UNLEASHED (at work & home) with Colleen Pelar

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

133. Liz Ford, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, LFDM

Pet professionals, by and large, are giving people. We pour ourselves out in service to animals and their owners, often to the point of forgetting to take care of ourselves (or only giving ourselves enough care that we can keep helping others). All too often, this leads to exhaustion and burnout.

My guest today wants pet professionals to know that you are worthy of having a good life. Liz Ford has learned in her years of shelter work and dog training that sometimes it’s all right to fill your cup just for yourself, and not simply so you can keep serving others. She joined me today for a thought-provoking conversation about learning more, doing better, and not allowing yourself to be blinded by negativity bias.

Links worth clicking:

• Best Friends Dog Academy
• Liz's Facebook profile
• The breathwork episode of Unleashed (at work & home) Liz mentioned
• Breath, by James Nestor I found this book fascinating. For the first time, I understand why people have more breathing issues than most animals.
• Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.

https://colleenpelar.com/133

132. MaryKaye Kendrick, IAABC-ADT, CSB-D, FPPE

We often think of our human intelligence as being superior to that of animals. But what if we’re wrong? What if the intelligence of animals is equal to ours, only different? How might that change our view of the world around us, and of the animals sharing our planet?

My guest today is a pet professional who embraces the view of animals as distinct-but-equal travelers accompanying us on this journey through space and time. Doing both social work and shelter work means that MaryKaye Kendrick is no stranger to hard situations and the burnout that can result. But from this she’s learned empathy for the vast array of experiences, both human and animal, in the world around her. Join us today as we discuss how small things can have great impacts, putting your focus on the things you can control, and how to hold on to hope without sliding into toxic positivity.

Links worth clicking

• Pet Harmony Animal Behavior and Training website
• Enrichment for the Real World podcast
• Pet Harmony on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok
• Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.

https://colleenpelar.com/132

 

131. Elysia Ostrander, CPDT, FPPE

Bringing home a new dog is a major life change, bringing home a new baby even moreso. Yet resources designed to help families adjust to having both two and four-legged babies in the house seem to be few and far between and often focused more on dogs and kids as antagonists than anything else.

That’s where my guest today comes in. Dog trainer Elysia Ostrander specializes in helping families navigate the sometimes choppy waters of parenting both children and dogs. She joined me today from the far frozen north (Calgary, Canada to be precise) to talk about how training dogs helps her be a better mom (and vice versa), the importance of knowing your own capacity, and the necessity of keeping your cup full.

Links worth clicking:

• Elysia's Pawsitive Families website, Facebook, and Instagram
• Jen Shryock's episode on Unleashed (at work & home)
• Family Paws Parent Education
• Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.

https://colleenpelar.com/131

130. Ashley Orcutt, IAABC-ADT, FDM, FPPE

A little kindness can make all the difference to someone- and a lot of kindness can make even more. Especially in a world that seems increasingly negative and toxic, kindness definitely seems to be the one thing you can’t have too much of.

My guest today takes that philosophy to heart, always striving to be as kind as possible and then some. Ashley Orcutt is a killer-whale-toy-designer-turned-dog-trainer (yes, you read that right) who believes in bringing as much kindness to the world as possible. Join us as we discuss the similarities between dog training and dolphin training, a wish for more patience, and how to get a job at Sea World.

Links worth clicking:

• Canine Cohesion
• Ashley's Facebook and Instagram handles: @horizon.dogs, @thedogdoor, @feelingpawsitivevetbehavior
• Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to find your level of risk and start your recovery journey.

https://colleenpelar.com/130

129. Frances Dauster, CC, IAABC-ADT, NADOI

Raised in Germany, educated in England, and currently training dogs in Alabama, my guest today has certainly had an interesting time! Like so many in the dog training world, Frances Dauster began as a force-based trainer, only to have her life changed by the magic of positive reinforcement training. Now she works to take those lessons into other areas of life, and help her clients enjoy their dogs. She joined me today to talk about the importance of flexibility, what an incident at boarding school taught her about integrity, and the humbling experience of training chickens.

Links worth clicking

• Sunpaws Training & Boarding
• Connect on Facebook with Frances and Sunpaws
• On Being a Change Maker, article by Karen Pryor
• Feeling exhausted or stressed? Take the burnout assessment to see where you stand and start your recovery journey.

https://colleenpelar.com/129

128. Maggie Marshall

“What do you want?” It’s a simple question and it seems like it should have a simple answer. Yet so many of us, especially as we get older and lose ourselves in the business of our lives, seem to lose sight of what should be a very straightforward thing. What do we want? And even if we know (or somehow figure out) what we want, we’re often too uncertain or timid to ask for it.

Maggie Marshall is a dog trainer who spent years forgetting herself. Just recently, however, she’s learned not only to ask herself what she wants, but to take the time to think about the answer and go for it. She joined me today to talk not just about knowing what we want, but about the importance of knowing our gifts, the surprising lessons we learn from children, and the secret dog training tool you already have in your kitchen.

Links worth clicking:

• Maggie's training website 
• Feeling exhausted and stressed? Take the burnout assessment to see where you stand and start your recovery journey.

https://colleenpelar.com/128