Episode #1:Â You're Not Crazy for Loving Your Dog So Much
Welcome to the Juniper podcast! In our first episode you’ll meet the Juniper crew — Allison, dog mom of Addie, and Haley, dog mom of Scout — as we unpack the juicy question:
Are we crazy for loving our dogs this much?
Tune in for a dog-walk-length dose of camaraderie.
You can listen to the full episode on  Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen to podcasts.
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Stream The Podcast Here:
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Highlights from the episode:
- Haley 8:58 — Finding fellow dog-lovers — I was so heartened finding other people who cared about their dogs to the degree that I did and who wanted to invest that time in learning how to care for them and learning how to deepen that relationship and it was weirdly difficult to find the in very beginning.
- Allison 13:10 — How advocating for your dog can help you let go of people-pleasing — Obviously I’m gonna advocate for her and speak up to a stranger and tell them, “No, sorry, we don’t do unleashed greetings or whatever.” I was surprised at how much people-pleasing I still had in my personality at this age of my life. If you had asked me, I think I thought I was further along than I was, until I got a dog that I had to speak up for.
- Haley 16:12 — Letting yourself love the things you love — That overall question of like, 'am I crazy for loving my dog so much?' is really this larger reflection of like, 'am I crazy for loving any of the things that I love so much?' And of course the answer is no. How wonderful to be excited about things. How wonderful to be invested in things. But I would’ve told you five years ago that I knew that. That I had worked so hard on that, and that I was proud of my enthusiasm, and my dedication, and my care. And the honest truth was that I wasn’t. I was still so insecure about it. And it really did take a lot with Scout to come to that realization that I’m allowed to take up space. All of the time.
‍ - Haley 23:57 — Species-appropriate parenting — I like to call it species-appropriate parenting. I think we all have different connotations with the word 'parent' and I know some incredible dog guardians who love to be called dog parents and I know others who would rather not use the term. … But I think that whenever we are caring for any creature who’s dependent on us, to me personally, that is a form of parenting. It's just species-appropriate parenting. I shall not raise my dog the way I would raise a human.
‍ - Allison 28:10 — Learning to be present — Addie would always pull me into the moment and pull me into real life. It's completely the opposite of what being on my phone is like. And that is what’s interesting to me. It’s just like they’re so real, and you can’t ignore them, and it’s so fun and rewarding. And that reward is not being hijacked by a social media company.
Thanks to our sponsor:Â Optimeal
🦴 We love Optimeal and we think your dog will too. Get 20% off their natural pet food with the code 20JuniperPet or at this link.
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