FAQ's
It’s natural to have lots of questions when considering leaving your beloved pet with someone new for the first time. To help you, we’ve provided a list of some of the frequently asked questions that come up:
What areas do you cover?
We are based in Cockermouth and offer all our services to everyone in Cockermouth & Papcastle. Expawdition Days and Pet Feeding/Pop-Ins are also available for those in Brigham, and Expawdition Days and Social Dog Walks are available in Embleton for an additional £2 per service.
We can do a little further out as one off walks/Pet Pop-Ins every now & again, but we can't offer regular services outside of our usual radius. You will be charged an extra £5 to help cover the fuel charge that gets paid to the team.
How do I book a service?
We have a very handy online Booking System. If you are a new customer or you have not yet inputted your data, you need to "register" yourself and your pet(s) on to our database.
If you're a returning customer, you need to click "Book Now" then follow the steps on the website to choose the service you want, and when you want it. You have until 5pm the previous day to book or amend a booking.
How is billing and payment handled?
We will email you an invoice on the last day of every month.
Payment is due within 14 days from receiving the invoice.
All payments should be paid by cash, PayPal or bank transfer.
Bank Transfer:
A simple, direct payment into our bank account. When asked for the 'Payee Reference' please enter your pet's name and your surname. (i.e. Bindi Le Voi)
Account Name: Lakeland Dog Walker Ltd
Sort Number: 04-03-33
Account Number: 55314011
Please only do one transaction per invoice as each transaction on the business account costs money and it soon adds up.
PayPal:
Our PayPal email address is LakelandDogWalker@hotmail.com
PLEASE select "Friends & Family" when asked otherwise I lose 4% through charges. Thank You.
When asked for a 'Reference' please enter your pet's name and your surname. (i.e. Bindi Le Voi)
Cash: Please place cash in a sealed envelope with your pet's name and the date written on the front.
What is your cancellation policy?
We work on a First-Come-First-Serve policy however you have until 17:00 the day before to book a service.
For Social Dog Walks and Pep Pop-Ins we give you until 17:00 the day before to cancel or reschedule a booking.
For Expawdition Days and Solo Walks we give you until 09:30 the day before to cancel or reschedule a booking.
If you cancel or reschedule a Social Dog Walk or a Pet Pop-In after 17:00 the previous day, or a Solo Walk or an Expawdition Day after 9:30am the previous day, you will be charged 50% of the service cost as a member of staff will have already been allocated and it will be hard to fill the space in such a small amount of time.
If you cancel or reschedule on the day a service is booked (any service) or if your dog is booked in and we come to your house to pick them up and they are not there / we are unable to get in your house for whatever reason, you will be charged in full as wages still need to be paid and we won’t be able to fill the space in such short notice.
What happens if my dog gets wet and muddy on their walk?
We try our best to keep your dog(s) as clean as possible, but we do live in the Lake District and dogs do looooove a muddy puddle! We ask that you leave a dog towel out for us to use and if you have a hose pipe we could use, let us know the location. Each Lakeland Dog Walker has a small dog wash in their van and a number of towels for emergencies. Please let us know what you’d like us to do with you dog when we get them home: shut certain doors, place in a crate, leave in a kennel, confine in a certain part of the house….?
Can I meet the walker beforehand?
Absolutely, this is something we strongly encourage. We want you to be 100% happy about the walker who's taking your dog out every day. It's also a good idea to have your dog meet the walker in your presence before they come into your home without you there.
We do understand this is not always possible, especially if you're just visiting the area or need last minute help.
Are all dogs suitable for walking?
For our Social walks your dog has to be well socialised with no aggressive tendencies. Ideally, your dog should have good recall when off the lead and if they are to be kept on the lead, they should be able to walk nicely and not pull or lunge (as we walk up to 6 dogs at a time).
We do not accept any bitches that are in season and we only accept friendly un-neutered dogs - check out our neutering policy.
We also do not accept dogs that bark or howl excessively as it can upset the other dogs on the walk and they can struggle to hear the commands from the dog walker which is dangerous.
Unfortunately, we cannot look after XL Bullies as we can't get insurance - I'm really sorry.
Will my dog be walked by the same person each day?
Yes and No: There are four dog walkers in the team. Naomi, Hannah, Mattias and Niamh.
We try and organise the day so your dog will get the same dog walker each visit, however we do have to chop and change depending on which dogs are booked in, how busy we are and who is working.
Do we have to give you a set of keys to our home?
We very much prefer to use a secure key box so any one of the Lakeland Dog Walkers can attend to your pet’s needs. It also makes logistics a lot easier as we are not having to meet up and swap over keys each day.
If you do not like the thought of a key box, please provide us with three sets of keys to keep hold of (one for Naomi and one for the other two Lakeland Dog Walkers that see to your pet).
Under no circumstances will we ever label your key with your address, or have your secret lockbox code saved anywhere other than on our password protected database.
Do you take photos of our pets?
Yes, we try and take photos and videos of our daily adventures. These photos and videos will be uploaded to our private Facebook group which only has staff and current clients in. We also pop a couple of our favourite photos on our public social media pages. We may also use photos of your dog for advertising, calendars, greetings cards, our website and entering competitions. If you'd not like your dog included in any of the above, please let me know when booking.
Are you available evenings, weekends or bank holidays?
Our normal working hours are Monday to Friday, 09:30 - 14:30 throughout the year, however we do offer Pet Pop-Ins outside of these hours for an extra fee. We are not available to midday pop-in visits on Bank Holidays and Weekends as these are technically our days off.
We do not offer any dog walking services on Bank Holidays or at the weekends.
I'm going away for a few days; can my dog stay with you?
Unfortunately not: anyone keeping animals at their home in exchange for money needs a licence from the council which we don't have. We used to offer a Home Sitting service, but since Naomi has mini humans in her life now (and the other Lakeland Dog Walkers have other commitments at the weekends and in the evening), we can no longer offer this service. We can recommend a few other companies that do dog boarding and home sitting though, so please just ask.