The latest of our business profiles is for Leading Lady Dog Walking, a new business that has been launched by experienced dog walker, Vikki Llobera. We caught up with Vikki to discover more …

Until recently, Vikki was living and working in Lancashire where she established Leading Lady Dog Walking. Today, she together with her ten year old son and seven year old dog live in Grantown-on-Spey, and she has relocated her dog walking business too. Vikki explains: “We’ve moved to Grantown for a few reasons, the main one being that we’ve got some family up here, and on every visit I have said to myself ‘I have to move here!’. Eventually, after 18 years of saying that … here we are!”

Her dog walking business began in 2017, providing a service to folk living in Lancaster and Morecambe. We asked how she got into it in the first instance: Vikki explains: “I love dogs and wanted a job that was flexible enough to fit around school hours. I genuinely didn’t expect myself to enjoy the job as much as I do, for my business to thrive the way it did and for me to learn and educate myself about dogs as much as I have. And I’m still – always – learning.”

She was inspired by a dog walker who helped her to set up her business six years ago – “Doggy Dave“. Since then, she has followed a path – literally – to add qualifications and build a reputation. “After six years, I know and understand an awful lot about dogs, but decided to put myself through a qualification as a dog trainer. The dog world is massively unregulated so any training and qualifications I can gain really helps to set me apart.”

When writing our business profiles, one aspect is to find out more of a person’s back story and it never ceases to amaze us the stories folk have to tell. We asked Vikki what she considered to be her greatest achievements to date. “On a personal level, getting into to semi finals of a national stand up comedy competition! On a business level, educating myself and completing my training course to help support my business and family.”

For anyone considering a dog walking service for the first time, Vikki offers a free half-hour ‘meet and greet’: “It is the chance for us to meet to ensure your dog and you are happy with my services, to discuss what’s needed and – if you wish to go ahead – to complete the necessary paperwork.” Beyond that are a range of service including ‘Puppy Visits and Walks’, ‘Individual Walk’, ‘Small Social Group Walk’, ‘One to One Training Walks’ and she’s also able to help with smaller pets too: “We don’t just assist with dogs. We can help with any other animal care/visits … cats, rabbits, tortoises … the list goes on!”

Finally, we ask all featuring on our Blog what you would recommend to someone visiting Strathspey for the first time, or for the first time in a long time? “Well, the scenery is just phenomenal and you’ll find many a friendly person round here … you’ll find peace!”

Thanks for reading.

 

Need more?

You can follow Leading Lady Dog Walking on Facebook where all of Vikki’s services are laid out with prices. Vikki’s business is also on Instagram.

You can call Vikki on 07446849094 or email via this link.