Me And My Dog Academy

Me And My Dog Academy Me & My Dog Academy offers behavioural help, puppy classes, dog training classes and lots of fun.

05/04/2025

What do you see in this interaction? 🐶🥰

This morning we're taking some time to celebrate these two fantastic Teams! 🥳🏆 Both Team Bentley & Team Frank (on the sa...
02/04/2025

This morning we're taking some time to celebrate these two fantastic Teams! 🥳🏆

Both Team Bentley & Team Frank (on the same day, not that it's a competition😉) managed to complete their collection all four of the Novice League 1 titles! ♥️

💥 TEAM BENTLEY 💥
Team Bentley have trained and trained and trained the most beautiful and reliable indication. So it was no surprise when they rattled off their Kong Novice last year, followed by a quick completion of their Match Novice being able to apply that indication skill in a different context easily. Bentley is also an acceptionally confident trailer so it was only a matter of 'get the dates in the diary' to snap up his Trail ID Novice which he did in style. For Bentley, however, retrieving was not his favourite. We started building the skill in micro stages, and over the course of the last year he's gone from not retrieving at all, staring at us blankly, to a FLAWLESS pass of his Catnip Novice with retrieve to hand. This is the award I was most proud to give him, because the work it took to get there was hard, and consistent and yet they cracked on with it and got it done. Just amazing!

💥 TEAM FRANK 💥
Team Frank is one of the most enthusiastic teams I know (both dog and human). They're up for anything and will dive head first into any challenge! This makes them wonderfully apt to have a go at anything and everything, making all the new types of scentwork they were learning just more fun! But harnessing that enthusiasm to create something reliable and readable has been a craft that they've worked so hard at. He has learned to steady up to search rhythmically to pass his Kong Novice; he has learnt to commit and retrieve without guessing for his Catnip Novice; he has learnt to check carefully for the Match Novice; and the most improvements came in his Trail ID where he learnt how to give a solid, consistent, reliable indication without any guesswork to the decoy. Harnessing that boundless enthusiasm and love for the game is not always easy, but Team Frank have proved it can be possible and Spaniels certainly have more than just fluff in their heads 😉

So there you go. Well done boys. Insanely proud of you for completing all four Novice components over the last year. It's been great helping you get there!! 🥳♥️

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28/03/2025

The 'This Way' Game is a game I play almost EVERY single walk! 😲

Why?
✅ Better engagement from my dog
✅ Checking in to make sure he's listening to me
✅ Can use it to get away from distractions
✅ It's fun! And he enjoys it.

It's so easy to teach:
🍖 Luring the dog with food round your leg when saying your chosen cuem
👋 Throwing the reward on for them to chase.
🏃‍♂️ Fading the lure out and running backwards to encourage them to turn.
🔟 Getting the reps in until it gets to the point where they can do it anytime, any place!

Give it a go, and let me know how you find it!

24/03/2025

💃🥰

A while ago I did a post on why training flicky feet could be one of the best & most useful things you could train... Well here's a little how-to to get you started training it!

Pro tips:

🥩 Use high-value food, like cooked chicken or pate so that your dog is more driven to make those lush steps.

🥎 Consider using a toy for added motivation, but be mindful that this might result in grabbing/jumping behaviours.

💨 Move quickly! The slower you go the harder it is for your dog to get into the right trot rhythm. Move forward and you'll get a better result!

✋ Focus on your hand position. Have it velcroed to your dog's nose, but move it slightly forward and up to get the lift in the dogs shoulders. Don't push your hand back too them, you'll just stunt it, you want them reaching for your hand.

❤️ Throw the reward out ahead of them to get. This makes the game more exciting and more fun, meaning more expressive steps!

Give it a go, see what happens and share with us when flicky feet saves your bacon in the comments below 👇 (for me it was incredibly useful today moving away from a loud quad bike that was veeeery exciting)!

And if you help training it then you can always get that from us: www.mamda.co.uk 📲

19/03/2025

How long will training take for you to fix my problem? ⏰🤔

Unfortunately, we cannot give you a timeframe. If we could, we would! But the things we CAN do:

✅ Give you a training plan that can help guide the step-by-step process of your training journey.

✅ Motivate you to keep showing up & training the little things, every day.

✅ Find what exercises and skills are going to get you the fastest most reliable progress. Working with your dogs strengths!

✅ Help you find management techniques that can make every day life easier whilst you work on solving the problem.

✅ Be with you to support you, every step of the way!

Our One-to-Ones are designed to give you this level of support. You have constant access to us in your own private WhatsApp Channels, and you'll receive video tutorials of each exercise you're taught so you always have something to refer back to.

We don't just rock up at your house for one hour and expect that, that will help you. No, we're there for you the whole duration of your package (and beyond) to make sure you're getting the progress you need.

If you need help, with ANY sort of problem, and think private lessons are right for you. Then you can check out availability and book online now: www.mamda.co.uk/one-to-ones 📲

(PS. We cover Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Wimborne, Ferndown, Verwood, Three Legged Cross, Fordingbridge, Corfe Mullen, Tollard Royal, Ringwood, Bransgore, and everyone in between! OR you can opt to do your packages online via zoom-calls if you're further afield)

13/03/2025

Having trouble keeping your dogs attention around distractions? Other dogs, people, horses, wildlife, traffic, the dreaded c.a.t? 🤔🤔

Then try this skill! ✨Hand Target on the Move✨

👉 Start by teaching a Hand Target (if you're not sure how to do this then scroll back a few reels as weve gone through it in the past OR join our classes as we teach it in all of them!)

👉 Once the Hand Target is solid, start asking your dog to touch whilst moving one step. Reward if they show an interest in following with you!

👉 Build it up one step at a time until you are doing 10+ paces with your dog keeping their nose on or near your hand.

👉 SLOWLY start training it in other environments. Remember to make the game easier when you're in more distracting places, don't be afraid to go back a few steps.

👉 Once your dog can do it anywhere, start to ask for the Hand Target as you're passing something distracting - like another dog. See if they can stay on the Target as they walk by. Have a massive celebration party if they do!!

It's such a fantastic skill at keeping your dog nice and close, under control and safe with you. And the dogs seem to love it as a skill, so it's a win win for everyone! 🥳

If you need help training this then come join our Life Skills Classes, where not only do we train the Hand Target, but in our more advance groups we'll build up to using it in situations just like these! www.mamda.co.uk/classes 📲

11/03/2025

Top 3 Skills you need to train before you let your dog off leash?

1️⃣ Recall

2️⃣ Emergency Stop

3️⃣ Move On

If you have all three of these then you are able to go out and about with suitable control of your dog, making sure they are able to enjoy stress free SAFE walks with you.

We live in an increasingly dangerous world for dogs, so it is your duty as a pet parent to set them up for success by training at minimum these three things before you let them off leash.

And don't forget - if you're struggling, or need help, we are ALWAYS here. We have classes and one-to-ones that can help teach all these things (and so much more): www.mamda.co.uk 📲💚

05/03/2025

Why is a trained dog, a happy dog? 🐶🥰

Because it provides a stress-free life full of freedom and choice.

💭 Understanding: dogs thrive when their is clarity in communication and they can understand, in part, the very human world around them. It leaves them feeling more confident.

🧠 Mental Stimulation: the act of training itself is wonderful at getting your dogs brain working, keeping them free from boredom and stopping them going self-employed.

🌾 Freedom: the more well-trained a dog is, the more freedom they are able to be trusted with. Off-leash time being a prime example.

🥰 Bonding: good training bonds handler and dog together, and builds a loving relationship based on trust. The partnership they create through training is second to none and without a doubt adds value to their life.

😟 Stress Reduction: dogs left with no structure or guidance can become increasingly anxious as they try and fit within a very 'human' world that they don't always understand. Training focuses their mind and provides them with a comfort zone to feel safe within, even if the outside world may be scary.

💰 Employment: dogs LOVE to work. We've bred them to do so many wonderful diverse jobs, which today they don't do anymore. By training them you fill that need, and give them a sense of purpose, scratching that employment itch.

Have I convinced you that a trained dog can be the happiest dog? Training your dog ANYTHING today is far better than training nothing, for all these reasons!

So what are you waiting for? Get out there are train your dog.

If you need help or want a more structured training plan, then check out our classes at www.mamda.co.uk/classes/ 📲

04/03/2025

Teach your dog to settle. Why? Because it'll be a skill you'll be thankful for the rest of your life!

❤️ Want to go out for a meal, at a pub or cafe? Settling is your go too.

❤️ Want to go to a friend's house and take your dog in tow? Settling is a necessity otherwise you may not be asked back...

❤️ Want to take your dog to dog acitivity or sport classes and don't want to stress? Settling will save your bacon.

❤️ Want your dog to be able to focus on you no matter what's going on? Settling is amazing and teaching them this.

Start training this the younger the better! We teach it in our puppy classes and beyond. Booking: www.mamda.co.uk/puppy-classes/ 📲

28/02/2025

Loose Lead Walking, no matter the distraction... 👊💥

👫 People?
🐶 Dogs?
🚗 Traffic?
🐱 The Pesky Neighbourhood Cat?

Whatever you want to get your dog to loose Lead walk past: it is possible!

✨ With games based, FUN, training.
🪜 Following a step by step shaping plan.
👍 And regular consistent practice!

It takes good work and effort but it is so doable. If you need help learning the different games, building the right shaping plan for your individual dog and being held accountable to keep up the work then join our 4 Week Loose Lead Walking Course now:

www.mamda.co.uk/classes/ 📲

Absolutely wonderful to see so many lovely dogs smashing the start of their UK Scent Sport journeys with brilliant pas...
26/02/2025

Absolutely wonderful to see so many lovely dogs smashing the start of their UK Scent Sport journeys with brilliant passes of their Kong Novice Assessment ❤️

The Kong Novice is most often the first assessment the dogs take, and it is always so lovely to see that the foundations have been properly imprinted and they make such light work of the Assessment 🥳

So please join me in congratulating Loki, Maeve, Darcy, Poppy, Holly, Charlie and Phoebe on their fantastic achievement. I'm so excited to see their UK Scent Sport journeys as they venture off to take on more of the challenges! 👊💥

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About Us

I’m Justyna. I am qualified Dog Trainer & Behaviourist based in Dorset.

Since I can remember, I have always wanted to work with animals. Dog training became my passion a few years ago when I got my Boxer ‘Nella’. I never had any major issues with her, but I wanted to learn how to understand and communicate with her, so that I could give her the best possible life.

I have successfully passed a number of courses and gained a range of qualifications (take a look below). I do all that I can to keep up to date with modern training methods, and relevant behavioural studies. I use science based methods together with games and concepts to change a dogs emotional response, that help them to achieve the required life skills. It is important that training is safe, fun and easy for both owners and their dogs.

I offer behavioural help, dog training classes, puppy development programme and individual training walks. I am also fully insured and hold a canine first aid certificate.