Mindful Pups Training

Mindful Pups Training Compassionate, force-free dog training. 🐾 Helping dogs build confidence, practical skills & calm in everyday city life.

Book a free call: https://tidycal.com/mindfulpupstraining/discoverycall

🍗 "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 d...
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. 👇🏻

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

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

02/04/2026

🐶 I'm a dog trainer... and even my dog goes crazy on walks.

Dogs are allowed to be goofy. They're allowed to have big feelings, weird moments, and days where nothing goes to plan.

But when those moments happen out in the world, most of us don't have a clear plan for what to do. 😬 We hesitate, react on instinct, or do something we later second-guess.

One thing I use as a trainer: if/then planning. Before you head out, ask yourself: if my dog does X, then what will I do?

➡️ If my dog starts pulling, then I'll stop and wait for them to check in.
➡️ If they freeze, then I'll give them thirty seconds before I try anything.
➡️ If another dog approaches, then I'll turn and walk the other way.

You don't need a perfect plan. You just need to have A plan. One you've already decided on, before the chaos happens.

If you want to build your own personalised plan for those unexpected moments, comment "PLAN" and I'll send you the details. 🐾

"Just ignore it."It's one of the most common pieces of advice given to dog guardians dealing with tricky moments. And fo...
31/03/2026

"Just ignore it."

It's one of the most common pieces of advice given to dog guardians dealing with tricky moments. And for some things, it works.

But when your dog is stressed, over-excited, or all over the place - standing there trying to ignore it doesn't feel like a strategy. It feels like doing nothing while everything falls apart. So you react... and immediately wish you'd responded differently. 😬

Usually, the problem isn't that people don't know what they SHOULD do. It's that they don't have a simple, realistic plan for what they'll ACTUALLY do when it happens. And changing our habits and instinctive responses is hard.

That's exactly what "When Things Go Sideways" is about. It's a one-hour online class where you'll build a personalised plan for the moments that catch you off guard, so that next time, you're not frozen. You know what to do, and you do it. 💪🏻

➡️ Sunday 12 April, 3-4pm UK time | Online | £17

Link to book is in the comments. 🐾 Look forward to seeing you there!

🐾 What do you do when your dog plants their feet and refuses to move?You're trying to get somewhere. You've asked nicely...
26/03/2026

🐾 What do you do when your dog plants their feet and refuses to move?

You're trying to get somewhere. You've asked nicely. You've waited. You've tried every trick you can think of. Nothing. 😬

Archie's mum told me that's exactly what she wants to work on in my upcoming online class, and I think a lot of people will relate.

➡️ When your dog freezes on a walk, most people either stand there hoping something changes, or drag their dog forward and feel awful about it afterwards. Neither feels good, and neither actually helps long term.

In my class When Things Go Sideways, we'll use a planning framework to think through exactly this kind of moment before it happens, so you have a personalised plan of what to do when it does. The goal isn't just to handle this one moment; it's to build a way of thinking you can apply to any situation your dog throws at you. 💪🏻

🎟️ Sunday 12 April, 3-4pm UK time, £17 - or use code EARLY for £5 off if you book by 28 March.

I'd love to see you there. ❤️ Link in comments!

🐾 It's been a while since I've properly introduced myself on here, so here goes.I'm Anna, a force-free dog trainer in Wa...
20/03/2026

🐾 It's been a while since I've properly introduced myself on here, so here goes.

I'm Anna, a force-free dog trainer in Walthamstow. And the reason I do this work is equal parts Tommy and Walnut.

Tommy was our first dog: a Bulgarian rescue who was terrified of everything. We hired a trainer who told us to push Tommy through his fear until he got used to it. It didn't feel right... and it didn't work. Walks became a source of dread. Whenever things would go wrong, I'd freeze. I didn't have a plan. I was just reacting, every single time. Things kept getting worse, and all I could think was that we couldn't give Tommy what he needed. Eventually, we made the heartbreaking decision to rehome him. 💔

That experience sent me down a rabbit hole of dog behaviour and ethical training, because I never wanted to feel so helpless again.

Then came Walnut. A Turkish rescue who was scared of people, other dogs, loud noises, the dark, car travel... you name it. This time we had more knowledge and better support. We slowed everything down, built trust, and gave her the tools to cope. Step by step, she became the confident, croissant-hoovering, bus-obsessed dog she is today. 🖤

What Tommy and Walnut taught me is that real progress happens when you have a plan and practical tools you can actually use - not just good intentions or theory to think about later.

Which is why next month I'm running my first ever online class: When Things Go Sideways. A one-hour practical session for dog guardians who are tired of reacting and want to feel genuinely prepared for the moments that catch them off guard.

Sunday 12 April, 3-4pm, £17 (a few early supporter spots still available at £12 with the code EARLY).

I'd love to see you there. 🐾

🐾 Walnut update (and a few things worth knowing before you need them)A few days ago I shared that Walnut had injured her...
07/03/2026

🐾 Walnut update (and a few things worth knowing before you need them)

A few days ago I shared that Walnut had injured her back and we were navigating getting her seen by a specialist. What we didn't expect was that she'd be admitted straight away for an MRI and x-rays. 🫠

It was a long + stressful day, but we ruled out the things we were most worried about: no severe IVDD, no hip dysplasia. 🙏🏼 What the imaging did show was significant muscle inflammation in her back right leg. The plan is two months of rest, physio, and pain relief before we reassess.

➡️ One thing worth knowing: changes in your dog's coat or fur pattern can sometimes be an early sign that something isn't right. It's what prompted us to start physio last year, and the physio flagged reduced muscle mass in her back leg. (Hindsight... 🙄)

Now that the panic has settled, I've been reflecting on the importance of pet insurance. In Walnut's case, we've racked up a £4k bill over the last 3 weeks. Having insurance meant we could make decisions based on what she needed, not what we could afford.

In my first session with a new client, I always ask about essentials like pet insurance. It might seem unrelated to training, but it's part of the bigger picture of living responsibly with a dog. 🧐 So if you share your life with a dog and you've been putting it off, it might be worth taking a look to make sure the basics are covered.

(And if your dog develops sudden changes in behaviour, it's always worth ruling out pain before assuming it's a training issue.)

Hug your dogs tonight. 🤍

07/03/2026

🐾 Brought home a rescue dog and finding city life harder than expected? You're not alone.

I've written a guide on helping rescue dogs settle into London life, including something that often catches new owners off guard: some dogs get harder before they get easier. As the fear and confusion lifts, you start to see the real dog. That's not failure: it's progress.

Link in the comments 👇🏼

Address

Walthamstow
London
E17

Website

https://tidycal.com/mindfulpupstraining/discoverycall

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