TRAILBLAZING
Think your furry companions can handle something a little more hardcore than a walk around the park?
Alissa Loftus of Mayhem Canine has your answer.
“Hiking is much more efficient, much more stimulating for the dog,” she said. “They’re not just being marched around the pavement. They get to run and jump, get dirty, and use their nose and hunt things.”
Since 2024, dog trainer Loftus through Mayhem Canine’s pack hikes has taught local pet dogs how to be a good “trail citizen” that’s respectful of people, other dogs, and wildlife.
Loftus worked in a wine cellar making wines in Paso Robles for six years. In 2022, she decided to follow her calling. She learned how to coach through a mix of workshops and earned certifications from Scentable K9, Raven K9, Michigan-based the Dog Training Workshop Tour, and the Healing Pack in Los Angeles.
Now, Loftus and her canine clientele can be found hitting the trails behind Cal Poly’s campus, in Los Osos and Cayucos, and on the ridgeline between Laguna Lake and Cerro San Luis.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MAYHEM CANINE Credit: PHOTO COURTESY OF MAYHEM CANINE
“I have a few places where I feel really comfortable bringing a larger group of dogs,” she said. “I don’t ever want to bring them somewhere with super heavy traffic because I feel like that’s just kind of rude to everyone else.”
Mayhem Canine offers pickups and drop-offs where Loftus typically collects dogs between 8 and 9 a.m. every weekday.
“If they’re trained, they get to be off leash during the hike. I can trust them to stay out of the way of others, not chase a cow, not bother the person passing,” Loftus said. “But if I have a client who’s newer or a younger dog or it’s not there yet, it’ll be on a long line, … a 20-foot, 30-foot, maybe even a 50-foot line.”
New dogs are never added to a well-established pack from the get-go. Loftus spends one-on-one time with each newbie to understand its skill set and temperament before any canine introductions are made.
One of Loftus’ clients came to her by way of working at SLO Dog Adventures, where she was mentored by its founder and head trainer, Bonnie Shiffrar.
Pick your pack
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San Luis Obispo County resident Krista Jeffries used to train her “half cowboy, half cop” dog Doug at SLO Dog Adventures, until Shiffrar moved away and Loftus started Mayhem Canine.
“A lot of trainers around here are purely positive, which is fine if you have a dog that responds to that kind of training,” Jeffries said. “But Doug needed a different kind of structure. So, I went with Mayhem because [Loftus] was able to handle his drive in a way that didn’t punish him for being a normal dog but also told him when he was doing the wrong thing.”
Doug—a mix of Australian cattle dog, Belgian Malinois, and German shepherd—used to be too excitable around other dogs, always urging them to play with him. Hiking with Mayhem Canine helped him mellow out, according to Jeffries. Doug is more focused now, and he knows when to get excited and when to calm down and behave.
“She trained him on an e-collar, so he gets to live his best life and get a lot of energy out, … more than he would with just a couple of walks,” Jeffries said. “People think [an e-collar] is cruel, but it’s more like a tap on the shoulder. … It’s not painful. I’ve never seen him yelp or be upset by it. I just see him suddenly stop in the middle of something he was going to do, but then realized he wasn’t supposed to.”
This article appears in Get Outside – Winter/Spring 2026.