What pops into your mind when you think about women who sleep with their dogs? This podcast explores some of my thoughts after reading two studies of this population from a human-animal bond perspective.

Are you a pet-food snob? Do think that people who don’t feed their dogs and cats what you consider a quality diet don’t care about their animals? Or that they just aren’t as educated as you are about their animals’ needs?

The title of this podcast, Unwanted Children and Canine Transport Parallels, is a play on words. The “unwanted” could refer to the children and dogs in the podcast. Or it could refer to the parallels between how a group of people or society deals with unwanted kids and dogs. Or both. This podcast will consider both.

What kinds of thoughts pop into your mind when you hear the phrase “regrettable human-companion animal rituals”?  That's the subject of 2019's first podcast. And for as bizarre as some of the regrettable rituals described in this podcast may sound, all have befallen real animals belonging to real people I've encountered over the years.

This week’s podcast considers a completely different kind of human-companion animal bond experience. Creating it may not be easy, but I think it's worth it.

Our expectations routinely change, but sometimes our changing pet expectations may have consequences for them that we don't think about. Until these cause problems for them and us.

Do you consider yourself a pet owner, guardian, or parent?  What does that label mean to you and your animal? It may not mean what you think it does.

Do placebos exist, and can they benefit pets and the bond we form with them? That depends on whether you consider yourself  among those who perceive placebos as ancient myths believed by weak-minded folk, or are among the  growing population of scientists who recognize this effect as real.

Do you get human-training lessons from your dogs? I get such lessons from my dogs and they never cease to amaze me.

At this time of year, weeds filled with bees dominate the landscape and create a moral dilemma for me. So much of a dilemma that I dedicated a podcast to it in hopes that the solution would come to me.