As dog lovers, most of you have read the book and seen the film, Marley & Me, right? Well, we have our own Marley. He hasn’t eaten through the garage wall, but being left outside a rescue, at 9 weeks of age, with rickets, looking like skin and bone, has definitely left him with some behavioural issues. Marley is the name sake of the business. He drives us to do more, learn more, and help other dog owners more; whether it’s new puppies parents, dogs from a rescue or shelter (who are Halina’s favourite), who need help adjusting to their new home, adolescent dogs who seem to have forgotten all the training and hard work you have put in over the past months, or adult dogs, whose owners are struggling with new and unwanted behaviours.
Marley’s Mutts was founded by Halina, following her accreditation as a Victoria Stilwell Academy – Certified Dog Trainer. Her love for animals began when she was a young child, and went from strength to strength. For years, work colleagues asked each other about their children and families, and always asked Halina about her dogs.
Halina has worked with animals, in particular dogs, for most of her life. Her love of dog training really took off aged 16, when she worked at the Metropolitan Police Dog Training Kennels in Kent. In her 20’s Halina was owned by two Dobermanns, who really fuelled her passion for dog training and behaviour. They sometimes fought, pulled her down the street on walks, reacted to some dogs on, and off lead, and didn’t come back when called. Every training class she attended, or trainer she hired, used old school training methods, which involved using fear and punishment. Halina knew there had to be another way to support her dogs, and wanted to understand more about their behaviour, and how best she could help and support them. Halina had followed Victoria Stilwell’s ‘positively’ website for years, and was one of the first students to join the Victoria Stilwell Academy (VSA) for Dog Training & Behaviour, in the UK.
If any of this resonates with you, and like Halina, were asked to, or have used punishment or force in the past, we can help. How would it be, if we showed you, there was another way, a better way; a much kinder way. By using reward based, and force free training methods, you and your dog’s relationship will flourish. Don’t be ashamed, embarrassed, or feel guilty, if you have used other methods, or training tools in the past. As the fabulous Lisa Lyle-Waggoner says, ‘you don’t know, what you don’t know’! And how true is that? We are all guilty of it, we use tools we shouldn’t, and carry on with them because they work. But do they work?
Once you know, how to train your dog this way, and see how fun, kind and effective it is, you will never look back. We owe it to our dogs to understand their behaviour, to learn to speak dog, and to lower our expectations. They were not born pre programmed, and did not ask to be in our family; so let’s help them to communicate with us, give them choices, let them just be a dog.
If you would like some guidance and support in working with your dog, not only from someone who is qualified, accredited, and continues with their professional development, but from someone who also understands your struggles & frustrations, then get in touch.
Contact us to arrange a FREE 20 minute Discovery Call
Marley's Mutts UK - Dog Training & Behaviour 