Dog Walking10 Walks

Ten walks is roughly twice a week for a term, or every weekday of a fortnight you're stuck at the office. It's the point where the walk stops being something you arrange and starts being something that's simply handled.

It's also where the cash back starts to be real money rather than a rounding error. Ten percent of a ten-walk pack is a free walk and change.

What you get out of the length is familiarity. By the tenth walk we know which route your dog pulls hardest on, which gate he has opinions about, which neighbour's dog is worth crossing the road for and how much of the 45 minutes he actually wants to spend walking rather than reading the pavement. None of that is in a form you fill in — it comes from turning up ten times.

Both dogs from the same house on every walk, a photo from each, rained-off walks moved rather than lost, and twelve months to get through them.

Ten walks at R200 each with 10% back.

Before we come

Tell us honestly how your dog is on a lead. Pulling, lunging at other dogs, barking at cyclists, bolting at a gate — none of it is unusual and none of it is a problem, but we need to know before the first walk rather than discovering it on a pavement. The same goes for a dog who's nervous of strangers; we'd rather take the first few minutes slowly than have you worrying about it. We walk on the lead, always. Not as a rule we bend for well-behaved dogs — as a rule. A dog that recalls perfectly for you has no reason to recall for us, and a loose dog near a road is not a risk worth taking with somebody else's family member. If you were hoping for off-lead running, this isn't that service. Heat matters more here than people think. A Paarl summer afternoon is genuinely dangerous for some dogs, and tar stays hot enough to burn pads long after the air feels bearable — the back of your hand held on the road for five seconds is the usual test. Flat-faced dogs, heavy-coated dogs, overweight dogs and elderly dogs are all worse at shedding heat than they look. Talk to us about timing in summer; earlier or later is usually the right answer. Forty-five minutes isn't right for every dog. A puppy's growth plates, an arthritic hip, a heart murmur, a recent operation — all of them are reasons to do less, and doing less is fine. If your vet has put any limit on exercise, tell us what it is and we'll work inside it. Puppies also shouldn't be walked in public before their vaccinations are finished; check with your vet where yours is up to. Have the lead, collar and tag ready, and check the tag is current. A dog that slips a collar with an out-of-date number on it is a bad afternoon for everyone. Decide how we get in, before the first walk. We come to the house and collect your dog, and there are three ways that usually works: you leave a key with us, you give us a gate code, or somebody's home. Any of them is fine — we just need it settled in advance rather than worked out on the doorstep while your dog loses its mind at the window. Tell us where the lead lives too, and anything about the gate, the alarm or the other animals in the house that we'd want to know before letting ourselves in. If you need to cancel, tell us. Things come up — a vet appointment, a sick dog, a change of plan. Get in touch and our support team will sort it out with you, either moving the walk to another day or refunding it. What we'd rather not do is have you feel you've lost a walk because you didn't ask. Two dogs from one home, on one package. A third dog needs a package of its own Tell us what rhythm you want — twice a week for a couple of months and ten days straight are both fine, and we plan differently for each. Tell us if anything changes — a new limp, a course of medication, a house move, a second dog arriving. Ten walks run over enough time that something usually does. Twelve months from purchase. Ten walks is comfortable inside a year at almost any rhythm, but it's worth knowing the clock starts the day you buy rather than the day of the first walk.