In this episode of the pawdcast, Karen and Jean chat with Dr. Amanda Tinkle of the Dog Aging Project -- https://dogagingproject.org/

The Dog Aging Project (DAP) isn’t as much about old dogs as it is about how dogs age.

This massive project is the first major longitudinal study involving dogs, and it's scheduled to last at least 10 years.

DAP includes expert scientists and research veterinarians from over 20 research institutions and veterinary teaching hospitals. The core leadership is based at the University of Washington and Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The goal of this study is to understand how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence dog aging. As Dr. Tinkle shares, the information will then be used to help pets and people increase dogs’ health span, meaning the dog’s period of life spent free from disease.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the project is the role ANY dog owner can play.  Dr. Tinkle explains how each of us can nominate our dog to be a part of the study, and owners can become citizen scientists.

Calling all BIG dogs – the project needs you!  While thousands of dogs have registered to be part of the study, Dr. Tinkle says they need more large breed dogs, as well as dogs that are still intact (not spayed or neutered).

You can become a citizen scientist, nominate your dog and learn more about the Dog Aging Project at dogagingproject.org

In this episode of the pawdcast, Karen and Jean chat with Chris Gabriel, owner of Nature's Nibbles, about what constitutes healthy dog food and what we as owners should be providing our dogs.  When you think about it, as owners, we have to make so many decisions for our dogs and their health.  Too often, too little thought goes into what we feed them, unless an issue develops.   Chris and his wife Anne started Nature’s Nibbles, a natural pet food store, over a decade ago as a result their dog’s multiple allergies and afflictions.  It was through trial, error, and a ton of research that they determined her allergies were a result of highly processed dog food.  The knowledge they gained through that experience has led to a successful small business and an impassioned campaign to educate dog owners on heathy food choices -- including kibble!

Note:  Chris’s comments are his own and reflect his opinion and research.  Links to the studies and articles he cites can be found below.

https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/prescription-pet-food-ingredients?fbclid=IwAR1XrXpRuvfNT6lbjB0z5Sc6Pwuvtyy4QLNC2MTJTWJLqBIMwAKktc9CYEs

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/blog/update-on-grain-free-diets-and-dcm-cases-in-dogs/?fbclid=IwAR0512jfl7ZoYM7UgcAPj99NcRZdbohW90LZ5_iZUNCKaX9aWyELYOZekDk

https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/full/10.2460/javma.253.11.1390?fbclid=IwAR2iS9MivMOrOEDxTXrGi2bj06kbjX4W4fQLxLxWIhTSSLwTSViWPkIoE9Q&

https://www.earthmd.ca/blogs/health-and-nutrition-in-our-pets/dcm-a-response-to-recent-reports?fbclid=IwAR1XrXpRuvfNT6lbjB0z5Sc6Pwuvtyy4QLNC2MTJTWJLqBIMwAKktc9CYEs

Puppies!!! Everyone loves puppies, and during this pandemic, it seems like EVERYONE is getting a puppy.  And why not?  The majority of us are still working from home or have an adjusted schedule.  And let’s be honest, few things in life are more joyful and uplifting than a puppy.  But puppies take work.  In this episode of the pawdcast, Jean and Karen chat with Kathy Callahan, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, specializing in puppies.  Kathy shares her tips to ensure BOTH humans and puppies are successful and well trained.  Kathy also discusses why raising a puppy during this pandemic has its challenges and how owners can address those challenges for happier puppies and humans.

Karen, Kathy and Jean all share a PawsUp – we’ve placed a moratorium on PawsDown until we are all safely through this pandemic!

You can learn more about Kathy and the wonderful work she does here -- https://www.puppypicks.com/

Based in Washington, D.C., People. Animals. Love. (PAL) was founded in 1982 by a local veterinarian.  It leverages the human animal bond to meet some of society’s most pressing needs in some very unique ways.

PAL’s mission focuses on the benefits of animal companionship with mentally and physically ill patients, children in hospitals, and seniors in nursing homes.

In this episode of the Pawdcast, Jean and Karen chat that James Haworth, the organization’s executive director, about PAL’s work and how Zoom has allowed one of its most popular programs to continue during the pandemic – reading to dogs.

Through PAL’s literacy program, children gain confidence and skills with the help of some very willing four-legged volunteers.  The COVID19 pandemic hasn’t slowed it down at all, in fact the literacy program is thriving!

PAL is always looking for volunteers – and donors to keep their programs going.  You and your dog can sign up and you donate here https://www.peopleanimalslove.org/

In February, Jean and Karen scored press passes to the Westminster Dog Show and headed to New York City for the Westminster Kennel Club’s 144th  event and walked away huge fans.  Hugely inspiring and surprisingly accessible, the event is a MUST for any dog lover.  It's also the country's second oldest sporting event -- right behind the Kentucky Derby.

In this episode of the Pawdcast, Jean and Karen chat with Gail Miller Bisher about all things Westminster – the history, the culture, the fashion – why do judges wear ballgowns and handlers opt for sequences?   Gail is the voice of FOX Sports’ coverage of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and serves as the Westminster Kennel Club’s director of communications and an on-air analyst for its iconic dog show.

Gail stepped into the dog show ring at ten years old and never looked back. She was the first junior handler with a Bearded Collie to qualify for Westminster Kennel Club’s famed Junior Showmanship competition, where she placed second. As a professional dog handler in college, where she studied broadcast communications, she won many prestigious awards from best of breed to best in show.  Gail shares insight into what it means to win Westminster and why the event is as exciting for spectators as it is for owners.

Karen, Jean and Gail each share a #pawsup and encourage more dog lovers to check the Westminster Dog Show off their bucket li

You know who loves stay at home orders for humans?  DOGS!  You know who isn’t going to be thrilled when humans start going back to work?  DOGS! 

Our friend Sandy Modell of Wholistic Hound Academy is back and we discuss ways to address separation anxiety in dogs, now -- before routines change again.  She provides simple exercises to get everyone on the right track.  The reality is, both humans and dogs like routine, so create one now for an easier transition later. 

This is also the perfect time to beat the boredom for you and your dog through enrichment exercises that can be done inside and outside.  Here’s a hint, you can utilize the cardboard rolls from all the toilet paper you’ve been hoarding!  For more ideas and resources, visit  https://www.wholistichound.com/ and follow PawsGo on Facebook and Instagram.  

IF forced to come up with an unintended positive outcome of the COVID 19 pandemic, it’s probably the number of dogs and cats that are being fostered and adopted by stir crazy sheltering in place humans.

In this episode, Karen and Jean chat (virtually) with Cara Sue Achterberg, an author and foster volunteer with Operation Paws for Homes (OPH), who literally wrote the book on fostering.  In Another Good Dog, Cara not only chronicles her family’s experiences with over 100 foster dogs, she invites us to join her mission to end the euthanasia of good dogs simply because there is not time, money, or resources to find a home for them.

Cara continues to foster for OPH.  The recording of this episode was pushed back a week because Cara and her family were receiving a new mother and her puppies, and we learn the very sad reason why Cara and her family have made fostering mothers and puppies their focus.  By the way, Mama Mia and the Broadway Babes will be available for adoption through OPH – www.ophrescue.org 

Cara’s next book, One Hundred Dogs and Counting, will be published by Pegasus Books in the summer of 2020.  You can read more about Cara’s work and follow her blog here http://www.carawrites.com/  She writes about more than dogs!

Jean, Cara and Kara share lots of PawsUP – deciding it’s too difficult a time for a PawsDOWN!  And you’re invite to take the PawsGo Facebook challenge – Please share and post a photo of your dog! Here’s a little twist on the current challenge circulating on Facebook. Join the challenge of posting a picture of some landscape from a place where you've been, where the main requirement is that you NOT appear in it, only your pup(s). Just a picture, no description. The goal is to see beautiful landscape photos and some lovable pups. Let’s do a little virtual traveling with our dog while we are home! Post on your Facebook page tag PawsGo so we can share it and tag others to take the challenge!

In this absolutely DELIGHTFUL episode, Jean and Karen chat with Andrew Hager, the incredibly engaging and informative historian of record for the Presidential Pet Museum.  Full disclosure, the Presidential Pet Museum is currently closed for renovations. It was founded in 1999 as a means of preserving information, artifacts, and items related to the presidential pets. You can visit it virtually here at  http://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/  But we got all the great stories from Andrew.  Like Rebecca the Racoon, who became a presidential family pet through an unsavory set of circumstances.  And there’s Pushinka, her name means Fluffy in Russian and her mother was a Cosmonaut (REALLY). Pushinka was a gift to the Kennedys by Nikita Khrushchev.  Pushinka loved America and the Kennedys.  She really loved their dog Charlie, with whom she had four puppies.  The Kennedy family gave two of the puppies to family friends and two went to children in the Midwest.  Can you help Andrew solve the mystery of Pushinka Kennedy’s puppies?  Tag PawsGo on Instagram or Facebook if you have any knowledge of Pushinka Kennedy's puppies.

Andrew is also the author of two children’s books – Old Ike, the story of Woodrow Wilson’s ram and Pushinka!  Both are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Ike-Fictionalized-Woodrow-Wilsons/dp/1545473102

https://www.amazon.com/Pushinka-Fictionalized-Story-Kennedys-POTUS/dp/1727348486

Karen, Jean and Andrew give their PawsUP and PawsDOWN.  Share your suggestions for a PawsUP or a PawsDOWN and you’ll receive an awesome PawsGo t-shirt like Alyson from Orange county.  PawsUP for Alyson!  See all PawsGo merchandise at www.pawsgo.com

It’s another episode on our favorite topic – Dog Behavior!  In this episode, Karen and Jean chat with Gwen Podulka of DogTrained, and learn all about a dog’s body language.  Did you know you can tell a lot about how your dog is feeling based on the way he wags his tail?  Yup!  There is tail wagging!  And there is TAIL WAGGING!!!!!  They mean different things and not always GOOD things.

Learning the nuances of your dog’s body language will make you both happier.

We also touch on training and Gwen shares some of her favorite resources – she’s a big fan of Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and their online courses – no matter where you live, if you have a computer, you can access great information and training  https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/

Gwen, Karen and Jean share their PawsUP and PawsDOWN.  Send your PawsUp and PawsDown to us via Instagram @pawsgo and if we use it, we will send you a  cool PawsGo t-shirt!

For more about Gwen and DogTrained, visit http://www.dogtrained.com/

Who among us hasn’t seen the meme, t-shirt or said it out loud?  Who hasn’t had this thought --  If I won the lottery, I’d build a huge sanctuary and save all the dogs!!

In this episode of the Pawdcast, Jean and Karen chat with Luisa Paucchi, the founder and president of Lu’s Labs.  Lu’s Labs is a five year old foster based Labrador Retriever rescue headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

Luisa didn’t win the lottery to start this rescue - in fact she still works full-time, but the dogs she rescues sure have.  She pulls from high kill shelters and through fosters and volunteers, the dogs are placed in homes within a 5 hour drive of Alexandria.  

Luisa learned a lot as a volunteer with a couple of other rescues and has incorporated some of their best practices into the work she does.  But she also realized that dog rescue could be done better and more efficiently and created new practices for Lu’s Labs.  For instance, take a look at the website, www.luslabs.org and you see a list of recommended trainers and behaviorists, dog walkers and list of online resources.

Luisa is an unabashed advocate for the dogs she and her volunteers rescue.  During the conversation she shares the importance of those volunteers (they are the lifeblood of any rescue) and what makes a good adopter (hint, not everyone is suited for a Lab).

PawsGo is proud to support Lu’s Labs through the sale of its Labrador inspired Want a Friend? Get a Dog t-shirts.  You can find them at www.pawsgo.com