Pawplexity Pawdcast

About Pawplexity Pawdcast

Loving a dog can stretch you and soften you. It can confront parts of you that have nothing to do with training and everything to do with relationship. Pawplexity is a podcast for dog owners who have ever had the sense there is more going on in this bond than meets the eye. Every two weeks, my co-hosts Bruce and Ben join me in conversation about life with our dogs — Makenzie, Bowie, and Judge — across New Jersey, Southampton, and Taormina. We talk about attachment, about absence and reunion, about the small daily negotiations that shape a shared life with a dog. This is not a how-to show. There is no training advice here. Just honest conversation about what living with a dog actually feels like, and what it reveals about us. Each episode is accompanied by a Pawplexity Treats essay on Substack. It is a deeper look at the research behind the conversation. Not everything makes it into an episode. Find us on our Substack at pawplexity.substack.com (https://pawplexity.substack.com), on Instagram @pawplexity.pawdcast (https://www.instagram.com/pawplexity.pawdcast/), on Youtube @Pawplexity.Pawdcast.Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@Pawplexity.Pawdcast.Youtube) or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Publisher

Annika Tringali

Category

kids & family · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Feb 2026

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

13 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   E12: The spay and neuter divide

   Bruce's dog Max isn't neutered yet, so at daycare he was kept in a small room on his own while Judge, who is, went out to play. Ben had Bowie neutered as a puppy, and the humping dropped off dramatically; the rest of Bowie stayed exactly who he was. Makenzie was spayed before she turned six months old, and years later started marking everything, as if to tell every dog she has met even once that she has been here too. Three dogs, one routine surgery, and three owners still turning the decision over. This is a conversation about what one routine surgery means in the four countries we live in. Bruce had Judge neutered after being told that otherwise he would get cancer at some point, guaranteed. A few months later, a doctor he worked with told him there were really no studies showing it prevents cancer. Judge, meanwhile, still marks every tree, fire hydrant and light post, lifting his leg even when nothing comes out. At a friend's dog's birthday party at the dog park, he lifted it on a woman standing behind the red streamers, and on the birthday dog too. Now Bruce has to decide about Max, in a country where he feels it's harder not to neuter your dog than to do it. The conversation moves through Kane, the unneutered German Shepherd guard dog in Ben's family, who Ben says isn't much different from the neutered dogs around him, just impossible to get a toy off. Through Ben's reason for neutering Bowie, so bigger dogs wouldn't smell him as a threat, and his theory that Bowie rolls in poo to mask a testosterone smell he no longer has. Through what I've seen in Germany, where unspayed females share the same parks and woods as everyone else, and owners simply walk a different way, or at a different time, while a dog is in heat. Is it a decision about the dog, or about the place you live with it? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com (https://pawplexity.substack.com)

2. 

   23 Sept 2026

   E11: Why everyone has an opinion about your dog

   Bruce watched a fully grown Rottweiler growl once at four-month-old Judge and had to trust it was the right thing happening. Ben has stopped trying to change how his dad handles two much bigger dogs off-leash near a blind corner, even after one of them nearly took his dad's finger off. Makenzie can't always talk herself down out of a tense moment with another dog, no matter how many off-leash owners insist she'll figure it out on her own. None of them are describing bad advice. They're describing the moment they had to decide, alone, whether it was even meant for their dog. This is a conversation about where dog advice actually comes from, and what happens to it once someone has had a dog long enough to have opinions of their own. Judge was a few months old the first time he met Trigger, a fully grown Rottweiler belonging to Bruce's best friend. Trigger's owner told Bruce beforehand not to worry, that Trigger would growl once and that would be the whole message. Bruce believed her and was still afraid watching the two dogs meet, Judge so small next to him. Trigger growled once. Judge understood immediately, and neither dog needed the lesson twice. The conversation moves through where ideas like pack order and "showing them who's boss" actually came from, and how much of that thinking the research has already moved past. Through why people trust their own judgment over someone else's almost automatically, and how differently that plays out for someone on their first dog versus their third. Through the particular kind of confidence that builds once a dog has been part of the same household for years, and what that confidence quietly stops noticing. Once you're sure enough to stop asking, how do you know you haven't also stopped listening? Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com (https://pawplexity.substack.com)

3. 

   9 Sept 2026

   E10: Two dogs and what really changes

   Bruce got Max, a Chihuahua, as a birthday gift he hadn't asked for; he says now he'd never have chosen the breed himself, and that his vet is more wary of Chihuahuas than German Shepherds because of what she calls the little dog complex. Ben watched Bowie walk into a household with three bigger dogs and decide, within days, that he was in charge, taking whatever he wanted from dogs three times his size and never once being challenged for it. Makenzie has talked me out of a sibling more times than either of us can count, most recently by screaming in terror when a cat casually walked past her. None of the three of us added a second animal because the timing or the planning lined up. This is a conversation about what actually happens to a household, and to the dogs already in it, when another one arrives. Bruce's household grew one animal at a time, mostly by accident: Nipsey the cat, rescued off the street on a hot August day; Max, a birthday gift he hadn't asked for; Patches, taken in from a cat colony during a cold winter and still too scared to leave the bedroom months later. Judge, his first dog, turned out to be the aggressor with Nipsey rather than the one who needed protecting, chasing her under the bed for days at a time before they settled into an order of their own. The conversation moves through Ben's early mistake of feeding Bowie separately from the bigger dogs, convinced he needed protecting, before realising Bowie never needed it at all. Through the week Ben's other dog spent bonding with Kane, the German Shepherd, before he could even move in. Through my own case for keeping Makenzie an only dog: the naps that now run for hours, the cat she's more frightened of than curious about, and how quickly she can tip from fine to not fine with nothing in between. The decision looked straightforward from the outside. From the inside, it rarely is. Find everything at: https://pawplexity.substack.com (https://pawplexity.substack.com)

4. 

   2 Sept 2026

   T1: The dog you pictured and the one that arrived

   Annika Bruce and Tatiana explore the surprising realities of puppy ownership, revealing how dogs arrive with their own personalities and needs, offering insights into stress and predictability.

5. 

   17 Jun 2026

   E9: The walk and the leash

   Annika, Bruce, and Ben explore the profound connection and unspoken communication between humans and dogs during walks, examining what the leash truly signifies and the freedom found off-leash.

6. 

   3 Jun 2026

   E8: When you have to correct your dog

   Annika, Bruce, and Ben explore the complex reality of correcting dogs, revealing what these moments expose in both canines and humans.

7. 

   20 May 2026

   E7: Socialisation and the world our dogs grew up in

   Host Annika, Bruce, and Ben explore how a dog's upbringing shapes their socialization, questioning if we prepare them for their future or our present.

8. 

   6 May 2026

   E6: Beyond the breed: the dog you actually live with

   Annika, Bruce, and Ben explore the unique personalities of their dogs, moving beyond breed stereotypes to understand the individual animals they live with.

9. 

   26 Apr 2026

   E5: When your dog doesn't eat

   Host Dr. Nicholas Dodman and guest Dr. Sarah Ellis explore why dogs lose their appetite, revealing appetite as a signal of well-being and a reflection of our care.

10. 

    8 Apr 2026

    E4: Leaving your dog alone

    Host [Host Name] explores the emotional complexities of leaving dogs alone, revealing how to distinguish genuine coping from mere quiet.

11. 

    25 Mar 2026

    E3: We are going to the vet

    Host [Host Name] explores how dogs experience vet visits, discussing their learned behaviors and emotional responses to the clinic environment.

12. 

    11 Mar 2026

    E2: The instructions we leave for our pet sitters

    Host Dr. Sarah Ellis explores how pet owner notes for sitters reveal deeper anxieties about care, control, and the emotional transfer of relationships.

13. 

    25 Feb 2026

    E1: Our truth about puppyhood

    Host [Host Name] shares raw truths about the destabilizing realities of puppyhood, revealing unexpected challenges and personal insights.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

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