Meet Jess K | Owner & Dog Adventure Guide

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jess K and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jess, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?

One of the first things I noticed upon moving to Colorado was that almost every car had a dog hanging out the window. I felt like I was in heaven. I have loved dogs since I was a small child but did not have my own until I was a young adult. I picked a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, not really understanding what they were built for. They are smart and active; they are built for a job: herding cows.

As my corgi, Pete, became a “teenage dog,” it became apparent very quickly how hard it was to keep him occupied and tired. He was cute but did not listen well. I would take him on several-hour bike rides and day-long hikes to the tops of mountains; yet he would still come home and want to play. The more exercise he got, though, the calmer, happier, and better he listened. I had no idea how to train a dog but I knew how to make one tired.

Throughout my twenties I lived all over Colorado in various mountain towns. My friends had big, beautiful mountain dogs like shepherds, labs, pitbulls, heelers. A handful were good on adventures but many of these dogs sat at home and did not behave particularly well. I would often think to myself that if they just had some of the attention and exercise that my Corgi got, they might be a lot happier and better behaved too. At some point my dog empathy took over and I started asking people if I could take their dogs out to do things with me and/or occasionally pick up my friend’s dogs without their knowing and drop them back off at home before anyone noticed. I thought to myself while out on these adventures that it would be a really fun business to be able to offer this to other people. I would then shrug it off as a silly or valueless idea and move on.

Many years later, I found myself leaving what felt like the thousandth job as a pastry chef in yet another angry, wasteful kitchen in a tourist town in Colorado. I decided that to make some money in the meantime, I would offer “dog hikes” on Facebook, make cookies for the farmers market, and humor picking up some random gigs like milking cows. Anything was better than going back to a kitchen.

The community responded wonderfully, and I started out with a handful of regular dogs. We spent the summer exploring all up and down the river and through the mountains. I would send pictures of our adventures and “trail reports” after every hike. The dog parents gave me great reviews and even recommended me to other people. I couldn’t believe it was really working.

Last year I found myself in the North Fork Valley, and I relaunched Mountain Dog Adventures, praying it would have the same response. It has—and even better. Taking all my dog friends out on weekly adventures has become a nearly full-time job and I feel deeply blessed to be able to do something that’s good for my heart, that’s good for the dog’s hearts, and helps their fur parents out. It truly is a blessing being able to do something good in this world versus adding more waste and anger to it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I realize that this sounds a bit cliché. . . . However, I would encourage people to take to heart the idea of following their “silly” dreams and ideas that make them excited. At this point in time, there are so many people in this world to fill all the everyday duties we rely on to maintain our lives. What there isn’t enough of is people who are bright, alive, and passionate about what they do. I believe that if there is more of that in this world we would all be better off for it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The North Fork valley is absolutely an agricultural community and is at its most beautiful in the spring when the fruit trees bloom and in the fall during the harvest. A dog-friendly place that you can visit while you are here is Big B’s Orchard. Big B’s is a U-pick orchard that offers camping, live music, and awesome food made with local ingredients, all of which is dog-friendly. There is also lots of national forest and BLM land surrounding us including Jumbo Mountain in Paonia, which has an excellent network of dog walking routes.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I would like to thank North Fork Valley community for getting incredibly excited about my silly little idea and sharing it with everyone. More importantly, the support of my father over the last year rebooting this has been crucial and I deeply appreciate his faith in me.

Lastly, I should thank my friend Karen who would come along with me on on hikes back in my twenties. This started with just me and her stealing our friend’s dogs and taking them out to play because we felt bad for them. I think she would be proud to see where this is now.

Instagram: Instagram.com/mountaindogadv

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071095605654

Other: Rover.com/sit/jessk97514