If a dog is reactive, fearful, or anxious, often the dog is struggling--and so is their person. We share tips to help you to help your fearful dog, from the first chapter of Zazie's book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog. Bark! is out now in paperback and available wherever books are sold.

Get Bark!: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/p/books.html

We talked about:

• How important it is to recognize the signs of stress in dogs
• Your priority is to help your dog feel safe
• Pick a food your dog really loves that you can use to teach them to like the thing they are scared of
• The kinds of food that are best
• How to be prepared and make sure you have those tasty treats to hand
• How to bridge and fridge
• The importance of finding activities that both you and your dog love
• Kristi and Zazie each share a story of a time something unexpected happened and they had treats to hand
• And finally we talked about the books we're reading.

The books we mention in this episode:

• The Beaverton podcast (okay, it's a podcast!)
• The Home Cookbook, 125th anniversary edition
• Otter by Jackie Morris

Also mentioned is a study on how people spot signs of stress in dogs interacting with children. You can read about it here: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2017/05/people-mistakenly-think-anxious-dogs.html

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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.

Kristi Benson's website Facebook

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.

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What's a veterinarian's view on dog training methods? And if your pet is terrified of going to the vet, how can they help? We find out from an amazing veterinarian, Dr. Adrian Walton of Dewdney Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge, BC.

We talked about:

• Dr. Walton’s position on dog training methods, and his experience of so-called “balanced” trainers
• How he trained sealions at the Toronto Zoo with a whistle and a bucket of fish
• How a large lizard ended up at his clinic and what his technician taught the Nile monitor to do
• How we know that lizards can count
• The difference that medication can make for pets who are scared at the vet
• How pain can affect pets’ behaviour
• What it’s like working with exotic animals
• The best pet to get for your kid
• And Dr. Walton recommends the books he’s been reading

The books:

• Invertebrate Medicine by Gregory A Lewbart
• Boat Camping in Haida Gwaii by Neil Frazer

Dr. Adrian Walton is the owner of Dewdney Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge, BC. He’s a graduate of University of Guelph and has degrees in Marine Biology from Dalhousie University and a Masters Degree from Simon Fraser University. Prior to moving to Maple Ridge he was an emergency veterinarian in Seattle. His area of interest is exotic animal medicine and spends a lot of his spare time helping abandoned and neglected reptiles and exotics find forever homes.

Website: https://dewdneyvet.com/

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

See the videos of the lizard and its training on Youtube here https://youtu.be/LD75UntRMwI?t=789 (and again at 19.25). The lizard video is courtesy of Dr. Adrian Walton.

Send us a text to say hello!

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.

Kristi Benson's website Facebook

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.

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Writers talk about what brings them hope for the human-dog, human-cat, and human-animal bond.

This is a bonus episode featuring Patricia McConnell PhD, Jean Donaldson, Marc Bekoff PhD, and all of the writers who took part in Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers. Together they share their insights on what is cause for hope. Bark! Fest celebrated the launch of my book Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, which is out now.

A few years back, I heard one of my favourite authors speak at an online literary festival. Amin Maalouf is a member of the Academie Francaise and the author of novels including Samarkand and The Rock of Tanios. He said, “I think the duty of a writer is to have lucidity and hope. If you spread despair, it’s best not to speak at all.” So that's what made me think to ask this question of everyone.

You can find recordings of the full panel discussions in our back catalogue.

The authors and their books:

Patricia B. McConnell: The Education of Will and The Other End of the Leash.

Jean Donaldson: The Culture Clash.

Zazie Todd PhD: Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog.

Marc Bekoff, PhD: Dogs Demystified and The Emotional Lives of Animals.

Cat Warren: What the Dog Knows.

Alexis Devine: I Am Bunny.

Teresa J. Rhyne: Poppy in the Wild.

Lili Chin: Kitty Language.

Mikel Delgado PhD: Play With Your Cat! .

Lucy Hoile: the book your cat wishes you would read.

Pilley Bianchi: For the Love of Dog, illustrated by Calum Heath.

Wendy Lyons Sunshine: Tender Paws.

Carri Westgarth PhD: The Happy Dog Owner.

Antony Johnston: The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead.

Louisa Scarr: Gallows Wood.

Philipp Schott DVM: Eleven Huskies: A Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery.

Sarah Chauncey: P.S. I Love You More Than Tuna, illustrated by Francis Tremblay.

Sassafras Patterdale (Lowrey): Claw This Journal.

Rachel Wells: Alfie the Christmas Cat.

E.B. Bartels: Good Grief.

Rev. Sarah A. Bowen: Sacred Sendoffs.

Karen Fine DVM: The Other Family Doctor.

Kristi Benson.

Finding hope in dog training and animal behaviour (Psych Today) https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/fellow-creatures/202103/finding-hope-in-dog-training-and-animal-behavior

Send us a text to say hello!

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.

Kristi Benson's website Facebook

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.

Instagram BlueSky