Has your dog ever helped you through a hard time in life?  Your answer to this is most likely, a resounding YES, right?

Author Christopher Dale credits Vector, his rescued “sato” dog from Puerto Rico, with helping him start a new chapter in life after going through hard times.  Like really hard times.  Like life-changing medical diagnosis turned depression turned addiction turned nearly blowing up his marriage-type hard times.

Chris became curious if other people were having a life-changingly special relationship with their rescue dog too.  In his book “We Saved Each Other: How Rescue Dogs Help Us Through Hardship,” Chris mixes in his own memoir reflections with profiles of other rescue dog adopters to explore experiences such as trauma, grief, addiction and mental health challenges and examine the role of their dogs in their journey. (Trigger warning for ongoing discussion of these themes throughout the episode.)

Have you ever thought about your pet parenting philosophy? Maybe you have an idea in your head of what you want your relationship with you dog(s) to look like, but how would you describe it?

Debby is known for sharing her life with multiple dogs. Working as a dog trainer since the late 1990s, Debby developed a niche in the dog training world helping families introduce & integrate new dogs into multi-dog households. 

Debby shares – what I will call – her “ pet parenting philosophy” and it’s the closest explanation I’ve seen to how I feel about my relationship with my dogs.  We discuss what this looks like through setting boundaries and the importance of routines & predictability for establishing trust with a new dog in your home.

So are you ready to introduce a new dog to your family?  Whether you are or not, Debby identifies important body language and training cues that are helpful for any & every pet parent.  We also discuss how to teach your dog good behavior without needing a clicker!

Has your dog ever shown fear, anxiety or reactivity?  If your dog hasn’t, I’d be willing to bet that you know someone whose dog is dealing with one of these issues.

Returning guest Dr. Zazie Todd is a psychologist who digs into the science of dog behavior to help us make the best decisions for our dogs. Her new book, Bark!  The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful or Reactive Dog is going to help so many dogs & their people.  And I’m so thrilled that she’s here to share her insight with us.

Have you ever heard that it’s wrong to comfort your dog when you they’re showing signs of fear?  This is just one of the outdated dog training myths that Zazie helps us myth bust.

 So what should we do to help our fearful dogs?  Zazie shares how we can create a safe space for our dogs and how to be their safe person. 

Do we really have to understand science to teach our dogs?

According to Annie Grossman, it really does help - both us & our dogs - if we grasp the basics of how dogs learn. 

But science doesn’t have to be difficult, and Annie helps simplify the concepts for us.

Annie also shares with us the many ways in which learning about learning benefits our lives – from making us smarter consumers to raising the next generation.

Have you ever heard someone say that you should be your dog’s “alpha”?   Do dogs have alphas?  or is that a wolf thing? What is the role of the alpha in a pack?  Are dogs even looking for humans to be their alpha?

We have renowned ethologist Dr. Marc Bekoff to answer all these questions and more for us.

As a pet parent companion animal guardian, Dr. Bekoff makes me think about the type of relationship I want to have with my dogs and the type of human I want to be.  (And also about some of the past blunders I’ve inadvertently made.)

We know that people can have different types of intelligence, but what about our dogs?  I think every pet parent I know has been astonished by how smart their dog is – and usually in a good way.

Author Jennifer Holland explores the many different ways that dogs show their intelligence in her new book Dog Smart: Life Changing Lessons in Canine Intelligence.

Jennifer interviewed everyone from scientists to dog trainers to pet parents to learn how dogs demonstrate their smarts.  I was fascinated to learn about all the different types of working dogs – some of which I’d never heard of before!

But what does this mean for pet parents?  Jennifer shares with us what she now does differently with her own dogs after everything she learned while writing Dog Smart. We also discuss the types of intelligence we’ve seen in our own dogs.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work with an animal communicator?   

After connecting with Nancy Mello earlier this year, Tim & I decided to book a session with her to see if we could get some insight into the lack of connection between our old man Neno and newly adopted Nessie.  

During our session with Nancy, there were several points that didn’t resonate with us at the time. But over the following days and weeks, more of Nancy’s insights started to make sense. 

Tim & I decided to listen to our recorded session from start to finish and reflect on the statements that didn’t make sense at the time but later became a-ha! moments.  So I thought I’d turn on the microphones and capture this for you.

 In Part 1, you’ll hear Neno and Nessie each share their side of a scuffle that happened in our living room.  Then we check-in with Neno, both physically and emotionally.

Did you know there are many reasons why a dog could be wearing a muzzle?  I like to think that the presence of a muzzle isn’t the sign of a bad dog – but of a good pet parent!

Clara Hewson spent years advising pet parents on the benefits of training their dog to wear a muzzle. But Clara had never experienced one of her own dogs needing to be muzzled in public – until she adopted Tolly.  And Clara became shocked by the stigma she & Tolly began to experience.

Clara was searching for the “perfect” muzzle design – one that gave Tolly enough room to pant and receive treats – and when she couldn’t find it, she decided she would create it herself.  Now you can shop at The Muzzle Movement to find muzzles that are safe, secure and fun to accessorize.

Clara shares with us the exact steps to start muzzle training your dog. 

We’re joined by Mindy Meiering, LCSW, a licensed therapist, life coach, and mindfulness teacher who specializes in grief and loss. Even though Mindy has supported thousands of clients and families through major losses and life transitions, she was blindsided by how devastated she felt after losing her first dog, Ellie.

Calling upon all the tools and resources she learned, Mindy created the Rainbow Bridge Deck to support pet parents grieving the loss of a beloved companion.