There’s nothing I love more than an unlikely animal friendship. So when Carla reached out to me to share the story of Paddington (the horse) and Zurch (the Swiss Mountain Dog), I was immediately smitten. Paddington & Zurich spent 10 years together as best friends – doing everything from romping in the snow to grazing on grass in the sunshine to sharing some bran mash.

After hearing the Shy & Fearful Dog Roundtable (Episode 17), Brittany Roger reached out to me with her own story. Brittany fell in love with a chihuahua, Carmelo, who she hoped would have all the good traits of her first dog, with none of the more challenging traits. Carmelo, however, had different plans in mind. When the COVID-19 quarantine happened, Maryland SPCA’s Lead Trainer & Behaviorist, Maria Montgomery, was working to move the shelter’s training classes online and with Brittany’s help, was able to do just that. Brittany meanwhile was tasked with editing hours of dog training videos and was learning by osmosis exactly what she needed to help Carmelo become comfortable in his new family at his own pace.

Coming home from work one day to find that your dog isn’t there is pretty much the worst nightmare of any dog owner. When this happened to Kaitlyn, her plea to get her dog, Knox, back went viral. And Kaitlyn found a way to keep the momentum of her sudden unexpected platform going and turned it into the Finding Knox organization.

For years, Kim has been known online for blogging about dog health and nutrition but Kim is expanding her focus to include more dog mom lifestyle topics.

Today we’re having a round table discussion about pet parents living with shy and fearful dogs. We talk about everything from gaining the trust of our dogs to the emotional toll having a fearful dog can take on pet parents and being honest about own limitations;

My Pit Bull is Family has become a national animal welfare leader on the issues of breed discriminatory housing and insurance practices as well as a leader in programs keeping pets & their families together.

Michelle Serocki from Episode 3 is back today to tell us about the birth of Pit Bull Advocates of America and how Michelle saw a need and changed her mission from a local to national focus.

A brindle pit bull named Snorkle with an underbite and a lust for life changed Di’s world forever. Di & I discuss everything from growing up with “outside dogs” to the life-changing effect your “heart dog” has on your life. Through Snorkle, Di was introduced to dog training and eventually left her corporate job to run her training business full-time.

Erin Crowley founded Pittie Clothing Co. so she could finally have matching pajamas with her dog. But after having experienced negative public reactions to her own lovable pit bull dog, Erin’s greater mission is to help pit bull dogs look more approachable and defeat stereotypes.

Sarah Lauch was already a lifelong animal lover and an active shelter and rescue volunteer when she met the dog that changed her life, Roo.