.

“They are usually pretty crazy when I come to pick them up,” Morrison says.

“A lot of them are sitting at the window just waiting for me to show up—I swear they can hear the bus coming.”

When the dogs are picked up, they are ushered into their assigned seats. New clients get seat belts to keep them in their spot, and each seat has a retractable gate to keep them safe.

All of the dogs are vetted before being allowed on the bus to ensure they are a good boy or a good girl.

Sometimes Morrison has to use his dog training skills to ensure their best behaviour.

“To keep the peace, sometimes you have to make sure everyone’s following the rules and not getting too crazy and out of control, otherwise it’s anarchy,” Morrison says.

All eyes are on the bus

As Morrison drives his clients from their homes to the dog park, the canines attract quite a bit of attention from people they pass.

“It’s fun to see people’s faces when you are stopped at a stoplight and they all look up at you and they’re just losing it,” Morrison says.

“You drive past another bus full of kids and they are just so happy to see you drive by with all of the dogs.”

The dogs are brought to a private, fenced-in dog park that is dedicated to the Ruff and Puff group for two to four hours so they can play their hearts out.

“When I drop them off, they’re almost dead tired. Some are just sleeping on the way back,” Morrison adds.

After a long day of playing, Morrison sends them back to their homes one by one until he greets them all again for their next play date.

Ruff and Puff has had returning clients since its bus doors first swung open, and Morrison plans to expand its services to other locations across the city.