Maude and the Bulldogs, LLC

06/07/2026

This is your sign that someone sees you. 💜

The dog mom who’s canceled plans because her dog was having a hard day. The one who’s sat in a parking lot before a training class, taking a breath, giving herself a little pep talk before walking in. The one who knows her dog’s triggers better than she knows her own coffee order; who has explained her dog to a vet, a groomer, a well-meaning stranger at least a dozen times and will do it again without flinching.

This one’s for you. 🐾

There’s a whole community of women who get it — who aren’t going to look at your dog sideways or tell you to “just socialize him more.” Women who have cried over the same things you have, who have struggled with the feelings and emotions of loving a complex canine, who are doing the same work you are — for herself and for her dog. Women who have been in the thick of it and came out the other side with more patience, more knowledge, and more love for the complicated dog that chose them.

That’s what we’re building - a community of women and their dogs who support each other and cheer each other on. Swipe through and feel seen, then come find your people. We’d love to see you at our next pack walk on July 26! ✨

06/06/2026

The older I get, the more I believe in the esoteric, like astrology, crystals, and intuition. Not just for funsies or giggles, but for real life insight and reflection. ✨

Because if I know myself better, then I can show up authentically and aligned in my life, which means that my dog gets the best version of me. 💜

And while I certainly don’t do everything in my life for the benefit of my dog, I do like that there is so much overlap between self-awareness and personal growth and development with dog ownership and dog training. 🐾

If any of these made you feel seen, share with a friend! 💌

And, we still have a few spots left for tomorrow’s free pack walk and ticketed astrology class. Send me a message for links to either or both events! I’d love to see you there. 🎟️

06/04/2026

Loving dogs and respecting dogs are not the same thing (although to love dogs you should respect them 🤷🏻‍♀️).

But somewhere along the way, society decided that instead of respect and love being synonymous, “loving dogs” means you have free range to touch, stare at, and interact with every dog you see - the opposite of what love and respect truly mean.

For example: staring can be confrontational to a dog, shoving your hand toward their face isn’t a polite greeting, a wagging tail is not permission, a belly isn’t an open invitation. And you’re still a stranger to the dog you met six months ago but haven’t seen since.

When I tell you not to pet my dog, I’m not being rude. She might be nervous, in training, overwhelmed, or just a little spicy. (My being in public with her is not implied consent for touching or ogling; it’s just us living our lives.) Advocating for her space should never cost me pushback or shame from a stranger.

And to the people who smile and walk by, who give us room, who say “she’s beautiful” and keep moving without reaching out? Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to us. 🥹💜🐾

If you’d like more information on how to advocate for your dog in public spaces or just want to be around folks who get it, come to one of our Madison WI dog mom events. We’d love to see you there!

06/03/2026

Forget hot girl summer - I’m trying to have an unstoppable dog mom summer 🐾💜✨💅🏻

If you are struggling with any challenging behaviors, from digging in the trash or counter surfing to greeting guests or reactivity on the walk, send me a message! I would love to help you and your dog live a more peaceful and balanced life, together. 🥰

06/02/2026

A temporary foster has been found, still seeking adopter. 

Please see slides for details.

Contact Ali if you can help. ❤️‍🩹

06/01/2026

Our next pack walk is this Sunday, June 7, at 9 AM! Registration is required: 

Our free community pack walks are ideal for the dog-owner dyad who has a foundation of training - meaning, the dog understands leash and/or ecollar pressure and the handler can communicate effectively with their dog. Pack walks are NOT group classes but are rather for the application of skills and l...

06/01/2026

The blue full moon that just passed on May 31st doesn’t come around often; spiritually it’s considered one of the most powerful reset opportunities we get. A chance to release what we’ve been carrying, cleanse what’s no longer serving us, and step forward into calm contentment and good things on the horizon. I felt every bit of that energy coming into this first week of June, and it’s exactly what informed these affirmations.

Because dog moms carry a lot: the reactive dog who makes every walk feel like a gamble, the pulling on leash that has you dreading your nightly stroll, the barking and growling and lunging that is embarrassing and scary and frustrating and just feels so defeating. These affirmations aren’t here to silver line any of that or tell you how to feel. They’re here to invite release and to make a little room for patience, gratitude, and calm as we move into June together.

And if you need a community of woo-woo dog moms in Madison, Wisconsin who actually get it; who are supportive and kind and will show up for you when you need it, come to one of our events. We have free monthly pack walks and dog mom events coming up in June and September.

And if you’re looking for help with a puppy, a reactive dog, leash manners, or just don’t know where to start with training your dog, send me a message. I’d love to help. 🐾💜✨

05/31/2026

Grief is not a straight line, and “how are you” deserves more than a grocery store “Good, how are you?” answer.

The real answer is that I’m okay, and I’m not okay, and both of those things are true at the same time on the same Tuesday afternoon (or Sunday evening). Some days I’m thriving and some days it feels like a metric ton of bricks just getting out of bed; it changes daily, sometimes hourly. And I’ve learned that’s just what grief is.

I lost my soul dog, Liam, in November 2024. He was my everything. Life has grown around that loss in ways I didn’t expect; I’m grateful for so much, and I still carry the guilt and regret and despair and sometimes anger. I don’t think the sadness has gotten lighter, I think I’ve just gotten more efficient at holding it and grew my life around my grief.

So when someone asks how I am, the real answer is: happy and sad and grateful and missing him, all at once. And that’s just how it is. And probably how it will be for awhile.

If you made it this far … Welcome to Sad Girl Sundays. I started sharing about my grief journey many months after losing Liam, to help process my (many, nuanced, and sometimes confusing or conflicting) emotions and because if it helps even one person feel less alone in their own pet loss grief, it’s worth sharing. 💜🌈🪽🐾✨

SadGirlSunday

05/29/2026

You can buy skinny - but you gotta earn strong.

Ozempic and other weight loss drugs exist, they’re accessible, and plenty of people are choosing them. No judgment here, truly. But you cannot buy strong. You cannot buy muscle. You cannot buy the discipline, the early mornings, the hard sets, the calluses, the slow and completely unglamorous process of building something in your body that only comes from actually doing the work over and over and over again.

Strong is earned. Not given.

And dog training? It is the exact same thing.

You can buy a well bred dog. You can pay a dog trainer to work with you and your dog. You can send your dog to a stay and train and have them come home with a set of new skills and a foundation to build on. But you cannot buy a well behaved dog. Because a well behaved dog is not a product of a few weeks at a trainer’s house or an hour long session in yours. It’s not something that gets handed to you at the end of your dog training program.

In private lessons, your trainer comes to your home for one hour a week. One. That leaves 167 hours that are entirely up to you; every interaction, every walk, every threshold, every time your dog tests the boundary you just worked on in your session. Those 167 hours are where a well behaved dog is actually built. After a stay and train, it’s up to you to maintain results and progress.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not always fun. It’s not something you’re going to feel like doing every single day. But when you have the discipline to implement your training plan consistently, in the kitchen, on the leash, at the front door, in the parking lot at the vet, you are earning something that cannot be bought. You are earning a well behaved dog. And that is something to be incredibly proud of. Because it was earned, not given. Created, not bought.

Link in bio to learn more about dog training and boarding in Madison WI; I’d love to help you do the work. 🐾💜✨

05/27/2026

Reactive dog mom life is showing up anyway, even when everything in you is bracing for it to go wrong. 💜

It’s going out in public with a muzzle on your dog and holding your head up when someone gives you a judgmental look. It’s saying yes to the pack walk even though your stomach is in knots. It’s trying a new training technique knowing full well it might not work (or it may be the missing puzzle piece!). It’s walking a new route without knowing where all the triggers are hiding. It’s sitting down at a quiet patio and knowing you might have to leave before your order even arrives.

The toughest part about reactive dog mom life isn’t the training. It’s the moment you decide to try again after your dog has dragged you down the street, or the patio outing didn’t go as planned, or someone says something disparaging about the tools that help you communicate clearly with your dog.

Reactive dog training isn’t linear, it’s not pretty, and it’s definitely not what the highlight reel looks like. Some days you nail it and some days your dog reminds you that he has a lot of feelings about literally everything that moves. Both of those days are part of it.

When the walk goes sideways and you’re standing there feeling defeated, there are people who get it. People who aren’t going to judge you or your dog. People who are going to say “me too” and mean it. That’s what this community is; a safety net, so you can take the risks and know that if you fall, you’ve got support to dust yourself off and try again.

If you’re a dog mom in Madison who’s been knocked down more than once on a walk with your reactive dog (maybe even literally!), you’re not failing, and you’re not alone. You’re risking it all for the chance to make life better for you and your dog, and there’s a whole community here ready to cheer you on.

Share this with a reactive dog mom who needs a mantra. And comment below with your reactive dog mom mantra! 🐾

LeashTrainingMadison