gleonce

Excellent, thank you. Look forward to meeting you all

Hi All, I'm hoping to join your next evening if there is room...you have some great choices and I look forward to meeting you all

Booked and really looking forward to it!

Sorry...to answer your question about his response (I normally would text him)....he didn't. But what could he say, I have it on camera.

Thank you, your advice is greatly appreciated. That's a good idea for the vets, mine is right next to the park. Also, someone has PM'd saying a man has approached them asking if they need a dog walker and it sounds like it matches his description. I will also try the council route as well. With regard to small claims the thought of having to deal with him again turns my stomach and I have no other proof of when he did/ didn't walk him over the 2.5 years aside from suspicions. But if we go on ratios, and 2/2 on camera, he didn't, it's safe to say he probably wasn't walking him 99% of the time, which also disgusts me.

For the other thread, yes that's the same person. Someone told me about the post and encouraged me to post. Thank you for offering recommendations, I have found a fantastic new dog walker who is well known on here and also seen all the time in the park actually walking dogs. I just hope that with a bit more publicity, this won't happen anymore - whether he realises he can't get away with it and do his job, or whether people choose another dog walker, hopefully there will be a lot less stressed dogs. And I'm also grateful that East Dulwich has a wonderful community who look out for each other. It's refreshing

It?s taken a lot of consideration to post this, but after speaking to several people, I decided I had to otherwise I would be an accomplice if I didn?t warn people. Eric York was my ?dog walker? for two and a half years, when you get to the end of this story, you will realise that is a rather inflated job title. Being new to the area, I found out about him from the local pet store on Northcross who had a postcard with his details, and I was told by the person in the store that Eric was the best dog walker around. I know my dog very well if he breathes heavily I know whether it?s a wee or a drink he wants. So needless to say it had crossed my mind previously that he wasn?t walking my dog when I would come home and my dog would be bouncing around. However, I quashed these silly thoughts, as how could someone be that cruel to a dog when they run a business taking care of dogs? And in addition, I thought we had a good relationship, I paid promptly, cash every time, I gave warning if I needed extra days or would be away, I even bought Christmas gifts and cards to say thank you. I set up cameras in my home recently and what I discovered greatly upset me. I was having a surprise birthday treat, booked Eric knowing I would be back late. He did turn up to walk the dog, put him on the lead, and I am guessing made it as far as the front gate because three minutes later he returned my dog and left again. So I checked the camera again on the Friday, which is his regular walk day, and this time he didn?t even get his 3 minute walk. Eric walked in, pocketed the money, put the food on the floor and left again. Needless to say I have since relieved him of his services and no, I didn?t get any of my money back or any kind of apology. I sought legal advice and I could pursue under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 but it would be civil proceeding, small claims etc. etc. and I just want to forget about it after this. As many of you dog (pet) owners will understand, my dog is the most precious thing in my life. I feel absolute guilt I put him through this, but luckily I know he will forgive me as he is a soppy git. But watching him wag his tail on camera as this person walked in and left him to suffer needing to go to the toilet was heartbreaking for me. To all the doggy owners in the park who know who I am, I also thank you for keeping an eye out for us and letting me know you hadn?t seen Eric ever walk my dog (or rarely see him in the park at all!). And thank you for the recommendation of our new doggy walker who is brilliant! I'm happy to speak to anyone who wants to PM me and I can send the evidence of this. I sincerely hope I also save another dog from suffering.