Pets1st is a pet caring service operating in East Sussex. Pets1st was founded in 2005 by myself (Mandy Esseboom) after moving back to the UK from living abroad for 7 years. Starting initially with just dog walking, the services have over the years expanded to Home boarding, cat feeding, bird feeding, rabbit feeding, chicken feeding and horse feeding among others. The demand also arose to transport client’s pets to the vet or to other locations. The pet taxi service was therefore introduced. For this purpose a van equipped with customized secure kennels and air-conditioning was purchased. By walking and caring for many different breeds of dogs with a variety of backgrounds and all with their own personality, it became a desire to study the dog and become a dog psychologist. After studying with the canine behaviour centre, I am now a certified dog psychologist.

Although I have always loved being around animals, I didn’t start working with animals until we moved abroad. We lived in Florida where I often worked close together with a real live cowboy. He was our neighbour and a good friend who taught me a lot about all kinds of animals varying from alligators to cattle. This was also the first time that the idea of a pet care service came to mind. Living with our three dogs and two horses in a rather rural area of Florida, it was often a big problem for us to find someone to care for our animals if we needed to travel. Our travels always had to coincide with family visits. It would have been great if we could have used the services of a pet caring service while living there.

After living in Florida we moved to Spain. Spain is a country which has an incredible high number of stray dogs and cats. Some of them end up in a rescue centre. I worked as a volunteer in one of the centres near Mijas on the Costa del Sol. Often I ended up taking new born puppy’s home to save them from a certain death. On more than one occasion I have been able to nurse them to good health.

Upon returning back to the UK, I then started preparation in starting Pets1st. I am certified in canine first aid, had vet training and can administer injections for diabetic cats and dogs. All members of Pets1st are police id checked, fully insured and licensed by Rother or Wealden council.