The Pet Doctor - Keeping your pets healthy & pet wellness - Pets & Animals on Pet Life Radio (PetLifeRadio.com)

When you think of Hawaii, visions of palm trees, frosty umbrella drinks and white sand beaches languidly sway in your imagination. But life can be hard if you are a homeless cat or dog. Pet overpopulation is not just a mainland dilemma. The impact of homelessness affects not only the cats and dogs but also the fragile wildlife on the islands. How are the islanders addressing the problem? What can we learn from them--.and why are there so many chickens on the Kauai? Dr. Becky Rhoades of the Kauai Humane Society will share her story of being a veterinarian in paradise.

Bring a puppy home and the first thing you hear is a lot of barking and not necessarily from the dog. The new puppy parent starts to bark orders, come, sit, stay, and the ever popular -- NO! We sound like drill sergeants. This is the way that it has always been done, but is this the best way to get through to a very impressible youngster? How do we get a pup to learn its role in our pack and have good social manners? My guest is Sarah Wilson. She is co-author with Brian Kilcommons of the book ‘My Smart Puppy -- the fun, effective and easy puppy training’.

What a spectacular time of year, Spring. You are soooo over the thrill of the first flakes of snow. The cozy nights by the fire wrapped in your Snuggie is getting old. Spring, your chance to clean the cob webs out of your home and mind. But not all cleaning products are created equal when it comes to being safe around you, your family or your pet. My guest, is Dr. Justine Lee, a board certified emergency and critical care veterinary specialist and current associate director of veterinary services for Pet Poison Helpline. She will give us some pointers on how to safely declutter and deep clean.

You think you are a good pet caregiver, maybe even a great one. You provide the best in veterinary care and food. Your pet does not want for toys, attention or mental stimulation. Your home is a safe haven for this special member of the family. But is it? Your home, yard, and car could be putting your furry friend in peril. My guests today are Bob Tucker of the home security system company, ADT, Dr. Justine Lee of Pet Poison Hotline, and Dave Kaler of IMMI, producers of the pet travel safety system, Pet Buckle.

Fads and craziness often starts in California and works their way East. Some of the fads are great - think hula hoops, Barbies and the green energy movement. Some however, can have potential dire unexpected side effects such as the movement by local municipalities to regulate the relationship of a veterinarian and pet owner. Several California cities have made it illegal for a veterinarian to declaw a domestic cat. My guests today, the executive director of the Southern California Veterinary Association, Dr. Peter Weinstein and veterinary behaviorist, Dr. Rolan Tripp will discuss the legal, ethical and behavioral aspects of this emotionally charged topic.

There are times in our lives when we need someone to care, someone to just be there. One of these critical periods is at the end of our lives, when we are in hospice. But what if we were told that one who held a very important part in our lives was prohibited from being with us? Someone that didn’t care what we looked like. Didn’t mind if it was a good day or bad, or even remember their name. What if someone told you that you couldn’t have your beloved pet with you when you near your time of passing? Pet Peace of Mind is a non-profit hospice support group, part of the Banfield Charitable Trust. Dianne McGill, the executive director and CEO of the trust, will tell more about this very special example of the human/animal bond.

It’s probably happened to you...you casually stroll by the pet store window and you are inexplicably drawn inside and exist with a fur ball of a pup or kitten. You can’t put in words why but your life just seems incomplete without a quadruped to share your home. And after a tough day at work, you get more comfort from stroking your pet than anything else you can think of. The connection that we feel with our pets has garnered a great deal of press recently but is this phenomenon all in your heads or can it be explained in terms of cold hard facts? My guest, Meg Olmert, has unraveled the mystery of human/animal bond.

Some people believe that a rabbit’s foot is good luck. Alyna was skeptical. Born with a congenital disorder, that left her paralyzed from the waist down, not even two rabbit’s feet was doing her any good. That was until she met some very inventive and creative people at the premier rehabilitation hospital for children in Israel, ALYN. Now Alyna is helping other patients at this facility. Oh did I mention-- Alyna is a rabbit. Everyone believes that they have the most marvelous dog- so smart, loves everyone and is great with people. My second guest today, Corrine Fahy of Lake Forest, CA, spends a lot of time in the hospital with her dog, Gus. Gus isn’t ill... he’s a certified therapy dog and helps out people who are going through woof times. I thought you might like know if your dog has the right stuff to be a therapy dog and what it involves.

The last two weeks, the Pet Doctor podcasts have been a series of interviews from the AKC/Eukanuba Dog Show, held in Long Beach, CA in early December of 2009. I learned about some very distinctive breeds Dogs can do so much more than keep us company. They can be another set of eyes, ears and serve as an enforcement aid for police departments. They can assist a disabled person with daily chores that we may take for granted. Sometimes the disabled one is the dog such as retired military canines that need our help. And don’t think that trotting around with a dog at a show like this is only a beauty contest. I will speak with a junior handler who told me how working with her dog has helped raise her personal level of confidence and improved her grades at school.

Welcome to part two of my adventures at the AKC/Eukanuba Dog Championships held in Long Beach, CA., at the Long Beach Convention Center. Though the main event took place on a Saturday and Sunday of early December, a plethora of events occurred in the proceeding days. You can see video clips and tons of photos by going to the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/AENC.

Have you ever been to a dog show? They can be absolutely fascinating and can also verge on being overwhelming. The variety of events, performances and demonstrations will put your sneakers to the test. And then there are the dogs -- some with names you have never heard of, some you have never seen on the street or in magazines. It may seem like a bus man’s holiday for a companion animal veterinarian like myself to attend a dog show but I had a fabulous time at the AKC/Eukanuba Dog Championships held at the Long Beach Convention Center, in Long Beach, California in early December. I had the pleasure of interviewing AKC officials on how pure bred dog breeders are striving to improve the health of all dogs. I spoke to breeders of some very unique breeds. Learned how their breeds came to be and why they were enamored with this particular dog and not another. I chatted with a canine division police office. His dog Blitz could lick you to death at one moment and then take down a bad guy the next. I garnered some great tips on teaching your dog how to be a welcome part of your family. And why trotting a dog around the ring can assist young students to excel in school. I spoke to so many people and learned so much that this podcast is going to be a three part series. Tune in the next 2 weeks for part two and three. In case you want to see photos of the dog breeds I mention in these segments, go to the Pet Doctor on our website, PetLifeRadio.com and scroll to these installments. So sit, stay, listen--..I’m Dr. Bernadine Cruz and this is the Pet Doctor coming to you from the AKC/Eukanuba Dog Championships.

H1N1 affects many species of animals as well as humans. This includes cats, ferrets, possibly dogs, turkeys and more-- Listen to this show and learn the facts as we currently know them to be about 2009H1N1 aka Swine Flu and your pets.

If you have had pets in your lifetime, you have undoubtedly shared the fear of losing them to the great outdoors-- an innocent mistake like leaving the door ajar can leave your family devastated and your pets unprotected on the streets. Dogs often wear identification tags, and if the loose dog permits a kind stranger to get close enough to read the tag, your pet could be in luck-- but that is not always the case. Tags and collars can be lost and information on tags may not be current- especially in cases of emergency evacuations- when pets are separated from their owners and owners are forced to leave the location on the pet tag. As for cats, they do not often wear id collars-- as collars would interfere with their playing and bird catching and could be dangerous. Mr. Gary MacPhee, director and general manager of HomeAgain, a microchip company for pets discusses everything there is to know about pet identification systems with us and shares a great reunion audio of Gypsy, the miracle dog, returned home from over 500 miles with the help of her HomeAgain microchip!

As a child, I remember my mom explaining the fine points of proper behavior at the dinner table, especially when that dinner included guests. I don’t remember, however, being instructed in the fine art of behaving around dogs. All I recall is ‘don’t touch strange dogs’. She tried to scare me into compliance. It’s a miracle I ever became a veterinarian. Sadly, the majority of children are never schooled in the skills needed to not become one of the 3.5 million youngsters that are bitten by dogs every year in the United States. Surprisingly, most of these dogs are familiar to the child that is bitten. My guest today is Jane Greco Deming. She is the Director of Humane Education for the American Humane Association. She will explain the ‘Kids Interacting Safely with Dogs’ (KIDS) program. It is fun, educational for children and adults and it could save your children from injury or even death.

There are few sights as marvelous as watching your dog romp and run. You could swear that they smile as they cavort during a play day at the dog park. But mobility can be tragically taken away from your canine companion by trauma, disease or birth defects. In the past all that veterinarians could offer was palliative relief, which too often required the amputation of a limb. Then came OrthoPets, a very unique service that custom makes prosthetic, orthotic and adaptive devices for dogs. My guests today are the founder of OrthoPets, Martin Kaufman and their resident veterinarian, Patrice Mich, a board certified veterinary anesthesiologist.