The Hairy PT

Tags

Dog, Dog Yoga, Free spirit, Goals, Guide Dog, Happiness, Helpers, Labradoodle, Patience, Sight Loss, Visually Impaired sports, Working Dog

Looking to start a new fitness regime or enhance the one you are current following? Look no further than Munch, the hairy Personal Trainer. Here is a testimonial from one of his previous clients.

” I started working out with Munch around 5 years ago and since then I have never been the same. My fitness regime had become a little stale so I thought I would take the lead from an expert squirrel chaser, ball retriever, Doglympian swimmer and earth moving sprinter. My experience with him has been a little…… interesting.

We began with some routines at the gym as he could enter any gym wearing his Guide Dog Harness (his part time  job on the side). I began on the bike and he avoided chasing the non existent wheels which was a positive. His appalled expression on his face at my attempt on the cross trainer shamed me into working more on my form and his sighs motivated me to splutter on to carry on as his eye rolls told me I shouldn’t really have been such a sticky mess only 2 minutes in.

It was the classes however that he helped me the most. One of his favourite ones was the kettlebell class. As the instructor blew his whistle to tell us it was time to switch exercises, he would shoot up to attention next to me from his laying down position which meant I had to take a few extra steps to go over to settle him back down. In yoga , he drew attention to himself by showing everyone how a Downward Facing Dog was REALLY done. It was only boxfit however that he didn’t want me to partake in. Each time I would punch a pad or boxing bag in front of me, he would try and stop me with a bark and a paw. He is a lover not a fighter. Admittedly, I decided to go to the classes from then on with my white cane instead of Munch to avoid upsetting him. Sorry Munch only now you are finding out where I used to sneak too on a Friday night whilst I left you with a babysitter.

Due to constant knee injuries and the sight I have left deteriorating, I gave up the gym and began working out at home. After a successful knee operation 2 years ago and slowely building up a home gym, my workouts now are done at home. The bonus of this is that as I have a live in hairy PT who can slump out of bed and  straight onto the floor to  help me, my PT is never far way. Well, I say bonus but it may not always feel like this. Munch can sometimes be a little ……distracting in the home environment.

When I am on the exercise bike he runs off to the garden to get one of his toys for me to throw for him. When I am on the boxing bag he jumps up to lick me all over  to prevent me hurting the bag. He runs off with my skipping rope although this may  be his way to help me practice my sprints. As soon as I get my mat out for yoga he lays either on part or all of it but thinking of it, maybe it is his way of helping me develop a more contortionist approach to yoga. Bless him.

If you are looking for an alternative PT for your exercise regime, look no further. His unique approach has done wonders for my negotiating techniques,  patience levels and all around resilience although maybe not so much for my fitness but surely a more holistic approach to exercise is okay”,

Munch’s going rate for his expertise is a) a handful of treats, the bigger the better b) a fun off lead run c) a swim in the sea or lake d) a full body and ego massage. What are you waiting for? Book today.

Why Row When There Is No Water?

If he could speak, this would be the question he would ask. I mean although some dogs aren’t always best known for their logic, even they must puzzle what these gym machines are for. As he rests his head next to the rowing machine that is making an enemy with my muscles, Minster Munch’s sigh says it all. For over a year and a half he has been my reluctant gym buddy and it is probably the rowing machine that frustrates him the most. He can hear the water swishing around in the machine, yet he cannot figure out why we can’t just go and row in real water together where at least he can join in. Some things are so unfair.

Another thing at the gym I think that puzzles him is the fact that although it may look and sound like a bike being pedalled, it is an imposter. This bike lookalike, has no functioning wheels so what is the point? In the past when out free running, he once got quite excited about the wheels on a bike and welcomed them as a good running partner as he ran alongside them on his own mini marathon. Luckily this hasn’t happened since but he is always on the look-out for a living or innominate play partner. He really isn’t fussy.

The treadmill is probably the most frustrating of all. I knew he wants to shake off his professional persona and join me on the treadmill next door. He loves to run around like he has been possessed by a tornado covering ground like an Olympian, so this must be so tempting for him. I know that my feeble attempt to run leaves him irritated at my lack of passion. How he would love to swap places to show me how the professionals do it,

Classes at the gym are also an area of irritation for him as he knows that us two-legged brigade are an odd bunch with odd behaviours. I mean when the whistle blows in Kettlebell class, should we not stop what we are doing and go running up to the instructor? That is what he has been trained to do. This contradictory rule has in the past made poor Minster Munch get up from his slumber each time the whistle was blown and he would head off to the instructor. The instructor kindly stopped doing this after a while when he realized the correlation of the whistle and the appearance of his new best friend by his side.

Using a punchbag is an off-limits area in front of Minster Munch. He hates any behaviour that looks like aggression and will run and get a toy to separate people if he thinks they are fighting. This usually happens when my sons are play fighting and they soon have a soggy ball dropped at their feet to distract them. Once at the gym, his retriever skills were put into practice when I was using the punchbag and he wondered off to borrow a small dumbbell to bring over to me in an attempt for me to stop picking on the punchbag. He really is all heart.

His fans frequently flock around to see him when we are at the gym so he has plenty of attention when I am busy, but this still doesn’t stop a sulk developing sometimes. Gym days are good days for him as I do try to take him for a free run somewhere afterwards to reward him for his patience. To prevent all these perplexing problems getting to our little Minster Munch I tend to keep the gym sessions shorter. I promise it has nothing to do with the fact that I am not a natural gym junkie I swear. It is not the fact that that an hour in the gym sometimes feels like 10. Believe me when I say that my nose does not grow like Pinocchio when I say I must leave the gym to take the dog for a walk. Dogs need exercise too so when I am in the gym then he is not getting his exercise fix. Well that is my excuse anyway and I am sticking to it.