A small local business, doing an unglamorous job well
No franchise, no call centre, no van full of strangers. Just a proper local service that turns up when it says it will.
Somebody has to do it, and it may as well be us
Tidal Tails started with a fairly ordinary observation: loads of people in Weston love their dog and don’t do the garden. Some can’t — bad backs, bad knees, or just being eighty-one. Most simply won’t, and who could blame them. Either way the dog gets walked and the lawn doesn’t get touched.
Meanwhile plenty of other people can absolutely manage it and simply don’t want to, which is equally fine and pays the bills. That’s the honest shape of the business, and it’s a decent living. Both sorts of customer get the same service and the same price.
The name is Weston through and through. Tides, dogs on the beach, and the fact that a garden left alone builds up like the tide coming in. It felt better than anything with “scoop” in it.
Four rules we don’t break
Tell people before, not after
If the garden is bigger than described, if there’s more there than expected, if we can’t get in — you hear about it before we start work, not on an invoice afterwards. Surprise charges are how small businesses lose people forever.
Photograph the gate
Every visit, a photo of your gate shut, sent to you. It costs us three seconds and it removes the single biggest worry people have about letting someone into their garden while they’re out.
Never make it awkward
Nobody gets a comment about the state of their garden. Not a raised eyebrow, not a joke. You’re paying us so you don’t have to think about it — that includes not having to think about what we think.
Don’t trap anyone
No contract, no notice period, no cancellation fee, no minimum term. If we’re worth keeping we’ll be kept. If we’re not, you shouldn’t need permission to leave.
Insurance, hygiene and disposal
Public liability insurance
Held and current, on every job, domestic and commercial. Happy to send the certificate to anyone who asks — care homes and letting agents usually do.
Bugalugs, as standard
We finish with a professional pet-safe sanitiser on the spots we lift from — not just a pick-up. It is the difference between a garden that looks clear and one that actually is.
Disinfected between gardens
Boots and tools are cleaned before we walk into your garden. Parvovirus and worm eggs travel on footwear, and carrying them from one dog’s garden to another’s would be unforgivable.
Disposed of properly
Dog waste goes in general waste — never the food or garden bin, and never down a drain. Double-bagged into your bin by default, or taken away by us and disposed of through proper channels.
If we mess up, we fix it
Missed a corner? Tell us and we’ll come back and do it, free, as soon as we can get there. Turned up on the wrong day? That visit’s on us. We’re a small business, we will get things wrong occasionally, and the only thing that matters is what happens next.