Wigan animal business takes the lead in helping owners cope in lockdown

Vicki Jolley, from Standish, set up Jolley Good Walks in May, to provide a professional and reliable dog walking and pet care service.

The business caters for all pets in Standish and the surrounding areas, with services including dog walking, home visits for any pets, puppy visits, pet taxi and emergency let outs.

Animal fanatic, Vicki, 37, said the service had been very busy with lots of people self-isolating using it.

She said: “I have my own van and I go and pick dogs up from clients houses following Covid-19 guidelines.

“I take dogs for solo walks and in group walks around Standish and the surrounding areas.

“I have 15 clients whose dogs I walk at different times during the week.

“I’ve seen an increase in clients during the lockdown periods.

“You do get elderly people self-isolating but also young people working from homes or families who may all be having to self-isolate.”

And Vicki said the first six months of the business has been a real success, saying she was doing something she has a real passion for.

This has also seen her teach animal care/management and falconry for the past three years in an outdoor education centre, helping young people achieve vocational qualifications through placements from schools and colleges

She said: “I did want to get things going earlier but the lockdown in March scuppered that so I’ve been running the business for about six months now.

“It’s been great so far and I love my job and I’m really passionate about it.

“I’m a real animal lover and I’ve been brought up around animals, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

For the walks, Vicki provides her own leads and has a cleaning station to wash dogs after she has finished.

She said the business uses its own leads to walk dogs because of the current coronavirus crisis.

She said: “We’re using our own leads because of Covid and I’ll always take them in wooded areas.

“I’ll sometimes let them off their leads and they do get very muddy so I have my own cleaning station to wash them so I take them back home nice and clean.”

The business is fully insured by Pet Business Insurance, Police CRB checked, first aid trained in animal care and CPR, a member of the Professional Dog Walkers’ Association and Covid-19 Safer Pet Care trained and certified.

To find out more about using the service people can either visit Jolley Good Walks on Facebook or call Vicki on 07704 562176