Meet the team

Tammy is the founder of Fitness for Dogs. we would like to share why she started this business.

About our founder & her dogs:

I am a big Rottweiler fan. They are very loving and intelligent dogs but they do have huge difficulties with their joints. My last Rottie lived until nearly 12 years old, which is a great age for this breed, but he did suffer from such an early age with osteoarthritis. I did have to make adjustments for him, learn how to keep his weight down and what supplements that would help him. I didn't want him to be on pharmaceutical products all his life as it is bad for their liver, so I looked into different natural products.

He was also quite a naughty dog and I wished I had taken him to training classes as a puppy, but I did learn a lot from this experience and definitely learnt what I wouldn't do in the future.

My inspiration dog was a Rottweiler cross that came from the Dogs Trust as a puppy, and I did take her to puppy classes, plus follow on classes. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to learn more. So I signed up for a college course and became a helper at a local puppy class, learning from the trainers. Again, because of her breed she also suffered from the same joint problems. So I took her to a physio and they have given me so much valuable advice and training in looking after her joints, conditioning and muscle-building.

My other dogs are like elite athletes and are very busy girls.  In fact, they would play fetch, games and run all day nonstop. Therefore I have to keep them stimulated, as I have a busy lifestyle myself and I can't take them out for hours on end. So I have adopted different activities that can keep all of them fit and healthy, that are not necessarily time-consuming. All are very different but they still get what they need for the hour I take them out. On the odd occasions where I do not have an hour to spare, I will lead-walk them and spend time conditioning later, then do training in another part of the day.  I have also been learning gundog training with my youngest lab which has been fun but not easy. I am always learning but now I have moved away from Leamington and left baby sister to look after my baby. I am always there to guide her even though I am busy with new projects in Somerset.

My expertise:

• Volunteered at the Dogs Trust and now volunteer at Dogs Friends dog rescue in Somerset

• Looking after friend's dogs and trained their dogs for fun for many years

• Learned about positive reward trainng by going to Solihull college, reading, studying and working with qualified trainers

• Qualifications in Canine Studies & Training and Canine Behaviour Training

• Dog first aid trained

• I have completed courses on Canine Conditioning, canine comminication and dog behaviour.

• Studied nutrition, dog aggression and games based training.

• Qualified Pro Trainer

• Student of the School of canine science and JRH dog academy