A travel industry boss today reveals how his dogs helped him deal with massive global challenges in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic and the onslaught of the cost of living crisis.
Stuart Byron, sales director for Royal Caribbean in the UK and Ireland, is charged with ensuring the company’s recovery as the public ponders the sense of booking holidays again.
And during the Covid crisis, the dad-of-two, says running with his Cocker Spaniels and their ability to live in the moment, was exactly what he needed to keep stress levels in check.
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Stuart, 45, said: “Dogs have always been hugely important in my life and during the recent pressures put on our industry by Covid and now with the cost of living crisis, coming home to my dogs has been all I’ve needed to decompress every day.
"We have a Sprocker, a black and white Cocker Springer cross called Purdey who is five and Figg who is an 18-month old working Cocker who is a gorgeous chocolate and caramel colour, and they’re both very much family pets and my running buddies.
"There’s something very levelling when having dogs, I understand the world better with dogs in it. It’s been a tough few years but the most contrasting thing in the world is just putting your trainers on them going out for a run or walk with the dogs.
“And you certainly for me really clears my head because I’m just focused on being out with the dogs, being outside and it’s an excuse to go do it, not that you should need one but, you know it makes you go and it’s so good to interact with the dogs.
“I love running and I will go out and I’ll go do a 10k run at the weekend and I take the dogs with me and they kind of circle me like satellites. You know what, I'd love to start their own Strava accounts. I reckon when I do a 10K run they must be doing like 30 or 40 kilometres.
“And then they get into the car and the car and after a minute they’re ready to go again. They just have boundless energy and they live in pure joy when they’re moving.
“So being with them, having them just around the house and running with them really helps me. It’s just sometimes, like most people, I can just get wrapped up in all that’s going on.
“One of the easiest things to do is to say you know I’m tired and I can’t be bothered going so you sit and watch telly but you're still mulling over everything that’s gone on that day and it does nothing to relieve any stress.
“But with the dogs, I finish work and if I’ve been working at home I get out of my chair and they just give me the look that is the kind of kick in the pants to go do something now. So I get the trainers on and the leads we’re off.
“And when I’m working away from home, I’m lucky if I get as far as being able to get out of the car before they’re right there beside me. It doesn’t it doesn’t matter how old you are, there is nothing like being greeted by a dog. I might have been sitting with them for the three hours and literally just got up to go to the toilet but I always come back to such a welcome.
“There are sometimes when we all just need a bit of that - dogs are always just delighted to say hello so as long as it involves them, everything is good.
“I always had dogs as a child, Golden Retrievers mostly and I always wanted a Black Labrador and when I got married, my wife Katie got me a black Labrador we called Ned, and we had him for almost 15 years.
"He was just the most spectacular part of the family. When we got him we were mid 20s and everywhere we went with our friends, Ned came with us, he was one of the gang. And when we very sadly lost him and we were just utterly heartbroken.
"Katie said, ‘That’s it. I can’t have another dog, we can't go through this again.’ And I think I probably felt the same for about 12 months. But then I just missed not having a four legged friend running around the house.
"So I worked on Katie wearing her down and eventually she said okay but she didn't want to get another Labrador because we'd had the ultimate Lab in Ned and nothing else would come close. So we settled on getting a Sprocker and we brought Purdey into our lives.
“We knew she’d be a busy dog but she’s like the Tasmanian Devil, she just never stops unless she’s asleep and even then, she moves and I guess even in her sleep she’s just ready to wake up and get at it again. The moment I move in the chair, she’s up beside me and ready to go out.
“When we’d had Purdey for about three and a half years, and again, I don’t know how I managed it but I worked on Katie a second time and we developed a theory that two dogs would wear each other out - that was our hope anyway.
“So we got Figg, a working Cocker who is equally as energetic as Purdey. And now we just can’t imagine life without them both. Purdey is very much my dog and Figg very much Katie’s although if I’m honest, I think they’d vote to give us up in a heartbeat for our boys. Yeah, they absolutely adore the kids, they’re with Jack and Toby if they're anywhere nearby, while they’re playing on their Xbox, whatever they’re doing, the dogs will be found next to the boys.
“For me, being absolutely essential in a dog’s universe is a place of real honour and privilege. When we were kids, my parents had a golden retriever called Honey and when we went to school, Mum said that every day at three o’clock, Honey would sit at the window with her chin on the windowsill looking and waiting for us to come home.
"Over the years Mum and Dad had to keep repainting and sanded it down every time, and when we finally moved house it was quite sad because there was a dip in the windowsill where where Honey had rested her chin as she waited for us to come home.
That's the dedication of a dog and why they are still so important in my life and ours make sure I leave my work behind for some precious down time so my stress rarely builds up. They have taught me to strive towards living in the moment which might be a lot harder to achieve without them. Nothing compares to their love and devotion.”
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