Source Sydney Morning Herald
If "Farmer Dave" Graham looks a little overheated, he's only got himself to blame. The former reality TV star and his four-legged pal, Sydney, had just completed Graham's very first boot camp for humans and dogs in Sydney's Centennial Park when our photo was taken.
Starting a dual-species fitness movement has long been a goal of Graham's, and he told S it was the reason he first settled in Sydney after his Big Brother stint in 2006.
"I had the plan, and then four years ago I had a bad parachute accident and broke pretty much most of my body," he says. "I wanted to get fit again and knew it would be a long road. I've only just come good and I'm finally able to run again. But recovering was the perfect way to develop this concept."
Graham's tumble from the skies while training with Urban Search and Rescue in 2010 left him in a wheelchair for six months with multiple fractures from top to toe, but allowed him to spend time refining his training methods for both dogs and people. The canine programmes have already achieved serious success, with Graham, an ambassador for Animal Welfare League, transforming hundreds of abandoned dogs into confident canine athletes at his training centre in Western Sydney. Sydney the Australian koolie is one of them.
Through his own rehabilitation, Graham came to recognise the benefits of exercising together with your pooch.
"It's fun, getting your dog to be your personal trainer," he says. "You are training your dog, and they're training you. That's the best part – you don't have to wait for another person to meet with, or go to the gym. It's just you and your best mate and it builds up the bond between you."
The boot camps combine traditional human exercise moves with agility work for the dogs; for example, the 'weaving lunge,' in which your dog winds in and out between your legs as you work your thighs and butt.
You'll exercise your laugh muscles too, promises Graham. "Some of the exercises look hilarious and inappropriate!" he says.
At the inaugural boot camp, which also served as the official launch for the Hill's Pet Nutrition Ten Week Challenge online fitness programme for pets, Graham was joined by fellow Big Brother graduate and dog lover Jade Albany, and they had a moment to reminisce. Graham, a farmer from Goondiwindi, was the show's first openly gay participant and despite some close relationships since then, he still hasn't found The One.
"Sadly I am still single," he says. "I am hoping that will change and the right person will come along."
Boys, you know where to find him – but you and your dog had better be ready to be put through your paces. See farmerdave.com.au