Reliable dog sitting in the Isle of Wight
Doggy Paddles Canine Country Retreat provides dog sitting services for your furry friend. We welcome customers across the Isle of Wight.
Managed by a veterinary nurse
Established for 18 years
Canine rehabilitation on the island
About Us
Who we are
My name is Julie and having been brought up on a farm and spending all of my childhood around farm animals, horses, wildlife and domestic pets, it was only natural that as soon as I left school, I would begin a career as a veterinary nurse at one of the Island vet practices. Here I spent a very happy 14 years in my element helping all kinds of animals big and small and at the same time spending much of my free time engrossed in one of my passions….horses.
As soon as I was in a position to do so, I decided I needed my first dog. I have never been known for taking the easy option and I spent quite some time harassing breeders across the country to sell me a Siberian Husky and back in 1996, these were not easy to come by but I had set my heart on owning this wonderful, demanding and difficult breed. In August, I became a proud parent of the most wonderful dog Laska, a seven week old male Siberian puppy.
And this is how the story began…
Quickly realising Siberian Huskies are not easy to exercise and are bred to run miles and miles each day, it quickly became apparent this dog needed working in harness as he had been bred to do and for this, he would need teammates! Once you experience the absolute pleasure of being pulled by a team of Huskies you are hooked and soon I was travelling around the country attending sled dog races during the winter with a team of dogs.
In 2004 the opportunity arose to buy White Rails complete with its hydrotherapy pool and four acres of land, perfect for keeping a team of sled dogs and working from home to be near them all day! The following year with the help of my dad, my vision of the perfect boarding kennels was built. This was a small luxury kennel which would house a small number of dogs who could be looked after really well with lots and lots of personal attention, just as I would like my own beloved dogs looked after. I am really proud to say this is exactly what I wanted to achieve a calm, friendly, safe and caring environment which I am very proud of.
My fiancé Lee has also been racing sled dogs for 20+ years, so between us, we have a very keen eye for good, even and balanced movement in a dog. This makes for a great team when it comes to the hydrotherapy side of the business. Usually, Lee will be the person who accompanies the dog into the hydrotherapy pool while I can assess movement from above at poolside so each dog that starts hydrotherapy gets the benefit of many years of experience from both Lee and me.
I have also been showing my Siberian Huskies at Championship show level for many years with great success and as working dogs, they are judged on their movement in the show ring so the team are constantly assessing movement in dogs even on their days out to shows. Lee and I share a keen interest in dog psychology which is necessary when dealing with so many dogs each day and love the challenge of settling each different personality type of dog either in the hydrotherapy pool or kennels so that they will be relaxed and happy. We have also studied canine nutrition which we feel is extremely important not only to our own working dogs but to all dogs.