People ask me frequently how many serious dog bites I had in these 15 years since I’m a dog trainer. They are a bit disappointed when I answer that four or five all together, and the worst was a Golden Retriever. Actually if I ever had any problems with bitey dogs, they were popular pet breeds, never Rottweilers, Pit Bulls or other ‘beasts’.

I’ve got a friend who is a professional dog groomer. She’s got some really problematic clients, and she calls me frequently to help with them. So I have to say: to be a dog groomer is more dangerous than to be a dog trainer, she was bitten several times. Her clients are cute pet dogs: Westies, Spaniels, Poodles, and they can be really furious and hysterical sometimes. Of course not all of them, but people are really surprised when they see that their precious doggie is ready to kill the groomer. They have a tendency to think that it’s normal for a dog to be groomed, and never dreamed that this is something that it’s worth to practice before.

I know I’ve disappeared in the last month. Normally this part of the year I pack the dogs and my little blue car runs through Europe to visit competitions – but now I’m sitting at home. The reason is very simple: I’m out of money. I’ve started this year with two expensive actions: I had a car crash, and I bought Leeloo, who is Macbook of My Life (if you know me just a bit you are not surprised that I treat my computer as a family member). So no competitions for a while… that’s life. But this doesn’t mean that my dogs don’t want to play. i’m sure that I’m not the only one who is in this situation, so here are some tips how can you keep your four-legged friends fit without spending too much money.

Running

Even in worst case you have a pair of shoes at home. i have to be a bit careful because of my knee, but with a longer warm-up procedure before and some stretching afterwards it’s OK. My dogs love it, and it’s funny to see that they have totally different style. Moss is a perfectionist, she really pays attention to run in my rhythm. Morgan is just happy, smiles all the way. Goblin transforms to a Pit Bull, she loves when I ask her to pull me, and she can show her strength.