Episode #143 - Enriching Your Pet When You Feel Like You’re Drowning

Finding Your Life Raft as a Pet Parent

December 1, 2025

TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):

1️⃣ You aren’t failing. Life is just happening. – Everyone hits moments when their needs and their pet’s needs don’t line up. It’s not a moral failing; it’s a normal part of being a human with a non-human roommate.

2️⃣Small, doable shifts beat “perfect” every time. – When circumstances get messy, creativity matters more than ideal routines. Adventure boxes, porch “find it” games, trusted helpers—tiny adjustments can carry you through big challenges.

3️⃣ You can’t problem solve while beating yourself up. – Compassion leaves space for creativity. Remember to breathe.

Episode Overview:

Sometimes life hands you broken bones, cranky tendons, surprise vet trips, or a whole new set of limitations you definitely didn’t order. And meanwhile, your pet still needs… well, everything. In this episode, Emily and Allie talk about what happens when your needs and your pet’s needs feel impossibly misaligned.

They dig into emotional detachment (yep, it happens), guilt vs. grief, the fallacies our brains weaponize against us, and the surprisingly creative ways you can support your pet without sacrificing yourself. This one’s for anyone who has ever whispered, “I’m doing my best, I swear,” while tossing kibble across the yard from a lawn chair.

Links & Resources from the Episode

🧾 For full episode transcripts: Arial l OpenDyslexic
🎧 #141 – Gratitude, But Not The Toxic Kind
📚 Return of the … : How to Vanquish The Recurring Monsters in Our Lives
📖 A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster
🎧 #84 – Kassidi Jones: Antiracism in Animal Welfare

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Meet the Hosts

Allie Bender, CDBC, CPDT-KA, SBA

Allie Bender is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Certified Professional Dog Trainer- Knowledge Assessed, and a Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 2006 and professionally training since 2012. She is the founder and co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.

While in the animal sheltering industry, Allie realized that her passion lied in helping pets with maladaptive behaviors. Specifically, she wanted to help prevent animals with rehabilitatable problems from being euthanized. She loves working with dogs and cats displaying stranger danger, resource guarding, and leash reactivity. Her favorite thing about working with pets and their people is seeing relationships grow and seeing harmonious households develop.

EMIly strong

Emily Strong is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 1990 and has been a behavior consultant since 2008. She is the co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.

Emily started working with animals at a young age and struggled with the notion that you have to hurt, scare, or intimidate animals to help them. When she discovered the behavior sciences and learned that it wasn’t necessary to do so– that we can care for emotional, mental, and physical health simultaneously– she plunged headfirst into animal behavior. Emily loves helping current and prospective behavior professionals and working with pet parents through our in-depth services. She enjoys working with all species.

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Episode #143 - Enriching Your Pet When You Feel Like You’re Drowning

Finding Your Life Raft as a Pet Parent

December 1, 2025

TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):

Episode Overview: