The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology
The show about how to have a better relationship with your dog or cat. Get tips on dog training, dog behaviour, cat behaviour and training, learn about the science on dogs and cats, and find out which books we're reading (animal-related and more generally). Kind, humane, reward-based training methods only. Hosted by Zazie Todd PhD and Kristi Benson CTC of Companion Animal Psychology blog. Made in Canada.
The Pawsitive Post in Conversation by Companion Animal Psychology
Loving and Losing Pets with E.B. Bartels, Rev. Sarah Bowen, and Karen Fine DVM at Bark! Fest
Living with pets sadly means losing them too. There wasn't a dry eye in the house (in a good way) at this event.
Loving pets means thinking of them both in life and after their loss. In the poignant and personal Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, E.B. Bartels takes us on a global tour of how we love and mourn our pets. Sarah Bowen shares her deep insights on the lives and loss of all animals—pets and wildlife—in Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, and Trying to Heal the Planet. And Karen Fine DVM’s heartwarming memoir about becoming a veterinarian, The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality, is full of tales about what we can learn from the animals in our lives.
We talked about:
- Why E.B. Bartels wrote her book and what she learned about how people memorialize their pets, including taxidermy and mummification
- The way that grief for a lost pet is often disenfranchised
- What an animal chaplain is and why Sarah Bowen wrote her book
- Blending science with spirituality, and practical tips to help when someone loses a pet
- What it's like being a veterinarian, and how Dr. Karen Fine was influenced by her grandfather
- The value of making home visits as a veterinarian, and helping other pets cope when one of their fellow pets has passed
- Plus each author did an amazing reading from their book
The quote by Irving Townsend can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/37516-we-who-choose-to-surround-ourselves-with-lives-even-more
Learn more about the authors:
E.B. Bartels: https://www.ebbartels.com/
Rev. Sarah Bowen: https://www.sacredsendoffs.com/
Karen Fine DVM: https://karenfinedvm.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.
Kristi Benson's website Facebook
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.
