Mindful Pups Training

24/08/2026

🥹 Meet Juno! A 4 month old standard bernedoodle puppy, now settling into life in East London.

I started working with Juno's guardian before she even came home to make sure the house was set up right, expectations were realistic, and there was already a plan in place for the first few tricky days - rather than scrambling to figure it out after pick-up!

Since then, we've been navigating the usual mix of wins and wobbles that come with any new puppy: settling into a routine, building focus and confidence out and about, and working through the curveballs everyone warns you about but nothing quite prepares you for. 😅

One thing I love about working 1:1 support is how responsive I can be. 🫶🏼 Plans shift as real life happens, priorities change, and questions come up between sessions. I'm there to help adjust what we're working on, rather than sticking rigidly to generic curriculum.

It's still early days for Juno, but she's a smart girl well on her way to becoming the kind of confident, well-adjusted dog her guardian can take anywhere.

💛 If you're bringing a dog into your family, know that support doesn't have to start on day one. A pre-arrival consultation means you've got a plan in place before the chaos begins. Get in touch to find out more.

24/08/2026

21/08/2026

🌾 Summer bring sunshine, long grass, and a sneakily common danger for our pups!

Walnut has been zooming through grass at Hollow Ponds and Chestnut Fields for years without issue. But this summer, she rolled around in the dry, crispy grass of Lloyd Park... and I nearly didn't notice the danger.

When we got home, I couldn't see a single thing on her, but I decided to brush off the dust. It was only after a few minutes of brushing her hindquarters that I spotted it: a tiny sliver of dry grass seed sitting deep in her fur. I tried to brush it out, but it wouldn't budge. I had to pull it out of her undercoat. 😬 Safe to say, Walnut was NOT impressed.

It was a stark reminder of why grass seeds are worth taking seriously. These tiny, arrow-shaped seeds don't just brush off: their backwards-facing barbs are designed to move in one direction. Their sharp points allow them to burrow straight into skin, paws, ears, and eyes, causing painful infections that can easily end up requiring surgical removal. And if your dog is double-coated like Walnut, they can be even harder to spot.

A quick post-walk check can save you a costly trip to the vet:
▫️ Run your hands right down to the skin through their coat.
▫️ Check toes, paw pads, armpits and groin.
▫️ Look inside ears and around the face and eyes.
▫️ Do a thorough brush when you get back inside.

➡️ It's easy to assume it won't happen to your dog, until you're picking one out of their coat. Definitely worth the extra five minutes after a walk!

30/07/2026

☀️ The number of days in London exceeding 30°C has quadrupled since the 1980s. We need to take the heat seriously... AND we need to stop shouting at strangers about it.

A couple weeks ago, a man tutted at me for letting Walnut off lead for all of three minutes. It was a 24°C, low humidity day. I know Walnut's heat tolerance. I was carrying water and encouraging calm sniffing. The man, his own dog on a tight lead, announced loudly (presumably for my benefit) that it was "too hot to be off lead". 🙄

A dog walker I know had someone stop their car and shout at her because she was walking a dog down its own road only so it could toilet. The dog's guardians were at work. The dog was outside only for as long as it needed to go.

I've also seen people post photos on Facebook shaming others for being outside with their dogs. And here's the thing: we don't know if that dog has separation anxiety. We don't know if that dog won't toilet in the garden (or if they even have one). We don't know if it's hotter inside their house than outside it... because in my old Warner property, it often is. 🥵

Heat IS dangerous for dogs. Temperature matters, and so does humidity. (Panting works by evaporation, and high humidity makes that cooling mechanism less effective.)

All guardians should know the warning signs of heatstroke. On hot or humid days: be sensible, skip the ball launcher, carry water. Know your dog: flat-faced breeds, older dogs, and overweight dogs feel heat more acutely than others. Don't hyperfixate on a single number on a weather app.

If you're genuinely concerned about a stranger's dog, take a moment to observe. 👀 Is the dog showing signs of distress? Is there context you might be missing? If you want to say something, approach with curiosity rather than a verdict.

➡️ Because a blanket rule applied to a stranger's dog isn't genuine safety advice. It's just judgement dressed up as concern.

24/07/2026

Dogs can't have social classes: they don't have jobs, education, wealth, or any of the things we might use to judge someone's class.

But somehow, dogs are still coded by class. Certain breeds get read as "council estate" dogs. Others get read as "yummy mummy" dogs. A bull-type breed is assumed dangerous before it's done a single dangerous thing. A cockapoo gets the benefit of the doubt it hasn't earned.

The thing is, it's not really about the breed at all. It's about who we assume is holding the lead. The same dog gets a completely different reaction depending on who's walking it, what they look like, how they're dressed.

I've been thinking about this dynamic a lot lately, so I wrote a blog post about it - link in the comments!

09/07/2026

🐾 Meet Nina! She was nine months old when I met her: full of energy, into everything, and doing exactly what nine month old dogs do.

When you get a new puppy, a lot of what they do seems cute at first. The jumping up, the mouthing, the chaos. 🥹 And it IS cute... but it's also worth thinking about what those same behaviours look like in a year's time, and whether you're accidentally reinforcing things you don't want, while trying to enjoy the dog you have.

It's not about being strict. It's about being intentional early, so you're not spending the next few years unpicking habits that could have been shaped from the start. 🫠

Puppy classes are a brilliant option for a lot of people. But some people find they get more out of working one to one, in their own home, where a trainer can look at their specific setup, routine, and dog. No travelling to venues or competing with other guardians for attention. 👀 Just your questions, your dog, and a plan that fits your life.

If you've recently brought home a pup and want to make sure you're starting on the right foot, I'm here to help. 🫶🏽 Book a free discovery call to find out more - link in bio!

16/04/2026

🍗 "What do I do if my dog isn't food motivated?"

This question came up in my online class on Sunday, and I realised it deserved its own post. Food refusal usually means something, and understanding what it means helps you build the right plan for your dog. If your dog won't take treats, here are four things to try:

1️⃣ Could it be pain or illness? Dental issues, allergies, gut problems or pain can make eating uncomfortable. If the change is sudden, it's worth a vet check before assuming it's a training problem.

2️⃣ Is your dog over-excited or stressed? Food refusal is often one of the first signs a dog is over threshold. If they eat fine when it's calm at home, but not out on a walk, the environment might be impacting them more than you realise. Try adjusting the environment to make it easier for them: meet them where they are, not where you want them to be.

3️⃣ Are your treats boring? If you’ve been using the same treat for months, it might simply have lost its novelty. Experiment with what you're offering: variety and value matter. Try running a taste test, mixing up treats, or changing how you deliver treats to your dog.

4️⃣ What else does your dog value? Food isn't the only reward. Sniffing, toys, praise, or access to something they love can all motivate learning. Challenge yourself to write five non-food things your dog loves, then think about how you could use those in your training.

(More details on each of these tips, and a bonus 5th tip, are on my blog! Link in comments. 👀)

If your dog won't take food in a specific situation, try asking yourself: If this happens, then what will I do? Having a plan in advance means you're not improvising when it counts.

🐾 What's are your dog's favourite rewards? Drop me a comment. 👇🏻

10/04/2026

🐾 Dogs are never too old to learn. And as dogs get older, their needs change, so the situations that catch you off-guard can change too.

Meet Ernie. He's an adorable 8 year old Labrador, and he's joining "When Things Go Sideways" this Sunday. Having a plan that evolves with your dog matters at every stage: what worked for two-year-old Ernie, might not work for him today.

Here's what everyone attending the class will leave with:

➡️ A personalised plan for the situation that trips you up most with your dog. Something you've actually built during the class, not just thought about.

➡️ Confidence to act in the moment, because you'll have already decided in advance what you'll do, so you're not freezing or spending the rest of the day replaying what you should have done.

➡️ A technique you can apply beyond the class, so that next week or next month, when you notice a different situation with your dog that needs work, you'll already know how to break it down.

🎟️ Last chance to book! This Sunday 12 April, 3-4pm UK time, £17

I'm looking forward to it 🥳

07/04/2026

I watched the Louis Theroux documentary on the manosphere recently — the one where a succession of men (and some women) explain, with remarkable confidence, that women are happiest when they step back, make themselves smaller, and let men lead. That their opinions are, at best, a distraction. That compliance is a virtue.

This pattern of thinking isn’t new, and it isn’t exclusive to gender dynamics. I’ve come to recognise it in a lot of places, including (perhaps surprisingly) the dog training industry.

Read the full blog post: https://mindfulpups.co.uk/2026/04/07/force-free-training-ethics/

03/04/2026

🏡 Training a dog in a busy household is one of the hardest parts of dog ownership that nobody really talks about.

When there's more than one adult in the home, a young child in the mix, a dog going through adolescence, and real life happening all at once, finding time to train consistently is tough. 😱 And even when you do, it's easy to accidentally work against each other without realising it.

One person ignores the jumping, another tells the dog off, another accidentally rewards it by giving attention. The dog gets a different answer every time, which makes it much harder for them to learn. 😬

This is something Coco's mum will be thinking about when she joins my upcoming class. Coco is a lively adolescent with a lot of feelings about high value chews and personal space, and like a lot of dogs her age, she's testing boundaries at the exact moment life feels busiest.

➡️ One thing that genuinely helps if you have a busy household: having a written plan. Not a complicated training programme: just a simple shared agreement about how everyone will respond to the behaviours you're working on. Something you can stick on the fridge and revisit together.

Having a plan is also a surprisingly effective way to involve children. Giving a six year old something to DO rather than something to AVOID is much easier to follow, and actually makes them feel part of the process. 💪🏻

In "When Things Go Sideways", we'll build exactly this kind of plan, personalised to your dog and your household.

🎟️ Sunday 12 April, 3-4pm UK time, £17. Final few spots still available. 👀

I'd love to see you there. ❤️