PPG Podcast

Listen to this fun-filled discussion about PPG's upcoming advocacy event, Celebrating Life Together, taking place in August and September 2024! Learn how you can help raise awareness for humane, ethical, and effective pet training and care, and win amazing prizes!

Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel talks about ways to turn prospects into clients. Your Moderator: PPG Advocacy Task Force Chair Don Hanson Your Advocacy Panel for this discussion: Dr. Eduardo Fernandez, Dr. Kristina Spaulding, Beth Adelman, Daniel Antolec, Allison Hunter-Frederick, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Debbie Sheridan, and Sam Wike Enjoy listening to the Advocacy Panel’s informal, free-flowing discussion!

Savannahs and Bengals (and spraying) ... oh my! Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Michelle Martiya about working with hybrid cats! Michelle Martiya is an ABI certified exotic animal trainer who works with canines, equids, and exotic species. Michelle specializes in connecting and building relationships with fearful and feral equids, combining her natural ”way” with animals and her many years of experience, with a robust education in animal behavior and training. Michelle’s animal experience includes both domestic and exotic species, and she currently coaches people in training their animals through video conferencing and other virtual media through her company Essential Animal Training.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Katlyn Grayson about making modifications for cats with mobility issues. Katlyn Grayson is a Fear Free Certified Professional (FFCP), Licensed Family Dog Mediator (LFDM), CertifiedProfessional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (CCBC). She is the owner of Pets Knead Peace in Northeast Ohio providing in-person and virtual behavior assistance for dogs, cats and their guardians. She began her behavior journey when she started working in animal shelters in 2009. Since then, she has filled a variety of roles at shelters, but her favorite are behavior-centric positions. Katlyn has been training professionally since 2019 and started her training and behavior consulting business in 2021. She specializes in animals withspecial needs, including mobility limitations; cat and dog introductions; shelter behavior work, which includes adjustment to a home post adoption; and cat and dog behavior modification. Katlyn loves teaching others about cat and dog body language as well as small modifications we can make to improve the lives of our pets. However, her ultimate goal is to improve the relationship people have with their pets through a better understanding of their pet’s body language and needs.

You don't want to miss this special episode! It's the first for a new Advocacy Task Force program called Conversations About Compassionate Care and Connection. These special Advocacy Panels feature a special guest and two co-hosts. The special guest for this Advocacy Panel is Dr. Laura Donaldson! Your Co-hosts: Judy Luther and Debbie Sheridan Your Moderator: PPG Advocacy Task Force Chair Don Hanson Enjoy listening to the Advocacy Panel’s informal, free-flowing discussion!

It's time to get real! Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses unrealistic expectations for pets, where those expectations come from, and how to diffuse them. Your moderator for this discussion is Don Hanson and the panelists are Dr. Kristina Spaulding, Daniel Antolec, Kristi Benson, Kim Silver, and Sam Wike.

Change can be good, especially when it comes to understanding cats better! Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Beth Adelman about shifting people's perspectives about cat behavior. Beth Adelman, MS, is a Cat Behavior Consultant in Brooklyn, New York. Beth is currrently on the executive committee of the Pet Professional Guild’s Feline Division, and was a founding member of the Cat Division of the IAABC. She is the former editor in chief of Cats magazine and DogWorld and former cat columnist for the New York Post. She currently is a regular speaker and resident cat behaviorist at Meow Parlour, New York’s first cat café. Beth has worked as a writer and a speaker for the Every Cat Foundation and received their Media Appreciation Award in 2011. She has also been a speaker for Cat Camp, the Pet Professional Guild, Catsbury Park, the Cat Writers Association, IAABC, Kutztown University, Pet Sitters International, the Garden State Cat Club and the Cat Fanciers Association, and she has been a guest on many radio shows. She has edited more than 100 books about companion animals, many of them award winners.

In this episode, the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses changing a pet's behavior by changing human behavior. Your Moderator: PPG Advocacy Task Force Don Hanson Your Advocacy Panel for this discussion: Dr. Zazie Todd, Dr. Karolina Westlund, Beth Adelman, Daniel Antolec, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Pat Miller, Debbie Sheridan and Sam Wike Enjoy listening to the Advocacy Panel’s informal, free-flowing discussion!

You'll feel enriched after listening to Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison chat and chuckle with the incredible Kate Benjamin about environmental enrichment for cats! Founder of the cat style brand Hauspanther, Kate has been writing about cats and design since 2007. Her website hauspanther.com is the top online resource for design-conscious cat lovers. She has been interviewed as a cat style expert by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, NY Daily News, CBS Sunday Morning, O, The Oprah Magazine and many other media outlets. Kate co-authored with cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy two New York Times bestselling books on residential design for living with cats, Catification and Catify to Satisfy. Kate made numerous guest appearances on Jackson’s show My Cat From Hell, where the duo put their catification skills to the test. Kate is now bringing her catification expertise to the shelter world, working with animal welfare organizations across the country to create beautiful, enriched environments for shelter cats. Kate’s passion and mission are to use design to make the world a better place for cats and the people who love them.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Mary Stevens about how cat consultants can build relationships with veterinary practices. Shortly after Mary graduated from Villa Julie College with a degree in biology, she fell upon a job in veterinary medicine. She has now been a veterinary technician for almost two decades, and in 2022 she began her journey into feline behavior. Mary studied the basics of feline behavior and training through Animal Behavior College, receiving her certificate in December 2022. She began her mentorship with Laura Cassiday at Pawsitive Vibes Cat Behavior and Training in January 2023. Although new to the behavior field, Mary brings a unique perspective to the table with her years of experience in the world of veterinary medicine and through the relationships she has built with cat owners. Mary hopes to use her expertise to help owners understand their cats and to embrace the unique and special relationships they can have with them.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with T. Hamboyan Harrison of A Cat's Purrspective about strategies for handling fearful cats. T Hamboyan Harrison is a cat behavior consultant at A Cat’s Purrspective, LLC. As a disabled person, T especially enjoys helping cats with chronic medical conditions. T has spent over a decade volunteering with cats in local rescues and shelters, and has several cats of their own at home. T has certifications through IAABC (CCBC, ACSB-C) and Fear Free Pets (FFCP, animal trainer) and is an active participant in online cat behavior conferences. T also serves on the board of directors of Diabetic Cats in Need, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping diabetic cats and their caregivers. T completed UVM’s Companion Animal End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program in February 2023, and is now offering cat end-of-life doula services. T is also passionate about human rights, fighting invasive plants, and character-driven video games.

Listen in as the PPG Advocacy Panel answers these questions: Are we trainers or teachers? What best describes what we do for our clients? Your moderator for this discussion is Don Hanson, and the panelists are Beth Adelman, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Kim Silver, and Sam Wike.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Tabitha Kucera, RVT, VTS (Behavior), about cooperative care for cats—an important topic since significantly fewer cats than dogs see a veterinarian every year, and cooperative care can make vet visits less stressful and more comprehensive for cats! Tabitha Kucera is an Elite Fear Free and Low-Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician, VTS (Behavior), Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. She is the owner of Chirrups and Chatter Cat and Dog Behavior Consulting and Training in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a Fear Free certified speaker and coach, a Fear Free Practice Certification Consultant, host of the Tails from a Vet Tech podcast, and serves on the Pet Professional Guild’s Feline Division. Tabitha has helped to develop training and behavior programs for various veterinary hospitals and shelters, and she works as a consultant for many shelters and private veterinary practices.

Join Niki Tudge, Jean Donaldson, Judy Luther, and Rebekah King as they gather to officially launch PPG's new Pet Training Science Alliance (PTSA)! Learn about what the program is, how the program works, and how you can help support it as an educator or as a learner. Stay up to date on the latest PTSA projects here: https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/Pet-Training-Science-Alliance

Join Niki Tudge, Don Hanson and Judy Luther as they chat with Lorna Winter and Kat Williams of Zigzag Puppy Training App about the Zigzag Fellowship Program for PPG members!

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Katenna Jones of Jones Animal Behavior about working with dogs and cats together. Animal behavior is not a new field for Katenna, nor a hobby turned into a career—it's all she's ever done. She became a shelter volunteer in 1998 while earning a Bachelor's degree in biology, then went on to earn a Master's in psychology with a focus on animal behavior from Brown University. Katenna is Rhode Island's only Associate Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and she is also a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Certified Fear Free. Katenna works virtually with families and their cats and dogs, and also provides professional development and coaching services locally, internationally, and online. Cuddle up with your furry or feathered best friend, relax, and enjoy!

Join Niki Tudge as she chats with Dr. Marc Bekoff about his recent book, Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine, including some annoying dog myths that are covered in the book. ⁠The book is available on Amazon here.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Beth Brown about Control Unleashed for cats! Beth Brown (CDBC, CCBC, CSAT, CPDT-KSA, CCUI, FFCP) is passionate about educating people to advocate for and use force-free approaches to living with their animals. Specifically, teaching people and animals to communicate more effectively together using Leslie McDevitt's Control Unleashed pattern games is the most rewarding thing she does. Beth works with private clients through her behavior-consulting business, Ear to Tail, and on a variety of behavior issues for both dogs and cats, though she specializes in separation anxiety. And while she primarily works with cats and dogs, she has been known to train any animal she has access to whenever possible.

Grab your favorite snack or beverage, and settle in to listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses the why and how of teaching our students the importance of understanding our pets' emotions and body language. Don Hanson is your moderator for this discussion, and the panelists are Beth Adelman, Daniel Antolec, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Kim Silver, and Sam Wike.

Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel addresses these five important questions: Don Hanson is your moderator for this discussion, and the panelists are Niki Tudge, Dr. Eduardo Fernandez, Dr. Zazie Todd, Sue Kocher, Debbie Sheridan, and Kim Silver.