Podcast: Through a Dog's Ear with Lisa Spector

Have you ever wondered how dogs hear differently than us or how music can help calm your high strung companion? Tonight's guest on Raising Indiana is Lisa Spector, a Julliard graduate and concert pianist of international acclaim.

Lisa has taken her classical music training to the canine world with 'Through a Dog's Ear', a collection of CD's to soothe your puppy's anxious soul. Her CDs have increased adoption rates in over 1,400 shelters we can personally attest to their effectiveness.

Boston is notorious for being one of the noisiest cities in the country and to make matters worse, our basecamp in Winthrop lies in the path of Logan Airport. The Canine Companion Vol 2 has been a goodsend in our house.

This is the first of two podcasts with Lisa and the next one will air at our scheduled time Tuesday May 1st at 8PM EST. Between now and then, if you post comments about your experiences with music and your companion or what band or genre your dog prefers, a randomly selected poster will receive one of Lisa's CDs. We will announce the winner when we air Episode 2.

Podcast: Vaccinations with Dr Jean Dodds

So you think you know a thing or two about vaccines? I did but turns out I didn't until I interviewed Dr. Jean Dodds who's been studying vaccinations in companion animals for over four decades. Dr. Dodds is also the founder of, Hemopet, the

world's first private non-profit animal blood bank which now services over 2000 vet clinics in the U.S.and Canada.

But tonight on Raising Indiana, our focus is entirely on the W's of vaccinating your dog. At what age, how often, why, what are the risks, and why the controversy?  We'll try to get to the most pressing issues on this episode.

Dr. Dodds' Vaccine Protocols can be found here 

Changes

I've had to simplify and focus my efforts as of late which will impact, in a small way, Raising Indiana.  To learn more about that, please read http://2dogs2000miles.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-am-2-dogs-2000-miles.html

1. We're moving the podcast schedule from every Thursday to every other Tuesday at 8 PM EST starting  April 3rd with Dr. Jean Dodds with Hemopet.  

2. Sheila Rinks is no longer affiliated with Raising Indiana.  We thank her for helping launch the podcasts and wish her very well on her new life endeavors.  

3. We will have a co-host(s) moving forward and we hope to develop more creative and controversial content for the podcasts.  We feel the show needs a new direction to best serve our audience.  

4. The Finding Fuzzybutt Four blog will be shutting down.  After we adopted little Indy, my original vision was to help find homes for other rescued Pyrenees and mixes and be a resource for new parents.  I think we accomplished that but there are other more effective sites out there.  Thank you to all of the many contributors to the engaging and informative content.  

Tune in Tuesday for the next episode of Raising Indiana.  

Keep the faith & puppy up & support your local shelter or rescue!

Podcast: Linda Westin and PET Care Campus

We're honored to have tonight's guest, Linda Westin the President of Friends of Cookeville Putnam County Animals to talk about their P.E.T. Care Campus, a state-of-the-art shelter pet utopia that's in the works.  

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Raising Indiana is undergoing some changes. Stay posted!

Update and Piedmont Dog Park Videos

No podcast tonight as we're making some changes to Raising Indiana.  In the interim, please enjoy some videos shot recently at Piedmont Park in Atlanta GA, one of the most expansive off-leash dog parks we've ever been to on our travels. 

I was so absolutely if not astonishingly pleased with how well socialized the baby 'Moose' has become and it was like it was my snowflake's first day of school.  You see, all of the wise and wizened trainers, dog psychologists, and other people who have dope slapped me in the head have helped produce tremendous results and our relationship becomes richer by the day.  Thanks and the podcast will return next week as well other exciting news.  

Even when this little guy, Ramses starts butt humping Indiana and does it over and over again due to an inattentive father, Indy keeps his cool.  What a good kid!

Podcast: Ticks and Vectra 3D

As spring swiftly approaches, it's time to start thinking about protecting our companions from fleas and ticks. I'm very grateful to have tonight as our guest on Raising Indiana Dr. Cathy Ball who heads Research and Development at Summit Vet Pharm.

Our paths first crossed when we were walking through Ohio at a time when it was the worst tick season on record and every day I pulled dozens of the nasty little buggers off Hudson and Murphy every day. The nights in our tent were sleepless as I was constantly picking them out of my hair and off my body.

There was a time when I thought 2 Dogs 2000 Miles might just end in Ohio and then we were introduced to Vectra 3D, the flagship product of Summit Vet Pharm and never had a tick problem again. I know the product well and am a advocate of its effectiveness.

Tonight's podcast is important because whether you use Vectra or whatever solution, you need to protect your companions from ticks as they are vectors for deadly and debilitating diseases. Dr. Ball talks at length just exactly which ones your dogs may be exposed to.

Podcast: Nature's Variety and The Ancestral Diet

Last week we talked with Dr. Jackie Obando about integrative medicine and diet and nutrition and about Nature's Variety, a company I feel very passionate about.

What I find most fascinating about this company is their pursuit of a dog's ancestral diet.  

Jill Gainer, the Director of Communications at Nature's Variety, is here to talk with us about their mission and their extensive product line of kibble, raw, canned, bones, & treats. I mean man, they're like the 31 flavors of Baskin Robbins for puppy dogs.

In the interest of disclosure, Hudson, who has suffered from severe food allergies, is on Nature's Variety Instinct, and it seems it is one of the only dog foods he can tolerate.

Podcast: Dr Obando and Holistic Medicine

In this episode of Raising Indiana, we start a conversation about non-traditional veterinarian medicine and to kick it off and our first guest on the topic is Dr. Jackie Obando, who in 2000 founded MercyVet, an alternative and holistic vet practice in the Pacific Northwest.

In this episode we navigate the different terminologies like holistic, homeopathic, alternative medicine as well as the link between homeopathy and dog nutrition and the raw diet.

In the interest of disclosure, Hudson, who has suffered from severe food allergies, is on Nature's Variety Instinct, and it seems it is one of the only dog foods he can tolerate. In next week's episode, we talk with Jill Gainer, their Communications Director. Hope that you can join us this time next Thursday at RaisingIndiana.com

Podcast: PETS LLC

Where did my dog come from? And how did it get here? That may sound like a Talking Heads song but it's the charter mission of Peterson Express Transport Services (PETS LLC). If you adopt a dog halfway cross country, Kyle Peterson, the owner and operator, makes certain she gets to you safe and sound.

There's a backstory here, too. My first encounter with Kyle and PETS was just after the walk was completed in June 2010, I stopped over in Maryland to help a family for a week. From there I had to get back to Hudson and Murphy who were in Memphis and the folks at PETS gave me a lift and they were courteous enough not to make me travel in a kennel.  

Our producer, Sheila, has a more recent experience and in her words, "In October we adopted a rescued dog out to a young couple in CT and Kyle transported the dog, Sonic, for us. Sonic's new mom, Emily, wrote a short blog about adopting Sonic and his transport with PETS that's on Finding Fuzzybutt Four. And this Friday we are sending our latest foster, Lissette, with Kyle to her forever family in New England!"

PETS was part of a Reality show called Last Chance Highway and they've helped a whole lotta companion animals out.  Hope you enjoy our show with them.  

Podcast: Valentine's Day Special with Sheryl from Leashes and Lovers

"When you love someone eternally, having them in your life one second short of that is not long enough"

It's our Saint Valentine's edition of Raising Indiana and we have with us the 'Dog Lover's Matchmaker', Sheryl Mattys, author of the book Leashes and Lovers and a web based dating site by the same name.

We talk with Sheryl about how dogs can help us become better companions, whether single puppy parents should even try to date, and a cute but kinda creepy celebrity story.

Late last nite, I signed up to Leashes and Lovers and our profile name is, not surprisingly, TheFuzzybutts. Will we find a Mommy for Indiana there? If we do, we'll post it here on Raising Indiana.

Skijoring

Back at the APDT conference in 2010 Hudson and Murphy and I were invited out to Colorado to skijor.  Didn't know what heck that was back then but it sounded fun.    
Problem was when we returned to the Rockies I found out Murphy's cancer had spread and we never had the opportunity.    

We met a couple over the holidays, Donna and Larry, who skijor with their Pyrenees, Sophia, and little Westie, Gretty, and they invited us up to the White Mountains NH this past weekend to join them.  

First time out, I couldn't have been more pleased with the fuzzybutts.  Yeah me arse was in the snow more than once but cross country skiing in tandem with two inexperienced Pyrenees and a dunderhead for a dad I think we did quite well. 

Watching the video nearby, what do you think?

Podcast: Ian Dunbar

It's a double header tonite with two, count em, two episodes with the great Ian Dunbar.  There are people who write books on training and then there is the person who wrote the book on puppy training.

30 years ago last week (Happy Birthday!) Dr. Dunbar started SIRIUS Puppy Training, the world's very first off-leash puppy socialization and training classes. He is a Veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and dog trainer, an author and founder of Dog Star Daily, a destination website packed with videos from trainers round the world.

Episode 1: We talk about SIRIUS, the importance of early socialization, and how to make your puppy a party animal.

Episode 2:  How much training does a puppy need, the various training models, Sheila weighs in on the discussion, and Dr. Dunbar's wife, Kelly's work with animal shelters.  

Raising Indiana: Final Episode with Patricia McConnell

In this our last installment of our three part conversation with Dr. McConnell, we take an audience question and discuss dominance theory, discerning fear in dogs, biophelia (Yep I never heard that word before) and learning to read dog's facial expressions.  

As like to finish with style and we couldn't imagine a better way to conclude the series.  A big whopping thanks to Dr. McConnell for taking the time out of her extremely busy schedule to help us with Raising Indiana.  

Upcoming Podcast Guests

Raising Indiana airs every Thursday at 8pm EST

So who’s going to be Indy’s guest in 2012?

January 26th--Part 3 of our fantastic interview with Patricia McConnell, PhD
Dr. McConnell is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB), highly-sought after dog trainer, speaker and the author of much-acclaimed books including The Other End of the Leash.
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/
http://www.theotherendoftheleash.com/

February 2nd--Ian Dunbar.  Dr. Dunbar is a veterinarian, animal behaviorist and dog trainer. Dr. Dunbar is the author of numerous books and DVD series including AFTER You Get Your Puppy. In 1982, Dr. Dunbar designed and taught the world’s first off-lead puppy socialization & training class. We’re speaking to Dr. Dunbar as SIRIUS Puppy Training celebrates its 30th birthday!
http://www.siriuspup.com/index.html
http://www.dogstardaily.com/

February 9th--Kyle Peterson with P.E.T.S. LLC Transport
Kyle and Pam Peterson’s animal transport company has saved the lives of 34,326 pets since their beginning in 2003! We chat with the star of Animal Planet’s Last Chance Highway about animalrescue, long-haul drives and his love of puppies. http://www.petsllc.net/index.php

We have a cool blog addition to this podcast that follows the life on a rescued dog in Tennessee, Sonic, through his foster home (with me and my family), his journey with P.E.T.S. LLC to Connecticut and his life with his new forever family!

Valentine’s Day Special—February 16th--Sheryl Matthys of leashesandlovers.com
Should we set Luke up with an online dating profile? Our Valentine’s Day Special Podcast is all about the love and connection pet owners share. Sheryl Matthys is the founder of leashes and lovers online match-making service and author of the book by the same name. You don’t want to miss this Raising Indiana podcast!
http://leashesandlovers.com/

February 23rd--Jackie Obando, DVM
Dr. Obando was born in Brazil where she studied veterinary medicine, afterward traveling to Europe to further study homeopathy. We chat with Dr. Obando about homeopathic therapies and raw food
nutrition.  http://mercyvet.com/

March 1st--Jill Gainer with Nature’s Variety
Nature’s Variety is a natural pet food company passionate about providing proper, holistic nutritionfor our pets. Our conversation with Ms. Gainer continues a theme on Raising Indiana to provide accurate information about the importance of what our pets eat. If your dog has allergy be sure to tune in! http://www.naturesvariety.com/

March 8th--Cathy Ball, VMD, MS with Summit VetPharm
How do I prevent fleas and ticks is a common question we hear at Raising Indiana. Dr. Ball discusses how the Summit VetPharm line of products including Vectra for Dogs and Vectra3D can help prevent fleas and ticks. Hudson tested and approved!
http://www.summitvetpharm.com

March 15th--Linda Westin from Friends of Cookeville Putnam County Animals
President of the FOCPCA, Mrs. Westin, has exciting news about the first-of-its-kind P.E.T. Care Campus being designed and built in Cookeville, Tennessee from funds raised by this non-profit organization. Shelter Directors, Humane Society Directors and animal welfare caregivers should not miss this podcast!
http://www.friendsofcpcanimals.org/

March 22nd--Dr. Jean Dodds of Hemopet
Dr. Dodds founded Hemopet, a non-profit animal blood bank & greyhound rescue/
adoption program, in 1986. She is a highly-respected authority of endocrine disorders in dogs, titer testing and vaccinations. We’ll be speaking with Dr. Dodds regarding the later topic - vaccinations of our pets. Dr. Dodds will return to Raising Indiana later in the year to discuss her other various expertises.
http://www.hemopet.org/

We had an overwhelming response of audience questions for Dr. Dodds. We’ll be presenting an accompanying blog for this podcast. Dr. Dodds was kind enough to answer all of our questions there.

**We want to disclaim that Raising Indiana is not against vaccinating our companion animals. For the safety of our pet population it is important that the majority of the herd population be vaccinated against common diseases. Please discuss all vaccine options with your veterinainian.

March 29th--Lisa Spector
Luke is in his element with Lisa Spector from Through a Dog’s Ear. Did you know Luke used to sing opera to his first dog, Malcolm? Well, we can’t wait to discuss the applied theories of calming your pet in various situations with classical music!
http://throughadogsear.com/
http://throughadogsear.com/lisa-spectors-blog/

April 5th--Robert Mueller, co-founder of BARF World
We so enjoyed our first podcast with Mr. Mueller that we jumped at the chance to have him back to discuss disease and diet with Luke. Catch up with the first interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBW2ZfCrLg0&list=UUg-8QUs87Hq2lVXrKqqgfSA&index=9&feature=plcp
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://www.barfworld.com/blog/

This has been a popular topic with many audience questions that Mr. Mueller will answer in an accompanying blog post.

April 12th -Nick Dodman, BVMS from Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.  Dr. Dodman will be joining us and Indy to discuss his books The Well-Adjusted Dog and Puppy’s First Steps. Dr. Dodman is one of the world’s most celebrated veterinary behaviorists and prolific authors. He also has a book about dogs behaving badly—watch out Indy!
http://www.thepetdocs.com/who_nick.html

April 19th-- Susan Lauten, PhD
We are so excited for Dr. Lauten’s Raising Indiana podcast on nutrition! As our pets grow and mature one of the most defining aspects on their health is nutrition. Dr. Lauten began Pet Nutrition Consulting in 2001, and she works daily with veterinary specialists, pet owners and veterinarians to provide the appropriate nutritional recommendations.
http://www.petnutritionconsulting.com/

April 26th--Dog Scouts of America
Dog Scouts of America was founded in 1995 as a non-profit dedicated to enriching the lives of pet owners and their dogs. This is going to be fun! DSA has so many fun programs and events— they love learning new things & so does Indy!
http://www.dogscouts.org/MI_camp_photos_C899.html

May 3rd-- Kat Martin
Kat Martin from Nashville’s Dogs and Kat has been voted Nashville’s Best Dog Trainer 4 years in a row! Not to mention that she runs the very fabulous See Spot Eat boutique and treat shop. We’ll chat with Kat about puppy socialization and training.  http://dogsandkat.com/

Indy, Luke and myself have many more exciting guests coming up on future Raising Indiana podcasts.

Don’t forget we’ve had amazing experts on for previous podcasts such as Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Stanley Coren and Dr. Sharon Startup, to name a few. You can listen to all the past podcasts at http://www.youtube.com/user/RaisingIndiana

Raising Indiana airs every Thursday at 8pm EST on http://raisingindiana.com

Here’s to Raising Indiana and all of our pets to be the best they can be!

Raising Indiana Producer, Sheila Rinks

Raising Indiana: Patricia McConnell Part II

Today Indiana turned 7 months old... my little snowflake my oh my how time flies..

This week we continue our discussion with Dr. McConnell on a whole host of issues like separation anxiety in puppies, her books The Other End of the Leash and Love Has No Age Limits as well as helping shelter dogs.  

It's another exceptional and information packed episode of Raising Indiana. Enjoy!

FLP

If you've never read Michael Crichton's autobiography Travels you should.  In it, he talks about some of the curiously inane traditions of doctors, one of which is their use of secret acronyms to describe patients.  Like FLK for 'Funny Looking Kid'.

Breakfasting with Kerry and Robin at PJ's Pancake House last week in Princeton, it became apparent that their Newfoundland puppy, Beanie, is going through the same  awkward growth stage that Indiana is - where he's all knees and elbows.

So we decided Beanie was a FLN 'Funny Looking Newfie' and Indiana is a FLP 'Funny Looking Pyrenees'.

What's yours?

Raising Indiana: Patricia McConnell Part I

To ring in the new year, we are surpremely honored to welcome one of the true greats in the world of animal behavoir & dog training - Dr. Patricia McConnell.

Her accolades are many; she has a doctorate in zoology, her book The Other End of the Leash, has been translated into 13 languages, and she's published many others as well.

Above and beyond all that, she's warm and personable, a wealth of information, and a truly gracious guest.

In Episode I of a three part series Dr. McConnell gives her top three pieces of advice for new puppy parents, why puppies don't come 'Plug and Play', and whether everyone with a new dog consult with a professional dog trainer.  

You won't want to miss this episode of Raising Indiana

Check out some of Dr. McConnell's other great books:

The Puppy Primer

And her latest, Love Has No Age Limits 

A New Year, A New Look, and a New Home

And a Bigger Purpose!  

Welcome to Raising Indiana v2.012  - formerly a podcast about the joys and pains of puppyhood.  When the new year comes it's always a good time to take stock of things and Sheila and I spent some time talking over the holidays about where we're going with the podcast and what do we want it to be when it gets all grow'd up.  

And, perhaps, more importantly, when does a puppy stop being a puppy and become a dog?  And when Indy does become a dog is that the end of the podcast?  Have we served our purpose and time to move on?  I get a little existentialistic during the silly season.  

Why not instead use this platform to follow his entire life since, as pet parents, there never really is an end to learning and growing and even though the relationship changes over time it still requires lots of work.  

As I am writing this blog I've realized how fortunate we are that we get to experience every phase of dog's life, an impossibility within species.  

And that's what we're going to do here at Raising Indiana.  Every happiness and hardship; every adventure and challenge will be posted here as well as our weekly podcasts with pet experts and people we meet on our travels.  We hope you'll be with us on our journey...