Mid Wales Dog Training

05/09/2026

The part of breeding I find hard…

There are lots of difficult parts to breeding puppies. The worry, the sleepless nights, the responsibility of bringing little lives into the world and doing everything you possibly can to give them the very best start.

But there is another part that I don’t think we talk about very often.

Losing touch.

When I breed a litter, those puppies are part of my life long before they are ever placed into somebody else’s arms.

Their story begins before conception. There are plans, hopes, decisions and dreams. Then there is the pregnancy, the birth, those precious first weeks and all the tiny milestones along the way.

And during that time, I welcome their future owners into my world too.

I share the journey. The photographs. The excitement. The worries. The development. The personalities beginning to emerge. Eventually, I open my home and hand over a puppy that I have known from its very first breath.

And then sometimes, slowly, contact disappears.

Nobody has done anything wrong. Lives are busy. Puppies grow into adult dogs, the novelty of sending updates naturally fades, and years can pass incredibly quickly.

But I don’t stop wondering about them.

In fact, it was receiving photographs and videos today of one of my 10-year-olds that got me thinking about this. She and her family have emigrated, she is miles and miles away, living and enjoying a completely different life now, and yet her owner still thinks to include me in it.

A photograph. A little video. A message to show me what she’s doing and how she’s enjoying her life.

And it means more than they probably realise.

I have another of my puppies who is now 13 years old. She moved to Cornwall when she left me and I have never actually seen her in person since that day.

But I have watched her life from afar.

Her owner has always kept in touch. Photographs, videos and little updates have arrived throughout those 13 years. I may never have physically seen that little puppy again, but I haven’t lost her story.

And perhaps that’s the bit that matters to me.

I don’t need to be part of their everyday lives. They aren’t my dogs anymore. They belong completely to the families I chose for them, and that is exactly how it should be.

But I still care about what happens to them.

I love hearing about the big changes. A house move. A new human joining the family. Another dog arriving. Emigrating to another country. A new adventure or a completely new chapter.

And actually, I love the completely ordinary updates too. A walk on the beach. A funny habit. A favourite sleeping position. A grey face appearing where I still remember a tiny puppy face.

Because to me they were never simply puppies that I bred and sold.

Perhaps because I breed so infrequently, each litter consumes an enormous part of my life. I know those puppies before they are born. I am there for their first breath, their first meals, their first adventures and all those tiny pieces of development that eventually create the dog somebody takes home.

And then I hand them over and trust somebody else with the rest of their story.

Sometimes I get to continue watching that story unfold.

Sometimes I don’t.

There is no blame in that and no expectation that anybody should report back to me. Life moves on, families change and years disappear frighteningly quickly.

It is simply one of the things I find difficult about being a breeder.

And to those owners who have kept me in their dogs’ lives, thank you.

To those who still send the photographs, the videos, the little messages and the occasional update, whether your dog is two years old, ten years old or well into their teens, please know that I never take those messages for granted.

Thank you for remembering that somewhere there is still a breeder who remembers exactly where your dog came into the world, who they were as a tiny puppy and what it felt like to place them into your arms.

Thank you for allowing me to watch from the sidelines as that tiny puppy became your dog.

It means more to me than you probably know. ❤️

And if you have a dog from a breeder you haven’t spoken to for a long time, perhaps send them a photograph today.

It doesn’t have to be a big achievement or an important milestone. It can simply be, “Look at them now.”

Because for you, it might be a quick photograph or a 30-second message.

For the person who remembers that dog before they even opened their eyes, it can mean an enormous amount.

They may have left our homes many years ago, but some of us never really stop wondering how our babies are doing. ❤️

05/09/2026

Your puppy does NOT need to be exhausted to be well exercised...

You may have heard the old guideline of "five minutes of exercise per month of age", and it actually came about years ago for a very good reason... to try to stop people over-exercising growing puppies. As puppies get bigger, particularly some of our larger breeds, they can start to look remarkably grown up on the outside whilst there is still an enormous amount of development happening underneath. Their body hasn't necessarily finished maturing just because they suddenly look like a small adult dog. So there absolutely is merit in the thinking behind that guideline, and I certainly wouldn't want us to throw the whole idea out. But our understanding of puppy development and exercise has moved on, and simply multiplying your puppy's age by five doesn't take into account the puppy standing in front of you. Puppies don't all grow at the same rate, they aren't all the same breed or size, they don't live the same lifestyles, and the exercise you're doing with your puppy isn't all the same either. Ten minutes wandering around a field together, sniffing, exploring and stopping every few feet is very different from ten minutes of repetitive ball chasing, running on hard ground or constantly jumping on and off things. So rather than becoming fixated on the clock, I want you to think about what your puppy is actually doing with their growing body.

As you can see in the graphic, your puppy's skeleton is still developing and their growth plates haven't all closed yet. These are areas of developing cartilage towards the ends of certain bones, and different growth plates close at different stages as your puppy matures. That doesn't mean we wrap puppies in cotton wool, stop them running or become terrified every time they jump off something... puppies absolutely need to move. They need to play. They need to explore. They need to experience different surfaces, use their bodies, build strength and learn how those bodies actually work. What we're much more interested in is the type of exercise we're asking them to do and how much control they have over it. Repetitive ball chasing, lots of jumping, pounding along on hard surfaces, long periods of forced exercise where they're simply expected to keep up... that's very different from your puppy pottering around, sniffing, playing and choosing when to stop. And this is where I think some of the nuance gets lost when we reduce puppy exercise to a certain number of minutes.

The other thing that's really easy to get caught out by is the completely bonkers puppy at home. Your puppy is biting everything, racing around the furniture, grabbing your clothes, jumping up, zooming from one end of the room to the other and generally behaving like they've been plugged into the mains... and the very natural thought is "Oh God, this puppy needs MORE exercise". So you take them for another walk. You play for longer. You get the ball out again. You try to wear them out because surely a tired puppy is going to be a calmer puppy. Except sometimes we've just added more activity to a puppy who was already exhausted in the first place.

An overtired puppy can look remarkably like a puppy who needs more exercise. Sometimes the answer to that completely manic behaviour isn't another walk at all... it's sleep. And I know I bang on about puppy sleep, but there is a very good reason for it. When we're looking at the whole puppy, rather than just the behaviour we're seeing in that moment, rest has to be part of the conversation too.

And sleep isn't only important because it helps your puppy regulate their behaviour. They're doing an enormous amount of physical growing and developing, and proper rest gives their body time to recover from all that activity. Sleep is also hugely important for learning and memory consolidation, and just think about how much information your puppy is trying to process every single day. New people, new smells, new environments, training, other dogs, household noises, walks, cars, visitors, things they're allowed to chew, things apparently they're NOT allowed to chew... their little brains are taking in an extraordinary amount. So when we're planning their day, we're not just thinking "How much exercise have we done?" We're thinking about everything they've experienced. Sometimes they've had quite enough.

So watch the puppy in front of you rather than trying to hit a perfect number on a stopwatch. Think about what you've already done together that day, what kind of exercise it was, how intense or repetitive it was, what surfaces your puppy was moving over and whether they actually had the choice to stop. Look at how they recover afterwards as well. We can build things gradually as they grow, mix physical exercise with sniffing, exploring and little bits of training, and make proper downtime part of their day rather than something that only happens once they've finally crashed out.

Your puppy doesn't need to come home absolutely shattered for a walk to have been worthwhile. A slow sniff around the world, a little bit of exploring and then a really good sleep can be doing far more for that growing puppy than another half an hour spent trying to "wear them out".

04/09/2026

29/08/2026

🥕 Why Carrots Are a Smart Snack for Your Pet — The Science 🐾:

That crunchy orange treat is actually a little pharmacy of plant compounds. Here’s what the research says:

🌈 Color = Different Superpowers
Carrot color isn’t just pretty — it signals different nutrients:
• Orange = alpha- & beta-carotene
• Purple/black = anthocyanins + the highest polyphenol/antioxidant load
• Red = lycopene
• Yellow = lutein (an eye-supporting nutrient)

🛡️ A Real Immune Boost (Proven in Dogs)
In controlled studies, dogs fed beta-carotene had stronger immune responses ; higher helper-immune cells and more antibodies. Dogs genuinely absorb beta-carotene into their blood and immune cells.

🔥 Nature’s Anti-Inflammatories
Carrots contain unusual compounds called falcarinol and falcarindiol. In lab studies these calmed inflammatory signals in cells (lowering IL-6, TNF-alpha, and nitric oxide).

🦠 Happy Gut Bacteria
Carrots’ soluble fiber (pectin) is food for the good bugs in your pet’s gut. Pets need fiber for a healthy microbiome. Bacteria ferment it into short-chain fatty acids that support the gut barrier, calm inflammation, and help regulate metabolism.

🍬 Low in Sugar — and No, They Don’t “Feed Yeast”
Carrots taste a little sweet, but the actual sugar per serving is small. A carrot has a low “glycemic load,” meaning a normal treat-sized portion does not spike blood sugar. The yeast overgrowth people worry about is driven by refined/free glucose in the gut, not by the modest natural sugars in a whole, fiber-rich vegetable — in lab models it’s concentrated glucose that fuels yeast growth. Bonus: carrots’ fiber actually feeds the good bacteria instead.

👀 Eye Support
Lutein and beta-carotene are antioxidants that help protect the eye from oxidative stress.

✅ Pet-Parent Tips
Offer carrots raw for a satisfying crunch (great for teething puppies, too!) or lightly cooked, depending on your dog (and what kitties prefer). Steamed, mashed carrots (mixed with bone broth) work great on a lick mat, and slicing mini carrots into thin rings makes great low-calorie training treats for dieting dogs 🥕
➡️ 1 inch of carrot for every 3 pounds of body weight per day.

26/08/2026

⚠️ We have had a lovely dog brought in today with parvovirus.
The owner has stated that they only walk around Castle Meadows, Abergavenny. Be aware that this does not mean it will only be in this specific area.

So please ensure you keep an eye out for signs of parvovirus in your pooches, and ensure they are up to date with the vaccinations.

Signs to look out for:

- Severe diarrhoea (foul smelling, watery and bloody)
- Vomiting
- Severely low energy
- A very high, or very low temperature
- Pale gums
- Abdominal pain
- Reduced appetite

Please get in contact with your local veterinary practice if you suspect your dog has the parvovirus ⚠️

25/08/2026