The Good Dog Pod

About Dr. Marty Greer: Dr. Greer is a renowned author, speaker, veterinarian, and canine reproduction specialist. In addition to being the Director of Veterinary Services at Revival Animal Health, she is on the board of the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA), the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics, American Veterinary Medical Law Association, and the Society for Theriogenology.

About Sheryl Bradbury: Sheryl Bradbury is the Owned Brands Manager at Revival Animal Health, where she oversees the Breeder’s Edge, Doc Roy’s, and Vet Basics brands. Sheryl grew up falling asleep in the whelping box and has bred champions from several breeds. Today she raises Grand Basset Griffon Vendeens and Lancashire Heelers. She is the president of the United States Lancashire Heeler Club and also holds board positions in various dog clubs and animal health foundations. In addition to her breeding experience, Sheryl brings 30 years of product management experience in the veterinary industry to her role at Revival.

Reproduction is a luxury for a dog’s body, and can only happen if the body is already able to take care of its vital organs. We can’t overlook the nutrients that are often missed by the main pet food companies that are important to making a dog as healthy as possible for breeding. Thus, supplements are critical for keeping breeding dogs healthy for reproduction.

Dr. Greer gives some specific examples of the nutrients required for healthy breeding dogs and what they do for the reproductive system, as well as what they do for the puppies’ health.

Dr. Greer also talks about the importance of getting the right nutrients to stud dogs for breeding, in addition to the more commonly-talked about health of the bitch.

Sheryl talks about some of the products Revival Animal Health offers, and how they support dogs’ reproductive health. She goes over the extensive research and development Revival Animal Health goes through to develop their products - making sure that they are created based on current reproductive and nutritional science and are reviewed by experts.

As part of a new partnership, Revival Animal Health is offering Good Breeders $10 off everything in their online store!

Dr. Greer talks about the recent research surrounding folic acid and its benefits. Check out some current research about folic acid and cleft palate in brachycephalic dogs here.

About Dr. Lori Cesario: Dr. Lori Cesario is a Board-Certified Veterinary Oncologist who is dedicated to providing families with high quality information about dog cancer. Dr. Cesario runs the Canine Cancer Academy (https://www.caninecanceracademy.com/)

Laura and Dr Cesario discuss the common myths and misconceptions surrounding canine cancer. Dr. Cesario busts some common myths such as: can you tell if a tumor is benign just by looking at it? Can you tell if a cancer has spread without proper tests (x-rays, samples, ultrasounds, etc.) from a vet? Is cancer transmissible? Are certain breeds more or less prone to cancer? Can diet affect the prevalence of cancer?

They talk about how important it is to realize that dogs express pain differently than humans might expect. As owners, we want our dogs to be as healthy and happy as possible. We have to understand that dogs are really good at hiding their pain, and should therefore take any subtle signs of discomfort seriously (especially with symptoms such as limps). It’s also important to understand the earlier signs of nausea, including things like decreased appetite, increased drooling, and lip-smacking.

Dr. Cesario explains how dogs process chemotherapy different than humans do, which is important to keep in mind as humans decide how to treat their dogs for cancer.

Dr. Cesario then talks about the effect of early spay/neuter on different types of cancer.

About Dr. Lori Cesario: Dr. Lori Cesario is a Board-Certified Veterinary Oncologist who is dedicated to providing families with high quality information about dog cancer. Dr. Cesario runs the Canine Cancer Academy (https://www.caninecanceracademy.com/)

Laura and Dr. Cesario talk about what to do if you find a lump on your dog (and how frequently you should evaluate your dog to make sure everything is normal). By establishing a baseline, you’ll be able to more easily notice when something abnormal appears.

The best way to make sure you are monitoring and recording your dog’s lumps and bumps is to use a body map of your dog. Dr. Cesario explains what a body map is, and how using one is helpful for both you and your vet.

Laura asks about warts (which appear outside the skin as opposed to cancerous masses) - Dr. Cesario explains that the most important thing for your dog is to get a diagnosis for any sort of lump, whether it looks like a skin tag, a bug bite, or a wart. Fortunately, diagnosing a lump on your dog’s skin is often pretty quick.

After taking the first step of getting a diagnosis, you can then take the next steps, whether it’s treating the mass or continuing to monitor it.

Laura and Dr. Cesario discuss how treating skin tumors can work (and how an incomplete surgery can leave dangerous, cancerous cells behind). When you treat your dog for cancer, it has to be a comprehensive treatment so that the cancer doesn’t re-emerge. That’s why getting the diagnosis right in the first place is so critical to your dog’s health.

They talk about treatment options, including Dr. Cesario’s thoughts on holistic treatment. Treatment can vary for each dog’s situation, so treatment options really depend on the dog. Treating cancer often comes down to balancing health with quality of life for the dog.

Dr. Cesario gives some general cost estimates for treating canine cancer, listing cost based on the type treatment. She also goes over how much the treatment options can extend your dogs life (and how variable and unpredictable that time estimate can be).

About Dr. Chris Zink: Previously named Veterinarian of the Year by the AVMA, Dr. Chris Zink is an award-winning author of numerous books and co-editor of the first ever book on Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, Co-Founder of Avidog-Zink Ventures, and a world-renowned expert in canine sports medicine and rehabilitation, with over 125 titles in Agility, Obedience, Conformation, Tracking, Hunt Tests, Barn Hunt, Nosework, Coursing, and Rally on dogs from the Sporting, Hound, Working, Terrier and Herding groups. Dr. Zink was also instrumental in establishing the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation as the newest specialty in veterinary medicine.

Dr. Zink discusses the Fit for Life program with Laura. The program was developed in response to seeing a lot of dogs with a lot of injuries, combined with the knowledge that being at a certain weight and fitness level can help prevent these injuries. Dr. Zink started to see that most people have no idea that dogs need to be conditioned and fit just like humans do to improve their health spans.

There’s a lack of focus on our dogs’ healthy weights - added weight has a lot of negative effects for dogs - it affects everything about our dogs’ lives, including leading to things like increased chance of arthritis, which affects mobility issues.

Laura and Dr. Zink discuss the importance of starting your dogs right - chubby puppies are set up for a lifetime of trouble, so it’s important to start conditioning and health monitoring young.

Fit for Life outlines many low-impact exercises that you can do at home with little effort; Dr. Zink gives an example of a rear-leg strength exercise that’s featured in the program.

Laura and Dr. Zink talk about the importance of repetitions and how you can use reps to get to overload. Fit for Life lets you know how to observe your dog as it exercises, so that you know when they are getting to that ‘overload’ point. Getting to overload is the important thing, not the number of reps or the amount of weight.

Dr. Zink then gives the background behind the Fit to be Tied program and how important it is that breeding dogs be fit. The program applies specific criteria to each stage of the breeding process (what you should and shouldn’t do). While you want your breeding dogs to be fit, you don’t want them as thin as you would want a performance dog.

In short, why is conditioning important?

1: Dogs that are weak are more likely to be injured, and injuries are expensive.

2: Fitness equates to longevity - who doesn’t want their dogs to live longer?

The two most common problems with fertility are timing (with respect to the female) and having good quality semen that’s delivered into the uterus. Another problem that’s becoming increasingly important is the nutrition of the bitch and stud dog.

About Dr. Greer: Dr. Greer is a renowned author, speaker, veterinarian, and canine reproduction specialist. In addition to being the Director of Veterinary Services at Revival Animal Health, she is on the board of the National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA), the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics, American Veterinary Medical Law Association, and the Society for Theriogenology.

Laura and Marty start by discussing the importance of nutrition - what people feed their dogs, how they feed, and what consequences those factors can have on the success of a breeding.

There is likely a nutritional component to the quality of a stud dog’s semen in addition to fertility and the female - this is something that hasn’t been very explored, but is becoming more evident.

They then talk about the importance of progesterone timing and how using frozen vs fresh semen interacts with that.

There’s a narrow window of time during which the puppies need to come out - they also discuss the downsides of reverse progesterone testing (done at the end of pregnancy).

Last, they discuss the importance of having your bitch in good physical condition - fit but not too lean. You also want your bitch to have good dental health. Overall, you want your dog to be in top notch shape for breeding.

Join Good Dog’s legal team as we speak with Laura Reeves about how we protect breeders from scams and animal rights extremists, advocate for breeders and against overreaching dog legislation, and provide sample contracts and other legal resources so breeders can get the legal support they deserve!

Guests: Cat Matloub, Esq. (University of Chicago Law School), Monica DeBosscher, Esq. (Harvard Law School), and Christine Liu, Esq. (Harvard Law School)

Good Dog’s legal team describe key ways in which Good Dog provides legal support and helps protect and empower breeders.

Cat describes how Good Dog helps protect breeders’ legal rights, including by providing support if there are issues with animal control, assistance with stolen photos, scams and payment issues, and help if breeders are being harassed. Good Dog also helps support breeders by educating the public!

Monica speaks about how anti-breeder advocacy is damaging and how many times the accompanying legislation affects the way the public thinks about the good forces in the dog world. She describes ways in which Good Dog works to stop anti-breeder legislation through letter-writing campaigns and social media and provide ongoing education.

It’s important to remember that dog breeders are the subject experts when it comes to breeding - that’s why Good Dog is committed to making breeders’ interests heard so that when the government is facing a question related to dog breeding, they know who to go to.

Christine introduces Good Dog’s new Good Breeder Legal Resource Center, which is designed specifically for dog breeders. Good Dog provides free sample contracts that breeders can use and adapt for their programs, in order to ensure that the breeders, buyers (and their dogs!) are happy with the process of placing a dog. Cat and Laura discuss the importance of contracts in communicating exactly what the breeder wants the buyer to know.

Also learn about mediation services, and why it can be extremely helpful to have a 3rd party assist with any sort of legal support a breeder may need.

Visit the Legal Resource Center on Good Dog.

Laura and Myra Savant-Harris talk about the importance of natural breeding. Tune in to learn more about the specialized canine reproductive system and what you can do for your breeding program.

About Myra Savant-Harris: Renowned author and speaker on canine reproduction and whelping, Myra has been a scientist for much of her life. She quickly became interested in the reproductive system and has bred everything from dogs to hamsters to fish. She got into nursing, where she worked as an RN in the NICU and labor-delivery. She has written several acclaimed books and guides on the breeding and whelping process.

We often forget that dogs are much more behavioral-oriented than we think. We've gone to some of the things humans use like TCIs when we should remember that the male dog is anatomically built for natural reproduction as it is.

Myra discusses the importance of the tie as well as some important properties of semen and eggs. "Nothing is a substitute for egg sperm and time...it's a wonderful system."

Myra gives advice to breeders who want to do a natural breeding but can't - for example for those who need to get sperm shipped to them. Laura and Myra then end by giving stud dog owners advice about what to look for in their dog's sperm, as well as potential myths and misconceptions to be aware of!

Learn about the importance of socialization, and what the latest research says about the topic.

Here at the Good Dog Pod, we are all about supporting dog breeders and responsible dog ownership. Good Dog is on a mission to build a better world for our dogs and the people who love them through education and advocacy. The Good Dog Pod provides dog lovers with the latest updates in canine health and veterinary care, animal legislation and legal advocacy, canine training and behavior science, and dog breeding practices. Subscribe and join our mission to help give our dogs the world they deserve.

Dr. Judi Stella: Judi Stella is Head of Standards & Research at Good Dog. Her research has focused on assessing the behavior and welfare of domestic cats and dogs housed in biomedical laboratories, shelters, veterinary hospitals, and commercial breeding facilities.

Dr. Gayle Watkins: Gayle is the founder of Avidog and renowned Golden Retriever breeder. She is an AKC Gold Breeder of Merit and a three-time AKC Breeder of the Year. Her educational course "Savvy Socialization" is the topic of this week's episode.

Check out Good Dog University's Summer of Socialization here.

In this episode, Judi, Gayle, and Laura discuss what socialization means and how to be effective at it.

Judi talks about the importance of socialization and the impact behavioral problems have both in the dog world and beyond. Dogs with behavior problems have significantly negatively impacted lives (thus also negatively impacting their owners). Preventing these problems is easier than managing them - that’s where socialization comes in.

Historically we’ve focused on socializing our puppies in the first 16 weeks of life - Gayle has developed a socialization course that extends beyond traditional wisdom, drawing on science and her years of experience in the dog world.

Resource: Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog by John Paul Scott and John L. Fuller

Gayle discusses the importance of introductions. Dogs have a hard time generalizing and need a lot of exposure to a lot of different things. "Sit" in the park is a lot different than "sit" in the kitchen!

Gayle gives a bit of background on her course "Savvy Socialization." The course teaches how to build trust in your puppies. There are four types of trust:

1. Trust in people,
2. Trust environment
3. Trust in expectations of them
4. Trust in themselves

Meet the minds behind Good Dog, their motivations, goals and dreams.

Co-Founder and CEO Josh Wais, Judi Stella, Head of Standards and Research, and Cat Matloub, Head of Partnerships and Legal Affairs join the host Laura Reeves for a convo on the origin story of Good Dog.

Here at the Good Dog Pod, we are all about supporting dog breeders and responsible dog ownership. Good Dog is on a mission to build a better world for our dogs and the people who love them through education and advocacy. The Good Dog Pod provides dog lovers with the latest updates in canine health and veterinary care, animal legislation and legal advocacy, canine training and behavior science, and dog breeding practices. Subscribe and join our mission to help give our dogs the world they deserve.

In this episode, Josh shares his vision for creating Good Dog. It all started with a question. 

Josh Wais, Good Dog Co-Founder/CEO:

“How can we use technology in the right way to help empower those who are working so hard to make sure that we have dogs that are sound of body and mind? And empower prospective dog owners who just want to do what's right, but maybe have had a bit of a challenge figuring out what that is.”

“That's what this podcast is all about. It's about putting things out there that we've learned. It's about educating. But it's also our way of listening and our way of having a conversation with the community at large.”

Judi shares her background in the veterinary field and working in collaboration with Purdue University at the USDA overseeing the Animal Welfare Act.

Judi Stella, Head of Research and Standards:

“I love Good Dog’s mission. I saw this as an opportunity to really work with dog breeders and dog owners to interject some more science and some more evidence-based recommendations into what we are doing. I see my role as the scientist that can translate the science to regular people. With the technology we can communicate it on a large scale. We have interviews with experts about behavior and genetics and reproduction. We make these available to anybody. We want every person that we come in contact with to be able to succeed. We want to give them the information they need to succeed. All of our webinars and educational materials are on our site and they're free to everyone.”

Cat Matloub, Head of Partnerships and Legal Affairs

“I saw a lot of people very close to me -- my roommates, my best friends, my colleagues, my law school classmates, and then my parents -- go through just horrifying experiences of trying to get a dog. Wanting to get a dog. Wanting to bring that joy and love into their lives. And just being faced with huge anxiety about how to do that. Is it wrong to get one from a breeder? What does that mean? How do you know what you should do? How do you know you're not gonna get your money stolen online like so many people do? It's heartbreaking.

[After] I connected with Josh and Lauren, who had similarly gone through that experience, I had this kind of life changing moment. I unlearned everything that I thought I knew about the dog world. I learned that we've been hugely successful in decreasing the number of dogs in shelters and rescues. Because we love dogs so very much the demand is huge. Actually, we don't have an overpopulation problem, as Patti Strand likes to say, it's a distribution problem. The truth is we're going to run out of dogs in the future if we don't support dog breeders. Then I started learning more and I started realizing that dog breeders are actually the ones doing everything in their power to produce healthy dogs, to produce well-adjusted dogs. They stand behind their dogs. It was just kind of so eye opening.”

Laura Reeves, Host Good Dog Pod and Pure Dog Talk podcast

“I am a dog breeder. I have been involved in breeding purebred dogs for 40 years. I was a professional show dog handler. I am an American Kennel Club licensed judge. One of the things that I think the Good Dog Pod can help do is translation. Not translation of the English language but translation of culture. The culture of a dog breeder and the culture of a dog buyer are not always the same. Having people to help share that communication within the community and Josh's ability through technology and Judi’s ability in science and Cat’s ability through legal, all of that comes together in the ability to share knowledge and share experience and empower dog breeders and empower dog buyers and that is a pretty big mission. We are so much stronger together.”