Welcome back pet parents! Meet Artur Szalpuk, Polish volleyball player who, together with the Polish national team, won the 2018 World Championship in Turin. Apart from sport, dogs are Arthur's great passion, especially Luna, his faithful four-legged companion.

berty: Hi Artur! Luna is Nova Scotia Retriever, also known as a Toller, so she is certainly extremely active, energetic and loves to spend time outdoors. So are you training together? ;)

Artur: That's right! Our breeder told us at the beginning what was involved in taking a toller and that it would be good to find him something to do. Therefore, in order to satisfy Luna's needs, we try our hand at various canine sports. Our biggest sneak peak and my hobby is dog frisbee. I feel that we are having a great time together, and as soon as Luna sees the disk, she is immediately ready to work and all other stimuli lose their meaning for her. We also know the basics and play nose work, and we had contact with Rally-o. However, we definitely love dog frisbee the most!

berty: Being a volleyball player, in addition to requiring a lot of physical exertion, is also quite a challenge for your mental health. How does Luna help you reduce stress before important games? 

Artur: She is amazing in this! It doesn't matter what day it is, how my training or the match went. It doesn't matter to her, it's enough that I'm just that she shows up at the door and she falls into joy. Usually this is enough to clean the head. We can always go for a walk together in silence and take a break from everything!

berty: What have you learned from Luna?

Artur: Luna taught me that we really don't need much for happiness and joy. It is enough for her to see his favorite people, ball, jerk, frisbee or simply that it's time to eat and cycle, pure joy! For me, it is a picture of how to enjoy the little things in life and not worry about the future or anything at all.

berty: Can you imagine your life without a dog now?

Artur: I used to imagine, I didn't even want a dog. Somehow it turned out that Luna showed up and it is currently impossible for me to live without a dog. Every trip without her is difficult for me and I miss a lot. You could say I'm a little crazy about her.

berty: What's your favorite story about Luna?

Artur: Or maybe he will just briefly describe her. Luna loves people, everyone she knows, decides to "give her belly" to stroke her. However, it is not a dog that loves flies, appreciates its privacy and definitely prefers having fun together. Joint jerking, looking for the ball, working together on tricks is what turns me on, but the most important thing is Frisbee, there is no more important thing. She is very professional, firm and good at begging for food. In fact, he uses a lot of tactics depending on who he is asking. Of course I can't! :) When he cooks, he always decides to "help" me and be around when there's something to be cleaned up. She is a volcano of energy and she is tireless during walks. One walk over an hour is a must in our daily routine. I could write and write here, but I will sum it up simply with the words: Luna is simply the best. I think every owner would say that about their dog and that's the coolest thing.

Thank you! 

Let us know in the comments how do you like this episode! 🐶