From leaving New Jersey to start a new life – and a holistic dog boutique – in Montana to history, science and technology, Ellie and I cover a lot of ground in this episode.

Ellie’s life was forever changed when she was scrolling on social media one morning and saw a video that shook her to her core. This was a video showing laboratory testing on beagles. A beagle owner herself, Ellie was horrified and decided she was going to do something about this.

Ellie’s book, Laboratory Dogs Rescued: From Test Subjects to Beloved Companions, takes a look through the past, the present and the future of the use of animals in research. In the second half of the book, we hear from the organizations rescuing these dogs and many heart-warming stories from the adopters of beagles rescued from laboratories.

Marta Negro is one of the bravest and coolest people that I’ve ever met and I can’t wait for you to hear her story.

Leaving at the end of 2019 to embark a solo adventure around the world, Marta hitchhiked her way through Poland and worked as a tour guide in Russia before landing in Thailand to volunteer at an animal rescue helping Thai street dogs. On her first day at the rescue, Marta fell in love with a little dog named Teaspa who really needed some TLC. Marta knew she had to bring Teaspa home with her to Scotland and made a promise to Teaspa that she was now Marta’s dog.

Unfortunately, Marta happened to meet Teaspa in March of 2020. And there were some major things happening in the world. Marta had to make the heart-breaking decision to leave Teaspa behind in Thailand temporarily.

While Marta spent months trying to figure out how to get Teaspa from Thailand to Europe, she discovered there was not one central clearinghouse for pet owner or travelers to coordinate. So she decided to create it. And Help The Dog Fly was born.

It’s not an exaggeration for me to say that the information in this episode could save your dog’s life.

After a terrible accident, Paweenduh (you can call her “P” for short) found her purpose and has dedicated her life to raising awareness about keeping your dog safe in the car with dog seatbelts with Dogs Ride Certified.

By the end of this episode, you will know what the safest products are for your dog, where to find them and how to use them.

April Doherty has dedicated her career to seeing that animal abusers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As a paralegal with the Baltimore County State’s Attorney Office for the past 18 years, April shares her experiences witnessing animal abuse and neglect cases being taken more seriously by all players in the criminal justice system. April’s impressive resume also includes training and educating law enforcement – both home and abroad! We also about the emotional toll that this work can take and why self-care is so important.

April also opens up about being diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2020. Her vulnerable social media sharing about this journey are helping women – including me! – with processing all the emotions that come from facing this diagnosis and learning to live this next chapter of life.

Today we’re welcoming award-winning, bestselling author Kristin von Kreisler to the podcast. A lifelong animal lover – and animal empathizer! – Kristin’s life was forever changed one night when she stumbled upon a terrified beagle in need of assistance. Naming her Bea, Kristin made it her mission to show love and patience to this pup who had never experienced life outside of a cage.

Several years later, the tables were turned and Bea helped Kristin get through the hardest time in her life. And through this experience with Bea, Kristin made it her mission to change the focus of her career to align with her heart and focus her writing on animals.

Kristin is with us today to share her newest book, A Reason for Hope is about a woman's fight for justice and a courthouse dog who comforts and supports her.

It was a true honor and pleasure to speak with Kristin.

TW: SA

Today we’re welcoming back Carla & Wayne Greenside. When we last spoke on Episode 21, Carla & Wayne shared the story of the unlikely friendship of Paddington the Morgan Horse and Zurich the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog.

I’m excited to share that The Great Adventures of Paddington & Zurich is now available to pre-order and will ship out on February 14!

Carla & Wayne also share their experiences competing in American Kennel Club Conformation dog show competitions with Quinn, the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and Instagram Dog-fluencer. They gave me a Dog Show 101 Tutorial as I’m completely unfamiliar with this world!

Over the past 10 years, more than 3300 dogs have received services from B-More Dog’s Wellness Clinics. The Clinics have grown in size, in services provided and in partnership with other organizations. All dogs visiting the Clinics receive an exam with a veterinarian, vaccines (if needed), medications to treat common illnesses & conditions (if needed), nail trims & light grooming, leashes & collars and free dog food.

In this episode, we hear mini-interviews with volunteers Dr. Michelle Myers, Jennifer B., John, Christina, V, Garrick and Rachel, sharing their experiences over the past 10 years from why they were motivated to volunteer their time to what they’ve learned along the way.

In September 2011, B-More Dog’s (a Baltimore-based non-profit organization) scrappy group of volunteers launched a program called Community Pit Bull Day to provide free vaccines to dogs in under-resourced communities in Baltimore City.

Now known as the B-More Dog Wellness Clinics, over the past 10 years, more than 3300 dogs have received services from B-More Dog. The Clinics have grown in size, in services provided and in partnership with other organizations. All dogs visiting the Clinics receive an exam with a veterinarian, vaccines (if needed), medications to treat common illnesses & conditions (if needed), nail trims & light grooming, leashes & collars and free dog food.

In this episode, we hear mini-interviews with 6 volunteers (Pauline, Dianna, Hillary, Dawn, Ashley and Jennifer G.) sharing their experiences over the past 10 years from why they were motivated to volunteer their time to what they’ve learned along the way.

A lifelong dog-lover, Erika is one firecracker of a Dog Mom. Erika is a vet tech by day and spends her free time advocating for pit bull dogs with the Pinups for Pit Bulls organization. Ericka even modeled in the Pinups for Pit Bulls 2020 calendar…as Miss March 2020 … or Miss COVID! But Erika shares with us how she was able to redeem herself in the 2022 “Greatest Pits” edition of the calendar.

Erika has so much to share about her experiences as a Dog Mom including Hogan’s leash reactivity and everything she’s done to improve this behavior over time. Plus, we discuss life as pit bull owners & advocates, from the pressure we put on ourselves to have the “perfect” breed ambassador dogs to everything we’ve learned about advocating and breed discrimination to dealing with other people’s reactions to our dogs.