Shel Graves Animal (she/they)
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shelgraves.bsky.social
Shel Graves Animal (she/they)
@shelgraves.bsky.social
260 followers 210 following 150 posts
Animal rescue. Animal behavior. Animal chaplain. Owner of Shel Graves Animal Consulting (dog training, dog and cat behavior, and pet loss support)., CTC, UW-AAB, Fear Free Certified Trainer, Speaker, Coach. Solarpunk author, optimistic science fiction
Posts Replies Media Videos
shelgraves.bsky.social
Five things I am grateful for: #2 Your reviews of Shel Graves Animal Consulting! They help connect people to credentialed positive trainers and expert behavior help to make lives with animals in our homes less stressful and more playful, safe, and fun.
A small dog with a thoughtful expression and soft eyes sits in front of a red door and the dog is wearing a red harness. A quote is in a heart-shaped graphic "Shel has been a kind and experienced coach for our family as we have worked together to reduce our dog's fearfulness. We strongly recommend her!" — Mary M. Shel Graves Animal Consulting logo shelgravesanimal.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:54 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Five things I am grateful for: #1 My clients! I love seeing your dedication to your canine and feline family members, willingness to try new things, and commitment to positive training. Also, dogs who love to play with leaves! www.shelgravesanimal.com/post/gratitu...
A small terrier dog sniffs a vibrant red maple leaf. Logo Shel Graves Animal Consulting, Doing Our Best for Animals A black and tan Shiba Inu smiles (open-mouthed relaxed but curious expression) at a brown, crunchy looking oak leaf. Logo text: Shel Graves Animal Consulting, Doing Our Best for Animals
November 26, 2025 at 9:40 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Although sorry for her loss and conflicted about her life in captivity, I appreciated opening the news this morning and seeing this being featured on the front page. She lived through 20 U.S. Presidents and enjoyed munching on romaine lettuce and cactus fruit. 🙌❤ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Queen of the Zoo’: Gramma, tortoise who lived through two world wars, dies aged 141
Gramma came to San Diego Zoo from Bronx Zoo in 1928 or 1931 and lived through 20 US presidents
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Faith Matters veterinary chaplains in the news: Scott Campbell, veterinary chaplain at Washington State University and founder of the American Association of Veterinary Chaplains, helps a journalist cope with a loss of a chicken www.dnews.com/religion/no-...
FAITH MATTERS: No loss is too great or too small for a chaplain’s guid...
Commentary by Tracy Simmons
www.dnews.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Great post by Daniel Antolec @petguild.bsky.social Not All Dogs Make Good Butlers --So true!
www.petprofessionalguild.com/pet-owners/p...
Not All Dogs Make Good Butlers...Management and Training Can Help - Pet Professional Guild
Many of my clients have concerns about how their dogs greet visitors at their home. This article addresses what to do if you have a dog who is not a good
www.petprofessionalguild.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:05 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Fearful Shelter Dogs Benefit From Early Start to Treatment
@zazietodd.bsky.social Helpful post. Saving this one! www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2025/11/fear...
Fearful Shelter Dogs Benefit From Early Start to Treatment
When fearful and reactive dogs are admitted to shelters, it’s best to start desensitization and counterconditioning right away, study finds.
www.companionanimalpsychology.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:22 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Do Dogs Grieve For Each Other? Great post by Kate LaSala of Rescued by Training
Do Dogs Grieve For Each Other?
Do dogs grieve? Learn what research says about surviving pets after a loss, how grief may show up in behavior, and ways to support your dog.
rescuedbytraining.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:18 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
I love this training video so much. 🐷🐽
Training is:
good communication
connection
building relationships
strengthening our bonds
youtu.be/p8VoXp4t33U?...
Pig Stefa - tricks, agility and fun! 2-5 months
YouTube video by ZolzaBC
youtu.be
November 19, 2025 at 8:30 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Looking forward to my new class for Edmonds College's Creative Retirement Institute: Strengthening the Human-Animal Bond: At Home, 10 am-noon, Monday, Nov. 17 and Nov. 24. $50 There's still time to register. www.campusce.net/edmondsarts/...
Class description: With a focus on companion animals, we will discuss how we share our homes with them, from bringing home a new puppy or kitten to adopting from a shelter or rescue, and raising them through adolescence, senior years, and end-of-life, as well as the considerations of each stage. How do companion animals contribute to our health and happiness? What do we know? What does the science say? And how do we contribute to the health and happiness of the animals? We will discuss some ethical issues and concerns, such as functional breeding, the use of artificial intelligence for shelter pets, and pet longevity, and explore the differences in training and temperament between service, emotional support, and therapy animals. The class will also include some fun facts about other animals who share our homes, including chickens, pigs, rats, and reptiles.
November 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
What a pleasure to talk with Genie Joseph, Executive Director of The Human-Animal Connection on Episode 79 of The Human-Animal Connection podcast. We talked about one of my favorite topics, How to Have a Happier Life with Dogs and Cats, and I shared some rescue stories. www.petliferadio.com/hac.html
The Human-Animal Connection Podcast | Healing with Animals on Pet Life Radio
Discover the 33 principles and healing methods behind The Human-Animal Connection with host Genie Joseph. Learn how listening to animals can transform lives and deepen the bond we share.
www.petliferadio.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:55 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Ask the Trainer: Four Tips to Solve Any Dog or Cat Behavior Challenge www.shelgravesanimal.com/post/ask-the...
Ask the Trainer: Four Tips to Solve Any Dog or Cat Behavior Challenge
Recently I did an Ask the Trainer event for Snohomish County’s wellness week. Fun! County employees brought their training and behavior questions. There were the usual suspects: dogs who jump up on gu...
www.shelgravesanimal.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:39 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
The Compassion Consortium put together and shared this Sacred Sendoff for Jane Goodall. Beautiful. youtu.be/L3ZjdXyO-zE?...
A Sacred Sendoff for Jane Goodall
YouTube video by Compassion Consortium
youtu.be
October 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Stop everything & read this! ❤️🐾 #mustlovedogs #dogs #happydogs #goals
October 7, 2025 at 10:51 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
To read! Toying With Behavioral Change: Encouraging Play With Cats @mikeldelgado.bsky.social @faunalytics.bsky.social faunalytics.org/toying-with-... #catbehavior #happycats
faunalytics.org
October 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Shel Graves Animal (she/they)
emilytronetti.bsky.social
Join me and Andie Springirth of The Open Sanctuary Project on 10/22, 1:30–3:30 p.m. EST for a free Zoom workshop on nurturing farmed animal agency in sanctuary education. Includes a presentation, Q&A, and optional community reflection. Learn more and register here: bit.ly/3VocUtO
🐄❤️
October 2, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Shel Graves Animal (she/they)
zazietodd.bsky.social
"Dressed in a bright orange lifejacket – and sometimes goggles – Eba perches atop Giles’s research boat, scanning the wind. When she catches a whiff of orca faeces, she raises her nose..." www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Dogs and drones: how scientists are saving Washington’s endangered orcas
Experts are finding new and more humane ways to protect the last 74 southern resident killer whales
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Shel Graves Animal (she/they)
rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
Jane Goodall's work insisting, with evidence from her brilliant and tenacious fieldwork, that we were not so separate from animals, and they were much more like us than the Eurocentric theorists asserted, was so important.
October 1, 2025 at 6:38 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Happy Anniversary! A helpful book! 💙🐾
zazietodd.bsky.social Zazie Todd PhD @zazietodd.bsky.social · Oct 1
It's a year to the day since the publication of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog. Thanks to everyone who has written and told me what a difference it made to you and your dog :)
The cover of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog by Zazie Todd is blue with a cute but slightly worried looking Chihuahua.
October 2, 2025 at 2:36 AM
shelgraves.bsky.social
I love that the Compassion Consortium is doing a sacred sendoff for Jane Goodall, and so quickly realized that people would want to gather to honor and remember her www.compassionconsortium.org/jane #animalchaplaincy #animalchaplains
A Sacred Sendoff for Jane Goodall
Join us Oct 4 for a Celebration of Jane's life. We'll talk about the critical ways she mingled science & spirituality, hear accounts from people who knew her, invite you to share how she impacted your...
www.compassionconsortium.org
October 1, 2025 at 10:28 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Last pictures from Washington State Veterinary Medical Association’s Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference with the American Association of Veterinary Chaplains. & my favorite giveaway! #animalchaplain #PNWVC25
September 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Day two of the Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference with the American Association of Veterinary Chaplains.
Shel Graves in front of a Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference banner with a dog mask and meow sign. Silly. A book spotted at the conference The Vet at Noah’s Ark by Doug Mader.
September 27, 2025 at 6:39 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Some favorite giveaways from exhibitors at the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association’s Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference.
Four animal, veterinarian themed stickers: Follow You Passion, But the Trazodone Makes Me Sleepy angry chihuahua, Vets Helping Pets wsahf.org, and paw prints. An assortment of pens including from ASPCA, Veterinary Speciality Center, Adequan Canine, Animal Surgical and Orthopedic Center, and West Coast Pet Memorial. A new product for cat training from Blue Buffalo, Tastefuls, squeeze tubes of puree (tuna, salmon, chicken). Will it be as beloved as churu though?
September 27, 2025 at 1:33 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
At the Pacific Northwest Veterinary Conference with the American Association of Veterinary Chaplains.
Pacific Northwest veterinary conference badge Shel Graves UW-AAB, CTC Shel Graves standing in front of the Washington state veterinary medical Association banner at the Pacific Northwest veterinary conference Shel Graves standing in front of the Pacific Northwest veterinary conference banner American Association of veterinary chaplain, spiritual care for the animal human bond Shel Graves standing next to the booth at the Pacific Northwest veterinary conference.
September 26, 2025 at 4:08 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Vet check! Pain may be behind new behavior challenges. "...pain in pets often goes unrecognized because animals are very good at hiding pain, so we don’t always recognize that they’re suffering..." www.fearfreehappyhomes.com/pet-pain-wha... #PainAwarenessMonth #FearFreeTrainer #FearFree
Pet Pain: What You Don’t Know May Surprise You
Reading Time: 3 minutes Share onI hope you aren’t in pain as you read this. But if you are, you probably know that pain is one of the most common reasons we go to our doctors. Pain in humans is such a...
www.fearfreehappyhomes.com
September 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
shelgraves.bsky.social
Canine Superpowers, a poem to guide walkies: "We stroll the grounds and stop at every tree./Their noses lead to every thing I see." — Michael Kleber-Diggs @mkdordiggsy.bsky.social in @orionmagazine.bsky.social orionmagazine.org/article/you-... #dogs #poetry #poems #sniffari #sniffwalks #villanelle
Pick Your Poem: 6 Poems to Transport You into the Natural World - Orion Magazine
Six poems from and for the natural world
orionmagazine.org
September 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM