Midlands Mutts Dog Training

13/04/2025

Looking to develop a dog you can be proud of in any situation?

Midlands Mutts’ Perfect Pet class is designed to help you build essential life skills with your dog — creating a relationship and behaviours you can rely on every day.

We’ll be focusing on life skills training, not tricks or gimmicks- equipping you and your dog with the tools to navigate daily life with ease and confidence.

Our class is drop in, and adaptable to each dog’s individual learning stage through 1:1 help throughout meaning you’ll get the most out of your time.

• £15 per dog
• Suitable for ALL dogs
• Based in Newstead Village, Nottingham

29/03/2025

INTRODUCING PERMANENT TRAINING PACKAGES AT MIDLANDS MUTTS

We have currently got 2 spaces available for 1:1 clients due to 2 of our dogs graduating!

Get in touch for further information 📧

Also, if you have messaged us and haven’t heard back yet- please give us a poke. We’ve had some messages moved into ‘read’ when we haven’t opened them recently.

23/03/2025

OUR NEW CLASS STRUCTURE IS STARTING FROM APRIL 5TH.

10AM: Obedience Skills- suitable for dogs who already have their foundations in order, and are seeking to push further. We will be going over proofing the basics alongside adding in some fun new tricks and skills, like emergency downs, article detection, and send aways.

11AM: Lifeskills&Neutrality - suitable for all dogs (yes, even ones who are just starting their training journey or are reactivity cases!) to work on neutrality to both humans and dogs- alongside adding in important lifeskills such as vet handling, muzzle training, and cooperative play for relationship.

12PM-1PM: Perfect Pet Obedience - suitable for all dogs, especially newbies who are wanting to start their training journey and owners who want to own a pet they can take anywhere. In this class, we will focus on all the skills weekly that your dog needs to navigate life in a safe and controlled manner.

All our classes will remain drop in sessions, and you can mix and match which ones you want to do each week.

Based in Newstead Village, Nottingham.

17/03/2025

Birthday bites for Ada, and the foster boy had a few goes too!

10/03/2025

Our next puppy course will be starting on Sunday 30th March 2025 at 10AM, and will take place for 6 weeks.

We will be learning more than ever before, visiting 6 different locations to work on real life socialisation- alongside building a skillset for your puppy to set them up for life.

On your first week, you will also receive a puppy package to aid in the week by week training and continue your homework at home.

Week 1: Newstead Village: Importance of Relationship&Engagement - including becoming a source of dopamine to your puppy, building a trusting relationship, motivation and drive building, utilising freeshaping, and working through common puppy problems.

Week 2: Brierley Forest Park: Handling Skillset - including working through the basics of grooming, vet and health check handling, desensitising items such as brushes and stethoscopes, working on restraints, and using settle matts for introducing co-operative care skills.

Week 3: Wollaton Hall: Introduction to Essentials - building up basic obedience skills; inclusive of loose lead walking, recall foundations, and luring skills for positions.

Week 4: Giltbrook Shopping Centre: Confidence Building - including dealing with overarousal, working through manners in shops and cafes, utilising a settle matt for aiding in correct socialisation skills, introducing box feeding, and exploring the world to build confidence.

Week 5: Location TBC: Livestock Exposure - including building engagement around livestock, real life thresholds, building on recall and neutrality skills, and using place to aid in decompression.

Week 6: Nottingham Town Centre: Novel Exposure - including lifts, building on position stays, and an option train journey.

This course will be £100 including the puppy pack, and is suitable for all puppies 9 months and under.

We welcome previous puppy class students back to build on their skillset too!

We have very limited spaces available, so please contact us to book in ASAP.

03/03/2025

BE CAREFUL WHEN SELECTING A DOG WALKER FOR YOUR DOG.

Whilst it might seem great that your dog walker allows your dog off lead to run around in a group of other dogs, despite you knowing their recall lacks- it could be aiding in building frustration and negative experiences leading to reactivity based issues.

A lot of the dogs I meet who have been exposed to these situations from young struggle with overarousal, and become rude to other dogs due to having very little structure in their interactions.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve witnessed the following situations with so called professionals:

• A french bulldog off lead in a car park, chasing and running in front of cars, whilst a dog walker was stood chatting with other dog walkers for the 30 minutes I was out walking.
• A dog walker leaving the van with 6 dogs, and returning with 5, without realising. 10 minutes later they were back at the same location- so I can only assume they then realised.
• A dog walker out with 4 dogs who were all off lead and charging, circling and barking every other dog on the park (both on and off lead).
• A dog walker have a fight between 2 of the dogs, and then having 3 others join in, and just standing there on their phone.

However, I have also had an experience when walking my own dogs where a dog walker called all 6 of his dogs back to him and popped them in a sit to the side to let us past- so it’s definitely not all bad!

But, it’s very important to be careful who you select for your dog walker- and to make sure you throughly vet them, including joining them for a walk if you can. Reviews don’t mean anything if you haven’t seen what’s actually going on behind closed doors.

19/02/2025

The most beautiful pictures of my little duo. Thank you 📸

18/02/2025

TOAD:

Toad is my current foster dog, and will soon be looking for his forever home 🏡

Toad’s a Norfolk terrier, and is currently on a foster and train. Whilst training, we will be going over:

• Place training
• Recall Skills
• Clear Marker Words
• Basic Obedience
• Neutrality Towards People&Dogs
• Grooming Skills

He is crate trained, and already is showing good willingness to learn for his food. He will need a home where structure can be maintained.

Toad will be ready when he is trained to a level where he will be a suitable pet.

Not currently cat or child tested, but this can be done on request ✅

17/02/2025

No full grips, just collie nips🤣

28/01/2025

I’m not making this post to justify myself and my decisions to people who will disagree, I’m making this post to let others know it is COMPLETELY OKAY to give your dog back to the breeder or rehome if it isn’t working out.

Emmi will be going back to her wonderful breeder this week. I’ve been blessed to have this girl in my life for 4 months, but unfortunately- it wasn’t working out. I’ve made this decision after many discussions with myself about whether it was right or not, however I know it would be selfish not to allow her to find a home better suited where she can thrive.

I’m still grieving heavily, and I am yet to correctly process what happened to Otto. I’m not going to hide it or lie about it- Emmi was in some ways a rushed decision. Yes, she was planned before we lost Otto (god, I have planned to have a standard poodle for the past 6 years- she was the most planned dog I’ve owned) but she came at a time which meant I hadn’t given myself time to grieve correctly. Instead of giving myself time and waiting- I still went for her, because her litter was exactly what I’d wanted for so long. Yes, she was what I wanted- but I didn’t consider if she was what I needed at the time.

I need to give myself a few months off personal dog ownership (Ada will be staying, she’s my boyfriend’s dog first and foremost- I just get to do a lot of fun things with her), and to say it nicely- sort my s**t out. It’s unfair of any dog to come into my life right now, as mentally I cannot offer what one really needs from me.

I’m not ready to form a strong relationship with a new dog yet, and I’m just grateful I’ve realised this whilst Emmi is still so young and adaptable.

It’s okay to admit you are not the right home for a dog (even if it’s just a temporary thing and you end up getting another dog with time!), or a dog isn’t right for your home. And it’s better to let the dog go to a better situation than one you can offer, than to live with both of you not being as happy as you could be.

Thank you Emmi for the past few months. You’re a firecracker, and you deserve all the best in your forever home❤️

07/01/2025

Due a last minute let down, we now have one remaining space for our upcoming puppy course that starts this Sunday.

Suitable for all dogs up to 8 months of age.

06/01/2025

PAIN AND BEHAVIOUR:

If your dog is showcasing sudden behavioural changes, or has a random sequence of unpredictable behaviours with no known trigger- please take them to the vets for a full pain assessment BEFORE training.

Around 2 months ago, I had a lovely lady ring me desperately seeking help for her german shepherd. She’d been with her fair share of trainers since the behaviours started to show about a year ago, and none of them had been able to help outside of suppressing the behaviours short term. I asked regarding triggers- and as soon as this lady told me it could be anything, and it’s day dependent- I asked her to keep a diary for 2 weeks with anything he’d reacted to, how he’d reacted, what he’d done that day, and what he’d eaten to see if we could find a correlation. As I’d thought, the days he’d been out for long walks or been running with his owner were the days he’d struggle more.
At this point, I wasn’t happy to train with this dog without a pain check from the vets and explained this to his owner. I refuse to take money off someone when I think the field they’re struggling with is not where my experience lies.

And guess what, the same lady has just messaged me saying her dog has now not reacted for a week and gone back to the dog he was just over a year ago. What changed? He got diagnosed with hip dysplasia, and was placed on pain medication. No amount of training could have changed that the dog was in pain.

To summarise (and for people who don’t like reading a massive story🤣)- if your dog is showcasing a weird or sudden behavioural issue, instead of contacting a trainer firstly contact your vets. A LOT more behavioural issues are down to pain than people realise, and no amount of training done will solve a pain, neurological or discomfort based issue.

21/12/2024

Special thank you to ‘Santa Paws’ for joining our Christmas Class this year, we had a blast!

A few of the best pictures (and funniest🤣) to wish you all a very Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄

10/12/2024

05/12/2024

Our next puppy course will be starting on Sunday 12th January 2025 at 10AM, and will take place for 6 weeks.

We will be learning more than ever before, visiting 6 different locations to work on real life socialisation- alongside building a skillset for your puppy to set them up for life.

On your first week, you will also receive a puppy package to aid in the week by week training and continue your homework at home.

Week 1: Newstead Village: Importance of Relationship&Engagement - including becoming a source of dopamine to your puppy, building a trusting relationship, motivation and drive building, utilising freeshaping, and working through common puppy problems.

Week 2: Brierley Forest Park: Handling Skillset - including working through the basics of grooming, vet and health check handling, desensitising items such as brushes and stethoscopes, working on restraints, and using settle matts for introducing co-operative care skills.

Week 3: Wollaton Hall: Introduction to Essentials - building up basic obedience skills; inclusive of loose lead walking, recall foundations, and luring skills for positions.

Week 4: Giltbrook Shopping Centre: Confidence Building - including dealing with overarousal, working through manners in shops and cafes, utilising a settle matt for aiding in correct socialisation skills, introducing box feeding, and exploring the world to build confidence.

Week 5: Location TBC: Livestock Exposure - including water confidence, building engagement around livestock, real life thresholds, building on recall and neutrality skills, and using place to aid in decompression.

Week 6: Nottingham Town Centre: Novel Exposure - including lifts, building on position stays, and an option train journey.

This course will be £100 including the puppy pack, and is suitable for all puppies 9 months and under.

We welcome previous puppy class students back to build on their skillset too!

We have 4 spaces available, so please contact us to book in ASAP.

26/11/2024

FOR ENQUIRIES:

Please ensure you text or message us over call to arrange a phone call.

Unfortunately we are unable to answer calls throughout the day due to working with clients, so we require arranged phone calls.

Thank you for understanding!

05/11/2024

NEWBIE NOVEMBER PACKAGES:

All packages are open to new clients only.

Bronze: suitable for mild behavioural modification, foundational skillsets, or seeing if the training is correct for yourself and your dog.

Silver: suitable for behavioural modification, pushing for strong foundations and advancing further, and building on skillsets.

Gold: suited to more heavy behavioural modification cases, proofing and generalising foundational skillsets, and beginning tool training.

All Assessment&Foundation sessions will be roughly an hour and a half, and include putting together a plan suited to both the dog and owner to begin training.

We will then move onto Follow Up sessions to advance the training skills learnt, alongside building on the foundations established.

Classes and workshops included are to be used by the end of February 2025, however can be claimed throughout any point in your training journey.

Day Train session will be conducted by the trainer, and will include a handover for the owner. This can be arranged for any time throughout your training sessions.

01/11/2024

Happy November 🍂🍁