Meet the minds behind Good Dog, their motivations, goals and dreams.
Co-Founder and CEO Josh Wais, Judi Stella, Head of Standards and Research, and Cat Matloub, Head of Partnerships and Legal Affairs join the host Laura Reeves for a convo on the origin story of Good Dog.
Here at the Good Dog Pod, we are all about supporting dog breeders and responsible dog ownership. Good Dog is on a mission to build a better world for our dogs and the people who love them through education and advocacy. The Good Dog Pod provides dog lovers with the latest updates in canine health and veterinary care, animal legislation and legal advocacy, canine training and behavior science, and dog breeding practices. Subscribe and join our mission to help give our dogs the world they deserve.
In this episode, Josh shares his vision for creating Good Dog. It all started with a question. 
Josh Wais, Good Dog Co-Founder/CEO:
“How can we use technology in the right way to help empower those who are working so hard to make sure that we have dogs that are sound of body and mind? And empower prospective dog owners who just want to do what's right, but maybe have had a bit of a challenge figuring out what that is.”
“That's what this podcast is all about. It's about putting things out there that we've learned. It's about educating. But it's also our way of listening and our way of having a conversation with the community at large.”
Judi shares her background in the veterinary field and working in collaboration with Purdue University at the USDA overseeing the Animal Welfare Act.


Judi Stella, Head of Research and Standards:


“I love Good Dog’s mission. I saw this as an opportunity to really work with dog breeders and dog owners to interject some more science and some more evidence-based recommendations into what we are doing. I see my role as the scientist that can translate the science to regular people. With the technology we can communicate it on a large scale. We have interviews with experts about behavior and genetics and reproduction. We make these available to anybody. We want every person that we come in contact with to be able to succeed. We want to give them the information they need to succeed. All of our webinars and educational materials are on our site and they're free to everyone.”


Cat Matloub, Head of Partnerships and Legal Affairs


“I saw a lot of people very close to me -- my roommates, my best friends, my colleagues, my law school classmates, and then my parents -- go through just horrifying experiences of trying to get a dog. Wanting to get a dog. Wanting to bring that joy and love into their lives. And just being faced with huge anxiety about how to do that. Is it wrong to get one from a breeder? What does that mean? How do you know what you should do? How do you know you're not gonna get your money stolen online like so many people do? It's heartbreaking.


[After] I connected with Josh and Lauren, who had similarly gone through that experience, I had this kind of life changing moment. I unlearned everything that I thought I knew about the dog world. I learned that we've been hugely successful in decreasing the number of dogs in shelters and rescues. Because we love dogs so very much the demand is huge. Actually, we don't have an overpopulation problem, as https://www.naiaonline.org/ (Patti Strand) likes to say, it's a distribution problem. The truth is we're going to run out of dogs in the future if we don't support dog breeders. Then I started learning more and I started realizing that dog breeders are actually the ones doing everything in their power to produce healthy dogs, to produce well-adjusted dogs. They stand behind their dogs. It was just kind of so eye opening.”


Laura Reeves, Host Good Dog Pod and https://puredogtalk.com/ (Pure Dog Talk) podcast


“I am a dog breeder. I have been involved in breeding purebred dogs for 40 years. I was a professional show dog handler. I am an American Kennel