What do you think are the most common complaints our dogs have about us Pet Parents?  Animal Communicator Nancy Mello shares the two most common grievances she hears – and I definitely needed to hear this!   While some of us might be completely intrigued by the concept of animal communication, for Nancy Mello, her experience hasn’t been all love & light.    Nancy describes herself as “not at all woo-woo.” She spent the first 30+ years of her life trying to repress her abilities and just live as a “normal” daughter, military spouse and mom.    It’s only been a ..read more

Is your dog always 100% confident? While Kelly Lee of Dogkind Training specializes in working with fearful dogs, her confidence building tips will help you build your dog’s confidence in any situation. Kelly shares her top Do’s and Don’ts for increasing your dog’s confidence – whether it’s a brand-new situation or an experience you may need to reintroduce to your dog in a different way.   My biggest takeaway is how to break down these experiences into tiny steps.  Dogkind Training’s website has amazing free resources for learning how to do this in various ways – from stairs to nail c ..read more

Have you ever wondered if we’re [accidentally] making our dogs’ anxiety worse?  Alex Peacock – a dog trainer who specializes in working with anxious dogs – is going help us answer this question and understand why anxious people and anxious dogs seem to attract each other. Alex works with pet parents of anxious dogs through a comprehensive program he designed.  He’ll share with us the three pillars of his program and give us powerful tips for any pet parent dealing with an anxious dog.  Alex also advises us on how to choose the best dog trainer to help with your dog’s anxiety. Bu ..read more

Our dogs are always talking to us … but are we listening?   I believe that learning our dogs’ body language is one of THE most important aspects of being a pet parent. So thank goodness for Lili Chin’s work translating Doggie Language for us humans. In fact, if you follow anything dog-related on social media, you’re probably familiar with Lili’s illustrations and artwork. Lili never anticipated that adopting Boogie, the Boston Terrier, would impact her life and career in so many ways.  She also hadn’t anticipated Boogie nearly getting her evicted after biting her apartment build ..read more

Dog Mom Confession: Sometimes it’s stressful adopting a new dog!     Have you ever heard of the 3-3-3 Rule?  This advice gives Pet Parents an expectation of what to expect 3 Days, 3 Weeks and 3 Months after bringing a new dog home. Today’s guest Ann King is the dog trainer who has popularized the 3-3-3 Rule for the shelter & rescue community. Ann is also the creator of the Rescue SMART framework. SMART is an acronym for Ann’s five steps to successfully introducing and integrating a new dog to your home: Structure Management Activity Red Flags Training Ann will share w ..read more

Is your dog as happy as you think? Are there scientifically proven ways to make your dog happy? Dr. Zazie Todd shines light on these questions in her book Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. This is a re-broadcast of Episode 9, which originally aired March 9, 2020. Zazie Todd did not grow up with pets, while on her way to becoming an accomplished social psychologist. When she & her husband adopted 2 dogs within 6 weeks from their local humane society, Zazie used her psychology and research background to make sure she was doing the “right” things for her dogs. As she began looking in ..read more

Did you know that the most common cause of trauma in dogs is at the hands of people – particularly harsh handling by Pet Professionals such as groomers, veterinarians and dog trainers?   Caroline Alupo is a Sweden-based ethologist and dog trainer who literally wrote the guide to diagnosing PTSD in dogs.  This topic is extra-personal for me as I believe my dog, Neno, meets the criteria for Complex PTSD from abuse and neglect he experienced before we adopted him.   Caroline shares the signs to look for in your dog’s behavior AND physical health when determining if PTSD is present ..read more

If you’re playing a drinking game along with this episode, “shocked” is the word of the day.  I was utterly shocked learning about the institutionalized lack of accountability in caring for the retired military and contract working dogs that protect the U.S. Many of us weren’t aware that this was a problem until the outcry of animal advocates after the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 where contract working dogs were left behind.   In fact, it wasn’t until 2016 that a law was passed stating that the U.S. military had to bring their retired dogs stateside – but Bob tell ..read more

Can dogs see colors?  How does your dog’s breed affect their vision?  What changes in your dog’s behavior could indicate they are losing their vision? Cathy Symons, CVT, CCRP, answers all these questions and more for us.  Cathy’s pug Booda, aka The Emperor, was a bold and adventurous dog who loved his agility class and lived life to the fullest.  Until the day he didn’t, and Cathy realized that Booda had gone blind due to a condition known as SARDS (Sudden Acute Retinal Degeneration Syndrome) that is known to affect small breed dogs. Pulling herself together after this d ..read more

Have you ever had one of those experiences that seemed like it was the worst thing that ever happened to you but then it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to you?   Kay Stewart was shocked when her position of 32 years was abruptly eliminated.  But this career loss helped Kay realize how out of alignment she had become with her childhood goal of helping animals.  When she stumbled onto a job listing posted by Ruby, Founder of Real Dog Box, Kay began to find her true passion.   Hired to create a course for the Feed Real Institute, Kay experienced a paradigm ..read more