NEW DOGS,A LONG WALK, CAT SITTING AND SOME MAD MOMENTS

So its been a long couple of weeks for us at dogs4walks so there was no blog last week but here's a recap of what we have been up to.

After the Bank Holiday I decided to get the dogs back into the groove with an awesome 10 mile walk around Styal Woods and the Manchester Airport Runway 2 Trail. This certainly got them running around whether it was chasing squirrels or having a race to be the first into the water.

At the end of the week we had our 1st new dog join us who is the one and only Frodo Baggins (yep you did hear me correctly). What a belting name for a dog.

Frodo is a 12 and a half year old terrier cross and is a friend of Alfie the Pug who I walk (hes currently on a 2 week holiday). So I have had the pleasure of walking Frodo for a week while his owners enjoy a break.

I also had a week of cat sitting for some cats I've seen before in Cali and Leo. These 2 cuties are a joy to be around and are so funny when they are playing together. 

Also at the end of the week Marley the Staffy/Boxer cross stayed with us for a couple of days of daycare. We went out of our way to make sure he wasn't left alone too long after his owner was let down. There's nothing worse than when you make plans for your pet and somebody lets you down. But then that's why I decided to get into this line of work, to provide a top quality service and go above and beyond what people expect.

The Sunday morning I was up at 5am to go and pick Marley up and he spent the day with us.

On Sunday I decided to have some fun with my 2 Springer Spaniels. It seems to me that every walk we go on at least one of them will find a ball. And without realising they all add up and we put them in a bag and forget about them. So while the weather was nice I decided to get the bag and have a look at how many we had. As you can see in the photo we have accumulated quite a few.

So onto the week just gone and not only did we have a new dog to provide daycare too all week (that being Dexter's best mate, we also had another new dog join our walks).

We had Red a Pointer for daycare for the week and WOW what a crazy week it was. Him and Dexter are a right pair together. I was pre warned of the antics they get up to while together and they didn't disappoint. I have never seen another dog hang off another's ears so much. It was as if Red wanted to suck the side of Dexter's face several times a day.

Pippa the pocket rocket was also back from her holidays so Wednesday was full on fun while she was with us. And then our 2nd new dog of the week was a puppy Labrador cross called Jess who has endless amounts of energy.

It was quite a challenge keeping her on the lead for her 1st walk with us and on a few occasions I thought I may end up going for a dip in the River Mersey myself.

On Friday we gave her some off lead time and got a chance to practice her recall which with treats went really well.

And now we get ready for another week. It's going to be fairly quite in the house due to Dexter being away for the week, however we have Alfie back with us this week.

If you need a dog walker or some cat sitting then feel free to contact us. We offer some of the most competitive prices in the area and we really do push the boat out to provide a 1st class service for you and your pet.

Areas we cover are Sale, Sale Moor, Northern Moor, Northenden, Wythenshawe, Gatley and surrounding areas.

Our reviews on Google and Facebook will give you an idea of how happy our customers are.

Poppy and Snoop with their hoard of balls

Red the Pointer who we provided daycare for at dogs4walks

Dexter and Red having fun on our dog walk near Wythenshawe

Frodo Baggins 

Jess and Marley enjoying the dog walk

Pippa the Pocket Rocket loves her group dog walks

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BUSY BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND CAT SITTING AND DOG WALKING

Its been a busy week for dogs4walks this week. As our customers ie the pets and their owners are the Number 1 priority we always try to go above and beyond what is expected of us.
So if someone asks us to provide an extra service at the last minute or they would like us to rearrange plans to suit a pet we will always try to accommodate them.
This week was a 7 day week for us, but when you are doing a job you love it makes it all the more enjoyable. 
We had a new dog join us for dog walking this week called Marley who has already fitted in really well. It didn't take him long to make new friends in the group and it has been a pleasure taking him out for walks.
On Tuesday dogs4walks decided to venture further afield for a 'Going The Extra Mile' trip to the Peak District. The extra miles turned into a total of 9 when Dexter and Poppy joined us and we all did the Kinder Trespass Trail. We couldn't of gotten any luckier with the weather, although trust me to forget to put on any suncream and i ended up lets say a nice shade of red.
The trail was really beautiful and definitely a walk worth doing. For more information about the trail take a look here.
Or for some of my other photos on that day have a look at our Facebook page.

Wednesday is always a joy as we had Pippa joining us again for the 2nd time. I've never seen a little dog with so much energy and shes a great character to have around. Going to miss her this week as shes going away on holiday with her owner.

The only downside to this week has been Alfie the Pug who has a poorly foot so hes not been able to join us this week on our dog walking. So instead i managed to fit him into some dog sitting just to make sure we haven't forgotten him. And he certainly made sure he got plenty of attention. Dogs are great at giving you 'look at me I'm so poorly and you need to give me attention and belly rubs look'.

Towards the end of the week we started our cat visits to see Cosy and Anwen who we have looked after before and it was lovely to see them again. And then it was a first time visit to see two of the most gorgeous kittens EVER in Cosmo and Pascal. These two little bundles of joy were an absolute pleasure to spend time with. Days like this it doesn't bother you working weekends and a Bank Holiday.

If anyone needs any cat sitting then feel free to contact us.We can cover Sale, Sale Moor, Northern Moor, Northenden, Wythenshawe, Gatley and surrounding areas.

We also have spaces available for dog walking as well and it would be our pleasure to spend some quality time with them.

You can see our daily posts, videos and photo updates on Facebook as well. 

Reece (dogs4walks)

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Alfie the poorly pug 

Cat sitting for Cosy and Anwen

Marley the dogs4walks new addition for dog walking with Pippa

Cat sitting for the gorgeous Pascal and Cosmo in Northern Moor

Pippa can fly. She doesnt need dog walking haha

Poppy and Dexter had a dog walk in the Peak District

My Guide to Sale, Cheshire for a Dog Walker

Sale in Cheshire has a variety of different places you can take your dog walking. Whether its Parks, Canals, Water Parks, Rivers or Woods you are spoilt for choice. There’s even a couple of dog friendly pubs as well.

One of the most popular places in the area is Sale Water Park which is a great place to take your dog for a walk and even better if it likes to swim.  There is a path around the whole of the water park with the exception of one part where you have a choice of either crossing some stepping stones or a slightly longer detour where you will end up walking along a small lane.

There is plenty of parking which is free and also The Boathouse Restaurant and a small café in the area.

Walks around Sale Water Park can be as short as 30-40 minutes if you just want to walk around the water or you can always add on lots of other trails and then the world’s your oyster. You could be out walking for several hours. Then if you want to stop for somewhere for a drink and bite to eat with your dog you have the option to go to Jacksons Boat right alongside the River Mersey.

My only disappointment with Sale Water Park is the amount of litter everywhere and Bank Holidays are even worse for it. There are a couple of waste bins in the area although these soon get filled and don’t get emptied as often as they should.

Another popular place in Sale for dog walkers is Worthington Park. It’s a nice little park to meet other dog walkers and has a nice concrete path all the way around it. It’s great if you trust your dog to not venture too far from you unless you have adventurous/nosey dogs like one of mine then my only worry is the several roads that are around the edge of the park.

You can also take a stroll along the canal if you choose and then you have the chance to visit another dog friendly pub called The Bridge Inn. This pub has gone through a couple of renovations in the last year and has certainly been done to a very nice standard.

There are a few other small parks in the area like Walton Park but it wouldn’t be my choice of places to go for a dog walk.

If you need to get some pet supplies while in Sale your options are either a small independent pet store in the centre of Sale, the supermarkets in town or slightly further out there is a Pets At Home store not too far away in Baguley or Broadheath, Altrincham.

http://www.dogs4walks.co.uk for a dog walker, cat sitting and other pet services in Sale, Northern Moor, Northenden, Wythenshawe, Gatley and surrounding areas.

WELL THINGS JUST GOT ALOT MORE INTERESTING

I have to say i have probably the best job in the world. You may disagree with that but right now i wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I mean where else do you get a welcome like you do when you go and pick up a dog from its owners house to take them out on a walk???

This week on Wednesday it was hilarious.

We had a Bichon Frise/Maltese cross puppy join us for a walk called Pippa and WOW is she is a bundle of joy. The energy from this little pup is AMAZING!!!!! A real little pocket rocket.

Due to having some spare time on my hands this week Alfie, Dexter and Poppy also got a treat and had some extra walking with me. Rather than them being at home and i would much rather give them the joy of some free walk time so they can have a good run around.

Dexter took a trip with me on Thursday for some 1 to 1 quality time for a walk i love which was around the outskirts of Quarry Bank Mill and Manchester Airport. Without taking a trip there yourselves its hard to believe the amount of steps on this walk, especially with alot of it following the River Bollin. So the dogs get plenty of changes to cool off in the river when its humid in the woods, plus you get all the smells of the woodland and other wild animals. 

Also Alfie, Poppy and Dexter had a longer than usual walk around the full section of Manchester Airport Runway 2 Trail. Plenty of off lead walking for them all to have a good run around, a nice dirty muddy hole for Poppy to have a bath in before dive bombing in the pond abit further along.

Only downside to this week was poor little Alfie the Pug having to take a trip to the vets with something possibly stuck in his foot. Even though Alfie showed no signs of any issue its never nice to see any animal having any issue. So hopefully Alfie makes a full recovery asap.

Good luck for your check up at the vets tomorrow Alfie.

I hope everyone enjoyed the fairly decent weather this weekend. By the looks of it we are in for some scorching weather this week. 

For an awesome update of the Manchester Weather take a look at Martin's forecasts 

Have a great week everyone

Reece (dogs4walks)

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Alfie the Pug and Snoop the Springer Spaniel walking in Wythenshawe

Dexter having a great dog walk Quarry Bank Mill and Manchester Airport

Pippa the dogs4walks new addition to our dog walks

Swim time during our dog walking

WOW THIS WEATHER IS AWESOME. TIME FOR A SWIM.

Well there's been no complaints this week with nearly the whole time spent enjoying the sunshine. So where better to spend it than finding places where the dogs can go swimming.
They cooled off in the River Mersey and Chorlton Water Park earlier in the week before taking a trip to Styal for a gorgeous 2 hour walk around The Carrs and River Bollin (one of my favourite local places to go walking).
Even Alfie decided to get his paws wet again which is fantastic especially considering he wouldn't even walk through puddles when he first joined us on our adventures. Poppy as usual managed to find some other poor dogs ball in the bushes (that's 4 this week) so she was very happy, and Dexter had a great time chasing around a friends dogs.
We also welcomed Tara the English Bull Terrier who spend a day with us. Her owners were quite apprehensive at first when i took Poppy my little Springer Spaniel to their house for a meet and greet as Tara can be very excitable. Plus due to her breed they hadn't had too many opportunities to socialise her with other dogs because alot of people they saw didn't want their dogs near Tara which is a shame for her.
As expected Tara was all over Poppy but within 5 seconds Poppy made sure that she wasn't accepting it and Tara backed down. This is all part and parcel of socialising dogs and even though Poppy is a little 3 year old dog she did exactly to Tara what any mother would do to a pup.
Tara joined us on a group walk and got the chance to meet up with a friends dog walking group so had plenty of socialising and was not one bit of bother at all.

So all in all it was another great week at dogs4walks.

Next week we will also have another dog joining us on a Wednesday which we cannot wait for.

If you would like your dogs to join us on a walk then feel free to check us out. We limit our dog walks to a maximum of 4 dogs which gives them a chance to socialise well but also i can interact with them and they never feel left out.
We also provide cat sitting and cat visits as well as other pet services.



Reece (dogs4walks)

A dip in the river on our dog walk

Our dog walker entertaining us in the River

Dog walking in the fields at Styal

A great dog walk in the sunshine

Tara the Bull Terrier out with dogs4walks

A SAD DAY AND SOMETHING THAT PUTS THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE.

I posted this on my Facebook page last week and wanted to share it with people. 

I pass the gentleman's house every day several times and cannot stop thinking about him. No photos of dogs/pets having fun this week because this is more important.

Last month I received a phone call from a local man who needed his dog transporting to the groomers. A gentleman in his late 70's with a blind 15 year old arthritic dog.
No problem i thought and i provided the service for them.
The gentleman was very friendly, had lots of stories to tell and loved having someone to listen too. Your typical grandad type and it was a pleasure spending time with him.
He mentioned his dog needed it's booster jabs soon and would contact me so i could take the dog for him.

Today he rang me.
Except this wasn't a call i was prepared for. He said it was more than likely to be a one way trip to the vets.
He asked if i was busy and i left what i was doing and drove to his house. Already the poor man was in tears.
Ben the dog was all he had left in his life.
Upon being told the vet was ready for us i asked thr gentleman if he wanted me in the room with him. He replied 'If you want too'.
After some checking over of Ben his owner decided enough was enough. The dog hadn't eaten for several days and he didn't want to see his boy suffering.
I had spent probably 90mins in this mans company in 2 meetings and was told by him 'Reece you are a good friend'. He shoved some notes in my hand to which i refused but he wouldn't have it.
God knows how hard it must be for him to go home to an empty house and like he said at the vets he hopes his dog has gone to doggie heaven.
RIP Ben.

DOG WALKING HEAVEN

Dexter was back from his holidays this week and he certainly had a spring in his step. I captured possibly some of my funniest photos ever this week while we were having fun on the fields behind our house.

Even though we are a stones throw away from the M60 motorway its doggie heaven where we live. This is one of the reasons i moved to this area because you have the best of both worlds, being so close to Manchester City Centre, a 40 minutes drive to the Peak District, 60 minutes drive to Snowdonia and 90 minutes from the Lake District.

But then on my doorstep I literally only have to walk across the road to a park, cross a bridge over the M60 motorway and then i could be out for several hours around the trails and I wouldn't even have to touch tarmac.

In the past i have walked my dogs from Northern Moor to Pets at Home in Stockport (8.5 miles) and only had to spend 200 metres on tarmac.

I have the Manchester University Sports Fields within a 2 minutes walk from me, Kenworthy Woods, Chorlton Water Park, River Mersey, Sale Water Park, Turn Moss Playing Fields, Fletcher Moss Park, Millgate Fields all within a 4 mile walk from my house without walking on a road.
So to say I live in an area that is doggie walking heaven is 100% correct.

To make things even better there are even pubs in the area where I can take my dogs. 

For a better look at loads of dog friendly pubs check out this site: Doggie Pubs

We have the newly refurbished The Bridge Pub & Dining which if you haven't checked out yet you really should. Not only is it a wonderful place to spend outside on a sunny day right next to the canal but inside is really fabulous too. There's also Jacksons Boat which is right on the River Mersey and very popular with dog walkers because the location is fantastic.
Both of these pubs i can walk my dogs too without either A) walking more than 2 minutes on tarmac or B) walk on a road ( i have to walk on tarmac but its a pathway alongside the canal).

Heres some photos from this weeks walk and you will see what i mean by 'A Spring in Dexters Step'.

Hope you all have a good week.

If you need any Dog Walking, Cat Sitting or any of our other Services then check out our Website or Facebook page.

Reece (dogs4walks)

NO DEXTER THIS WEEK BUT SOME NEW WALKS FOR ALFIE

A much quieter week this week with Dexter going away on holiday with his owners so i treated Alfie to 2 new walks for him.
With Monday being a Bank Holiday it gave my wife Vanessa a chance to join the good life and she came with us. I decided to take a trip to one of my favourite local areas that being Styal Country Park and Quarry Bank Mill.
I have done loads of walks around here and the routes can be varied with lots of different paths to take with a previous walk totally around 13 miles. You can also include a fantastic walked called Manchester Airport Runway 2 Trail that coincidentally i took Alfie around this week as well.
This walk is not only an awesome walk for dogs but it gives me a chance to take in one of my other passions and that's aircraft spotting. There cant be that many airports in the UK where you can get amazing views of a great percentage of the runways and also get very close at times to the aircraft.
Seeing the Emirates A380 come buzzing over your head face on is a daunting task the first time you do it.
We also did my local sports fields a couple of times which has a total of 20 football pitches and can incorporated Kenworthy Woods and Chorlton Water Park. I am so lucky where i live for dog walking as once i walk the first 200 metres from my house i don't actually have to set foot on more than another 400 metres of tarmac in a 4 hour walk. Plus there's so many different routes and trails i can take there's always somewhere different to go.
When i get time one day i want to start looking into writing reviews and a guide to different places in the area people can take their dogs. I can thank Gary Box who runs Northampton Dog Walker for the idea.
So onto another week of dog walking and i hope everyone has a good week.

Reece (dogs4walks)

Poppy doesn't do dog walking here as she lives life at 200mph

Alfie on our dog walk debating whether to wind up Poppy

Alfie having fun on our local fields. Great place for dog walking

Poppy enjoying her walk near Quarry Bank Mill

Alfie posing for the camera

Go go go Alfie the Pug 

Alfie on a mission. He loves his dog walks

The bluebells around Styal Country Park

Here comes Poppy

Our dog walk around Manchester Airport

Poppy going for a dip in the River Bollin

Great views over Manchester Airport

Dont mind aircraft incoming her comes Alfie

Another dip in the river 

One of the tunnels underneath the runway