PetHealth

The power of connection We walk her every day, absolutely. It’s as regular as her feed. When we got Molly, I said, “okay, if we get a dog, there’s got to be some rules”. So we had a contract written up. The kids were young, so the contract says that they will feed her and pick up the poo daily. But we lost the contract and the kids went all legal on us saying “sorry dad, no paperwork, no contract”. My oldest son Harry is now studying law! connection with animals, and the connection between dogs and humans. Going for a walk with a dog is great if you want to have a crucial conversation because dogs bring a playful, loving element to an environment. When you’re walking with a dog, both your eyes are facing the dogs, which is a safe equaliser that enables more in-depth conversations. A few years back Andre Agassi was in Melbourne for an event and asked Sally (my wife) for her best tips as a parent of teenagers for connecting with kids. Sally said that going for a drive is a very safe place to have an in-depth conversation with teenagers. Then, she asked if Andre has a dog and he said “yeah, we’ve actually got 2”. She said: “going for a walk with your dog and your kids is amazing for creating a safe environment for a chinwag. You end up having conversations you’d normally wouldn’t have, because there’s something quite safe within the unconditional love of the dog”. For all of us listening in it was one of those ‘aha’ moments. Molly always provides a safe warm place when I’m having conversations with my kids or with clients. There is something quite extraordinary about our

Humans are neuro-biologically hardwired for connection. It’s probably a connection to nature and to animals. Dogs have this combination of playfulness, with their purpose being protecting their family. They have this incredible curiosity, by using their nose to sniff out opportunities. I think there’s something about those intrinsic motivations of play, purpose and curiosity that we, as humans, all crave, because we get distracted by believing life is really serious. Absence makes the dog jump higher My family jokes all the time about which person Molly loves the most. Fair to say there will never be agreement. They all talk to her in different dog voices. I absolutely love that. It just brings this beautiful childlike playfulness into the house, and there’s something incredibly special about that. Because for me, when you’re playful, you’re fully present, and you’re mostly having fun, and I feel it’s a mixture of being happy and grateful at the same time, so it’s merged together. Our favorite Molly moment is when one of the family has been away traveling for a while and Molly first recognizes their scent at the front door. She squeals, sprints laps around the house and she doesn’t know how to slow herself down, such is the adrenaline when she sees me or sees any of the family

Mindset coach Ben Crowe has worked with some of the world’s leading sports stars – from Ash Barty and Dylan Alcott to AFL stars Trent Cotchin and Dusty Martin. The most important member of his team? His Spanador Molly. When I met Molly … Molly is 9 years old. She’s a Spanador, which is a Cocker Spaniel Labrador cross. We had a friend who had a black Spanador and we noticed he used to run on the beach with her all the time. We found out that they love a long run along the beach down at our holiday house at Fairhaven. She loves lying in the sunlight, and then in the morning, she’ll come in and push her nose on us, get our attention. She’s an incredibly loving dog, but very active as well. She can tell if someone picks up their car keys, or if someone’s putting on runners, or activewear, or if she hears her name mentioned. She has this sixth sense – if there’s even the slightest opportunity for her to go to the park she’s all over it. water, they love kids. An alarm clock on four legs She’s a very active dog. But having said that, she loves lying in front of the fire after

after a long time away.

Meet It’s just so beautiful and so funny. She’s pretty special. Molly