MeeraPuppins Puppy Training

14/09/2025

How it started... and how it's going...

This version is called "37 year old puppy training lady who doesn't know how to do reels..." and missed a slide where I tell you that the first week of lockdown my friend drove me to Essex to emergency foster a rescue greyhound called Theo.

He had never lived in a home before and was nearly 6 years old. He stank my entire flat out, urinated on all my shoes, and smushed his way into my heart like no one else before.

For just under two years, I learnt what it means to love a "difficult" dog, and how to carry on when that love is gone.

11/09/2025

Thoughts of a 38 year old girl with a secret...

❤️ I'm not going to turn around from this photo and reveal a baby bump. I might show you what your belly looks like when you eat a box of doughnuts for your dinner though.

💅 The only ring on my finger is from a high street jewellery shop and I've no plans to change this. My Knight in shining armour is actually just a 5ft 10 bloke wearing own brand tinfoil, trying to ride in on a donkey. Which is cruel to the donkey.

🐕 You can know absolutely nothing about something you really like and spin it into your whole life.

🐈 I wanted to adopt a cat from work (I know) but I still love greyhounds so now I'm a hybrid cat-dog lady. This is also the official response to my marital status on paperwork.

☠️ Social media is the digitised version of Shrek's swamp. You got to try, try, try a little tenderness. And set a pre-recorded 3 minute timer that blares out all the insults from Mean Girls, so you can look at something else, but not through your phone screen.

🦴 4 years of Meera Puppins and the urge to rip up all my work and start with fresh, shiny new things is very real.

🏡 After 36 years of flitting around from job to job, home to home, I'm staying in

💩If you're getting your puppy from websites that sell cars, washing machines and real life animals, you need to stop it.

🏋‍♀️ Your puppy doesn't need to carry your unrealistic expectations. You've basically welcomed an adorable gremlin into your home. What happens next should be a collaborative approach.

💷 Price is relative to your budget. I'm possibly one of the most premium priced puppy trainers in Sheffield. I'm not a quick fix to your puppy training problems, but I am qualified, experienced, supportive and pretty funny sometimes.

🙋🏽‍♀️I'm taking on a couple of new pups for positive training in Sheffield & remotely also. Links in the comments if you want to book a chat first.

10/09/2025

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!

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.