Happy Dog Happy Human

In this final episode of Season 1, we review what psychosis is and Angela helps us differentiate between this and schizophrenia. Then we explore the experience of psychosis in dogs, illuminating the phenomena of “fly catching syndrome” and “star gazing”, touch on the health-related side-effects of selective breeding, and Sharon shares about a behavior case that highlights the importance of ruling out underlying medical causes when assessing dog behavior. 

In this episode we talk about the human experience of psychosis, which refers to disorders of thought as well as hallucinations and delusional beliefs. Angela busts some myths about psychosis and helps us understand why we need to move past the DSM when supporting humans labeled with mental illness, and both Angela and Sharon share experiences with working with individuals who experience psychosis, our perspectives on the brilliance of individuals labeled with schizophrenia, and ways that dogs can support connection and engagement in meaningful activity for folks experiences psychosis.

In this episode, we explore self-awareness and pessimism and the idea of whether dogs are aware of themselves and capable of having an overall outlook on life. We also discuss similarities between depression and other medical conditions and the importance of ruling out pain or underlying medical diagnoses. And we explore strategies that can help dogs who may be depressed, such as engaging in sniffing, having choices, and the importance of considering medication.

In this episode, we discuss suicidal ideation and practice how to ask someone if they are thinking of killing themselves. We also talk about the emotional and physical experiences of depression, how depression is a component of everyone’s mood fluctuations and it is a normal response to stressful situations, and how living with a dog provides a variety of supportive opportunities for humans experiencing depression.

In this episode we talk about the dog experience of grief, what this looks like in dogs, how we can help our dogs through grief, and we share stories about dogs we know who have grieved the death of their human or animal sibling, and stories from around the world of dogs who have demonstrated loyalty even after death.

In this episode we talk about the human experience of grief, what types of losses trigger grief, how to make sense of the complex emotional experience of grief, and how we grieve for our dogs both before and after they are gone.

In this episode we talk about the experiences of trauma and post-traumatic stress in dogs, what causes post-traumatic stress, how this relates to reactivity and sensory sensitivity, how our dogs’ trauma-related reactions and behaviors impact us, and some strategies to support us both.

In this episode we talk about the human experience of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), how dogs can trigger trauma responses and how they can provide support as therapeutic partners, and our own personal experiences.

In this episode we explore the dog experience of anxiety. We talk about what this looks like in our own dogs, Duchess and Muggins, how their anxiety impacts us, the environmental factors that contribute to dog anxiety, and strategies that we have found helpful.

In this episode, we explore the human experience of anxiety. We talk about what anxiety is , how our environments and societal structures contributes to anxiety, and how our dogs' behavior triggers anxiety responses in us.