Who are Paw’d Naturals…

part one

Amy…

Dogs are just the best aren’t they ?

I think that’s one thing we can all agree on and from an early age it was clear that dogs were going to play a big part in my life.

Anyone who knows me since childhood knows that at any given time I would have had at least a couple of dogs with me, in fact growing up dogs were just my life purpose. I spent all my time feeding, walking, grooming, caring, training and also showing and competing with them. We had a small kennel of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels: ‘Aylingmarne Cavaliers’ with whom I would spend my weekends showing (very successfully!); a gorgeous working line black lab called Solo, who I trained to do obedience and gundog working trials; and the first dog who was ‘my own’ was Digger the Norfolk terrier, who had a short lived showing career and mostly enjoyed being with me out with the horses and hunting small furries!

A 12 year old me with our home bred father and son Show Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Jack - Aylingmarne The Playboy and Woody - Aylingmarne The Toyboy

Around 10 years ago after an amazing 20 year career in theatre (something aged 15 I never saw on my bingo card. I mean I was certain I was going to be a vet!) with a young family and as a single parent, I decided I wanted to get back to being with dogs again and what better way of doing that… be a Dog Walker! This was something I could do and do well! As a youngster competing in Junior handler classes aged 6 - 16, I’d learnt my craft of not only handling dogs but reading them. I would often leave the house with 6-8 dogs in tow, all off lead, and head out across the fields in Dorset. So when Walkies 4 Paws was born I knew the niche I was confident in providing and that was group pack walk adventures. It felt very much like I’d come full circle and since moving from London to Essex, the dogs brought me more joy and sense of homeliness than I’d felt for a while. As the children grew and then started school and new friendships, so did I and that was where I met my wonderful side kick and business partner Fionna and this is where things got interesting!

To be continued…….