Out Of The Woofworks

This episode, we chat with scientist Melinda "Mel" Trueblood-Stimpson of Ludar Animal Behaviour (LAB for short). They have 15 years of experience with felines and many years of experience with other species. They have also worked and volunteered in veterinary clinics, zoos, wildlife centers, laboratories, and other animal-oriented facilities.

We will be talking about DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), how colonialism seeps into the world of science and animal welfare, the importance of decolonising animal welfare, and also Mel’s experience as person who is Roma, Indigenous, Jewish, and Two-Spirit.

In this episode we discuss:

• Mel's experience as a Roma and Indigenous person in academia.
• How colonialism and "coloniser mindsets" seep into science and animal welfare.
• Why decolonisation in animal welfare is so important.
• What individuals can do with regards to anti-oppression in the world of animal behaviour and welfare.

This episode, we chat with Ravenn Bang who is a dog trainer with her business Please Pick Up Your Poop and a Victoria Stilwell Academy Certified Dog Trainer. We will be talking about Ravenn’s journey starting out as a dog trainer and some of the barriers she’s faced, her experiences as a Black woman out with a dog who needs space from people and other dogs, as well as regulation in this industry and what that might mean for all of us.

In this episode we discuss:

• Ravenn’s journey starting out as a dog trainer and some of the barriers she’s faced.
• Ravenn’s experiences as a Black woman out with a dog that needs space from other people and dogs.
• Regulation in the dog training industry and what that means.
• The importance of education to help dog guardians make kinder decisions in training.

On this episode, we chat with Uyen Nguyen who is a guardian to Jimmy the pitbull (@jimmypinkpaws) and Muffin the one-eyed Kitty (@one.eyed.muffin). We hear about their adoption journey, how they delved into force free training, integrating Muffin with Jimmy, as well as Uyen's experiences of racism as a Vietnamese American person.

In this episode we discuss:

• Jimmy and Muffin’s adoption story.
• Delving into force-free training from a pet guardian’s perspective.
• Experiences of racism and its impact as a Vietnamese-American person.
• Things we wish we could see change in the training and behaviour industry.

On this episode, host of the podcast Rachel discusses their journey through understanding their own gender identity. She also talks about the importance of understanding gender identities and how gender diversity has always existed in the world. 

Though this personal episode, Rachel hopes that people who are just learning about gender identities can come to be more compassionate towards gender diverse people and make an effort affirm the people around them who may be non-binary or transbinary.

In this episode we discuss:

• Rachel’s journey through understanding their own gender identity.
• The importance of understanding gender identity.
• How gender diversity has always existed throughout history.

On this episode, our guest is Namita DigheShetty who is a dog trainer with her business Pawsitive Cultr. She'll be chatting with us about her journey of coming into the force-free dog training industry, as well as her experiences within this industry.

In this episode we discuss:

• Namita's early experiences with dogs.
• Namita's journey into learning more about force-free training.
• The practical and valuable side of trick training.
• Namita's experiences in the dog industry and how the dog training industry can do better

Our guest for this episode is Sandy Sharma, a dog trainer with her business Chew Barka Academy. We’ll be talking about Sandy’s experiences of racism both when she was growing up in the UK and also in the dog training industry in the UK. We discuss how the UK is absolutely not exempt from these discussions and that racism absolutely exists here as much as people deny or hide it.

In this episode we discuss:

• Sandy’s childhood and upbringing and how that influences her dog training.
• Experiences of racism growing up in the UK.
• Experiences of racism in the UK dog training industry.
• Discussions about how racism gets swept under the rug in the UK and how things need to change.

Our guest for this episode is Sarah Rodriguez who is a dog trainer with her business Umemama Training. We’ll be talking about building trust and confidence with puppies, preventing dog bites, as well as what changes we’d like to see happen in the dog training industry to better support people of marginalised communities.

In this episode we discuss:

• Sarah’s journey in becoming a dog trainer.
• Building trust and confidence with a puppy.
• The importance of preventing dog bites.
• What we would like to see change in the industry to better support people of marginalised communities.

Our guest for this episode is San Choi who is a dog trainer and doggie daycare provider with their business Ruff Roll Academy. We'll talk about San's experience as an Asian-American dog trainer, how hate crimes against Asian people during COVID19 times has been affecting him, and what he’s been doing in response to all of that. We also talk about the importance of having and building a community.

In this episode we discuss:

• San’s experience growing up as an Asian-American and becoming a dog trainer.
• The impact of hate crimes against Asian people during COVID19 times.
• What San has been doing to help his local community.
• Why having and building a community is so important.

Our guest for this episode is Sabrina Leaney who is a dog trainer with their business World Of Woof. We’ll talk about neurodivergence, mental health, and ADHD, and how that has impacted them as a dog trainer and dog guardian. We also talk about how the training industry can better support neurodivergent people.

In this episode we discuss:

• ADHD and how it may present differently for different people.
• How neurodivergence and ADHD has impacted Sabrina as a dog guardian and dog trainer.
• Finding representation and resources about neurodivergence.
• How the dog training industry can do better in supportinng trainers who are neurodivergent.

Our guests for this episode are Al and Arrow who founded and run their dog training business WeiserWays together. We’ll talk about how they bring anti-oppression and intersectionality into their dog training work, their experiences of queerphobia and racism, as well as what they would like to see change in the dog training industry.

In this episode we discuss:

• How to bring anti-oppression and intersectionality into our work with dogs and human clients.
• The challenges and also importance of working with our human clients.
• Their experiences of racism and queerphobia.
• What the training industry can do to be better.

Our guest this episode is Airen, an artist who also works in science communication. He will be talking to us about his journey as a force-free dog and cat guardian, transphobia in our world, as well as his experience as a transperson.

In this episode we discuss:

• Airen’s journey as a force-free dog and cat guardian.
• Airen’s experience as a transperson.
• Transphobia in our world.
• How the dog world can be queerphobic and what needs to change

Special thanks to Airen for translating the transcript, and of course, for designing our Podcast cover art!

On this episode, Rachel discusses microaggressions and the harm they can cause by chipping away at people and making them feel othered. Learn about what microaggressions are, and what to do if you’ve been told that you’ve said something microaggressive.

In this episode we discuss:

• What are microaggressions
• The experience of people who receive microaggressions
• What to do if you’ve said something microaggressive
• How microaggressions leads to real violence

Our guest for this episode is Hanna Fushihara, a dog trainer and cat nosework trainer with her businesses Hot Fuzz Dog Training and Nosework Cats. We’ll be learning about training cats, Hanna’s experience as a Japanese-American trainer, and building our own community in the industry.

In this episode we discuss:

• How Hanna got started in dog training and cat training.
• Nosework cats! What to consider when training cats.
• Considerations a Japanese-American person may have navigating dog sports spaces and also the world
• What we would like to see happen in the industry and building our own community

This episode’s podcast guest is dog trainer Dr. Mayuri Kerr from DoggEd. We’ll be learning about street dogs in India, building confident puppies, and Dr. Kerr’s experience as an Indian person in the dog training industry and also in her other careers.

In this episode we discuss:

• Street dogs in India and how they are perceived.
• How to help build confidence in our puppies and prevent reactivity.
• Racist and discriminatory actions in the workplace and in the dog training industry.
• What needs to change in the dog training industry.

Our first guest on the podcast is Angelina McCaster who has been a part of the rescue community for a few years and runs her dog training business Teach A Dog To Fish. We’ll be learning about their work and also their experience as a Black person in the dog training and rescue world.

In this episode we discuss:

• Angelina's start in the dog training world
• Challenges of the animal rescue world
• Unique experiences of being a Black person in the dog training and rescue world.
• The importance of education and "staying curious"