Life & Work with Morgan Minck

Today we’d like to introduce you to Morgan Minck. 

Hi Morgan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Morgan Alexander Minck aka MozesThePoet. I was born in Pueblo, CO on 08/26/1988 and have lived in the Front Range of Colorado my entire life. You can find me hosting the door at The Beacon in RiNo, on stage with my band MOTHATUNG on various stages throughout the Metro Area, and of course up in the mountains running around with my dog pack! Colorado Yeti Dogs was started in October 2012. My great friend and mentor, Brian Smiley; had already been ‘running dogs’ for a number of years. He started his company ‘Lucky Dogs,’ and had taken that brand from Florida to Utah, to North Carolina, and of course Colorado by the time it was all done. He and his wife were getting ready to move back to Florida and he said: ‘Mo, get yourself a truck, and you’ve got a dog hiking company.” I went and got a (not-so-ideal) loan for a more than ideal truck. A 1992 Toyota Pickup that would last me and Colorado Yeti dogs a healthy 6 years.

When Brian ‘gave me a company,’ it was more realistically him handing off about 6 clients (two of which are STILL with me nearly 10 years later,) so that I could take charge of their services and make the offerings my own. There were only 5-7 dogs in the pack back then, and we would be psyched to make over $200. We have certainly come a long way from there.

Over the following years, we started to get the average number of dogs up to 8-10 a day and even added a third day of hiking during the week. Previously I was just going Tuesdays and Thursdays to account for my multitude of other commitments. That level of commitment hasn’t really changed. My entire ‘adult’ life I have had at least 2 jobs. Generally, I have worked directly with or loosely as an independent contractor for Only Natural Pet as well as its one-time sister company “I and Love and You” since 2009. I have also started making music as a Hip-Hop Vocalist for a live band called MOTHATUNG and an Electro-Hip-Hop Project, Slick Portal. I do help run a bar called The Beacon (2854 Larimer Street in Denver) as well. Lastly, I’ve been fortunate enough to help maintain two awesome brands Life Harmony Energies and EMF Harmony under the tutelage of Marty Grosjean (the original founder of Only Natural Pet with his late wife Diann Beason.)

Needless to say, I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and have felt blessed in my pursuits of that vision.

Colorado Yeti Dogs has now went on over 1,200 pack hikes with the dogs. We have had 7 lbs. Miniature Dachsunds, all the way up to 150lb Pyrenees/Lab Mixes and many-a-breed in between. In total, we have helped over 100 households/families over our 9+ years and currently have 19 weekly recurring clients. We have pushed our per day price from $35 in 2012 up to $75. We are confident our service is of an extreme value when comparing to other services. Afterall, no one else is taking pack of a dozen hounds up in the mountain at once.

Throughout the journey so far, I have been able to become so much more self-aware and calm via handling the dog pack. They are clearly reflectors for the energy we are outputting. If I am in an unbalanced state, it is nearly a guarantee the dogs will act a little haywire and run off further than I would prefer. Did I mention all of these dogs are off-leash, yet?

Truly, I could go on and on with stories and how positive and productive the impact of my dogs have had in my life. Perhaps there is more to write about later.

Certainly, want to end with the fact that the dogs that I “have”/live with are my business partners. These dogs are Carmen a 13-year-old Boxer/American Bulldog mix whom has been with me since she was 6 weeks old, and Mr. Frenchie aka Vinnie, a French Bulldog whom I rescued right around the inauguration of Colorado Yeti Dogs. Carmen, especially, is every bit the leader that I am for the pack; if only she could drive!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There was much struggle as a 24-year-old still going through some college work, working a job as a pharmacy tech, and doing some part-time work for Only Natural Pet in Boulder. I was living in the Highlands Denver neighborhood and have always spent a LOT of time on the road.

As far as ‘in-practice’ struggles, we have faced all sorts of challenges. We have been in a car accident or two (being rear-ended by someone and being cut off in city/urban traffic.) We have left Carmen, the lead dog, on the mountain twice. This means that she has run off, which many dogs do from time to time, so long that I could not retrieve her after hours of circling on the trail. So, we had to go back down and drop off the client dogs, print some flyers, and head back up. On one occasion we found her later that evening due to an awesome neighbor calling the number we left on the flyer. Another time, she was discovered about 20 miles from the last place we left her! We had to drive all the way past Idaho Springs two days later to get her from the Gilpin County Rescue facility. I have only left client’s dogs on the mountain one time. This was a duo named Kaya (lab-mix) and Mokie (Cockapoo.) I had these two dogs tethered together, as this generally created a WAY better recall for them, and we came upon a herd of elk which had not sensed us until we were 20 yards away from them. The entire pack took off up the hill after them and I was able to recall every dog, save for Kaya and Mokie. I circled for around 5 hours in that general half-mile by half-mile area until it was dark. I drove down, and let the family know I was unable to retrieve the dogs. We went up with a search party the next day and were able to find them. Kaya had to pull out of her collar, as we think the pair got stuck on a tree or something and couldn’t move otherwise. Poor little Mokie was dragging the collar/leash assembly with big ass branch attached to it. Tough Guy! We have gotten these two wild hounds in way better recall these days and they no longer need to be tethered to one another, perhaps age has something to do with this?

We have found ourselves confronted by a few Bull Moose, a couple Black Bears. We travel through Mountain Lion and Rattlesnake territory. All with respect for the wildlife’s home and with the confidence that most of these animals want nothing to do with a large human and 10-pack of dogs.

The most challenging day occurred in October 2020. We were on a small stretch of a trail that runs along a railroad track. A beautiful buck came across the tracks, just as I was making the decision to go to another location. The dogs were acting a little bit too squirrely for my liking, so I wanted to relocate this hike. Within seconds of trying to get Ganesh (an original client from 2012,) to come back; I noticed an AmTrak coming at us at around 35mph, only 1/8mile away or so. I did my best to grab every dog by the collar and use my voice commands to get them off of the tracks. One dog seemingly made the choice to not listen to my commands and stayed on the tracks. It was like a slow-motion movie scene. I had 7 dogs away from the tracks safely, down the hill. Carmen was in between Quila and myself, and Ganesh was galivanting after his buck. I saw the train starting to slow, but knew there was no way for it to stop before it reached us. I made the decision to try and run up and grab Quila (130lb Black Lab,) by the collar and save her from certain death. The slope of the hill we were on was continually giving slippery way under my feet. The harder I was trying to get up the hill, the less progress was made. All the while, Carmen was sitting on the edge of the tracks. Looking at me. Looking at Quila. Looking at me. Looking at Quila. It was clear she was trying to communicate to Quila to get off the tracks and come with us. The entire time she Quila had a calm look on her face and never broke eye contact with me. She was ready to go. Just as I got back up to be eye level with Quila, the train struck her and actually clipped Carmen as well. Carmen was sent in a 540-degree spin towards me. Quila lay motionless under the ever-slowing train. She had been struck flush against her side body. After the train was out of the way, I walked up; completely shattered at the event, to Quila’s breathless body. “Please just be done,” is what I kept saying. I just wanted the poor girl to be done suffering. As I got to her, I said through tears and a cracked voice: “I’m so sorry Quila. I’ve failed you.” She burst awake with a deep breath, but the damage had been done. I struggled returning to the truck with her breathing, but lifeless, body and the 8 dogs on leash and close by for about a quarter-mile. I couldn’t do it like this. I sprinted the pack back to the truck (about 1.5 miles away,) and sprinted back to Quila’s body. I carried her ‘fireman’ style on my shoulders and just as we were taking the last left towards the truck, Ganesh finally came back to her and I. There was no explanation needed. Ganesh and I walked sullenly and solemnly back to the truck.

I called the family, who were longtime friends when I got into service range. We had decided to put her out of her misery and that was Quila’s last day. The family could not have been more supportive and kept reassuring me that I had given their sweet dog the absolute best life she could have had. Even when picking her up that morning, the father of the family Gabe said: “I think she is ready to go.” That was the same message she was relaying to me dead in the middle of the tracks.

That was certainly the most trying moment of my career with Colorado Yeti Dogs. I even considered stopping the pack-hikes after that and refocusing myself on other things. Going through old photos with Quila, Carmen, Frenchie, and the entire pack; I decided that wasn’t an option. I truly don’t know who or where I would be without these furry therapists, and I plan to continue to expand my understanding and relationship with dogs, and myself.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The best way to discover what a day in the life of a Yeti Dog looks like would be to follow us on Instagram, as we do a great job of posting pack hike photos and videos. We start in Broomfield (Mr. Frenchie and Carmen’s residence,) and pickup dogs anywhere from Denver, to Golden, to Boulder and all neighborhoods in between. Once we have the pack assembled, we take off up into the areas of National Forest Open Space; mostly in Boulder County. We have some very specific locations we frequent, so as to avoid running into too many other humans/dogs. Once the hike is completed we turn around and drop all the dogs back off.

I would like to highlight the Artist/Creative aspect, even though Colorado Yeti Dogs is the service that y’all reached out to me regarding. I made this choice because the personal freedom and awareness that has been enabled by the dog adventure company has allowed me to understand one of my true callings. There are messages that come to me in the form of conscious hip-hop lyrics and poetry. These message I have ignored/not cultivated for the larger portion of my life.

Once I started sharing more of my poetry, (most of which I have dictated/written with the dog pack picking up, driving, and hiking,) my friends and family encouraged me to share these messages even more.

I practice my repetition and recital of these lyrics literally all the time whilst driving to pick up dogs and to the trailheads. Truly, Colorado Yeti Dogs has been the inspirational point for my career as MozesThePoet. Truly following your heart and what YOU want to do with YOUR life seems to be paramount to achieving and maintaining mental health/happiness.

As for what sets, specifically, Colorado Yeti Dogs apart: We have 12-15 dogs off-leash and go hiking with them. We pick up and drop off wherever our clients’ request. We also couple our offerings with full behavioral and diet counseling. We even offer poop pick-up to the pack members’ households! We also board any of our pack members and include any extra hikes in that cost. Our approach to dog handling is a marriage of rigidity, discipline, respect, love, and joy. We understand exactly how important any human’s dog is to them, and honor the relationship by optimizing the dog’s confidence.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
A very simply idea: reach out to people who are doing what you want to do. Or doing things HOW you want to do them more importantly. If you are hanging out with only people who are learning from you, there is a massive opportunity for growth right in front of you! Also, visit any expos/workshops/forums that are in your desired field. Learn from people already doing it!

Pricing:

• Pack Hikes $75/day/dog
• Group discounts for multi-dog households
• $50/day sitting, for dogs that are in the pack already
• $25/session for poop pick-up
• Free nutrition consulting, for dogs that are in the pack

Contact Info:

• Email: morgan@coyetidogs.com
• Website: coloradoyetidogs.com, mothatung.co
• Instagram: @Colorado_Yeti_Dogs
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mothatung