County Durham dog walker hits back after ‘nightmare’ dispute with owner

A north east dog walker has hit back after a pet owner circulated CCTV footage that appears to show their cockapoo Odie being “kicked” inside their home.

Dog owner Jess Dobson, from Norton, said she was shocked when she checked her home cameras during her lunch break. She reported the incident to the relevant authorities and then posted the video on several local Facebook groups to ‘make people aware’.

Debbie Knox, of Stockton-upon-Tees-based Unleash the Hounds, said only a short, muted section of the video has been circulated, which is misleading and does not show the full context of what happened.

Knox, who has been looking after the pet since May, said: “The rest of the video with sound that she muted shows me entering the house opening the lounge door to be greeted by the excited dog. I started by turning my back on him while he was jumping biting and scratching. All the time I was saying no and asking him to sit.

“This didn’t work as he continued to jump at my back. I then tried raising my knee to protect myself, but he kept coming. I put my leg out to push him away, but he lunged at the same time losing his balance and fell into the bookcase.

“This looks like a kick due to the camera angle, but my foot didn’t touch him it was my leg. He immediately jumped back up at me again and again. The rest of the video that wasn’t shown was me finally getting him to settle and sit nicely while I popped on his lead.”

Knox said the RSPCA has seen the full video and visited the business and have decided not to take any further action.

She added: “There are comments on the post from people saying I used to walk their dogs who I have never met in my life. Everyone just jumping on the bandwagon. The police are dealing with the threats I have had personally messaged to me and the abusive phone calls.

“I haven’t eaten or slept since Monday and I’m constantly looking over my shoulder scared that I’m going to be attacked. My children are scared, my husband is so worried, this is a horrendous nightmare.

“I’ve been dog walking now for 9 years, 99% of my clients have doggy cams, if I was abusing dogs surely something would have popped up before now.”

The police have advised Knox not to comment on social media and to take down her Facebook business page containing her address for safety reasons.