037 | Claire Martin & Ozzy of Motherpuppers on Shutting Up and Showing Up

Claire describes such familiar themes. Like what it’s like to look back at how her childhood dogs were treated with the knowledge she has now. How she thought she knew quite a bit about dogs until Ozzy came along.

Ozzy was adopted from a charity who had done a pretty great job preparing prospective adopters for what it’s like to bring a new dog into the home, and yet Claire, like many of us, still underestimated the reality, partly because she adopted Ozzy when he was still a puppy.

She talks about how it was particularly hard to be the one spending most of the time with the dog home alone and to feel like her partner was the one who just got to do the fun things with the dog, and how focusing on relaxation protocols was something that helped really well.

It had also helped to not walk Ozzy every day and we discuss what it takes to break through the socialization that exists around having to walk your dog every day to be considered a dog guardian.

We also talk about how Sarah Stremming and Hannah Brannigan inspired a “shut up and show up” mentality to bring about change in the dog world. About how the one tip Claire has for others is to put less pressure onthemselves: “Noone is going to die.”, and about what allowed her to change careers and move into dog training.