For decades, patients with POTS have been told the same thing - it'll go away. You'll grow out of it. Just wait.

The research tells a very different story.

In this episode of Paws on Point, Tim sits down with Dr Satish Raj - cardiologist, POTS researcher, and professor at the University of Calgary - and Kate Bourne, MD/PhD candidate at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine and POTS patient herself - to discuss the most comprehensive long-term POTS outcome study ever conducted.

With a median follow-up of 23 years, their research published in the Journal of Internal Medicine is the longest known study of its kind. And the findings are clear - 98% of participants continued to experience POTS symptoms decades after onset. Only 2% reported being fully recovered.

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Kate brings something rare to this conversation - the lived experience of a 12 year diagnostic delay, combined with the scientific credibility of someone who has dedicated their career to understanding the condition that changed her life.

This is the episode POTS patients, their families, and their healthcare providers need to hear.

🐾 Paws on Point is the podcast of Pawsabilities Service Dog Society -  amplifying credible voices in the service dog and invisible illness community.

#POTS #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Dysautonomia #InvisibleIllness #ChronicIllness #POTSAwareness #ServiceDogs #ServiceDogPodcast #MedicalResearch #ChronicPain #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #MCAS #POTSSupport #InvisibleDisability #PawsOnPoint #PawsabilitiesServiceDogSociety #HealthPodcast #PatientAdvocacy #ChronicIllnessAwareness #MedicalMyths

What if a sunflower could change the way the world treats you on your hardest day?

In this episode of Paws on Point, Tim Land sits down with Clare Kumar - Canadian Director of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme - to explore one of the most quietly powerful movements in accessibility and invisible illness awareness happening right now.

The Sunflower Scheme began at Gatwick Airport in 2016 as a simple idea: a recognisable symbol that anyone with a hidden disability could choose to wear, signalling to those around them that they might need a little extra patience, kindness, or assistance. Today it's present in nearly 350 airports worldwide and has spread across retail, healthcare, transit, banking, events, and municipalities - and it's growing fast in Canada.

Tim and Clare talk about why bias makes the sunflower necessary, what it actually feels like to wear the lanyard, the incredible ripple effect of one small symbol on an entire environment, and why Uruguay and Brazil have already made the sunflower legally recognised as a symbol of non-visible disability.

Clare also shares her own personal journey - including her late diagnosis of autism and ADHD - and why that experience deepened her commitment to making the world more inclusive for everyone living with something you can't see from the outside.

Whether you're living with an invisible illness, caring for someone who is, or simply want to understand how to make the world a kinder place - this conversation is for you.

🌻 Find the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme in Canada at hdsunflower.com/ca

Conditions discussed in this episode include: POTS, EDS, PTSD, autism, ADHD, MS, and other hidden disabilities.

Paws on Point is produced by Pawsabilities Service Dog Society - a Canadian nonprofit advocating for service dog handlers and shining a light on invisible illness. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and more.

What happens when two groomers hit breaking point, walk away from everything they knew, and rebuild from scratch — on their own terms?

In this episode Tim sits down with the founders of Calm Dog Studio — Victoria's pioneering dog grooming and conditioning studio built on a radical idea. That a calm dog and a calm groomer aren't separate goals. They're the same goal.

From burnout and breakdown to building something entirely new during COVID, Kelsey and Kayla share the story behind Calm Dog Studio, why the traditional grooming industry needed to change, and what happens when you decide to put the dog's nervous system first — every single time.

This is a conversation about consent, collaboration, humble pie and the moments that change how you see dogs forever. And yes — there are puppies. Woofability puppies specifically. And Bruce flying over a coffee table.

Topics covered:

This episode is for:

This is Part 1 of a two part conversation — Part 2 coming soon.

🎧 Listen now and follow Paws on Point — Canada's service dog podcast.

Paws on Point is proudly supported by Trupanion Pet Health Insurance and Helmcken Veterinary Clinic.

What happens when a baseball stadium opens its gates to dogs, service dog teams, and a community that just wants to come together?

In this episode, Tim sits down with Jim Swanson - of the Victoria HarbourCats - to talk about one of Victoria's most loved community events: Bark in the Park, happening Sunday July 19th at Wilson's Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park.

Jim shares how Bark in the Park began over 12 years ago, why it's become one of the most asked-about dates on the HarbourCats calendar, and why he believes it has the potential to grow into something even bigger. From the symphony of barking dogs set off by the stadium sound system, to the merging of baseball, pet and service dog communities in one incredible afternoon - this is a conversation about what community really looks like when everyone is welcome.

And this year, Bark in the Park falls on the same day as the World Cup Final - so the HarbourCats have moved the 3pm start time to make sure nobody has to choose. Bring your dog, watch some baseball, and be part of something special.

Bark in the Park 2026:

🎟️ Tickets and info at victoriaHarbourCats.com

Paws on Point is proudly supported by Trupanion Pet Health Insurance and Helmcken Veterinary Clinic.

What happens when a hospital pharmacist gets a $3,000 vet bill for eye drops — and discovers they were just human drugs?

For Wendy Chui, founder of Pets Drug Mart, that moment changed everything. What started as one prescription at a time in a medical building became Canada's national pet pharmacy — serving every province and territory, delivering medication directly to your door.

But the journey wasn't straightforward. Wendy took on 16 pharmaceutical companies, fought her own professional college, went to the Globe and Mail, CBC's Fifth Estate, and the federal government's competition bureau — alone — to ensure Canadian pet owners had the right to access affordable pet medication through a pharmacy.

In this episode of Paws on Point, Tim sits down with Wendy for a conversation that's as much about courage and patient advocacy as it is about pet prescriptions.

They get into:

🐾 Why your dog's medication costs significantly more at the vet than at a pharmacy — and why that's by design

🐾 The $3,000 eye infection bill that started it all

🐾 How Wendy took on 16 pharmaceutical companies as a lone pharmacist and won

🐾 What prescription portability means for Canadian pet owners and service dog handlers

🐾 The simple thing every pet owner with a chronic medication prescription should do at their next vet appointment

🐾 How service dog handlers can get both their own medication and their dog's medication delivered to their door through one platform

This is a genuinely practical episode — by the end of it you'll understand your rights as a pet owner and know exactly how to save money on your dog's long-term medication.

Find Pets Drug Mart at petsdrugmart.ca

Support Pawsabilities Service Dog Society at pawsabilitiesservicedogs.ca — 100% of donations fund life-changing service dog partnerships for people who need them most.

What if anxiety isn't a thinking problem at all — but a feeling problem that traditional medicine has been getting wrong for decades?

In this episode of Paws on Point, Tim sits down with Dr. Russell Kennedy — physician, bestselling author of The Anxiety Rx, and anxiety specialist — for one of the most honest and unexpected conversations the podcast has ever had.

Dr. Kennedy has spent 30 years challenging the way medicine treats anxiety. His core belief: most people think anxiety is a thinking problem with a feeling component. He believes it's the other way around — and that distinction changes everything about how we heal.

What makes this episode particularly powerful for the Paws on Point community is how naturally Dr. Kennedy's framework connects to the world of service dogs. The unconditional trust, the body-based comfort, the way a dog can walk into a room and completely shift its energy — it all maps directly onto the neuroscience of how humans heal anxiety at its root.

In this conversation they get into:

🐾 Why traditional psychiatry keeps people coping rather than healing 🐾 The moment that shifted Dr. Kennedy's entire understanding of anxiety 🐾 Why dogs give people access to love they couldn't trust from humans 🐾 The case for dogs in every doctor's office in Canada 🐾 Why connection — not medication — is the most powerful healing force we have 🐾 What 30 years of treating anxiety actually teaches you about yourself

This is one of those conversations that makes you see something completely familiar in a brand new way.

Find Dr. Russell Kennedy at https://www.dr-russ.com and look for The Anxiety Rx wherever books are sold.

Support Pawsabilities Service Dog Society at pawsabilitiesservicedogs.ca - 100% of donations fund life-changing service dog partnerships for people who need them most.

Hypoallergenic dogs don't exist. And someone in the pet industry has been very happy for you not to know that.

The word hypoallergenic sells dogs. It appears on breeder websites, in pet store marketing, and in well-meaning advice from friends. But the science tells a different story — and if you or someone you love has allergies, that story matters.

In this episode, Tim breaks down one of the most persistent myths in the dog world — what hypoallergenic actually means, why no dog is truly allergen-free, and what science says you should actually be paying attention to when allergies are part of the equation.

Because making the wrong choice doesn't just cause sneezing. For service dog prospects, families with allergies, and handlers whose health depends on getting this right — it can derail an entire partnership before it begins.

Topics covered:

This episode is for:

🎧 Listen now and follow Paws on Point — Canada's service dog podcast.

When a service dog joins a family, one person's life changes. But that's never where it stops.

The ripple effect is real. And in this episode, you're going to hear it firsthand.

Tim sits down with a remarkable family who share their journey with complete honesty — the challenges that led them to a service dog, the moments they weren't sure they could keep going, and the profound transformation that happened when their dog finally arrived.

Not just for the handler. For everyone.

For the parent who could finally sleep at night. For the sibling who watched their family member rediscover confidence. For the relationships that were strained by daily uncertainty and slowly rebuilt through the steady presence of a dog who simply showed up, every single day, and did their job.

This is one of those episodes that stays with you.

Topics covered:

This episode is for:

It is. This family proves it.

🎧 Listen now and follow Paws on Point — Canada's service dog podcast.

#ServiceDog #ServiceDogFamily #RippleEffect #PawsOnPoint #Pawsabilities #CanadianPodcast #DisabilityAdvocacy #ServiceDogCanada #FamilySupport #DisabilityInclusion #ServiceDogHandler #ServiceDogLife #InvisibleDisability #BCServiceDog #ServiceDogAwareness

A service dog doesn't change one life. It changes every life connected to it. And most of those people never get thanked.

Behind every handler who walks confidently into the world with their service dog is a network of people who made that moment possible. Trainers who spent months shaping every behaviour. Puppy raisers who loved a dog through their most formative weeks and then let them go. Families who opened their homes not for recognition — but because they believed in something bigger than themselves.

This episode is for them.

In this episode of Paws on Point, Tim shines a light on the village behind every successful service dog partnership — the dedication, the sacrifice, the emotion, and the quiet community spirit that the world rarely sees but handlers feel every single day.

Topics covered:

This episode is for:

🎧 Listen now and follow Paws on Point — Canada's service dog podcast.

What does it actually feel like to live and work alongside a service dog every single day? Not the Instagram version. The real one.

In this special community episode, Tim sits down with real service dog handlers for an honest, unfiltered conversation about life behind the harness. The moments nobody photographs. The challenges nobody prepares you for. And the community that makes it all possible.

Because the service dog world is full of inspiring stories — but it's also full of hard days, misunderstood moments, and battles for basic dignity that most people never see. This episode gives those experiences a voice.

Topics covered:

This episode is for:

🎧 Listen now and follow Paws on Point — Canada's service dog podcast.