The show about how to have a better relationship with your dog or cat. Get tips on dog training, dog behaviour, cat behaviour and training, learn about the science on dogs and cats, and find out which books we're reading (animal-related and more generally). Kind, humane, reward-based training methods only. Hosted by Zazie Todd PhD and Kristi Benson CTC of Companion Animal Psychology blog. Made in Canada.
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We hosted an Ask Me Anything on anxious, fearful, and reactive dogs. You asked some incredible questions, and this is the result.
We talked about:
How to find the starting place for working with anxious dogs
Helping dogs who are afraid of elevators
Fear of strangers
Helping reactive dogs in tricky environments like apartment buildings and cities
Reactivity to other dogs
Fear of loud noises
How the unfortunate side effects of shock collars can persist after training is over
How to persuade people not to use aversives
and more!
Also mentioned in this episode: Understanding resource guarding in dogs (and what to do about it) with Lisa Skavienski https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/12905737 (episode 8)
Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for this episode and/or who attended the live event. If you'd like to see more events like this, let us know!
This event was arranged to celebrate the publication of my book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, which is available wherever books are sold, including Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Bark-Science-Helping-Anxious-Reactive/dp/1778403328/ and Greystone Books https://greystonebooks.com/products/bark
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
We talk about the real world of conservation dogs and the fictional world of FBI dogs and conservation canines with Jen J. Danna, who writes under the name Sara Driscoll. Deadly Trade is the latest FBI K-9 mystery from author Sara Driscoll. K-9 handler Meg Jennings can never walk away from her job, even amid her Hawaiian Islands honeymoon, where she and her search-and-rescue black Lab encounter a double threat from wildlife poachers and Mother Nature.
We talked about:
The work of conservation dogs and what they do on the Hawaiian islands
Why Sara was inspired to write about conservation canines in Deadly Trade
How to write about dogs as characters in their own right
The kind of training that Hawk, the FBI canine, and the conservation dogs in the book would go through in real life
How the dogs influence the success of the mission
How Hawk picks up on things his handler, Meg, can't
Why Sara chose to write about endangered birds
What it's like writing with a co-author
And as always, we ask for a book recommendation!
Deadly Trade is published on 28th October 2025 and is available from all good bookstores.
Sara Driscoll is the pen name of Jen J. Danna, coauthor of the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries and author of the FBI K-9 Mysteries and NYPD Negotiators series. After over 30 years in infectious diseases research, Jen hung up her lab coat to concentrate on her real love—writing “exceptional” thrillers (Publishers Weekly). She is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada and lives with her husband and four rescued cats outside of Toronto, Ontario.
Learn more about Sara Driscoll on her websites, saradriscollauthor.com and https://jenjdanna.com/.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Away to Me by Patricia McConnell PhD will be published in February 2026 and is available for pre-order now
You can hear Patricia McConnell talking about the book at 2024's Bark! Fest, which is available as a previous episode of this podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/16149739
Human remains detection dogs and historic searches with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren
Dogs have incredible noses, and can trained to search for the scent of human remains, bringing closure to those who are grieving and the opportunity to memorialize. As well as recent remains, they can also search for historic remains. We're joined by two experts in the field, Kim Cooper of Ottawa Valley Search and Rescue, and Cat Warren, author of the NYT-bestseller What the Dog Knows, to learn more about these dogs and the work that they do.
We talk about:
How Kim and Cat got started in working with human remains detection dogs and how the dogs are trained
Historic human remains detection dogs
How these dogs can help with searches at the sites of former residential schools in Canada
The emotional side of a search from the handler's perspective and the skills a handler needs to work with communities
Working with communities and the role of oral history in historical searches
What type of dog is best suited to this work (breed, personality, size, etc.)
And finally, we talk about the books we're reading
The books we recommend:
The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods
Native Nations: A Millenium in North America by Kathleen DuVal
Words Are My Matter: Writings on Life and Books by Ursula Le Guin
Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures by Katherine Rundell
Zazie Todd is at the forefront of the move towards positive animal welfare and kind, humane dog training methods. Her third book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog is a compassionate and practical guide to overcoming your dog’s fears. In this panel from Bark! Fest, you’ll learn how to help your dog feel safe, how your presence can help your dog, and get a new understanding of the training techniques that can make a difference, as she shares tips from Bark!.
We talked about:
How Bark! Fest came about
How to counsel people that slow is the new fast when it comes to fearful dogs
Decisions about how much of the "why" and "how" to include in the book
Why tricks training is included in a book for fearful and anxious dogs
How to keep dogs and people safe
Whether pandemic puppies really do have more behaviour issues, and how we can use management to help a fearful dog
The gorgeous cover of Bark! and how much input authors get into book covers and titles with a traditional publisher
Plus Zazie did a reading from the book
Bark! is out now in paperback. It is available wherever books are sold.
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through . She is also a northern anthropologist.
Loving and Losing Pets with E.B. Bartels, Rev. Sarah Bowen, and Karen Fine DVM at Bark! Fest
Living with pets sadly means losing them too. There wasn't a dry eye in the house (in a good way) at this event.
Loving pets means thinking of them both in life and after their loss. In the poignant and personal Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, E.B. Bartels takes us on a global tour of how we love and mourn our pets. Sarah Bowen shares her deep insights on the lives and loss of all animals—pets and wildlife—in Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, and Trying to Heal the Planet. And Karen Fine DVM’s heartwarming memoir about becoming a veterinarian, The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality, is full of tales about what we can learn from the animals in our lives.
We talked about:
Why E.B. Bartels wrote her book and what she learned about how people memorialize their pets, including taxidermy and mummification
The way that grief for a lost pet is often disenfranchised
What an animal chaplain is and why Sarah Bowen wrote her book
Blending science with spirituality, and practical tips to help when someone loses a pet
What it's like being a veterinarian, and how Dr. Karen Fine was influenced by her grandfather
The value of making home visits as a veterinarian, and helping other pets cope when one of their fellow pets has passed
Plus each author did an amazing reading from their book
The quote by Irving Townsend can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/37516-we-who-choose-to-surround-ourselves-with-lives-even-more
Learn more about the authors:
E.B. Bartels: https://www.ebbartels.com/
Rev. Sarah Bowen: https://www.sacredsendoffs.com/
Karen Fine DVM: https://karenfinedvm.com/
Animal Emotions with Marc Bekoff, PhD, at Bark! Fest
When The Emotional Lives of Animals was first published in 2007, it was a gamechanger for its exploration of animal emotions and cognition. Now, a second edition has been published to bring us up to date on all the new science of animal emotions. Marc Bekoff joins us in this webinar to talk about animals’ experiences of joy, empathy, grief, anger, and embarrassment. You’ll never see animals the same way again.
We talked about:
What Marc Bekoff was hoping to do when he wrote the first edition of this book in 2007, and why he wrote a second edition
Bekoff says, "It is no longer radical to recognize, respect, and want to protect the emotional lives of animals.” We talk about how people can recognize, respect, and protect animal emotions
What he looks out for when he watches dogs run around and play at the dog park
Examples of sorrow and empathy in non-human animals
Bekoff's research on wild canids including wolves
What it was like to create the book, Jane Goodall at 90
Plus Marc did a reading from the book and we were all captivated! The books are available from all good bookstores.
To learn more about Marc Bekoff, visit his website: https://marcbekoff.com/
You can contact him via the website to ask to join his email list, which is mentioned in the recording.
Also mentioned in this episode is Thinking Like a Wolf by Rick McIntyre.
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
Our Bond with Cats with Sarah Chauncey, Sassafras Patterdale, and Rachel Wells at Bark! Fest
Reflect on what cats mean to us and the many ways they influence our lives with these 3 feline authors.
Sarah Chauncey’s heartfelt P.S. I Love You More Than Tuna is a touching celebration of our bond with our cats, illustrated by Francis Tremblay. Claw This Journal: An Activity Book for Cats and Their Humans by Sassafras Patterdale (Lowrey) is packed with crafts, training, and activities and a deep understanding of cats’ emotional wellbeing. In the latest in the Sunday Times bestselling series, Alfie the cat is preparing for a purrfect festive show when things go wrong, in Alfie the Christmas Cat by Rachel Wells.
We talked about:
The story of how PS I Love You More Than Tuna came about (and the Easter eggs in the book)
How this book is designed to be given away, and how giving became part of Sarah's process
The role that a Muse Medallion from the Cat Writer's Association for an article by Sassafras played in making Claw This Journal come about
The range of activities in the book (and which ones are Sassafras's favourites)
Why Rachel started writing the Alfie the Cat series, and the themes behind Alfie the Christmas Cat
What it's like to sustain a feline character and their supporting cast over so many books
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through . She is also a northern anthropologist.
Puppy Brain, early socialization, and what to ask a breeder with Kerry Nichols
Zazie chats with Kerry Nichols, bestselling author of Puppy Brain: How Our Dogs Learn, Think, and Love.
We talk about:
How Kerry got into breeding dogs
Why we both love Golden Retrievers
How the book, Puppy Brain, came about
What puppies are like when they are born
Examples of the socialization that Kerry does with puppies
Her favourite part of the first 8 weeks of a puppy's life
Advice on finding a responsible breeder (for any breed)
And Kerry reads from Puppy Brain for us!
Puppy Brain: How Our Dogs Learn, Think, and Love is out now in hardback. The paperback will be out on April 29th and can be pre-ordered now from all good bookstores.
The books we recommend in this episode are:
Dog Poems: An Anthology by Various and Christopher Wait
The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson
OFA - The Canine Health Information Center is at https://ofa.org/.
Kerry Nichols is a former attorney turned canine educator and advocate whose journey into the world of dogs began nearly fifteen years ago. With the founding of Nicholberry Goldens, she devoted herself to raising the healthiest Golden Retrievers possible. This evolved into a mission to instill emotional resilience and agency in her own puppies, a pursuit she now shares with an audience of hundreds of thousands of followers across social media. Her methods continue to garner support from leading veterinarians, trainers, and psychologists, and notable owners of her Goldens include executives from Facebook, Microsoft, and Tinder.
If you love crime and mystery novels, you’re in for a treat as dogs help solve crimes in these remarkable books. When a singer dies in mysterious circumstances, dog sitter Gwinny Tuffel and the singer’s Border Collie investigate in Antony Johnston’s cosy and witty The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead. In Louisa Scarr’s dark and compelling Gallows Wood, PC Lucy Halliday and her dog Moss search for the body after a severed hand is found in the woods. And when veterinarian (and amateur detective) Dr. Bannerman and his champion sniffer dog Pippin holiday near a remote lake, he has to try to save some poisoned sled dogs and figure out why a float plane crashed in Eleven Huskies by Philipp Schott DVM.
We talked about:
How Antony Johnston came up with the idea of Gwinny Tuffel, the pet sitter who is the amateur detective in his Dog Sitter Detective books
Why Johnston especially enjoys writing cozy crime
The story of PC Lucy Halliday, the human remains detection dog handler, who is the main character in Louisa Scarr's Gallow's Wood
How Scarr did the research for this book which is a police procedural
How Dr. Bannerman and his pet dog work together in Dr. Philipp Schott's Eleven Huskies
Schott's love of the northern Canadian landscape and how it plays out in his books
Zazie and Kristi talk to dog trainer Si Wooler about his new book, More Than Just a Dog.
We talk about the big changes that people are willing to make for their fearful dogs, and why the dog's relationship with their person is important for all dogs, but especially the fearful ones. We talk about what a great job Si does of helping people see things from the dog's perspective, and we ask how he talks with clients about the dog's umwelt, or how the dog perceives their world.
We ask about how Si decided where to fit Sophie's story in the book. And Kristi puts Si on the spot and asks how he deals with the outdated idea of dominance when it comes up in conversation and what he thinks of toxic masculinity in dog training.
More Than Just a Dog: Understanding, Loving, and Living with Dogs, The Indispensable Guide for All Dog Lovers by Simon Wooler is out now in the UK and available wherever books are sold, including UK Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/14471/9780008707484
More Than Just a Dog will be published in North American on May 13th.
The books we recommend in this episode are:
A Dog a Day, Old Dogs, and Rescue Dogs by Sally Muir
Woman at 1000 Degrees: A Novel by Hallgrímur Helgason, trans Brian FitzGibbon
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann
The talk by Dr. Lindsay Parker is the A&S Colloquium Kicking the Dog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN7m4sfkbZA&t=1s
Si Wooler has been training dogs for more than ten years. He studied with the Academy for Dog Trainers, one of the most rigorous dog behaviour and training programmes in the world and specialises in training fearful and reactive dogs. In 2023, he worked with author and broadcaster Rory Cellan-Jones and his wife Professor Diane Coyle to help their Romanian rescue dog, Sophie, overcome her profound fears, bond with her people and gradually discover the world, a journey that was followed daily by hundreds of thousands of fans.
Learn about the work of historical scent detection dogs in an episode with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/17384889
The Hawaiian crow is the ‘Alalā. Learn about the ‘Alalā project https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/alalaproject/
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
Cat Warren's books are What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World, and the Young Reader's Edition of What the Dog Knows. They are available wherever books are sold.
Learn more about Kim Cooper on the Ottawa Valley Search and Rescue Dog Association website: https://www.ovsarda.on.ca/
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
Si came to dog training after 20 years as a sound engineer so loud barking hardly registers on his personal decibel scale. His own fearful, ‘unhomeable’ rescue dog, Thomson, was the motivator for seeking out effective, evidence-based training methods and leaving his career in sound and stage to focus on working with troubled dogs and the people who love them. This is his first book. Si's website: https://www.sociabledog.com/
Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.
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