Did you know that the health decisions you make for your dog today impact their long-term health?  Including whether your dog could be at-risk developing Canine Cognitive Dysfunction aka canine dementia.

Francine Barish-Stern learned all of this first-hand after her experiences with her dog, Shamrock.  She spent years trying to get a proper diagnosis for Shamrock that would explain both the physical and the behavior changes she was seeing in her dog: Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. 

Now a Dog Mom advocate on a mission, Francine shares with us everything Pet Parents should know about treating and preventing canine dementia in our dogs.

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 has not 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. 

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, Kelly’s philosophy is to always make it fun!

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. 

But what if we could stop dog anxiety before it even starts?  Alex shares the one BIG thing pet parents can do to avoid dog anxiety in the first place.

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.

Have you – or someone you know – ever struggled with a challenging dog? 

After struggling for 5 years with her own dog, Maya, Souha met a series of life-changing teachers and mentors.  These experiences led her to develop a philosophy to heal the relationship and strengthen the bond we have with our troubled dogs.

Souha explains to us her 3-stage method that she calls the Way of Life. This system is like hitting the “reset” button on your relationship with your dog – at any age and no matter how long your dog has been part of the family.

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 for successfully introducing and integrating a new dog to your home:

s 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.)

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 shares the signs to look for in your dog’s behavior AND physical health when determining if PTSD is present. 

We’ll also learn the Do’s and Don’ts to creating a healing environment for dogs that have experienced traumatic events. And we’ll learn tips for protecting our dogs and how to prevent these situations from happening in the first place.

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.  

Fortunately, there’s people like Bob Bryant and Mission K9 in the world who are doing something about it.

From arranging transport from the far corners of the world to rehabbing the dogs’ physical and psychological wounds to finding appropriate adopters, Mission K9 keeps these commitments to each dog they rescue.