The Companions Collective

Last week, Angela interviewed professional pet photographer Kylee Doyle of Kylee Doyle Photography in Sacramento, California . Kylee's journey in pet photography has shifted in the last several years. Since adopting an emotional Dutch shepherd named Omega, she has realized pet parents with reactive dogs may not feel confident in exposing their best fur friends to a portrait session. She wants to c...

Our podcast is centred around connecting you, the human, to the support and services you may need as your pet ages and ultimately leaves your physical world. At the heart of those services is professional pet photography. All of the individuals who bring you this content are professional pet photographers. Some have niched down into what is known as end of life pet photography but none of us reall...

Pet loss grief is a disenfranchised grief. That means it isn't always accepted by general society, and it can lead people to say inappropriate things to people in grief, be unsupportive or be entirely absent. These are people who don't understand the depth of love we have for our pets, the profundity of our connection to our best fur friends, and the pain we experience when we lose them. In today'...

After the death of her two sons, Cathy Cheshire walked away from a 30-year career as an executive in health care. She heard a calling to help other learn to heal from their grief. First, she studied what all the expert had to say about grief, then she created her own Master Grief Coach certification program. She learned from traditional and nontraditional professionals with various expertise in gr...

Penny Layne, or Aunt Penny as she's also known, is the force behind Pittsburgh Pet Prayer Blankets. She also runs her own grief companion program and does a wonderful job helping those who have lost a beloved furkid manage their grief. Penny also owns Aunt Penny's Professional Dog Training and is committed to providing the most effective, convenient force-free solutions for clients’ dog training n...

We are hitting lucky number 13 today, our 13th episode. I'm not into superstition at all … like AT ALL. Any time I see a black cat, I give her a nod and say, "What's up, cat?" And today, we are taking a little break from the discussion of death and loss and grief. It can be a bit of a heavy topic, eh? We are, at One Last Network, dedicated to the support and services pet guardians need as their pe...

Sometimes, it's our grandparents who make the most impact on personalities, our growth, our development. Courtney Bryson spent childhood weekends on her grandparents' farm and developed a love for animals and photography because of her gramma and grampa. Today, she is the mastermind behind CM Bryson Photography in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Rescue Ranch, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing special ne...

Gayle King once introduced Carol Bryant as "a dog lover of the highest order." Carol, whom I met in 2020 just weeks before the whole world shut down with the COVID-19 pandemic, has been on King's Oprah Radio to talk about the love of dogs. Carol is so much into the dog business that she had her catchphrase "my heart beats dog" trademarked and tattooed on her left bicep. She is the immediate past p...

Coleen Ellis understands and appreciates the depth of love pet guardians have for their companion animals. She's felt it many times over. Her dogs, her fur kids, are her world and as each one leaves her physical world she finds ways thoughtful, impactful ways to honor the lives they lived here on Earth with her. Coleen started the nation’s first stand-alone pet funeral home, Pet Angel Memorial Cen...

Alongside her husband Joe, Darla is the founder of Gray Paws Sanctuary, where they are passionate about senior dogs! Since 2014, they've been caring for older dogs in the greater Pittsburgh area in need of preventative and routine medical care, physical therapy, socialization, and above all, love! Darla and Joe do this in three ways. First, senior dogs in “sanctuary” live with them, spending every...

Jessica Wasik is the top dog at Bark & Gold Pet Photography in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Jes is unabashedly in love with her 13-year-old boy, Hunter, a Siberian retriever and Bark & Gold Photography’s Frisbee-catching, bed-hogging Head of Shed. Hunter, her heart dog, is the reason why her home is a little hairier, her bed a little tighter, and her heart a lot fuller. He is the inspir...

End-of-life pet photography -- which is an icky, clinical term that many professional pet photographers don't prefer -- is an honor and a privilege. As pet photographers we get to share in our clients' taking their last walks with their faithful companions.  This week, some of the Founding and Platinum members of One Last Network have gathered for a roundtable discussion on our legacy session...

This week, I'm chatting with my good friend Stephanie Nilles of Pawsitive Connection Dog Training in Spokane, Washington. I first met Stephanie two years ago when I wanted to spotlight local dogpreneurs on my Big White Dog Photography blog. She was just about to embark on a new branch to her business: hydrotherapy for dogs. She has since completed construction of a hydrotherapy spa for dogs on her...

Donna Wilson is a professor in the Faculty of Nursing at University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her program of research focuses on health services and health policy, primarily in relation to aging and end-of-life care. She has conducted or been involved in studies on grief and bereavement, ageism, social isolation and many more topics. This summer, she and her team released the results of a study that...

Before becoming a professional psychic, Laurie Blomer spent 25 years working with Fortune 500 companies in employee relations, training and leadership development and performance management. Today, she helps you talk with your animal friend, whether they are alive or deceased. Laurie sees into a photo to read an animal's body language, intentions and desires. LaurieBlomer.com Facebook

Learn how handing out snacks as a flight attendant makes Darlene Woodward a better pet photographer. Meet the beautiful human behind Pant the Town Photography, covering Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, with the most incredible dog photography on the beaches of the Atlantic Coast. Darlene is a master of the silhouette and the human-dog connection. Darlene is also the host of our next episode...

Kait Dinunzio is a change expert with Helios Consulting Inc., based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She guides companies of all sizes through industry transitions to stay competitive. Sounds completely unrelated to pet loss grief, doesn't it? Not really. Kait takes what she knows about change management and applies to her family's day-to-day life. Kait and your host Angela Schneider are longtime frie...

The founder of One Last Network, Angela Schneider of Big White Dog Photography in Spokane, WA, fills you in on her inspiration behind our podcast, Shep, the rescue Maremma sheepdog who completely turned her world upside down. She also talks about the purpose of One Last Network: connecting pet guardians to the support and services they may need as their furbabies age and ultimately cross the Rainb...