The Baroo: A Podcast for Dogs and Their People

A note before listening: This episode includes mentions of sensitive and difficult subject matter, including murder, suicide, death, and missing persons. Please listen with care.
Former FBI special agent and long time search and recovery handler Sonja Nordstrom joins me to chat about the bond between a working dog and their human. We chat about what it means to work alongside cadaver dogs when the “reward” is closure for families and critical support for investigators. Sonia shares what she’s observed in her dogs during intense deployments, how handlers balance celebration for the dog with respect for the tragedy, and why the bond feels different when your dog is also your teammate. We also dig into the stressors most people never consider: negative searches, the fear of missing something, and the pressure of calling a find when there’s no obvious forensic evidence.

On the training side, Sonia breaks down her detection philosophy in plain language: make the odor valuable, make the reward system worth the effort, and use a crisp marker signal so the dog gets total clarity. She explains why she prefers a natural “lock up” indication at source, how air-scent searches work across shifting wind and terrain, and why consistency and communication are the foundation of both elite K9 work and everyday life with dogs.

If you love working dogs, scent work, search and rescue, or just want a deeper understanding of what dogs are capable of, you’ll take a lot from this one. 
Resources: 
https://www.sonjasdogtraining.com/

Subscribe to the show, share it with a dog person in your life, and leave a review so more listeners can find these stories.
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Follow The Baroo:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/baroopup/
Blog- https://www.thebaroo.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/baroopet/
 
Pet parent question or story of canine companionship  to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com .

*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care  or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so.  The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.

A wildfire can erase a neighborhood in hours, but the aftermath can take years and it rarely looks the way people imagine. I sit down with author Carrie Karuhn to talk about the real events behind her novel Not Everything Burns, inspired by the 2007 Malibu fire that destroyed her home and took the animals she loved most.
We chat about why Carrie chose fiction over memoir.  We dig into what the title really means, why she calls the novel a love story, and how accountability became part of her healing when the fire was sparked by reckless decisions.

 Carrie shares what it was like to get the call that “everything is gone,” the painful uncertainty around her pets’ last moments, and the small details that eventually offered solace. We also explore the human-animal bond through premonitions, a single white rose blooming in a torched garden.

Tune in if you care about pet loss, wildfire recovery, grief support, resilience, and the real-world costs of disaster, this conversation will stay with you. 
Subscribe, share with a friend who loves dogs, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.
"Not Everything Burns" (She Writes Press, Nov. 10, 2026),

Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Follow The Baroo:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/baroopup/
Blog- https://www.thebaroo.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/baroopet/
 
Pet parent question or story of canine companionship  to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com .

*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care  or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so.  The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.

I chat with Laurence Minnis, an Army veteran and neuroscience researcher, about how dogs helped rebuild his life after a neurological illness and why shelter adoption feels like both fate and risk. We break down what drives the adoption decision, how uncertainty shows up after you bring a dog home, and what support makes long-term success more likely. 

• growing up in Southeast DC and being “chosen” by a neighborhood stray named Benji 
• military service, illness during deployment, and rehab at Walter Reed leading to the Dog Tags program 
• adopting Ebony and why black dogs and pit bulls get overlooked in shelters 
• researching the adoption decision process and why feelings often beat stated preferences 
• comparing breeder predictability with shelter uncertainty and how that shapes satisfaction 
• common mismatched expectations, stress after adoption, and why returns should not be demonized 
• redesigning shelters from a retail model to a realtor-style support model 
• practical habits that build the bond fast, including training during daily feeding 
• patience for shelter dogs, surprise triggers, and real examples of growth over time 
Resources:
Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/dogadoptionresearch/
LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrenceminnis/
Facebook @ Dog Adoption Decision-Making

If you enjoyed this conversation, I'd love it if you'd follow the show, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who loves dogs. 
You can find links to everything we talked about today in the show notes. 
And I'd love to connect with you on Instagram at Baroo Pup. 
If you have a story you'd like to share, you can email me at Charlotte at the Baru.com. 

Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Follow The Baroo:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/baroopup/
Blog- https://www.thebaroo.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/baroopet/
 
Pet parent question or story of canine companionship  to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com .

*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care  or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so.  The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.

One of the hardest  parts of loving a dog is realizing you can’t protect them from everything, especially the moment a health decision collides with stress, emotion, and a bill you didn’t see coming. I wanted to talk about the part of the human-animal bond nobody talks about: money, and how it quietly shapes the care our pets receive and the guilt we carry when the choices we want to make feel impossible. 

I’m joined by mobile veterinarian Dr. Heather Oxford and veterinary economist Dr. Peter Weinstein to unpack why veterinary care costs what it costs. We dig into the post-2020 reality that changed everything, staffing shortages, supply chain problems, rising wages. Dr. Weinstein also explains why many veterinary practices run on relatively thin margins, and how that pressure shows up in pricing, access, and the trust gap many pet parents feel today.  We also talk about corporate ownership and private equity in veterinary medicine. 
We also cover what you can do as a pet parent: budgeting for lifetime dog ownership, getting pet insurance before the first vet visit, understanding pre-existing conditions and waiting periods, and using backup options like CareCredit so an emergency doesn’t force a decision without information. 

If this conversation helps you, please follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who loves dogs, then tell us: what’s one thing you’re going to do differently to prepare for your pet’s next emergency?
Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Follow The Baroo:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/baroopup/
Blog- https://www.thebaroo.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/baroopet/
 
Pet parent question or story of canine companionship  to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com .

*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care  or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so.  The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.

Renowned veterinarian  Dr. Gary Richter joins me to chat nutrition, longevity, and wellness.  We also talk honestly about what is realistic, sustainable, and safe for your pup so you can make better choices without getting shamed or overwhelmed. 

• Diet, exercise and lifestyle as the core pillars of longevity 
• Shifting the question from what brand to what kind of food 
• Why highly processed pet food can undermine health over time 
• High carbohydrate kibble and links to weight gain, inflammation and dysbiosis 
• Advanced glycation end products and Maillard reaction byproducts from high-heat processing 
• Fresh food formats such as raw, lightly cooked and freeze dried 
• Why homemade dog food needs a properly balanced recipe 
• The gut microbiome, serotonin and the gut brain axis in pets 
• Common early wins after a diet upgrade such as better stools and less itch 
• Feeding aging dogs and why cooked food may be easier to digest 
• Longevity science basics including autophagy and how Leap Years approaches cycling support 
• Sustainable steps like mixing fresh food with kibble and prioritizing what you can keep doing 
• Safety considerations for raw diets and the role of high pressure pasteurization 
• Letting go of the misconception that fresh food is unsafe or nutritionally inappropriate 
Resources for Dr. Richter : 
https://ultimatepetnutrition.com/
https://www.instagram.com/petvetexpert/?hl=en

if you enjoyed this conversation i'd love it if you'd follow the show, leave a review and share this episode with someone who loves dogs. you can find links to everything we talked about today in the show notes and i'd love to connect with you on instagram at baroopup. if you have a story you'd like to share you can email me at charlotte at the baroo.com.

Send us Fan Mail
Support the show
Follow The Baroo:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/baroopup/
Blog- https://www.thebaroo.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/baroopet/
 
Pet parent question or story of canine companionship  to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com .

*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care  or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so.  The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.