A man from Devon has turned losing his job into a dog walking adventure with a new app.

When Christian Jones from Bideford adopted his Staffordshire terrier Bud, he wanted an app that would give him ideas for new walks and when he was made redundant in April 2025, he realised he could make his own.

Mr Jones said: "The idea is that it has all the information which I find useful as a dog walker like livestock, for if you have a pet with a high prey drive, whether it's a busy walk or not, whether it's circular or linear, mobile phone signal, what shoes to wear, just anything."

Mr Jones said the app was free while it was growing, and relied on people in the community to record and contribute walks.

Mr Jones said he taught himself to code and built the app from scratch so it could be exactly what he wanted.

"I decided to give it a go and build the app that I have been looking for for the last eight years," he said.

He then tested it in is local area by recording 55 different walks in 55 days before launching it to the immediate community.

He said people responded well and he had more than 250 users already.

Mr Jones said an added benefit was the social element.

He said: "Every single time, I end up talking to a stranger for 15 to 20 minutes and because I work on my own that human contact has been great."

Some dog walkers, who had heard about the app said it was a "great idea" to help people get out and about, but another was concerned about "getting technology involved in everything".