Spicy Dog Mama

Send us Fan Mail In this heartfelt episode I chat with Kristen Griffin, an End-of-Life Stage Pet Doula and author of the touching children's book Magnum's Final Goodbye . Kristen shares her journey from veterinary medicine to becoming a compassionate guide for families facing the difficult decision to say goodbye to their beloved pets. Drawing from her own experience losing her soul dog...

Send us Fan Mail One of the greatest blessings in my life is the people that have been a part of my journey since bringing Reese into my life in 2018.  We have made so many friends through training, Instagram or friends that have adapted from other areas of our lives. Having people in your life who support you and encourage you changes the game and I would not be where I am at today if it weren&ap...

Send us Fan Mail Asking the big questions this week on the Spicy Dog Mama Podcast. Should you really get a dog? A friend of mine has the dilemma of her husband really wanting a dog, and she's stuck between wanting him to have that and knowing she will have to do most of the work as a stay at home month with 3 kids.  When she told me she didn't know if she even wanted one, it made me want...

Send us Fan Mail Back after a long time away (again). I'm here to share deeper into how the transition into motherhood has affected my relationship with Rey & our life together.  "You're never going to love your dog the same when the baby is born" is what you always here. But that can't be true, can it? From 2019-2023 Rey was my entire world, buying her sweaters, adven...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Spicy Dog Mama Monday (A mini series) Start your week off with a reminder that you are awesome . "Two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward" - Rosa Diaz, Brooklyn 99 Reactivity is hard. You are allowed to be frustrated, tired, discouraged. But keep showing up for you & your dog. Want to join the conversation? Send me a message reesecanineco@...

Send us Fan Mail Ah it's been a while hasn't it. That seems to be how I do things lately. Please join me in an unedited update on my life. (Okay I edited a LITTLE- but I just don't have time for that anymore!) Life is wild... in a good way. And I want to share what's been going on, if you care! Remember... this is  a judgement free zone Join the conversation! Send me a message...

Send us Fan Mail Happy National Kids and Pets Day! A not at all made up, totally familiar, and obviously nation-wide celebrated as the day to appreciate the relationship between children and their companions... Did you sense the sarcasm? I hope I'm not the only one who just found out about this day, but it's a good excuse for an episode! I'm going to chat about my experiences with k...

Send us Fan Mail As a spicy dog mama to my beloved bully, Rey, I am all too familiar with breed discrimination and am a huge advocate for "Don't Bully My Breed".  For this episode I reached out to dog mom, Sarah (better known on instagram as @MolsonandMyatheMaltese) to discuss the "bullying" or struggles that she goes through as the owner of small dogs who also get too muc...

Send us Fan Mail And we're back again! With an honest update of the last few months and what I haven't shared on social media. As our reactivity journey continues with its ups and downs, we cannot help but compare ourselves, our training, our progress and fall backs, with what we see on the dogstagram. We had come so far and then things changed so drastically; we aren't where we use...

Send us Fan Mail Another unedited update on our lives and the big changes that we've gone through in the last three months. After a year in our apartment Rey was regressing and her reactivity/anxiety was getting really bad. After a few months we were able to find a house to move into with my partner Devan in January 2023. We have discovered new challenges living in our home and we have been n...

Send us Fan Mail Your dog wants you to take care of yourself. If you are feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated... then your dog is probably feeling it too. You are doing so much, working so hard, putting your all into your dog. That is AMAZING! But you can get burnt out, and you need to make sure that you are also taking the time to take care of YOU. This episode happened by acciden...

Send us Fan Mail We don't talk enough about the grief that comes with a break up. We also don't truly know the pain of losing a dog until it happens to you. What about losing a dog during a break up...? That is a pain only a few understand. But then there is the other side of it. You keep the dog but they lose a very special person in their life. Perhaps your dog lost a furry sibling. On...

Send us Fan Mail The fourth part of the dogs and dating series; the dog mom perspective. A collection of experiences, thoughts, opinions and expectations when it comes to dating and owning dogs. Though dog moms & dog dads value, care and love our dogs all the same - there are still some differences when it comes to what we want & need in a relationship! I got to have two interviews, one wi...

Send us Fan Mail Tyler, 'the mostly harmless accounant', share's his experience in the dating world as a single guy in this thirties who does not own a dog. We got to talk about some of his thoughts, opinions and feelings on dating dog moms. He has many stories to share, and unfortunately not all could make the cut, but the parts that made it in could potentially be very valuable to...

Send us Fan Mail Part two of the Dogs & Dating series I get to talk with my sister Courtney, dog auntie extraordinaire. She is a single woman who does not own a dog and shares her stories, opinions and expectations when it comes to dating men with dogs. She has experience with my three dogs and how very different they were, and has been a huge part of their lives - she also understands so much...

Send us Fan Mail This week was supposed to be part two of the Dogs & Dating Series. But I took a step back because I am lacking the energy and mental capacity to work on that series right now. So instead I thought I would be vulnerable, transparent and honest in an unedited update of the unfortunate events in my life that have brought me to this moment. Owning a reactive dog is hard and it&apo...

Send us Fan Mail Part One of the Dogs & Dating series we get to hear from four different dog dads. Hayden, Eddie, Tyson and Jeff are all single dog dads who share their perspective on what dating is like while owning a dog. What their priorities, expectation, and deal breakers are. You may remember Eddie from Season One, he is a dog trainer at Classic Canine K9 and also a dog handler at a stru...

Send us Fan Mail Julia joins us to talk about her one year old Belgian Malinois/Border Collie mix, Kilo.   She shares her training journey- getting  a mix of two incredibly high energy, high drive working breeds. Breaking stereotypes about the breeds and training in a way that matched her values and works for her dog!  He's not a reactive boy. But with experience with reactive dogs and from h...

Send us Fan Mail Dog handler/trainer Eddie from Classic K9 Academy based in Toronto shares his experiences with his first dog, having absolutely zero dog experience and from there what he's learned and how he got to where he is today.  Finding a professional trainer is such an important step in your journey with your reactive dog. Do your research into trainers that will suit you and your dog...

Send us Fan Mail Being face with the same scenarios repeatedly (off leash dogs in on-leash areas, "don't worry he's friendly", and the dirty looks or snide remarks when you ask them to leash their dogs), leave us frustrated and angry. Over time we grow increasingly tired of the same barriers and obstacles that we face while trying to help our dogs with their reactivity, we may...

Send us Fan Mail On our second guest interview we get to talk to Emily, dog mom to Dolly, a rescue potcake from the Bahamas. She shares her story about adopting Dolly, the obstacles that they've faces along the way and what she has learned on their journey to get the where they are today.  From thinking that her dog was friendly with all dogs and people, to the realization that she is in fact...

Send us Fan Mail Adjusting my expectations for the dog and puppy that I thought I was going to have, versus what I ended up with. You dreamed of raising your puppy or adopting a dog into your life that could go on adventures with you and love absolutely everyone and everything, but turns our your dog is not as social as you thought they would be; they don't enjoy all dogs or maybe none at all...

Send us Fan Mail The things that reactive dog owners want everyone else to know and do differently. Owning a reactive dog is hard and we are constantly facing obstacles in and outside of our home. But there is something that other dog owners, the 'friendly' dog owners can do differently which would make a huge difference in our ability to train our dogs and feel safe.   I was once the un...

Send us Fan Mail What are you first thoughts when you see a dog with  a muzzle? Are they aggressive? Should you be nervous? Muzzles have been a huge part of our training journey and have helped us tremendously to get to where we are today. There are so many different reasons why a dog may be wearing a muzzle and I want to dive into that. I want to change the way people see muzzles.  Muzzles = a re...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode I get to interview my FIRST guest host! A really good friend of mine who I had just met this year at training at Mango Dogs. She shares her story about raising her pup Archer from 8 weeks and where his reactivity started, what they did to overcome it and where they are now.  Because it's not 'all in how you raise them'. Instagram  Spicy Dog Mama http...