Mutleys Dog Training

23/08/2024

📣Calling all puppy parents! 📣

Our friends at Tug-E-Nuff have a BRAND NEW phenomenal puppy play guide and you can get your paws on it for free!

Here’s what’s inside:

🐾 Why play is so important for puppies
🐾 How to play with your puppy (& how long for!)
🐾 The dos and don’ts of puppy play (to save you from mistakes)
🐾 How to find the right toys for your puppy

🙌 3 bonus games your puppy will love

Simply hit the link below and get your free phenomenal puppy play guide here 👇

Packed with our top tips for introducing play, a run down of why play is so important & an unmissable offer

06/08/2024

Look at those spaniel ears go!!! Recall can be hard work with a working breed, training can take time but when you get there and watch them running free it will all feel worth it! Get in touch for 121 help with your dogs recall!

29/07/2024

Puppy class spaces still available for August in Redland and Frampton Cotterell! Come join us for a fun course to train and bond with your puppy puppy.

14/07/2024

Let’s talk seasons! Not the climate variety! So mable is in season, currently on day 19 and nearly out of it! So yes when they’re in season we need to be careful, to keep them on lead and away from the boys! But don’t let that fill you with dread…. We have used it an excuse to find different random places to walk…. Bradley stoke has lots of big grass verges nr the roads so no one’s going to be off lead (hopefully) so a flexi lead here has allowed more exploring and lots of new sniffs! Hambrook common is near a busy road so again not many off lead dogs as there are nicer safer places to go, a long line kept her safe and she could get a decent run. We hired a secure field a few times for safe off lead racing around and ventured into fields where we had lots of exit options and could see the whole field so as not to get caught out! As well as using it to really get some great lead walking practice.
Don’t stress about it, embrace it and find different places to explore! Remember too that sniffy walks are a great way to wear out your dog it doesn’t always have to be about tearing around at top speed!

02/06/2024

NEW PUPPY/BEGINNER CLASS (daytimes)
Canford Park, Monday 17th June 1030am- 5 weeks, mixed ages, must be friendly around other dogs and people on lead. We have added this is due to being fully booked until 11th July in the Redland/Clifton area. Maybe you fancy a refresher or did a course in the hall and want to practice your skills out in the real world? Get in touch via email
[email protected]

17/05/2024

DogFest returns to Bristol again this year on 31st August/1st September, please do use the discount code to get 20% off your tickets! Great fun for pups and owners. Celebrating there ten year anniversary this year. Enjoy!

11/05/2024

Are you due some warm weather this week? Then it's the pawfect time to remind yourself how you can keep your dog safe during the sunny spell 🌞🐕

More advice 👉 https://bit.ly/3UPdJwg

Image description: An infographic lists ways to keep your dog safe in warm weather. 1. Walk your dog when it's cooler; early morning or late evening. 2. Ensure your dog has plenty of water and shade all day. 3. Do the tarmac test: if you can't comfortably hold your hand on the tarmac for five seconds, then it is too hot for your dog's paws. 4. Take extra care with flat-faced, overweight, unwell and older dogs. Exercise is the most common trigger for heat-related illness so take care not to over excert your dog.

10/05/2024

Hi all! I don’t own ‘the perfect’ dog. Far from it. But I’m a trainer right, so they should be perfect! Sorry. Not so! I’ll be honest my last few dogs were pretty good, off lead anywhere, lead walking was good, sociable, happy, didn’t really need to worry about much! But right now I’ve got myself a very easily over stimulated spaniel, and management is key to a lot of our life! When we do our regular walks and keep to a bit of a routine she’s awesome! She can walk so well, recall well. She can recall away from a huge play/chase with her best mate. Her best mates owner thinks she’s amazing as I can recall her away in an instant from play. She’s amazing at agility, like amazing with a capital A!
She loves it, but tonight we walked to the pub had food and walked home! Something so simple to many dogs. To her this was TOO much, she was wired in new spaces, new situations. She did great at the pub but walking home was so past her best I stuck a head collar on and just did my best, she was past it!
She is teaching me so so much about owning a ‘non standard’ dog, I like to call her special! I love day to day life and we have got to so many positives! But she will possibly never be that easy dog that makes you look like a great owner/trainer! She will always be my special girl and I will always strive to give her the best life ever! I think I might love her more for it 💕💕💕💕💕 isn’t she just gorgeous… I think so!
I would love to help with your special dog! It’s all doable just needs a bit more planning ###

01/05/2024

Let’s talk training- how often do you take your dog out not for a walk but to train….. today for instance I took Mable out to practice lead walking in a busy high street as we live in a quiet village. We headed to henleaze, parked up and walked to the other end and back with no time pressure, no rush and a lot of focus on rewarding and getting the correct behaviour. She dealt with people walking past, appearing from shop doors and even an escaped dog that ran across the road that we attempted to catch. We then went to Canford park to work on recall around water using the duck pond and a long line. My spaniel is water obsessed so I need her to learn self control around water.
So often people say they are struggling with something be it lead walking or recall but they still go out each day to do the ‘daily walks’ with the same problems occurring.
Stop- change your mindset and go out to practice. If they chase birds go to a duck pond to practice them disengaging and being rewarded, if there lead walking is rubbish go out just to practice, stop worrying about getting somewhere. If they run off in the field put a long lead on and go do some fun games in the park rather than walking round the perimeter.
Once you have a good behaviour go proof it in lots of environments. Lead walk in woods as well as on pavements, recall on the beach, from water or just increase the level of distraction of the environment gradually.
Enjoy the process and you will get the end result you wish for 😊

24/04/2024

New puppy? Come and join our puppy classes for a fun, informative and positive approach to building a fantastic relationship with your new dog. Small groups, based in Frampton Cotterell and Clifton/Redland in Bristol. Contact us now at [email protected]
Www.Mutleys.co.uk

13/04/2024

A sniffy walk can be as tiring as a full on off lead race around, if not more so. Don’t turn pup into an adrenaline j***y by being ‘go go go’ all the time. Mix up your walks to do a sniffy walk on a longer lead. Sniffing wears out the brain, wearing out the brain wears out the dog!!!!! Someone’s been curled up on the sofa all afternoon 😃 happy dog, happy dog mom!

21/02/2024

Ah the joys of training! A reminder of things that are important! Once you have trained a behaviour remember it’s super important to proof that behaviour in different environments, however today proved that it’s also important to proof the behaviour in different weathers too! Mables pretty good at lead walking for a one year old (nearly) working spaniel, but if you had seen the first five minutes of today’s rainy walk you’d think she was bonkers! She loves water and the puddles blew her crazy mind! 😂 It took patience and staying calm and perseverance but she got there! We enjoyed a lovely lead walk - no way were we going back to the swamp like field again after lunchtimes walk!
Training is a journey it takes time and patience and sometimes a sense of humour! Bloody love this crazy spaniel 💕💕💕

12/12/2023

So some of you may know our story around shadows and lights! Here it is… at 5 months old Mable started chasing light reflections off the back door. This turned into chasing her own shadow as the sun got lower and shadows got longer. She could chase her shadow across a field until she crashed into a hedge/fence so on a sunny day the longline went back on.
It was so frustrating all our lead walk training and recall went out the window in the sun and she went into hyper arousal mode!
Asking for help when your a trainer is hard, but this wasn’t something I had ever dealt with, a friend put me in touch with an amazing behaviourist and we have been working on this for three and a half months, at one point I nearly gave up, I just wanted to walk my dog and for her to be calm and relaxed but she was hyped and over aroused.
Alex was amazing, always there to encourage to carry on and get results, this week I have achieved things I never thought we would achieve. A walk in the sun in a relaxed state and a walk in the dark with car lights in a relaxed and focused state!
Keep an eye out for signs of light chasing and seek help straight away. Same as with any behaviours you do not want to be practised. The sooner you seek help the sooner you can deal with the issue. I will be forever grateful for all my dog trainer friends that’s helped and to Alex from https://elitedogtrainingltd.co.uk/ for all his messages, support and guidance! Thank you so so much!

10/12/2023

The Christmas tree is up, Mable was interested but such a good girl. Lots of consistent ‘leave’ training now and making sure she’s not left alone in living room ‘just in case’. We had introduced things slowly over a couple of weeks and she’s not bothered at all by the changes!
She also made us so proud yesterday when family came round for the day, including an older family member whose unsteady on feet, we kept a house line attached so we could move her away easily but she behaved so nicely and settled happily while every one was here.
Plan ahead for Xmas, it’s a tricky time for some dogs to cope with, extra guests, change of routine, novel items and activities! Purchase some long lasting chews to keep pup entertained while you’re busy and set up a safe den area that they can go to when they need to have some space from the chaos! If your off to someone else’s house take there pen or crate with you so they have there safe space with them and you can relax too!
Happy Christmas everyone!

22/11/2023

So this little nutter is nearly nine months old, she’s been a tricky puppy, she’s young and gets over stimulated and over excited very quickly! So I’ve had to use lots of management and advocate for her. For months I had her on a long line so she didn’t run at ‘the wrong’ dog! We have worked hard on ignoring others unless giving the ‘go see’ command, it doesn’t always work but it’s pretty good. She’s young and when excited makes silly decisions! For example today at the Rec some older dogs were in the field, they gave her a chance and even had a little play, then they got a bit fed up of her exuberance and gave her a warning! She’s young, she didn’t get it and made silly decisions to keep ‘trying’ to get them to play! So I called her away made her wait and we walked a different way. Don’t leave them to get really told off by another dog, that dog probably doesn’t want to have to and shouldn’t be made to! Your pup is your responsibility, keep them safe, Mable is sensitive. I don’t want her to have a bad experience either, it might change the way she sees the world.
Her friend Jeffrey came with us and they had a play, she’s trying to teach him about coming back for treats!!! 😂😂
By making decisions for her she had a lovely morning walk and came home covered in mud and shattered!!! Happy dog, happy mum! 💕💕💕

28/10/2023

COME HAVE SOME FUN WITH YOU DOG TRAINING! Spaces in Canford Park, W-on-T Friday mornings. 930am and 1030am. For dogs that have some of the basics already. Email [email protected]

26/10/2023

This field is excellent for any clients looking for a secure walking area, I’ve used it a few times!

26/10/2023

One of the most common mistakes that people make when trying to help fearful dogs is the tough-love style method of thinking “they need to get used to it!”

Usually this way of thinking leads to an owner exposing their dog to the thing that scares them over and over again, in the hope that the dog will figure out that it isn’t scary.

Dog trainers call this “flooding”, and it very rarely has the desired outcome. Just like suddenly throwing a bucket of spiders at an arachnophobe, forcing a dog into a situation that terrifies them is more likely to INCREASE their fear. An arachnophobe covered in an unexpected bucket-load of spiders will not be calmly rationalising the situation and realising that spiders aren’t scary – the overwhelming nature of the situation will place them into flight and fight mode, and it’s likely that they’ll walk away from the encounter with an even greater fear.

The same logic applies to dogs when they’re forced way beyond the threshold of what they’re comfortable with, like when a dog who is nervous about other dogs is forced into a busy dog park.

This method also has the added side effect of destroying the dog’s trust in the humans who forced them into the terrifying situation – just like how the arachnophobe would feel about the person that attacked them with spiders.

Instead of forcing a dog to face their fear, it is much more effective to gradually desensitise a dog to their triggers, moving carefully and slowly to create new, positive associations.

- Maddie Ross, That Dog Geek

12/08/2023

Someone's having a very lazy day after attending puppy classes with me this morning! She has had a busy couple of days with family staying over, so shes enjoying some calm down time this afternoon!
She's definitely turning into a very lovely dog after a challenging start!
We start our gun dog training tomorrow!

11/07/2023

So it lasted just over 10 minutes! Better than not frozen which is about 2! Remember licking is calming, so having a licki matt in the freezer ready for when you need to calm the zoomies or biting is a great idea! I prepared mine at 5ish knowing the 8-10pm stretch is the hardest!

18/06/2023

I always love to see the puppies practicing what they have learnt in class in 'real life'! Great work Ootie the whippet! Do what's app me your training videos so I can share!!!! 💕💕

15/06/2023

Whilst we hope you're enjoying the sunshine, please remember to keep your pooches safe and cool in the heat ☀️🐶 Here's our top tips, please share them with all your dog owner friends 💛

09/06/2023

Some great work in the park this morning, with our new youngest recruit to classes! Lots of shade and water but finished nice and early before its too hot!

07/06/2023

Tonight we lost our amazing Taya, 15years and 7 months was a great life, but having been around so long she leaves a huge hole, the kids never knew life without her. She used to come to class with me and sit in her bed, she taught a lovely spaniel how to walk on a lead, she lived life like a spaniel cos she shared life with one.
It's the hardest decision to let them go, but she was blind, deaf, didn't go for walks, balance issues, and lost a lot of weight......it was time, but still the hardest decision to make. Looking back at how she used to be is healing the heart! The number of times over 15 years people asked what she was.... a lowchen.... little lion dog, I loved it when someone knew the breed! Everyone should have one there amazing!

31/05/2023

Mutleys has puppy class spaces for June 12th daytime class (Canford)/15th(Redland) still available, we generally book up early so this is great opportunity to get in if you didn't think about puppy classes and you already have your dog.....lots of out clients get in touch early so late June is booked up but early June seems to have missed out 🤣🤣🤣 do email us at [email protected] we would love to help!

28/05/2023

So this weekend we have experienced lots of new things! Long line attached to start but once she shows us shes confident and happy it can come off! She's been living the best life!

20/05/2023

So today we ventured a bit further, new fields with longer grass, a visit to the allotment and the pub! She did great, met a few big dogs at pub, and made good choices to come away when called! It's not all perfect, she still bites and wees in house, but at 12 weeks we are making progress. It was driving us crazy that someone had to have eyes on when out the crate so we made kitchen completely puppy safe (no cables, removed a couple of chairs she thought were fun to chew) so now we can leave her in kitchen with toys and chews and pop out or have a shower without worry!
She did however, just dig in her water bowl and flood the kitchen floor!!! 🤣🤣🤣

18/05/2023

Puppy class spaces available to start Saturday 27th May at 10am in Frampton Cotterell. Do get in touch if your looking for a small group class using positive training methods! Only 2 spaces left! Email [email protected] to book!

08/05/2023

Puppy class spaces available to start next Monday in Canford Park, WOT. 10am. Do email to enquire [email protected]