Trade and Service of the Week.

Alison Tollemache is a jack of all trades at On the Go Grooming and Pet Care and adding to the versatility she goes by a few titles – owner, proprietor, dog whisperer and aunty Alison.

Alison, a former full-time nurse who still works casually in the industry, initially started the business at the end of 2019 primarily as a dog-walking service.

Despite COVID-19 being just a few months away in March 2020, Alison stuck at it through the pandemic and within 12 months was able to obtain a sizeable client base.

After originally walking the dogs of many customers, some have stayed on for Alison’s grooming and pet care services now called On the Go Grooming and Pet Care.

Within pet care, Alison can visit pets twice a day to feed and care for animals while people are away with work, personal or other commitments.

“Dogs, cats, parakeets, guinea pigs, whatever you’ve got, I’ll look after it,” she said.

She said her nickname of ‘aunty Alison’ “kind of stuck”.

“A few owners would say to their dogs: ‘aunty Alison is coming for a walk’,” Alison said.

She transitioned towards more grooming and pet care late last year when knee and arm injuries made the walking side of things more difficult.

“I had always thought when the walking became too much physically, I would do more grooming,” she said. “Grooming is taxing on the body, but in a different way, and it is still manageable for me.”

Alison explained she has always been a caring person so the transition to grooming and pet care was natural. “I just needed a change,” she said. “I’ve always loved working with animals and having animals... it just seemed like a sensible thing for me to do.”

Alison said one advantage of On the Go Grooming and Pet Care is that she has no restrictions on dog size that she attends too.

She has a tiny Chihuahua on her books, while she has also groomed large Wolfhounds. Alison herself is the owner of a Great Dane.

On the Go Grooming and Pet Care can also provide a taxi service, where Alison can arrange to pick up animals for grooming at a small additional cost.

Her pet care services have welcomed dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles like snakes and lizards, guinea pigs, chickens and alpacas to name a few.

“I’m not afraid to deal with whatever animal people have as their pets,” she said.

“Some of the jobs I have had across the last couple of years have had six or seven species on the one property. It always keeps it interesting for me too.”

So, why should people use On the Go Grooming and Pet Care.

“It’s a reliable service,” Alison said.

“I always try to be professional with people but also friendly.

“The pet’s welfare is always my first priority.

“I do what I say I’m going to do.”

That caring nature and a little extra love is another key part of the business.

“When their humans are away, especially dogs, they can pine,” Alison said.

“So I tend to spoil them a little, and hopefully that remedies any anxiety they might have about their human owners being away.”

People wanting to utilise Alison’s caring nature and expertise with animals can contact On the Go Grooming and Pet Care via 0418 865 169 or onthegodogs@bigpond.com