14/06/2026
This is a bit of a different post for us, but there are a couple of things that have been brought to our attention recently and after going back and forth about the appropriate response, I wanted to address them 🙈
Firstly, we've been a little quieter than usual this week. Unfortunately I've been out of action with a busted knee and an absolutely unshiftable migraine. The irony of being a dog walker who couldn't walk isn't lost on me 😂
Thankfully Mark has kept everything running smoothly in my absence and, as always, has been brilliant. Not a single walk was missed and all of our dogs have continued as normal while I've been feeling sorry for myself on the sofa 😅
The first issue that was brought to our attention today was a complaint regarding a member of our team allegedly being overly forceful when correcting a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel at Barton Marina.
Anyone who knows us will know that we take concerns about dog welfare incredibly seriously, so we looked into it immediately 😊 We can confidently say that it wasn't one of our team members. We didn't have any walks taking place today and, given that our "team" currently consists of just me and Mark, it was fairly easy for us to establish that neither of us was involved 🤷🏼♀️ For those who know our gang of dogs, we also don't currently walk any Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (although we definitely aren't opposed 😂) and haven't done for quite some time. Definitively, it wasn't us ✌🏼
Whilst we absolutely encourage people to speak up if they see something they're uncomfortable with, it's important that concerns are directed to the correct business ☺️
The second thing relates to the recent heatwave.
We've become aware of comments suggesting that we were walking dogs during the hottest part of the weather because I didn't post photos of our drop-in visits or make a Facebook post about the changes we made that week 🙄
The reality is that we cancelled, changed or adapted at least 30 individual bookings to keep dogs safe. Some walks became drop-in visits, some were moved to earlier times, some were shortened and some were cancelled altogether. Every single customer was contacted individually because every dog is different and every household has different needs 🤷🏼♀️
Financially, it was probably one of the toughest weeks we've had this year. But honestly? That wasn't even part of the decision-making process. Keeping dogs safe and comfortable will always come first 🫶🏼
I know social media can sometimes create the impression that if something isn't posted, it didn't happen. But for us, spending our time contacting customers and putting the right plan in place for their dogs was far more important than making a Facebook post about it. I'd rather be looking after dogs than looking after Facebook ✌🏼
We’ve also become aware of a comment suggesting that we try to “buy” our customers by giving gifts.
I just want to be really clear on this one, because it couldn’t be further from the truth 😅
We give small gifts and celebrate birthdays, special occasions and milestones because we genuinely care for the dogs we look after and the lives they’re a part of. We see the happy moments as well as the everyday ones, and we love being able to acknowledge things like birthdays, new homes, weddings, new babies, or any other big (or small) milestone that brings joy 🥰
It’s never about expectation, persuasion or trying to win favour. There’s no hidden agenda and absolutely no expectation of anything in return. It’s simply something we do because we enjoy sharing in the positive moments of the dogs’ lives and the families they’re part of ☺️
If anything, it’s probably worth adding that the last three birthday presents are still sat in the work car because I keep forgetting to drop them off when I’m focusing on the dogs rather than anything else — which probably says it all really. ❤️
The final thing is that a potential customer recently got in touch after being told by another dog walker that we're fully booked and not taking on new clients.
This isn't true.
Sadly, we've had a couple of much-loved dogs cross the rainbow bridge recently and we've also had some lovely customers move out of the area. As a result, we actually have more availability at the moment than we usually do 🤷🏼♀️
I'm hoping this was simply a misunderstanding, as I know a lot of people in the industry are finding things tough at the moment, but I did want to clarify it publicly as we've had a few enquiries recently.
As always, if you ever hear something about us and you're unsure whether it's true, please just ask us. I'd much rather have a conversation and answer any questions than have people wondering.
Thank you, as always, for supporting our business. We genuinely appreciate every single one of you and your wonderful dogs ❤️ 🥰🫶🏼
