Tiny Tails

08/07/2025

"Kelly, just curious what are your thoughts on slip leads and martingales. I am curious about these two options. I was not sure because in some videos it sats it evenly distributed pressure." 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 F-ing unregulated industry..🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬.

The Perfect Fit Harness company made this visual aid years ago. It still holds true today.

One surefire way to separate your trainers are just listening if they recommend a slip lead. You do not need to listen any further to hear choke chain, prong collar or shock collar. You already know you are dealing with someone who will gladly cause longterm injury to your dog because it beings them a buck today.

Now, if you are picking up a stray or working in a veterinarian office and rely on a slip lead for backup to an owner supplied leash, I get it.....but to require one for trainer....those peope are dumber than words can describe. Run!!! The injuries they cause might not be immediate but will show in time.
🐾💔🐾

07/11/2025

05/19/2025

Dog training is a really strange world.

Did you know that anyone can call themselves a dog trainer? Did you know that it is common to find fake credentials in the dog training world, even fake military dog training credentials? (Calling your dog a K9 isn't a credential)
Did you know that there are trainers who watch a bit of Cesar Milan and use some pop psychology words and call it good? They feel ready to start a business!
Did you know that there are trainers that will prey on you feeling stressed and desperate and they will make you feel like you are the problem? So of course you need to give them money!
Did you know that there are trainers out there who will use pain, fear and stress to make it appear as if your dog has learned something but really they are tired and stressed out?
Unfortunately this is all very common.

It can be hard to spot the difference between a real trainer that teaches vs one that has just watched a lot of TV or had dogs so they must be a trainer!

Bad trainers are often great at marketing themselves so you will have to be careful and look beyond the website and social media.

If we aren't't working together and you are looking for a trainer local to you I am happy to suggest good and qualified trainers so you don't waste your money and your dog doesn't have to suffer through bad training.
At best, you just waste your money, at worst someone abuses and scares the life out of your dog and teaches you how to use stress to force your dog to submit rather than actually teaching.
To the untrained eye this might look the same.

Don't be fooled by someone who has a German Shepherd, malinois, pit bull or other large breed in a 10 minute down stay. It's really not that impressive.
Don't be fooled.

Be a smart dog training consumer.

05/15/2025

⚡️THE $6,000 VOLT LIE: What They’re Not Telling You About “Low-Level” Shock Training
🚨This Applies Also To Vibration Collars

“It’s just a mild stim, like a TENS unit. Totally safe.”

No it’s Not!!!

Let’s walk through exactly what happens inside your dog’s neck when you hit that remote. Not just emotionally—but biologically.

Because once you understand what’s happening under their skin, you’ll see this isn’t a communication tool—it’s a nervous system atomic bomb.

You’re Not Hitting One Nerve—You’re Hitting a Highway of Sensory Chaos

When you shock a dog’s neck, you’re not delivering a clean signal to a single behavior center. You’re triggering a web of critical nerves, including:

Vagus Nerve (Cranial X)
• Regulates heart rate, digestion, and emotional calm
• Overstimulation can cause nausea, bradycardia, or collapse

Accessory Nerve (Cranial XI)
• Controls head movement and postural muscles
• Disruption causes jerking, reactivity, or defensive freezing

Cervical Spinal Nerves (C1–C5)
• Link to forelimbs and breathing muscles
• Disturbance can create stumbling, stiffness, or panic movement

Phrenic Nerve (C3–C5)
• Controls breathing via the diaphragm
• Overload causes panting, respiratory distress, or emotional shutdown

Auricular & Transverse Cervical Nerves
• Involved in ear, jaw, and neck sensation
• Trigger head shaking, pawing, scratching, or vocalization

And all of these are stimulated at once when you push that button.

Now Add This: The Skin Itself Is a Dense Sensory Organ

Just three layers under the skin sit multiple mechanoreceptors, each responding to different types of force. You’re not just shocking “muscle”—you’re shocking a sophisticated sensory matrix.

Pacinian Corpuscles
• Detect vibration and sudden pressure
• These fire off immediately during a shock burst

Merkel Disks
• Detect deep pressure and object shapes
• Overload affects body awareness and posture regulation

Ruffini Endings
• Track skin stretch and limb position
• Critical for balance and motor control
• Disruption here throws off the dog’s whole 3D awareness system

Now imagine all of these firing at once. That’s not “clarity.”
That’s impulse chaos.

Impulse Chaos = Trauma

Your dog’s brain receives:
• Vibration (Pacinian)
• Deep stretch (Ruffini)
• Sudden pressure (Merkel)
• Neck-region nerve signals (vagus, accessory, cervical)
All pulsing into the spinal cord and brainstem simultaneously.

The result?

Fight. Flight. Or Freeze.

The dog doesn’t get more “focused”—they get more hypervigilant, disconnected, or frozen. What looks like obedience is often just shutdown.

And Then Comes the Anticipation

Dogs are associative. After the first shock, they start bracing for the next.

This is anticipatory anxiety, and it’s biologically worse than the first zap.

The body floods with cortisol before the button is even pushed. The vagus nerve preps for threat. The limbic system locks into survival mode.

You’re not training anymore.
You’re rewiring the dog to live in fear of their own leash, collar, and handler.

Bottom Line: This Is Not “Communication”

If a therapist zapped you in the neck—triggering your breathing, heartbeat, posture, skin sensors, and head control all at once—you’d sue them.
You’d call it trauma.
Because that’s what it is.

And no, trying it on your arm doesn’t count.
Your arm isn’t your throat.
You’re not a dog.
And you don’t live in a constant state of trying to read the world without language.

This Isn’t a Training Tool. It’s a Nervous System Disruptor.

Stop calling it “low level.”
Stop calling it “just like TENS.”
Stop calling it humane.

Because when you press that button, you’re not sending a message.
You don’t send your location, you don’t sell the dogs problem, you simply add another problem up top of the existing problem your dog has.
You’re setting off a biological fire alarm inside a being who cannot explain their fear.

Addendum (not so minor):
Let’s not forget the hair follicle, a fourth mechanoreceptor often overlooked in these discussions. In dogs, each follicle is connected to three hairs, and their skin—especially in the neck region—is densely furred and highly sensitive. These follicles detect even subtle vibrations. Critically, the first nerve relay for this haptic input doesn’t stop at the spinal cord; it travels to a specialized nucleus just above it. In carnivorous mammals like dogs, this nucleus is larger and more complex than in humans or primates, meaning the same “low-level” input can trigger a heightened full-body response. When you activate a shock collar, you’re not just touching skin—you’re sending a chaotic signal through a neurologically supercharged system evolved for hunting, not handling pain.

(Dr. Sophie Savel, personal communication, May 14, 2025) thank you🙏

05/13/2025

01/10/2025

10/29/2024

09/16/2024

Over the last few days, it feels like a firestorm has been unleashed. It’s clear that outdated dog training practices will no longer go unchallenged.

The release of a study using shock collars (cited below) has sparked unprecedented backlash and even made national headlines, and triggered a major reckoning within the dog training community. The study, seen by many as politically motivated, appears to have put dogs in harm's way to prove a point.

Professionals across the field agree that it should never have been approved by the ethics committee - and their fears were substantiated, given that every single dog in the shock collar group is documented to have yelped in pain while receiving shock collar “corrections”.

The outcry continues to build as more people in our field demand accountability and transparency. Reputations are being hit hard, institutions are facing scrutiny, and balanced trainers like Ivan Balabanov have been fully unmasked, revealing the harmful and outdated methods still being promoted under the guise of expertise.

This glaring evidence underlines what we’ve known all along: pain and fear have no place in professional dog training.

Let this serve as a stark reminder to those in our field who continue to promote outdated methods and deny the overwhelming scientific consensus. The community will no longer remain silent. The evidence is clear and we are moving beyond these harmful practices. Trainers who continue to use pain, fear, and intimidation in their methods do not deserve legitimacy in this field.

Ivan Balabanov, once considered a leader among "balanced" trainers, now faces intense scrutiny following his involvement in this study. It is now scientifically verified that 25% of the dogs he and his mentee worked with in the shock collar group could not be trained effectively, and 100% of those dogs yelped in pain.

This once again undermines the narrative propagated by many trainers who use shock collars and falsely claim that their methods "don’t hurt."

The reality is, the tools they promote rely on pain as a teaching mechanism, and better alternatives exist that teach dogs to comply enthusiastically without the need for fear or discomfort, and without the risks associated with using pain and fear to change an individual’s behavior.

For too long, the welfare of dog trainers has been placed above the welfare of dogs and the public. This has got to stop.

The campaign to expose outdated training methods, like those Ivan Balabanov will likely promote in his upcoming UK workshop, is gaining momentum. Even members of his own community are stunned by the facts that have come to light in this study.

This is not an effort to embarrass an individual but to stand up for the public and make it clear that the propaganda surrounding shock collars is just that — propaganda.

Below is a newly published article from Psychology Today that lays out the facts on the recent shock collar study. For those who think this is about social media “clout” or personal opinions, this article should clarify that our advocacy is rooted in concern for public and canine welfare.

I’ve always said, don’t take my word for it—look at the evidence. This article does just that: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/animal-emotions/202409/is-balanced-training-fair-to-dogs-or-is-it-a-cop-out

And here is a link to the study in question: Johnson, A.C., & Wynne, C.D.L. (2024). “Comparison of the Efficacy and Welfare of Different Training Methods in Stopping Chasing Behavior in Dogs.” Animals, 14(18), 2632. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14182632

Based on the reaction to this study, another major domino has fallen in support of aversive dog training methods. This so-called "landmark study" will likely be remembered not for the efficacy of shock collars, but for exposing the unnecessary use of pain in dog training as a legitimate strategy.

We are prepared to provide support and education to those willing to update their methods in the interest of public health and safety. But make no mistake—those who refuse to be unequivocal in rejecting pain-based methods will face increasing scrutiny.

The livelihood of trainers promoting harmful practices is not our concern when it comes at the expense of dog welfare and public trust.

The time to end the misrepresentation of science-based training and to uphold welfare and ethics in dog training is long overdue. We are standing together for a better future for our industry, our dogs, and their guardians.

08/29/2024

In a time when many dog trainers shy away from taking a clear stand against aversive methods, ’s message is bold and unambiguous:

Either you are okay using pain, fear, and discomfort in dog training, or you are not.

For Victoria, the answer is a firm “No.” And that is based on modern ethics and evidence.

Her stance is straightforward: no dog, not even “extreme” cases, should be coerced into compliance through fear or pain when positive, force-free methods are proven to be more humane and effective.

Victoria’s words are a call to action. It’s time for the dog training community to reject outdated practices and speak out against those professionals in the industry who still defend and promote them to a vulnerable public.

Read the full post from Victoria at the link in my bio 🔥

01/19/2024

“Dog training is not regulated, and against a backdrop of misinformation and out-dated ideas, it can be hard for dog guardians to know where to seek help. As the science has changed over the years, so have our ideas about the best ways to train dogs”

Why You Need To Reward Your Dog in Training, According to the Experts By: Zazie Todd, PhD. Click here for original post Dog training is not regulated, and against a backdrop of misinformation and out-dated ideas, it can be hard for dog guardians to know where to seek help. As the science has changed...

12/15/2023

“Avoid high risk situations for your dog such as boarding kennels, dog parks, and doggy day care facilities if you are unsure about the health status of other dogs in those environments”

Please read and share if you have a dog, please keep them safe and take advice from your veterinarian only.

Canine Respiratory Disease of Unknown Origin The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine is investigating the canine respiratory syndrome through a rapid response research project funded by the Riney Canine Health Center. The project is based at the Cornell Animal Health Diagnostic Center....

12/09/2023

“The symptoms include a cough lasting for weeks to months and not responding to typical treatment. Experts said it's the most common in dogs who have been around other dogs, in a kennel or doggie daycare. “

Maine animal health officials are monitoring the uptick in the mystery condition that is baffling experts across the country.