Believe in Dog

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 Alupo is a Sweden-based ethologist and dog trainer who literally wrote the guide to diagnosing PTSD in dogs.  This topic is extra-personal for me as I believe my dog, Neno, meets the criteria for Complex...

If you’re playing a drinking game along with this episode, “shocked” is the word of the day.  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 202...

Can dogs see colors?  How does your dog’s breed affect their vision?  What changes in your dog’s behavior could indicate they are losing their vision? Cathy Symons, CVT, CCRP, answers all these questions and more for us.  Cathy’s pug Booda, aka The Emperor, was a bold and adventurous dog who loved his agility class and lived life to the fullest.  Until the day he didn’t, and Cathy realized that Bo...

Have you ever had one of those experiences that seemed like it was the worst thing that ever happened to you but then it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to you?   Kay Stewart was shocked when her position of 32 years was abruptly eliminated.  But this career loss helped Kay realize how out of alignment she had become with her childhood goal of helping animals.  When she stumbled...

Have you ever wondered if your dog could be a Therapy Dog?  Are you & your dog ready to be a therapy team?  Where do you even start?   After working in tech for many years, Sherrie Rohde decided to make a career change and become a therapist. And when she learned (through Instagram!) about animal-assisted therapy work, Sherrie became excited about the idea of incorporating dogs into her new ca...

Have you ever been around a dog who doesn’t “dog” like other dogs?  Maybe you’ve experienced a dog who is reactive or has separation anxiety or a noise-phobia?   Sharon Vincuilla and I explore how dogs (and people!) can experience the world differently and how neurodiversity shows up in a dog’s behavior.  And Sharon has experienced this first-hand with her dog, Muggins!   Sharon found that life wi...

Panita Senjit grew up in India where she learned to be terrified of dogs.  So you might be wondering how she’s become the award-winning author of a children’s book series based on her therapy dog, Lil’ Leo.  And the answer is: her son really wanted a dog.   When living in Austin, Texas, Panita was introduced to Therapy Dog work and realized their family dog, Leo had the perfect temperament for bei...

Has your life been impacted by the loss of a pet?  Erica Messer and her husband adopted Wolfgang, a sickly kitten found in a barn during the height of COVID quarantine in 2020.  But when a tragic accident ended Wolfie’s life the following year, it completely changed the direction of Erica’s life. Now the Founder of Wolfie’s Wish, Erica created the product she was looking for on her grief journey b...

What do burnout, self-care and boundaries have to do with rescue? Everything! We’ll learn the emotional toll that rescue has taken on our Roundtable participants.  This conversation gets incredibly vulnerable and I commend the courage that it took to share this with the world. Our Rescue Roundtable also explores ideas for creating a more sustainable organization and what they would differently in...

Dogs, drama and death threats…oh my! On this Roundtable, we’ll hear from 3 women in Baltimore’s animal rescue community who have collectively impacted the lives of countless dogs. I brought these guests together so we could dive into topics such as who determines Adoption Requirements & Procedures and how rescues can set up their Foster Families for success. But while I’ve been around the anim...

This might be the most important conversation I’ve ever had on the Believe in Dog Podcast. Have you ever wondered why there’s a seemingly endless stream of homeless pets in need at shelters and rescues across the USA?  As a writer, Cara Sue Achterberg began documenting her family’s experiences fostering dogs for a local rescue and wrote the book Another Good Dog - One Family and 50 Foster Dogs . C...

What does pioneering integrative veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein want you to know about the cause of cancer in dogs?  Today we’ll hear the 3 biggest causes for the exponential increase in cancer rates over the past 50 years. I was fascinated to learn that it was Dr. Marty’s journey with his own health that led him to questioning the medical establishment for  both people and pets.  And when Dr. M...

Did you know that hearing dogs are trained to support the deaf and hard-of-hearing community?  I recently learned this when I connected with David Allery, Founder of the nonprofit organization, Your Hearing Dog . David, who experienced a loss of hearing due to a medical condition, shares his own experiences and the societal isolation experienced by many people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.   He...

What is life like with a rescued puppy mill dog?  And is there anything we can do to stop puppy mills?  These are the questions we explore today with Dog Mom and Advocate Jo Anna Kloster, author of Lily Unleashed . Jo Anna shares the story of how Cagney, her first rescued puppy mill dog, changed her life and gave her passion and purpose.  Jo Anna shares all that she’s learned about the inner worki...

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to make a living being a Dog Mom? Tori Mistick is here to tell us how she turned her blog Wear Wag Repeat from a creative outlet into her full-time job – including all the pivots along the way. I’ve learned so much from Tori’s online courses for petprenuers (entrepreneurs in the pet industry) and from her monthly membership group, the Wear Wag Repeat Society...

Are all of us communicating with our animals and we just don’t realize it?  This is one of the questions we explore today with Animal Communicator Shannon Cutts. While Shannon grew up loving nature and always wanting a pet bird, it took many years for Shannon to follow her intuitive calling to work as an animal communicator.  Shannon shares her long and winding journey with us, including the many...

How did Ruby Balaram go from being a reluctant dog mom to pet industry CEO? You don’t want to miss this episode. Like me, Ruby grew up in a house where she wasn’t allowed to have pets - except that one time she & her mom tried to sneak in a cat! So when Ruby met her partner, Turk, he came with a dog and she wasn’t so sure about jumping into the Dog Mom Life. But when Turk’s dog got a second cancer...

By day, Jen Danna is a scientist studying infectious diseases. But at night, Jen has immersed herself in creating the world of FBI K9 Handler Meg Jennings and her dog Hawk.    From domestic terrorism to human trafficking, the FBI K9 series follows Meg & Hawk as part of the FBI’s Human Scent Detection Team.  From page one, these books had me hooked and it felt like I was along for the ride as Meg &...

We’re diving into an age-old question today: do dog trainers train dogs … or people?  As a dog trainer and pet health coach, Jessica Fisher has a lot to share on this topic.   Despite having some “not so great” experiences with pets when she was growing up, Jessica was on her way to becoming a bit of a crazy cat lady when she met the man who would become her husband … and his chihuahua.   But it t...

We see these memes online everyday joking that all of our dogs are freelance emotional support dogs.  But what if it’s your dog’s behavior that’s causing you anxiety?   I’m grateful to Karoline Edmonds of Dog Mom Mentality for courageously sharing her ups and downs with us today.   Admittedly a bit of a reluctant and naïve dog owner, in early 2020 Karoline agreed that her boyfriend could get a dog...

Who is caring for your pets when you’re traveling?  That’s the question today’s guest, Isabel Alvarez Arata, is going to help us answer. Isabel describes herself an advocate for in-home pet sitting and shares with us everything we should know before hiring a pet sitter . Though she’s a lifelong animal lover, Isabel never intended on a career in the pet industry.  But when she had trouble finding a...

Today we’re welcoming two guests to the podcast!   First we’ll meet Michelle Dumont who created a series of children’s books based on Phoebe Cakes, the tiny special needs bulldog who spent 4 amazing years with Michelle & her family.   While Michelle always thought of herself as a “cat person,” she quickly fell in love with dogs after her sons' campaign for a canine family member.   When looking to...

Thank you for your patience as I took a mini hiatus from the podcast these last couple weeks. When Lisa & I recorded this episode at the end of 2022, I didn’t know it would be hitting so close to home right now.  As many of you know, we recently and very unexpectedly said goodbye to our beloved Penny when she suffered a sudden health crisis.   It’s very special to me that Penny was so much a part...

From running away from home with her dog to bringing her dog to college, Mindy Dutka has been passionate about her love for dogs since childhood.  And Mindy’s other lifelong passion is photography.    6 years ago Mindy merged her passions to create her pet photography company: Dogs I Meet . From family photo shoots to working with pet brands, Mindy is dedicated to using photography to create conne...

Steph Evans is a Physiotherapist (UK term for Physical Therapist) for both people and animals.  She shares with us everything we should know to not only rehab our dogs after an injury – but also how to prevent injuries in the first place with Prehab.  We’ll also learn signs of pain to look for in our dogs and thoughts about how to choose a harness versus a collar for your dog.   Steph is also the...