Yes?!

I'm usually a straight-forward, to the point, fairly direct, Yes-person.

Sometimes, I even say "Ja" due to constantly overdoing it on the Scandi-noir or the Scandi-not noir stakes on SBS On Demand or Netflix.

Oftentimes, it's both.

Yes. Ja.

But in a direct way, a no-questions-asked kind of way.

Now my "yes" has a new life of its own; a small spring in its step.

YEE-SSS!!

YEEE-SSSS!!

YEEE-SS!!

It's definitely not a Yeah-Nah or a Nah-Yeah. Never. Nup. No way.

I've been going to dog training for six weeks now and it's changed the way I approach "yes" forever.

"Yes" is the marker word the dog trainers use to let the puppy or dog know it did a good thing.

"Yes" roughly translates to "good dog". (See what I did there with "rough-ly"? Don't make me spell it out for you!)

MORE MATERIAL GIRL:

The "yes" you say to encourage your dog needs to be animated, excited and over the top, not unlike the actual puppy you're trying to train.

Hence, YEE-SSS!!

After the puppy or dog hears an excited-animated "yes", it knows a tasty treat is on the way, pronto.

For the first couple of days after your weekly dog training it's difficult to dial down the yippee ki-yay-YEE-SSS in your actual real life outside of puppy preschool!

My girls want to know if we're having pasta for dinner because it's Monday night.

YEE-SSS!!

The courier wants to know if I'm expecting a delivery.

YEE-SSS!!

My dentist wants to know if I need an oral examination and a clean too.

YEE-SSS!!

Sometimes the animated "yes" is too much "yes"; it's awkward at best and disturbingly wrong at worst.

Every time my puppy hears my animated yes to the kids, the courier and the dental receptionist on the phone, she sits, awaiting her reward.

When no treat comes, it only confuses her and then she gets cranky.

I've had to use my YEE-SS-es more sparingly. This is difficult for a Yes-person!

Yes? I mean, agreed!

When I visited my Danish friend years ago now, she was training a new dog Astor.

I couldn't translate every conversation she had with that dog but I remember one phrase came up a lot.

"Nej Astor!!" (No Astor.)

Sometimes I will say to our own dog, "Nej Astor!" if she's chewing a cushion or re-potting a plant!

Of course, it would mean nothing to her.

At the end of the open dog training session the group - trainers and dogs - huddle together for a "yip, yip, yip, yip, yip" and sometimes even a "meow". When my teenager was the dedicated trainer for our puppy recently, I noticed she didn't "yip, yip, yip" or "meow".

"Are you too cool for puppy preschool?" I ask.

"YEE-SSS!!" she says.

Now the dog is scanning the vicinity for another high-value treat.

"NO!" I say.

The puppy is thoroughly confused and wishes everyone could make up their mind.

Ja!

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