Dog lover names care business in memory of beloved Labrador

A YOUNG woman from Kidmore End has named her new dog daycare service in memory of her Labrador.

Bridie Herbert, 23, runs Oscar’s Doggy Daycare, which is located on an 18-acre site in Cane End.

She has the use of three secure dog walking fields run by K9 Woodland Services, a private dog park hire business owned by her father Simon.

The site opened in October and Mr Herbert was granted retrospective planning permission for his daughter’s business in January despite opposition from neighbours and the parish council.

Miss Herbert, who also runs a grooming service on the site called Bridie and Groom, named the business after her six-year-old black Labrador Oscar, who died a year ago.

She said: “Oscar was the soppiest dog and you could just put him with anyone or anything. I would trust him with a child. He was the best.

“He was six years old when he was diagnosed with leukaemia and he literally died in my arms the next day.

“It was really traumatic, seeing him go from being so healthy to literally not being here.

“We’ve had Labradors my whole life. Oscar was my fifth and normally we’ve had them until they were 14 or 16 years old, so for him to go at six was really sad.

“I decided that I wanted to keep his memory going, so I thought why not name it ‘Oscar’s Daycare’? It means something to me and that’s what I like about it.”

Miss Herbert named her next Labrador Oscar Junior, or OJ.

She said: “He not exactly the same but he is good in a different way. He’s my little mascot and he is here all the time.”

OJ is used to help Miss Herbert assess the temperament of prospective dogs that want to join the daycare service. She said: “I don’t like putting dogs all in one pack straight away, so OJ is my trial dog.

“The dogs will come and meet him first and we can assess what they’re like based on how they react to him.

“If we’ve got dogs that are highly stimulated like a German shepherd or a Labrador and we’ve got more little diddy dogs, like Yorkies, we’ll keep them separate.

“For example, some will be exercised in the field for an hour and the others will be in the woods.

“It’s not because they don’t get along but more so that they get what they need. We can still bring them into the same area and they can all socialise together.”

There is also an adventure playground, a sandy beach play area, a puppy creche and individual pods for sleeping and eating.

Miss Herbert, who is helped with the business by her aunt Claire Ferrier and cousin Jack Herbert has recently bought an electric Volkswagen “dog bus” to pick up and drop off clients’ pets. She has also had help in creating a website by Alex Nice, 21, who is her sister’s partner.

Miss Herbert grew up in Caversham and Goring Heath and attended St Martin’s Primary School in Caversham and Highdown School in Emmer Green.

She worked at the Sonning Common Co-op before she began dog grooming and trained at Dog’s Delight in Chiswick.

Miss Herbert said: “I’ve been doing grooming for five years and I’m fully qualified.

“I’ve always loved dogs. I had more than three or four dogs in my house while growing up.

“My mum said to me, ‘If you don’t want to do dog walking why don’t you try to get into the grooming because then you can use your creative side as well?

“I remember my first day and within three hours I was like, ‘I’m going to do this for the rest of my life’. It is good to have found a career that I enjoy so much.

“It has actually shocked me how well we’ve done because when you set up a business you are so nervous but it has definitely been worth it. We’re getting regular dogs now and I’m starting to get to know every dog in our little pack individually.

“Each dog has their own separate routine, which is all filled out online. We’ve got a secure booking tool which includes everything that I need to know about every single dog.”

The plans for a dog park were opposed by Kidmore End Parish Council which was concerned about the impact on the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty while neighbours claimed they would be disturbed by dogs barking.

Miss Herbert said the residents’ fears had not been realised.

“We haven’t had any noise complaints and we have had a noise monitor fitted by the council.

“The dogs are always with someone so if there ever is an alteration we can fix that problem straight away.

“We haven’t disrupted any trees or anything like that either.”