Molly and Betsy have started to have occasional walks with us. Andy took them out for the first time last week and they both seemed to enjoy their lunchtime adventure.

See you soon girls!

It is with great sadness that today we heard about the passing of River, one of our longest standing doggy-clients. Together with her friends Becky, Rupert, Bryn and Dotty she has enjoyed home visits with us for many years. She passed away peacfully earlier today. Our thoughts are with her family, both human and animal, at this sad time.

It’s another hot day here on the Derbyshire / Nottinghamshire border. All the dogs who had early walks this morning managed to get their full walks, but as lunch time approaches it’s starting to get too hot for dogs to walk safely.

There are two main problems with dog walking in hot weather. Firstly dogs are furry. I know it sounds obvious, but they can easily overheat. Imagine if you had to wear the same wooly jumper and overcoat you wear in December all summer long.

The second problem is the temperature of the pavements. It may not be obvious to us humans, but hard surfaces, particularly concrete and tarmac really heat up in the sun and it’s very possible our furry friends could burn their paws. Tar is particularly bad because it can start to melt and stick to paws, continuing to burn. That’ why here at Andy Walks we are always very aware of both the air and ground temperature. The solution is that when the weather gets too hot to walk we automatically switch to doing home visits instead. This means your pet still gets a visit and some fresh air, but we don’t walk them down a burning street. Some, like Freddie above, much prefer the idea of chilling out for an hour in a shady corner of the garden.

Nell and her friend Amber have both recently joined us for walks. Amber is quite busy as she helps her owner at work, but Nell has been getting out and enjoying the sunshine, as you can see from the photo above.

Meet Polly the Romanian rescue dog. She now lives near Andy Walks HQ in Bolsover, where she has happily settled into her new life. She’s been having walks with us for the last few weeks now and enjoying the spring sunshine.

Freddie and Winnie were both enjoying themselves out in the snow last week. It’s quite unusual for us to get so much wintery weather so late in the season, but I’m pleased to be able to report that we were operating normally throughout and managed to get to all the dogs wanting visits and walks.

Odin and Thor are having home visits at the moment. Here they are this morning, waiting for a treat.

Freddie was out enjoying himself on the field near his house yesterday. In the last few weeks he’s taken a real shine to this piece of play equipment, although he hasn’t quite worked out how to use it properly yet.

Keep trying Fred! Continue reading Freddie’s Field →

There has been a bit of a cold spell this week, but it didn’t stop Keith and Ray from walking round the recreation ground at Shuttlewood. At least it wasn’t muddy for a change!