Speaking

Dr. Shapiro's entertaining and inspiring Piglet Mindset presentations are well received by children and adults in schools, colleges, corporate and nonprofit events, conferences, libraries, bookstores, and other venues. Dr. Shapiro also speaks about many aspects of caring for disabled and senior pets for pet parents, rescuers, and for veterinarians at both in-person and virtual conferences.

The Piglet Mindset for Adults:
Every Day Inspirations from a Deaf Blind Pink Puppy and His Special Pack of Rescued Dogs

Whether navigating the complexities of our personal lives, leading a community nonprofit, or building a supportive workplace, we all face moments where the path forward isn't clear. My deaf blind dog Piglet’s story of resilience proves that our challenges do not define us. With the right mindset, we can cultivate profound connection and turn obstacles into opportunities for growth.

As a keynote speaker, I take audiences on an unforgettable journey that sparks a true growth mindset. I don't just share the heartwarming story of Piglet, my deaf blind pink puppy who faces his challenges with positivity and determination, I equip individuals, teams, and organizations with a concrete, 5-Step Action Plan to live, lead, and connect with purpose.

The 5 Guiding Principles of the Piglet Mindset:

Deep Pack Connection – Building unshakeable trust and belonging in our families, teams, and communities.
Strategic Mapping – Using the assets we have to navigate life’s unexpected changes.
Intentional Communication – Ensuring our signals are clear to build bridges and create inclusive spaces for everyone.
Active Empathy – Turning kind feelings into habits of caring. Stepping outside ourselves to support colleagues, family and friends, and community members.
Joyful Resistance – Facing daily obstacles and struggles with optimism, resilience, and a commitment to choosing joy.

My Signature Presentation: The Piglet Mindset for Adults is highly adaptable for high school and college students and staff, community conferences, nonprofit gatherings, and corporate culture events. Audiences walk away deeply moved, inspired to grow, and fully equipped with practical tools to strengthen their relationships and their own mental resilience.

Following the PowerPoint presentation that is packed with musical videos and motivational stories, my dog Piglet and his deaf blind baby brother Georgie are on hand to demonstrate how we communicate with them through tap and touch signals. The boys bring their enthusiasm for connecting and enjoying life in the most heartwarming way.

This is a light, refreshing, motivational presentation that has something
for everyone.

The Piglet Mindset for Adults: Everyday Inspirations from a Deaf Blind Pink Puppy and his Special Pack of Rescued Dogs is a perfect inspirational keynote, activation presentation, workshop, or webinar for in-person and virtual non-profit and corporate events. It is ideal for high school, college, and grad school orientations as well as social emotional/wellness events throughout the school year. Visit PigletMindset.org to learn more.

It is helpful (but not required) for attendees to visit our website, pigletmindset.org, follow along on Piglet's social media pages, and read our books to become familiar with Piglet, so they'll be looking forward to our presentation with great enthusiasm!

Now Available!
Piglet Mindset for Veterinary Professionals
See Below!

Embracing Perceived Failure to Find The Life Path You Are Truly Meant to Follow

Perceived failure of any magnitude is commonly seen as a dead end in the journey to achieve short and long term goals. But in so many cases, failure becomes a stepping stone to something even bigger. Resilience is a means to coping and moving past challenging situations. It comes more or less naturally to different individuals which is why some are able to accept failure more easily than others. But when we step back and explore options in response to failure or disappointment, we often find new opportunities that lead us to even more rewarding opportunities.

In this keynote, I inspire audiences to not just accept failure but to use it to forge a new fulfilling and rewarding path that might include some interesting detours. I use the example of my own pivotal failure, not getting into my first choice college at the age of 17, to illustrate how keeping focus on short and long term goals can help propel us forward to find a more fitting trajectory. In my case, that one fail resulted in a chain of events that lead to a lifetime journey ending in a most unexpected life-changing outcome, adopting a tiny deaf blind pink puppy named Piglet, decades later.

My audiences walk away realizing that:

1. Failure is not a dead end but can be a stepping stone to new opportunities.

2. Learning resilience in response to perceived failures helps to bring short and long term goals into focus.

3. Keeping a more accepting open mind towards failure will help pave the path towards more meaningful outcomes.

This keynote is ideal for veterinary and other animal care conferences, young professional networks, high school and college orientations, nonprofit summer retreats, and corporate events.

For Pet Parents and Children

Pet parents have a never ending list of questions about how to best care for their pets, especially when they are disabled or elderly. Dr. Shapiro offers presentations covering a wide range of relevant topics. Both in person and virtual webinar style talks are available and are adaptable to small groups, pet, rescue, and animal welfare related conferences, and fundraising events. These talks are also ideal for classrooms, camps, and birthday parties, as they are all adaptable for children.

Topics include:

Care of Disabled and Senior Pets

End of Life Care for Pets

Deaf, Blind, and Deaf Blind Dogs, Young and Old, Differences in Care

Teaching Deaf, Blind, and Deafblind Dogs

Animal Rescue, Pet Safety

Custom Presentations By Request

For Veterinarians, Vet Techs, and Vet and Vet Tech Students
Pets With Disabilities Presentations

Contact Dr. Shapiro

Disabled Pets are everywhere, including veterinary hospital waiting rooms!

Dogs and cats are commonly born with a wide range of congenital defects that result in disabled animals with special needs. And if pets live long enough, most will acquire one or more disabilities associated with chronic or acute geriatric diseases, injury, or later onset hereditary conditions.

Veterinarians are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage illness, but many aren't familiar with less commonly seen disabilities and secondary complications that need to be managed. Their perception of quality of life may be influenced by a lack of experience with disabled pets. Pet parents who choose to care for pets with disabilities and special needs want and expect high level, attentive veterinary care for their special needs pets.

My presentations focus on the logistics of care, complications of a wide range of disabilities, and quality of life assessment of animals who have limitations, but are still living very happy, meaningful lives. These talks are ideal for veterinary conferences as well as for vet med and vet tech student symposiums and club meetings.

A Veterinarian's Guide to Disabled Pets and Their People:
Caring for the Disabled Patient

RACE APPROVED FOR 1 CE CREDIT!

Pet parents of disabled animals face a unique hurdle: finding a veterinary team willing to embrace and partner in the care of their disabled pets. This might be due to differences in perceptions of quality of life and a lack of experience working with pets who are disabled.

This 60-minute session offers an empowering overview showing that disabled pets share the same foundational medical needs as typical patients, and that general and specialty practices are fully equipped to manage them. Through real life examples of disabled pets in authentic photos and engaging videos, attendees will start to reframe traditional quality of life conversations around a pet’s capacity for adaptation and happiness.

Attendees will learn to leverage external community resources and build an in-clinic peer mentorship network to alleviate client stress and prevent premature euthanasia. The SHIFT Framework for Care of Disabled Pets will be introduced to give veterinarians, vet techs, and vet students an action plan for welcoming disabled pets into their practice.

The audience will leave feeling inspired, with a better understanding of the veterinarian’s role in supporting and guiding clients who choose to care for profoundly disabled pets.

The Piglet Mindset:

A 5-Step Action Plan for Veterinary Resilience, Connection, and Communication

In this In this empowering presentation, veterinarian Dr. Melissa Shapiro utilizes the narrative case study of her deaf blind dog, Piglet, to provide a practical roadmap for navigating the everyday challenges of veterinary practice. Veterinary professionals face immense daily hurdles, from workplace stress and the chronic pressure of clinical decision-making, to demanding client interactions, personal financial burdens, and the constant struggle for a healthy work-life balance.

Rather than relying on technical guidelines, Dr. Shapiro uses Piglet's journey to show what true resilience really looks like. Attendees will see how Piglet thrives through everyday adaptations—using his senses of smell and touch, custom home accommodations and modifications, and the support of his pack of fellow rescue dogs— to meet his challenges with positivity and purpose.

By applying Piglet’s everyday triumphs to the personal realities of veterinary practice, this session introduces five accessible, supportive principles to help veterinary professionals find sustainable joy and career longevity:

Deep Pack Connection: Cultivating a professional support network and workplace community, and mentorship structures, where team members truly look out for one another.

Intentional Communication: Employing thoughtful, effective personal communication approaches to avoid misunderstandings, ensure clarity, and build strong relationships with clients and coworkers.

Strategic Mapping: Actively identifying and utilizing unique individual strengths, clinical assets, and available resources to navigate daily workflow hurdles and plan for long-term career challenges and success.

Active Empathy: Purposely bringing understanding and compassion to coworkers and clients, even when interactions are challenging or unreasonable.

Choosing Joyful Resilience: Purposely focusing on personal career milestones, celebrating individual small wins, and actively choosing joy even during challenging professional moments.

This session weaves an inspiring narrative case study of determination with a simple, individual-focused framework designed to bring wellness, connection, and inspiration back to the practicing veterinary professional.

Speaking

The Piglet Mindset for Adults: Every Day Inspirations from a Deaf Blind Pink Puppy and His Special Pack of Rescued Dogs​

Now Available! Piglet Mindset for Veterinary Professionals See Below!

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