Muttley Crew Dog Training & Behaviour Ltd

Muttley Crew Dog Training & Behaviour Ltd Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Muttley Crew Dog Training & Behaviour Ltd, Dog trainer, Cwmbran.

Helping you understand your dog's reactivity through kindness and compassion

Reactivity and Separation Anxiety Specialist
Trauma Rehabilitation
Scent work Specialist

🧠🐾 Puppy Destruction: It’s Not Naughty—It’s Normal! 🐾🧠If your puppy is chewing, tearing, digging, or destroying things… ...
26/06/2025

🧠🐾 Puppy Destruction: It’s Not Naughty—It’s Normal! 🐾🧠

If your puppy is chewing, tearing, digging, or destroying things… you're not alone. This behaviour is completely normal—but that doesn’t mean you have to live with it! 💥🐶

From a behaviourist’s perspective, here’s what’s REALLY going on 👇

🔍 Why Puppies Destroy Things:

Teething pain (especially between 3–6 months)

Exploring the world with their mouths

Boredom and under-stimulation

Lack of appropriate outlets

Unmet physical or mental needs

Stress or frustration (yes, puppies get stressed too!)

Too much FREEDOM - If your puppy isnt making good choices, keep them where you can watch them!

💡 Management Is Key
We don’t "train out" destruction—we manage and prevent it to stop the behaviour before it becomes a habit.

🔑 Top Management Strategies:

Puppy-proof your home – remove temptation! Keep shoes, wires, remotes, and bins out of reach. Anything you don't want pup to get hold of - move out of the way!

Safe confinement – use pens, crates, or baby gates to limit access when unsupervised. Puppies and adolescent dogs DO NOT make good choices.

Growing more calmness will absolutely help! (We have a class called Peaceful Pups that starts very soon!)

Rotate enrichment – frozen KONGs, snuffle mats, puzzle toys = mental gold 💎

Offer appropriate chew items – different textures for teething pups. Frozen carrots are our favourite!

✅ Prevention Starts Early:
Teaching your puppy what to chew is just as important as stopping what not to chew. Reinforce good choices. Supervise. Redirect. Repeat. This incudes nipping and chewing on people too - redirect!

🚫 Punishment doesn’t work—it just damages trust. Instead, set your pup up to succeed by controlling their environment. We do not endorse punishments of any kind here - if our pup is doing something wrong, it's on US to show them another way.

🐶✨ Behaviour is communication. If your puppy is destructive, they’re not being “bad”—they’re telling you what they need.

Let’s meet them halfway. 💛

’tPunish

25/06/2025

When Bones and Tiki had some adventures at Tails of Blackwoof

Absolutely stunning facility and lots of enrichment areas. The ball pit was their favourite 🤣

They both had a whale of a time. Will be going back for sure!

We have 2 TWO completely BRAND NEW classes starting in August.(we'll still be running Puppy Power and Awesome Adolesents...
23/06/2025

We have 2 TWO completely BRAND NEW classes starting in August.
(we'll still be running Puppy Power and Awesome Adolesents too)

Sunday 10th August 10am - Mischief to Magic
This class is for those dogs that like to cause a little mischief. The ones you cannot take your eyes off for fear that'll be up to no good. The Naughty but nice doggos that perhaps need a refresher on household manners.
(please note dogs must be friendly with other dogs)

Tuesday 5th August - 5pm Peaceful Pups
This class is simply for growing calmness. Teaching your dog to be calm is a skill that we can grow, and some dogs are simply 'on the go' all of the time and its exhausting.
If you'd like your dog to stay on their bed whlst you answer the door, or even just sleep a bit more during the day.
Calmness also applies to walks and interactions with people and other dogs, is your dog a bit over-the-top, this is for you!

🌟 Sunday Spotlight! Meet Sully🐕—a working collie with big feelings around other dogs and things in the outside world.Bef...
22/06/2025

🌟 Sunday Spotlight! Meet Sully🐕—a working collie with big feelings around other dogs and things in the outside world.

Before: Barking, lunging, hiding, and pulling like a train on the lead. Walks were VERY stressful.
After a few weeks of play-based games?
Now: Sniffy walks, calmer greetings, actual tail wags, and joyful walks 🥹

We didn’t “correct” his fear.
We played his into confidence. 💛
We gave him the skills he needed to handle different environments.

Play is powerful, especially when it’s science-backed and emotionally safe.
Want help with your reactive or anxious dog? Let’s chat!

Weekend Play Challenge – 3 Brain Games to TryCaption:🎉 WEEKEND CHALLENGE: 3 brainy games your dog will LOVEPick one, try...
20/06/2025

Weekend Play Challenge – 3 Brain Games to Try

Caption:
🎉 WEEKEND CHALLENGE: 3 brainy games your dog will LOVE
Pick one, try it, tag me!

🧠 1. Muffin Tin Madness – Hide super tasty and smely food (cheese works great) under tennis balls
🧠 2. Scent Safari (sniffari) – Hide treats around the house or garden
🧠 3. Tug & Release – Play tug + practice “drop it” cues

Mental enrichment is just as tiring as physical exercise especially in this HOT weather!
So let’s play our way to calm, happy dogs! 😌🐾🌞

20/06/2025

🎾🐶 REACTIVE DOG? HERE’S WHY IMPULSE CONTROL IS YOUR SECRET WEAPON 🌱🧠

If your dog goes from 0 to “OMG A SQUIRREL” in 0.2 seconds... 🫣
It’s not stubbornness—it’s a lack of impulse control (and guess what? That’s trainable!).

🧠✨ Science says dogs, like humans, need practice to develop self-regulation. It’s like a muscle that needs exercise, it’s learned—and games make learning stick!

This then applies to every day life, like chasing that squirrel, or running off to great (or bark at) another dog.

This is Tiki practicing some impulse control in a fun way!

Hello! We have a few new followers so I thought I'd introduce myself! Hi I'm Chrissy, nice to meet ya 😍I'm your local be...
19/06/2025

Hello!

We have a few new followers so I thought I'd introduce myself!

Hi I'm Chrissy, nice to meet ya 😍

I'm your local behaviourist that swaps 'problem behaviour' for better understanding and fun!

Here we have -

💡 Science-backed methods
🎉 Play-based training that grows a better relationship between dog and owner
🐶 Happy, confident pups.

Who doesnt want that?

A little about me - I am owned by 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 kids (can anyone say Noah's Ark? 🤣) and I love learning the WHY of things, which is why I'll often share the science behind the training.

I love rock music and reading trashy romance novels and like to fill my house with plants. 🪴

So, if you're new here, please introduce yourself!

Chrissy x

Puppy socialisation - what is it?You guys should know that over here we do like to get geeky 🧠🐶So what does it mean?Your...
18/06/2025

Puppy socialisation - what is it?

You guys should know that over here we do like to get geeky 🧠🐶

So what does it mean?

Your little puppy’s brain is in overdrive between 3–14 weeks old (rapid synaptogenesis) particularly in areas associated with learning and sensory processing — and what they learn and experience during this time can shape their whole life.

This period is called the critical socialisation window, and it’s when your puppy’s nervous system is highly plastic (neuroplasticity refers to the brains ability to adapt and change) — meaning their brain is wired to form fast, lasting associations with the world around them.

During this time:
🔬 Their stress response (HPA axis) is still developing, so they’re less fearful and more open to new experiences.
🐾 They’re rapidly learning what’s safe, who’s friendly, and what’s part of “normal life.”
👥 Social exposure (to people, dogs, environments, and sounds) becomes deeply embedded in their behaviour long-term.

📚 Studies show that puppies well-socialised during this window are more likely to grow into confident, emotionally stable dogs. On the flip side, puppies isolated or overwhelmed during this stage may develop fear-based behaviours later in life.

✅ So even before all vaccinations are complete, safe and structured socialisation (like puppy classes, controlled visits, or sound desensitisation at home) is vital.

💡 It’s not just cute — it’s critical neuroscience in action.

REMEMBER - socialisation isn't exposure, or greeting every single dog. Its having the confidence to handle the many things life will throw at them.

Its showing them that they dont need to greet every dog or human, and some things are just none of their business.

We cover socialisation in week 2 of our puppy class, and its a lot of fun because we have props!

Wanna find out more? send me a pm or post a question below!

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My topic of study today 🤯Super interesting though, and not at all surprising.If you've got a super high energy dog with ...
16/06/2025

My topic of study today 🤯

Super interesting though, and not at all surprising.

If you've got a super high energy dog with no 'off' switch, this is what it feels like.

Tiki used to be like this, being a working Kelpie.
She had no off switch and would be swinging from the lampshades, but we grew a dimmer switch and then an off switch and now she's mostly chilled.

Understanding the drives and motives behind behaviour really does help, even on a genetic level.
This is not simply dog training, this is canine psychology. 💪

This months Awesome Adolescents graduates. What superstars they have been!!😍
12/06/2025

This months Awesome Adolescents graduates. What superstars they have been!!

😍

Plateaus - in dog training and in life.Plateaus are totally normal and happen during a period of growth or change. It's ...
10/06/2025

Plateaus - in dog training and in life.

Plateaus are totally normal and happen during a period of growth or change.

It's when things that have previously worked really very well are slowly becoming less and less effective. Here are some things to try if you've hit a plateau.

The very first thing to look at is your dogs health. Are they struggling with some stiffness or pain that is impacting their ability to learn? If they seem a little stiff, please get them checked by a vet.

Something else to consider is frustration. Dogs can pick up on our moods and our emotions and if we aren't 'feeling it' they're gonna know!

Is what you're teaching a bit too complex, can it be broken down evern further so that you're setting your dog up for success?
Are there too many distractions?

Is your reward high enough value?

There are many things to take into consideration, but if you've hit a roadblock with your training, take your foot off the gas, and have a look where you can make things a bit easier, a bit more interesting and more importantly FUN!

The foundation of my style of training is that it SHOULD be fun. Quick, Fun and Done is my motto because when an exercise is no more than 5 minutes, it leaves zero time for frustration. And if the dog im working with 'doesn't get it', we simply keep trying different approaches until we get some success.

So if your training has stalled, what can you do differently to shake things up? It could be doing something totally brand new and fun, it could be reinforcing older skills, but always, ALWAYS bring the fun

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Cwmbran
NP447LT

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