Wilson the Beagle had his first walk with us today. He’s not very old, so he’s not going too far, but he’s enjoying the company while his owner is at work.

Welcome aboard Wilson!

Today is a big day for Andy Walks as we welcome Elena onboard as a new walker and pet-sitter.  She has an impressive pedigree herself, having worked as a volunteer oversees, looking after dogs found on the streets who are nowhere near as fortunate as the papmered pets we are fortunate to have here in the UK. She’s the brains of the organisation too, having studdied astrophysics at university!

Elena now lives near Sheffield, which means she will become a familiar face to our South Yorkshire based clients as we expand operations to cover the whole of the Sheffield and Rotherham regions.

Last Thursday was not the greatest day in history for us. Although it was snowing most of the morning, we managed to make all our appointments pretty much on time. However, as the snow was starting to settle, we began to have problems getting around. After a bit of trouble getting out of Carr Vale, Andy (in the Andy Walks van) became totally stuck in a traffic jam on Station Road at Bolsover after a lorry came to a halt at the top of the hill and couldn’t get going again.

Meanwhile Georgia, who was also in Carr Vale, cut her last walk of the morning short through fear of not being able to get out of the village. It then took her well over an hour to get to Whitwell. A journey that normally takes about 15 minutes!

With no sign of the snow stopping, we contacted the pet owners who were still expecting us to explain the situation and offer refunds or rescheduled bookings. Our massive thanks to everyone for being so understanding.

The state of the roads that day was appauling! We never saw a single gritter all day. Even the main roads did not appear to have been treated? It’s enough to make you wonder what the local councils do with the money we pay them? They certainly don’t seem to be spending it on essential services like highways!

Thursday was the first time in history we have not been able to reach any of our clients because of bad weather. And we didn’t acuually have that much snow. We measurred it at less than 2 inches! So while we are truely sorry that we could not provide our usual high level of service on Thursday afternoon, we lay the blaime firmly at the doors of both Derbyshire County Council and Bolsover District Council for their failings in what was a forecast and expected snowfall.

Thank goodness our councillors don’t work in Alaska!

We’ve not seen Digby for a few weeks, but he’s back today. He’s just been out to the local park, where he decided to pick up the biggest stick he could find!

Buddy and Weiser have just started having home visits as they’re too young for walks as yet. I have a feeling they won’t stay this size for very long!

Okay, so we’ve stolen the title from Google, but as it’s the end of the year we thought you might like some fun facts about the Andy Walks business during 2023…

• In the last year we have completed well over 1000 walks and home visits.
• If you did all our walks from 2023 back to back, without stopping, it would take you well over a month to complete them.
• 4 different walkers have worked for us in 2023. As well as Andy and Georgia, you may have also met Sophie and Caitlyn at different times.
• There are around 20 dogs on our books, enjoying regular walks with us at any given time. There are others who just have walks occasionally.
• The average walking speed is around 3 miles per hour.
• The average distance covered on each walk is around 1.7miles.
• The most walks and home visits we have ever done in one day was 13, which coincidentally happened on 13th September, although we regularly do 10, 11 or 12.
• The busiest day of the week for walks is usually a Wednesday. The quietest is Friday.
• Our regular walks are spread across 3 counties, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.
• The most poular lunch the walkers eat is a sausage cob. Although in truth, Andy accounts for a large percentage of these! 🙂

So there you have it, 10 bits of trivia we just thought we’d share as the year reaches it’s end. Thanks to everyone, both human and canine, for supporting the business during 2023 and we hope to see you all again in the months to come.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Although we are currently in the middle of the Christmas holiday season, this is just a reminder that our normal service will resume on Tuesday 2nd January 2024.

We are currently taking bookings up to 90 days in advance, which covers up to and including most of March.

Slots are booking up quickly, so to guarantee walks or home visits for your pet you are urged to make your bookings as soon as possible as we work on a first-come, first-served basis. Please remember when booking that your appointment is not confirmed until full payment has been made and confirmed via our Paypal payment gateway. Confirmed bookings show with a green APPROVED on the ‘My Bookings‘ page.

Wells is having walks with us until Christmas. His owner is currently away so he’s staying with another family member who doesn’t feel safe walking when there’s snow and ice outside. So we’re going in every weekday morning to take him for a stroll.

You’re awsome Wells!

Milo the cat has gone missing from his home at Duckmanton. His owners are obviously very worried about him and have put up the posters below appealing for information from anyone who might have seen him. They think he might have got trapped in a garage or shed and are urging everyone in the area to check their outbuildings and even vehicles. The Andy Walks team are also keeping a lookout when we’re walking in the area.

Click on the copy of the poster below to see a bigger version with all the contact details.

Yesterday was a very frosty morning with temperatures of about -3. It didn’t stop Bentley wanting his walks though. He was keen as ever to get out, even though the grass was frozen solid!