Category Archives: Blog

A note about bad weather

There is a bit of snow around this morning and a few people have been in touch to ask what we do when the weather is bad. The simple answer is we carry on.

We always attempt to honour all our bookings, no matter what the weather is doing. So if you have a booking with us you can be pretty confident it will go ahead, although sometimes we do get delayed by snow etc.

Unlike some other walkers we do not cancel bookings due to bad weather.

If it’s unsafe for your pet to have their walks, then we turn the booking into a home visit, so they still get the visit they need.

If you want to cancel a walk or visit due to bad weather then our normal cancellation policy applies, which means if you cancel withing 24 hours of the appointment starting, you may still be charged for the booking.

In the unlikely event we can’t get to your pet for whatever reason, we will telephone you to let you know and you’ll receive a full refund. However I would like to stress that we will always try to get through.

You can always check the status of our operations on the website or give Andy a call any time on 07837 306824.

Website issues, Thursday 2nd January

I just wanted to make everyone aware that we had a few website issues this morning, which may have meant you couldn’t book walks or look at your online account for a couple of hours from about 8:30am onwards.

I’m pleased to report the problem was traced to a software conflict, which we have now fixed. The website is now fully operational once again. However if you have any walks booked for the next few days I’d appreciate it if you could just check your booking  here to make sure they are all showing up as they should.

Apologies for any inconvenience the outage caused. If you spot any remaining errors please give me a call any time on 07837 306824.

Thanks for bearing with us,

Andy.

 

 

Fall is here, winter is next.

It was looking quite autumnal this morning while the very aptly named Winter had  her regular walk.

Snow is predicted for tomorrow and Wednesday, but I never bother about what the weather forecast says is going to happen until it actually does.

It’s very rare we get stopped by snow. As far as I remember, it only happened once, earlier this year, and even then it was only for a few hours before we managed to get ourselves dug out and back on the road. What happens more regularly is we turn up to do a walk only to find dog and owners both home and not expecting us to turn up.

So here’s a quick reminder that unless we’ve contacted you, please rest assured your pet’s visit or walk will always go ahead. If you want to cancel a walk and it’s less than 24 hours before the start time, you may still be charged for the cancelled booking. We recommend you don’t cancel due to snow though, because most dogs love it!

Hello Jack


This is Jack. He was out for the first time with us yesterday, enjoying a mid-afternoon walk near his home.

Jack doesn’t get along too well with other dogs. But that’s not a problem for us because all our walks are for individual pets.

Welcome to Sheffield

Say hi to Juno. He’s one of tthe dogs we’ve recently started walking now we cover the Sheffield area. So now even more pets can get the bespoke solo walks and visits they need.

We now have a walker in Sheffield all the time Monday to Friday each week. So if you live in or around the city give us a call on 07837 306824 to arrange a pre-visit today.

Out in the rain

The rain has been hammering down this week, but it doesn’t stop us from walking. I’m pleased to be able to tell you that all our walks have gone ahead as planned, despite the weather not being at it’s best.

Reliability is something we pride ourselves on here at Andy walks. And with winter approaching fast, you can rest assurred we will always do our best to get out to your pet no matter what the weather. So if you need a dog walker or pet sitter who actually turns up when they say the’re going to, book with us today.

About Christmas…

For the past few years we have closed down between Christmas and New Year. However this year that will not be the case. This festive season we will only be closed on Christmas Day, with a special calendar in operation on other days. From the early hours of Boxing Day morning until the end of New Year’s Day we will be open 24 hours as normal, but our usual calendar of regular walks will be suspended. If you need a visit to your pet or walk for your dog during this period we will be asking you to book by calling Andy on 07837 306824. Charges will be our normal weekend / out-of-hours rates irrespective of whether it’s a weekend or weekday and we will be open 24/7 as usual. During this period and because of limited availability of our walking team, only 1 hour bookings will be available.

Normal service, including our usual midweek rates, half hour walks and regular bookings will resume on Thursday 2nd January 2025.

As always, if you have any questions about the Christmas schedule, please feel free to give Andy a call on 07837 306824 at any time.

 

Say hi to Kay

From the beginning of September there will be a new member joining the team. Kay has a background in gundog training and if she seems a bit familiar that’s because you might have heard her commentating at working dog displays at local country shows. She is joining us to replace Elena, who has now left us for new challenges elsewhere.

Kay will be appearing on walks and home visits from next Tuesday.

The camera never lies!

 

Here at Andy Walks the safety and security of both your pets and our team are always our main concern. That’s why over the next couple of weeks you will start to see us out and about wearing security-style body cameras.

The main reason for this move is the number of off-lead and out of control dogs we encounter seems to have increased recently.

In the district of Bolsover, like many other council districts up and down the country, there is a local bylaw that forbids any dog from being off lead in a  public space. However this law is flouted quite regularly and many owners do not seem to have any control over the animals in their charge. This has lead us to report 2 incidents to Derbyshire Police in recent months where our team have asked individuals to take control of their dogs, only to receive a tyraid of abuse. This is not acceptable.

So, on advice from Derbyshire Police, we are now investing to add a body camera to the kit we will all be wearing going forwards. These cameras will record entire walks to protect both us and your pets. And together with our GPS tracking systems we are confident that we are the best equipped walkers around. Which in turn means your dog is now safer with us than ever before.

 

Hello Duchess

This is Duchess, who along with her terrier friends Molly and Tink, was having multiple daily visits last week while her owners were on holiday. It doesn’t suit all dogs, because some don’t like to be home alone. But for those who don’t mind having the house to themselves home visits can be a less stressful option than going into kennels.