UNLEASHED (at work & home) with Colleen Pelar

143. Yvonne Rosenberger

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.

142. Jodi Smith, LCSW, RPT-S, CAAIS

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.

141. Rachael Magee, CPDT-KA

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

140. Karen Deeds, CDBC

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

139. Sarah Rutten, Dip CBST, KPA CTP, CPDT-KA

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

138. Tabitha Kucera, RVT, VTS (Behavior), CCBC, KPA-CTP

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.

https://colleenpelar.com/138

137. Kari Joly, KPA-CTP, ABCT, FPPE

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)

https://colleenpelar.com/137

136. Kathy Wolff, CCDT, CUI, FDM

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

135. Robynn Harris, ODMN, CCFT

Grief, regret, and loss are not things any of us like to experience but they remain an inevitable part of life, particularly for pet professionals. Grief isn't just about death. It also shows up when we have desires that can't be fulfilled. Sometimes there are relationships that can't be healed, dreams that can't be realized, decisions that can't be changed, animals that cannot be saved, each of these situations (and many others) can evoke grief.

Robynn Harris is a non-profit dog trainer, who understands the grief that is part of love, and she works to help support people through it by providing free end-of-life care for animals. Join us today for a discussion about the importance of community, the nature of grief, and how guilt can help us do better going forward.

Links worth clicking:

• Assembly of the Wandering Shepherd
• Assembly of the Wandering Shepherd on Facebook
• Robynn's Facebook profile
• Recommended reading: The Power of Regret: How Looking Back Moves Us Forward, Daniel H. Pink, and No More Dead Dogs, a novel by Gordon Korman about a boy who is tired of being assigned to read books where the dog dies in the end.

https://colleenpelar.com/135

134. Phil Arkow

When we talk about the “human-animal connection,” most of us tend to think of it in positive terms–therapy animals, childhood pets, and all the many ways that animals enrich our lives. What we don’t often think about, however, is the darker side of that bond–how animal abuse and other forms of domestic and family violence are often interconnected and can even be warning signs of each other. But when we treat violence against animals as completely separate from violence against humans, we often miss the chance to help vulnerable individuals of all species.

My guest today, Phil Arkow, has spent decades studying the link between humans and animals in both its best and worst forms. A pioneer of animal therapy as well as the founder of the National Link Coalition, which works to raise awareness of the link between animal abuse and other forms of violence, Phil has seen both the dark and light sides of the human-animal bond. He came on the show today to talk about his work and share some words to live by.

Links worth clicking

• The National Link Coalition (sign up for their newsletter!)
• AnimalTherapy.net
• Animal-Assisted Therapy and Activities: A Study and Research Resource Guide for the Use of Companion Animals in Animal Assisted Interventions, 12th edition, 2021
• An Unleashed (at work & home) conversation about Adverse Childhood Events (ACE) scores with Samantha Clarke, LCSW
• Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey

https://colleenpelar.com/134