The Airbnb experience walking shelter dogs in Los Angeles

“Females in any stage of heat are not allowed in the park”, says the sign at the entrance to Runyon Canyon in West Hollywood. This could be a problem. It’s a sunny morning in the US, we’ve got a 3.5km hike ahead of us up to 400m, and most of us are women.

There’s also the possibility of spotting a bare-chested Matthew McConaughey amongst the fitness freaks jogging past us in clingy lycra, their inspirational tattoos distorted by rippling muscles. Over-heating is distinctly on the cards.

Fortunately, Candy explains, the rule applies only to dogs. Dogs are why we’re here: we’ve signed up for an Airbnb Experience which will see us spending two happy hours in the company of shelter dogs, taking them for a walk in one of the very few places in central Los Angeles where they are allowed to be off-leash.

Candy is a member of Free Animal Doctor, a non-profit organisation originally set up to assist people with paying for veterinary care for their pets. Before long, they were working with animal shelters, helping to give dogs a better chance of adoption.

Being taken out for walks, spending time with a succession of friendly strangers, enables dogs to work through the nervousness and shyness that can have them hanging back at the shelters and being overlooked by potential adopters.

Today, Candy has brought four dogs for us to walk. Lulu the Labrador belongs to her, but Ernie the Chihuahua, and Joey the Italian greyhound cross are both up for adoption. Honey, a quivering ball of Jack Russell energy is, Candy freely admits, “a foster fail” – meaning she has become so fond of her that she can’t let her go, and Honey will be joining Candy’s already rather large pack of dogs at home.

We have met at the entrance to Runyon Canyon, just a couple of blocks up from Hollywood Boulevard. It’s a 65-hectare park with a lively history that includes an Irish tenor, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, ‘gentleman bandit’ Vasquez who was the inspiration for Zorro, and Errol Flynn, who threw wild parties by the swimming pool at the mansion that once stood here.

Today, little remains of any buildings: apart from the paved fire road that loops through the canyon, everything looks natural. It’s prime real estate, and has been threatened with development multiple times; but the local residents are fierce in their protection of a unique and valued asset, and currently it’s in the care of a public trust.

There are trees, grass and stands of cactus; I can hear birds as well as sirens from back down in the city. The sign also makes clear that there are coyotes and rattlesnakes in the park, although Candy has never seen any, deer being more common.

As it turns out, it’s the gophers we’re most aware of. The ground is riddled with their holes, to Honey’s frustration as she is hauled past them. After a brief introduction, we’ve set off along the road into the canyon, our leisurely pace making the dogs impatient as we climb the slope. All around, other dogs are bounding free, all breeds, all sizes and, apart from some ritual barking, all friendly.

So are their owners, though the varied types focused on their Fitbits and fired up by motivational podcasts scarcely notice us as they puff past up the hill. Even on a Wednesday morning, the park is busy and we try to keep an eye out for celebrities, but the dogs are too distracting. “I’ve seen Justin Bieber, but what with caps and sunglasses, it’s hard to spot the stars,” says Candy.

Up at the head of the canyon, an impressive mansion stands against the sky. “Where do you think that guy gets his money?” Candy asks. “Drugs,” someone guesses, and she’s right. “Marijuana is legal here now, but you can’t put the money into a federal bank, so you have to turn it into property. Party central up there.”

Up the hill, we get a long view over a leafy valley where huge mansions are set into the trees along Mulholland Drive, all the way across to the Hollywood sign on the opposite side. Finally, at the Inspiration Point lookout over a hazy city, we let the dogs off their leashes, and they bound away in excitement, Honey disappearing in a spray of soil as she digs madly into a gopher hole.

After carefully descending a jumbled staircase of railway ties and wandering down through the canyon again, we arrive too soon back at our starting point. Honey has been retrieved from deep inside a gopher hole, the others are on their leashes again, and it’s time to say goodbye to our doggy friends. It’s been lovely, everyone’s had fun – and we women have hardly sweated at all.

The two-hour experience costs from $72 per person, depending on which time you walk. To book, go to

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