About Us

We've worked with hundreds of dogs

With a combined experience of over 5 years as professional dog trainers, and having trained hundreds of dog owners and their dogs, there's not much the Muddy Paws team haven't seen. This means they can help you with any problem or behaviour your dog throws at you.

Having completed their dog trainer courses through The Alpha Canine Group, Matt and Shermalie have learnt from the industry leaders. They've brought these skills to group classes and one-on-one sessions, all delivered with compassion and empathy for each unique owner-dog combination.

Our own dogs are highly trained, so are the dogs we foster!

Their own personal menagerie of 3 dogs and 2 cats often get to mingle with the foster dogs Matt and Shermalie take in - they'd much rather share their home with these abandoned dogs to buy them more time, than the alternative. This generosity also exposes them to a world of new dog behaviours. Foster dogs aren't always the most well behaved dogs - there's usually a reason they're up for adoption – so Matt and Shermalie get to work teaching them to listen and to have manners so they're easier to re-home. This gives them a richer experience so when they help you with your dog, chances are they've already lived with, and fixed, a dog with similar behaviours to yours.

We value things that just work

With backgrounds in IT and engineering, Matt and Shermalie were drawn to dog training because they wanted to know more about their own dogs. They needed to understand their dogs on a deeper level. The Alpha training method and the results it could achieve appealled to them as it was easy, logical and process driven. They couldn't wait to teach other dog owners in one-on-one lessons and class scenarios.

A bit about Matt...

Matt has seen his fair share of dogs with behavioural problems, each one making him a more seasoned dog trainer. He now runs social rehabilitation classes and supervises offlead play sessions. As fun as these classes sound, they require a keen eye for body language and the ability to teach the owners what to look out for, what the warning signs are, how to ensure the dogs are playing without breaking down their trust in you and your relationship and that even if they are playing - they have to listen to you no matter how much fun they're having.

This gives owners the tools to call their dogs back, offlead, when they really don't want to come, but they need to because they're in danger or the like. There's not much Matt hasn't seen or worked through, and because of this he understands how draining and frustrating it can be when the dog you love just isn't fitting into your world.

A bit about Shermalie...

When Shermalie first adopted Nelson he was agressive towards cats and to anyone that came near him whilst eating. Through applying the training method and working him through these behaviours, he now happliy lives with the 2 Muddy Paws cats and shows no signs of agression around food. Shermalie understands how stressful these behaviours can be, dealing with them on a daily basis, so she knows exactly how you feel, regardless of the problems you face.