Peloton's Ben Alldis Says Puppy He and Leanne Hainsby Got After Her Cancer Diagnosis Saved Them from 'Lonely Period' (Exclusive)

The couple's cocker spaniel puppy Jags is "full of energy" and "a lot of fun," Alldis tells PEOPLE

Peloton instructor Ben Alldis is revealing how getting a dog helped him and fiancée Leanne Hainsby during her breast cancer journey.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Alldis, 30, says Jags, the cocker spaniel the London-based couple got in September, has been an enormous comfort to them both — especially to Hainsby, 35, when she went through chemotherapy.

To focus on Hainsby's health during her cancer treatment, the couple took "a massive step back from our friendship groups and our social life," Alldis explains, noting that he thinks it "would've been quite a lonely period" without having their puppy Jags in their lives.

Related: Peloton's Ben Alldis on How Having Melanoma Helped Him Support Leanne Hainsby Through Breast Cancer (Exclusive)

Hainsby publicly revealed her breast cancer journey in January, five months after her Aug. 2022 diagnosis.

Alldis says that Jags joined him and Hainsby, a fellow U.K.-based Peloton instructor, "within two weeks" of Hainsby being diagnosed with breast cancer. Although the couple initially wanted to have children before getting a dog, her illness delayed their plans to start a family.

"We were trying to figure out the right time, and then when Leanne got diagnosed, we were told that obviously because of her cancer, it would be a little while until we could try… And so we just said, 'Let's just go get a dog,'" Alldis says.

Related: Peloton Instructor Leanne Hainsby Describes Breast Cancer Journey: 'It's Been a Tough Year'

"I think it did help… [Dogs] are therapy to the max," he notes. "We've had our little chance of parenting in a different way. Cocker spaniels are full of energy, so she's a lot of fun,"

But having Jags hasn't come without a hiccup. Alldis says their puppy once ate (and later threw up) a set of AirPods. "She keeps us on our toes, but puppies are amazing. It's just fun to have a little someone around," he says.

Jags also encourages her pet parents to go out and get some sun. "When you have a puppy, you get out every day for a walk, and I'm a huge biohacker," says Alldis, who recently joined a few of his fellow Peloton colleagues in Los Angeles as part of Peloton on Tour 2023, which gives fans a chance to meet their favorite instructors. "Early morning sunlight is like everything. So, it's forced me to get out with the puppy."

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Jags is set to have plenty of sun in her life, according to Alldis. He says he and Hainsby plan to take her on vacation because Hainsby saw something on Instagram about dogs only having "16 summers," so they have to "make the most of every single one."

"Every trip we go on, if we can take her, it's like we are giving her her holiday," he adds.

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