Marty and Laura are talking puppercise today with a great run down of the fun stuff to do with your dog and how to do it safely. They even throw in a little philosophy. Like, what is “hiking?” Are we climbing cliffs or strolling on a volksmarch. Hosts discuss.

Back on track, our intrepid hosts cover communicating with our dogs. How to hear what they’re trying to tell us, whether it’s that their feet are hot or they’re tired and need a rest period.

A discussion of dog boots for tender feet segued rapidly into the fake paralysis dogs can exhibit when they’re dressed in their first outfit.

Then there’s Marty’s tip for dogs who forget themselves while playing and tear up their pads: “New skin, the stuff that you can buy at the store, it's in the human pharmacy with the Band -Aids. That works pretty well to serve as a surface, kind of it coats the surface so it'll help to protect that so the dog isn't sore with a raw open wound. If there's an actual laceration, like a cut or the pad is flapping, then you may need to go to the vet and have that stapled closed.”

The team talks blue green algae, hot cars and other summer time topics so make sure you drop by to catch the whole show, share it with your friends and don’t forget to follow us and leave a review!

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Marty and Laura are joined by Lindsay Stanton, grief coach and author to discuss managing grief after losing a pet.

"At the end of the day, grief and trauma run down very parallel paths," Stanton noted. "And depending on the type of grief that you're experiencing, it can be extremely traumatic. And depending on the way the person or pet passed, it can be extremely traumatic."

"If you're really a dog person or really a cat person, you understand the gravity of that loss," Marty said. "And society oftentimes minimizes it by saying, well, it's just a dog, it's just a cat, and it's really insensitive. And it's really inappropriate because we need to help people and for children especially, not that this is easy as an adult either, but for children especially, this may be the first loss that they experience before a grandparent or before a parent is lost, it may be a pet.

"And so unfortunately, this can be a learning experience for younger people to learn to navigate through, how grief happens, the stages of grief and how to be kind to yourself. Sometimes you expect more of yourself than you should be able to provide. So I think it's permission for people to learn how to grieve."

Stanton walks our hosts and listeners through various coping skills for managing grief, including yoga, meditation and reiki.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Marty and Laura take on the tough topic of seizures in our pets. They break down the types of seizures, what may cause them and treatment options based on the cause.

Sparked by a listener request to cover the topic when a client dog had a hypoglycemic seizure in a groom shop, this episode is for everyone who owns a dog. All dogs and cats can experience a seizure whether from low blood sugar, ingestion of toxin, various diseases and what is known as “idiopathic epilepsy” which literally means seizures of unknown origins.

“There's a lot of different reasons that pets can seize,” Marty noted. “First of all, it's really upsetting when it happens because it's scary. So it happens fast and they go from looking normal to not normal, and it can be pretty startling.

“The first thing to do if your pet is seizing is give glucose in some form and then seek veterinary care. Glucose can be ice cream, it can be honey, it can be Maple syrup, it can be Cairo syrup, it can be caramels. But the second thing you need to do is go to the veterinary clinic.

“(Glucose) can be absorbed through their gums, so you don't have to get them to swallow it. If you just have a liquid Karo syrup, honey, Maple syrup, dark Karo syrup, light cover syrup, I don't care. Any of those are fine. And they can absorb it right through their gums. Do not pry their mouth open and try and pull out their tongue. I can guarantee you'll get bitten and it is not worth it because they're not going to choke on their tongue.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.