Walkies

Change is afoot at Snobsville Common. I spotted a large, official looking laminated sign prominently displayed in the car park this morning. As it looked important, I took a quick look see to find out what it was all about.

It seems that the council have decided to institute a by law prohibiting one person from walking more than four dogs at one time. This clearly is a measure to prohibit the vast numbers of dog walking companies who use the common – and as my previous entries have mentioned, are often a real nuisance.

I have mixed views about the whole professional dog walking business. On one hand, my own experience of using the lovely Laura in the shire was really good. Mrs Bitey loved her and they had great times together. However, I think the reason why Laura is so brilliant is because she clearly adores dogs and has very clear boundaries of taking small numbers of our canine friends and making sure that they have a wonderful time. She runs her own business and has a very clear aim to focus on a personal service which has quality at its heart- as she does not compromise on this ideal, she sometimes turns away work as a result. That is something that I really respect.

On the other hand, especially up here in Snobsville, we have the larger companies who have identified dog walking as being a particularly rich cash cow to milk. These companies seem to provide a dull, soulless experience with no real personal care or interest. They take too many dogs and are unable to maintain control. They have no sense of community duty or spirit other than to pick up the odd bit of dog poo. The dogs are herded in a pack and there is little energy or affection. Most of the time the dogs are left to their own devices while the walkers sit around with takeaway coffees having a fag.

Only this week I watched a dog walker with too many charges and not enough time park up to offload some of them for a run. The result was 6 small and boisterous dogs running around her and another 3 panting and whining with anticipation sat in the van. She darted from dog to dog bagging up poo and did not get beyond the car park.

I think she was planning to load them all back into the van and let the other 3 out (it was early in the day and nobody bar me and Mrs B were about). I was sitting on a gravestone waiting patiently for my intrepid squirrel hunter to return silently watching and thinking that owners were paying at least £20 per dog for this ‘service’. Just as she started to lift the first dog back into the van, Mrs B appeared wagging and flushed with the joys of hunting and the startled walker heard my voice and spotted me getting up from my perch with Mrs B in tow. The dog who was in the process of being loaded into the van was hastily deposited back onto the floor and the walker rounded up the pack and scuttled off looking sheepish. The 3 other dogs remained in the van, and were by now barking furiously with frustration.

So any measures that curb this kind of exploitation of animals and the faith of their owners can only be a good thing. However, there are some owners who come to the common who actually own more than 4 dogs- so what happens to them?

Julie and Ron live near to me and have a rag, tag and bobtail collection of little dogs of all ages. They foster rescue dogs as well as having their own pets and in all there are usually about 6 of them. Both Julie and Ron have a ‘past’ and a reputation locally for various dodgy pursuits but since I’ve had Mrs B I’ve got to know them and they are very friendly and caring, particularly in relation to all things of a doggy nature. They visit the common about 4 times a day taking it in turns and are held in very high regard by all of the locals who use the common. Old Aristo can often be seen in animated chatter with them, striding along bellowing about beasts and cadging a sneaky fag from Julie. Their dogs are lovely, far better behaved than Mrs B and whether its Julie or Ron in charge, they keep a watchful eye on their pack.

Another couple who have less of a past and more of a heritage like Old Aristo also foster dogs and have a large gaggle bouncing around them. Old Aristo, who is very scornful of dog walking companies, was at great pains to tell me that the barbour toting rust coloured corduroy trousered couple were *not* to be mistaken for ‘these dreadful company people’. The Cords are the polar class opposite of Ron and Julie and yet all are united by the love of their animals and can often all be seen trotting along together. Given the strict divisions in the dog park, it is really rather heartwarming to see this.

Worryingly this may all come to an end though as the by law does not specify dog walking companies or individuals being paid to walk dogs. It simply says no more than 4 dogs at one time. Excluding and prosecuting the likes of Ron, Julie and the Cords will serve no purpose and the walking companies will simply go elsewhere. Dogs of course have no way of telling us what is going on and so some of these companies have a perfect opportunity to mistreat and shortchange both dogs and owners.

So what is the solution? To me, proper licensing and registration is the way forward. We would not leave our children with an unregulated and unknown person so why is it ok to do this with our dogs?

We’re back

It’s been a tough week or so recovering from surgery and I am not a very good patient. Most of the time I have been zonked out on pain killers or slumped in a chair with Mrs Bitey and the Kindle that Santa brought me.

One thing that I’m not able to do is walk Mrs B and I really miss our trips and subsequent blog of the day’s events. There is something quite therapeutic about reflecting back, even if it is on current events in dog world. I have missed that precious walking time so much. It’s lovely to watch Mrs B do what she was built for and I miss the space that is both purposeful and fun, the wonderful time when I am serving my and Mrs Bitey’s needs for exercise and play rather than being tied up in the humdrum of routine or service of others’ (usually my employers) whims and demands for my time and attention.

I’ve noticed how quickly the effort/speed ratio of walking changes and also how easily the demon depression can start to take hold once more. Granted the general anaesthetic probably hasn’t helped in the mood department but the overall message is clear- I am at my daily best when walking the pest.

Mrs B on the other hand has had a whale of a time with lovely Laura the dog walker. I love watching Mrs B standing with her front paws on the bumper, impatiently wagging while waiting for the van door to open. Laura is great and takes Mrs B miles on all sorts of different routes ensuring that Mrs B has a new adventure each day. They have really taken to each other and Laura reports that it is great to have a dog with the stamina to walk for miles. They are out for ages in all winds and weathers- and both genuinely have a great time. Given the previous encounters I’ve had with dog walking companies, it is so refreshing to see Laura’s energy, commitment and clear love of our canine friends. Her rates are extremely reasonable and excellent value for money- I’d highly recommend her to anyone.

However, all good things must come to an end and I am going to be walking across the common land from the 1st day of 2012 with Mrs B regardless of weather and physical pain. I am sick of the array of surgical metalwork that has rendered my abdomen into an approximation of Metal Mickey’s arsehole and so the new year will start as I mean to go on- quality time, fun and exercise with my pint sized pooch.

Walkin’ the dawgs

I’ve been thinking about professional dog walkers a lot of late. Given the perilous state of the public sector, it may well be an option in the worse case scenario of me joining the dole queue.

I am using a walker, the lovely Laura, for Mrs B at the end of next week as I am having surgery and cannot drive or do much afterwards. I am going west to the Shire for the op and am staying with my family. Once you get out of London, it is a lot easier to find out who the genuine walkers with the best service are- for one thing you see them out and about and generally speaking, local knowledge is pretty sound. The great thing about Mrs B’s walker is that she is a friend of a friend who runs her own business and has a genuine passion for all things canine. Mrs Bitey has met her and loves her. When in the Shire, I often see the van parked up for hours while she walks the common lands with her charges. She takes a small number of dogs, charges very reasonable rates and is always tooled up with toys and balls. I trust her completely and know that Mrs B will have good fun and lovely long walks.

Not so here in the Capital. Dog walking is big business, especially in my manor where there is more money than sense. Large commercial companies now run pan London services and charge the earth for it too. I briefly investigated it for emergencies when I first got Mrs Bitey but the prices were prohibitively expensive for my meagre budget.

I was also a bit wary, despite the slick websites and promises of high spec air conditioned dog vans and bespoke door to door services. I later found that I had reason to be. A local common ground is a well used dog walking company route. On the occasions that I took Bitey there, I invariably got boxed in by dog vans and regularly saw bored looking ‘walkers’ ambling along with a carrier bag of dog shit, taking little notice or interest in their charges. There was always one poor old dog who got left behind as s/he couldn’t keep up with the others. There was rarely any sign of the promised play. One day I ventured in to a wooded area looking for Mrs B who was squirrel hunting and found several dog walkers sat on a bench with coffees and fags while the dogs poked or wandered aimlessly about. Judging by the fag ends, the walkers had been there a while.

Then one day I saw something that really horrified me. A van pulled up and a nonchalant woman strolled around, opened the van doors and let the dogs out. There were at least 7 of them and they ran around for 10 minutes then were loaded back into the van. This was a company that claimed to give dogs a minimum of an hour and charged a high whack for it too. Of course, the great thing for these companies is that dogs cannot tell their owners what really happens when they go out for their ‘bespoke walk’.

At that point I vowed never to use a corporate company and to only use a walker if it was one that I knew really cared about the animals entrusted to them.

I also stopped going to the common with Mrs B as there are only so many times that you can be philosophical about being boxed in by a dog van and seeing dogs, whose owners have paid both financially and in trust, being ignored by an impassive walker who clearly wants to do anything other than walk a gang of strange dogs.

I do sympathise with dog walkers- they brave all winds and weathers, have to pick up tons of poo and cope with a variety of other peoples’ mutts without any of the fringe benefits of cuddling up for unconditional love later. I can’t imagine the big companies pay much either. However, owners entrust their beloved pets to them and certainly in this neck of the woods, pay a huge premium with the expectation that their dog will get a first class service as promised.

There are of course many reputable and dedicated walkers like L, but in the city where many folk work a considerable distance from where they live, where there are a gaggle of companies with slick marketing all promising the earth and there does not appear to be much regulation, how can people make the right choice?