The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology

Leave us a voicemail! Writers talk about what brings them hope for the human-dog, human-cat, and human-animal bond. This is a bonus episode featuring Patricia McConnell PhD, Jean Donaldson, Marc Bekoff PhD, and all of the writers who took part in Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers. Together they share their insights on what is cause for hope. Bark! Fest celebrated the launch of my boo...

Leave us a voicemail! As we take a summer break, we're replaying this fun and fantastic interview with Erica Beckwith of A Matter of Manners dog training about the benefits of tricks training for dogs and cats. We talked about: the benefits of tricks training how tricks training can help you love your pet even more how Erica got into training tricks Erica's favourite tricks to teach othe...

Leave us a voicemail! Dogs have incredible noses, and can trained to search for the scent of human remains, bringing closure to those who are grieving and the opportunity to memorialize. As well as recent remains, they can also search for historic remains. We're joined by two experts in the field, Kim Cooper of Ottawa Valley Search and Rescue, and Cat Warren, author of the NYT-bestseller What...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie Todd is at the forefront of the move towards positive animal welfare and kind, humane dog training methods. Her third book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog is a compassionate and practical guide to overcoming your dog’s fears. In this panel from Bark! Fest, you’ll learn how to help your dog feel safe, how your presence can help your d...

Leave us a voicemail! Living with pets sadly means losing them too. There wasn't a dry eye in the house (in a good way) at this event. Loving pets means thinking of them both in life and after their loss. In the poignant and personal Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter , E.B. Bartels takes us on a global tour of how we love and mourn our pets. Sarah Bowen shares her deep insights o...

Leave us a voicemail! When The Emotional Lives of Animals was first published in 2007, it was a gamechanger for its exploration of animal emotions and cognition. Now, a second edition has been published to bring us up to date on all the new science of animal emotions. Marc Bekoff joins us in this webinar to talk about animals’ experiences of joy, empathy, grief, anger, and embarrassment. You’ll ne...

Leave us a voicemail! Reflect on what cats mean to us and the many ways they influence our lives with these 3 feline authors.  Sarah Chauncey’s heartfelt P.S. I Love You More Than Tuna is a touching celebration of our bond with our cats, illustrated by Francis Tremblay. Claw This Journal: An Activity Book for Cats and Their Humans by Sassafras Patterdale (Lowrey) is packed with crafts, training, a...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie chats with Kerry Nichols, bestselling author of Puppy Brain: How Our Dogs Learn, Think, and Love . We talk about: How Kerry got into breeding dogs Why we both love Golden Retrievers How the book, Puppy Brain, came about What puppies are like when they are born Examples of the socialization that Kerry does with puppies Her favourite part of the first 8 weeks of a puppy&a...

Leave us a voicemail! If you love crime and mystery novels, you’re in for a treat as dogs help solve crimes in these remarkable books. When a singer dies in mysterious circumstances, dog sitter Gwinny Tuffel and the singer’s Border Collie investigate in Antony Johnston’s cosy and witty The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead . In Louisa Scarr’s dark and compelling Gallows Wood , PC Lucy Halliday a...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi talk to dog trainer Si Wooler about his new book, More Than Just a Dog . We talk about the big changes that people are willing to make for their fearful dogs, and why the dog's relationship with their person is important for all dogs, but especially the fearful ones. We talk about what a great job Si does of helping people see things from the dog's...

Leave us a voicemail! Develop a better bond with your dog with these 3 canine authors. For the Love of Dog is Pilley Bianchi’s love letter to our canine friends, sharing wisdom from her father John W. Pilley’s work with Chaser the Border Collie and illustrated by NYTimes illustrator Calum Heath. In Tender Paws , Wendy Lyons Sunshine examines what dog guardians can learn from the science of human p...

Leave us a voicemail! Learn about the best ways to care for cats with these 3 feline authors. The delightful and informative drawings in Kitty Language by Lili Chin teach you how to understand your feline friend. Mikel Delgado’s Play With Your Cat! will inspire you to have more fun through interactive play with your kitty. And in the book your cat wishes you would read , Lucy Hoile empowers cat gu...

Leave us a voicemail! Celebrate the dog-human bond with these bestselling authors. Social media stars Alexis Devine and her dog Bunny examine our ability to communicate with dogs through buttons that let them “talk” in I Am Bunny . And in Poppy in the Wild , #1 New York Times bestselling author Teresa J Rhyne tells the breathtaking tale of a dog lost and then found in the wilderness. We talked abo...

Leave us a voicemail! Discover the role of emotions and perception in dogs’ lives. In Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine and the second edition of The Emotional Lives of Animals , Marc Bekoff updates our understanding of the emotions animals feel (and how we know they feel them). For people whose dogs feel shy or worried, Zazie Todd’s Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious,...

Leave us a voicemail! Bark! Fest gets off to a tail-wagging start with a conversation with one of the world’s top dog trainers. Jean Donaldson’s seminal book The Culture Clash reframed how we think about dogs and has inspired generations of dog trainers to use (or switch to) reward-based methods. Join us to talk about all things dog training, including positive reinforcement, fearful dogs, and edu...

Leave us a voicemail! Patricia B. McConnell PhD is an internationally-renowned applied animal behaviourist who has dedicated her life to improving the relationship between people and animals. Amongst her many treasured dog training books, The Other End of the Leash draws our attention to the human side of dog training. McConnell’s memoir, The Education of Will, is a beautifully-written and uplifti...

Leave us a voicemail! In this episode, Zazie and Kristi answer wide-ranging questions about both dogs and cats that were sent in by listeners.  We talked about brain games and the attention span in senior dogs; suggestions for new things to teach dogs; why dogs bark at e.g. people in hats or people going by the house; cooperative care for kittens; creating a local resource list for anxious and fea...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi talk to dog trainer Emily Priestley about her book Urban Sheepdog and what you need to know about herding breeds. We start by discussing which breeds count as herding breeds and what they were bred to do, and ask Emily how a herding dog first came into her life. Then we talked about the kinds of herding dog behaviours that dog guardians can sometimes struggle...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi speak to Nicole Ettenhofer, VP of Growth and Strategy at George Street Photo & Video, about pet-friendly ways to get cute wedding photos with your pet. As people increasingly consider pets to be part of the family, they want to involve them in their wedding. So what you can you do to make sure you get some great photos that include the pet, without overwh...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi chat with Kate LaSala of Rescued By Training about the important steps to take to help dogs prepare for the arrival of a baby in the family. Kate takes a lot of fear and aggression cases and she tells us how she came to specialize in working with families with small children. She tells us about the issues people have with their dogs when they are expecting an...

Leave us a voicemail! We talk about the health issues faced by flat-faced (brachycephalic) dogs and cats and why these breeds are still to popular with Dr. Dan O'Neill and Dr. Rowena Packer of the Royal Veterinary College. We start by talking about what we mean when we talk about brachycephalic dogs. Pugs, Bulldogs, and French Bulldogs are the poster children for these breeds and get the most...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi are joined by Grant Hayter-Menzies to talk about his book Freddie: The Rescue Dog Who Rescued Me. In this episode, we’re joined by writer and biographer Grant Hayter-Menzies to talk about his book Freddie: The Rescue Dog Who Rescued Me. We talk about how Freddie came into his life and the important ways in which dogs help us, even when we think we’re the ones...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi are joined by zoologist Dr. Jo Wimpenny to talk about her book, Aesop’s Animals: The Science Behind the Fables, which is out now in paperback. In this episode of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation, Zazie and Kristi are joined by zoologist and writer Dr. Jo Wimpenny to talk about her book Aesop’s Animals: The Science Behind the Fables. We talk about the histor...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi are joined by TikTok star Jennifer Malawey (Dizzy Dancing Dog) who shares her secrets about how to us social media to help dogs. Jennifer Malawey has a CTC from the Academy for Dog Trainers andis  a Certified SA Pro trainer who works on separation anxiety cases. She also puts out fantastic content on dog training on her social media and Youtube. She joined us...

Leave us a voicemail! Zazie and Kristi chat with Victoria Schade, dog trainer and author of delightful romcoms, about her upcoming book Unleashed Holiday.    We learn about the Puppy Bowl and Victoria's involvement in it as lead animal wrangler, and how she made the move to writing, first with nonfiction books about dog training and then to romcoms. We chat about how Victoria's books inc...