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I'm a dog walker and trainer who believes in building trust and confidence between dogs and families

12/11/2026

How To # 4 – Dealing with a kangaroo pup

Jumping can be a really tricky one to resolve. You might not want your pup to jump on people, but other people usually scupper your attempts to prevent it – because they say “oh it’s all right, I love doggy cuddles”. The thing about pups is that they’re just too cute, and it’s really hard for people to resist them when they’re demanding attention 🥰.

Usually, if a dog jumps for attention, we reward them without realising it. We look at them, tell them to get off, or push them away – we’ve given them some attention, even if it’s just to tell them off, and they’ll merrily carry on jumping.

Here’s a few tips:
• Teach them the off switch. As soon as they jump, stand up straight and don’t engage with them. They soon figure out that the consequence is no fuss, but if they’re calm with 4 on the floor, they get all the fuss they want (unless they jump again…)
• Teach them something else to do instead, especially something that means they can’t be jumping at the same time. If you teach them that sitting gets attention and really reward the sitting, if they’re sitting they can’t also be jumping. There’s a few other exercises that I teach in the course that are great alternative greetings too.
• Make it easier for them to not jump when visitors come. Pop them behind a baby gate / in their pen / crate with something like a stuffed kong to keep them busy while you let the visitors in. Wait ‘til they’re settled, then bring pup in on lead so they can’t jump. You’ll also need to teach your visitors to be quiet and calm, and how you want them to greet pup. You’ll soon find out which is the easiest to teach – pup or person! 😁

As with any training, consistency is really important. If one person allows jumping and the other doesn’t, the pup will be confused and that can lead to a lot of frustration. The jumping can get more frantic because it’s worked before – why not now?!

And consistency applies to anything you want to teach – using the same verbal cues, the same hand signals, your tone of voice – keeping things predictable in this way makes life a whole lot easier for all of you.

If you and your pup would like to learn more, drop me a message for more information or to book your space on next Tuesday’s new course – it’s the last one of the year, so Xmas jumpers are welcome 🎄🐾.

10/11/2026

How to #3 – Prevent unwanted chewing

You know the scenario – you walk into the room and your book is in tatters over the floor, the remote control is in bits, there’s splinters of wood from your chair legs all over the rug (which looks like it’s been attacked by a herd of cats) 🙈…

I’ve been there too, my last dog very diligently chewed the toes and heels of my brand new shoes.

Pups don’t have hands (although they have very cute paws 🐾), so they use their mouths to explore things and pick them up. They also chew if they are teething, and if they’re bored.

When a pup is teething, chewing both helps to ease the pain, and helps get the baby teeth moving out quicker too. Chewing also releases endorphins which help relax them, and gives them something to do.

So what do you do to prevent your belongings being chewing fodder?
• Accept that puppies and dogs need to chew.
• Provide as many legal things to chew as possible.
• Give lots of alternative textures like hard and soft rubber, fleece, rope etc, and make sure that chewing is supervised to avoid them swallowing bits that they chew off. I’ll talk more in a post later this week about enrichment – giving them mental as well as physical exercise to prevent boredom.
• Keep things you don’t want chewed out of the way (yes, tidying up is a no brainer I’m afraid 😊).
• Alternatively put pup in a safe place like their crate or pen if you can’t supervise them, especially in an area where there are things they might chew – like chair legs, cables, carpets etc.

There may be times when you’ll spot them about to chew something they shouldn’t, but instead of shouting and getting cross, you can teach your pup a positive interrupter, so they’ll drop what they’re chewing and run to you instead, which is something I teach in the Puppy ABC’s course.

So if you'd like to learn more and join the next Puppy ABC's course, it starts on Tuesday 17th November at 6pm at the Marychurch Centre in Bucknall. Drop me a message for more information or book a spot 🐶

10/11/2026

How To #2 - Nipping

Puppies can be land sharks. Those tiny needle teeth are razor sharp, and when they latch on to your skin, clothes etc, they really make their mark, ouch!

So what do we do to save our pain? Here’s a few tips:

• I’ve often found that if you wear loose clothing, it acts like a beacon to them, so avoid flowy sleeves and trousers if this attracts your pup.
• Play with them with a soft toy rather than your bare hand at this stage – much better they take it out on the toy rather than you!
• Try to redirect them onto a toy, either by holding the other end of a toy for tuggy games, squeak one to get their attention, throw one a short distance away for them to pounce on (which moves them away from chomping on you!) or play a food throwing game (I teach one in class).
• Avoid handling them when they’ree over-excited or over-tired. If you pick them up when they don’t want to be handled, and they bite you, and you put them down – they’ve learned that biting works.
• Instead, when they’re nice and relaxed, hand-feeding treats, gentle play and stroking helps teach them that hands are great and they don’t need to tell you to go away.
• As soon as they put tooth to skin say “too bad” in a calm voice and walk away, which teaches them that if they bite, all the fun stops. Stay away for a couple of minutes and then gently start interacting again. Repeat as necessary. It may take a while, but they figure it out eventually!
• Teach them an alternative behaviour instead – in the Puppy ABC’s course I teach Touch which is a great one for them to do instead of nipping.

If you'd like to learn more, the next Puppy ABC's course starts on Tuesday 17th November at 6pm at the Marychurch Centre in Bucknall. When you book a spot, you receive a pre-course info pack to help you get started even before the course begins, including dealing with nipping alongside those other puppy pitfalls 😍

09/11/2026

I’m focusing on “How To’s” for puppies this week, so if you’ve recently welcomed your gorgeous furry friend home, these posts are for you 🐶.

One of the first hurdles you’ll come across is potty training. Puppies will go whenever they need to, and wherever’s convenient, because they don’t know the best place to go to begin with. So lets deal with both of these in turn.

Knowing When - young puppies don’t have the best bladder control, and may need to wee every 15-30 minutes when active, but generally they most often want the loo:
• First thing in the morning, after a nap, and last thing at night
• After eating (which stimulates their digestive system – puppies usually wee within 15 mins of eating, and poo within ½ hour of eating))
• After any excitement such as play, or a visitor arriving – uber exciting!
• If you see them sniffing and circling the floor, or whining, pacing and scratching the door.

Teaching them Where –
• To begin with, when they’re not in a pen, crate, or den (because they rarely potty where they sleep and eat), you need to supervise them.
• Have a timetable of when you should take your pup out to potty based on the above, rather than waiting until they really need to go, to avoid accidents.
• Take pup to your preferred potty spot and wait, quietly and calmly, without talking to your pup or stroking them - you don’t want them to be distracted or think it’s playtime or they won’t want to go. You might have to wait a while…
• As soon as they’ve gone to the loo, praise and treat them. If this happens straight after going, it tells them that they’ve gone in the right place and they’ll want to repeat this, to get the good stuff again.
• If they don’t go after a few minutes, just quietly take them back inside, put them back in their den and try again in about 10 minutes. Repeat if needed and immediately they go, praise and treat – as soon as they’ve finished and not just when it starts – as they may just do half a job, grab the treat and finish off inside.

If you’re using puppy pads and want to encourage them to potty outside, take a used pad outside so that the scent will encourage them to go on that spot. And it’s likely when they’re very young that you’ll need to take them out during the night – but remember it’s a potty break only, not an excuse for an out-of-hours play session, or you’ll really be setting yourself up for broken nights!!

There’s likely to be accidents, but please don’t shout at your puppy or rub their nose in it (I remember being told this many years ago). Just calmly clear it up. They don’t know any better at this stage, and any punishment could just result in them not wanting to potty in front of you, which stores up a whole other set of problems.

And if you’d like to join the next Puppy ABC’s group, it starts on Tuesday 17th November at 6pm at the Marychurch Centre in Bucknall. Drop me a message to find out more or book a spot.

06/11/2026

A couple of the latest Puppy ABC's graduates (the humans not the puppers - we've not taught them to use social media yet!) were kind enough to leave the following reviews:

Bailey (Facebook review) - Absolutely amazing class- a small group of 6 puppies. Very informative tips and training. Homework emails sent after every class to run through everything we had done, which was very handy if you had forgotten anything. Highly recommended if you have a puppy 🐶

Enzo (Google review) - We have loved this experience. Myself and Enzo have learned so much. We now have the tools to ensure the work we have done continues. I would fully recommend this for everyone. I liked that Lesley said any concerns just drop an e mail and I will reply. Which I thought was brilliant even though the cause is finished. Thank you Lesley.

The next course starts on Tuesday 17th November, so get in touch if you'd like to join our small, friendly class, and its the last one of the year!🐾🐾

04/11/2026

Congratulations to latest Puppy ABC's graduates Bailey, Barnaby, Clover, Enzo and Sylvia, who've been brilliant over the last 6 weeks and I'm really going to miss them. I had to add in Sylvie's speaking photo as it just made me laugh 😂.

One of the final exercises was going back to basics but working really closely together, and as you can see from the final photo they really rocked it. Building up their ability to do things in closer proximity to exciting things like other dogs and people is really worth doing, so you can do things like have a relaxing time in the pub or cafe 😊.

The final course of the year starts on Tuesday 17th November, so if you'd like to join us and get ready for a harmonious Christmas, drop me a message 🐾

01/11/2026

For a dog who was pretty full on (some might say feral 🙈🤣) when we adopted him all those years ago, Crumps has become something of a father figure to dogs who are a bit worried about other dogs. He just seems to give out a calming vibe to them, bless him.

In recent years he's helped out in my work with some dogs who react towards other dogs, and a couple of days ago we met a neighbour who's dog is a little anxious and will bark to send dogs off from the other side of the street. We were on the same side of the road, and Crumpy was sniffing around minding his own business. The little dog felt brave with him not looking and instead of barking had a little sniff around him, and when he turned around she didn't freak out. Little steps like this can make such a difference in building a dog's confidence, and hopefully next time we see her she'll be even more confident.

On the flip side of the coin, his girlfriend Jess visited him yesterday, and the two of them chased each other round the living room, had a few play fights, and generally had a great time - watch to the end for the kiss-and-make-up 🥰🐾. He's twice her age, but we certainly could't tell!! I think she was the boss though 😍.

29/10/2026

Life with a puppy often comes with it’s challenges - nipping, chewing, stealing things, ignoring you, pooping and peeing all over the house..! But you’re not alone, and I’m here to help.

Puppy ABC’s group classes are small and friendly, to help you and your pup learn in a safe space, and you can even get started before the course begins:

🐾 Once you've booked a space, you receive an information pack to help you get started straightaway. It’ll help you with the puppy pitfalls mentioned, as well as finding out how to keep them entertained (especially if you’re waiting til they're fully vaccinated before taking them for walks).

🐾 In your first session the puppies get the chance to meet each other safely in the enrichment zone, which is full of objects for them to explore. This helps the pups to settle into this new space, and with each other by having something fun to do, helps them be a bit calmer by doing some sniffing and searching, and also helps to build up confidence, both by giving them the opportunity for problem solving but also to get out of the way of the other pups if they're feeling a bit shy.

🐾 You’ll learn the basics like teaching them to pay attention to you, settle, sit, lie down, walk nicely on the lead, recall, drop and leave, among other things, and I use fun ways of teaching them so it's more like a game - I want them to enjoy learning.

🐾 You’ll receive an email after each session detailing what we've covered to help you practice.

🐾 Places are limited to 6 so each pup has got plenty of space to learn, and each team has plenty of 1:1 time with me to guide them through each exercise and help with any problems.

🐾 Classes are friendly! We all have the chance to talk, swap horror stories of our little land sharks and give each other support.

So what else do you need to know?

🐾 Classes are on Tuesday evenings at the Marychurch Centre in Bucknall. The next course with spaces available starts on Tuesday 17th November at 6pm.

🐾 Each course lasts for 6 weeks and is £99.

There's plenty of reviews on Facebook and Google if you'd like to do a bit more research, as well as some lovely comments from graduates on previous Facebook posts.

If you'd like to join, just drop me a message or email to [email protected] and I'll send you the booking info. Hope to see you and your puppers there 🐶🐾 .

23/10/2026

Miss Diva decided she absolutely wasn't going outside in the downpour earlier (I can't blame her!!) so I made a big snuffle course for her to sniff round instead. I just emptied out loads of her toys from the toybox, spread them round the floor, and dropped tiny bits of treat for her to search for. I kept moving the toys around and dropping more treats in the areas she wasn't sniffing, and she had a great time 🐶💖.

There's so many ways of giving dogs more opportunities to do doggy things (aka enrichment), whether its sniffing, searching, hunting, playing... and this is a really easy one to do. Think about what you might have lying around at home and use it to give your dog a sniffing experience - and post some videos below 😊. I have a big blanket for my boy that I scrumple up and hide some of his food in, and he really loves it. Added bonus is that it's easy to chuck in the washer!

Enrichment is something I talk to all my students about, whether in the Puppy ABC's group classes or those I work with 1-2-1. It's beneficial in so many ways, including that because they have something constructive to do, they're less likely to go self-employed to find entertainment for themselves - like chewing your stuff... It also means that you don't have to brave the storm to give them entertainment if you can give them alternatives at home (although of course they'll need their potty time outside).

21/10/2026

Week 4 of the Puppy ABC's course includes teaching pups how to drop things - you know what they're like, they'll pick up all sorts of random stuff, and either try to eat it, hide it, or just want to play tuggy with it - but definitely not give it back 🙈.

This is just one of the ways you can teach a pup to drop, by trading one thing for another, and putting it on cue. Making it a game means that pup doesn't feel anxious about giving up something they have, so it's less stressful for you too!

Making training fun, no matter what you're trying to teach, gives your pup more of an incentive to want to work with you too, so it's a win all round 😍.

And if you'd like to join the next group, it starts on Tuesday 10th November - get in touch for more info 🐾.

Address

Burslem

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 7pm
Tuesday	9am - 8pm
Wednesday	9am - 7pm
Thursday	9am - 7pm
Friday	9am - 8pm
Saturday	9am - 4pm

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+447936054047

Website

https://waggydogs.org.uk/

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