Krystina Murawski and her Pomeranian, Jaxston Gandalf, train in White Plains.
Photo by Morgaána Menzel Photography
Communications pro and peanut butter maker Krystina Murawski burns whatever energy she has left on the agility course with her Pomeranian pup.
As a full-time communications consultant and copywriter at Swiss Re in Armonk, 32-year-old Krystina Murawski jumps through hoops to make sure the global reinsurance firm is marketed properly in all promotional materials, events, and social media posts. On weekends, she makes peanut butter to keep her brand, Noomi, on the shelves of Wegman’s, Green’s Natural Foods, specialty shops throughout the Hudson Valley, and elsewhere.
The Hartsdale resident gives what she calls “110 percent or nothing” to her day jobs, but it’s the hoops she directs her dog to jump through at night that fill her heart the most. “I love to write, and I love being punny, but Jax and I have become a great team on the agility course,” she says.
Every week for the past four years, Murawski and her canine partner, Jaxston Gandalf, a 5-year-old, 11-pound Pomeranian, have been practicing agility skills and drills at Port Chester Obedience Training Club, in White Plains, where the canine obstacle course gives them a workout, as well as pet–person bonding time.
“The competitive girl in me wants the dog that will say, ‘Come on, Mom, what’s next? Let’s do this!’”
“Pomeranians are a primitive, independent, stubborn breed,” Murawski explains. “Technically, they’re lapdogs.” But, as she points out, “Jax is a Pom with a lot of energy, and I’m a girl with goals.” She’s also a girl with off-the-charts energy: “I don’t know where I get it all,” she says.
Without her energy and on-point handling, Jax might not be so inclined to heed her commands to scurry through tunnels, weave around poles, climb a seesaw, or jump through tires. “A lot is on the handler to guide the dog. It’s a lot of work,” she says, noting how training sessions got easier with the introduction of a new squeak ball. Without it, “he may just refuse to participate.”
That’s why she’s been contemplating a working breed, like a Border Collie, to take things to the next level with agility competition. “The competitive girl in me wants the dog that will say, ‘Come on, Mom, what’s next? Let’s do this!’”
As for how Murawski will handle her Swiss Re job, a peanut butter business, Jax, and another dog to train, she says, “It’s hard to balance it all, but I kinda thrive on it.” Kind of like that 5K she ran that just wasn’t enough, so she tackled a marathon and then a 50K trail race. “I run myself pretty hard,” she admits. The one thing you won’t find her doing? Sleeping the day away, like her furry best friend.
