You Silly Dog, LLC

02/01/2025

Makes sense when you stop to really think about it…

01/31/2025

The ends don’t justify the means.

“We’ve always done it this way” has been used to justify harm for generations. But today, you have the chance to see it differently, to recognize the pattern and break the cycle.

Breaking that cycle isn’t about shame or blame. It starts with seeing the pattern for what it is. That’s all.

Let’s take a look at some commonalities between the justifications used in coercive parenting, controlling relationships, and aversive dog training:

🚩Downplaying harm while justifying control

Parent/Partner: “It’s not abuse, it’s discipline. If I don’t do this, they’ll walk all over me.”

Aversive Trainer: “It’s not punishment, it’s a correction. If I don’t establish dominance, the dog will take over.”

🚩Blaming the victim for the outcome

Parent/Partner: “They made me do it. If they just behaved, I wouldn’t have to punish them.”

Aversive Trainer: “The dog forced my hand. If they did what I trained them, I wouldn’t have to use the prong/shock/choke correction.”

🚩Discrediting alternatives to control

Parent/Partner: “Being soft doesn’t work. You have to be strict or they’ll never learn.”

Aversive Trainer: “Positive reinforcement doesn’t work. Some dogs need to be corrected with pain to understand.”

🚩Invalidating pain to justify control

Parent/Partner: “That didn’t even hurt, you’re just too sensitive.”

Aversive Trainer: “The e-collar is just a tickle. The prong is no worse than a mother ‘correcting’ her puppy.”

🚩Normalizing harm as tradition

Parent/Partner: “I was raised this way, and I turned out fine.”

Aversive Trainer: “We’ve trained dogs like this for decades. Why change now?”

The patterns are too similar to dismiss: fear masquerades as respect, and tradition is used to excuse harm.

By recognizing these parallels, we have a chance to break the cycle of coercion once and for all.

01/30/2025

‘Oversimplified explanations of what makes dogs tick are very often misleading, and usually dogs pay the price for these misunderstandings. There's a lot of variation in dogs' personalities and there is no "universal" canine mind that can explain how dogs should or will behave.’

Science shows many prevailing "truths" about dogs are anything but and set false expectations that hamper building and maintaining respectful give-and-take symmetrical friendships.

01/30/2025

01/30/2025

😂

01/28/2025

I so wish it was outlawed here. Your dog is beautiful with his dog-given ears and tail. Stop the crop!

01/28/2025

The greatest compliment I can receive is repeat business from a client. The second best is for a client to recommend me to their friends. The third best is a nice writeup online.

Adley's mom did all three and I couldn't be more grateful. ❤️❤️❤️

"We cannot recommend You Silly Dog enough! I am a repeat customer; I worked with Alisa when I had my first puppy about 15 years ago and when it was time to think about a new family member, I knew that I had to enlist Alisa to support our new puppy journey. Alisa is so smart and very in tune to what pups need. And, she is an amazing sounding board, which is helpful when dealing with puppy blues!

Alisa brings simple and practical ideas to support training and comfort for dogs and humans alike. I appreciate her positive reinforcement approach and her ability to determine what the behaviors are trying to tell us. Our two kids were also involved in our training sessions and Alisa incorporated them in ways that were meaningful for them.

If you're looking for a positive training and learning experience, YSD is the way to go!"

01/28/2025

😒

01/27/2025

Good advice!

01/27/2025

Teens 🙄

If you’ve noticed your adolescent dog acting out in ways you never expected, you’re not alone. Many dog owners experience a shift in behavior during their pet’s adolescent stage, which can range from increased energy to sudden bursts of hyperactivity or even new behavior problems. This period,...

01/25/2025

Note: be aware of Lancaster puppy mills, in addition to others!

Don’t buy a puppy on impulse and look out for warning signs of a puppy mill.

01/24/2025

Let’s be gentle with everyone in our lives, pets included!

01/24/2025

BE A DOPAMINE DEALER NOT A CORTISOL CREATOR

Although there are other chemicals that have an effect on behaviour, the neurotransmitter dopamine and the hormone cortisol are important ones to understand.

Force free, positive reinforcement, reward-based methods result in a release of Dopamine which provides important motivation to seek out rewards, increases attention, memory and reinforces a behaviour. Behaviour is far more likely to be repeated when Dopamine is released.

Using punishment or aversive, old fashioned methods causes stress which increases the release of cortisol. Cortisol inhibits learning, affects memory, decreases motivation and can cause emotional, psychological and even physical damage.

Some ways to increase Dopamine levels and lower Cortisol levels –

Only using positive reinforcement, force free, reward-based techniques.

Slow, sniffing walks in a quiet area, interactive play, puzzle toys, lick mats, snuffle mats, foraging, providing mental stimulation activities, routine and predictability, enough rest and sleep and a balanced and nutritious diet.

Give your dog a “cortisol holiday”. Cortisol levels can take between two to six days to return to normal after stress.

This “holiday” could look like stopping walks for a week or changing the time of day you walk to a quieter time, covering or blocking access to a gate, fence or window, avoiding visitors or generally just taking a break from anything that may be causing stress.

01/22/2025

You can be forgiven for talking brisk walks this week but in general, slow sniffy walks are more enjoyable for your dog.

WHOSE WALK IS IT ANYWAY?

Imagine going on a long-anticipated walk, through new scenery and exciting smells after being cooped up in the same place all day, but you have been fitted with a blind fold and are being dragged or yanked along at a fast pace.

I imagine that this is how dogs feel when we don’t allow them time to stop, sniff and explore the environment.

Dogs largely perceive their world through scent and it’s how they collect and process information to help the world make sense.

Taking away an opportunity for sniffing on a walk really isn’t being fair.. As much as physical exercise is important, the mental stimulation that sniffing provides is equally, if not more important.

Allowing dogs to choose when to stop and sniff provides so many benefits – increases self-confidence, promotes calmness, lowers stress and anxiety levels, lowers pulse rates, reduces cognitive decline in older dogs and provides important mental and environmental enrichment.

Make time for a slow sniffing walk when you can, where your dog is allowed to choose which direction to go and allowed time to just investigate, interpret, process the environment and follow wherever their nose leads them.

It may take far more time and patience as we wait for them to finish smelling that particular blade of grass, but the benefits are well worth it – after all, whose walk is it anyway?

01/22/2025

The sooner, the better before bad habits develop.

Teach your pup what you want now, instead of waiting for problems to arise.