Here we are in August and I’m left wondering how the actual fuck that happened, because it feels like Spring was just beginning! Lockdown, doom and gloom, face masks, anti bac gel, loo roll madness and eating too much chocolate has made the last 4 and a bit months seem a bit dream-like.
I was sorely tempted to hide away from everything during lockdown. It would have been so easy to spend every day chilling out in the garden in the sun, then the evenings drinking beer and binging Netflix and Disney Plus. I could have very easily ignored work and wallowed in the anxiety which swept over me. I’ll admit, some days I did just that. Some days I barely moved and didn’t shower or do anything productive and man, those days sucked!
However mostly I took to my computer or phone and I did work. Yeah it wasn’t making me any money, but I worked my little booty off. I ran several challenge groups for local dog owners to help them deal with their dogs during these strange times. I taught them how to feed dogs in different ways so that feeding time became an enrichment activity. I taught them simple tricks and training hacks and I provided humour (or at least tried to) whilst being accompanied by a worried and confused Thea. To be honest she provided a lot of the comedy, like the time I was doing a live video outside and Thea shouts over “The horse (in the field next to our house) has his willy out again!”
I also wrote and presented a webinar for my clients and local dog owners, with an accompanying ebook. So as much as I did sit in the sun, ate bread, scoffed chocolate, drank beer and binge watched TV, I also worked hard.
That hard work has paid off. I was notified via email that I’d been nominated for an award in the North England Prestige Awards and to be honest, I thought it was a scam. However I then checked them out and it turned out to be legit, so I emailed them back. I then had a phone call on Friday 31st July to tell me I had won Dog Walker of the Year 2020 for the County Durham area! I was over the moon. It was such a nice thing to happen after a shitty and stressful few months.
They said “the judges were impressed with your personal nature, consistency of reviews and overall attentiveness. The passion for what you do really comes across and I hope this achievement brings more success during these difficult times”
I find it hard to toot my own horn as it were, so it’s really great to be noticed and appreciated for the work I do. I really do have the best job in the world! To continue to help dog owners and their furry best mates, I am currently writing an ebook which will be free to download, then later in the year, my ‘proper’ book will be published. Yes, I shall be a published author as well as an award winner! Exciting times ahead.
If you want your dog to join my awesome adventures, then please contact me via the contact page. I am also starting my Mud Free Adventures again next month so if you are interested in those or want to find out more information, then please check out the Mud Free information on the service menu. You can sign up on that page and I’l be in touch about how get your dog involved.
You can follow this blog for more updates or if you want access to stuff before everyone else, then please join my email list here. You’ll get my 10 Common Mistakes Dog Owners make email series and a PDF copy of my Lockdown Boredom Busters ebook.
Not only will you get hilarious and interesting emails, but you will get access to services, products and events before everyone else! Win Win!
Thanks for reading guys!
Tam x