Business Details
20 Years
experience
Professional Dog Training in Pasadena, MD
You Silly Dog is a professional dog training service dedicated to transforming pets into happy, well-mannered companions through compassionate, force-free methods. Founded in 2006, we specialize in in-home puppy and dog training across Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Our approach emphasizes trust, cooperation, and respect, avoiding aversive tools like shock collars. With over 20 years of experience, we focus on reducing frustration for pet owners by teaching proactive, positive reinforcement techniques.Our services include basic skills, behavior guidance, and trick training, tailored to each dog's unique needs. We prioritize client education, offering handouts and ongoing support to reinforce learning. Recognized by veterinarians and pet professionals, we serve families seeking to build harmonious relationships with their pets while preserving their dogs' playful personalities.
Services
Puppy Training
Basic Skills
Basic Manners
Trick Training
Behavior Guidance
Details
- Year established: 2006
Highlights and features
- 20+ years of experience in force-free dog training
- Personalized in-home sessions tailored to your dog's needs
- Focus on positive reinforcement and behavior modification
- Includes puppy tech support between training sessions
- Serving Anne Arundel County since 2006
What people say
Compassionate methods
Improved behavior
Knowledgeable trainer
Positive reinforcement
Great with kids
Services
Puppy Training
Specialized training for puppies focusing on housebreaking, crate training, and basic obedience. Our program addresses common challenges like nipping and separation anxiety while establishing routines. Sessions include hands-on practice and educational materials to help owners build a strong foundation for their puppy's development through positive reinforcement techniques.
Basic Skills
Core command training covering sit, down, come, stay, and leash walking. We teach practical skills like 'drop it' and 'leave it' to prevent dangerous behaviors. Each session combines demonstration, practice, and customized guidance to ensure consistent progress while maintaining your dog's joyful personality through reward-based methods.
Behavior Guidance
Targeted solutions for common behavior issues including jumping, barking, and counter-surfing. Our approach focuses on understanding root causes rather than temporary fixes. We provide actionable strategies to modify unwanted behaviors through positive reinforcement while teaching alternative, acceptable actions that meet both dog and owner needs.
Trick Training
Engaging trick instruction that builds mental stimulation and strengthens human-dog bonds. We teach behaviors like shake, high-five, and rollover while emphasizing the learning process. These sessions reinforce training principles through play, providing enrichment that prevents boredom while showcasing how positive reinforcement creates joyful learning experiences.
Rescue Dog Training
Specialized program for rescue dogs addressing unique challenges from unknown backgrounds. We focus on building trust through gradual acclimation while establishing house rules. Our approach includes management tools and customized strategies to overcome past traumas, helping rescued pets develop confidence and adapt to their new homes through compassionate, structured training.
People
Alisa Peters
Owner/Trainer
Certified dog trainer with 20+ years experience specializing in force-free methods. Founded You Silly Dog in 2006 after transitioning from corporate career. Recognized by Baltimore Magazine as Best Dog Trainer 2013. Continues education through animal behavior workshops while serving Anne Arundel County.
Questions
What training methods do you use?
We exclusively use positive reinforcement techniques that focus on rewarding desired behaviors rather than punishment. This science-based approach avoids aversive tools like shock collars while building trust between dogs and owners.
Do you offer in-home training sessions?
Yes, we provide in-home training across Anne Arundel County. This allows us to address specific household challenges while teaching practical skills in your dog's natural environment through personalized one-on-one instruction.
What areas do you serve?
We serve Anne Arundel County, Maryland including Arnold, Glen Burnie, Pasadena, Severn, and surrounding communities. Our in-home service covers the entire county for convenient access to our training programs.
Can you help with rescue dogs?
Yes, we specialize in rescue dog rehabilitation using gradual acclimation techniques. Our training addresses unknown backgrounds while building trust through positive reinforcement, helping rescued pets develop confidence and adapt to new homes.
What's included in training packages?
Packages include personalized sessions with hands-on instruction, follow-up handouts, and between-session support. The 4-session package offers comprehensive training with ongoing guidance to reinforce learning and ensure lasting behavior changes.
Do you handle aggressive dogs?
We don't work with fearful, anxious, or aggressive dogs. For severe behavioral issues including reactivity or separation anxiety, we recommend consulting veterinary behaviorists who can address potential medical components alongside training needs.
Reviews (7)
Jessie Tang
Feb 20, 2022
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Our was recommended by my Veterinary to reach out to "You Silly Dog" to start training our 3 month old puppy. Signing up was a breeze and Alisa was very responsive. Alisa was really patient with my energetic puppy. She reassured me that our puppy's behavior was a norm and it's fixable/train-able. She sent informative PDFs prior to our first appointment and sent follow ups after our training session. Her prices are reasonable. Her philosophy on dog training is positive re-enforcement, which has worked for us. We look forward to our upcoming appointments with her.
Bob Carman
May 22, 2021
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Alisa at You Silly Dog is fabulous! We have a 1-1/2 year old "still puppy" named Cody. Overall, he is a pretty good boy; but had a few issues that definitely needed to be addressed (nipping, jumping, stay). Alisa came to our house 4 times and did wonders. Cody is so much better! Alisa was very pleasant and helpful and really worked with us too in learning the skills. And Cody loved her! The value for the price was amazing. I would highly recommend You Silly Dog! Janice Carman
Rachel Blank
Apr 22, 2021
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Alisa is so wonderful with our dogs. She not only works effectively with our dog, she also works effectively balancing the shifting dynamics between me and my husband! All of her training has really helped our baby turn into a well-behaved puppy princess.
Sarah Dalton
Mar 03, 2021
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Alisa at You Silly Dog was a tremendous help with training my 6 month old rescue puppy. My pup really took to her positive reinforcement training methods and quickly improved on many foundational commands and activities such as 'leave it', loose leash walking, recall, stopping nipping, 'going to bed' among others. She also sends great resources for enrichment and detailed training methods for future reference. Not to mention she was a great person to work with and very COVID conscious! Thanks, Alisa!
Cait Arena
Feb 21, 2021
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I'm so grateful for Alisa and highly recommend training with her. I rescued a 2 yr old pitbull mix who began jumping and nipping out of excitement. Alisa gave very thorough and specific strategies that focused on positive reinforcement. I appreciated how personalized Alisa made the process and you can tell she truly cares about helping your dog to become the best they can.
Gulielma Fager
Nov 22, 2020
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Alisa is super talented and professional. Both of our dogs responded really well to her and the handouts she provided were very helpful. I really appreciate that she was willing to do COVID safe, in-home training for our new puppy.
Harvey Gordon
May 10, 2020
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Ozzie is a 3 y/o/ Australian Shepard with Cockerspaniel mix. The individual training with Ozzie was just as easy as it was with his sister, Maggie. However, after two virtual lessons, I now walk both dogs at same time - maintaining full control at all times. The virtual training was easy to understand and easy to demonstrate. We practice each day for 10-15 minutes each outing. I'm seeing results immediately, Image may contain: dog
