The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology

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.

Oct 27, 2026 38 min

Far and Wild: Adventures of the Worldwide Vet with Dr Cliff Redford

Episode 69

Show notes

Dr. Cliff Redford, known as the “Worldwide Vet,” has been passionate about animals since childhood. He joined Zazie and Kristi to talk about his adventures and his new book, Far and Wild.

We talked about:

• How Dr. Cliff started volunteering as a veterinarian
• Dr. Cliff shared some of the stories from the book, including of a monkey that he helped in India
• The street cats of Athens
• One-eyed Jack
• Helping Ukrainians to take their pets with them when they fled at the start of Russia's war on Ukraine
• What it's like working with a wide range of species
• Writing about veterinary procedures for a general audience
• What he's learned about the human-animal relationship
• The book Dr. Cliff recommended is Cujo by Stephen King

Dr. Cliff Redford, known as the “Worldwide Vet,” has been passionate about animals since childhood. After graduating from Ontario Veterinary College in 1998, he opened Wellington Veterinary Hospital in Markham, Ontario, where he still practices today. Beyond domestic pets, Dr. Cliff volunteers globally, treating wildlife and working with local animal rescues.

Far and Wild: Adventures of the Worldwide Vet is just published and available wherever books are sold.

The Far and Wild website: https://farandwild.ca/

Dr. Cliff on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcliffworldwidevet/

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.

Oct 13, 2026 29 min

Being positive about positive reinforcement (when someone is wrong on the internet)

Episode 68

Show notes

Kristi and Zazie chat about the need to be positive when talking about dog training and cat behaviour, and how they cope when someone is wrong on the internet.

We talked about:

• The value of positive reinforcement, and gratitude for the positive reinforcement we get for the podcast
• How to cope when someone is badly wrong on the internet and the post takes off
• The idea of a DRI for ourselves: differential reinforcement of an incompatible behaviour
• The idea of a revenge blog and how we have both written some of them
• The value of likes, comments, and shares on social media and the difference they can make to the algorithm
• The need to stay informed about science and the scientific process

Also mentioned in this show:

• Ep65 on bothsidesism https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/19661849
• Ep61 How to evaluate the scientific research on dogs and cats https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/19388459
• Kristi's blog post on good alternatives to e-fencing: https://www.kristibenson.com/blog/2019/11/4/good-alternatives-to-e-fencing-dog-training-experts-weigh-in
• Zazie's blog post on science communication: To promote positive reinforcement on dog training, teach, engage, and amplify https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2019/06/to-promote-positive-reinforcement-dog.html
• Zazie's post on why it's dogs' happiness, not obedience, that counts: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/fellow-creatures/202004/why-dogs-happiness-not-obedience-is-what-counts

The books we recommend in this episode are:

• Memorial Park by Louisa Scarr
• Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging, and Loving this World by Rona Maynard

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.

Sep 29, 2026 34 min

The Invention of the Dog with Tamsin Pickeral

Episode 67

Show notes

Tamsin Pickeral's new book, The Invention of the Dog: 75 Breeds that Changed the World is a fascinating, touching, and beautifully illustrated account of where our beloved dogs come from. Tamsin joined Zazie and Kristi to chat about the book.

We talked about:

• How the book came about, and what it was like selecting the artwork to be included in the book
• Then we look at 3 very different breeds, starting with the history of the Shih Tzu
• The history of the Bernese Mountain Dog
• The history of the Yorkshire Terrier
• How dog breeds became so different
• Tamsin's favourite image from the book
• Why dogs are so successful
• The domestication of the dog
• The depiction of dogs in art and how their appearance has changed over the years
• And finally, we asked Tamsin to recommend a book to us

The Invention of the Dog: 75 Breeds that Changed the World is out now and available wherever books are sold.

The book that Tamsin recommended to us is Fairy Tale by Stephen King.

Tamsin Pickeral is an animal specialist and an art historian. She is an internationally published author who has written several acclaimed books on animal themes. Her new book, The Invention of the Dog, is just published and tells the true stories of some of our favourite dog breeds.

Learn more about Tamsin at https://tamsinpickeral.com/

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.

Sep 15, 2026 42 min

Great Writers and the Cats who Owned Them with Susannah Fullerton

Episode 66

Show notes

Zazie and Kristi chat with Susannah Fullerton about her delightful book, Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them.

We talk about:

• whether there is a special affiliation between writers and cats
• how Susannah chose the writers to include in the book
• some famous cats, including Hodge, who was a very fine cat indeed
• Daffy, the cat who knew Anne of Green Gables before anyone else
• why TS Eliot doesn't get a whole chapter despite inspiring the musical Cats
• Dorothy L Sayers' cat Blitz
• what the writers' accounts of their cats tell us about how the human-feline relationship has changed over the years
• we get some of Susannah's favourite titbits from the book and ask which is her favourite cat
• we learn about Susannah's upcoming book, Great Writers and the Dogs Who Loved Them
• and finally we ask what she's been reading

You can see examples of Edward Lear's drawings of his cat Foss in this post on Susannah's website: https://susannahfullerton.com.au/literary-pets-foss-the-cat/

The book Susannah recommended to us is Anne's Cradle: The Life and Works of Hanako Muraoka, Japanese Translate of Anne of Green Gables by Eri Muraoka and Cathy Hirano.

Susannah Fullerton is Sydney’s most highly regarded literary historian and lecturer. She is a leading authority on 19th and 20th-century writers with a special interest in Jane Austen. She brings to life the lives and writings of great writers with fascinating talks and in literary tours around the world. In 2017 she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to literature.

She's the author of Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them, which is available wherever books are sold.

Learn more and sign up for her newsletter at https://susannahfullerton.com.au/

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.

Sep 1, 2026 29 min

Dog training methods: How to advocate for dogs (and why bothsidesism doesn't help)

Episode 65

Show notes

Zazie and Kristi chat about what we can do to better advocate for reward-based dog training methods, and some common things that people get wrong.

We talk about:

• The podcast Kristi heard by Rachel Gilmore and why it made her want to talk about this topic
• Why reward-based dog training methods are better for dogs and their people
• Bothsidesism, and how portraying the use of aversive methods as normal and just another side of the argument is potentially damaging
• How we can use a truth sandwich to counter myths about dog training
• What the Overton window is and how it relates to conversations about dog training methods
• Treviño's degrees of acceptance and how positive reinforcement dog training went from radical to sensible to popular

If you want to listen to some truth sandwiches about dog training and cat behaviour, check out episode 3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/12778186

The books we recommended in this episode are:

• By Strength We Are Still Here by Crystal Gail Fraser
• Pugs and Kisses by Farrah Rochon

You can listen to Farrah Rochon talk about Pugs and Kisses in the romance panel at Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, where she's joined by Julie Howarth (New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe) and Nicola Knight (Washed Up). Save your spot here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5917869995632/WN_svRTPtHARD-_BrgsmER6WA

And check out all of the Bark! Fest panels at https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/p/home.html

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.

Aug 18, 2026 31 min

Love in Their Hearts and compassion for animals with Marc Bekoff, PhD

Episode 64

Show notes

Marc Bekoff, PhD, joins Zazie and Kristi to talk about his new book Love in Their Hearts, his work (and upcoming book) with Jane Goodall, and what it's like studying canids.

We talked about:

• Why Marc and his co-author Jeff Campbell wrote Love In Their Hearts
• The time Marc's dog Jethro rescued a baby bunny, and stories of the grizzly bear known as 399
• The importance of naming animals
• Marc's research on dogs, wolves, coyotes, and foxes, and how his work replaced theories of dominance leading to the dissolution of litters in the wild
• How animals tell stories
• Marc's work with Jane Goodall, how he first heard of her, and how she influenced his work
• The educator's kit that goes with Love In Their Hearts and how it can inspire hope and activism in young readers

The book Marc recommended is Knowing Wonder: An Elephant Story by Merrill Sapp illustrated by Gareth Hooks. You can read Marc's interview with Merrill Sapp here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202412/an-elephants-world-from-the-mind-and-heart-of-a-matriarch

Love In Their Hearts: A Celebration of Animal Emotions and a Guide to Compassionate Action is by Marc Bekoff and Jeff Campbell.

Every Elephant Has a Name by Jane Goodall and Marc Bekoff illustrated by Gavin Scott will be published on Feb 8, 2027.

Marc Bekoff will be at Bark! Fest to talk about Love In Their Hearts on Sep 23, joining Alison Pearce Stevens (Detective Dogs). Sign up here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1317856369316/WN_QnjJGASbSvyWmpRL-mp1lQ

Find out more about Bark! Fest and sign up for the other events at companionanimalpsychology.com

Marc Bekoff is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has won many awards for his research and writing, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society. He writes regularly for Psychology Today and has published more than thirty books, including The Emotional Lives of Animals and numerous scientific and popular essays. Visit marcbekoff.com to learn more.

Find Marc's Psych Today blog here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions

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.

Aug 4, 2026 42 min

Setting standards in dog training and animal behaviour with Fiona Cooke of the ABTC

Episode 63

Show notes

How can we set and maintain standards for dog training and animal behaviour? Zazie and Kristi are joined by Fiona Cooke, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council to learn all about their important work in the UK, and what anyone can do if they want to make a difference.

We talked about:

• What the ABTC does
• Why it's so important to follow a compassionate, non-punitive approach in training and animal behaviour
• The wide range of organizations who are part of the ABTC (and how they represent people who work with dogs, cats, horses, and exotics)
• The benefits of being on the ABTC register for practitioners in the UK, and how the public can use it to find a good trainer or behaviourist
• We get a sneak peek of what the ABTC is working on right now
• The importance of collaboration and how people can increase awareness of the ABTC and support their work
• We get Fiona's tips on what people can do to make a difference
• And finally we find out what Fiona's been reading, which turns out to include an instruction booklet for building a wardrobe!

The books Fiona recommends are The Secret Hour by Mick Herron and also his Slough House series, of which the first is Slow Horses.

The Animal Behaviour and Training Council sets and maintains standards of knowledge and practical skills needed to be an animal trainer, training instructor or animal behaviour therapist and maintains the national Register of appropriately assessed practitioners.

ABTC members include major animal welfare charities, organisations concerned with human-animal interactions, educational institutions and membership organisations for practitioners. The Council represents the training and behaviour sector to the public and to governments.

Visit the ABTC website: https://abtc.org.uk/

Sponsor the ABTC: https://abtc.org.uk/sponsors/

ABTC merch: https://shop.abtc.org.uk/

Fiona Cooke is Chair of the ABTC Board of Trustees. She is Head of Specialist Services (vet, behaviour, training and research) at Woodgreen Pets Charity. Her PhD focused on the role of local government in the implementation and enforcement of animal welfare legislation. She is a lecturer in law and runs an animal behaviour company working with complex behavioural issues of dogs and cats. Fiona is a full member of the APBC and FABC as well as an ABTC registered CAB.

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.

Jul 21, 2026 35 min

Can your dog tell if you're pregnant and smell if you're stressed? with Dr. Catherine Reeve

Episode 62

Show notes

Zazie and Kristi chat with scientist Dr. Catherine Reeve about her research to find out whether dogs change their behaviour when their owner is pregnant and if they can use their noses to detect when someone is stressed.

We talked about:

• The survey that investigated whether women think their dog's behaviour changed when they were pregnant
• The kinds of dogs that were most likely to show changes
• How the scientists got scent samples from people who were stressed
• The training to teach dogs to alert to the scent
• How well the dogs did at the task
• The implications for ordinary dog guardians

The papers we talked about are:

• Dog owners’ perceptions of their dog’s behaviour during pregnancy https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2025.2502241
• Dogs can discriminate between human baseline and psychological stress condition odours https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0274143

The books Catherine recommended are The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry and The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica.

Also mentioned: Earlier episodes on surveys and understanding research (Ep61), and on dogs and scent work (Ep56 with Melissa McCue-McGrath; Ep 46 with Bonnie Hartney; Ep35 with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren).

Dr. Catherine Reeve is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Mount Saint Vincent University. She has a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Dalhousie University. She’s interested in applied canine behaviour, canine cognition, especially olfaction, and human-animal interaction. And she’s the head trainer at Epic Tails Canine Adventures in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

University website: https://www.msvu.ca/academics/bachelor-of-science-bsc/psychology/faculty-and-staff/dr-catherine-reeve/

Epic Tails Canine Adventures: https://epic-tails.ca/

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.

Jul 7, 2026 36 min

How to evaluate the scientific research on dogs and cats: A guide

Episode 61

Show notes

New research on dogs and cats helps us to understand them better and give them better lives. But how do we know if the research is any good, and what about our feelings about the results? Zazie and Kristi chat about how to evaluate the science.

We talk about:

• Taking an ethical stance on dogs and cats that recognizes that they are sentient beings
• How it can be tricky to assess research if you're not trained as a scientist
• The research on training methods shows risks to using aversives and that it's much better to only use reward-based training methods
• Why we look for more than one study to teach us something
• We consider different types of research, including the value of questionnaire studies and of experiments
• What a meta-analysis is
• How it can feel emotional if you don't like the results of a particular study
• People's willingness to take part in research
• A re-evaluation of a classic study on spanking children that is relevant to the discussion
• And finally we talk about the books we're reading

The books we recommend this time are:

• People, Places, Things by Chuck Palahniuk
• New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe by Julie Haworth

Also mentioned is Zazie's post about a literature review on dog training methods: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2017/04/new-literature-review-recommends-reward.html

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.

Jun 23, 2026 35 min

Resource guarding in dogs: What to do about it with Jean Donaldson

Episode 60

Show notes

Jean Donaldson has just published a new edition of her book Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs. If you have a dog who guards food, objects, people, or locations, you need this book! Jean joins Zazie and Kristi to discuss what to do if your dog guards food, locations, or other resources.

We talk about:

• Why it was time for a new edition of Mine! and what it was like to write it
• How to decide if your dog needs a regular training plan or a more incremental one to resolve their guarding behaviour
• Why it's a myth that you should be able to take your dog's food away from them
• How we can add food to puppies' bowls to help prevent food guarding
• Why there's not really anything wrong with the personality of a dog who guards resources
• The other behaviour issues that sometimes accompany guarding behaviour
• What it means to be "warmed up" or "cold" in a dog training plan
• Why dog trainers like the spicy dogs
• The Olde English Sheepdog who was a bit of a challenge
• Guarding behaviour in Jean's dog Buffy and Kristi's dogs Archer and Soleil
• When to hire a dog trainer to help with resource guarding

The book Jean recommended to us is The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Kastor.

To be the first to learn about Bark! Fest, the book festival for animal lovers, sign up to the Companion Animal Psychology newsletter.

Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs by Jean Donaldson is available wherever books are sold.

Jean Donaldson is one of the world's top dog trainers, founder of the Academy for Dog Trainers, and author of the seminal book Culture Clash, which was named number one training and behaviour book by The Association of Pet Dog Trainers. In 2017, Jean authored and instructed Dog Training 101 for The Great Courses, another wonderful resource for dog guardians. Her most recent book is the second edition of Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs.

Follow Jean at the Academy for Dog Trainers:

Website: https://academyfordogtrainers.com/

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/academy4dogtrainers/?hl=en

You might also like: Understanding resource guarding in dogs and how to fix it with Lisa Skavienski

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.

Jun 9, 2026 26 min

Why children should Ask the Dog if they want to be petted with Steve Dale

Episode 59

Show notes

Kids are routinely taught to ask a dog's owner before petting the dog. Today, radio host Steve Dale joins us to talk about how they should also find out if the dog wants to be petted or not. We learn about Steve's new children's book, Ask the Dog, which is a fun story with an important message, and we also talk about some good news in cat health.

We talked about:

• Why Steve wrote the book
• The importance of preventing dog bites, and why children are especially at risk
• Why children should learn to ask the dog
• How the relationship between dogs and children has changed over the years
• What it was like working with an illustrator for the book
• The work of the EveryCat Health Foundation and their research on taurine in cat food, FIP, diabetes, and heart disease
• How research on cat health has also benefited human health

Also mentioned:

• The EveryCat Health Foundation is at everycat.org
• Theater of the Mind created by David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar is at the Goodman Theater in Chicago through August 30 2026 https://theaterofthemindchicago.com/
• Steve Dale's interview with David Byrne https://stevedalepetworld.com/blog/conversation-with-david-byrne-booth-46/
• The book Steve recommended is Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

Ask the Dog by Steve Dale, illustrated by Shelby Koehler, is available wherever books are sold.

Steve Dale is a certified animal behavior consultant, a radio host, and his show Steve Dale’s Pet World is essential listening for everyone who loves pets. He co-edited Decoding Your Dog, written by the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, and has written and contributed to many other books. Ask the Dog is his first children's book. Steve is the host of Steve Dale's Pet World on WGN radio and also hosts a Sunday afternoon talk show at WGN radio.

Learn more about Steve and sign up for his newsletter at stevedale.tv.

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.

May 26, 2026 44 min

Dogs and cats, breeds and behaviour: Quick questions

Episode 58

Show notes

Zazie and Kristi ask each other rapid fire questions about dogs and cats, breeds and behaviour. But in this game of this or that, we also discuss the answers, illuminating ideas about training and enrichment. By the end of the show, you'll know Zazie and Kristi a lot better, but you'll also have learned something about dogs and cats.

As you listen, be sure to shout out your answers too! Or you can leave us a voicemail and let us know.

Do you have any this-or-that questions that you would like us to answer? Send them in!

At the end of the episode, we discuss the books we've been reading:

• Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
• Crier's War by Nina Varela

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.

May 12, 2026 48 min

Why we should love the beasties with Dr. Jo Wimpenny

Episode 57

Show notes

Zazie and Kristi chat with Dr. Jo Wimpenny, author of Beauty of the Beasts, to learn more about wasps, mosquitoes, vultures, sharks, and other unloved animals.

We talk about:-

• why Jo wanted to write about the beasties
• how everything is connected
• the value of wasps and mosquitoes to the ecosystem
• how sharks are not necessarily out to get people (even if sometimes they are)
• whether some animals are over-rated
• which animal Jo most loved writing about
• and finally Jo told us which book she's been reading.

Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature's Least Loved Animals is available wherever books are sold.

The book Jo recommended to us is The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay.

Previous episodes with Jo:

• The Holiday Special 2025 (Ep48)
• Animal minds and our favourite fables (Ep15)

Also mentioned: Kristi's blog post on making a living in the world.

Jo Wimpenny is a zoologist and writer, with a research background in animal behaviour and the history of science. She studied Zoology at the University of Bristol, and went on to research problem-solving in crows for her DPhil at Oxford University. She’s the author of Aesop’s Animals, which we’ve talked about with her before, and her new book which is just out now is Beauty of the Beasts: Rethinking Nature’s Least Loved Animals.

Jo's website: https://jowimpenny.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jowimpenny/

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.

Apr 28, 2026 37 min

Can pet dogs sniff out an invasive species? with Melissa McCue-McGrath

Episode 56

Show notes

Can pet dogs use their nose to find the eggs of an invasive species, the spotted lanternfly--and what was it like taking part in citizen science to find out? Zazie and Kristi are joined by dog trainer and author Melissa McCue-McGrath to learn all about this fun project. We also learn about Melissa's book, Misadventures of the World's Okayest Dog Trainer.

We talk about:

• the nose work classes that Melissa teaches
• why the spotted lanternfly is such a problem
• why Melissa wanted to take part in citizen science
• the real life issues that affected the project
• the training that they did with the dogs
• the field trials at the end of the project
• the real world applications and why it was fun to be part of it
• what Melissa would say to someone considering signing up for a citizen science project with their dog
• why Melissa wrote her new book and what it's about

Misadventures of the World's Okayest Dog Trainer is available wherever books are sold.

Also mentioned:

• BewilderBeasts podcast
• Melissa's interview on DogCast radio
• The Accidental Veterinarian by Philipp Schott
• Tell Me Where it Hurts by Nick Trout
• Bark! Fest with Philipp Schott
• Victoria Stilwell Academy

The books that Melissa recommended are Away To Me by Patricia McConnell and The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett.

Melissa McCue-McGrath is a professional dog trainer and behaviour consultant. She is a faculty advisor for the Victoria Stilwell Academy and she is the first non-UK person to be accredited with PACT. She’s the author of Considerations for the City Dog, and her new book, Misadventures of the World’s Okayest Dog Trainer, is just out now.

If you liked this, you might also like:

• Why you and your dog will love nose work with Bonnie Hartney (Ep46)
• Human remains detection dogs and historic searches with Kim Cooper and Cat Warren (Ep35)

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.

Apr 14, 2026 54 min

Senior dogs and young dogs living together: How to keep everyone safe and happy

Episode 55

Show notes

Content warning: The books section at the end of the episode includes subject matter that may be distressing.

Having both a senior dog and a young dog in the same home can be wonderful, revitalizing the older dog and providing company for the younger dog. But it can also have its challenges. Zazie and Kristi talk about how to make sure everyone is happy and stays safe.

We talk about:

• How training can help when you have both an old dog and a young dog or puppy
• What to consider when deciding whether to bring a young dog into your home when you have a senior dog
• Whether bringing a young dog into the home can be beneficial for an old dog
• What kinds of issues people can have in this situation
• When to seek help from a dog trainer for your dog-dog issues
• Management options that can make a difference and help to prevent issues from arising
• We also discuss Zazie's book Bark!s win in the DWAA awards and Zazie shows Kristi her medal
• And finally we chat about the books we've been reading

The webinar that Kristi is presenting for the Pet Professional Guild is called Mixing Young Dogs and Senior Dogs: Management, Safety, and Training on April 8 2026. https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/webinars-events/webinars/mixing-young-and-senior-dogs-management-safety-and-training-with-kristi-benson/

Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog is available wherever books are sold. https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/p/books.html

The Dog Writers Association of America competition details: https://dogwriters.org/winners/

The books we recommend in this episode are:

• Consent: A Memoir by Vanessa Springora trans Natasha Lehrer
• People of Means: A Novel by Nancy Johnson

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.

Mar 31, 2026 37 min

How to help your dog behave with guests with Jeff Millman

Episode 54

Show notes

How can you help your dog to like it--and behave well--when visitors come to your home? Zazie and Kristi are joined by dog trainer Jeff Millman, author of Triggers and Reactions: A Guide to Fixing Your Dog Behavior Problems, to chat about this common issue.

We talk about:

• Why having your dog jump on guests is in some ways a nice problem to have
• The behaviours we can teach them to do instead
• The signs to look for that would suggest that your dog is shy or fearful of guests
• How to use management when guests come over
• Understanding how to use desensitization and counter conditioning for fearful dogs
• How dog training culture has changed over the years and reward-based methods have become more popular
• What it was like to study at the original Academy for Dog Trainers and how much Jeff loved it
• and finally, we ask Jeff what he's been reading lately

The books recommended by Jeff are:

• When Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows... Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life by Steven Pinker
• Never: A Novel by Ken Follett

About Jeff Millman: Jeff Millman was always known as an animal fanatic since he was a little boy. After studying journalism, living in Alaska after college while living in a tent, working professionally as an internet consultant and creative director, he studied dog training with the world-famous Jean Donaldson in San Francisco in 2002. Since then, he has been honing his dog training craft while training thousands of dogs. He’s the author of three books, including the two-volume Triggers and Reactions: A Guide to Fixing Dog Behavior Problems. lives in Cary, NC with his two wonderful children, amazing wife, and English Shepherds, Sky and Storm.

Jeff Millman's website: https://www.jeffmillman.com/

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.

Mar 17, 2026 31 min

How to help dogs and cats get along with each other

Episode 53

Show notes

Zazie and Kristi talk about how to help dogs and cats get along, and why it all starts with thinking about the cat's feeling of safety.

We talk about:

• the need to manage introductions between dogs and cats
• what that means from the dog's perspective, and the cat's perspective
• the importance of letting them vote with their feet
• the need for safe spaces, and how to make safe spaces for a cat
• the idea of training the dog to be safe around cats
• how to keep the peace at mealtimes
• placement of the cat's resources
• whether dogs are ever scared of cats
• how some dogs cannot be trusted to live with a cat

The books we recommend in this episode are:

• Dog Affirmations: An Illustrated Journey Through Your Dog's Thoughts by Andrea Cáceres
• The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules: A Novel by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

Previous episodes mentioned in the show:

• Caring for dogs versus caring for cats
• How to help your reactive or fearful dog

For more on how to set your house up for your cat, check out Zazie's book Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy, which is available wherever books are sold. Learn more about Zazie's books here.

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.

Mar 4, 2026 32 min

Everything you need to know about cat carriers with Dr. Mansum Yau

Episode 52

Show notes

What's the best kind of carrier to choose for your cat? We get a veterinarian's perspective from Dr. Mansum Yau, author of The Ins and Outs of Cat Carriers: A Veterinarian's Guide to Cat Carriers.

We talk about:

• why, as a vet, Dr. Mansum is interested in cat carriers
• what kind of carrier is the best one to choose
• how to help cats be more comfortable at the vet
• how she became a stand-up comedian on top of being a vet, and how humour can help at the vet
• why toothbrushing is so important for cats and how a video of Dr. Mansum brushing her cat's teeth went viral
• the best carriers for adventure cats, and what happened one time with her cat
• what it was like illustrating her book
• and finally, she tells us about a book she's reading

The book Dr. Mansum picked is Bony Legs and Other Stories by Pat Edwards.

Also mentioned in this episode, the cat toothbrushing episode that went viral: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGW-oi1xPSC/

Dr. Mansum Yau graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 2010 and earned her certificate in canine massage from the Royal Canadian College of Massage Therapy in 2025. She is Human Animal Bond and Fear Free Level 3 certified and passionate about preventative care and client education. When she is not caring for cats and dogs, she enjoys reading, writing, painting, drawing, performing clean stand-up comedy, raising awareness for endangered animals, and exploring nature with her one-eyed dog, Penny, and adventure cat, Boo. She is the author and illustrator of The Ins and Outs of Cat Carriers: A Veterinarian’s Guide to Cat Carriers, available wherever cat lovers read. She also shares tips for cats and dogs at pet events and on Instagram and YouTube.

Dr. Mansum Yau is on:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drmansum/

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@drmansum

LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/drmansum

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.

Feb 17, 2026 27 min

Patricia McConnell PhD and her first novel Away to Me

Episode 51

Show notes

Away to Me is Patricia McConnell PhD's first mystery novel, and it's gorgeous. Zazie and Kristi chat with Patricia to learn more about the book and why she decided to write fiction set in the dog world.

We talk about:

• What made Patricia decide to write a mystery novel
• The main character, Maddie McGowan
• Whether it was fun to be writing dogs as characters
• How she wrote about the dogs as real characters & without turning the interactions into negative/aversive ones.
• The many different dog training cases that appear as secondary characters in the book
• Patricia has previously written many wonderful non-fiction books, including her memoir, The Education of Will. What’s different about writing fiction?
• The power and importance of friendships and how dogs are one of the ways that many people can find a community?
• What motivates her to write, and will we see more of Maddie after this?

Away to Me will be published on Feb 24th and is available for pre-order wherever books are sold.

Also mentioned:

• What the Dog Knows by Cat Warren
• Patricia's blog post on finding grace https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/natl-dog-training-month-or-you-and-54/
• Susanna Daniel and Madison Writers' Studio https://madisonwriters.com/
• Patricia McConnell at Bark! Fest https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183505/episodes/16149739
• The book Patricia recommend is The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow.

Learn more about Patricia and her book, Away to Me, on her website: https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/

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.