My values
My online presence with Jayce, including the content I share, is underpinned by my values including:
Transparency
Transparency in everything I do including:
my relationship (if any) with brands (including gifts received, any paid content and any affiliate links)
my own qualifications or lack thereof, I won’t be passing myself off as a dog nutritionist or dog trainer any time soon
my sources of information in creating content
Change through education
My personal change theory, crafted through over a decade of charitable volunteer work, is that change best occurs through empowerment and education, rather than shame.
I aim to arm people with the tools and knowledge they need to make informed decisions, rather than shame or fear mongering.
Anti Animal Racing
I am strongly against any animal racing where animals are raced in groups and/ or there is a gambling or financial benefit element to the racing.
Not only is racing inherently dangerous for animals including collision risk but where money is involved, animal welfare suffers.
Humility
I am always open to new knowledge, feedback and suggestions. The number of followers I’ve had or the number of years I have been in rescue or owned a dog don’t matter because I can always learn and improve my own knowledge and processes.
Science-based
Is it cheesy to say I’m a fan of science? Apart from finding it fascinating, at the end of the day science and science-backed practices are the most important foundations for informed dog ownership that supports our dogs’ welfare. Force free training goes hand in hand with this.
Kindness and Inclusion
While this overlaps with a number of the other values, treating other humans and animals with kindness are the only way to make lasting change and a truly inclusive and supportive community. Beyond this, I listen to others with respect and value suggestions that may make aspects of my content, particularly advocacy, kinder or more accessible to them (for example, trigger warnings or image descriptions).
No promotion of consumerism/ over consumption
The online world is full of ‘you NEED to buy this’ or normalising owning dozens of functionally identical dog tags, harnesses and other items which is not only terrible for our wallets but also terrible for the planet. The amount of gear you own is not a marker of being a good or bad dog owner. If I show the gear or treats I use or purchase for Jayce I will also share the ‘why’ I felt I needed it for our specific circumstances and linked to this, I do very, very few brand deals both to not promote overconsumption and I only work with brands whose values align with my own.
Shopping small
Linked to the above, where possible I will buy from and share small businesses rather than large corporations as it is small businesses who are the backbone of our community. I will also preference businesses who use sustainable packaging, production and sourcing where possible as well!
