Dog Talk ® (and Kitties Too!)

#1011A: Tamsin Pickeral's book "The Invention of the Dog: 75 Breeds That Changed the World" gives a new perspective on how modern dog breeds resulted from a brief but intense period of selective breeding that began in the 1800s. She talks about how the dogs we now know and love came to be, from their beginnings in domestication across the world.

#1011B: Anna Heyward's memoir “Living With Freddie” describes in the most compassionate, kind, and patient terms what it's like to live with a dog with desperate separation anxiety — which certainly puts things in perspective for those with slightly clingy dogs.

#1010A: One of the many service dog organizations to which RAWZ gives monetary support for training and placing service dogs is Patriot Service Dogs. Tracie was absolutely thrilled to be reunited with Brigadier General Scott Wiggins, who was featured with his magnificent dog Bear in one of the Service Dog Salute films in Tracie's NY Dog Film Festival. Bear came from Patriot Service Dogs and Scott talks about what the support from RAWZ means to an organization like Patriot Service Dogs and what dogs like Bear mean to veterans suffering from PTSD.

#1010B: Dr. Matt Brunke in Gaithersburg MD — who is board certified in veterinary sports medicine and in pain medicine — is rehab specialist for sports athletes, working dogs and aging dogs, often using the revolutionary joint injection Synovetin OA for long-lasting relief from arthritis. His most famous patient was Hurricane, the Secret Service dog who took down the intruder who breached the White House in 2014 when Barack Obama was President. The Belgian Malinois was medically retired from service in 2016 after sustaining injuries during that incident and Dr. Matt looked after him while he lived out the rest of his life to age 16 with his handler.

#1009A: Dog trainer Laurel Saville has unique ideas about how we need to respect and honor what our dogs experience of life actually is, not how we want it to be. Her book “How to Live With a Dog: Stories and Solutions for Humans With Dog Problems and Dogs With Human Problems” is filled with wisdom, kindness and profound solutions to situations with dogs that could be solved if only we could slow down... stop trying to control and manage... and let the dog show us who he actually is.

#1009B: Michelle Lerner's memoir "A Series of Opinionated Animals" is a funny and touching testament to the limitless patience and generosity of one woman — and her husband — in a lifetime of giving a loving home to all manner of animals, with dogs being high on the list.

#1008B: Lea Korsgaard — an award-winning journalist and author, cofounder and editor in chief of the digital Danish newspaper, Zetland — talks about her wonderfully baffling book, "The Butterfly Season," which recounts how she got it in her head to try to find every one of the 64 species of Danish butterflies in one year... when she knew absolutely nothing about butterflies! An otherwise highly accomplished journalist, businesswoman and practical wife and mother, she is the embodiment of the word "Quixotic" — "foolishly idealistic, romantic, or chasing an impossible dream." Her book and odyssey is an inspiration to those who might want to live out an idea, no matter how impractical.

#1008A: Sindhoor Pangal is a canine behavior consultant with a Master's in Anthrozoology from the University of Exeter. She researches India's free-living dogs in Bangalore, is a TEDx speaker and author of "Dog Knows." She recently published a peer-reviewed paper “The Open Palm Gesture in Human-Dog Communication,” which is her unique observation of how an open palm facing down towards a dog can calm, reassure and strengthen your bond with the dog.

#1007A: Philosophy professor Mike Dacey's book “Seven Challenges for the Science of Animal Minds” examines the way some of the greatest "animal observers" may be misguided in their perspectives in looking at the "intelligence" and lived experience of non-human creatures.

#1007B: Dr. Tracy Lord has her own holistic practice veterinary clinic that supports owners who want to lean into home-cooked diets as part of illness prevention and management of health. She cautions that people should use one of the balanced whole food diets like the ones offered on the IVI Blend website (privately owned by two veterinary nutritionists), along with the supplements they have blended for fully balanced nutrition and optimal health.

#1006A: Dr. Deb Zoran Texas A&M director of VET (Veterinary Emergency Team) which she also teaches to 4th year veterinary students — also serves on the FEMA Incident Support Team as a DVM specialist supporting the working canines deployed to national disasters.

#1006B: K.T. Landon's “Abide” poetry collection won the 2025 Richard Snyder Prize and hearing her read from this collection of wonderfully, powerfully accessible poems will make it clear why she got that honor.

#1005A: Margaret Mizushima's “Fighting Edge,” her 11th Timber Creek K-9 mystery, has Robo, the detection/apprehension dog, who is the star of the series, at the center of the action in this wonderfully complex set of mysteries.

#1005B: Mariclare Carey-Jones made the film “Pierre’s Tale” as a cautionary story of the terrible physical ailments the breed has as they have become so popular, hoping to spare others the pain and suffering her beloved Frenchie Pierre went through.

#1004A: Nick Trumble talks about his delightful film "Giants of the Valley," premiering in the 11th Annual NY Dog Film Festival, about a fabulously eccentric English family who own 16 Irish Wolfhounds, along with a number of other dogs, and the joy they take in their pack.

#1004B: Katy Hansen of the NY ACC (the beneficiary of the NYC premiere of the NY Cat Film Festival Sept 26th) talks about all the great shelters the city has built (or is building) in the boroughs and how the many cat rescue groups flourish in their mission.

#1003A: Dr. Monica Tarantino, founder of the Senior Dog Veterinary Society, is putting on a day of virtual education and support to empower the parents of senior dogs and cats on September 12th and a deeper dive (with CE credits) for veterinarians on September 13th. Buy tickets at https://seniorpetcon.com/

#1003B: Filmmaker Francesco Valentinuzzi talks from Italy about why he made the documentary “Dumped,” to celebrate the unusual group of dog rescuers who save discarded and lost dogs in Las Vegas. It will be featured in the 11th Annual NY Dog Film Festival premiering in NYC Sunday September 27th at the Village East theater.

#1002A: Brian Patrick Duggan talks about the historical background to his rollicking historical novel “Thunder in the Valley of the Queens,” with archaeologists and soldiers intersecting in Egypt during wartime — featuring a Saluki in a pivotal role.

#1002B: Barcelonian filmmaker Tora Meder Bird crafted a film about a dog bringing a community together in “Diego” (premiering in the 11th Annual NY Dog Film Festival September 27th in NYC) and says she had “love heart eyes” for Diego the minute she saw him.