PPG Podcast

In this episode of the PPG Podcast, Niki Tudge and Rebekah King walk you through the process of getting a credential through the Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB). Whether you are transferring your current credential to a PPAB credential or earning a PPAB credential outright, Niki and Rebekah answer the most commonly asked questions about the process. Tune in now and get started on your journey to a PPAB credential!

Join Niki Tudge and Judy Luther as they chat and chuckle with Veronica Sanchez and Jenn Friedline about the damaging effect of dog trainers dispensing poor advice on social media.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Emily Hall about adventure cats!

Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses how to stay motivated and afloat during challenging times. Advocacy Task Force Chair Don Hanson is your host and moderator, and the panelists are Laura Donaldson, Dayle Pierce, and Sam Wike.

Enjoy learning some helpful tips from your colleagues!

Kim Silver fills in for Don Hanson as your host in this episode of the PPG Advocacy Panel about why we use positive reinforcement in pet training. Your panelists for this discussion are Beth Adelman, Pat Miller, Debbie Sheridan, Dr. Kristina Spaulding, Niki Tudge, and Dr. Karolina Westlund. Sit back, relax, and enjoy listening!

Join Niki Tudge as she hosts Jenn Friedline, Zuzanna (Zuzia) Kubica, and Veronica Sanchez in a lively discussion about how to teach loose-leash walking!

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with the one and only Dr. Susan Friedman about behavior analysis.

In this episode, Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison chat and chuckle with Dr. Denise Johnson about house soiling issues in cats.

Dr. Denise Johnson is a general practitioner of veterinary medicine and an International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) Certified Cat Behavior Consultant. Her special interests include behavioral health and low-stress handling. Her qualifications include Elite Fear Free Practitioner, Certified in Low Stress Handling–Silver, and Cat Friendly Veterinarian Certifications. In addition to being a certified member of the IAABC, she serves on their Ethics Committee and as a peer reviewer for the IAABC Journal. Dr. Johnson offers remote behavior consulting, vet-to-vet consultation, and is a member of the AVSAB’s Speakers Bureau. She spends her free time working on Committed to Claws, an education project that provides pet owners and pet professionals with resources to reduce the incidence of onychectomy.

In this episode, the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses ethics—what they are and why they are so important in the pet care professions.

Your moderator is Don Hanson and panelists are Allison Hunter-Frederick, Dayle Pierce, Kim Silver, Holden Svirsky, and Niki Tudge.

Relax and enjoy listening to the discussion!

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachovia-

Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Dr. Mary Gardner about all things senior cats!

There is nothing better to Dr. Gardner than a dog with a grey muzzle or a skinny old cat! Her professional goal is to increase awareness and medical care for the geriatric veterinary patient and to help make the final life stage as peaceful as possible, surrounded with dignity and support for all involved. A University of Florida graduate, Dr. Gardner discovered her niche in end-of-life care and is a founder of Lap of Love, which has over 350 veterinarians around the country who are dedicated to veterinary hospice and euthanasia in the home. Dr. Gardner published two books on caring for geriatric pets: It's Never Long Enough (dogs) and Nine Lives Are Not Enough (cats). She is co-author of the textbook, The Treatment and Care of the Veterinary Patient, and co-author of a children’s activity book focused on saying goodbye to a dog called “Forever Friend.” Dr. Gardner also won the VMX Small Animal Speaker of the Year award in 2020!

Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses the people skills animal trainers and behavior consultants need to teach, counsel, and advocate.

Your moderator is Don Hanson, chair of PPG's Advocacy Task Force.

The panelists are Kristi Benson, Dayle Pierce, Debbie Sheridan, and Sam Wike.

Make yourself comfortable and enjoy the discussion!

In this episode, the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses pet obesity.

Your host is PPG Advocacy Task Force Chair Don Hanson, and the panelists are Beth Adelman, Daniel Antolec, Judy Luther, Debbie Sheridan, and Kim Silver.

Grab a healthy snack and enjoy the discussion!

Join Niki Tudge as she chats and chuckles with Veronica Boutelle of dogbiz about the five steps to a thriving R+ training business!

Join Joanna Wachowiak-Finalison and Krista Schulte as they chat and chuckle with Alice Chau-Ginguene about comparing attitudes of cat ownership in Ireland and the U.S.

Alice Chau-Ginguene is a clinical animal behaviorist with 15 years of experience specializing in cat behavior. Passionate about making animal science accessible and engaging, she is dedicated to enhancing the enjoyment between cats and humans, and improving feline mental health. Through her private practice Alice supports cat lovers worldwide. Her expertise and insights have made her a regular feature in media across Ireland, the U.S., and beyond, where she continues to advocate for better understanding and care of our feline companions.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Dr. Zazie Todd, author of Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy, about the five pillars of feline welfare.

Zazie Todd PhD is an animal behaviour expert and award-winning author. She got the world talking about happiness for pets with her first two books Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. Her third book, Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, will be published in October 2024. Todd is the creator of Companion Animal Psychology blog and has a column at Psychology Today. She has a PhD in psychology, is an honours graduate of the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers, and has an Advanced Certificate of Feline Behaviour (with Distinction) from International Cat Care. Originally from the UK, she lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Laura Monaco Torelli about cooperative care with cats!

Laura Monaco Torelli is the founder of Animal Behavior Training Concepts in Chicago, Illinois. Her career began in 1991 with Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, where she was part of the animal care team for beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, seals, river otters, and penguins. After nearly a decade at the Shedd, she moved on to the San Diego Zoo and then Brookfield Zoo as a lead supervisory trainer. During her time in the zoo community, Laura worked with a wide variety of species, including primates, large cats, birds of prey, horses, parrots, tree kangaroos, giraffes, red pandas, and dogs. 

Laura is a faculty instructor of Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior and serves as a teaching assistant for Dr. Susan G. Friedman’s Living & Learning with Animals online course. She has presented at professional conferences and taught seminars across the United States, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, and Caribbean. She has been an invited speaker for numerous conferences that include the American Veterinary Medical Association Convention, Midwest Veterinary Conference, Penn Vet Working Dog Conference, ClickerExpo, and the Aggression in Dogs Conference. 

Laura has appeared on various broadcast media, including FOX 32, WGN, NBC 5 news, WGN Radio with Steve Dale, and WCIU’s You & Me This Morning. She contributed training video content for the Fear Free Professional Trainer Certification program and the Karen Pryor Academy Better Vet Visits online course.

Join PPG Advocacy Task Force chair Don Hanson as he hosts a clowder of feline training and behavior experts for a discussion about the most misunderstood facts about cats and their behavior.

Your panelists for this discussion are Dr. Zazie Todd, Beth Adelman, Allison Hunter-Frederick, Holden Svirsky, and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison.

Enjoy listening to the Advocacy Panel’s informal, free-flowing discussion!

Join Niki Tudge as she chats and chuckles with Veronica Sanchez of Cooperative Paws Service Dog Education about her service dog coaching program!

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Grace Taylor about promoting your business by collaborating with cat sitters.

Grace Taylor is the owner of Furever Friends Catsitting in Baltimore, Maryland. With a deep passion for animal welfare, she has been actively involved in cat rescue and fostering for many years, specializing in neonates. Grace has fostered over 180 cats and kittens, dedicating her life to providing loving homes and care for the most vulnerable felines.

Listen to this fun-filled discussion about PPG's upcoming advocacy event, Celebrating Life Together, taking place in August and September 2024!

Learn how you can help raise awareness for humane, ethical, and effective pet training and care, and win amazing prizes!

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Katlyn Grayson about making modifications for cats with mobility issues.

Katlyn Grayson is a Fear Free Certified Professional (FFCP), Licensed Family Dog Mediator (LFDM), CertifiedProfessional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant (CCBC). She is the owner of Pets Knead Peace in Northeast Ohio providing in-person and virtual behavior assistance for dogs, cats and their guardians. 

She began her behavior journey when she started working in animal shelters in 2009. Since then, she has filled a variety of roles at shelters, but her favorite are behavior-centric positions. Katlyn has been training professionally since 2019 and started her training and behavior consulting business in 2021. She specializes in animals withspecial needs, including mobility limitations; cat and dog introductions; shelter behavior work, which includes adjustment to a home post adoption; and cat and dog behavior modification.

Katlyn loves teaching others about cat and dog body language as well as small modifications we can make to improve the lives of our pets. However, her ultimate goal is to improve the relationship people have with their pets through a better understanding of their pet’s body language and needs.

It's time to get real! Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses unrealistic expectations for pets, where those expectations come from, and how to diffuse them.

Your moderator for this discussion is Don Hanson and the panelists are Dr. Kristina Spaulding, Daniel Antolec, Kristi Benson, Kim Silver, and Sam Wike.

Change can be good, especially when it comes to understanding cats better! Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Beth Adelman about shifting people's perspectives about cat behavior.

Beth Adelman, MS, is a Cat Behavior Consultant in Brooklyn, New York. Beth is currrently on the executive committee of the Pet Professional Guild’s Feline Division, and was a founding member of the Cat Division of the IAABC. She is the former editor in chief of Cats magazine and DogWorld and former cat columnist for the New York Post. She currently is a regular speaker and resident cat behaviorist at Meow Parlour, New York’s first cat café. Beth has worked as a writer and a speaker for the Every Cat Foundation and received their Media Appreciation Award in 2011. She has also been a speaker for Cat Camp, the Pet Professional Guild, Catsbury Park, the Cat Writers Association, IAABC, Kutztown University, Pet Sitters International, the Garden State Cat Club and the Cat Fanciers Association, and she has been a guest on many radio shows. She has edited more than 100 books about companion animals, many of them award winners.

In this episode, the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses changing a pet's behavior by changing human behavior.

Your Moderator: PPG Advocacy Task Force Don Hanson

Your Advocacy Panel for this discussion: Dr. Zazie Todd, Dr. Karolina Westlund, Beth Adelman, Daniel Antolec, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Pat Miller, Debbie Sheridan and Sam Wike

Enjoy listening to the Advocacy Panel’s informal, free-flowing discussion!

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Mary Stevens about how cat consultants can build relationships with veterinary practices.

Shortly after Mary graduated from Villa Julie College with a degree in biology, she fell upon a job in veterinary medicine. She has now been a veterinary technician for almost two decades, and in 2022 she began her journey into feline behavior. Mary studied the basics of feline behavior and training through Animal Behavior College, receiving her certificate in December 2022. She began her mentorship with Laura Cassiday at Pawsitive Vibes Cat Behavior and Training in January 2023. Although new to the behavior field, Mary brings a unique perspective to the table with her years of experience in the world of veterinary medicine and through the relationships she has built with cat owners. Mary hopes to use her expertise to help owners understand their cats and to embrace the unique and special relationships they can have with them. 

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with T. Hamboyan Harrison of A Cat's Purrspective about strategies for handling fearful cats.

T Hamboyan Harrison is a cat behavior consultant at A Cat’s Purrspective, LLC. As a disabled person, T especially enjoys helping cats with chronic medical conditions. T has spent over a decade volunteering with cats in local rescues and shelters, and has several cats of their own at home. T has certifications through IAABC (CCBC, ACSB-C) and Fear Free Pets (FFCP, animal trainer) and is an active participant in online cat behavior conferences. T also serves on the board of directors of Diabetic Cats in Need, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping diabetic cats and their caregivers. T completed UVM’s Companion Animal End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program in February 2023, and is now offering cat end-of-life doula services. T is also passionate about human rights, fighting invasive plants, and character-driven video games.

Listen in as the PPG Advocacy Panel answers these questions: Are we trainers or teachers? What best describes what we do for our clients?

Your moderator for this discussion is Don Hanson, and the panelists are Beth Adelman, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Kim Silver, and Sam Wike.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Tabitha Kucera, RVT, VTS (Behavior), about cooperative care for cats—an important topic since significantly fewer cats than dogs see a veterinarian every year, and cooperative care can make vet visits less stressful and more comprehensive for cats!

Tabitha Kucera is an Elite Fear Free and Low-Stress Handling Certified Registered Veterinary Technician, VTS (Behavior), Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, and Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner. She is the owner of Chirrups and Chatter Cat and Dog Behavior Consulting and Training in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a Fear Free certified speaker and coach, a Fear Free Practice Certification Consultant, host of the Tails from a Vet Tech podcast, and serves on the Pet Professional Guild’s Feline Division. Tabitha has helped to develop training and behavior programs for various veterinary hospitals and shelters, and she works as a consultant for many shelters and private veterinary practices.

Join Niki Tudge, Don Hanson and Judy Luther as they chat with Lorna Winter and Kat Williams of Zigzag Puppy Training App about the Zigzag Fellowship Program for PPG members!

Grab your favorite snack or beverage, and settle in to listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel discusses the why and how of teaching our students the importance of understanding our pets' emotions and body language.

Don Hanson is your moderator for this discussion, and the panelists are Beth Adelman, Daniel Antolec, Judy Luther, Sandra Machado, Kim Silver, and Sam Wike.

Listen as the PPG Advocacy Panel addresses these five important questions:

1. What are the PPG Guiding Principles?
2. What is LIMA?
3. How do the PPG Guiding Principles and LIMA differ, and why does it matter?
4. How do we get our profession to better understand the differences between these approaches to self-regulation?
5. How do we get the average person with a pet to understand the importance of ethical standards and principles in our profession, considering it is under-regulated?

Don Hanson is your moderator for this discussion, and the panelists are Niki Tudge, Dr. Eduardo Fernandez, Dr. Zazie Todd, Sue Kocher, Debbie Sheridan, and Kim Silver.

Join Laura Cassiday and Joanna Wachowiak-Finlaison as they chat and chuckle with Alejandra López Irala of Rasca y Pica in Buenos Aires, Argentina, about how to make your cat behavior consulting business stand out.

Alejandra is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant, CCBC. She is the owner of Rasca y Pica, whose goal is to help everyone learn about cats and highlight their welfare. 

Her life focuses on the domestic feline so she can help people better understand and relate to their pets, leading to a stronger bond and a more rewarding relationship between animal and human. 

She loves teaching others through writing, behavior consulting on all things cat related, including feline behavior. She is an active member of Pet Professional Guild, Member of International Companion Animal Network, and Fear Free.

Ale is passionate about continuing education and has completed university level veterinary extension courses, AVEPA, Karen Pryor Academy, NAC, Maddie’s Fund. She has a degree in Management as well as being a Veterinary Assistant for over 8 years and has worked many times at the University of Florida at Operation Catnip. She has worked in organizations, rescues, and with pet owners throughout Argentina and part of the USA. She is currently completing her degree in Environmental Management.

Ale never spends a day without a cat, and is still surprised every time she sees one. She loves to use all her time and resources to take classes, attend workshops and all kinds of topics related to animal welfare in Argentina and other countries. After 10 years of hard work, training and research, she is proud to have co-created the First Feline Festival exclusively in Spanish.