You’ve probably seen it - dramatizations of search dogs, running through the woods, noses to the ground, looking for a missing person, or for human remains. We’ve got a weird fascination with this stuff in the media, but when it’s real life - well, if it’s your loved one those search dogs are looking for, it’s a whole different story. 

What’s it like being the human half of a cadaver search dog team? Expert Cat Warren lays it all out this week. 



In this episode we cover: 


What’s it really like to work a crime scene with your dog? Is it cool or creepy?
How do we navigate fascination and respect when it comes to other peoples’ trauma?
Why people were mad that Cat’s book was more about the dog than it was a “true crime” exposé
The difference between resolution and closure
How do first responders and search teams deal with so many unhappy endings and unanswered questions?





Notable quotes: 

“True crime podcasts keep us at a safe distance. They allow us to enter into the sphere of death, but keep us far enough away from it that we don't need to experience any feeling of grief. Crime survivors don’t have that luxury.” - Megan Devine



About our guest:

Cat Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World. The book tells the story of learning to work with her impossible young shepherd as a cadaver dog to find the missing and dead. It won critical acclaim and was long listed for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. She taught science writing, journalism, and creative nonfiction at North Carolina State University for 26 years before retiring in 2021.






Additional resources



All of Cat’s information is at her website 

NY Times article on cadaver dogs and archaeology 

African American burial grounds & cadaver dogs



The Collective for Radical Death Studies



Get in touch:

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of Here After with Megan Devine. Tune in, subscribe, leave a review, send in your questions, and share the show with everyone you know. Together, we can make things better, even when they can’t be made right. 



Have a question, comment, or a topic you’d like us to cover? call us at (323) 643-3768 or visit megandevine.co



For more information, including clinical training and consulting, visit us at www.Megandevine.co



For grief support & education, follow us at @refugeingrief on IG, FB, TW, and @hereafterpod on TT



Check out Megan’s best-selling books - It’s Okay That You're Not Okay and How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed

You’ve probably seen it - dramatizations of search dogs, running through the woods, noses to the ground, looking for a missing person, or for human remains. We’ve got a weird fascination with this stuff in the media, but when it’s real life - well, if it’s your loved one those search dogs are looking for, it’s a whole different story. What’s it like being the human half of a cadaver search dog team? Expert Cat Warren lays it all out this week. 
 
In this episode we cover: 
 
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">What’s it really like to work a crime scene with your dog? Is it cool or creepy?</li>
<li aria-level="1">How do we navigate fascination and respect when it comes to other peoples’ trauma?</li>
<li aria-level="1">Why people were mad that Cat’s book was more about the dog than it was a “true crime” exposé</li>
<li aria-level="1">The difference between resolution and closure</li>
<li aria-level="1">How do first responders and search teams deal with so many unhappy endings and unanswered questions?</li>
</ul>
 
Notable quotes: 
“True crime podcasts keep us at a safe distance. They allow us to enter into the sphere of death, but keep us far enough away from it that we don't need to experience any feeling of grief. Crime survivors don’t have that luxury.” - Megan Devine
 
About our guest:
Cat Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World. The book tells the story of learning to work with her impossible young shepherd as a cadaver dog to find the missing and dead. It won critical acclaim and was long listed for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. She taught science writing, journalism, and creative nonfiction at North Carolina State University for 26 years before retiring in 2021.
 
Additional resources
 
All of Cat’s information is <a href="https://catwarren.com/">at her website </a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/science/cadaver-dogs-archaeology.html">NY Times article on cadaver dogs and archaeology </a>
<a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/what-are-cadaver-dogs-teaching-us-about-history/">African American burial grounds &amp; cadaver dogs</a>
 
<a href="https://www.radicaldeathstudies.com/">The Collective for Radical Death Studies</a>
 
Get in touch:
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of Here After with Megan Devine. Tune in, subscribe, leave a review, send in your questions, and share the show with everyone you know. Together, we can make things better, even when they can’t be made right. 
 
Have a question, comment, or a topic you’d like us to cover? call us at (323) 643-3768 or visit megandevine.co
 
For more information, including clinical training and consulting, visit us at www.Megandevine.co
 
For grief support &amp; education, follow us at @refugeingrief on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/refugeingrief/">IG</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/refugeingrief">FB</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/refugeingrief">TW</a>, and @hereafterpod on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@refugeingrief">TT</a>
 
Check out Megan’s best-selling books - It’s Okay That You're Not Okay and How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed

Life is full of difficult things, from tiny everyday disappointments to life-altering events. Everyone’s at least a little bit Not OK, something grief expert and psychotherapist Megan Devine knows from the inside out. In wide ranging, insightful, deep conversations, Megan talks with people about their often invisible losses - and what they’ve learned about being seen and supported in difficult times. 

With guests pulled from the front lines of entertainment, medicine, education, and activism, the conversations in It’s OK that You’re Not OK are funny, complex, emotional, and hopeful - maybe not your typical dinner party topics, but none of us are entirely OK, and it’s time we start talking about that.

New episodes each and every Monday, from the author of the best-selling book, It’s OK That You’re Not OK, and iHeartMedia. Find Megan online at @refugeingrief & follow the show @ItsOKPod

Life is full of difficult things, from tiny everyday disappointments to life-altering events. Everyone’s at least a little bit Not OK, something grief expert and psychotherapist Megan Devine knows from the inside out. In wide ranging, insightful, deep conversations, Megan talks with people about their often invisible losses - and what they’ve learned about being seen and supported in difficult times. 
With guests pulled from the front lines of entertainment, medicine, education, and activism, the conversations in It’s OK that You’re Not OK are funny, complex, emotional, and hopeful - maybe not your typical dinner party topics, but none of us are entirely OK, and it’s time we start talking about that.
New episodes each and every Monday, from the author of the best-selling book, It’s OK That You’re Not OK, and iHeartMedia. Find Megan online at @refugeingrief &amp; follow the show @ItsOKPod

It’s OK That You’re Not OK with Megan Devine

Dogs and The Dead: With Cadaver Search Dog Expert Cat Warren

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5969ac45-4a61-4bd4-ba29-af5301623061/transcript

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