Esk Valley Dog Training

29/05/2026

🐾 Help Shape Future EVDT Events 🐾

We’re currently planning the next 6 months of events at Esk Valley Dog Training.

Mantrailing, Hoopers, Worry Free Walks, workshops and more…

Before we finalise everything, we’d love to hear from you.

We’ve created a very short anonymous survey (less than a minute to complete) to help us understand:

✅ What you’ve enjoyed most
✅ What you’d like more of
✅ What events you’d love to see in future
✅ How we can make things even easier and more enjoyable

The survey link is attached to this post.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to help us shape what’s next. We really do appreciate it 🐾

Nick, Louise, Molly & Cailin
Esk Valley Dog Training

Stopped walking your Dog? Embarrassed by your Dog's behaviours? Only walking when it's really quiet? Fed up avoiding others?

29/05/2026

Reactive dog owners often tell me the same thing:

👉 “I wish I’d contacted you sooner.”

In the meantime they’ve spent months (sometimes years) worrying about walks, scanning the environment, avoiding situations and trying advice that simply doesn’t work.

The good news?

You don’t need to figure it out on your own.

If you’re struggling with your dog’s reactivity, book a free discovery call and let’s talk through what’s going on.

It’s not salesy.

It’s just a chat about you, your dog and what’s been happening.

Then, if a consultation feels like the right next step, we can talk about that too.

👇 Follow the link and book your discovery call today.

25/05/2026

Today I ticked something off my own bucket list 🌊

My first ever open water swim.

A few months ago I probably wouldn’t have imagined myself doing it. At first it felt cold, unfamiliar and slightly intimidating… but once I settled into it, I absolutely loved it.

It reminded me a lot of the dogs (and owners) we work with at EVDT.

Confidence usually doesn’t come from waiting until something feels easy.
It comes from building skills, support and trust… then taking the step anyway.

And thank you as well to Kate at Swim Freedom — brilliant coach and a huge part of helping me love it.

18/05/2026

📍 My mission is simple.

To help reactive dog owners in Midlothian enjoy their walks again 🐾

Because when you live with a reactive dog, walks can become stressful, exhausting and honestly… quite lonely sometimes.

At EVDT, we work on the reactivity itself — but we also look at the bigger picture too.

Things like:
🐾 Mantrailing
🐾 Hoopers
🐾 confidence building
🐾 calm focus
🐾 emotional regulation

because sometimes owners and dogs both need help learning how to enjoy life together again.

If you’re struggling with a reactive dog, start with my free reactivity guide first.

It’ll help you better understand what’s going on and where to begin.

👇 Follow the link attached to this video to download it.

03/05/2026

Why I encourage my reactive dog owners to attend our Mantrailing classes

Intro next Saturday, book here

https://helpmetrainmydog.as.me/?appointmentType=87622698

02/05/2026

01/05/2026

Your dog doesn’t need another walk.

They need something to do.

Mantrailing taps into what your dog is naturally wired for —
tracking, thinking, problem-solving…

…and you’ll see the shift brilliantly!

Less chaos.
More focus.
A calmer dog.

⸻

📍 Springfield Mill, Midlothian (EH18 1JZ)
📅 Saturday 9th May

🐾 10am – Intro to Mantrailing (1 space left)
👉 https://helpmetrainmydog.as.me/?appointmentType=87622698

🐾 1pm – Progression Session (1 space left)
👉 https://helpmetrainmydog.as.me/?appointmentType=88713199

⸻

If your dog:

* struggles on walks
* gets overexcited or reactive
* or just needs an outlet

This is where things start to change.

⸻

Be quick — once these last spaces go, they’re gone 👍

24/04/2026

More exercise isn’t always the answer…

A lot of owners use ball throwing to burn energy off.

And it looks like it’s working…

…but over time, I often see the opposite:

• dogs becoming more reactive
• struggling to settle afterwards
• constantly scanning for movement
• needing more and more to feel “tired”

It’s not that ball play is bad —
it’s how it’s being used.

For some dogs, repeated high-speed chasing doesn’t calm them down…

…it winds them up.

So instead of just doing more, try changing the way you use it:

• fewer repetitions
• slower pace
• build in pauses
• reward calm behaviour between throws

You’re not just exercising your dog —
you’re shaping how their brain works.

And sometimes, less really is more

22/04/2026

Resource guarding can feel like it comes out of nowhere.

For a lot of owners, it’s the point where things suddenly feel overwhelming — especially if you’ve never experienced it before.

Angie and Rocco have done a brilliant job working through this, and a big part of that has been the work Louise has done with them. She’s been leading on this and it’s great to see how well Rocco has responded.

This is exactly what good training should do — not just change behaviour, but help you understand your dog properly.

Really proud of both of them ❤️🐾

21/04/2026

This is what progress actually looks like — not perfect, just understanding your dog better and building confidence step by step 🐾

Faces off Angels 😇 😇 !
I want to give a big huge thank you to Esk Valley Dog Training for the help and support that they have given me with Rocco.
Resource Guarding was a behaviour that I hadn’t encountered with any of my dogs before and it was quite a shock when it came to a head.
Nick & Louise stepped in when I was at my wits end.
Rocco has responded well to the practical training sessions and with their support I understand my wee sh*tstorm a lot better . He has come on leaps and bounds . I feel much more confident with him ❤️
Thank you guys he is now on the path of life long learning 🥰