The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology – Details, episodes &amp; analysis

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

How to Help Dogs Prepare for a New Baby with Kate LaSala

Episode 18

mercredi 3 juillet 2024 • Duration 34:34

Zazie and Kristi chat with Kate LaSala of Rescued By Training about the important steps to take to help dogs prepare for the arrival of a baby in the family.

Kate takes a lot of fear and aggression cases and she tells us how she came to specialize in working with families with small children. She tells us about the issues people have with their dogs when they are expecting and the reasons why it's so important to start preparation early. The dog needs to get used to being flexible, to no longer getting all the attention, to changes in sleeping arrangements, and to lack of sleep too.

Preparation is key and she tells us about the action plan that is part of her new self-paced course to help people get their dog ready to welcome a new baby and be comfortable with the new arrival. She also shares her favourite fact about child development that's good to know about supervising children's interactions with dogs. Kate also talks us through what to do if your dog growls at the baby or shows other signs of being uncomfortable.

And finally we all talk about the books we're reading.

About Kate LaSala:

Kata LaSala CTC is a professional dog trainer and certified behavior consultant specializing in fear and aggression. She’s helped over 2400 dogs overcome issues their guardians thought were impossible, including fear of strangers, separation anxiety, resource guarding, and growling at toddlers. As a licensed Family Paws Parent Educator, she’s uniquely qualified to help families with babies or kids. She offers one-on-one remote services worldwide and self-paced courses included her new online course, Bringing Home Baby: Preparing Dog and Family for a New Baby.

Kate's website: https://rescuedbytraining.com/

Bringing Home Baby: Preparing Dog and Family for a New Baby: https://rescuedbytraining.com/product/bringing-home-baby/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rescuedbytraining/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedbytraining

Family Paws: https://www.familypaws.com/
The Family Dog: https://www.thefamilydog.com/

The Books:

It's Never Long Enough by Mary Gardner

My Best Mistake by Terry O'Reilly

The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

Fresh and Fearless: Basic Grooming Made Easy

How much grooming do dogs need and how can you do their nails with Jane Wolff

Episode 9

vendredi 26 mai 2023 • Duration 43:42

We talk about how much grooming dogs need, whether they have short fur or long fur, and why it’s important to stay on top of it. We chat about the research that shows that dogs can find grooming stressful, and the training we can do to make it easier. It's so important to go at the dog's pace.

A lot of people find doing their dog’s nails a chore, and Jane has just released a free course, Start From Scratch , that shows you how to train your dog to do their own nails using a scratch board.

Finally, we talk about what we’re reading right now.

Start From Scratch: Nail Scratchboard Class for Dogs

Fear Free Groomer Certification

Fear Free Directory

Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy by Zazie Todd will be out in paperback on June 6th. The hardback is out now.

How To Have a Happy Dog webinar

How To Have a Happy Cat webinar

Subscribe to the Companion Animal Psychology newsletter here

The books we chat about

Sentient: How Animals Illuminate the Wonder of Our Human Senses by Jackie Higgins.

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles.

How To Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal and Matthew Inman.

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa.

The books are available from all good bookstores and Companion Animal Psychology’s Amazon store .

About Jane Wolff:

Jane Wolff is the co-owner of Good Wolff Dog Training in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She specializes in treating separation anxiety and

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

Read highlights of the chat here.

Understanding resource guarding in dogs and how to fix it with Lisa Skavienski

Episode 8

mardi 23 mai 2023 • Duration 49:53

Resource Guarding in Dogs

We talk with Lisa about what resource guarding is and the body language that you should look for to spot it. People often have an emotional response to resource guarding—it can be a shock if your dog growls at you—and we talk about why you shouldn’t punish the growl and how to deal with those completely normal feelings.

We discuss how to fix resource guarding issues and why aversive methods are not the answer. Kristi and Zazie both share stories about their own dogs’ resource guarding behaviour, and we also talk about how to prevent it in the first place.

Finally, we talk about the books we are reading right now.

Lisa Skavienski is the owner of Dog Educated in Rochester, NY, where she specializes in classes, workshops, and private consultation for dog owners. She is deeply invested in animal welfare, participating at the local community level, as well as holding a seat on the Pet Professional Guild’s Shelter and Rescue Committee. Lisa studied with behavior expert Jean Donaldson at the highly acclaimed Academy for Dog Trainers. She is also a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer and Fear free certified.

Facebook Instagram

The books:

Zazie Todd's Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and her upcoming book Shiver.

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong was the Animal Book Club’s choice for February and March.

The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times (Global Icons Series) by Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams with Gail Hudson.

The Roller Derby Blueprint by Scott Meyer.

Still I Cannot Save You by Kelly S. Thompson.

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

The importance of kindness in dog training with Jane Wolff

Episode 7

jeudi 11 mai 2023 • Duration 47:28

Kindness in dog training

We talk with Jane about the importance of kindness in dog training, both kindness to dogs and kindness to people. We begin by talking about the most important ways to be kind to dogs. Jane specializes in working with clients whose dogs have separation anxiety, and we also talk about how to help people deal with this tricky issue without leaving their dog alone for any longer than they are okay with.

We also chat about Jane’s social justice work, and how that informs her dog training too.

And in the final section we talk about the books we are reading right now.

About Jane Wolff:

Jane Wolff is the co-owner of Good Wolff Dog Training in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She specializes in treating separation anxiety and is a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT). She also graduated with honours from the Academy for Dog Trainers (CTC) and is certified through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers as a CPDT-KA. She has been working with dogs professionally since 2014 and loves working with dogs and their people.

Facebook Instagram

Fresh and Fearless: Basic Grooming Made Easy, the course by Jane available on Kristi's website.

Pet Pals Mutual Aid

Books

Wonderdog: The Science of Dogs and Their Unique Friendship with Humans by Jules Howard is the Animal Book Club’s choice for November.

Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon by Bronwen Dickey.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel.

Invisible Boy: A Memoir of Self-Discovery by Harrison Mooney.

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

The schedule of Erica’s online tricks classes is here .

The benefits of tricks training for dogs and cats with Erica Beckwith

Episode 6

vendredi 5 mai 2023 • Duration 42:11

Training Tricks with Your Dog (and Cat)

Teaching tricks to your dog is fun and cute, and a great way to improve the human-animal bond. Plus, you get to show off how adorable your pet is.

Erica Beckwith is the talented tricks trainer behind A Matter of Manners Dog Training, where she does behaviour consults for dogs and cats and runs online classes to teach a variety of tricks including peekaboo, sit pretty, chorus line kicks, and how to take a selfie with your dog.

Kristi Benson and I spoke to Erica about why she loves teaching tricks, where she finds the motivation to spend time working on tricks with her dogs, and what her favourite tricks are. As well, we get some tips on how to train your dog so that you can get a better selfie with them, and the things to consider when teaching tricks to your cat.

In news, Kristi’s courses now have CEUs available and there are some new courses coming soon. And Zazie will be teaching Making Pets Happy: The Role of Positive Experiences in Good Animal Welfare for the IAABC Foundation.

Plus, of course, in the final section we share the books we are reading right now.

About Erica Beckwith: Erica Beckwith of A Matter of Manners Dog Training in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Erica is an amazing positive reinforcement trainer who first got into dogs as a volunteer at Busan Abandoned Pet Sanctuary in South Korea. After moving back to America, Erica studied at the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers where she got her CTC. Erica is also a CBCC-KA and a Fear Free certified professional. Erica loves cats too, and earlier this year she graduated with a certificate in Advanced Feline behaviour for Cat Professionals with Distinction from International Cat Care.

Website: A Matter of Manners Facebook Instagram

See Erica’s dogs (including Ruckus and the trumpet) in the video Yes Sir, That’s My Baby from The Academy for Dog Trainers.

Kristi Benson’s website and courses .

Making pets happy: The role of positive experiences in good animal welfare. IAABC Foundation, 24 September 2022, 1:00-

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

Pets' names: How we choose them, how we use them, and how to change them

Episode 5

mercredi 3 mai 2023 • Duration 34:56

Episode 5 of The Pawsitive Post in Conversation sees Zazie and Kristi talk about the names we give our pets. We chat about how we choose them, what makes a good name, how we use our pets' names, how to change a pet's name, and whether they know their own and each other's names.

As well, we talk about the books the book club is reading right now and our own choices of books we love. (There may be some spoilers in this discussion).

Pet cats know their fellow cats' names, study shows (Psychology Today)

Our heroes by Jean Donaldson and Kristi Benson (The Academy for Dog Trainers)

Books:

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy by Zazie Todd

Plenty in Life is Free: Reflections on Dogs, Training and Finding Grace by Kathy Sdao

Happiness: A Novel by Aminatta Forna

Heroes Month is taking place at the Academy for Dog Trainers in June 2022. (On Facebook)

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

What's changed for pets--and what still needs to change with Jean Donaldson

Episode 4

mercredi 3 mai 2023 • Duration 47:41

The Pawsitive Post In Conversation Ep 4 with special guest Jean Donaldson. #CAP10.

Zazie and Kristi are joined by Jean Donaldson, one of the world's top dog trainers, founder of the Academy for Dog Trainers, and author of Culture Clash. Zazie, Kristi, and Jean talk about what's changed for dogs over the last ten years: the move to reward-based dog training methods, increased enrichment, better education of pet guardians, and fear free veterinary care. As well, they talk about the changes they would still like to see happen.

They also talk about Dog Training 101, a 24-lesson course that Jean wrote for The Great Courses, and what students can expect from The Academy for Dog Trainers.

In the final section, they share the books they are reading right now.

Academy for Dog Trainers: https://www.academyfordogtrainers.com/

The Great Courses: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/ (put 'dog' in the search bar and Dog Training 101 will come up)

Kristi Benson: http://www.kristibenson.com/

Companion Animal Psychology: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/

Books:

Life's Edge: The Search for What it Means to Be Alive by Carl Zimmer

The Anglo Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400-1066 by Marc Morris

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel

Alfabet/Alphabet: A Memoir of a First Language by Sadiqa de Meijer

Companion Animal Psychology's Amazon store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/animalbookclub

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

How to counter misinformation about dogs and cats with truth sandwiches

Episode 3

mercredi 3 mai 2023 • Duration 44:58

we talk about countering misinformation about dogs and cats with truth sandwiches. We run through some myths about dog training and cat behaviour, talk about why they are wrong, and figure out some truth sandwiches to help correct the misinformation.

We consider:

why it’s wrong to take a dominance approach to dog training

why we should use positive reinforcement rather than punishment in dog training

the myth that dogs should just fit into our lives

and why cats need to scratch.

We also talk about the (then) upcoming Management Month at the Academy for Dog Trainers, which is all about celebrating how you can sometimes use management instead of training to solve dog behaviour issues. As part of Companion Animal Psychology’s tenth anniversary celebrations, you can come to Reading Cats and Dogs: A Conversation with Lili Chin, Sassafras Lowrey, and Zazie Todd. The three authors will be reading from their books (Doggie Language, Chew This Journal, and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy) and in conversation with Kristi Benson.

Plus, in our regular slot at the end of the conversation, Kristi and I talk about the books we’re reading right now.

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

Good habits and resolutions for dog and cat guardians and writers

Episode 2

mercredi 3 mai 2023 • Duration 35:35

We talk about New Year's Resolutions, habits that are a good idea for pet guardians, helping dogs and cats cope with winter, grooming dogs and cats, writing habits, and what we're reading right now.

The books mentioned:

A Dog's World: Imagining the Lives of dogs in a World Without Humans by Jessice Pierce and Marc Bekoff

The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It by W. Chris Winter

How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa

About the co-hosts:

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.

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.