Normally on this podcast, we talk to people who work with animals. Today, we’re talking to the person who works with the people who work with animals. Tara Cojocaru is the volunteer coordinator at the Humane Society of New Braunfels in New Braunfels, Texas. There she works to organize and support volunteers at the shelter, making sure that everyone knows where to go, what to do, how to do it, and has what they need to get it done. It’s one of those behind-the-scenes roles that nobody thinks abou...
Aug 12, 2025•30 min•Ep. 147
We often see people who take big risks or try daring things and admire what we see as their fearlessness. But are they really fearless? Are they genuinely not afraid of things, or are they deep down just as nervous and scared as we are at the prospect of public speaking or starting a business or moving far away from family and friends, and they’ve just learned to hide it and do things anyway? Dog trainer Ines McNeil has had people describe her as “fearless”...and she hates it. Why? Because (spoi...
Jul 29, 2025•33 min•Ep. 146
What do New York City, Hunter S. Thompson, and Latin legal terms have in common? Not much, but they’re all related to my guest today, who moved to New York to pursue a Thompson-inspired writing career and found herself taking up dog training instead, while sporting a tattoo that only lawyers recognize. Kellie Stevens is the owner of Gonzo Dog, where she specializes in helping anxious and fearful dogs—and their owners—find more joy in their lives. Tune in for a wonderfully philosophical conversat...
Jul 15, 2025•41 min•Ep. 145
Social work is hard. Shelter work is hard. Putting the two of them together seems like it would be almost impossible. But that’s what my guest today has done. Kelly Bremkin is a veterinary social worker who provides mental and emotional support for shelter workers, helping them to navigate the demands and emotional pressures of their job. Over the years, she’s learned a lot about what support really means and what it looks like to different individuals. Join us today for a conversation about rec...
Jul 01, 2025•42 min•Ep. 144
Yvonne Rosenberger hoped to be a flight attendant, ended up behind an insurance desk, and realized she didn’t want to die there, so she took her friend’s advice to open her own pet care business. In the process, she’s learned one very important lesson— never say never . Yvonne joined me on the show today to discuss all the things she was never going to do—from getting married to owning her own business—but somehow ended up doing anyway. Join us for a conversation about self-acceptance, introspec...
Jun 17, 2025•40 min•Ep. 143
Children, both animal and human, instinctively know how to play. The drive to have fun and engage in games is there right from the beginning. As we get older, though, we begin to shut down that instinct to play. We get distracted by the responsibilities of adult life and forget how to simply enjoy the moment. And when we lose access to play, we lose access to its amazing ability to help us heal and bring us joy. My guest today believes strongly in the power of play- so strongly, in fact, that sh...
Jun 03, 2025•43 min•Ep. 142
Choice can be empowering. We all want to be in control of our lives and feel like we have some say in what happens to us. But how often do we apply that to the animals in our life? How often do we–perhaps without even meaning to–limit the ability of our animal companions to exercise agency? How often do we limit our own agency? Today I’m joined by dog trainer Rachael Magee, who believes in a training approach that empowers both people and dogs to make choices and expand their world. Tune in as w...
May 20, 2025•44 min•Ep. 141
There’s a huge world of dog training out there. Family dogs, competition dogs, working dogs, therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, scent dogs…they all have unique training needs and Karen Deed has worked with almost all of them! Along the way, she installed computers, trained horses, and discovered positive reinforcement training before it was cool. She joined me today to share the story of the winding and varied road that brought her to where she is now. Tune in as we discuss knowing better and...
May 06, 2025•36 min•Ep. 140
We often talk about dogs being “man’s best friend,” but very seldom do we stop to ask, “Am I my dog’s best friend?” Changing the way we think about our relationship can change the way we interact with our dogs, and has the potential to make our friendships with them even deeper and more meaningful. This is the philosophy that my guest today brings to her training. Sarah Rutten sees dog training as being less about training the dog and more about training the human to understand and interact with...
Apr 22, 2025•32 min•Ep. 139
With today’s twenty-four hour news cycle, coupled with the rise of social media, we often feel as though we are constantly being bombarded with headlines, most of them negative. It can be hard to keep any kind of positive attitude at all as we are perpetually reminded of all the things that are wrong in the world. Before long, we find ourselves feeling stuck and hopeless. Vet tech and behavior specialist Tabitha Kucera knows those feelings of depression and hopelessness, but she also knows the i...
Apr 08, 2025•46 min•Ep. 138
A lot of dog trainers have come on the show, but most of them didn’t start out wanting to be dog trainers, or even realize that was an option until later in life. Today, however, the script is flipped as I’m joined for perhaps the first time by a dog trainer who actually grew up wanting to be a dog trainer! Of course, life still had plenty of surprises in store for trainer Kari Joly, and despite being the thing she wanted to be as a kid, it wasn’t a straight path to get there, nor does it look e...
Mar 25, 2025•29 min•Ep. 137
The modern world is full of noise. We are constantly surrounded by sound, always hearing something. But there’s a difference between hearing and listening. We may be doing the former, but are we doing the latter? What does it mean anyway, to really and truly listen to the people, the animals, the world around us? Dog trainer and end-of-life doula Kathy Wolff believes in the power of listening deeply to help us connect with the people and animals in our lives, strengthen our relationships with th...
Mar 11, 2025•35 min•Ep. 136
Grief, regret, and loss are not things any of us like to experience but they remain an inevitable part of life, particularly for pet professionals. Grief isn't just about death. It also shows up when we have desires that can't be fulfilled. Sometimes there are relationships that can't be healed, dreams that can't be realized, decisions that can't be changed, animals that cannot be saved, each of these situations (and many others) can evoke grief. Robynn Harris is a non-profit dog trainer, who un...
Feb 25, 2025•32 min•Ep. 135
When we talk about the “human-animal connection,” most of us tend to think of it in positive terms–therapy animals, childhood pets, and all the many ways that animals enrich our lives. What we don’t often think about, however, is the darker side of that bond–how animal abuse and other forms of domestic and family violence are often interconnected and can even be warning signs of each other. But when we treat violence against animals as completely separate from violence against humans, we often m...
Feb 11, 2025•39 min•Ep. 134
Pet professionals, by and large, are giving people. We pour ourselves out in service to animals and their owners, often to the point of forgetting to take care of ourselves (or only giving ourselves enough care that we can keep helping others). All too often, this leads to exhaustion and burnout. My guest today wants pet professionals to know that you are worthy of having a good life. Liz Ford has learned in her years of shelter work and dog training that sometimes it’s all right to fill your cu...
Feb 05, 2025•34 min•Ep. 133
We often think of our human intelligence as being superior to that of animals. But what if we’re wrong? What if the intelligence of animals is equal to ours, only different? How might that change our view of the world around us, and of the animals sharing our planet? My guest today is a pet professional who embraces the view of animals as distinct-but-equal travelers accompanying us on this journey through space and time. Doing both social work and shelter work means that MaryKaye Kendrick is no...
Jan 14, 2025•34 min•Ep. 132
Bringing home a new dog is a major life change, bringing home a new baby even moreso. Yet resources designed to help families adjust to having both two and four-legged babies in the house seem to be few and far between and often focused more on dogs and kids as antagonists than anything else. That’s where my guest today comes in. Dog trainer Elysia Ostrander specializes in helping families navigate the sometimes choppy waters of parenting both children and dogs. She joined me today from the far ...
Dec 31, 2024•29 min•Ep. 131
A little kindness can make all the difference to someone- and a lot of kindness can make even more. Especially in a world that seems increasingly negative and toxic, kindness definitely seems to be the one thing you can’t have too much of. My guest today takes that philosophy to heart, always striving to be as kind as possible and then some. Ashley Orcutt is a killer-whale-toy-designer-turned-dog-trainer (yes, you read that right) who believes in bringing as much kindness to the world as possibl...
Dec 18, 2024•25 min•Ep. 130
Raised in Germany, educated in England, and currently training dogs in Alabama, my guest today has certainly had an interesting time! Like so many in the dog training world, Frances Dauster began as a force-based trainer, only to have her life changed by the magic of positive reinforcement training. Now she works to take those lessons into other areas of life, and help her clients enjoy their dogs. She joined me today to talk about the importance of flexibility, what an incident at boarding scho...
Dec 03, 2024•37 min•Ep. 129
“What do you want?” It’s a simple question and it seems like it should have a simple answer. Yet so many of us, especially as we get older and lose ourselves in the business of our lives, seem to lose sight of what should be a very straightforward thing. What do we want? And even if we know (or somehow figure out) what we want, we’re often too uncertain or timid to ask for it. Maggie Marshall is a dog trainer who spent years forgetting herself. Just recently, however, she’s learned not only to a...
Nov 19, 2024•32 min•Ep. 128
Slow and steady…gets the toenails trimmed? While that may not be my guest’s official motto, it’s one she would probably agree with. Dr. Deb Jones wrote the book- literally- on cooperative care, an approach to animal care that requires patience but yields great rewards. Her years as a psychology professor, dog trainer, and writer have taught her a lot about the importance of hard work and how almost anything is achievable if you’re willing to take it slow and be consistent. Tune in for a conversa...
Nov 12, 2024•35 min•Ep. 127
Grief is a part of life for all of us, but--as too many pet professionals know all too well--there is a particularly deep strain of it that often runs through work with animals. That grief, and the toll it takes on on us--not just mentally and emotionally, but physically and even spiritually--is the reason so many of us become utterly burnt out. Although she isn’t your typical pet professional, today’s guest has a deep and abiding love for animals and is intimately acquainted with both the joy a...
Oct 01, 2024•44 min•Ep. 126
We hear a lot about the importance of “staying positive,” but with depressing headlines bombarding us what seems like every waking minute and the inescapable “doomscrolling” so many of us get sucked into, staying positive can be hard. It can even seem pointless or naive. Isn’t it better to confront reality, no matter how harsh, than be constantly trying to Pollyanna our way out of things? Humane educator Heddie Wittlin-Leger is no stranger to the harsher aspects of life. In particular, her work ...
Aug 27, 2024•36 min•Ep. 125
Burnout is an issue that affects almost everybody at some point, and pet professionals are no exception. Often it seems to hit us out of nowhere, but looking back the warning signs were almost always there- we just didn’t see them at the time. Learning to recognise those signs in the moment and respond appropriately can save us from falling into burnout, bitterness, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Writer and dog trainer Teoti Anderson is no stranger to burnout, and she’s learned from experience...
Aug 08, 2024•41 min•Ep. 124
Debbie Martin isn't only a vet tech. She's also a subject matter expert, an author, a public speaker, and a “psychiatric nurse for dogs.” Connecting all these roles together is a love of the relationships formed in each one, with both people and their dogs. Debbie joined me today to talk about the many hats she wears and how each one brings something to her life. Listen in as we discuss the similarities between child and puppy development, learning to meditate, a near-death experience on the hig...
Jul 17, 2024•44 min•Ep. 123
We often hear that we need to “find our purpose” in life. But so often, that’s easier said than done. What does it even mean to “have a purpose” and how on earth are we supposed to determine something simultaneously so vague and so weighty? How do we know if we’re right or if what we’ve latched on to even is a “purpose” at all? Stephanie Frank has worked in computer technology, then as a business consultant, and finally as a dog trainer, but it was the poignant words of a friend’s widow that ult...
Jun 27, 2024•39 min•Ep. 122
Not everybody leaves a successful culinary career to take up dog training almost on a whim. But my guest today, Susan Marett, did just that. Along the way, she’s learned a great deal about everything from self-acceptance to the care and keeping of parrots. Join us today for a conversation about encountering oneself, the best cure for sadness, taking up your rightful space, and even a sidetrack into falconry. Plus she gave us not one, but two sets of words that inspire her. Talk about overdeliver...
Jun 03, 2024•38 min•Ep. 121
As anybody who has ever loved one knows, animals can help us be better people. Emotional regulation, compassion, and trust are all things that animals help us grow in, no matter our age or circumstances. In fact, it can even be its own form of therapy- literally. Today, licensed professional counselor and self-described “horse girl,” Kim Cardeccia joined me to talk about how she combines her love of horses with her practice of therapy to help people learn to bring their brightness to the world....
Apr 30, 2024•48 min•Ep. 120
At first glance, there wouldn’t seem to be much in common between interior decorating and dog training. But, like so many things in life, scratch the surface and you find more similarities than you might think. My guest today, Kym Iffert, left the world of interior design to pursue a career in dog training, and found that the skills she used as a decorator gave her a valuable perspective on dogs. Join us as we discuss her journey from beautifying spaces to training dogs, the difficult decision t...
Apr 12, 2024•39 min•Ep. 119
We talk a lot about the importance of “being yourself,” but what exactly does that mean? How are we supposed to do it? And how can we help other people do it as well? Although it may not be what we first think of, one of the most important things we need in order to be our authentic selves- and help others do the same- is safety. Only when we feel safe are we able to really explore ourselves, to be honest about our weaknesses, and lean in to our strengths. Dog trainer (and aspiring therapist) Kr...
Mar 18, 2024•47 min•Ep. 118
