Doga is a growing trend, and the benefits from doing it are plentiful. If you’re wondering what Doga is, this podcast episode has you covered - you’ll learn all about the practice and how it can benefit your health and life in general. Basically, Doga is practicing Yoga with your canine companion. It sounded a little strange to me at first, but after trying it I realized that there are more advantages to the practice than just spending time with your dog.

I spoke with Anne Appleby, a long-time Yoga instructor located in the San Francisco Bay area. She is also the founder of Yogaforce, a company that specializes in Yoga mats and accessories. Anne explained the practice of Doga, and how humans and dogs alike can profit from doing it. Did you know that Yoga is a scientifically proven exercise for your mind, body and soul? Many of these pros can also be applied to dogs.

So how do you get started with Doga if you’re a beginner? Anne explains how and where to find a good instructor in your area as well as different ways to practice Doga at home if you’d be more comfortable doing it yourself. She also lets us know how to find a Doga class that will meet our and our dogs' specific needs for health, mind and body.

Pet health trackers for dogs (also referred to as activity trackers) have been growing in popularity in recent years. They help keep an eye on your pet and record his activity and behavior throughout the day. They’re especially beneficial for pet owners who work outside their home, but can have advantages for stay-at-home pet parents too. Along with many other benefits, pet health trackers have the ability to record your dog’s behavior over long periods of time and send the data to a smartphone app. You can easily see any changes in your dog’s regular behavior that may alert you to a medical problem.

James Andrews is the founder of Felcana, a company focused on pet technology. James is also a veterinarian, and he began to grow frustrated seeing pet after pet come in for treatment for a disease that could have been caught much earlier if the owner knew the signs to look for. That’s what inspired him to start Felcana and launch their new pet health tracker.

I talked with James about the importance of monitoring your pet closely for early signs of some of the most common diseases such as canine arthritis or canine diabetes. There are many advantages to using pet activity trackers, and we discussed all of them. You may be surprised to realize that a small investment in a pet health tracker now could save you thousands of dollars in the future.

Dangers of pet food packaging are rarely something most dog owners think about. We’re more concerned with what ingredients dog and cat foods contain than what the container is made of. Unfortunately, the packaging is just as important as the food contained inside it.

You can do a lot of research and spend a lot of money to get the most nutritious and safe pet food for your furry friends, but if there are chemicals leaching into it from the packaging, it could cause serious health problems. This has long been overlook not only by pet owners but also veterinarians and manufacturers of these products.

Blaine Johnson is the business development director at Tetra Pak, a company focused on providing safe and healthy packaging for food and beverages. Larine Urbina is the company’s communications manager. This week I was able to discuss the dangers of pet food packaging with both of them, and they gave me a lot of great information about what consumers should be looking for when it comes to the packaging of their products, and particularly pet food.

In this podcast episode you’ll hear Blaine and Larine explain the growing trends in the pet food industry, and some of the many risks and hazards that we need to be aware of when choosing cat and dog foods. They also explain how to choose the best dog food for your Fido, including the healthiest packaging.

Separation anxiety in pets is arguably the most common issue pet parents have to deal with, but many owners don’t understand the causes or the treatments. Symptoms can range from mild issues, like panting and pacing, to severe problems, like destructive behavior. It’s important for every pet owner to know what to look for and understand the available separation anxiety treatment options available for their furry friends.

Michele Dixon is the health and nutrition specialist for Petcurean, a pet food company focused on meeting every dog’s individual nutritional needs. She also has a background in dog training, and has lots of tips and tricks to share about separation anxiety in pets and particularly how to treat it. This week we chatted about this topic and discussed the importance of educating owners on dangers and treatments of separation anxiety.

Naturally, starting when your dog or cat is very young should be the key to preventing separation anxiety, but there are still ways to help an adult dog or cat without any separation anxiety medications. Michele explains that for dogs, working with an experienced dog trainer can often reduce the symptoms of the condition and possibly clear it up altogether. She also explains what to do if your pet has a severe case of separation anxiety and the different products available to help calm him down.

Anxiety in dogs and cats is one of the most common issues pet owners have to deal with on a daily basis. In today's podcast episode we discuss one of the solutions to dog anxiety. This method is a little different from most of the typical treatments that you’ll see at your veterinarian’s office or in the pet stores.

In this show I'm talking with Amman Ahmed, creator of "Music for Dogs" and "Music for Cats" that are specially designed audio tracks that pet owners can get for free to sooth their pets' anxiety symptoms. These audio tracks are available on YouTube or via a smartphone app. The music is designed to calm and relax your pet when he’s experiencing anxiety.

You can play the music in your home while you’re gone for the day or take it with you on your smartphone when you visit the groomer or vet with your furry friend. I am yet to try these methods with my pets, but the consumer reviews are extremely positive. If you’re on a budget and looking for a free pet anxiety treatment for your dog or cat, this is a great place to start!

Diseases like canine osteoarthritis or leukemia in felines are one of those health problems that are scary for most pet parents to face, and are difficult to treat. Yet as pet owners we need to be prepared in case this ever happens to our furry friends, seek out prevention and potential treatments.

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Terry Beardsley, founder of T-Cyte Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Beardsley has spent many years researching and developing LTCI (Lymphocyte T-cell Immunomodulator), a pharmaceutical that has been used in the treatment of Feline Leukemia for the past 9 years. Last year the drug was approved to treat osteoarthritis in canines.

I spoke with Dr. Beardsley about how the LTCI was developed, how it benefits cats and dogs, and his plans for the future. He gives an in-depth description of the treatment of the amazing results that have been seen in both felines and canines.

With the aim to continue covering the most important topic for pet owners - pet nutrition, pet food and everything related to this subject matter - this week we're discussing pet diabetes.

The reason we're jumping into one of the most common issues many pet owners deal with today is because diabetes in dogs and cats is directly related to pet food and the way we feed our companions. Pet obesity is one of the leading risk factors for pet diabetes, and the numbers continue to rise according to data, which is why it's important for all of us to learn and educate ourselves on how to deal with and prevent obesity and diabetes in pets.

For our eight podcast episode, I spoke with someone who knows a lot about this subject - Rachel Poulin, a registered veterinary technician and the president of the Academy of Internal Medicine Veterinary Technicians (AIMVT). Rachel told me about the risk factors and warning signs of diabetes in pets, and provided a lot of great tips and advice about prevention and treatments.

Did you know that one in five dogs will be diagnosed with canine diabetes in their lifetime? Did you know that cats can go into diabetic remission with the proper treatment? You can learn more about all the data in this week’s podcast episode as well as what you can do to ensure you and your pet don't have to experience any of these health problems.

We're jumping into a much different topic for today's episode, and discussing one of the most popular themes in the pet industry – pet food that we feed our animal companions. I was always interested in the humanization of pet food and the trends that we’re noticing right now. As pet owners, we see our furry friends as members of our family and we want to treat them that way.

Would you feed your partner or your children processed food with a list of ingredients that you couldn’t understand? Would you feed them products from companies that have issued numerous food recalls in the past few years? Unlikely. But why do some pet owners do this with their dogs and cats?

I spoke with Dr. Jennifer Adolphe, a senior pet nutritionist for the company Petcurean. Dr Adolphe started her career working in human nutrition, but switched to pet nutrition later on. In this episode we're discussing the many different pet food diets available and what we can do as pet owners to ensure our animals are getting the nutrition that they need and avoid things that are harmful to them.

On top of that, we also talk about the humanization of pet food and the growing trends in the pet industry right now. Could the vegan diet be right for your dog or cat? Maybe the raw food diet would give your pooch the nutrition that his body requires? Tune into our seventh episode to learn more about this and everything related to the pet food market of today.

Dog DNA testing is all the rage these days, but do they actually work and how beneficial is it to learn more about your dog's genetics? I'm covering this and a lot more in today's episode!

If you missed last week’s episode, you missed some great information about keeping your pet safe with fencing. I spoke with Marin Havrilla, the office manager at East Pet Fence, about the safety that a fence can provide for your dog. We also chatted about the dangers of electronic fencing, which is great information to have if you’re been wondering what type of fencing could be best for your canine companion.

This week I’m completely switching gears to answer a question that I’ve been wondering about for a while now: what are dog DNA tests, and are they actually beneficial? To get to the bottom of this question, I called Ryan Boyko, CEO of Embark. Embark is one of the leading canine DNA and genetic testing companies.

Ryan told me all about the benefits of having a DNA test done on your dog, and I have to say it really opened my eyes. I thought the idea was silly at first, but after speaking with Ryan I now understand the major health benefits that genetic testing can have and the long term savings that it will undoubtedly offer in the future.

For this week's episode, I jumped to something completely new but very important for all pet owners - keeping dogs safe outdoors and how to do it right.

Hopefully you were able to listen to last week’s podcast. I had the pleasure of speaking with Eric Shannon, founder of Big Barker Dog Beds, and Dr. Sarah Wooten, a practicing veterinarian located in Colorado. We discussed the importance of giving your dog a high quality bed and the benefits that it can have for his joints. Did you realize that a well-made dog bed can add to your pup’s quality of life and benefit his overall health and well-being?

Today, I’m talking about how to keep your dog safe with fencing, and I was able to speak with Martin Havrilla about the topic. Martin is the office manager at Easy Pet Fence.

Not only do we discuss the importance of containing your dog in your yard, we also chat about the dangers of electronic fencing and the advantages of a physical barrier. Many dog owners don’t begin to think about fencing in their canine companion until he’s already run away. This is a topic that is best researched before you even bring your new furry friend home.

Did you know that fencing can be an effective way to keep your cats safe too? I never really thought about, as I live in a very rural area and our cats enjoy wandering around outside. Martin told me all about the benefits of cat fencing and how it can not only keep your pets in, but keep others out.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Eric Shannon, founder of Big Barker Dog Beds, and Dr. Sarah Wooten, a practicing veterinarian located in Colorado. We discussed the importance of providing your pooch with a high quality dog bed and the benefits that a comfortable bed can have for a dog’s joints. In fact, a well-made dog bed can add to your pup’s quality of life and benefit his overall health.

Eric told me about why he decided to create these orthopedic dog beds, and Dr. Wooten shares a personal story of the benefits that a high quality dog bed made for one of her patients. If you thought all dog beds were the same, this week’s podcast will definitely open your eyes!

This week I’m switching gears to discuss pet food. This is the most commonly talked about subject when it comes to dogs, and I wanted to shed a bit of light on the subject by chatting with Adrian Pettyan and Pamela Pettyan, founders of Caru Pet Food. They explain the importance of feeding your pet a high quality dog food and the things that we should be looking for in the diet that we feed our canine companions.

Adrian and Pamela also discuss the many dangers of commercial dog food and what we should be trying to avoid. If you make your dog food decision based on price alone, you may be saddened to learn about some of the harmful ingredients in many of the top selling brands.

I wanted to take it one step further this week and discuss adopting a dog that fits your lifestyle. Too often potential pet owners look for a certain breed because they think it’s cute or because it has a unique look. This leads to many dog owners biting off more than they can chew (no pun intended)! When this happens, dogs need to be rehomed or returned to the shelter or rescue organization that they came from.

To prevent this from happening, we can all do our part to research the dog breed that we’re thinking of adopting to make sure it will fit our lifestyle and the needs of our family. In this week’s episode, I discuss finding a dog that will match your environment and energy level. I also talk about the importance of understanding the dog’s grooming needs, affection level, trainability and other significant traits.

In this show I explain the goals of my podcast and discuss where I hope the show can go from here. I’m a long-time pet owner and have been researching and writing about everything pet-related for the last 5 years. I enjoy teaching others about the joys and responsibilities of pet ownership. My goal for this podcast is to tear the curtain off the pet industry and show owners what is happening behind the scenes.

This week I decided to talk about something that is very close to my heart and perhaps one of the most important things that potential pet owners need to understand. I discuss irresponsible breeding and the dangers that come with adopting puppies from these types of facilities. I also give tips and pointers for finding a reputable breeder.

Don’t forget to leave me a review on iTunes to help spread the word about Theory of Pets. If you enjoyed this week’s show please tune in next Sunday for our next episode. As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please share those with us on theoryofpets.com.