Bowser is a Chihuahua living in the Canadian wilderness, surrounded by bears, coyotes, mountain cougars and eagles big enough to make a meal of him. Inside the house, however, Bowser thinks he's in charge. He guards the sofa, barks at visitors and has defeated every anti-barking device Natascha has tried. Even the trusty spray bottle has stopped working. But when Bowser's behaviour gets worse, Natascha starts wondering whether she has failed the little dog she loves. A visit to the vet changes the question from "How do we stop Bowser barking?" to "How do we help Bowser feel safe?" Unfortunately, the answer also leaves Natascha with concentrated cannabis in the pantry, an accidentally very sleepy Chihuahua, and the delicate task of finding a dose that is just right. A funny and compassionate story about anxiety, understanding, and learning to see the dog underneath the behaviour.

Content Note

This episode contains personal reflections on childhood domestic violence, physical abuse, shame, grief, forgiveness and compassion. Some listeners may find these subjects difficult or confronting.

Please look after yourself and decide whether this is the right episode for you to listen to today.

Episode Description

After two quiet weeks, Gary explains why he wasn't ready to release the episode he had planned. His 92-year-old father-in-law, Ivan, is preparing to die, and a conversation about regret has left Gary reflecting on time, family and his own life.

That reflection takes him back to a childhood memory he had kept locked away for decades. At five years old, domestic violence left him carrying shame he did not understand and a survival response that followed him through life: when fear appeared, fight.

This is a story about shame, survival, forgiveness, compassion and finally recognising his father also was once a little boy carrying childhood trauma and shame.

When Gary was offered grief counselling after Monika died, he was certain he was okay.

Then a clinical psychologist asked him two simple questions: When was the last time you laughed? And what does play mean to you?

That conversation gave Gary a simple way to think about fear, love and Viktor Frankl's idea that, even when we cannot control what happens to us, we can still choose how we respond.

In this episode of FitK9 Walking, a childhood memory of growing up with one television channel becomes a practical metaphor for creating a pause between emotion and action: Channel 1 is fear. Channel 2 is love. You may not choose what appears on the television, but you can decide what you do with the remote.

At Monika's funeral, nearly three hundred people filled the chapel.

When it was Gary's turn to speak, he didn't arrive with cue cards or a prepared speech.

Instead, he told the story of their first date - and a moment with a newly appointed CEO that brought the chapel to laughter and a standing ovation. Years later, Gary finally understood why that story had moved people so deeply. They weren't simply hearing one of his memories of Monika. They were remembering their own. A story about humour, love, memory, and the remarkable way one person can change the feeling of a moment.

A phone call changed my life forever. When my wife Monika was diagnosed with leukaemia, I found myself sitting opposite an oncologist named Shanka. In just a few quiet minutes, he gave me advice that would shape not only the months that followed, but the next ten years of my life. As family and friends struggled with fear and grief, Shanka taught me a different way to walk beside someone you love—to stay in the moment, to protect their emotional energy, and to choose love over fear. This is a story about compassion, gratitude, and one remarkable man whose wisdom helped our family celebrate life, even in the darkest of times. Thank you, Shanka.

At twenty years old, Gary thought he was bulletproof—until he blacked out behind the wheel and woke up in hospital with his driver's licence suspended and the frightening possibility of epilepsy hanging over him.

What began as fear slowly became fascination as one elderly neurologist and a handful of medical students unknowingly encouraged a lifelong habit of asking questions.

This is a story about curiosity, learning and discovering that sometimes the greatest teachers never realise the impact they have.

Charlie accidentally joins a Saturday Parkrun, makes a few new mates, and settles into the café as if he'd planned it all along.

That simple moment sends Gary back to a tiny bar in Kuala Lumpur, where a band only knew five Dire Straits songs—and somehow that unforgettable night answered two questions he'd been carrying since losing Monika.

A funny story about a Kelpie becomes a gentle reminder that somewhere along the way many of us stop laughing, stop playing, and forget the joy of simply being present.

For two seasons, you've walked beside Gary, Milo and Charlie. But have you ever wondered why this podcast exists in the first place? In this deeply personal episode, Gary answers the question a listener asked during the break between Seasons Two and Three: "What inspired you to start the FitK9 Walking Podcast?" What begins as an answer about dogs and walking becomes something far more unexpected—a journey back to finding himself after a lifetime of becoming everything everyone else needed him to be. It's a story about turning seventy, choosing how to spend the years ahead, and discovering that sometimes the quietest walks reveal the loudest truths. Because perhaps the greatest journey isn't finding a destination. It's finding yourself.

Sometimes the smallest moments become the ones that shape our lives. After meeting a girl with a French surname, Gary confidently puts his Year 10 French to work—with predictably disastrous results. But one quiet phrase, whispered at exactly the right moment, becomes far more than two French words. Years later, while writing this episode, Gary discovers it was never really about language. It was about feeling emotionally safe… long before he understood what emotional safety actually was. A humorous story about terrible French, unforgettable love, and how the meaning of life's most precious moments can change over time.

For months before his daughter's wedding, Gary was asked the same question over and over again.

"Dad... have you written your speech yet?"

The only problem was... he hadn't.

Well... not exactly.

While most fathers of the bride spend months writing, rehearsing and worrying about the perfect speech, Gary prepared just one sentence and trusted the wedding itself to provide the rest.

What followed became one of the most memorable speeches of his life, proving that sometimes the best stories aren't the ones we carefully script—they're the ones we discover by simply being present.

With plenty of laughter, a surprise callback to Little Red Riding Hood, and a reminder that life has a habit of revealing its meaning long after the moment has passed, this Season 2 finale is a celebration of family, storytelling and the ordinary moments that quietly become unforgettable.