It’s Not a Dog Kennel
Please introduce yourself to us and tell us what made you set the business up? Hi everyone! I’m Bethany Fernihough and I live in TenburyWells with my husband, four children, two dogs and two cats. When I was planning my wedding, I had a gorgeous chocolate Labrador puppy (my first born!) and it suddenly dawned on me that with all of my family and friends at my wedding, I wouldn’t have anyone to take care of her. I couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning her at a dog kennel. I realised that there was a real lack of pet sitters in my area and that other owners must find themselves in similar situations. This realisation was the driving force behind setting up my business.
Your advert mentions the services that you offer – can you tell us more about them? First up is our Pet Sitting service. I’ve found many owners prefer having a pet sitter stay in their home as it provides their house with security too. I am really careful (ok, extremely picky!) choosing pet sitters; it is such a massive responsibility caring for someone’s pets and home, so we have a rigorous recruitment system in place. Our Dog Walking service is perfect for people who work in the day. We provide one-to- one walks when we can as we feel this allows the pet to form a closer bond with their dog walker.We also offer Small Pet Care for cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters. Some members of our team are from a farming background so we are able to look after small-holdings and livestock too. We also offer dog training with our professional dog trainer, Lisa.
Do you also offer horse care? Some of our team are very experienced with horses and have a wide range of qualifications and experience relating to horse care and riding. Some are former grooms or jockeys! We are able to deploy multiple carers too and already provide our services in livery yards and riding centres. Owners with livery yards and farms are often too busy to ever go away but they need a break more than anyone.
What sets you apart from other pet care businesses in the area? I feel we offer a highly bespoke service to our pet owners as we strive to ensure that they can go away with complete peace of mind. I take great pride in saying that our team members really are the ‘crème de la crème’ of pet sitters and dog walkers! Being a friendly and caring animal lover and having relevant experience is the number one quality that they all have.
They are all from different walks of life, from retired teachers and policemen/women to retired vets. We also have animal reiki healers and professional dog trainers on our team. We understand that owners consider their pets as children and they are understandably incredibly anxious about leaving them so we always provide regular updates. I feel that we do all that we can to ensure owners’ minds are put at ease when they are apart from their pet. I know this as I ask for feedback regularly and pet sitters also send me updates. I’m sure I can see the dogs and cats actually smiling in some of the photos!
Anything else you would like our readers to know? We now have a large team of committed, loving and experienced animal lovers who have been very carefully selected.We cover the whole of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. I think it’s also worth mentioning that we are exceptionally reliable and flexible. Even if a pet sitter or dog walker is ill, we would allocate another pet sitter/dog walker to take their place.This means that holiday plans aren’t ever at risk of being left in tatters and dogs left at home in the daytime will still be provided with their walk.
We are super flexible too; dog walks don’t have to be booked in advance as we can provide walks at short notice and on an ad hoc basis.We also offer a free initial consultation meeting. This allows your pet, you and your pet sitter/dog walker to start building a meaningful and special relationship which we hope will last long into the future.
Thank you so much for reading and I hope to meet you and your pets at some point in the future!