Welcome to the Tail and Snoot Blog!
Welcome to my first blog post! I decided to do this blog as I think there's a lot that goes on in dog walking and pet sitting that people don't see. I've also always loved to write, and what better topic to write on than dogs?!
If you don't know me, my name's Ellie, I'm 23, and I started Tail and Snoot in 2021, which was shortly after I finished university, but I'll get to that. To tell you how Tail and Snoot came about, I'm going to start slightly earlier in my childhood. I'd love to tell you I was a kid who loved dogs and all animals, and that I knew from birth that I was going to be a dog walker, but, in all honesty, when I was younger I was absolutely petrified of dogs. Like, I couldn't even be in the same room as one kind of petrified.
Our Gorgeous Pups Maisie & Luna Pictured Above by Tamzin Rose Designs
Weirdly enough, though, I did always want to work at Dog's Trust which, as someone who's terrified of dogs, never made much sense... it does now.
Overcoming my Fear
I had smaller pets growing up, guinea pigs and hamsters, never big animals. I'd never really had any exposure to dogs. None of my family members had dogs, and only one of my friends had a dog. I'm not sure when it happened or how, but the fear eventually disappeared. I'd guess I just grew out of it, because I suddenly became obsessed with dogs.
Too Many Options
Anyone in my generation knows the absolute stress of choosing what you want to do with your life. I'm sure this has always been a source of stress for people, but we had just so many options, it becomes very overwhelming very quickly (first world problems I know). Luckily for me though, I always knew I wanted to go to university. Unluckily for me, I'd never thought about what I'd do when I got there.
I ended up choosing to study BSc Criminology and Cybercrime. I didn't really consider the job prospects this degree would offer, I was more interested in the topic itself and getting to know more about a subject I'd never heard of before.
I absolutely loved my degree and loved learning about Criminology. However, when I came to the end of uni, I was completely clueless about what I wanted to do as a career. I knew I wanted progression, and to be as in control of my work life as possible, but that was it.
I am a Failure
After uni, I found a casual job in a hotel bar. I was in control of the hours I worked, and loved the role; it was a perfect job to see me over. I started applying and interviewing for countless jobs in countless different fields. I'd decided that I didn't want to go the Criminology route, but rather something more creative like marketing, or revisit my desire to teach.
In September I was offered a job in marketing in London.
I lasted one and a half days.
The hours were crazy and it just didn't work with my lifestyle and me living in little Crowborough. So I stayed at the bar while trialing these new jobs.
November comes along and, by this point, our gorgeous girl Maisie was turning one, and little Luna had made an appearance. I was (and still am) absolutely and completely obsessed with these two puppies. I'd often look after them, walk them, do some training with them, and then I thought, "imagine this being someone's job!".
That's where Tail and Snoot began.
I decided to do a little dog walking on the side. I got my first client, a little Jack Russell x Chihuahua, who I still walk to this day (and love to pieces). Gathering a few more clients was a great way to get me out of the house and walking every couple of days, while also making a bit of money in the process.
However, I didn't see this as a career. I can't drive so it just didn't seem plausible to make a living off of, so I continued my job search.
I came across a job at a school as a Learning Support Assistant (LSA). This sounded exactly like my cup of tea. The school also offered teacher training, which my interviewers reminded me of when I said I'd love to become a teacher someday. To make a very long story short, I got the job. I worked here for two months and absolutely loved it. I loved the classes I'd been put in, got on well with lots of the teachers, I really enjoyed it. However, I started to struggle with my mental health, and began having panic attacks at work. As this had been a problem for me in the past, and I was getting very overwhelmed, I decided to take a mental health day to find the cause of these panic attacks and practise some self care. I sent a looong email to the school explaining why I'd taken this day off, and they decided to let me go. I was still in my probationary period, so they didn't need a reason to let me go. I didn't argue and let them fire me as I decided I didn't want to work in an environment like that.
So I started job hunting again. I thought I'd take a turn back to retail. I loved working in Tesco when I was younger, so I decided to try something similar, but more geared towards interiors. I'd started doing a diploma in Interior Design, so when an advisor job came up in a kitchen and bathroom showroom with the potential opportunity to train as a designer, I jumped at it! Although I enjoyed working in the showroom, I couldn't stop thinking about Tail and Snoot, as I'd still been dog walking on my days off, and had booked a sit in the summer from before I'd gotten this job.
What if I went full time?
Could I manage without a car?
Would I make enough to live on?
There were so many negative 'what if's to think about, but then I started thinking about the positives:
What if I made enough to live on?
What if I can grow my client base?
What if I can get regular bookings?
Come June 2022, I was doodling in notepads with all my ideas for logos, pricing, forms, social media, anything you can think of, I filled pages and pages.
I am a failure. And I think it's so important to know that everyone fails before they succeed. It's trial and error. You can't learn without going wrong once in a while.
So I quit.
I spoke to my partner, who I'd moved in with at this point, and he agreed that I should just do it. Believe me when I say I didn't hesitate to hand in my resignation.
(Wo)Man with a Plan
In the last week of my employment, and the first week of my self-employment, I spent all of my time advertising, socialising and building up my client base to the size it was previously, and then even bigger. I spoke to other dog walkers, joined Facebook groups full of people will businesses like mine, and spent most of my time answering messages and emails.
I started officially offering sitting and pop-ins, rather than just walking. I booked sitting over the whole of the summer holidays, and more for the months ahead. I got regular walks, and gained more and more experience, with other animals as well as dogs.
How's it Going?
After lots of hard work, and six whole months since I started full time, I currently have eight regulars, who I see weekly, and many more clients ad hoc. I'm still in disbelief that this is my full time job. I'm totally in control. I'm hoping that soon I'll be able to start driving lessons again so I can get a car and offer even more services and take more bookings. I'm now offering wedding chaperoning, which is something that I didn't even know existed when I first started Tail and Snoot. I'm so excited to see what the future brings.
I still don't know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don't know if I want to keep expanding Tail and Snoot as I get older, or keep it scaled-down. Maybe I'll run away with the circus. I have no idea. However, I know that I don't want to think about what I want to do forever anymore, because everything can change so quickly and new opportunities always present themselves. So I think the best I can do is keep going with an open mind, and just trust (as cheesy as it sounds) that good things are coming.
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