Hello everyone and thank you for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. On the last episode I spotlighted the Schapendoes breed of dog, and hinted that this episode would be related, and it is. So let's expanded our knowledge as we hear from CKC registered Schapendoes breeder Anne Harvey, whose experience with this wonderful dog spans over 18 years. For more information please Contact : Anne: eMail: schapannro@rogers.com Phone: 416-420-3425 Robert: eMail: annbert@rogers.com Phone: 416-34...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 73
Hi everyone, and thank you for joining me on this spotlight episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this spotlight, I am going to take you through a breed I bet not everyone has heard of, and that is the Schapendoes. Thanks for Listening Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a coffee, or two at our ko-fi page . All proceeds go towards the running of Val Talks Pets. Please don't forget to Rate and Review each episode that...
Jan 20, 2023•6 min•Ep. 72
Hi everyone, and thank you for joining me on this first episode of 2023. Another year has flown by and when I think of all the topics we have discussed it really is mind boggling to think of all things that are important and interesting to pet enthusiasts. As a new year brings forth a look back at the past and a look forward to new things, I thought that maybe I would take a look back at some of the questions and issues that this past year’s pet parents have presented to me. So let’s go! In a so...
Jan 06, 2023•17 min•Ep. 71
Welcome everyone and thanks for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Well Christmas celebrations are right around the corner and in my last episode I went over the great gift ideas we can get for our pets, because as we all know, they are a part of the family. But, we do have to be very careful this time of year as there are so many things going on and our pets can get in to trouble. The last thing you need is an emergency trip to the vet on Christmas Day or special holiday. For this r...
Dec 23, 2022•22 min•Ep. 70
Hi everyone, and thank you for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Well it won’t be long before Santa Paws makes his rounds, so that means we have to be prepared for our furry family members to have what they need for a great Christmas holiday. So let's talk about the myriad of festive gifts that we can give our fur babies this year. Thanks for listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a coffee...
Dec 09, 2022•13 min•Ep. 69
Hi everyone and thank you for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this episode I thought I would take a look at a subject that many pet parents deal with on a day-to-day basis and that is…bad breath, not theirs but their pets’. I hear on a regular basis, “my dog’s breath is so bad", or "my cat has pretty bad breath, what can I do? " Well pet bad breath is actually pretty common, but it is a sign of a deeper issue and I think we should delve deeper into this common affliction becaus...
Nov 25, 2022•17 min•Ep. 68
Hi everyone and thank you for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Today I have with me one of my favourite people and member of the National Service Dog family. I met Kat Anderson a few years ago when I partnered with National Service Dogs for fundraising and found that a working service dog was in my area from NSD. Kat’s son Atlas is on the autism spectrum and they had a service dog named Harris who is a yellow lab. Kat’s family’s story with NSD and Harris is quite something and I wi...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 67
Hello everyone and welcome to this reprised Halloween episode of cats lore and legend. Black cats are synonymous with Halloween as they arch their backs and pose in front of ethereal moons, cats of all kinds are the quintessential icon for Halloween. With this night of ghouls and goblins right around the corner I thought we could explore again the lore and legends that surround cats. So put on your witch’s hat and grab a steamy drink from your cauldron and sit back to explore cat’s lore and lege...
Oct 28, 2022•16 min•Ep. 66
Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this episode I thought we would explore what to do after our pet has had surgery or a wound. Sometimes our pets have routine procedures like spaying or neutering and sometimes they end up with some very serious surgeries or boo boo’s. I find that pet parents are often looking for solutions to help their pets feel more comfortable after surgery and also to protect surgical sites from licking or biting. So, let’s explore what to do whe...
Oct 14, 2022•18 min•Ep. 65
Hi everyone, welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. So we are now moving into fall and I have had a lot of pet parents asking about things they can do to help their pet with symptoms of seasonal fall allergies. Now, this past spring, I interviewed Joanne Carr from Omega Alpha Pharmaceuticals about this exact issue as it related to spring allergies. So, is there a difference between spring and fall allergies? And what can we do? Well as usual, let’s go exploring. Thanks for listening! Please...
Sep 30, 2022•13 min•Ep. 64
Hi everyone. Thank you for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this episode I’m going to talk about one of our most popular small animal friends, and that is rabbits. Rabbits are a great pet for many families, single pet, seniors and for multiple pet households, so that means, pretty much everyone! Domestic rabbits are cuddly, fun and trainable. So, let’s take a look at the rabbit as a pet. Thanks for listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss a...
Sep 16, 2022•16 min•Ep. 63
Hi everyone and welcome to this spotlight episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this spotlight, I’m going to highlight a breed of dog that I think is being very misused and not appreciated for who they are. This is The Poodle. The unbelievable doodle trend and “oodle” for every cross breed you can think of, really has me shaking my head. I don’t understand why everything has to be crossed with a poodle? What is wrong with a poodle? Well I think there is nothing wrong with a poodle, so let’s explore poo...
Sep 02, 2022•21 min•Ep. 62
Hi everyone, and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this episode, I’m going to stick with our feline friends again and talk specifically about nutrition and food for our cats. Throughout many of my episodes on cats I’ve addressed how cats get often painted as fussy and finicky and picky. Are they? Is there a reason? Well let’s go through some of the food issues and nutritional requirements for cats and kittens and if you are new to feline parenthood I hope you can pick up some good t...
Aug 19, 2022•25 min•Ep. 61
Hi everyone, and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. It’s time to get back to our feline friends so in this episode I’m going to try and make sense of…are you ready…cat litter! You would think that cat litter would be a simple product that you just fill up the litter box with and away you go. Well you would be surprised how many people have cat litter questions. We get questions often asking for a dust free litter, or one that clumps better or litter that doesn’t clump and even what litt...
Aug 05, 2022•24 min•Ep. 60
Hi everyone, welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In this episode, let’s talk collars! Getting the right collar for your dog can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. So, let me go through the various types of collars and their use and see if I can’t make things a bit easier when you go collar shopping. Thanks for listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a coffee, or two at our ko-fi page . All proce...
Jul 22, 2022•20 min•Ep. 59
Hi everyone, and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. So, this is an episode that I knew was coming but I just didn’t know when. In early 2020, the world was plunged into a Pandemic and we were all faced with lockdowns, remote learning for schools, closures of businesses, restaurants, and job loss as well as a new working from home schedule. The working from home, created a huge exponential rise of dog and cat adoptions as people were home and thought this would be a good time to get a pu...
Jul 08, 2022•15 min•Ep. 58
Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. On this episode I am going to explore how some breeds of dogs have been altered in physical appearance or temperament over time. What some breeds originally looked like and what they look like now from breeding modification, is quite significant. Why do they fool around with a dog’s genes? Are these aesthetic changes really necessary and do they present health issues? Well let’s go exploring. Thanks for Listening! Please remember to fol...
Jun 24, 2022•23 min•Ep. 57
Hi everyone, and welcome as always to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. So, one of the issues I have seen a bit on the rise is an interesting one, considering in topics past I’ve talked a fair bit about getting new puppies and how to avoid the pitfalls when looking for a new puppy and the food and toys etc. But, we can’t forget that many people have pets already and many of those cats and dogs are becoming senior. So, I thought it would be a good idea to have a look at how we can manage our pet’s...
Jun 10, 2022•24 min•Ep. 56
Hi everyone, and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Well we are launching into summer and I hope you accessed my episode on summer safety and tips. So, to take things a bit further I thought I would go over some of the toys and treats that we can get for our pets, dogs in particular in this episode to make them have a happy and fun summer. Thanks for Listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a co...
May 27, 2022•10 min•Ep. 55
Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Well it is finally getting to some nice weather and where I am, spring has been a slow start. But, summer is around the corner, so I thought I would go over some summer tips and things to think about. I do have an episode on summer safety so please access that for full summer safety practices. As well we know it is flea and tick season, so please access my episode on fleas, ticks and worms oh my! But, in the meantime, let’s take a look ...
May 13, 2022•17 min•Ep. 54
Hi everyone and welcome to this spotlight episode of Val Talk’s Pets. So, I have chosen a cat breed for this spotlight episode and I have a reason for choosing this one. Many years ago, I was involved in some specific events with my local SPCA. I was at the shelter and I went into the cat room just to look at the cats. There was this little cat, beautiful white and sort of caramel colour, super cute, but it looked like her ears had been bent over. I asked at the counter about the cat’s ears and ...
Apr 29, 2022•14 min•Ep. 53
In this episode I once again have the pleasure of speaking with Joanne Carr, R.H.N, B.A., of Omega Alpha Pharmaceuticals. Joanne is a bilingual Registered Holistic Nutritionist with 15 years experience in the holistic health field. She lectures extensively at natural health product seminars for retailers and consumers across Canada. Joanne also Contributes to natural health publications such as Vista, Alive and Healthy Directions. She is the Director of OASIS (Education Division) at Omega Alpha,...
Apr 15, 2022•51 min•Ep. 52
There are many reasons for why someone gets a pet and reasons why some people will never get a pet. But, there are also reasons for why people get certain types of pets or the timing for getting a pet. Well, I think this is a topic to weigh in on. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of pet ownership and to make things easier I’ll break it down into dogs, cats, small animals, birds and reptiles. Thanks for Listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episo...
Apr 01, 2022•34 min•Ep. 51
Hi everyone and welcome to this very special 50th episode! That’s right, this is my 50th episode and in the scheme of things that is a drop in the bucket but when I look back, that’s a lot of episodes! So, for this episode, I’m going to highlight some of my favourite topics and interviews and some best lines, in my opinion of the last 50 episodes. Thanks for Listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a cof...
Mar 18, 2022•16 min•Ep. 50
Hello everyone and welcome to this spotlight episode of Val Talk’s Pets. In these spotlight episodes I like to highlight a breed of dog or cat and talk about their history, personality etc. I really enjoy looking at the different breeds of dogs and cats and looking at their special traits. So, on this episode I am going to talk about a breed that is close to my heart because I had one of these dogs and he was wonderful. So with some of my own experience thrown in let’s talk about the Rottweiler....
Mar 04, 2022•18 min•Ep. 49
In this episode, Belinda Smith, Western Ontario & Maritime Region sales representative for Horizon Pet Nutrition, helps decipher pet food labels and ingredients to help pet parents make the best choice for their pet. Thanks for Listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a coffee, or two at our ko-fi page . All proceeds go towards the running of Val Talks Pets. Please don't forget to Rate and Review eac...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 48
Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Well this episode is one that has caused controversy, mayhem with dog’s diets, and basically left many pet owners very confused as to what to feed their dogs. I am talking about DCM, Dilated Cardiomyopathy. If you haven’t heard of this yet, well maybe that means the panic and knee jerk reactions have settled down, or it just hasn’t reached your ears as of yet. So, I’m going to try and wade through this miasma of misinformation, look at ...
Feb 04, 2022•27 min•Ep. 47
On this episode I start off the New Year by deep diving into the world of Pet Food. More specifically I'll be taking the mystery out of what really constitutes that dreaded term 'Filler' that you see on the list of ingredients. You may be surprised. Thanks for Listening! Please remember to follow or subscribe to ensure that you never miss an episode. You can support the podcast by purchasing a coffee, or two at our ko-fi page . All proceeds go towards the running of Val Talks Pets. Please don't ...
Jan 21, 2022•29 min•Ep. 46
Welcome everyone to this special Christmas Eve episode of Val Talk’s Pets. As many get ready for the festivities to come and Santa Paws is going to be making his rounds, I thought when we think of Christmas, what breed of dog springs to mind. I’ve noticed that a lot of yellow labs and golden retrievers seem to be on Christmas cards and advertisements, so I think they seem to be a constant representation of Christmas. But, I also thought of another breed that I think captures a lot of the Christm...
Dec 24, 2021•15 min•Ep. 45
Hi everyone and welcome to this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Well it is that time of year when holidays are upon us, whether you are celebrating Hanukkah or Christmas, our pets are usually included in all the festivities. Our pets are part of the family, so just about every pet owner I know has their pet’s Christmas stocking hanging up to be filled by Santa Paws. Special occasions like Christmas can add a whole other dimension to our pet care and management. And I’m sure that many of the tips and...
Dec 10, 2021•21 min•Ep. 44
