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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you have a regular dog walker you probably dread the news…
“I’m just letting yopu know that I’m going on holiday for two weeks, so won’t be doing any walks for a while.”
That may be great for your walker, but it’s not so good for you or your pet, who have loyally supported them, only to be left in the lurch with no service in the middle of summer.
Well, here at Andy Walks we NEVER close down to take holidays.
Because there are three of us out every day, we have the spare capacity to cover each other’s holidays and we pride ourselves on offering a truely weekly service.
So if your dog walker is swanning off somewhere this summer, do a bit of swanning off yourself and make the move over to us here at Andy Walks.
You might even save yourself a few quid in the process, ready for your own holidays!
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!