Believe in Dog

Did you know that the health decisions you make for your dog today will impact their long-term health?  including whether your dog could be at-risk developing Canine Cognitive Dysfunction aka canine dementia?

I learned that as many as 50% of dogs show signs of canine dementia in their lifetime – and these signs can show up as early as 5 years old for larger breed dogs!

Francine Barish-Stern learned all of this first-hand after ...

What do you think are the most common complaints our dogs have about us Pet Parents?  Animal Communicator Nancy Mello shares the two most common grievances she hears – and I definitely needed to hear this!

While some of us might be completely intrigued by the concept of animal communication, for Nancy Mello, her experience hasn’t been all love & light. 

Is your dog always 100% confident? While Kelly Lee of Dogkind Training specializes in working with fearful dogs, her confidence building tips will help you build your dog’s confidence in any situation.

Kelly shares her top Do’s and Don’ts for increasing your dog’s confidence – whether it’s a brand-new situation or an experience you may need to reintroduce to your dog in a different way.  

My biggest takeaway is how to break down th...

Have you ever wondered if we’re [accidentally] making our dogs’ anxiety worse? 

Alex Peacock – a dog trainer who specializes in working with anxious dogs – is going help us answer this question and understand why anxious people and anxious dogs seem to attract each other.

Alex works with pet parents of anxious dogs through a comprehensive program he designed.  He’ll share with us the three pillars of his program and give us powerfu...

Our dogs are always talking to us … but are we listening?   I believe that learning our dogs’ body language is one of THE most important aspects of being a pet parent.

So thank goodness for Lili Chin’s work translating Doggie Language for us humans. In fact, if you follow anything dog-related on social media, you’re probably familiar with Lili’s illustrations and artwork.

Lili never anticipated that adopting Boogie, the Boston Terr...

Have you – or someone you know – ever struggled with a challenging dog?  Where you’ve tried everything from trainers to vets to behaviorists, but life with the dog is still a daily struggle – whether fear, reactivity or feeling like the dog runs the house instead of the humans.

If any of this sounds familiar, then you won’t want to miss this episode.

After struggling for 5 years with her own dog, Maya, Souha met a series of life-ch...

Dog Mom Confession: Sometimes it’s stressful adopting a new dog!    

Have you ever heard of the 3-3-3 Rule?  This advice gives Pet Parents an expectation of what to expect 3 Days, 3 Weeks and 3 Months after bringing a new dog home.

Today’s guest Ann King is the dog trainer who has popularized the 3-3-3 Rule for the shelter & rescue community.

Ann is also the creator of the Rescue SMART framework. SMART is an acronym for Ann’s f...

Is your dog as happy as you think? Are there scientifically proven ways to make your dog happy?

Dr. Zazie Todd shines light on these questions in her book Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy.

This is a re-broadcast of Episode 9, which originally aired March 9, 2020.

Zazie Todd did not grow up...

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 PTSD from abuse and neglect he expe...

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 2021 where contract working dogs were ...

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 Booda had gone blind due to a con...

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 onto a job listing posted by Ruby,...

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 career.

When Sherrie adopted her do...

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 with Muggins was even triggering her ...

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 being a therapy dog.  Panita was quick...

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 but couldn’t find.  Wolfie’s Wish Gr...

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 the future.

We start off picking up...

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 animal welfare world since 2008, there ...

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.

Cara shares with us her dog fostering...