Susan Shahoda is a lifelong dog lover who has devoted much of the past 15 years to volunteering with Westside German Shepherd Rescue in Los Angeles, CA. But don’t let the name fool you – Westside rescues dogs of all shapes & sizes and adopts to families throughout the continental U.S. and Canada. In fact, Westside is celebrating 20 years and 20,000 dogs finding loving homes!

Why are those adoption applications so long? How do rescues determine which dogs get chosen? Why are rescue volunteers on-call 24/7 ? And what do rescues really think about people who can’t keep their dogs anymore? Susan gives us a true behind-the-scenes view of running a rescue organization.

Susan also shares her thoughts on the unsung heroes of the animal welfare community, the surprising benefit of the Nextdoor App, the best & the hardest parts of rescue and what keeps her going even in the tough times.

Andrew Cotter is a lifelong dog lover and sports lover. You may recognize his name or voice from his career as a sports broadcaster where he’s announced everything from Wimbledon to the Olympics. But since COVID-19, Andrew is better known as the Dog Dad to the internet’s most famous Labradors, Olive and Mabel.

Andrew shares with us behind-the-scenes of making his favorite videos and the challenges of setting your expectations for non-professionally trained dogs to perform on command. And while Andrew just thought he was making some silly dog videos, the feedback he received from people all over the world who found moments of happiness from Olive & Mabel during COVID times was truly meaningful.

Andrew is the author of the hilarious and heartfelt books Olive, Mabel & Me and Dog Days: Life in Lockdown with Olive and Mabel.

You’ll also get to hear Andrew’s play-by-play of Olive and Mabel’s antics during our interview.

Forever Home is such an honest and vulnerable share of the ups & downs that Danny and Ron have experienced in life and in rescue.

I think so many Pet Parents will find a piece of themselves in Danny & Ron’s story as it’s a universal experience for our dogs to help us through everything from illnesses to grief.

Of course it’s not as universal of an experience to have 100+ dogs living in your house at any given time! After rescuing more than 600 dogs from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Danny & Ron formalized their long-standing rescue efforts into an official organization and have now gone on to find loving home for 14,000+ dogs.

But unlike many rescues which rely on foster homes or kennels to house adoptable dogs, Danny & Ron are unique in that all the dogs in their rescue live with them in their home.

You might be surprised to learn that Billy Hoekman grew up without pets while eating take-out and fast food. Because today Billy is known for being THE Dog Nutrition Guru.

Billy’s life changed forever due when an adorable pug named Lua caused Billy to ask the question: What’s the best thing for my dog to eat? And he’s been obsessed with answering that question for the past 15+ years.

Billy and I also talk about misconceptions about the Amish, the #1 thing he wants Pet Parents to know about feeding their pets, and the special relationship he had with his friend and mentor, Jacqueline Hill (who recently passed away).

Lisa Tully has a passion for healing pets and Pet Parents – physically, mentally and emotionally.

From Ireland to an wildlife sanctuary in the Amazon rainforest to living amongst the Tibetan monks in the Dalai Lama’s community, Lisa shares her world travels with us and the incredible experiences she’s had along the way.

We’ll hear how Lisa first learned she could communicate with animals, the most common reasons Pet Parents contact her and what she says when people don’t believe in her work.

A lifelong mutts-lover, Olivia uses her talent and passion to highlight the beauty of non-pedigreed dogs with her new book MUTTS: A Celebration of Mystery Mixed Breeds.

We learn how Olivia was inspired to create a book for mutts, the logistics of finding and photographing 100+ dogs in just a few weeks and some of the special mutts and their people from the book.

Proceeds from MUTTS helps Louisiana-based animal shelters and rescue organizations.

Elizabeth Menegon is a lifelong dog lover who saw a problem in the world and decided to do something about it.

While Elizabeth spent a lot of time thinking about what dog breed would be a good match for her lifestyle, she would often look around the world and see many families whose dogs didn’t seem to be the best fit for their life.

Elizabeth created a free app so all families and potential pet parents could be guided through questions to help them find the best dog breed to match their family’s lifestyle.

Elizabeth wants the Hands2Paws app to help disrupt puppy mills and backyard dog breeders while preventing dogs from entering the shelters.

Meredith couldn’t wait to add Edie, the Golden Retriever puppy, to her family. She knew it would be just like raising her first two dogs.

She was wrong.

From the first puppy class to trying to take a walk around the block – nothing about Edie was easy. Edie was anxious and terrified of the world around her. And that was not what Meredith expected. So now what was she going to do about it?

I can’t wait for you to meet Meredith May, author of Loving Edie: How a Dog Afraid of Everything Taught Me to Be Brave.

Both the book and my conversation with Meredith are honest admissions about the mistakes made along the way but ultimately about how the love of a dog can change the way we see the world and ourselves.

(And yes, the dog lives and there’s a happy ending!)

In Part 2, we start with a discussion of how to resolve the difficult emotions that can arise when you’ve experienced a dog fight situation in your home. Everyone vulnerably shares their experiences and how they were able to move forward.

But how do you prevent these situations in the first place? How should you go about introducing a new dog to your home? Do dogs need to be best friends from day one?

We answer all these questions and give all the Do’s and Don’ts to help pet parents confidently integrate a new dog into their pack in a slow & steady manner.

You’ll also hear how our Dog Moms prepare themselves for any unexpected loose dog – or other wildlife! – situations that may arise outside the home.

I was recently asked for information on how to stop a dog fight in the house when a newly adopted dog isn’t getting along with a resident dog.

Today I’m bringing together Dianna and Nikki, 2 skilled professional dog trainers, and Nichol, an experienced foster mom who’s had 50+ dogs through her home while raising her [human] child.

These knowledgeable Dog Moms have all experienced dog fight situations in their homes and have developed smart strategies to successfully manage their multi-dog households.

Trigger Warning: This can be an emotional topic to hear discussed. Please note that some of the methods mentioned for stopping a dog fight in your home are only to be used in extreme situations where the life of a dog is in danger.