Nick Pearson.

Nick Pearson, 59, from Monyash in the Derbyshire Peak District, has taken to snacking on dog treats over human food on his walks after discovering that his pet’s goodies were made up of all-natural human-grade ingredients.

The former debt manager, who launched his own dog-walking business last year, first noticed that his dog’s treats – Burns Chicken and brown rice biscuits - were suitable human food after forgetting his own lunch while on a particularly long walk with a group of four of his canine customers. Realising he’d forgotten the sandwich he’d made that morning, Nick decided to give the treats a go after taking a closer look at their ingredients which contained brown rice, chicken meal, oats, peas, seaweed and sunflower oil.

Nick retired from his role as a senior manager at a commercial debt solutions company in October last year and immediately began to secure the relevant training and credentials to launch his own dog walking business, Peak Wags and Woofs. The service, which operates across Buxton, Bakewell and surrounding villages, now provides walks to 30 dogs throughout the week while Nick also spends his days making house visits to puppies, cats, chickens and guinea pigs.

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Nick Pearson.

Nick said: “It’s amazing to be able to do something that combines two of my greatest loves; dogs and walking, and it’s been great that my own two dogs, Basil and Echo, get to meet and walk with so many lovely and playful dogs. I’ve got to walk in some of the most beautiful spots of the Peak District, meet a host of great dogs and their respective owners and even sample some of the dog’s treats, which were surprisingly tasty. If I was hungry and out on a walk, I’d certainly be happy to snack on a few of the dog’s biscuits again."

John Burns, founder of Burns Pet Nutrition and Veterinary Surgeon, said: “We were wonderfully surprised when we heard that someone had sampled our original chicken and brown rice recipe and that they had enjoyed it. I’ve sampled a number of our recipes over the years, particularly our Penlan Farm range which is basically a human risotto using organic brown rice, organic chicken and vegetables.