Believe in Dog

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. Nancy describes herself as “not at all woo-woo.” She spent the first 30+ years of her life trying to repress her abilities and just live as a “normal” daughter, military spouse and mom. It’s only been a few years since Nancy finally made the decision to embrace her abilities. And she has quickly made a name for herself having helped reunite 120+ lost pets with their families. Nancy also shares with us what she’s learned from her End of Life sessions before a pet transitions. You can listen in on Nancy’s animal communication sessions on her Creature Preacher podcast and follow her on Instagram and TikTok. Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode92 Get your free checklist: Join Erin the Dog Mom's email list to receive the 12 Changes in Your Dog to Never Ignore checklist. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 these experiences into tiny steps. Dogkind Training’s website has amazing free resources for learning how to do this in various ways – from stairs to nail clippers. We also learn the most common mistakes Kelly sees pet parents make when they first adopt a fearful or traumatized dog. Kelly’s even developed an online training program, the Confidence Builders Club, to provide support for pet parents of fearful dogs. As much as we all love snuggling our dogs, do we *really* know if our dog wants to be pet right now? What does consent mean as a pet parent? I first learned of Kelly’s Petting Consent Test video from previous guest Ann King (Episode 87). Kelly shares her thoughts on what petting consent means and how to tell if our dogs are enjoying our company as much as we think they do. Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode91 Get your free checklist: Join Erin the Dog Mom's email list to receive the 12 Changes in Your Dog to Never Ignore checklist. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 powerful tips for any pet parent dealing with an anxious dog. Alex also advises us on how to choose the best dog trainer to help with your dog’s anxiety. But what if we could stop dog anxiety before it even starts? Alex shares the one BIG thing pet parents can do to avoid dog anxiety in the first place. Alex also reveals that he was inspired to be a dog trainer from a young age after watching THAT celebrity dog training tv show. (But don’t worry, Alex’s training methods are nothing like that!) Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode90 Get your free checklist: Join Erin the Dog Mom's email list to receive the 12 Changes in Your Dog to Never Ignore checklist. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 Terrier, would impact her life and career in so many ways. She also hadn’t anticipated Boogie nearly getting her evicted after biting her apartment building manager! After a few disappointing experiences with other trainers, Lili was introduced to positive force-free training methods and learned to understand what Boogie was communicating all along. Dog trainers and other professionals soon began commissioning Lili’s artwork to share important messages for pet parents. From Dog Body Language to Your Dog’s Emotional Cup, Lili’s work is shared far & wide on social media impacting pet parents daily. Get the Doggie Language book for your collection HERE. (Aff. link) Find links and show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode89 Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Oncotect: With 1 in 3 dogs being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, Oncotect is the first at-home screening test that Pet Parents can purchase to get peace of mind. Get 15% off when you use the code: BELIEVEINDOG Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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-changing teachers and mentors. These experiences led her to develop a philosophy to heal the relationship and strengthen the bond we have with our troubled dogs. Souha explains to us her 3-stage method that she calls the Way of Life Method. This system is like hitting the “reset” button on your relationship with your dog – at any age and no matter how long your dog has been part of the family. Souha’s Way of Life is a methodical approach to adjusting the expectations we have for our dogs and involves re-establishing our life and our home in a structured way that sets our dogs up for success. This is a completely force-free and non-aversive methodology. In Souha’s book, The Way of Life Method, she provides daily schedules, exercises and bonding activities intended to create the connection with your dog that you’ve always wanted but didn’t think was possible. Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode88 Get your free checklist: Join Erin the Dog Mom's email list to receive the 12 Changes in Your Dog to Never Ignore checklist. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Oncotect: With 1 in 3 dogs being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, Oncotect is the first at-home screening test that Pet Parents can purchase to get peace of mind. Get 15% off when you use the code: BELIEVEINDOG Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 five steps to successfully introducing and integrating a new dog to your home: Ann will share what each of these components means and how to implement the SMART framework in your home. Ann will also tell us how she developed the framework – including all the mistakes she made along the way. We’ll also learn the most common mistakes that Pet Parents make when introducing a new dog to their home and the easy ways to fix or prevent these. Share this episode with your shelter and rescue friends! Rescue SMART is a totally free resource that includes videos and PDF downloads to help anyone introducing a new dog to their home. Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode87 Get your free checklist: Join Erin the Dog Mom's email list to receive the 12 Changes in Your Dog to Never Ignore checklist. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 with pets, while on her way to becoming an accomplished social psychologist. When she & her husband adopted 2 dogs within 6 weeks from their local humane society, Zazie used her psychology and research background to make sure she was doing the “right” things for her dogs. As she began looking into the burgeoning field of canine science and what we are learning about dogs, Zazie shared her findings by starting her blog, Companion Animal Psychology. If you’ve ever wondered if your dog is as happy as you hope, or if you are making the right decisions for your dog, Zazie shares all that she’s learned in her book Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode86 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 experienced before we adopted him. Caroline shares the signs to look for in your dog’s behavior AND physical health when determining if PTSD is present. We’ll also learn the Do’s and Don’ts to creating a healing environment for dogs that have experienced traumatic events. And we’ll learn tips for protecting our dogs and how to prevent these situations from happening in the first place. Learn more from Caroline on the Petli app! (Available for Apple and Android.) Happy Holidays from the Believe in Dog Podcast! Join Erin the Dog Mom’s email list at: https://www.erinthedogmom.com/ Find links & show notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode85 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 left behind. In fact, it wasn’t until 2016 that a law was passed stating that the U.S. military had to bring their retired dogs stateside – but Bob tells us about the loopholes that muddy the waters on this. (Researching more about this topic led me to the shameful history of the U.S. military’s abandonment of 5,000+ dogs during the Vietnam War.) Fortunately, there’s people like Bob Bryant and Mission K9 in the world who are doing something about it. From arranging transport from the far corners of the world to rehabbing the dogs’ physical and psychological wounds to finding appropriate adopters, Mission K9 keeps these commitments to each dog they rescue. Watch this video from the 2017 Petco Helping Heroes Award to learn more about Mission K9. In this season of giving, I hope you’ll consider supporting organizations like Mission K9 or animal welfare organizations in your community. Find links, show notes and photos of rescued K9s at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode84 Join Erin the Dog Mom’s email list at: https://www.erinthedogmom.com/

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 condition known as SARDS (Sudden Acute Retinal Degeneration Syndrome) that is known to affect small breed dogs. Pulling herself together after this diagnosis, Cathy threw herself into creating a safe environment for Booda as he regained his confidence and learned to thrive in his new world. Cathy wrote the book Blind Devotion to share with Pet Parents dealing with their dog’s vision loss everything that she wishes she had known. Cathy is also the author of the children’s book Watching Out for Digger, named after her second blind pug. In her day job, Cathy works as a Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner, and she shares with us what Pet Parents should know about this field and the most common physical conditions and healing modalities she works with. You can hear Cathy and her Canine Rehab partner Chris on the PetAbility Podcast where they share their decades of knowledge with us so we can keep our pets’ best quality of life for as long as possible. Don’t miss the fun of Black Furday from November 25 – December 1. Register here: https://www.blackfurday.info Find Links & Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode83 Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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, Founder of Real Dog Box, Kay began to find her true passion. Hired to create a course for the Feed Real Institute, Kay experienced a paradigm shift learning about what a true species-appropriate diet for dogs looked like. And it wasn’t a bag of Kibble (used here in the generic sense to describe any dry dog food pellets). Kay & I discuss the history of Kibble and why it’s so bad for our dogs . . . even the “Good Kibble.” We dive into the veterinary profession’s problems with fresh feeding – and why the Feed Real courses put these concerns to rest once and for all. But what do veterinarians think about that? Kay shares the reception of Feed Real’s RACE (continuing education)-approved course from both holistic and conventional veterinarians. So what should our dogs be eating? Kay shares the Feed Real approach to fresh feeding. And some curious facts about chickens too. Find Links & Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode82 Dr. Ruth’s Holistic Shop: Save 10% on your orders from Dr. Ruth’s Holistic Shop featuring 400+ high quality supplements - including some of your favorite brands! - curated by Holistic Vet Dr. Ruth Roberts with the code: ERINTHEDOGMOM (aff. link) Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 dog Sunny, they started training courses right away. Sherrie became more determined than ever that Sunny would be great therapy dog partner. But what did Sunny think? From eating her obedience certificate to needing more practice on her therapy dog skills, Sherrie realizes that Sunny’s imperfect journey has been a great lesson to them both. Through her Therapy Dog Talk Podcast and online course for therapy dog teams, Sherrie is an incredible resource for anyone interested in learning more about therapy dog work. Exciting news! The Believe in Dog Podcast is featured in Women Who Podcast Magazine and we’re celebrating the 4th anniversary of Believe in Dog! Find Links & Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode81 Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 own trauma. Seemingly ordinary life events like walking the dog or having a friend stop by her house would turn into stressful ordeals with Muggins. Leaning on her work as both a dog trainer and an Occupational Therapist, Sharon shares with us the strategies she developed that allow both her and Muggins to thrive. And she teaches us strategies we can incorporate into our lives with our dogs who might “dog” a little differently. Find Links & Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode80 Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 quickly drawn to the impact of therapy dog work with children. After moving back to the UK, Parnita and Leo passed another Therapy Dog assessment – so he’s a therapy dog in two countries! During COVID-19, Parnita was inspired to write children’s books based on Leo’s adventures. With 3 books currently published, Parnita shares with us why she’s so focused on having the books translated into many different languages – to spread a message of kindness globally. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Find Links and Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode79 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 Grieving Cards are affirmation-style cards that help you incorporate healing practices into your day. I’m so grateful to Erica for sharing her grief journey with us and the coping skills and tools she learned along the way. Erica also holds space for me as I share about the unexpected loss of Penny in January 2023. We also discuss that the struggle that many of us feel to not show our emotions when we’re not ok. Erica & I believe: It’s ok not be ok. You can get Erica’s template for writing a love letter to your pet at www.wolfieswish.com. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Find Links and Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode78 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 where we left off last week and jump right into those Home Visits. While some people may think these are borderline invasive, our Rescuers spill the tea on the real reasons that they’ve turned down potential adopters after a home visit. And it’s nothing to do with those dust bunnies behind the tv! We also discuss how rescues choose the dogs that they take into their organization. I had a lot of questions about this because I’ve seen so much smack talk on social media about this over the years. I was surprised to learn how much thought goes into creating the right balance of adoptable dogs! And also, what do rescues do with difficult dogs that they don’t think they can safely place in a home? I’m so grateful to our Rescue Roundtable: Nichol O'Marr (foster for Pitties & Purrs Rescue), Melissa Trotman (founder of Bella’s Bully Buddies which adopted out 1,000+ dogs from 2012 – 2019) and Jen Carle (currently Director of Operations for Tara’s House Animal Rescue). If you like this episode, you won’t want to miss Episode 60 and Episode 75! Find Links, Show Notes & Photos at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode77 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 was still a lot that I didn’t know – especially about the “dark side” of rescue and even dogs in “witness protection.” Some of it was quite shocking! In fact, while we were recording the Roundtable, Nichol was getting text message updates about a dog situation that had been unfolding since 3 AM – and this is emotional to hear. So we dig into the tough topics as well: guilt, social media drama and why can’t the rescues just all get along? Special thanks to: Nichol O’Marr (foster for Pitties & Purrs Rescue), Melissa Trotman (founder of Bella’s Bully Buddies which found homes for 1,000+ dogs from 2012 – 2019) and Jen Carle (currently Director of Operations for Tara’s House Animal Rescue). If you like this episode, you won’t want to miss Episode 60 and Episode 75! Find Links, Show Notes & Photos at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode76 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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 wisdom learned from now more than 150+ dogs who have spent time in her home. You may also be surprised to learn that fostering dogs brought Cara’s children and family closer than ever – even through their teen years! But Cara did wonder – where were all these dogs coming from? The answer was mostly the Southeastern USA. So when she embarked on a book tour she decided to also make it a shelter tour so she could see firsthand where the dogs were coming from. And this decision changed her life. Cara will share with us what she’s learned from visiting 120+ animal shelters in 12 states over the past several years. We’ll hear the 3 factors that lead to animal shelters successfully saving lives. And about the unsung heroes who persevere through unimaginable obstacles to give dogs a chance. Cara created the organization Who Will Let The Dogs Out to support the shelters and rescues lacking budgets, resources and often a staff. Who Will Let The Dogs Out is bringing awareness and resources to homeless dogs and the heroes who fight for them. Trigger Warning: The topic of animal euthanization is a theme of this episode. Please take care while listening. Find Links, Show Notes & Photos at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode75 The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM https://www.teefhealth.com/?aff=58 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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. Marty witnessed the connection between diet and health, he made his life’s work to spread this truth even in the face of adversity. And there was plenty of adversity – from concerns of bankruptcy to having his veterinary license threatened. Of course this was before he started crossing paths with everyone from George Harrison to Oprah and having the documentary, The Dog Doc, filmed about his groundbreaking work. Dr. Marty also regales us with tales from his upcoming book – like why he still cringes when he thinks about that time he met Ray Charles on an airplane. Episode Sponsored by The Dog Health Journal Find Links & Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode74 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.

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. Hearing dogs are not only trained to alert to vital needs such as a smoke detector, but serve an equally important role in connection and companionship. We’re also joined today by Judith Mueller, a Board Member of Your Hearing Dog, who joined the organization due to her passion for dogs and desire to make a difference. David and Judith share with us why Your Hearing Dog is passionate about training shelter and rescue dogs, how the training process works and how dogs and people are matched. If you or someone you know is deaf or hard-of-hearing, this episode offers valuable insights into the life-changing impact our four-legged companions can have. A transcript of this episode is available for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community is linked HERE. Teef: The easiest way to improve your dog’s dental health is with a spoonful of Teef powder in their water. Save 20% on your Teef orders when you use the code: ADM. Find Links & Show Notes at: https://believeindogpodcast.com/episodes-1/episode73 Support this podcast, subscribe on your favorite app and leave a rating or review.