Friendly First Impression, But Let Down by the Service
Our experience with The Yorkshire Woof started positively. When we first met Helen and James, they came across as friendly and knowledgeable, and explained that they offered a flexible dog walking service that sounded ideal for our needs.
Initially, we booked two daily drop-in visits while our puppy was too young to go on walks. The purpose of these visits was for play, interaction and toilet breaks while we were at work. However, our CCTV showed that the visits often lasted around 10 minutes before the dog walker returned to his van and remained there for the rest of the allocated time. This meant our puppy was left unattended in the house and was not consistently taken outside to toilet, resulting in accidents in our sunroom. Our puppy had been reliably toilet trained by her breeder from the day we brought her home, so this was disappointing. We raised our concerns with Helen, who said she would address the issue.
Once our puppy was old enough to go on walks, she moved onto the flexible walking service. Although we supplied our required dates well in advance, we regularly did not receive walk times until very late the night before, despite being told schedules would be sent by 8pm. On several occasions I found myself chasing for timings after 9pm or going to bed without knowing when my puppy would be collected the following day. As someone who likes to plan ahead, I found this stressful and unnecessarily disorganised.
Payment was also required a month in advance, which I personally wasn't comfortable with as the service had not yet been provided.
Our biggest concern arose when our puppy came into her first season at around nine months old. We informed the company so appropriate precautions could be taken. We were then charged an additional £10 per walk because we were told she required one-to-one walks and a specialist service. However, our puppy continued to be collected and walked with other dogs rather than receiving individual walks. We queried this on more than one occasion but did not feel our questions were properly answered.
During the summer heatwave, the company quite rightly suspended dog walks and replaced them with 30-minute home visits for toilet breaks and garden time. We fully supported this decision. However, we were still charged £26 per visit because our puppy was in season, whereas our understanding was that other dogs receiving the same drop-in service were charged the standard £16 flexible rate. We queried why we were paying an additional £10 for what appeared to be the same service but again felt our concerns were not addressed. We were just told "The matter was Closed".
Unfortunately, our attempts to discuss these issues were met with responses that we felt were defensive and dismissive, leaving us feeling that our genuine questions were not being listened to. As a result, we made the decision to remove our puppy from their care.
Every business can have misunderstandings, but good communication is essential, particularly when people are entrusting someone with the care of a much-loved pet. Sadly, based on our experience, we did not feel we received the level of service, communication or value we expected, and therefore we would not use or recommend The Yorkshire Woof again.
Reply from Theyorkshirewoof
Hi Gemma,
It is disappointing when a client leaves, but deeply concerning to see a third party misrepresent our services following a pricing disagreement. As you are not the contracted client, we must address these false allegations using written, time-stamped evidence from our communications with your parents.
1. The "Van" & Neglect Claims
You claim visits "often lasted around 10 minutes" before a staff member returned to their van. This misrepresents an isolated incident early on where an 83-year-old team member took a short rest in his vehicle during an all-day puppy sit, which was addressed immediately.
While our initial agreement for drop-ins was 15 minutes, our time-stamped logs show staff consistently spending double that time. For example: on 13/11/2025, arrival was 14:45, departure 15:16 (31 mins). On 24/11/2025, arrival was 15:09, departure 15:40 (31 mins).
Your claim that this caused constant toilet accidents is contradicted by our logs. On 25/11/2025, staff reported: "No signs of any accidents so that's really good!". Your mother also stated on 11/12/2025: "all seems to going great with shelby so really pleased with that".
2. The Scheduling Promise
You claimed we promised schedules "by 8pm." This is incorrect. On 04/12/2025, we stated our operational goal: "We will finalise the schedule and send out messages by no later than 9pm".
While we accept we haven't always sent timings before 9:00 PM, we are actively investing in our administration function. Until we hire an administrator, Helen and I sometimes work late planning routes. This is the nature of offering a flexible service where clients can request walks until 6:00 PM the night before. Also, we were sometimes chased before our 9:00 PM target had even passed.
3. "In-Season" Pricing & 1-on-1 Walks
You stated your parents were charged £10 for a 1-to-1 walk but Shelby was walked with other dogs without explanation. We explicitly explained this on 01/06/2026, stating the tailored fee ensures she's "either with other females, no intact males or 1-1" because tailoring routes "often means longer route planning, it's less efficient staff time wise". Your mother understood and agreed on 02/06/2026: "she went out with other girls today which I don't mind".
4. The Heatwave Pricing Dispute
The core of this dispute is that we suspended normal walks for safety during a severe heatwave, replacing them with 1-on-1 home visits. On 29/06/2026, your mother acknowledged: "My issue has never been with Shelby receiving a welfare visit instead of a walk... My concern has always been that I paid £26 for a tailored walk but instead received a 30-minute drop-in visit".
We clearly explained on 25/06/2026 why the fee remained the same: "Regardless of whether Shelby was initially booked for a flexible or a tailored walk, transitioning to a dedicated 1-on-1 drop-in visit requires the same, if not more, time and resources on our end".
We also reminded them they were not bound by any contract: "If you feel our business model no longer suits your needs, you are under no obligation to remain with us".
We operate with complete transparency. It is a shame that because your parents disagreed with heatwave logistics fees, you posted an inaccurate, retaliatory review regarding a dog we genuinely loved caring for. We fully refunded your parents for their unused walks and wish Shelby the best.
James & Helen
The Yorkshire Woof