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Explore the world of human behavior through the lens of a dog trainer. UNLEASHED (at work & home) with Colleen Pelar helps pet professionals to take charge of their personal development. Gain insight into human behavior through interviews with fascinating experts about their work, their successes, their frustrations … and their love of dogs. Are you ready to be more productive, more positive, and more empowered? Get ready to be UNLEASHED!
Episodes

Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
145. Kellie Stevens, CDBC
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025
What do New York City, Hunter S. Thompson, and Latin legal terms have in common? Not much, but they’re all related to my guest today, who moved to New York to pursue a Thompson-inspired writing career and found herself taking up dog training instead, while sporting a tattoo that only lawyers recognize.
Kellie Stevens is the owner of Gonzo Dog, where she specializes in helping anxious and fearful dogs—and their owners—find more joy in their lives. Tune in for a wonderfully philosophical conversation about diving into things, learning to communicate, and why her dog training business is not named after the Muppet.
https://colleenpelar.com/145

Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
144. Kelly Bremken, MSSW, VSW, CSWA
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Tuesday Jul 01, 2025
Social work is hard. Shelter work is hard. Putting the two of them together seems like it would be almost impossible. But that’s what my guest today has done. Kelly Bremkin is a veterinary social worker who provides mental and emotional support for shelter workers, helping them to navigate the demands and emotional pressures of their job. Over the years, she’s learned a lot about what support really means and what it looks like to different individuals. Join us today for a conversation about recognizing burnout in yourself, personalizing help for others, and the importance of self-compassion.
https://colleenpelar.com/144

Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
143. Yvonne Rosenberger
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025
Yvonne Rosenberger hoped to be a flight attendant, ended up behind an insurance desk, and realized she didn’t want to die there, so she took her friend’s advice to open her own pet care business. In the process, she’s learned one very important lesson—never say never.
Yvonne joined me on the show today to discuss all the things she was never going to do—from getting married to owning her own business—but somehow ended up doing anyway. Join us for a conversation about self-acceptance, introspection, self-examination, and the bonds we forge with other people’s animals.

Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
142. Jodi Smith, LCSW, RPT-S, CAAIS
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Tuesday Jun 03, 2025
Children, both animal and human, instinctively know how to play. The drive to have fun and engage in games is there right from the beginning. As we get older, though, we begin to shut down that instinct to play. We get distracted by the responsibilities of adult life and forget how to simply enjoy the moment. And when we lose access to play, we lose access to its amazing ability to help us heal and bring us joy.
My guest today believes strongly in the power of play- so strongly, in fact, that she named her business after it. Dog trainer and social worker Jodi Smith uses a combination of play therapy and therapy dogs to help both kids and adults who are struggling. She came on the show today to talk about the benefits of play, neurodivergent brains, and the importance of allowing ourselves to wander.

Tuesday May 20, 2025
141. Rachael Magee, CPDT-KA
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Choice can be empowering. We all want to be in control of our lives and feel like we have some say in what happens to us. But how often do we apply that to the animals in our life? How often do we–perhaps without even meaning to–limit the ability of our animal companions to exercise agency? How often do we limit our own agency?
Today I’m joined by dog trainer Rachael Magee, who believes in a training approach that empowers both people and dogs to make choices and expand their world. Tune in as we discuss her circuitous path to dog training (including a stint working for Middle Eastern royalty!), helping blind dogs, and learning to trust that we are enough.
https://colleenpelar.com/141

Tuesday May 06, 2025
140. Karen Deeds, CDBC
Tuesday May 06, 2025
Tuesday May 06, 2025
There’s a huge world of dog training out there. Family dogs, competition dogs, working dogs, therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, scent dogs…they all have unique training needs and Karen Deed has worked with almost all of them! Along the way, she installed computers, trained horses, and discovered positive reinforcement training before it was cool. She joined me today to share the story of the winding and varied road that brought her to where she is now. Tune in as we discuss knowing better and doing better, the importance of kindness (including to yourself), and how dog-training is really about people.
Links worth clicking:
- Canine Connection
- SniffSpot
- Fenzi Dog Sports Academy
- Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.
https://colleenpelar.com/140

Tuesday Apr 22, 2025
139. Sarah Rutten, Dip CBST, KPA CTP, CPDT-KA
Tuesday Apr 22, 2025
Tuesday Apr 22, 2025
We often talk about dogs being “man’s best friend,” but very seldom do we stop to ask, “Am I my dog’s best friend?” Changing the way we think about our relationship can change the way we interact with our dogs, and has the potential to make our friendships with them even deeper and more meaningful.
This is the philosophy that my guest today brings to her training. Sarah Rutten sees dog training as being less about training the dog and more about training the human to understand and interact with the dog better. She’s even written a book, The Canine Perspective, to help humans understand where their canine companions are coming from a little bit better. She joined me today all the way from Australia to talk about burnout, special “heart dogs,” and doing hard things.
Links worth clicking:
- The Canine Perspective
- @thecanineperspective on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
- Sarah's book, The Canine Perspective: Using Force-Free Methods to Unleash Your Dog's Potential
- Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.
https://colleenpelar.com/139

Tuesday Apr 08, 2025
138. Tabitha Kucera, RVT, VTS (Behavior), CCBC, KPA-CTP
Tuesday Apr 08, 2025
Tuesday Apr 08, 2025
With today’s twenty-four hour news cycle, coupled with the rise of social media, we often feel as though we are constantly being bombarded with headlines, most of them negative. It can be hard to keep any kind of positive attitude at all as we are perpetually reminded of all the things that are wrong in the world. Before long, we find ourselves feeling stuck and hopeless.
Vet tech and behavior specialist Tabitha Kucera knows those feelings of depression and hopelessness, but she also knows the immense power of having a PMA--positive mental attitude--especially when things are hard. That doesn’t mean falling into toxic positivity, but instead finding the good where it is, recognizing what is in your power to do, and learning to be kind to yourself. Tune in as we discuss the value of finding and providing mentorship, learning to understand yourself, and the importance of knowing your own worth.
Links worth clicking:
- Chirrups and Chatter
- @chirrupsandchatter on Facebook and Instagram
- @behaviorvettech on TikTok
- Tails from a Vet Tech podcast
- Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.

Tuesday Mar 25, 2025
137. Kari Joly, KPA-CTP, ABCT, FPPE
Tuesday Mar 25, 2025
Tuesday Mar 25, 2025
A lot of dog trainers have come on the show, but most of them didn’t start out wanting to be dog trainers, or even realize that was an option until later in life. Today, however, the script is flipped as I’m joined for perhaps the first time by a dog trainer who actually grew up wanting to be a dog trainer!
Of course, life still had plenty of surprises in store for trainer Kari Joly, and despite being the thing she wanted to be as a kid, it wasn’t a straight path to get there, nor does it look exactly like she thought it would.
Join us today as she shares how she went from wanting to train guide dogs to helping train family dogs, as well as a discussion about confidence, humility, and the importance of celebrating the small wins.
Links worth clicking:
- Pawsitive Families
- Family Paws Parent Education
- Guide Dogs for the Blind
- Unleashed (at work & home) episodes with Eylsia Ostrander (Kari's business partner) and Jennifer Shryock (founder of Family Paws Parent Education)

Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
136. Kathy Wolff, CCDT, CUI, FDM
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
Tuesday Mar 11, 2025
The modern world is full of noise. We are constantly surrounded by sound, always hearing something. But there’s a difference between hearing and listening. We may be doing the former, but are we doing the latter? What does it mean anyway, to really and truly listen to the people, the animals, the world around us?
Dog trainer and end-of-life doula Kathy Wolff believes in the power of listening deeply to help us connect with the people and animals in our lives, strengthen our relationships with them, and be present with them when they need us most. She joined me today for a conversation about listening, bereavement, and how to spin with dog hair (yes, you read that right). Don’t miss it!
Links worth clicking:
- Mosaic Dog Training
- Mosaic Dog Training on Facebook
- Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.
https://colleenpelar.com/136