Interview with Dr Pezzini & Dr Ferrari – ”Dog’s Lovers” by Susan Sherayko - "Train Your Brain, Claim Your Power"

Questions On behalf of Rebuilding Your Life Radio with Susan Sherayko and the Train Your Brain, Claim Your Power calls, welcome. Today, Dr. Elena Pezzini and Dr. Debora Ferrari join me to discuss their new book and companion training “Dog’s Lovers: You, the vet and the dog trainer/coach”. By way of introduction, Dr. Elena Pezzini has a doctorate in Organizational Leadership. Her dissertation concerned the role of animals in the workplace and she founded a non-profit organization for service dogs – You Got the Power. Originally from Italy, she collaborated with veterinarian and dog trainer, Dr. Debora Ferrari, to write a comprehensive book about how we can improve our relationships and communication skills with dogs. We have a great deal to learn, so please put your hands together to welcome Dr. Elena Pezzini and Dr. Debora Ferrari. Greetings, Dr. Pezzini and Dr. Ferrari. Thank you for joining us today. ______________________________________ Dr. Pezzini, your doctorate is in Industrial Organizational Psychology. You work as a strategic advisor and consultant, as business and executive coach. How does that relate to the work you do with animals? Thank you Executive, Mrs Sherayko for having us on your platform. Corporate executives like you & me, are known to have high levels of stress, and be somewhat workaholics. Again, I am one of them and I am guilty of the same. My research and my fellow scientists’ studies have demonstrated how, having a pet by your side, lowers your cortisol (stress hormone) levels and helps you take healthy breaks. Animals need to be walked and animals stay present, without holding on to anything negative, and live for play, good food and love, which aren't some of the most important meanings of life, after all? ;) You can find the PhD dissertation online, showing exactly the human-animal bond in relation to stress, the #1 Best seller on Amazon on the healing power of animals on workers, titled: Success from The Heart, and Dogs Lovers just published on Amazon as well, in both languages, English and Italian. Sounds good? How did you (Dr Pezzini) and Dr. Ferrari come together to write a book about the various animal care professionals that provide the key to a successful relationship with our dogs? Great question! Thank you for asking. I am Italian-American. My beloved cousin Dr Debora Ferrari and I were in Italy, during the hot Summer of 2018. My Sr dog Sammy was unexpectedly dying of cancer and Dr Ferrari was taking excellent care of her in her last final days. We were talking about the meaning of life, our career challenges with people, not animals (animals are easy and always loving) and Dr Ferrari thought that she and I, as respective Veterinarian and Psychologist, would make the ultimate collaboration, to help our beloved animals, and in turn, their humans. Veterinarians are not taught psychology, in order to interact with pet owners. Psychologists are not taught animal training and animal well being/welfare, to have a healthy relationship with our pets. And when the relationship is healthy, then both parties, the humans and the animals, benefit from it. Can you relate? Dr Ferrari, Can you explain the key professionals involved in this work? The Veterinary Physician is a professional graduate in Veterinary Medicine, approximately a 5-year degree, in most countries in the world. To be able to practice, he/she must have passed the state exam, get licensed, and be registered with the Board of Veterinary Doctors, for their state. Veterinarians are required to comply with the Code of Conduct and Ethics, dictated by their Board. The dog trainer is a professional dog educator. The dog educator or instructor, more generally the dog trainer, is the professional who deals with the interaction between men and dogs, to build and improve their relationship, teach the owner how to communicate with his dog and to prov