FAQs

Mondays – Thursdays our adventure walks are concentrated around easy to access areas in and around Newcastle. We aim to provide dogs with as much variety as possible on our walks, so throughout the week may take them to local nature reserves and forests, the beach etc. Basically anywhere within a reasonable driving distance that gives them plenty of space to roam! We always stay away from local parks to ensure that our dogs are going somewhere they wouldn’t normally visit with their owners. We do also have access to our own secure field in Seghill, which is complete with its own wrap around river. We use this field for dogs doing their first walk with us, as well as for our sighthound friends and adolescent dogs who may not have the most reliable recall.

On Fridays we offer something extra special for our hounds, and owners can opt to book their dog onto our Northumberland Friday Adventure Day . This involves dogs being taken out of the city and into the Northumberland wilderness for the day with a pack of hounds to run and explore to their hearts’ content! 

The emphasis in our services is on creating opportunities for engaged, structured play between all dogs in our pack. In order to achieve this, we keep our pack sizes small, to make sure that dog to dog interactions can be carefully monitored at all times by our walkers. Packs on public adventure walks will be restricted to a maximum of 6 dogs at a time. Packs at our secure field may be slightly larger, but there will never be more than 10 dogs per walker.

All new dogs must undergo a behavioural assessment with Jess before coming out for their first walk. As part of this process, you are asked to fill out a form, which gives details about your dogs behaviours, likes and dislikes. These allow Jess to get a sense of how your dog might handle the group walks, and will give a framework for further discussion during the meet and greet session.

The main criteria for dogs being able to join us on our adventure walks is that they are comfortable being around other dogs, are happy traveling in a van to walk destinations, and that they have recall (all our walks are off lead ones). If your dog doesn’t meet all of these criteria then that needn’t exclude them from walks – we’re always happy to work with dogs to build on some of these things as needed and may just need to discuss their needs further with you before getting them out on their first walk.

At present we aren’t able to offer one-to-one walks for dogs, as our focus is on the group adventure walks. This is something we hope to be able to offer in the future, so do keep an eye on updates on this page!

We are a licensed for boarding and home care, however the primary focus of our business is on the walking side of things. As a result, we only offer these services to those dogs who are part of our regular pack walks.

All of our staff undergo Canine First Aid and CPR training before starting their walks, provided by the excellent The Dog First Aid Co.Ltd . All staff are also DBS checked before starting walking with Jess and undergo a rigorous 6 week training period before starting walks on their own, during which time they are taught the fundamentals of dog body language and behaviour. 

Please note that whilst the team are all very experienced and knowledgeable in dog behaviour, we are not qualified trainers or behaviourists, and so cannot offer these services to you.

The welfare of our dogs is always our top priority. Unfortunately this does mean that during particularly extreme weather conditions (e.g. during heatwaves or snowstorms) walks will get cut short, or may even be cancelled, for the safety of your dogs. We will always give clients as much notice as possible if walks are likely to be cancelled, and will usually be able to offer a drop in service to replace walks as an alternative.

If you want your dog to join the Jess Fox & Hound pack then please fill out or enquiry form on this website. Please be sure to answer the questions as accurately and honestly as you can, as it will make it easier for us to respond to you quickly. 

If we have space in our pack at the time of your enquiry then the next step will involve Jess coming out to do a ‘meet and greet’ with you and your dog. During this time, Jess will ask questions about your dog’s behaviour and needs, which will be guided by an online behavioural assessment form that you will be asked to fill out prior to this. As long as both Jess, and you as a client are happy with the things discussed during that meet and greet then your dog will be taken out for their first walk with the pack!

At Jess Fox & Hound we treat each dog as an individual, and do a careful assessment of all dogs before taking them out on a group walk. If your dog is reactive and you would like to get them out on a walk with us, please fill out the enquiry form on this website and provide us with as much detail as possible about your dog’s behaviours. Jess will then be able to assess whether or not our services are the right thing for your dog, and whether their reactivity is something that the team will be able to work with.

Please don’t be offended if we decide that our services are not right for your dog at this time. We only have the welfare of our hounds in mind, and would never want to put a dog in a situation that would make them uncomfortable, and risk worsening the reactive behaviour.

We have successfully worked with nervous dogs in the past and are happy to incorporate nervous dogs into the pack on a case-by-case basis. We pride ourselves on getting to know each dog as an individual, and will assess your dog’s needs carefully during the initial meet and greet with Jess. Extra care will be taken when bringing nervous dogs out on their first few walks and the team will work carefully to build their confidence and comfort levels over a period of time. As owners the team will keep in constant contact with you as owners to let you know how your dog is getting on during each walk.

Please be aware that whilst some nervous dogs flourish in the Jess Fox & Hound packs, no two dogs are the same. If Jess and the team feel that the group walks aren’t benefiting your dog then they may suggest stopping walks until your dog has developed their confidence further.

Yes we do! However some dogs’ ‘trouble nuggets’ may cause more issues than others e.g. some dogs can become excessively humpy, or may be more prone to being aggressive with other male dogs when they’re going through adolescence. We monitor the behaviour of all our dogs very closely, and if we feel your dog’s behavior may being aggravated by their nuggets, we may suggest that walks are paused until after neutering has taken place. This is to ensure that both your dog, and the others in our pack only ever have positive experiences whilst out on walks with us.

Yes, we do! However we cannot walk bitches whilst they are in season. During this time you will need to make alternative arrangements for the care of your dog.

Once registered with us, all walks can be booked through the online Pet Sitter Plus system. This allows you to request services, view your own personal walking schedule, and look at invoices all from the comfort of your computer or phone.