Who am I?
Ben Pickering
DOG WALKER AND ADMINISTRATOR
Hello there,
Thanks for taking the time to get to know us a little bit. I’m Ben and I’m a dog walker and the administrator for Waggle Bums. If you get an email that isn’t directly training related, chances are it’s from me. I also tend to look after the bigger dogs on the group walks and hang back a little bit to keep an eye on any stragglers.
I grew up surrounded by animals. As early as I can remember my family had dogs and cats, but we also raised goats, sheep, guinea pigs, terrapins, rabbits, snakes, budgerigars, chickens, and ducks. Animals have always been a big part of my life but it wasn’t until I was in my late 20’s when I got my first dog that I started to explore the possibility of making animals my whole life.
When we lost our beloved Labrador Freddie to cancer at only two years old, I decided I’d spent enough time working a regular job away from him. I then transitioned very quickly into walking full time as Michelle’s assistant and we’ve built the business together since then.
In August 2019, I took over the majority of the administration duties for the business to free up time for Michelle to do more training and host more classes. I also do all the art work and adverts, and a good portion of our social media presence.
Waggle Bums is named after Freddie as he was famous for wagging his whole bum when happy or excited. Everything I do with the company is a monument to his memory and represents a commitment to spend my life doing something I love with the animals I love.
“Dogs’ lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you’re going to lose a dog, and there’s going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can’t support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price.”
