Furball Confidential29 Marras 2025

Trixie, Anna and Elsa's Dad (aka Author Dean Koontz)

As a writer, how do you know when the work day is done? For Dean Koontz, it’s when a golden retriever throws your hand off the keyboard at exactly 5pm. A self-described “workaholic” who has written more than 100 books, Dean says adopting his first dog Trixie transformed his schedule and his life. Dean opens up about Trixie’s mystical side, what it’s like to care for a “perfect soul” and the jealous rage he felt when her debut book (co-written with Dean) outsold his own first novel. And he talks about coping with the immense grief of losing Trixie and how he and his wife Gerda knew they were ready to love another dog.

Dean and Gerda adopted all three of their golden retrievers through Canine Companions for Independence, which trains service dogs for adults, children and veterans with disabilities at no cost to the client. When a dog has a “career change” (ie. doesn’t make it through training or can’t work as a service dog for whatever reason), it goes up for adoption to the general public. Or, say, to a world famous author who’s about to get a whole lot more exercise walking.

You can keep up with Dean and Elsa on Instagram here and on Facebook here

And you can find all his books on his website here

***

Furball Confidential is created and hosted by Jen Moroz

Talia Schlanger is our producer

Talia also co-created our theme music with David Travers-Smith, with Brian Kobayakawa on bass

Reza Dahya does the video and sound design and editing

Dani Stover does our social media

Our show artwork is by Adrian Forrow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(16)

TimTam's Mom (aka Podcasting Guru Julie Shapiro)

In the worlds of audio and podcasting, Julie Shapiro is a bit of a thing. She was co-founder and artistic director of the vaunted Third Coast Audio Festival. She was executive producer of the podcast ...

28 Helmi 29min

A Letter to My Dog

A bunch of you have asked me about my own relationship with Clutch, beyond what is peppered throughout the conversations we've been having on Furball Confidential. I have obviously been thinking a lot...

27 Joulu 20256min

Zuzu's Mom (aka Journalist Anna Maria Tremonti)

To a lot of people, Anna Maria Tremonti is known as a hardnose journalist unafraid to ask the tough questions. A former foreign correspondent for CBC News and longtime host of The Current on CBC Radio...

6 Joulu 202531min

Leia & Archer's Dad (aka “Siberian Derpskies” Content Creator Jonathan Brinksman)

They’re belligerent. They talk back. They scheme. And if you’re a husky person like Jonathan Brinksman, that’s all part of the furry appeal. Jonathan grew up with two huskies, and is now proud husky d...

22 Marras 202530min

Thirteen's Mama (aka Rapper Haviah Mighty)

Haviah had her heart set on adopting the underdog. Or, undercat, as it were. Black cats are often overlooked in the rescue world and as a young Black woman growing up in Canada, the experience of bein...

15 Marras 202532min

Rex’s Mom (aka “Hudson & Rex” Lead Dog Trainer Sherri Davis)

Sit. Stay. Safely jump through a fake glass window with dozens of people watching you. Ok, maybe that last command is best reserved for the pros. And it doesn’t get more pro than Sherri Davis.Sherri w...

8 Marras 202535min

Lola, Mowgli and Dodson’s Mom (aka Actor Adrienne C. Moore)

Meant to be. That’s really the only way to describe the trio of doggos that Adrienne C. Moore - star of Orange is the New Black and Pretty Hard Cases - calls her family. We dive into the remarkable or...

1 Marras 202534min