DogCast Radio
Home Episodes Articles Blog Breed profiles Book reviews Photos Contact

Episode 250 - Zazie Todd and Shelly Volsche

250_DogCast_Radio.mp3

Released Sat March 26, 2022
Length: 1:43:38
Download MP3 (47.4MB)
(To save MP3 file, right click and select 'Save Target As')

Zazie Todd

Respected dog trainer and social psychologist Zazie Todd is the author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy. She writes a column for Psychology Today and received the prestigious Captain Haggerty Award for Best Training Article in 2017.

In this interview Zazie reveals the some of the steps you can take to make your dog happy, as well as the science which backs up her recommendations. Zazie own dogs feature in and inform her work.

You can stay current with Zazie via her Companion Animal Psychology website and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Wag is about understanding what your dog needs all the way through from getting a puppy or adopting an adult rescue, right through to having dogs and children, taking your dog for a walk, training them, taking them to the vet, and how to help them as seniors and make those difficult decisions at the end of life.
 - Zazie Todd

Shelly Volsche

Shelly Volsche is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Boise State University in the Department of Anthropology. She is the author of Voluntarily Childfree: Identity and Kinship in the United States.

When the Pope said recently that choosing to have pets instead of children is selfish and diminishes our humanity, it caught Julie's attention. She turned to Shelly to find out more about whether people are turning to pets instead of having human offspring, and
what the factors behind the decision are.

Find out more about Shelly at the Boise State website and her labs page as well as on Twitter.

It's not just a weird Western thing that people are having pets instead of children, or fewer children and pets. It is something that we're seeing in any environment where there's a growing middle class.
 - Shellly Volsche

250 podcasts



DogCast Radio now consists of 250 podcasts, plus video content, article, breed and book reviews and more. In a discussion which gets very emotional, Julie and Jenny look back at nearly 17 years of podcasting, and sharing the love of everything dog. From kickboxing Russian Terriers, to sneezing Bichon Frises, to encounters with Wolves, to being in the main arena of Crufts with Buddy, DogCast Radio has been a wonderful adventure.

Here's to many more adventures - and meeting many more dogs and their people.

Sharing

280 - pet bereavement leave and the dog sniffing for an escaped capybara

Erika Sinner shares why pet bereavement leave is so important - on a business and a personal level. Rachel Rodgers talks about her and her dog Rico helping to sniff out missing capybara, Cinnamon.

189 - The Dog Healers and War Dogs Remembered

In this episode you can hear Mark Winik talk about his debut novel, The Dog Healers, and listen to Julia Robertson explain why she founded the charity War Dogs remembered. Plus there's the DogCast Radio News, and what Mischief the German Spitz puppy has been up to.

188 - Service Dogs UK and Roxie the Doxie Finds Her Forever Home

In this episode you can hear about Service Dogs UK, a fantastic charity which trains assistance dogs to support veterans of any service - military personnel, police, firefighters, paramedics and the coastguard - who develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to their job. Also, listen to Dr Jody A Dean, a clinical psychologist talk about how her book, Roxie the Doxie finds her Forever Home, is helping children understand and talk about adoption and other family issues. Plus the DogCast Radio News and some thoughts on the alpha dog myth.

187 - Muffins Halo and Chorley Fun Dog Show

In this episode you can hear about Muffin's Halo for Blind Dogs, and what motivates people to enter their dog in a fun dog show. In the DogCast Radio News, listen to stories about the latest dog related research. Plus there's a new member of the DogCast Radio team!

186 - Maxwell Muir on wolves

In this episode you can hear trainer, behaviourist, writer, broadcaster and wolf expert Maxwell Muir talk about what wolves mean to him personally, their plight in a modern world, and his hopes for their future. Plus we have the DogCast Radio News.