“Improving the lives of dogs and their owners in Wirral is priceless”

And none more so than in Wirral where readers and followers of the Wirral Globe voted in their thousands for our latest Best of 2024 award - Best for Pets.

Dogs Go is the very worthy winner of this year’s award.

In April, we launched our Best of 2024 competition and we’ve given out 13 awards.

• Best for Hair – LA Hair
• Best for Pies – Pies4u
• Best for Nails - By Taylor Jade
• Best for Roast Dinner - The 21st Amendment Hoylake
• Best for Cocktails – Cow Shed Bar & Grill
• Best for Breakfast – At Gilly Gem’s
• Best for Fish and Chips - SelFish
• Best Beer Garden - The Red Fox
• Best for Fitness – Clubbercise and Chill
• Best for Tattoos – Speakeasy Tattoo Studio
• Best Independent Shop or Business – Snips Movies
• Best for Dessert – The Cookery Nook
• Best for Kids – The Corner House CIO

Voting for Wirral’s Best for Beauty is currently taking place and we’re also looking for nominations in our latest search - Best for Pizza.

Vote for Wirral’s Best for Beauty 2024

Nominate your favourite for Wirral’s Best for Pizza 2024

Ten perfect places for pets in Wirral made the shortlist for the latest Best of 2024 award and Dogs Go – Daycare, Training Academy & Bark Parks has taken this year’s coveted crown.

Dogs Go has two locations – a 6,000 square foot centre on Champion’s Business Park in Upton and a 28-acre purpose built dog parks known as Bark Parks in Raby.

Sarah Ashworth is the owner and manager of Dogs Go backed by a team of four – Hannah Roberts, head of operations, Ryan Kilpatrick, head of dog training, Philippa Goodall, head driver, and day care manager Elise Davies.

Sarah opened Bark Parks nine years ago and the business has grown from there.

Bark Parks

Sarah, who is 36, said: “I opened our outside Bark Parks nine years ago, following a five-week trip to California, where I discovered dog parks were a really popular and essential part of daily life.

“I loved the concept and saw the need for them here and I created the UK’s first member only dog park.

“All dogs have an assessment prior to entry, to ensure that they are friendly and well socialised, and owners also have an induction.

“We have expanded three times and last year opened our second location.

“We are currently working on site three.”

Dogs Go offers dog day care and a pet shop, which is open daily between 6.45am and 6pm.

They run adventure dog walks and have a doggy day camp, which is a hybrid between day care and a dog walk, as well as qualified dog training and puppy training classes.

There are five private hire dog parks – one is a huge indoor dog soft play centre – and hold puppy socialisation sessions and breed meet ups.

Every Sunday there are members only dog playtimes and their dog birthday parties are legendary.

Sarah, who was born and bred in Irby but now lives in Heswall, said: “Have you ever seen 50 cockapoos and cavapoos together?

“It’s fantastic!

“I love my job and working at Dogs Go doesn’t feel like work.

“I am extremely ambitious and have grown up with the most ambitious and inspiring mum.

“She worked so hard and I always wanted to be like her.”

The indoor soft play for dogs is extremely popular

Sarah studied law at university and worked for Unilever but she didn’t like working for someone else.

She had a vision for what she wanted to create following her trip to the United States and kept going “until all the nos became a reality”.

Sarah said: “Dogs are just the greatest thing – they are without a doubt a gift to us.

“Being able to improve their lives and the lives of their owners is priceless.

“Life can be so hard – being able to make people smile and be happy and forget about life’s troubles is the best thing.

“Training is so rewarding and has helped stop dogs from being rehomed; daycare is so enriching for dogs and when we do the weekend events without a doubt we make people happy and forget about the worries of life for a little while.”

What do customers and clients think of Dogs Go? Why did they want the business to win our latest Best of 2024 award?

One nomination said: “Not only do they have soft play and a bouncy castle for pups to part on, they also have private fields that are perfect for reactive dogs, indoor and outdoor daycare, which is amazing, and they host meet ups and play sessions.

“They cater for every single dog and we highly recommend them.”

Sarah said: “Dogs Go are innovators – we do not follow the crowd and we love being different.

“We were the first to bring dog parks to the UK; the first to have an indoor dog soft play centre and our dog training classes are unlike anything you have seen before.

“We cook roast dinners for our Day Care dogs and we believe that dog birthdays should be celebrated – we host around three dog birthday parties every weekend.

“Dogs Go is a more than a business - it is a community.

“We are so welcoming and friendly and we made dog advice accessible.

“Customers always say that the team is amazing and go above and beyond for everyone.”

Furry friends at Dogs Go are treated like members of the family

Sarah and Dogs Go have created a strong community that has been a powerful platform.

They led – and won - a huge campaign to stop a public space protection order (PSPO) being passed that wanted to ban dogs from beaches and parks.

Sarah said: “That was special.

“We have run countless charity events and raised lots of money for good causes.

“We get to train assistance dogs for young people and stop dogs from being rehomed through providing support and training, dogs who otherwise couldn’t be let off lead get use our dog parks regularly and enjoy a normal life.

“A couple met and are engaged after meeting at a Dogs Go event and hundreds of friendships have been created.

“The community is everything!”

Sarah was hugely grateful to make the shortlist for Wirral’s Best for Pets 2024 and has dedicated the win to her team.

She said: “The truth is that the team all work extremely hard as there are so many moving parts to the business.

“The team one hundred per cent deserve this.

“We were all overjoyed to hear we’d won – it’s amazing.

“We have the best customers in the world - with four legs and two legs – and, in true Dogs Go style, we will be having a party to celebrate this.

“There ain’t no party like a Dogs Go party!”

Dogs Go birthday parties and roast dinners are legendary (Image: supplied)