Good Dog Nation

Cathy Reisfeld joins Kim and Michelle to discuss how to plan a safe holiday season with your kids and dog. She discusses safety plans and dog management during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's. Get great tips and tricks for how to manage your pups during the holiday season.

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Dr. Susan Smyth, Director of the Gill Heart & Vascular Institute joins Kim and Michelle to discuss the therapy dog program being used to rehabilitate heart and stroke patients. Michelle trained both of Susan's dogs, Carmine and Saleh, that work at the hospital three days a week. Carmine is one of a select few therapy dogs, (if not the only one) that is trained to walk with heart patients on EKMO. Listen to discussion on how this program was created, implemented and managed. Gives detailed information on the training involved for not only the dogs, but the human owners and handlers. Discusses the policies and procedures developed for the Gill Heart Institute to allow therapy dogs in the hospital, including the legal and insurance side of the process. Fantastic and fascinating insight into a therapy dog program done right. 

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Stacey Butler, owner of For The Love of Roscoe Dog Grooming, talks to Kim and Michelle about professional dog grooming utilizing reward based dog training techniques and gentle handling. Stacey is also a certified Fear Free groomer and talks in detail about the process to earn that certification, how she has incorporated it into her business, and what impact that has had on her clients and their dogs. Stacey's unique one-on-one approach to how she runs her dog grooming salon offers best practices for the grooming industry to make dogs less stressed and fearful about a trip to the groomer. The Fear Free program has been very beneficial to Stacey's business and has allowed her to distinguish herself from the competition in her area. 

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Maria Gray, with her Newfoundland, is the only American dog team certified by the Italian School of Water Rescue Dogs (SICS). In Italy, there are over 300 dog/handler teams that are certified to patrol the beaches there and work together with the Italian Cost Guard and Fire Departments. Maria has been training dogs for over 20 years and currently runs a nonprofit called The American Academy of Canine Water Rescue, which is focusing on the elimination of unintentional death by drowning. She joins Kim and Michelle on Good Dog Nation to discuss her work with water rescue groups in the US and Italy that utilize dogs. She explains the lengthy process she's gone through to obtain her certification and training in water rescue with her Newfoundland and how other dog owners and trainers can get into this specialty line of dog training. Kim, Michelle, and Maria also discuss safety tips for being around the water and how to avoid unintential drowning. 

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Good Dog Nation premieres by introducing co-hosts, Michelle McCarthy, CDBC, CTAC, of K9HomeSchooling.com and Kim Meritt, co-founder of GoodDogInABox.com and GoodDogPro.com. Kim and Michelle describe the weekly, one hour format, with the first thirty minutes focused on the dog owner/lover or someone who is interested in getting a dog, while the second thirty minutes is aimed at the dog professional and is only available through a subscription to GoodDogPro.com. The rotating themes will cover veterinary and health related issues, reward based dog training, service and therapy dogs, dog breeding, puppies, dog bite prevention and dog safety. The podcast is also available in video format through GoodDoginaBox.com and GoodDogPro.com websites.

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