
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 16 chart positions in 16 markets.
By chart position
- 🇦🇺AU · Life Sciences#36100K to 300K
- 🇺🇸US · Life Sciences#5130K to 100K
- 🇬🇧GB · Life Sciences#8630K to 100K
- 🇨🇦CA · Life Sciences#9930K to 100K
- 🇩🇪DE · Life Sciences#1495K to 30K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
115K to 376K🎙 Weekly cadence·71 episodes·Last published 1w ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
230K to 752K🇦🇺40%🇺🇸13%🇬🇧13%+13 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
92K to 301K
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
—
* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
From 12 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
Jane Lindquist Part 2: Weaning and the Microbiome
Jun 16, 2026
35m 20s
Jane Lindquist Part 1: Puppy Culture Revisit
May 28, 2026
36m 57s
REPLAY: Dr. Jane Ladlow and BOAS
May 8, 2026
1h 09m 43s
Jess Sedivy Gunderson and Xan Latta: The Flat Coat Conservation Project
Apr 18, 2026
56m 35s
Behavioral genetics of herding breeds: article discussion with Sarah Stremming
Nov 11, 2025
1h 19m 52s
Social Links & Contact
Official channels & resources
Official Website
Login
RSS Feed
Login
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/16/26 | ![]() Jane Lindquist Part 2: Weaning and the Microbiome | In part two of this conversation, Jess Sedivy Gunderson continues her discussion with Jane Lindquist, diving into Jane’s newer work around weaning, early nutrition, and the puppy gut microbiome. The episode explores how breeders are beginning to think more deeply about gut health during developmental periods, the role of maternal influence and early diet, and how weaning practices may shape long-term health and resilience. The conversation also emphasizes that there is no single “perfect” approach to raising puppies, and that breeders across feeding philosophies can benefit from understanding the emerging science in this area. Note: This episode focuses on weaning strategies and the puppy microbiome. However, discussion of diet is closely connected to any discussion of the microbiome. The Functional Dog Collaborative does not endorse a single feeding approach; listeners are encouraged to evaluate options based on current evidence, veterinary guidance, and their individual program goals. Support the podcast and the work of the Functional Dog Collaborative on Patreon: Functional Breeding Patreon Decoding the Foodome: https://barabasi.com/media/2024-Menichetti-Decoding.pdf | 35m 20s | ||||||
| 5/28/26 | ![]() Jane Lindquist Part 1: Puppy Culture Revisit✨ | puppy raisingsocialization+4 | Jane Lindquist | Functional Dog Collaborativepuppyculture.com+1 | — | puppy culturepuppy raising+5 | — | 36m 57s | |
| 5/8/26 | ![]() REPLAY: Dr. Jane Ladlow and BOAS✨ | brachycephalic breedsfunctional health+4 | Dr. Jane Ladlow | Functional Dog Collaborativebrachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) | — | BOASbrachycephalic+4 | — | 1h 09m 43s | |
| 4/18/26 | ![]() Jess Sedivy Gunderson and Xan Latta: The Flat Coat Conservation Project✨ | Flatcoat Conservation Projectgenetic rescue+3 | Jess Sedivy GundersonXan Latta | Flatcoat Conservation ProjectFunctional Dog Collaborative | Flat-Coated Retrievers | Flatcoat Conservation Projectgenetic rescue+4 | — | 56m 35s | |
| 11/11/25 | ![]() Behavioral genetics of herding breeds: article discussion with Sarah Stremming✨ | behavioral geneticsherding breeds+3 | Sarah Stremming | Functional Dog Collaborativecog dog radio+2 | — | behavioral geneticsherding breeds+3 | — | 1h 19m 52s | |
| 7/20/25 | ![]() Laura Sharkey, PhD, KPA CTP, SDC: What puppies are capable of✨ | dog breedingpuppy training+3 | Laura Sharkey | Bosun Dog ProjectThe Functional Dog Collaborative | — | puppiesdog training+3 | — | 34m 46s | |
| 6/19/25 | ![]() Micah Halpern, PhD: Canine Genetic Testing✨ | canine genetic testinggenetics+4 | Micah Halpern | GenSol DiagnosticsThe Functional Dog Collaborative | — | canine geneticsgenetic testing+4 | — | 1h 01m 55s | |
| 3/25/25 | ![]() Dr. Hille Fieten, Copper Toxicity✨ | copper toxicitygenetics+3 | Dr. Hille Fieten | Utrecht UniversityCenter for Expertise in Genetics and Veterinary Medicine | — | copper toxicitygenetics+3 | — | 1h 03m 43s | |
| 3/4/25 | ![]() Hekman and Stremming: New paper on prevalence of behavior problems in dogs in the US✨ | dog behaviorresearch findings+3 | Sarah Stremming | Cog Dog RadioJournal of Veterinary Behavior+3 | — | dog behavior problemspet owners+3 | — | 48m 53s | |
| 2/4/25 | ![]() Dr. Paula Boyden: Puppy Smuggling in the UK✨ | puppy smugglinganimal welfare+3 | Dr. Paula Boyden | Dogs Trust UK | — | puppy smugglingDogs Trust UK+3 | — | 1h 09m 03s | |
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 1/22/25 | ![]() Sara Reusche: Breeding Sports Lite Dogs✨ | dog breedingsports lite dogs+3 | Sara Reusche | Paws Abilities Dog Training, LLCFunctional Dog Collaborative+2 | Southeast MinnesotaTwin Cities metro | sports litedog training+3 | — | 57m 27s | |
| 1/7/25 | ![]() Carm Aufderheide, CSAT, MS-CRES: How we change minds✨ | dog behaviorconflict resolution+4 | Carm Aufderheide | North Star TrainingSupercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection+4 | — | dog behaviorconflict resolution+4 | — | 1h 30m 37s | |
| 12/18/24 | ![]() Rowena Packer, PhD: How people think about brachycephalic dogs✨ | brachycephalic dogsdog breeding+3 | Rowena Packer | Royal Veterinary College | — | brachycephalicdog health+3 | — | 1h 24m 47s | |
| 11/26/24 | ![]() Genetic Testing Cavaliers for Heart Disease | This episode is just me (Jessica Perry Hekman, DVM, PhD) - talking about a new genetic test for the risk of mitral valve disease in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Cavs are at incredibly high risk of this disease and get it at much younger ages than other breeds. What does this new test mean in terms of predicting if your Cav is at risk, and whether a particular Cav should be bred? I talk about several papers in this episode. If you want to check them out yourself, they are: Mead, Sophie E., et al. "Genetic Variants at the Nebulette Locus Are Associated with Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease Severity in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels." Genes 13.12 (2022): 2292. - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9778376/ Mattin, M. J., et al. "Prevalence of and risk factors for degenerative mitral valve disease in dogs attending primary‐care veterinary practices in England." Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 29.3 (2015): 847-854. - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jvim.12591 Keene, Bruce W., et al. "ACVIM consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs." Journal of veterinary internal medicine 33.3 (2019): 1127-1140. - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6524084/ | 30m 15s | ||||||
| 11/14/24 | ![]() Kim Kavin: The Dog Merchants | Kim Kavin is an award-winning freelance writer who is also passionate about better understanding where dogs come from in the United States. Her book, The Dog Merchants, is a fascinating read for anyone who wants a look at places few of us are able to go, such as a dog auction or a high volume kennel-based breeding operation. Kim and I talked about the ins and outs of the complex industry that has grown up around puppy production, including large scale breeding and rescue operations. In this interview, the two of us are describing a system that is absolutely sub-optimal with regard to canine welfare. While we did discuss how some parts of the system may not be as abhorrent as they've been described elsewhere, I want to be clear that one of the goals of the Functional Dog Collaborative is to make change in exactly this area. So please do not confuse our descriptions of what is existing for our approval of it. You can find Kim at kimkavin.com. In addition to her book The Dog Merchants, you may also enjoy checking out her book Little Boy Blue (also discussed briefly in this interview). | 1h 18m 30s | ||||||
| 10/28/24 | ![]() Daniel Mills, BVSc, ECAWBM(BM), PhD: Pain and behavior problems | This week I'm talking to Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln and director of the University Animal Behaviour Clinic. Daniel is internationally recognized as an authority on companion animal behavior, cognition, and welfare. His lab studies, among other things, the association between untreated pain and behavior issues. I asked him to talk about his research and his insights into the challenges of assessing pain in dogs - and why it's so important to do so. | 1h 01m 27s | ||||||
| 10/17/24 | ![]() Dr. Cat Henstridge: Unlicensed fertility clinics in the UK | This week I'm talking with Dr. Cat Henstridge. Cat, who is a primary care veterinarian in the UK, has been on several TV series, including the Pets Factor. She writes for veterinary and non-veterinary publications, and is known as Cat the Vet to her many, many social media followers. Cat and I talked about the rise of unlicensed fertility clinics in the UK - why they have sprung up, what the problems with them are, and some thoughts about how many veterinarians interact with breeder clients. You can follow Cat at catthevet.com, on Instagram and TikTok as cat_the_vet, and on Facebook as catthevet. | 1h 01m 10s | ||||||
| 9/30/24 | ![]() Jane Ladlow, VetMB, DipECVS, MRCVS: Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome | This week I'm talking to Dr Jane Ladlow. Jane is a veterinary surgeon who is widely known as an expert on BOAS, or brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome. BOAS is the umbrella disorder that covers a variety of different airflow obstructions in different flat-faced breeds such as the pug, French bulldog, and English bulldog. Jane developed the Respiratory Function Grading Scheme, a straightforward clinical exam which allows grading of a BOAS-effected dog. Jane works with the Kennel Club in the UK to promote this scheme, which is also being rolled out in other countries including the US. I was really pleased to get to talk to Jane about BOAS, her grading scheme, and what this means for breeding healthy brachycephalic dogs. | 1h 09m 34s | ||||||
| 9/16/24 | ![]() Gina Bryson and Drs O'Neill and Packer: The Doodle Dilemma | Today I'm talking with the researchers who recently published a paper that's been getting a lot of social media buzz. The paper's title is "The doodle dilemma: How the physical health of ‘Designer-crossbreed’ Cockapoo, Labradoodle and Cavapoo dogs’ compares to their purebred progenitor breeds." This interview was a big party featuring Gina Bryson, the first author on the paper, as well as two researchers from Royal Veterinary College, Dr Rowena Packer, and Dr Dan O'Neill, who has been a guest on the podcast before. Gina, Rowena, and Dan walked me through what the paper does and does not tell us about the health of some specific common crosses compared to the parent breeds, and also let me know about additional data that they collected that we'll be seeing in some future papers from the group. A quick side note that they refer a few times to the RVC, which is the Royal Veterinary College, the institution where they work. And another side note - I've started going by my middle name, Perry, because I like it better. My pronouns are still she/her. You'll hear Dan call me Perry a few times during this episode and I didn't want anyone to be confused by that. Jessica is still my legal and professional name - if it helps to contextualize, you can think of Perry as a nickname. On with the episode! Bryson GT, O’Neill DG, Brand CL, Belshaw Z, Packer RMA (2024) The doodle dilemma: How the physical health of ‘Designer-crossbreed’ Cockapoo, Labradoodle and Cavapoo dogs’ compares to their purebred progenitor breeds. PLoS ONE 19(8): e0306350. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306350 | 1h 34m 23s | ||||||
| 9/9/24 | ![]() What is the coefficient of inbreeding (COI) and why does it matter? | This week you get just me (Jessica Perry Hekman) talking at you! I'm talking about the coefficient of inbreeding (COI), a measurement of genetic diversity that's commonly mentioned in discussions of individual and breed health. I talk about what it is, how to interpret it, how to get the measurement done for your own dog(s), why we care about it, and give the take-home messages from some papers with evidence for its importance in dog specifically. COI is not the only thing you should be breeding for, and it's rarely even the most important thing - but it's something we should keep in mind when we are working in closed gene pools. NOTE: Oops, I said in the episode that the MDR1 mutation is recessive. It's not - it's incompletely dominant, meaning that dogs can be affected even with only one copy of the mutant allele. I apologize - please note the mistake as the correct information is important here. I mention some previous podcast episodes with related material - you can find them here:Alison Skipper, PhD on the history of breed registries: https://functionalbreeding.podbean.com/e/alison-skipper-phd-the-history-of-breed-registries/ Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH, on breeding for population health: https://functionalbreeding.org/breeding-for-population-health/ The papers: https://functionalbreeding.org/the-impact-of-inbreeding-on-litter-size/ - Chu ET, Simpson MJ, Diehl K, Page RL, Sams AJ, Boyko AR. Inbreeding depression causes reduced fecundity in Golden Retrievers. Mammalian Genome. 2019 Jun 1;30(5):166-72. - "The least inbred dogs had an average litter size of 8 puppies, while the most inbred dogs had an average litter size of 6-7 puppies. On average, with each 10% increase in inbreeding, the litter size decreased by one puppy." https://functionalbreeding.org/inbreeding-depression-and-lifespan/ - Yordy J, Kraus C, Hayward JJ, White ME, Shannon LM, Creevy KE, Promislow DEL, Boyko AR. Body size, inbreeding, and lifespan in domestic dogs. Conserv Genet. 2020 Feb;21(1):137-148. - mixed breed live on average 1.2 years longer than size matched purebreds https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090023313004486 - O'Neill DG, Church DB, McGreevy PD, Thomson PC, Brodbelt DC. Longevity and mortality of owned dogs in England. Vet J. 2013 Dec;198(3):638-43. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.09.020 - again, mixed breed live on average 1.2 years longer than size matched purebreds https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40575-020-00086-8 - Urfer SR, Kaeberlein M, Promislow DEL, Creevy KE. Lifespan of companion dogs seen in three independent primary care veterinary clinics in the United States. Canine Med Genet. 2020 Jun 16;7:7. - breeds with lower COI have 3-6 month longer expected lifespans https://functionalbreeding.org/size-genetic-diversity-lifespan/ - Kraus C, Snyder-Mackler N, Promislow DEL. How size and genetic diversity shape lifespan across breeds of purebred dogs. Geroscience. 2023 Apr;45(2):627-643. - + 1% heterozygosity -> + 31 days of life https://functionalbreeding.org/the-effect-of-inbreeding-body-size-and-morphology-on-health-in-dog-breeds/ - Bannasch, D., Famula, T., Donner, J. et al. The effect of inbreeding, body size and morphology on health in dog breeds. Canine Genet Epidemiol 8, 12 (2021). - 30kg dog: 0->40% COI -> 10% increase in veterinary care visits; 5kg or 60kg: 37% increase https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1007361 - Donner, Jonas, et al. "Frequency and distribution of 152 genetic disease variants in over 100,000 mixed breed and purebred dogs." PLoS genetics 14.4 (2018): e1007361. - purebred more likely to be affected, mutts to be just carriers | 39m 32s | ||||||
| 8/27/24 | ![]() REPLAY: Jane Lindquist: Puppy Culture | I will have new content for you all soon - but for now, enjoy one from the archives! -- Jane Lindquist is the founder and owner of Puppy Culture, a widely used educational resource for raising and socializing puppies. She herself breeds and competes with bull terriers. As it turns out, she is very thoughtful when it comes to how to apply science to the raising of puppies. We had a wide ranging conversation, at times nerdy, at times philosophical. You can learn more about Puppy Culture at www.puppyculture.com, and more about Jane's breeding program, Madcap Bull Terriers, at www.madcapbullterriers.com. Find this episode's transcript at functionalbreeding.org/jane-lindquist-puppy-culture/ | 1h 11m 19s | ||||||
| 7/18/24 | ![]() Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH: Breeding for Population Health | This episode I welcome back Mary Peaslee, MD, MPH, to talk about a breeder's perspective on all the advice Dr Dan O'Neill gave us in his recent episode on how to approach disorder testing. Mary works in population health and brings that perspective to her breeding practice. So what does all this stuff look like in the real world? How can breeders focus on the future health of the dog population they work with? What are some challenges they'll encounter? Mary has some great advice and perspective that I hope will help people think through their breeding goals and approaches. You can learn more about Mary's breeding program here: https://englishshepherds.net and you can find her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mary.peaslee.9 Detailed summary: https://functionalbreeding.org/breeding-for-population-health/ | 1h 29m 41s | ||||||
| 7/2/24 | ![]() Jessica Hekman, DVM, PhD, on "Lifetime Prevalence of Owner-Reported Medical Conditions" | We have a flipped episode this week with Sarah Stremming of Cog Dog Radio interviewing me. We're talking about the new paper out of the Dog Aging Project, "Lifetime Prevalence of Owner-Reported Medical Conditions in the 25 Most Common Dog Breeds in the Dog Aging Project Pack." There's been a lot of buzz on social media about this paper and we wanted to dig in to its findings. For those who saw our live Q&A about the paper, this interview covers very similar ground, although we go into some more detail. I'll include links to this study and others below, and if you want to ask questions about the paper, the Functional Breeding Facebook group is a great place to do it! Forsyth, Kiersten K, et al. “Lifetime Prevalence of Owner-Reported Medical Conditions in the 25 Most Common Dog Breeds in the Dog Aging Project Pack.” Frontiers in Veterinary Science, vol. 10, 3 Nov. 2023. Original: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1140417 FDC summary: https://functionalbreeding.org/common-conditions-seen-in-primary-care-visits/ Do purebreds live longer? Yordy, J, et al. “Body size, inbreeding, and lifespan in domestic dogs”. Conserv. Genet. 21 (2020): 137-148. - https://functionalbreeding.org/inbreeding-depression-and-lifespan/ - “For a given body size category, mixed breed dogs lived on average 1.2 years longer than purebred ones.” Urfer, Silvan R., et al. "Lifespan of companion dogs seen in three independent primary care veterinary clinics in the United States." Canine medicine and genetics 7 (2020): 1-14. - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40575-020-00086-8 - DAP authors before DAP started - “We did not find significant differences in lifespan between purebred and mixed breed dogs; however, breeds with larger effective population sizes and/or lower inbreeding coefficients had median survival times 3–6 months longer than breeds with smaller effective population sizes or higher inbreeding coefficients” Mata, Fernando, and Andreia Mata. "Investigating the relationship between inbreeding and life expectancy in dogs: mongrels live longer than pure breeds." PeerJ 11 (2023): e15718. - https://peerj.com/articles/15718/?f...gzQO4ualQE4De4iuO6RmqokNKNTRYdxORkaYEMBwDx_0I - VetCompass data - “mongrel dogs had the highest life expectancy, followed by cross-bred dogs with only one purebred ancestor and purebred dogs had the lowest life expectancy” Increased inbreeding correlates to decreased lifespan Kraus C, et al. “How size and genetic diversity shape lifespan across breeds of purebred dogs”. GeroScience (2022). - https://functionalbreeding.org/size-genetic-diversity-lifespan/ Bannasch, D., Famula, T., Donner, J. et al. The effect of inbreeding, body size and morphology on health in dog breeds. Canine Genet Epidemiol 8, 12 (2021). - https://functionalbreeding.org/the-effect-of-inbreeding-body-size-and-morphology-on-health-in-dog-breeds/ Are there specific disorders of concern that are more common in purebreds? Bellumori, Thomas P., et al. "Prevalence of inherited disorders among mixed-breed and purebred dogs: 27,254 cases (1995–2010)." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 242.11 (2013): 1549-1555. - https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/242/11/javma.242.11.1549.xml - UC Davis, 24 heritable (genetic) disorders - “Purebred dogs were more likely to have 10 genetic disorders, including dilated cardiomyopathy, elbow dysplasia, cataracts, and hypothyroidism. Mixed-breed dogs had a greater probability of ruptured cranial cruciate ligament.” Donner, Jonas, et al. "Frequency and distribution of 152 genetic disease variants in over 100,000 mixed breed and purebred dogs." PLoS genetics 14.4 (2018): e1007361. - https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1007361 - “Mixed breed dogs were more likely to carry a common recessive disease, whereas purebreds were more likely to be genetically affected with one, providing DNA-based evidence for hybrid vigor.” (i.e. it isn’t a problem if | 1h 02m 17s | ||||||
| 6/19/24 | ![]() What's up with FDC and the podcast | There's a lot going on behind the scenes of the Functional Dog Collaborative and I have a lot of plans for upcoming podcast episodes. I also have had a bunch of people say they can't record this summer and so it may be a few weeks until I get the next episode out. So here's some stuff to tide you over - explanation of what's going on and what episode topics I have coming up! (If you want to suggest episode topics, or get a chance to have your questions asked during an interview, head over to join our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/functionalbreeding.) | 15m 06s | ||||||
| 6/7/24 | ![]() Dan O'Neill, MVB, PhD, FRCVS: Disorder Testing | Last episode I talked with Dr. Dan O'Neill, a veterinary epidemiologist who studies canine disorders that have an inherited component - what the rest of us might call "genetic diseases." During that interview he mentioned that he didn't think disorder testing - what most of us call health testing - has been workinig to improve canine health. I cut that section because I felt we needed to go into a lot more detail on it to understand what he meant by that, since I knew he didn't mean we should entirely stop health testing - I mean disorder testing. So here is the followup interview. I want to emphasize that he isn't saying disorder testing shouldn't be done as an aid to choosing how to breed dogs. He IS saying that the way we approach choosing and interpreting tests could use a revamp. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! | 1h 32m 12s | ||||||
Showing 25 of 72
Sponsor Intelligence
Sign in to see which brands sponsor this podcast, their ad offers, and promo codes.
Chart Positions
16 placements across 16 markets.
Chart Positions
16 placements across 16 markets.
