When Pet Loss Hits Like A Landslide

Pet loss can knock you flat, and what hurts most isn’t only the goodbye, it’s how quiet the world can get afterward. I sit down with Koryn in Toronto to talk about the love that rescue animals bring, the trauma they can carry, and the kind of grief that follows when they’re gone.

Koryn introduces her current “furkids” Lenny, an 85-pound German Shepherd Australian Kelpie mix with a sweet, chaotic spirit, and Zelda, a tiny Turkish Angora cat who runs her day like a sundial. Then we go deeper into Georgia’s story, a Husky Shepherd Collie rescue who survived abuse, took her time choosing trust, and eventually became the heartbeat behind Koryn's work. We unpack what it really looks like to help a shutdown rescue dog settle in, why small moments can become lifelong memories, and how a pet can inspire a complete career shift, including the creation of Urban Dog Walks.

We also name what so many people feel but don’t have words for: anticipatory grief, caregiver fatigue, and the pressure of sudden end-of-life decisions. Koryn shares how Georgia’s emergency loss revealed a painful gap in pet bereavement support, and how that experience led her to build The Parted Paw, a pet loss grief and bereavement support company so no one has to feel alone. If you’re coping with an aging pet, grieving a dog or cat, or searching for real pet loss support, you’ll leave with language, validation, and practical perspective.

To learn more about Koryn's work check out her website -> The Parted Paw 

If this conversation helps, subscribe for more stories, share it with a friend who’s hurting, and leave a review so more pet parents can find this community.

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Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Purpose

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Every Paw Print Every Story. I am your host, Dan Popovic. And for you new listeners out there, you're asking, you might be asking yourself, hey, what the heck is this every paw print, every story podcast all about? Well, great question. I will let you know. Obviously, every paw print has a story, a story to our heart, and you know, family sharing it. But what this is about is it's a weekly conversation space where people honor pets they've lost, celebrate the pet, the joy pets bring, and support one another through pet grief. Each episode centers on a guest memories, the ritual that keeps those pets present in daily life, and the lessons of love and loss that pets teach us. Really, the goal with this podcast is to inspire each other. Go back and listen to some of these episodes. Man, they have completely inspired me. I know the one today is going to inspire me even further. Uh, also to kind of really guide and support each other, right? Guide us through any kind of phase we're going through in life right now, support us through pet loss if you haven't experienced that before. So that's a little bit about this podcast. And I I know I want to quit talking. The less I talk, the more we can hear from our special guest today.

Meet Corinne And Her Pets

SPEAKER_01 1:17

So I'm excited to welcome to the show, Corinne. I got that right, right? Close. Yes, it's Corinne. Corinne. Oh, see, messed up already.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

It happens all the time. It's like it's a norm. You were very close.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

And you are in Canada, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Toronto, Canada. Absolutely. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Excellent. So let's, yeah, let's jump into it. Nature, the first question I always love to ask is how many fur kids do we have with us as a part of the family today? Let's talk about them.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

Oh, they're my whole family. So I have one very large German Shepherd, Australian Kelpie Mitz. His name is Lenny. He's the sun, moon, and like stars of my life. And then I have a little white cat. She's a Turkish Angora. She's all white. And her name is Zelda. And she's little. She's maybe nine pounds. She's a tiny one.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

So you said the German Shepherd was 80, 85 pounds?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

He's 85. I think he's he's like three and a half ish now. I don't know. He's a rescue, but I think he's actually going through a growth spurt because some dogs of the larger breed go through the growth spurt around three-ish. And I think he's there now.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

So okay, so he's done. So no more grow, no more past 85, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:33

I hope. I mean, like, really, I hope, because every day everyone's like, is he growing? I'm like, no, but yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

So how so that's a yeah, 85 pound-ish to nine pounds. Do they get along or do they interact with each other?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

They are the most wonderful connection. I so we're kind of like a thruple. So Lenny loves Zelda. Zelda has a crush on Lenny, and the three of us chase each other around the house. Like this is basically our live. They have their own TikTok page. It's called Lenny and Zelda. And they're they're really, really sweet together.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Oh, that's okay. So we'll definitely

Naming Zelda And Lenny

SPEAKER_01 3:10

have to share that TikTok page with the audience. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Um, so great.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

And then so oh yeah, let's talk about the the did you get to name them?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Yes, I did. So Zelda had another name, and I didn't like it. Like it just it wasn't her vibe. And I brought her home and she had a crisis. She actually almost sadly died within the first 24 hours. I had her with me, and she had to go to the hospital. And the name that she was just didn't fit her. And I was like, no, we need a different name. And so she became Zelda, and she is a Zelda. Maybe you'll see her on the podcast. And Lenny, Lenny had no name for about three weeks because my girl Georgia passed, it was an emergency, and I found him three days after by accident, like literally by accident, and I had to take him home. So he had no name. I couldn't name him, and he became a Lenny. I tried to make him so I there was a Leonard, there was a pilot for there was a disco, and he became Lenny. And that is so what he is.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

That is so these other names. So that's funny. So these other names were was it like this is what you were trying to call him to see if he would respond, and he just wouldn't respond, and he started responding to Lenny.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

You know, he just this is a great question. I he just he's such a he was such a unique character, like he was so different than Georgia Girl. And I had never so Lenny's three, here's why he's here are his three personas. Okay, so he's kind of like Bob from What About Bob, okay. Okay, the movie, uh Bill Murray. Yep, yep. He's a little bit of Snoopy in there, okay. And he's also a little bit of like Daniel Craig, 007. Yeah, he's got a dash of there, so like that combination really created Lenny, and he's a vibe.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Love it. Okay, that's very cool. Um, yeah, he's a total vibe. Total vibe, okay, and then so, and we'll come back to that total vibe, Lenny. And then Zelda, there feels like I know that's a common name, and I'm gonna show you how bad I am because I'm I'm probably got my head in the books or something, but Zelda feels like a a uh a figure of some sort, sci-fi figure or something, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

There's a legend of Zelda, apparently. Okay, she is a legend, and I didn't I don't know anything about this, but everyone's like, oh, that's so cool. You're right. You took, I can't believe, yes, great reference. Well done. So everyone's like, you did this for the legend of Zelda, like, no, I don't know who this is, but yes, so there is a legend of Zelda that exists in the world.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Sally Zelda is not named after her, but if it makes anybody feel better, I can say yes, sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

No, I love it. Still a great name, but then Lenny, yeah, that's just unusual for a German Shepherd mix, too. That that's a that's a cool name.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Um thank you.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

But yeah, what's the story? You said that it that was kind of it it just happened, it wasn't expected. Lenny coming into your life, just uh what was the story behind that?

Georgia’s Death And Lenny’s Arrival

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Lenny coming into my life and Georgia leaving. It was two like cataclysmic, unexpected things that happened, actually. And so Georgia is etched into my soul. She's a huge part of my professional and personal and emotional story in life. Um, and her passing was a traumatic incident that occurred. And that day that she ended up passing, I was gonna bring home another dog for her from the shelter.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

And she passed in this tragic way, and I went down the next day because I wanted to see dogs. I wanted to be around them. Dogs and animals bring me comfort. So I immediately wanted because I love the shelter. And so I said, like, I'm not gonna get that other dog, but I want to take a look around. Here he is. Hi, baby. There he is. Uh, he just got home. Um, I said, like, I want to take a look around. And then this little guy, he was four months old. They thought he was a year, he was just a very large puppy. He walked in and up at me immediately and just sat down. Huh. And and I just thought, like, there's something so special about this. I've been working with pets professionally for 15 years. So it's like I'm like, there's something really special.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

And I went home and I thought about it because I always take 24 hours before I bring a pet home into my house. And I woke up knowing I had to go get him. And and then I went and got him the next day. So that's that's how Lenny and I found each other.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

So Georgia, love the name. Um what was she a German shepherd? What was her breed?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

I am into the shepherd husky thing. So she's I only do rescue since I was a year old, so I only know from rescue. So they're all kind of mixes, and she was a Husky Shepherd collie, and she's just like she was she was unreal.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

So, in okay, so there's sound, there feels like there's some sort of with that loss and then this new one coming into the picture quickly like that. The comfort and Georgia passing, it was like, all right, I need to bring somebody else into your life quickly to kind of help you heal. Did it did it kind of feel like that?

SPEAKER_00 8:33

No, there's no replacement. It's just it's the strangest. So, and I work in kind of this space with people, and I am of the belief, and nothing can change my mind on this, that you can never get another dog, and it can never replace the connection, love, memories, left all of the things with your Patty Hood past. This was an accident, like it literally was I mean, it was an intentional accident that I didn't know was gonna happen. Does that make sense? Yeah, he was in the shelter for less than 24 hours, like he got dropped off.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Like the the morning Georgia died. Like, like so there was really like a cusp here. It was we collided in in this way, right? Like I would have seen him, like I I hopefully like to think I would have chosen him to bring home to Georgia had he been there. But because of the timing, he wasn't there yet.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

So what ended up happening is that no, it's not a replacement, and Georgia is in my heart and in my mind and all around me every day. But I did pour my soul out over Georgia's loss into him.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

What do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_00 9:49

I just the like I couldn't even name him. He was he was no name for three weeks. I was so you're like, I was so distraught by her loss, and it was a a loss of many things at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Right. It was so how long how long was she with you before you lost her?

SPEAKER_00 10:12

George and I had 12 years together, and she gave me the start of my like I left a corporate career for her.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

And started a whole other company for her in the pet industry.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Okay. So the inspiration behind that's awesome. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

She's the inspiration behind my company now as well. Like Georgia is etched, like as I as we started the conversation, she is she's etched into every fabric of my being.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

And this is the the one that the parted paw, right? So that's what she helped inspire that we're working on now, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:50

And the urban dog walks, both of them, yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Okay. Um, so we'll come back to that. Definitely want to share more of that with with the listeners. Um, but Georgia, how did let's yeah, let's talk a little bit about George if you're okay with

How Georgia Chose Her Person

SPEAKER_01 11:04

that. How did she how did how did she become part of the family? How did you guys find each other?

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Oh my goodness. So Marty, this all goes back to Marty, my my my in like my last time with my family in the house, right? So she was our last family dog together. And Marty also. I mean, all of our dogs. My mom always says at one one year old, she had to like prime my arm like out of the dog's mouths. Like I there's always been no barrier. So Marty was also a part of my soul, and then she passed in also, you know, pain in a different way. Yeah, it took me three years, and then I was looking and looking and looking, and I believe shelter dogs pick you, and you know, like I believe you know. That's my thought about it and my experience. And I saw this picture of her, she manages to come out in every podcast. This picture, I saw it.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

What a cutie.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

And I was just like, this one's mine. I was just, I don't know. And I went to Ajax. I live in Toronto, and I I went, and Georgia's backstory, she was very abused actually, and she was traumatized. And I met her and she made it very hard. Like, good for her. She wanted none of it. She was like, F you lady, I'm not doing this. Like, I don't like forget it. And then I was like, you know what? I I really feel connected to this dog. And I thought about it, and I went back to get her the next day. And Georgia stared at me for three and a half hours from across the fields before the before, and she gave me the eyeball, okay? Like the one eye before she walked up and let me put a leash on her to take her home.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

And okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

So it was it was that's like that's how she came to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Okay, so just yeah, her yeah, and her time, her approach, but it was the stigma of her background, the horrific and the beating that she was nervous, scared, I guess, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Shut down. So, yes, and yes, and you know, shelter dogs are often uh do you have experience with shelter dogs?

SPEAKER_01 13:17

Oh, yeah, I've got we've got three of them right now.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

You have three? What are their names?

SPEAKER_01 13:23

So this is about you, not me.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

No, damn it.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

I tried to do it. It's fine. We can go back. You know, Mar Marshall, who is our oldest statesman, he's 11. He's partially in the book that I authored, um, which Marley was the focus. We lost her two and a half years ago, which as you as you mentioned, she was my I never used this term before, so I'm gonna get your thoughts on it. One of my prior interviews made this comment, and I was like, that's an interesting, you know, she was my heart dog. Um, because this person I interviewed, she had eight dogs, she had a lot of dogs, but she said she had one heart dog. Not that any one of her other dogs wasn't as special, but it was that one, and I'm like, okay, that's an interesting take. Um, but yeah, Marshall's with us. I got Carly laying over here next to me. Uh Marshall and Carly are both Dobermans.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Um, Dobies are awesome.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, and then we have a rescue ridge back um that came from a horrific. So I'm I'm definitely want to talk more with you on Georgia because she came from a horrific background, abusive men abused her. So that the beginning few weeks with her with me were challenging. She wanted nothing to do with me. Marshall isolated himself too, which we got her to help him recover from Marley's loss. But then when Marshall started isolating himself, I I my heart, I my heart was sinking because I'm like Marshall's Marshall's number one, he's the focus. So it was really interesting to see that dynamic. But yeah, so we've got three.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Yeah. That's amazing. I love it. I love it. All the all of the pets. Yes to all the pets.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Yeah. But yes, but so with Georgia, you got her, it took three hours, you you you you got her home. Yeah, how did that beginning phase just kind of evolve and

Building Trust With A Traumatized Rescue

SPEAKER_01 15:25

develop? I'm sure there were challenges in the beginning.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

I mean, the first day she threw a major wrench in our life together. I was going to take her to the park and idiot me, you know, I didn't, I she wasn't clipped into the car. And so I opened the door, bolted across. Like, I don't even think it's like it was like lightning could have gone off. It was that, like, it was like poof, like gone. I was like, no, this is not. And I like there was just it must have been a shrill tone of my voice. I screamed her new name so loud, she stopped and came back. Like it was a miracle.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

She's yeah, so she came back. So that was like our first. I'm like, great, what am I in for you? So I get her home. At that time, I had had to move back to my parents, which was a great move in my life at that time. It was super, it was great, you know. And uh so I was in the basement there, and so what I I realized that for her, space was the enemy. She just she couldn't function. And so I made her her own complete area, and I I blocked it off for her, and she had had she had an exit out, but when oftentimes like the shelter environment, the past experiences come into the new home, and so space is the enemy. So like giving her that space, you know, day by day she started to acclimate. Okay, food was a really hard thing for Georgia. Like getting her to eat those first three days was nearly impossible. Um, after the second day in the evening, she must have been starving. Like she started to eat from my hand. Like I would sit with her and she started to eat from my hand, which was great. Going to the washroom was really hard at first, like, even just the simple act of peeing was really hard for her. Again, like third day, she did it. Like she held Georgia was a really stubborn dog innately, and she held it, like you know, and then I think like a week in, I remember this clearly. I don't know where this came from. She must have gathered two rocks and held them in her mouth because I went to her in the morning and she presented them to me. Okay, like it wasn't a throw, like she wasn't being ill. She like gave me these rocks, which must have had very deep meaning for her because it had deep meaning for me. I was like, okay. And from there, we were able to kind of bridge a connection. And it was really like like tugging a rope to get there, like we really like one step at a time, like one inch closer every week, every two weeks, whatever it was, and we got there in a really profound way.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Um, did you keep those rocks?

SPEAKER_00 18:21

I didn't. I wish that I did. That's a great question. I did not. And I they're definitely in my heart and in my mind, though, because I think about them all the time and that moment, you know?

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, no, I I can sense that with how you describe that. That's yeah, I just wonder what that meaning is with that.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Umestly, I it's like if but it was like and she she looked at them and then she looked at me like I was like, okay, thank you for my rocks.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

So was it was it that moment that was kind of a breakthrough where it now you felt that or you both felt that okay, this is this is home, this is safer, was there still was there still more work to be done?

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Oh, there was much more. That was like the start of her being able to look me in the eye and decide to let me like walk with her, and and her wanting to be out of her area in the basement. Like, you don't know, Georgia was the staunchest dog you've ever met in your life. It's like Georgia was abroad, you did not mess with her. I think Georgia thought she was my mom. It's Georgia's world, like we were all just living in it. Like, this is okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Yeah, it was wild. Like she trained the entire company that for Urban. She, every new dog that came into service, Georgia trained it.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Okay. That's cool.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Like she's she had she had all of us like wrapped around her.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Right. Interesting. So yeah, Urban,

Creating Urban Dog Walks

SPEAKER_01 20:01

talk about that. What what what was the what was the mission of the company?

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Well, I I think that you everybody has to be with their pet in the way that feels right for them. So I want to preface this. For me, I think off-leash dog walking, it always terrified me. And I wanted my dog to be able to be around other dogs. For my level of comfort personally, which everybody is entitled to, it just makes me very nervous.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and during that time, there was another company that I had hired to walk her on leash, and there was weird things happening with the this was like a long time, just many, many long time ago. And um and like it wasn't regulated dog walking, and nobody was really watching anything. So there was like stuff happening, and I sat to myself, you know, and it was like one of the only companies that was doing on leash. I was like, this is weird, I'm not doing this anymore. Like, I don't like this company, I'm doing it myself. Okay, I want as I love dogs, you know, and I was a dog walker in the way, way back, playback for like in between a job when I was like 21, but I loved it. And I thought, I'm do I'm gonna do this.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Very cool.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

And I just screw this. I had another boss that really wasn't wasn't my cup of tea, and I don't think I was so that was it. And I left when I said, you know what, thanks so much, bye. Started the company. I just started the company. And for 13 years, you know, yeah, yeah. So Urban Dog Walks still exists. It was a successful sale in 2022. It's the company is thriving. I the or the owner, thank you. The owner and I were allies. I I Courtney is a phenomenal young woman, she's doing so well. But for 12, 13 years, don't remember, you know, and it became like dog walking training. Training, boarding, daycare, day sitting, vet visits, in-home visits with family, puppy training. It just evolved into like this this life of its own. It's really special. I'm really humbled and grateful for it. And it's all because of Georgia.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Okay, good. I you beat me. I was again, and Georgia was the inspiration. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Um, all of it. All of it.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

I gotta go to the to the name. How did Georgia become Georgia?

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Georgia Peach Greenspan. So because of her middle name was Peach, like Georgia Peach was her full name. Yep. And last name, Green, so Georgia Peach Greenspan. Okay. Gigi Peach's Nana was often her nickname. There's many nicknames. Um when I got her, the woman said, you know, she had Georgia was masked and she was abroad. Like Georgia was a tough chick. So she and she had a quite a bark to her. And she said, do yourself a favor, name her something sweet. It will do you good favor in your life with her.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Right. Right. But that's really sweet.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

That's really nice.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

And so while the Georgia was like giving me a hard time from like across the field, I'm like, what am I gonna name? What am I doing? What am I gonna name this? What have I done? And I thought, you know what, Georgia peaches are really sweet. And I thought that'll be your name.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

No, I hey I I I love it. And I can, you know, I I'm in the state of Georgia, and we're it's it's the peach state, so that's where I was wondering if you're gonna go, but you didn't.

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Yeah. So that's exactly right. And I thought of like, you know, the uh the the license plate, and you have the peach on there, and I was like Georgia Peach, and that's what she became.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

Love it, yeah. And then so how long, and and you know, really talking about her, um, I mean, how long do you think it took for her to kind of settle in for for both of y'all just to settle in and finally say, okay, this this is home. Year, two years?

SPEAKER_00 24:04

I always say with rescues, your markers are, you know, three days, three weeks, three months, a year. Okay, right? I I I really do believe that's the trajectory of change and growth and unionship with a rescue dog. And I think that's pretty broad, like unilateral, even though I don't like to paint the world with one stroke. Um that's what I think. I think at about a year we were like, okay, she would and and like just her evolution of self and comfort, like as Georgia settled into knowing nothing bad was going to happen to her, I saw her become so much stronger and confident, and her confidence and strength made her nicer.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

So it was kind of like it was a it was kind of about that time where things were like cool. And we were like this.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

So you you took her everywhere, it sounds like everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Um Lenny comes with me everywhere too. Marty came, my dogs have always come with me everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Cool. Okay. Um, but same here. Um any uh any fun like vacation spots or memories that you have with Georgia?

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Thank you for that. Bringing me back to my favorite place.

Ranch Life And Favorite Memories

SPEAKER_00 25:30

I'm gonna not get emotional. So I was fun fact, uh, I was raised part-time on a ranch. My family is together, but we had we have a family property in Guelph, just outside of Toronto, like 45 minutes. Okay. And I trained Georgia to me on the ranch at the farm. And we would just go around and around hours and hours in training together for days, and we would go there. There was quite a bit of land, it was very large territory of space. And that I have to tell you, like that was our favorite place to be together. I if you look at any of our photos you together, I'd say 60, 70, 70 are at the farm.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Okay, very cool.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

And it was just all nature, and she we had the greatest, it was our greatest place to be.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Okay, that's awesome. I'll definitely get some of those pictures and um share them out.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Any any while doing those excursions, any crazy run-ins with wildlife?

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Oh my god. So there was one day where Georgia killed two squirrels, and it was like her greatest. I didn't know if I was happy or sad. Like I didn't know because I was so excited for it. She'd never killed she's not a killer. She was more of like a threat to kill as opposed to an actual killer. Do you know she loved to scare everyone? She was like, Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

Miley was the same way.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Right. So there's one day at the farm, she got the squirrel, the first squirrel. And then it was in her mouth that tails at the side. And she just looked at me and I was screaming, like I had lost my mind. But she was like, but what do I do with it now? I was like, just drop it, just drop it. So she dropped the facacta squirrel. And then the same day there was this weird short tree at the farm. It was one of my favorites. She got there was a squirrel, she got another one. I was like, Georgia, how did you do that? Like, that was, and those were her two big like wildlife encounters of actual and saying, goodbye to squirrel or animal in the process, but she was so proud of herself.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

That's funny. Uh squirrel knows. Yeah, I love that. Um, but then any kind of um like any fun daily routines, you know, at the house that just made you laugh. Like I'll give you an example with like mine. I call it the banana routine. I write I wrote about it in my book, and they get two bananas every single morning. Um dog dad Dan. Well, actually, that's a good one. Dog Dad Dan. Um I get maybe about this much of the two because it's all about them. But every morning they rush to the pantry, they know they're gonna get a banana. The minute they hear the sound of a peeling banana, they go berserk.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Anything like that with with Georgia or even Lenny.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

I mean, Lenny is the big Lenny, is just the the fabric of Lenny is the sweetest character. Like he's got a different, so it's like everything with Lenny. So, and I often say this, and I what I can tell you about Lenny, which will help you understand his character, is that my son is brilliant, he is. However, with that being said, there is often one brain cell that connects at a time. That's all you get. You get the that's it.

unknown 28:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

So everything is actually a little comical with Lenny because you get the one brilliant brain cell at a time. Whereas with Georgia, I'm talking of scene here, yes. Um, whereas with Georgia, she was calculated, she like like she constructed environments. So to your like whenever she knew food was on the way, she would start growling before she barked. But it wasn't like a growl like somebody's here. It was like her own getting excited knowing that something was on the way, which would lead to her overall extraordinarily loud, shrill bark at the door. But it was always fascinating to me how she knew what was happening without any cues around it. She was so observant and aware. I'm not sure if that's that's not really a funny story, but it is fascinating because it is something that I was like, how the hell did you know?

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Right, how did you know?

SPEAKER_00 29:55

And there would be no action around it, no, but she always did it. It was so it's the weirdest thing. Fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

No, I love it. Um, and then so obviously she was an inspiration behind the parted paw as well, right?

The Parted Paw And Pet Bereavement

SPEAKER_00 30:10

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

And and share a little bit about um the parted paw.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

So the parted paw is a pet loss grief and bereavement support company.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Um it I this company, my services through the parted paw help pet parents in anticipatory grief when a pet has passed, as well as after. I I went so after I sold the company, I sold the company because my family went through a trauma. There was an end of life there that was horrible. Right. And then Georgia's end of life occurred one year later. And I saw so it was like the passing of my sister occurred in a really awful, traumatic way. And the support was so beautiful and it was so thorough, and it was so organized and foundational to how society exists. And you felt it. And then Georgia passed, and it was an emergency, and it was crickets. Not because people didn't care, but because pet loss is not really acknowledged. And often, not always often. Right, right. And and the way end of life occurs for pets is many different things. Okay. That's not the topic of this podcast, so I'm not gonna go into that.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

But the lack of support that was present for Georgia and the support I have for my sister really informed and like really was a highlighter to me of the challenges in that space.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

So I took a couple of years, I went back to school, I got a whacked, a ton of new certifications, I did all the things, and I created this company called The Parted Pa in Georgia's legacy.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

That's beautiful. That yeah, that's amazing. Um, sorry, I cut you off.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

No, that's okay. No, that's okay. This conversation is wonderful. And it was for it's for her. It's it's so that nobody has to feel alone. And you know, if if horrible instances of pet loss happen, which they often do, there's a place for people to go and get support.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Yeah, I didn't know. No, that that's beautiful and amazing. And then we'll definitely I'll definitely add some links for people to find out about this, you know, part of the show and kind of supporting others. Um, but you know, I didn't know much about really those terms that you mentioned, right? Anticipatory grief, uh, caregiver fatigue. There goes Lenny again. Um love it. Lenny, Lenny and the Lenny and the uh there's another word I was looking for, but I can't even think about it. They're drive-by.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Okay, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 32:52

But um yeah, it you know, just it's been fascinating meeting folks like yourself and kind of learning about that too. And and um, but yeah, that's a big part of this and how I can support others. And I've had a co-worker at work reach out to me, talk about one day he's got um aging pets, right? They've got the gray on their face, and you know, he about broke down. And so I'm like, Oh, you know what, you've got anticipatory grief because you're greet, you're you're already anticipating this. I'm like, you can't do that, you gotta kind of love them and hold them and you know, recognize all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

Um yeah, it's keep going.

SPEAKER_01 33:31

No, no, no. I I'd rather hear more from you.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

No, I'm sorry your coworker had to or is going through that, and it's shocking to me how you know anticipatory grief is not new. Pet loss is not new, right? So it's me, it's shocking how like we're just starting to see this type of things now. I don't understand for the life of me, I I I cannot understand how we've done this before. And I really like what you just said. It's uh, you know, like we have to love, we have to do they're present, they're still here. So oftentimes what's happening during anticipatory grief that people don't know is it's it's love and loss coexisting at the same time. Right, right. That's a really hard emotional place to negotiate. Yeah. So yeah, there's things that I can work with with clients around that to help them abet and comfort that grief so they can, as you said, love and be present with their pets. There's things we can do.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Yeah. Was um, you don't mind me asking, I'm curious, was Georgia's loss seen or was it sudden?

Georgia’s Emergency Goodbye And Regrets

SPEAKER_01 34:45

Did you foresee it?

SPEAKER_00 34:46

I don't mind you asking. I I'm able to talk about it now. Okay, it took me a long time. Um Georgia's loss was really like I knew something was happening for weeks, but I didn't know what. And I kept saying some things like Georgia's not, and I would I talked to the vet as I was like, you know, some things is fine, she's fine, she's senior now, she had she tore an ACL. But I like I that I knew something, I didn't know what. And then I was in my home, and uh my my ex-fiance, so I'm not together anymore. So we were in his place, and um, I looked, we I took her out. Just something was wrong, you know. Like you just know, yeah, I have to we have to go to the vet. And I I looked at him and I said, This may not end well. Like, just so you know, I I don't know how I knew, but I but it was still an emergency because I didn't know, but I like it was still, and we took her and her vitals were fine. And she said, if I didn't check her gums, I would have sent her back home. Her gums were like ash white gray at that point, and so they ended up doing some further testing, and she had she did have a couple of um like lumps on her belly that we were watching, so we like I knew they were there, they were being monitored, like two of them had erupted on her spleen, and her whole belly was filled with blood. Um, everything had kind of eviscerated in there, and she said, like, and she comes in and she starts typing really fast. It was an emergency, it wasn't even my doctor, it was an emergency. She's typing really fast and she's asking, and so it's a bit of a blur from here, and she's like, We can do an emergency surgery, it will keep her alive for maybe three more weeks. And I just what I would tell somebody now, and what I speak about now, is ask a thousand questions, take the time to understand what they're saying, get a second opinion. Like, do you know what I mean? And I do believe it would Georgia had to go. I saw the like I saw it, like it's fine. But I made the decision in there, and for me, I wish I had half an hour more to think about it.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 36:58

You know, there was time for me to have given her like a longer goodbye. I didn't know that it wasn't offered to me, but I could have done that, you know, and I know I know that now. Right, right, you know, and they and then they they just that like that was it. And I said, like, I can't, I cannot in good faith do that to her. I cannot give her that surgery to keep her alive for for and leave her in pain to heal just to pass again.

SPEAKER_01 37:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Like I don't for me, and I stand by that decision, I don't have qualms with that, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Like, I that's good.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

I don't, yeah, um, because I know I would want somebody to make that decision for me too, to be honest. Like as a human, I'd be like, no, let her go, put her down, you know what I mean? The end. But um you know that was it, and I said, like, I can't do that to her. And and then I left without her.

SPEAKER_01 37:57

Do you feel like you were able to say goodbye to her and she didn't know?

SPEAKER_00 38:04

No, I think Georgia said goodbye to me earlier in that day.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Okay, okay, good.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

I actually believe we had a moment in that day of goodbye. It was in behind my building. And I told Georgia in the weeks, I said, like, Georgia, you'll tell me. I said, like, Georgia, you'll have to, like, you'll tell me. And it was a huge snowstorm. It was February 26th, and uh we went behind the building and she just she couldn't get through the snow. Like she couldn't move through it. And she just a look came over her that I'd never seen before, and I just like no. But I didn't know, like I would have taken her there had I known like had I had somebody who does what I do, let's say.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

You know, and like the three weeks leading up to this, had I had somebody who does what I do, I would have planned the day she passed, I would have planned where I want, I would have known to, you know, take time off of what I needed. I I do know what I mean, like I would have known I still don't know where her body is. Like it was such like there were no options presented to me. I I don't know anything. Right? But at least And that's how that's that's how it went.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

I guess it's comforting to do at least know that you feel that she acknowledged you and said that goodbye.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Um I do. Yeah, that's oh I and I do wholeheartedly like I have no doubt I'm very clear about that.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Yeah. See, and that that was what that was one thing that stung me, probably still stings me today, is like I don't feel like I ever really got that closure with Marley, hated it. Um I had a that's hard. I had a lot of flood of emotions, anger just all over the place. And I still can visualize that week because you know, one day she's perfectly healthy and all of a sudden the next day she's gone. It's like, what the heck? It was gut-wrenching.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

Um I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

Well, yeah, and I to your point, I can relate to everything you said, you know, asking lots of questions because you know, this stuff is hitting you like a landslide, and you're just falling down the the hill not knowing how to stop it.

SPEAKER_00 40:20

Um no idea.

SPEAKER_01 40:22

Yeah, but I that's you you touched on it. I know we're getting close to the end of our episode. We'll probably have to bring you back and do some more. Um I hate that we didn't talk much about Zelda.

Zelda And Lenny’s Odd Friendship

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Um Zelda, my girl, she's the greatest.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

Yeah, the little nine-pound. And I haven't seen uh I haven't seen a drive-by by Zelda.

SPEAKER_00 40:45

Um no, she's in her bed. This is her bed. Zelda is a dial, like a sundial. She does the same thing every day, like clockwork.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Oh, so she's uh she's in bed right now?

SPEAKER_00 40:54

She's in her bed, one of her beds. She's got several, so they both have several beds all over the house, as well as couches and the actual bed. It's fine. Uh no, Zelda's taking her snooze.

SPEAKER_01 41:04

That's now. Does Zelda and Lenny uh sleep together?

SPEAKER_00 41:10

No.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

No.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

They're a different kind of they have a different kind of companionship. They're I I see them as true companions. Like they're not like super affectionate, although Lenny cobs her every day. He goes up and literally chews her skin every day. Um, but they're not on top of each other. No, he does. You can see this in the their TikTok page. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

I'd love to see that.

SPEAKER_00 41:35

Yeah, it's pretty wild, it's wild. But um, no, but they're often together. I can't explain it. Like they like to be together, but they're not on top of each other.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

Okay. Um yeah, no, I'm just trying to think of a question. I I I if Zelda as big as Lenny is, does Zelda get to crawl around him? Or that no, Lenny Lenny just won't allow that. Or that or something.

SPEAKER_00 42:00

Lenny's really, he's really, really good with her. She's she will go up and she'll like sniff his ears, or like do like a drive-by and like kick her back leg on him. Do you know what I mean? Or like do like a headbutt and walk away. Zelda's really aware of his size, though. I've noticed with Zelda, she is, and because Lenny's Lenny, right? So she has to have extra vigilance around his movements. Like, if they're on the bed, she always gets off first and goes away. Because, right? Or like when they come up to greet me in the morning, they're always together. When they come up together, they're like, Yeah, let's go get her. They're like a team, it's really cute.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

But she's always on the inside, like a little behind him. She always has to have an eye out for him. Not that he would intentionally hurt her, but because he's big and he's clunk, he's a clunker, he's fl he flails. So she's got a she knows that.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

Uh no, that's you got a smart cat there to kind of realize. Well, he's like 10 times my size. I gotta be careful around him.

SPEAKER_00 43:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But she has no fear of him.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

That's good, that's awesome. Um, well, shoot, I know we're getting close to the end.

SPEAKER_00 43:17

I know.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

But what and you touched on this a little.

Advice For Aging Pets And Grief

SPEAKER_01 43:21

Usually the the kind of how we close on the show a little bit is just to um like advice that you would give families that are you know dealing with a loss or an aging pet. What what what simple advice would you give them?

SPEAKER_00 43:41

Um, dealing with an aging pet, I I would start thinking about actions around end of life. I know that sounds really hard to negotiate in your mind. It often brings a lot of comfort, and you can actually change the trajectory of your grief. After if you have autonomy and start making decisions about how you want that day to go. And that is an advantage during anticipatory grief. And then for those who are grieving or who have lost a pet, don't ever let anybody push you around your own grief. You don't have to defend your grief to anyone. There's nothing wrong with falling apart for just a little while. You just lost your greatest friend, greatest ally, and closest companion. And um grief is a special time because losing something that meant so much can be can be seen in a light of a gift to have so much meaning attached to loss. And in by letting yourself grieve, you learn how to connect to your pet in an entirely different way for the rest of your life moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 44:56

Wow. I love that. That's beautiful. Thank you.

Thanks And Where To Find Corinne

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Um good, good way to close out. Yeah, thank thank you for being here. Thank you for sharing. Um, and and for you listeners, in the description of this podcast, we will have ways to find Corinne. Said that right, right?

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:18

Okay. Um to yeah, to yeah, we'll we'll all the details about her. We'll get some good pictures and stuff. But um just wanted to thank you for being on the show today.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Thanking you as well. This was a real delight. You're lovely to speak with. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Awesome. Thank you. Don't go anywhere just yet.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Okay, sounds good.