Spring Special! A Conversation with Dr. Patricia McConnell
- Apr 14
- 1 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
For our Spring Special, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with someone whose work shaped the early years of my dog‑training career:
A Conversation withPatricia McConnell. Many listeners will know her from The Other End of the Leash, For the Love of a Dog, and The Education of Will — books that helped an entire generation of trainers understand dogs with more nuance, empathy, and scientific grounding.
But this time, Patricia isn’t writing nonfiction. She’s written a murder mystery.
Her new novel, Away to Me, brings together her decades of experience as an animal behaviourist, her deep love of herding dogs, and her fascination with the subtle communication that happens between species. It’s also a story about a woman — Maddie McGowan — who is navigating her own hero’s journey, complete with sheep, Border Collies, and a past she’s not quite ready to talk about.
Patricia has spent her career helping people understand the emotional lives of dogs — and, by extension, the emotional lives of humans. Hearing her talk about fiction, craft, and character adds a new dimension to that work. It’s a reminder that stories are one of the ways we make sense of other minds, whether they belong to humans, dogs, or sheep.
If you’re curious about the intersection of science, storytelling, and the human–animal bond, this episode is a rich one.
The is the Spring Special Episode! Transcript
McConnell describes learning the craft of fiction, developing protagonist Maddie McGowan, for her recently released murder mystery, 'Away To Me'. The conversation also explores what herding teaches about partnership and training without leashes, how breed and context affect behavior, and what she hopes the next generation of trainers advances.
Guest Bio: Patricia McConnell, PhD, CAAB is an internationally renowned animal behaviorist and author whose acclaimed books, including The Other End of the Leash, For the Love of a Dog, and The Education of Will, have sold more than 1.2 million copies. She saw clients whose dogs had serious behavioral problems for twenty-five years, and spoke around the world about canine training and behavior. A former adjunct professor in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her nationally syndicated radio show, Calling All Pets, played in more than 110 cities for 14 years and her television show, Petline, aired on Animal Planet for two and a half years. Her debut novel, Away to Me, is her first venture into fiction, and has received rave reviews. She lives with her husband, Jim Billings, her Border Collies Skip and Maggie, and a spoiled flock of sheep on a farm in Southern Wisconsin, and can be found online at PatriciaMcConnell.com.
Book Recommendations: The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd's Life by Helen Whybrow
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