29 April 2026
Dylan Resnekov’s life journey has taken him through 34 professional Muay Thai bouts, an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, co-founding a martial arts academy in Chatswood and the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Now he has traded the martial arts gym for a sprawling 25-acre property, establishing Farmtastic Doggy Daycare as a retreat for North Shore dogs.
His new path starting Farmtastic marks a life long love of dogs as the son of a dog trainer in the South African army.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for over a decade and planning it for over a decade,” he explained. “When you hit 40, things change, you have a daughter and you just want to do something that’s really meaningful… it kind of just made sense to put it all together”. He now focuses full-time on the farm at Mangrove Mountain.
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Not only did he want a life change, dogs were instrumental in his recovery after facing significant challenges later in life.
“I had a lot of PTSD after the tsunami, had a lot of depression in my 30s, which I struggled with a lot after like I stopped fighting,” he revealed. “Dogs were kind of my saviour. So for me, this is more like my way of giving back, like our dogs have just basically saved my life. So for me, I feel like I’m in debt to them and I want to… give them the best life as well”.
Farmtastic Doggy Daycare is designed to be a holistic “day long holiday” for dogs, hoping to nourish their body, mind, and spirit. The idea is to give North Shore dogs a break from the city environment and the monotony of a daily walk around the block. The facility caters specifically to small dogs, only accepting those under 18 kilograms to ensure safety.
“I saw the industry, dogs inside and dogs in the city were still stuck in city environments and I just wanted to do something a little bit different,” Resnekov said. “Get the city dogs out, let them have some fresh air, do some really cool enrichment stuff, just give them something that I’ve probably never experienced before”.
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The day is balanced between activity and rest, including multiple indoor rooms like the ‘FURst Class Lounge’ for air-conditioned breaks. Activities leverage the large, fully fenced property and Resnekov’s creativity, which includes a 110-meter obstacle course. Dogs engage in scent work to find hidden items, tracking games, and puzzle rooms designed to challenge their minds.
Resnekov insists city dogs are thriving when given the opportunity to explore their instincts.
“These dogs have really, they have got good instincts and they have got the potential to use their nose, their ears, the eyes, the smells, everything, but people just not really giving them the opportunity to do that,” he noted, saying that dogs return home “tired, they come back relaxed”.
For the former champion, this second career is deeply fulfilling.
“My job was to run a big gym. We ran a big gym for 20 years, and then I shifted to another second dream of mine, which was running a farm and doggy daycare at a farm. So yeah, life’s pretty good.”