Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Muddy Paws Insurance Podcast. I'm your host, Dawn Cross, and today we're chatting about mobile dog gyms and treadmills with Ash Burrows, founder of Zumi's Mobile Dog Gym.
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[00:00:17] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast. As per usual, if I could get you to start off with your name and what your background is.
[00:00:25] Speaker C: Yeah, so I'm Ash.
My background actually isn't that much to do with dogs. It's quite a new thing.
So I have had dogs my whole life, family dogs, and then me and my partner got our own dog together last year.
But my background is actually in operations and supply chain management.
But it's kind of something I wanted to step away from and I wanted to get into a business where I'm doing something I'm passionate about and that is pets and dogs and guys like Scout laying down on my floor here that are a bit rambunctious and we're constantly sort of seeking out new ways to entertain him.
So as we talked about before, this is quite popular in the U.S.
running dogs on Slat Mills. So it's something that we wanted to try with him and then Zoomies came to be.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: That's amazing. Well, I think one of the main questions I have for you today as well is the.
Obviously you mentioned your dog. What kind of breed is he?
[00:01:30] Speaker C: He's a Rottweiler crossed with a German shepherd.
Yeah. So he's very large, very in charge.
Just. Yeah, he's got a lot of energy.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: That sounds very, very key to have something like what you've got going on or else he'll be running circles around you.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's just a 48 kilogram missile.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Sounds adorable until it comes right up to you and is like, yeah, I'm definitely going to fall over.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Esprit said. Well, obviously I guess you've basically touched it in introduction. But like, I wanted to get to know a bit more about how Zoomies came to be. What was kind of like thought processes and like, obviously at the minute you've been having some amazing success and obviously it's really benefited a lot of the local dogs in community, the everything. So, yeah, please tell us more.
[00:02:24] Speaker C: Yeah, so as I said, it's just something I wanted to pursue as a bit of a passion project.
It is a part time side hustle, as it were, at the moment, but it is something that I would like to make full time in the future.
I think the More people learn about it, the better that's going to get.
But as for me, I first discovered it on TikTok, like everything nowadays.
I saw them in the US running on these slap mills and I thought, that's brilliant. And then I did some research and discovered maybe six people at the time, back in October, were doing this in the uk.
And as far as I'm aware, Zoomies is now the ninth in the UK to be doing this and the only one in the East Midlands. So it is kind of a big learning curve for people and it's really about educating people on the benefits of this
[00:03:15] Speaker B: 100 also as well. It's like, it's technically a little bit unorthodox almost, isn't it? I'm gonna give you my dog that's going to be in a van and tire itself out. And you know that. I know there's a lot of discourse around, you know, do they get hurt as well? Because, you know, you're worried. They really do for pelt. You've seen some of those videos as well and, and some dogs, really, especially greyhounds, you know, really fast breeds, they really want to go nuts and they can't are always able to do that in a field or anything. So I think, you know, it's a lot of people do kind of worry that they're just going to go full pelt and then hurt their poor or something like that.
[00:03:51] Speaker C: Yeah, no, we do have some breeds. For example, I've had Malinois on it and obviously they are the creme de la creme when it comes to speedy dogs and that just have all that power. And I have one that is currently top speed at 48 miles an hour.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:04:10] Speaker C: And that. And that's obviously on the slap mill. Completely safe, super low impact.
And it's all. The big thing about slot mills is all self control.
There's no motor. And I think a lot of people, first glance, they see it and they go, oh, that's. That's cruel. Like, are you just running them on a treadmill? And I have to explain, no, there's no, there's no electricity going on, it's just the dog. And if the dog decides to slow down, stop, go, it's completely up to them.
But in cases where I do have absolute nutters, like Malin was, I do also have a disc brake attached as well, so I can slow that down manually.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Sounds good. I reckon you could just run your van off electricity then, with the amount they must kind of generate.
[00:04:52] Speaker C: It did cross my mind, get a
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Nice little generator in the back. Free electricity whilst you're at it.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: That sounds amazing. Especially with the self probably propellation, because, you know, if they're like, you know, I'm knackered. They can go on to like a little kind of like canter speed or what, whatever. They feel bad or just completely stuck, can't they? And then you know that they're kind of done and they've got the. Well, the zoomies out.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. I have dogs that are very good at doing that. They will have a run for maybe three or four minutes at full pelt, and then they'll just. They'll just walk themselves for a few minutes.
You'll see them kind of go, okay, I feel rested now. And then they'll just lock back in and just go.
And it's just completely their own doing. And then I'll sort of hype them up again, like, oh, clearly you're ready. So let's go. Go, go, go, go.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: Sounds really lovely.
So I guess that one leads into our next question is, you know, what is the benefits for dogs doing these Tregna workouts?
[00:05:54] Speaker C: So initially my focus was on reactive dogs.
So Scout is one of those dogs. He's not an aggressive reactive, but he just wants to play with absolutely every dog he sees. And the frustration then turns into lunging, barking and things like that. Because he is a big lad, people get them scared. They don't really want to come and socialize with him. They don't want their dog to come near him. And he just absolutely cannot go off lead yet. Hopefully one day it is slow going, he's improved a lot, but he definitely needs that outlet where he doesn't need to be held in by a leash because it does just create more and more frustration.
Other benefits as well is for dogs that are recovering.
So we have a dog, Mabel, at the minute she just had surgery on her paw.
It meant she couldn't go on walks for a while. And then as soon as she was feeling a bit more up to it, she hopped on a treadmill. And that low impact is so much better than trampling down a pavement or in the woodlands or anything straight away.
So it kind of lets you really see in a controlled environment how they're doing with it. Because we all know that if you just let dogs get on with something, they will just injure themselves further because they don't. They don't think about it like we do.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: I know. And they just want to get back to their normal selves as well. So they would just go absolutely nuts. They you're like, oh, I really needed you not to go at full pelt.
There's sticks and stones and that. Oh, yeah. And now you've got an wound on your paw.
[00:07:30] Speaker C: Yeah, 100%.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Now that sounds really amazing as well. And I think as you're able to help control that environment means that you can either obviously let them literally run out that energy and kind of get their fill. But also means, like you were saying with the kind of medical aspect is that you can kind of control and make sure that they're doing okay. But if they push themselves too hard, you've got that capacity to get them slow down and like, get them to slow down rather than just tugging them on a lead. Whereas if you have them out and about as well.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And just on another one as well. There's definitely a mental aspect to slap minerals.
I can only describe it as how when humans. I mean, I've never done this. I don't run. But humans get a running high, they always say, and I see it in dogs as well. Like, they just kind of zone out, their pupils go up and they're just. They just look like they're living their best life.
It's because they don't get to do it. I think a lot of dogs will spend their whole life on a leash.
And if they do go off leash, it's in a dog field or something. Maybe once a week if they're lucky, once or twice a month if they aren't so lucky. But obviously I understand that dog fields are few and far between.
The nearest one to us is 25 minutes. And when you've got a 48 kilogram dog, I can't stuff him into a Peugeot every weekend to bring him 25 minutes to a dog park. He gets worked up in the car, enjoys his time there. But then it's. It's a whole stress factor. Which again is why when it came to zoomies, I didn't want just, you come to me and I'll work your dogs. I want to come to you and then you just walk outside the house. There it is, 45 minutes. They just get their zoomies out then and there.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: No, I think that's really great as well, is that you're able to come to the home. So a bit like, you know, if you were a dog walker and that kind of stuff. It's that ease as well for pet parents because unfortunately we all can't take them out for really long walks, really kind of stimulating exercise and, you know, Like I said, especially with some breeds, like, all they need want to do is just absolutely run it out and go let loose. But if there's not the capacity for it, there's not always fields or, you know, you don't have to let them loose. But then obviously, if there's other reactive dogs and stuff like that, you need to be mindful that the people.
Your own dog is reactive as well. There's so many factors into it and having this kind of solution to some of the issues, or even just making sure they're nice and well exercised, that actually they feel nice and calm afterwards and that, okay, I've got out the energy I needed to. Because, you know, dogs, a lot of times they need to burn off that energy.
[00:10:07] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely
[00:10:10] Speaker B: brilliant. Well, I guess come to the point of the episode, is there anything you'd like to add? Obviously, we've spoken about the amazing benefits they can have, you know, mental, physical. But, like, is there anything else you'd like to add about Zoomies and what you guys get up to?
[00:10:25] Speaker C: The only thing I'd add really is just give it a go.
I have the biggest criticism I get is, oh, my dog wouldn't do that, or I don't see the point, or just anything like that. And I just feel as soon as you see your dog on that slap mill and they're just sprinting, they're happy, the tail's wagging, you just. You get it, then you understand that, oh, maybe I have been stifling them somewhat and just not allowing them to fully express their feelings, as it were.
Like I say, not every dog has that ability to go and run around a park. I know lots of people have dogs that they can just let off leash and they go run around and do whatever they want. But I think more and more people are getting dogs that they might not necessarily realize how much exercise they need until they arrive in their house and then they're causing all sorts of havoc.
So I would just say that if you're looking for an enrichment activity, flat mills are 100% away to go. Whether it's me or anyone else, I
[00:11:36] Speaker B: was about to say, I don't think you could do the whole go national and the whole of UK just yet, hopefully one day.
Just to clarify as well, I know you said you were kind of based up kind of in the Midlands, but where's your kind of catchment area for those who are interested who may want to contact you?
[00:11:54] Speaker C: Yeah. So our base, as it were, is in Nottingham. I do cover Nottingham Shire, so I will go up to sort of 25 to 30 miles outside the city and we've just launched sort of refer a friend situation as well. So we're just trying to get more dogs on boarded. So if you refer three people then you'll get a session free. So if you just keep referring, you can have free sessions all your life if you like.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Now that is, I think a pretty good way of doing it.
Liz Brain well, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast today. It's been really informative as well. You know, talking about these treadmills and helping dispel those kind of rumors as well that it's harmful when actually it's very much dog led first and is really helpful and enriching for them.
[00:12:43] Speaker C: No? Perfect. Thank you for having me.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Thank you to my guest today, Ash, for chatting about the benefits of slap meals for energetic dogs, especially those that need a Zoomie session. If you'd like to know more about how to book zoomies, please click the link in the description.
I have been your host on Cross and make sure to click follow for more episodes.
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