30/08/2025
Meet Selwyn, the lovely guide dog puppy sponsored by Kardomah! She’s being trained by Alison Bolton from Cardiff, who not only runs with her but even juggles too – talk about a talented team!
Raising your first guide dog puppy is demanding enough – but Alison Bolton, of Cardiff, has set herself an even greater challenge.
Alison, a keen runner, is mastering the art of joggling - a sport that combines jogging and juggling. She said: “It’s quite hard! I got really into parkruns, and one day my friend mentioned that she had been overtaken by a juggling runner. I thought, ‘I need to do this!’ I learnt to juggle a bit as a child and thought I could brush up my skills and combine the two.”
Alison already finds joggling more enjoyable than simply running. She said: “It needs to become second nature. The first thing to master is looking through the balls, so you are looking at your surroundings and not the balls. Once you are doing that, it's very rhythmic - your hands and feet fall into a rhythm. I’m musical so I like rhythm.”
Alison’s aim is to joggle at an event to raise money for Guide Dogs. She said: “With permission, I’d like to do a parkrun while juggling. I’d choose a quieter parkrun. I go all over but my favourite is in Llanishen where we do several laps of a small park. I’m entering the Cardiff 10k in September but I feel that may be a bit soon.”
Alison has a blog that she has been updating weekly to track her progress, including regular video content via her YouTube channel. It shows her joggling on Pendine Sands during a recent family holiday. “I went there every morning and it started to click, so now we’re back home I'm trying to practise joggling on paths and in local parks. I do it quite early in the morning so there are not many people around. I still feel a bit embarrassed about it!”
Puppy Selwyn, a five-month-old labrador cross retriever bitch, watches with interest when Alison gets the balls out to practise at home. “I have to be careful not to drop the balls!” she said.
Alison had never owned a dog of her own but is enjoying the challenges of puppy raising. “I love the community we’ve found and didn't realise all those volunteers were all out there. The children love having a puppy in the house and I have a really flexible schedule, so that's useful.”
To watch Alison joggling, follow this link:
https://youtube.com/shorts/5Q4nFLVFUOo?si=xc2tdmcDW-6NPf_E
Pic: Alison Bolton with her juggling balls and guide dog puppy Selwyn
