Believe in Dog

Have you ever had one of those experiences that seemed like it was the worst thing that ever happened to you but then it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to you?

Kay Stewart was shocked when her position of 32 years was abruptly eliminated.  But this career loss helped Kay realize how out of alignment she had become with her childhood goal of helping animals.  When she stumbled onto a job listing posted by Ruby,...

Have you ever wondered if your dog could be a Therapy Dog?  Are you & your dog ready to be a therapy team?  Where do you even start?

After working in tech for many years, Sherrie Rohde decided to make a career change and become a therapist. And when she learned (through Instagram!) about animal-assisted therapy work, Sherrie became excited about the idea of incorporating dogs into her new career.

When Sherrie adopted her do...

Have you ever been around a dog who doesn’t “dog” like other dogs?  Maybe you’ve experienced a dog who is reactive or has separation anxiety or a noise-phobia?

Sharon Vincuilla and I explore how dogs (and people!) can experience the world differently and how neurodiversity shows up in a dog’s behavior.  And Sharon has experienced this first-hand with her dog, Muggins!

Sharon found that life with Muggins was even triggering her ...

Panita Senjit grew up in India where she learned to be terrified of dogs.  So you might be wondering how she’s become the award-winning author of a children’s book series based on her therapy dog, Lil’ Leo.  And the answer is: her son really wanted a dog.

When living in Austin, Texas, Panita was introduced to Therapy Dog work and realized their family dog, Leo had the perfect temperament for being a therapy dog.  Panita was quick...

Has your life been impacted by the loss of a pet?  Erica Messer and her husband adopted Wolfgang, a sickly kitten found in a barn during the height of COVID quarantine in 2020.  But when a tragic accident ended Wolfie’s life the following year, it completely changed the direction of Erica’s life.

Now the Founder of Wolfie’s Wish, Erica created the product she was looking for on her grief journey but couldn’t find.  Wolfie’s Wish Gr...

What do burnout, self-care and boundaries have to do with rescue? Everything! We’ll learn the emotional toll that rescue has taken on our Roundtable participants.  This conversation gets incredibly vulnerable and I commend the courage that it took to share this with the world.

Our Rescue Roundtable also explores ideas for creating a more sustainable organization and what they would differently in the future.

We start off picking up...

Dogs, drama and death threats…oh my!

On this Roundtable, we’ll hear from 3 women in Baltimore’s animal rescue community who have collectively impacted the lives of countless dogs.

I brought these guests together so we could dive into topics such as who determines Adoption Requirements & Procedures and how rescues can set up their Foster Families for success.

But while I’ve been around the animal welfare world since 2008, there ...

This might be the most important conversation I’ve ever had on the Believe in Dog Podcast.

Have you ever wondered why there’s a seemingly endless stream of homeless pets in need at shelters and rescues across the USA? 

As a writer, Cara Sue Achterberg began documenting her family’s experiences fostering dogs for a local rescue and wrote the book Another Good Dog - One Family and 50 Foster Dogs.

Cara shares with us her dog fostering...

What does pioneering integrative veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein want you to know about the cause of cancer in dogs?  Today we’ll hear the 3 biggest causes for the exponential increase in cancer rates over the past 50 years.

I was fascinated to learn that it was Dr. Marty’s journey with his own health that led him to questioning the medical establishment for  both p...

Did you know that hearing dogs are trained to support the deaf and hard-of-hearing community?  I recently learned this when I connected with David Allery, Founder of the nonprofit organization, Your Hearing Dog.

David, who experienced a loss of hearing due to a medical condition, shares his own experiences and the societal isolation experienced by many people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.  

Hearing dogs are not only trained to a...

What is life like with a rescued puppy mill dog?  And is there anything we can do to stop puppy mills? 

These are the questions we explore today with Dog Mom and Advocate Jo Anna Kloster, author of Lily Unleashed.

Jo Anna shares the story of how Cagney, her first rescued puppy mill dog, changed her life and gave her passion and purpose.  Jo Anna shares all that she’s learned about the inner workings of puppy mills, pet stores and t...

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to make a living being a Dog Mom? Tori Mistick is here to tell us how she turned her blog Wear Wag Repeat from a creative outlet into her full-time job – including all the pivots along the way.

I’ve learned so much from Tori’s online courses for petprenuers (entrepreneurs in the pet industry) and from her monthly membership group, the Wear Wag Repeat Society.  Tori also shares with us why it’...

Are all of us communicating with our animals and we just don’t realize it?  This is one of the questions we explore today with Animal Communicator Shannon Cutts.

While Shannon grew up loving nature and always wanting a pet bird, it took many years for Shannon to follow her intuitive calling to work as an animal communicator.  Shannon shares her long and winding journey with us, including the many ways animals have been healers in h...

How did Ruby Balaram go from being a reluctant dog mom to pet industry CEO? You don’t want to miss this episode.

Like me, Ruby grew up in a house where she wasn’t allowed to have pets - except that one time she & her mom tried to sneak in a cat! So when Ruby met her partner, Turk, he came with a dog and she wasn’t so sure about jumping into the Dog Mom Life.

But when Turk’s dog got a second cancer diagnosis, Ruby witnesses the powe...

By day, Jen Danna is a scientist studying infectious diseases. But at night, Jen has immersed herself in creating the world of FBI K9 Handler Meg Jennings and her dog Hawk. 

From domestic terrorism to human trafficking, the FBI K9 series follows Meg & Hawk as part of the FBI’s Human Scent Detection Team.  From page one, these books had me hooked and it felt like I was along for the ride as Meg & Hawk are tasked with locating the ...

We’re diving into an age-old question today: do dog trainers train dogs … or people?  As a dog trainer and pet health coach, Jessica Fisher has a lot to share on this topic.

Despite having some “not so great” experiences with pets when she was growing up, Jessica was on her way to becoming a bit of a crazy cat lady when she met the man who would become her husband … and his chihuahua.

But it took her dog Kimberly, a rescue who ...

We see these memes online everyday joking that all of our dogs are freelance emotional support dogs.  But what if it’s your dog’s behavior that’s causing you anxiety?

I’m grateful to Karoline Edmonds of Dog Mom Mentality for courageously sharing her ups and downs with us today.

Admittedly a bit of a reluctant and naïve dog owner, in early 2020 Karoline agreed that her boyfriend could get a dog – if he was willing to do all the ...

Who is caring for your pets when you’re traveling?  That’s the question today’s guest, Isabel Alvarez Arata, is going to help us answer.

Isabel describes herself an advocate for in-home pet sitting and shares with us everything we should know before hiring a pet sitter.

Though she’s a lifelong animal lover, Isabel never intended on a ...

Today we’re welcoming two guests to the podcast!

First we’ll meet Michelle Dumont who created a series of children’s books based on Phoebe Cakes, the tiny special needs bulldog who spent 4 amazing years with Michelle & her family.

While Michelle always thought of herself as a “cat person,” she quickly fell in love with dogs after her sons' campaign for a canine family member.

When looking to adopt a bulldog from a local rescu...