MeeraPuppins Puppy Training

03/09/2025

Don't tell the puppies, but Sol is looking for his new home!

13/08/2025

📷 in Chesterfield!

This lovely little lad is called Oakley. Hannah, at recommended Oakley's owners get in touch with me to help them with Oakley's chomping.

Do you remember Chomp chocolate bars? Delicious, right? But not so fun if the chocolate bar is your arm, your leg, the top of your head or sleeves (although who the hell is wearing sleeves in this weather?!)

This kind of mouthing behaviour needs active management, as it rarely gets better on its own.

I offered Oakley's owners a complimentary call to chat through what was going on, and recommended either my Zero to Hero or Problem to Practically Perfect Puppy training packages.

Whilst they're not quite ready to book in yet, they shared some feedback with me, based on our chat:

We booked the initial call to give Meera a clearer picture of our 7 month old Husky’s behaviour and challenges.

She asked lots of thoughtful questions that made us reflect on what we’ve been doing and how Oakley responds, which was very helpful.

She also shared valuable insights into why he may behave the way he does, helping us to understand him better and feel more confident about the way forward, along with the methods she would use to help him improve - exactly the guidance we were hoping to get from the call!

Meera came highly recommended by our dog walker, who spoke very highly of her, which made us feel even more confident in reaching out!

The call felt well-paced - not too long or short - and it was great to have the time to discuss Oakley’s individual needs and behaviour.

Although we decided not to move forward at the moment, we felt more informed and reassured about the next steps to support him and will definitely be in touch with Meera in the future!

If you're ready for some Meera Puppins magic, get in touch via the links in the comments!

11/08/2025

A couple of weeks ago, the BBC aired some more dirty laundry, with "Rescue Dog Roulette - Dogs from Abroad" - a documentary about the perils of adopting a foreign rescue dog.

I don’t have a TV licence (I like to buy posh Spanish cheese and extra lives on Candy Crush instead) so can’t say I have watched the documentary, but I have read all the online articles about it… and I have worked with rescue pups from abroad.

In the early days of Meera Puppins, my clients had adopted their dogs from abroad – mainly Romania. We worked through the big challenges of taking a dog from the streets and putting them into a home.

We often think of street dogs as poor little things who need a loving home. Here’s what we often don’t consider:

- Street dogs have a lot of freedom. There is no lead.
Compare this with what we want for our pups – no pulling on the lead, nice gentle walks, twice a day for the next 15 years.

- They create their own routines – now we are dictating theirs.

- They eat when they’re hungry (or can find food). Now what? One or two meals a day served from a boring bowl? (also, please feed your dogs twice a day!)

- They rest when they’ve found a safe spot – usually somewhere high up as it helps to have a vantage point. But at home we don’t want dog hair on the sofa, or in the bed.

- They are often really well socialised with other dogs, learning loads about body language, and how to manage conflicts. Yet we bring them home and enrol them into awful doggy daycares – the most unnatural environment for most dogs, never mind a streetie!

- It’s often really hard to predict, or assess, how a streetie will settle into pet life. On day three, most owners are overwhelmed, exhausted and worried. How do we think the dog feels?

I definitely don’t agree that it’s “easier” to get a dog from abroad. It’s actually much harder, because you can’t really replicate their freedom or autonomy over their own decisions.

If you’ve rescued an ex-street dog, you need a trainer who actually gets it and doesn’t treat all dogs like they’re the same.
Foreign rescue dogs are some of the most resourceful, brilliant and resilient pups I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

If you're not sure who has rescued who, if you're feeling overwhelmed, stuck in a rut or worried things won't get better, why don't we talk about it?

Check out the links in the comments for my help.

02/08/2025

Do you want to play a game?
Or shall I tell you a love story?

Once upon a time, I (late thirties, single, because where have all the good men gone?) matched on a dating app with a man wearing tinfoil, riding a hobby horse, thinking I'd be fooled into believing he's a knight in shining armour...

He was handsome and charming, until he shared this photo of his dog.

Suddenly the magical spell was broken, and the prince revealed his true form - gullible ogre.

Whilst I am lucky (grateful?) that this is the only "d" pic he shared with me, it was enough to cause me the same amount of discomfort as the princess and the annoying little pea...

A couple of messages later, I unmatched...

Alas! our fairytale was over...but not without educating him first.

Comments are open, the floor is yours... what can you see in the photo of the dog, that spoils every single love story?

P.S. It's not A I

24/07/2025

Can you help us? Perhaps you didn't know, but I work full time at Blue Cross Sheffield Rehoming and Advice Unit and we would be really grateful for any donations from our Amazon list :)

Our rehoming centre is currently in need of dog and cat food to help us care for the pets in our foster homes and to support our pet food bank, which helps local families struggling to feed their much-loved animals 💙

If anyone can donate any food or items please head to our Amazon Wishlist — every donation, big or small, makes a real difference!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3KZJS8UOAKI4L/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1

Your support means we can continue to care for the animals that rely on us and support the people who love them 🐾💙

Thank you for being part of our amazing community!

21/07/2025

Just leaving this here if you're going through a rough patch in your relationship with your puppy or teenage dog right now.

If you're fed up of being ignored by your pup, frustrated when they don't listen to you, wondering if things will ever get better, or if you've considered (even briefly) rehoming your pooch, I'd strongly recommend that you don't go to any Coldplay concerts.

Raising a puppy isn't easy - especially when they turn into teenagers.

Relationships (but not with CEO's) are the beating heart of Meera Puppins. I built my entire business on the idea that whenever you get a puppy, or an older dog, you should start by focusing on your relationship first.

This means tuning into what your pup is feeling, rather than what they're doing.

If your puppy is nervous, worried, anxious or scared, who cares if they know how to "sit" or "wait" before you put their food down?

Equally if your puppy treats your house like a personalised obstacle course, and behaves in permanent chaos goblin mode, instead of jumping straight into obedience (gross) or training, maybe we need to think about how we're holding up our end of the deal?

Relationships are often the most overlooked part of raising, socialising and training your puppy.

Everyone asks me "how do I train my puppy not to...", "how do I teach my puppy to...", "how do I stop my puppy from..."

Yes, I know those things are important to you, and they can be important to me too.

You want a Practically Perfect Puppy?

Let's start with what talking about what's happening at your end of the lead.

Link in the comments to book a complimentary 20 minute puppy chit chat with me.

11/07/2025

This Slush is the only kind of puppy I want to see outside right now...

By the way, are you grumpy yet?

Aside from the temperatures, do you know what else is soaring?

Irritability.

We are not equipped for this.
Our houses don't have air con built in.
Our freezers aren't big enough to fit our bodies inside.
The beaches are stinking wet with sewage.
Instead of lounging by our paddling pools, sipping gin & tonics, we're fighting over the last Calippo in Tesco.
Beer gardens might be heaving, but we're stuck on Teams calls, with laptops running at 2,000°c
At night, we're too hot to sleep.
In the morning, too annoyed to function.

And what about the puppy?

Doesn't want to go for a walk.
Doesn't want to eat their food.
Doesn't want to play.
Doesn't understand why they can't go outside, even when you explain, for the tenth time, if you open the garden door, they will actually die.

Your dog is probably fed up too.

I'm not going to regurgitate advice on heatstroke and why you shouldn't be walking your dog on your lunch break - you can search for this online.

Instead, here's some other stuff you might not have thought of:

- If your pup is out of their routine, not eating or sleeping as much as normal, they might get irritated quicker than they usually would.

- Growling is one of the first signs that they're unhappy - it means back off, not that your dog is necessarily aggressive.
If your pup is growling, accept this as you've done something wrong, and stop doing it!

- This is the not the best time to socialise your puppy with other dogs.

- Also probably not a good idea to invite your children's friends round for playdates - unless you can safely separate your puppy.

Things your dog previously tolerated - such as you kissing their face, or smooshing them, might now be met with a paw battering to your face.

- If your pup doesn't want to go for a walk, don't make them. You've got a solid 16 years of dog walks ahead of you, who cares if you miss a few.

- If your dog is picking at their food, don't give them loads of treats, unless you want them to get diarrhoea. Offer smaller portions of their food, a little more regularly than you usually would.

Did I miss anything? Post your hot-dog Summer stories in the comments!

08/07/2025

I was at work and heard her crying before she walked into the building.
As soon as she opened the door, I thought to myself: "to hell with being professional, I'm going to be human!"
I threw my arms out and gave her the biggest, squishiest hug I could manage.
Her dog had no idea what was about to happen. It was a very sad day.

Over and over again I've been hearing
"I couldn't do your job!"

It's meant as a compliment of sorts, I suppose.

I work full time in rescue, and I'm four years into running Meera Puppins.

I see the best of your pets, and often, the saddest, most broken-hearted bits of people.

The last few weeks have been pretty harrowing, and I've lost count of how many times I've heard "Ooh I couldn't do your job!"

But here's the thing, you don't have to do my job.

My clients call me when things go wrong. When they want help. When something bad has happened. When they're not sure what to do. They call me when they want expert advice. They text me when they're worried about getting something wrong. They ask for my opinion because they know I'm qualified and experienced enough to have a helpful one. They let me know when things are going well, because they know I'll be proud of them.

They don't call me because they already know how to train their puppy. They don't email me with a "spot the difference" exercise between a trainer that uses all four operant conditioning quadrants, and a trainer that only uses one. They don't text me because they've just finished reading a research paper on epigenetics and now know why their puppy is afraid of water.

They call me because I know how to do my job.
Then they book with me, because I do my job really well.

So here's the thing - you don't need to do my job, to raise the puppy that you want.

All you need to do is think about whether you want my help.

I've got two spaces for 1-2-1 puppy training this month.

If you'd like to book one of those spaces, let me know, by checking out the links in the comments.

Meera

P.S. DM's will be read & then forgotten about 🤣
📷 On a walk with my friend's big puppy ;)

30/06/2025

Things to do instead of walking your puppy

Find a comparison website for sun cream. Splurge on a range of different factors, and report back on which one is the least likely to leave you looking like a kebab in the doner shop window.

Stuff a Kong with your puppy's wet food and chill it in the fridge, or freeze it. Supervise when they're attacking it to get the food out.

Eat ice cubes directly from the tray and refill it with gin.

Do the touch test. Stroke your puppy (not when they're sleeping!) for 3 seconds and stop. Do they still want your hot hands on their hot fur, or do they want you to go away? 

Eat cheese directly from the block. Take large bites and then palate cleanse with a Granny Smith apple. 

If you're worried your puppy will chew a cooling mat and lick the poison out of it, soak a towel in cool water instead. Don't leave your puppy lying on a crispy towel. 

Watch a documentary about life in Antarctica. For maximum effect, watch whilst wearing a puffer jacket, with your extremities submerged in ice cold water. 

Get ready to complain about it being too cold / too grey / too windy / too rainy.

Don't freak out if your puppy eats a bit less than normal. Equally, don't try and fill the portion gap with rich treats, unless you like cleaning up warm diarrhoea.

Buy a fan and keep the receipt. Its set to get cooler next week.*

P.S. I've only got 2 spaces left for private puppy training in July. If you want one, or think you might want one, I'm afraid you'll have to tell me. Email me to [email protected]

📷 Meersbrook Park yesterday. No doggies. Too chuffin hot.

*I have no idea if this is true.

🐶

26/06/2025

Life lately...

When people tell me “life has been crazy lately” I assume they are referring to the sweaty panic when you want to wear a top that’s been festering at the bottom of your washing basket for the past two months, and making this decision 18 minutes before heading out to an event that’s been in your Google calendar long enough for you to have planned this better.

Anyone that takes 3 seconds to reply to a DM, yet 5-7 days to reply to an email, and fobs me off with “life’s been so busy!” gets an auto-response from my brain that reads: so busy that the cheese in your fridge has reached its expiry date? No? Had time to eat it all? Can’t be that busy then.

So I’m going to tell you that for the last year (calendar year, not as in “the other day” kind of year) I’ve been doing everything in the name of sorting out my health (women’s health, men look away, we don’t need you fainting and then blaming it on the heat please) and not as much as I’d have liked on Meera Puppins.

I keep coming back and going away for a little bit. Some of this is my fault (I started watching Yellowstone) and some of it isn't.

Despite not showing up as much on social media, I’m still here, doing puppy things.

I’ve got space for two new clients in July.

Meera Puppins is for puppy training and puppy socialisation. It’s my area of expertise, and the thing I’m really good at.

Currently, I can work with you in person, on a 1-2-1 basis – this means I turn up at your house, you don’t have to go out or change out of your crocs.

We can work together remotely if you’re not in Sheffield – this means you have to learn not to hate Teams calls.

I can also help with teenage dog behaviour – crap recall, not listening, doing weird things they didn’t do before, driving you mad... I'm here for it.

So this is me. And this is my “life at the moment” post.

If you want to recreate the scene in Aladdin where the genie grants him three wishes, I'm happy to put on a blue suit and offer you my help with:

1) having a properly lovely relationship with your puppy - the kind where you just get each other's moods and feelings, and make everyone jealous that they're not part of your secret best friends club.

2) Figuring out how to train your puppy to do the stuff you want them to do.

3) How to keep this good stuff going, even after our training sessions are over.

If you want to make your wishes my command, check out the links in the comments

If you're more interested in something else right now, tell your friends / family about me - thank you, please.

P.S. Ask me about my outfit.

16/06/2025

I see you…struggling.

It’s lovely to think that your puppy will grow out of whatever annoying thing it is that they’re doing. Whether it’s not listening when you tell them “no”, using your kitchen floor as their very own Portaloo, or treating your arms and legs as a chew toy, one thing is for sure, your puppy is definitely going to grow.

But that doesn't mean they’re going to grow out of their annoying (or gross) behaviours.

What you don’t want to end up with, is a bigger version of the same problems.

It might be cute when your teeny-weeny itsy-bitsy puppy jumps up to greet you or playfully chomps on your hand. It’s definitely not as cute when your puppy is now a 30kg beast who terrifies small children, and is the subject of the neighbourhood group chat (miniature dachshunds, I’m not looking at you, we’ve heard you bark).

What do you do, when your puppy does stuff you don’t like?

Google for help? Friends and family? Buy a book off t’internet? (and hope your puppy doesn't eat it).

How do you feel when every search for help gives you a different answer?

You should yelp ouch when your puppy bites.
You should never react when your puppy bites.

You should rub your puppy’s nose in their wee and poo.
You should calmly clean up the mess and not make a fuss.

You should push your puppy’s bum onto the ground if they jump up.
You should definitely ignore them until their paws are on the floor.

Blah blah blah.

Is it helpful or is it confusing?

You don’t need more advice.
You don’t need to be told what to do.

What you need, is someone who understands why your puppy is behaving like a gremlin that’s been fed after midnight. And then helps you with the “no feeding” rules (not literally, hangry puppies are legit terrifying).

Feeling seen?
Fancy a chat about it?
Book a complimentary puppy chit chat with me.

Link in the comments.

P.S. The sequel to the "didn't grow out of it phase" is the teenage turd stage. Sorry. The good news is, I can help you with this too.

09/05/2025

To avoid doing one thing, I've now done forty seven things.

All I need to do is rewrite the copy for my new S11 Puppy Owners Survival Guide.

I'm not going to list my 47 achievements, only the most worthy of a four fingered (KitKat) pat on the back.

I have dusted the skirting boards that nobody sees. The bits hidden by furniture, plush rugs, and Medusa heads of wires and cables.

Chanced upon a secret, magic Inbox, that is neither secret (because I set it up last year and forgot about it) nor magic (because all it had saved was an old complaint from a client).

Called my mortgage broker. This involved justifying why going to Tesco 18 times a week is vital to my wellbeing, and feigning credit card fraud when he realised my Google Play Store receipts are for boosters on particularly challenging levels of Candy Crush.

Doing one thing (a thing) is often much harder than doing forty-seven things. Don't ask me why. But I do know that when you have a puppy, one thing is always harder than the other.

The relentless, paper-cut like biting from your puppy is worse than the sleepless nights after you've shovelled them into their crate, and stealthily crept out of the room, only to stand frozen on the bottom step, listening to the intro of the nightly soundtrack, which goes like this: hooowwwwwoooooooYIPYIPYAPwoofBARK + a thump on the wall from your neighbours.

Toilet training your puppy is worse than trying to go for a walk with them, because they move like a velociraptor, and do nothing to help you look capable when strangers helpfully shout out "who's walking who?!" "got your hands full there have you!".

Trying to stop your puppy from jumping up is worse than having to live through their nightly relay race through the lounge, the hallway, and heart-stopping hurdling over the sofa, whilst you're trying to drink a cuppa and catch up with MAFs.

But what's the one thing that will help you?
The one thing that will stop you feeling you're doing it wrong?
The one thing that will help if you believe things are getting worse?
The one thing you should do, especially if you don't know the right thing to do.

Just one thing?
Maybe it's the Puppy Chit Chat thing in the comments.