Upcoming Raising Indiana Guests

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

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

January 26^th--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 2^nd--Ian Dunbar, PhD

^{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 9^th--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 animal 
 rescue, 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 16^th--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 23^rd--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 1^st--Jill Gainer with Nature’s Variety

Nature’s Variety is a natural pet food company passionate about providing proper, holistic nutrition
for 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 8^th--Cathy Ball, VMD, MS with CEVA Animal Health

How do I prevent fleas and ticks is a common question we hear at Raising Indiana.  Dr. Ball
discusses how the CEVA Animal Health line of products including Vectra for Dogs and
Vectra3D can help prevent fleas and ticks.  Hudson tested and approved!
http://www.summitvetpharm.com

March 15^th--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 22^nd--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 29^th--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 5^th--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 12^t-- 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 19^th-- 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 26^th--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 3^rd-- 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

Who Needs Words?

Who Needs Words? Crows? You? Wild Gorillas? Alison
Krauss?



A wonderful piece
by Bill Blakemore and ABC News. Thanks to Jan Casey for sharing. Read the
entire article at the link below.

"But various
mammals, including not only dolphins and whales but African wild dogs and
Norwegian rats, many species of bird, and even spiders and insects are now
being discovered by scientists around the world to have complex vocalizations
and other sound-wave communication systems so complex that old notions that
human language is somehow fundamentally unique are being thrown in doubt.

It’s also opening
up a broad new field in which scientists are exploring that ancient question:
whether and how the mental experience of animals is different from ours:

Are animals’
thought-processes, self-reflections, feelings for others, sense of enjoyment,
and even possible moral systems and consciousness itself (whatever that is)
different only by degree and complexity from ours, or is there a more
fundamental divide?

These expanding
scientific studies can also be great fun. Animals tickle our fancy in many
ways, and often fascinate us.

Most recently, the
fact that countless millions of humans around the world click on thousands of
videos of animal behavior found on the World Wide Web is itself evidence of
some form of intense communication in them — often without “words” or any other
sounds from the animals."

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/01/who-needs-words-crows-you-wild-gorillas-alison-krauss/

by Bill Blakemore

Courtesy of ABC News and Bill Blakemore

Raising Indiana

Hey Puppers! Don't forget that Indy has his own website now-- http://raisingindiana.com  My how they grow up fast!

And tonight we have Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Patricia McConnell of http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/. Dr. McConnell is THE source of positive information for training and animal behavior.

You can find all of our previous podcasts at http://www.youtube.com/user/RaisingIndiana.

If you haven't heard Raising Indiana yet... what are you waiting for?

The Saga of Pupper vs. Kitty Part 2

Bailey was adopted from our local animal shelter so I know
nothing of those critical early weeks of life when puppies should be properly
introduced to the world and socialized.
I also have no genetic history of his parents or grandparents. There are some experts, such as Dr. Stanley
Coren and Dr. Ian Dunbar, who suggest that if an animal is not properly
socialized and nurtured before the age of three months that the animal may have
a learned behavioral deficit if you will.

Was Bailey doomed by being a shelter puppy? Was there anything I could do to make up for
the lack of nurture and love that I assume he missed between birth and three
months? Not to second guess the experts
but all of my current pets, minus Jack-Jack, were acquired after the critical
adjustment and learning period that experts speak of. And I would classify most as “normal”. Could they be better? Of course.
But so could I. I cannot worry
for a period of Bailey’s life that I had no control over. I can only move forward with him.

At nine months of age I saw the first marker of rage from
Bailey. Uncontrollable. Out of ordinary and out of character. Unexpected.
Frightening. Life changing.

I was looking at not a sweet Retriever, nor a gentle Pyrenees. I was
watching what can best be described as the rage and “red zone” actions of a typical
bully breed pushed beyond reason. Not to
stereo type bully breeds, all breeds can exhibit “red zone” behavior.

We had, had dog fights before in our home. With two adult male (neutered) dogs, fights
were not common or severe but we were schooled in the proper handling of fighting
animals to ensure safety for all. But
that day in the backyard I knew more would be needed of me to help Bailey.

Always interested in animal behavior and training, I threw
myself into learning all I could.

I knew that I was Bailey’s only hope. I had adopted him, I loved him, and I had an
emotional bond with him that if rehomed his next owner might not have. I learned that dogs who are rehomed have a
high rate of being returned to shelters or worse. It’s easily explained by thinking that the
first owner loved an animal and each consecutive owner may love or care a
little less about the animal until the pet becomes a burden. This is not to say that rehoming should never
be an option for owners or that those owners are failures. The exact opposite is true. Rehoming may save an animal’s life when the
only other option is euthanasia due to aggression or biting. But those animals should only be placed with
experienced owners fully capable of handling those behavioral issues.

Bailey is now three years old and the tantrums, as we will
call his actions for the sake of story telling, continue. We have learned that he has resource guarding
issues—food, his owners, toys, cardboard boxes, pretty much anything… We also discovered that two of our dogs
readily back down to Bailey’s growls and warnings. Deciding it is better to let the crazy dog have
his card board box than fight over it.
That leaves Supermax. He does not
back down. He prefers to think the box
should belong to him.

Until recently Bailey has ignored our two cats, Lazarus
& Jack-Jack. Now he does not want
the kitties near his “things” or even near him.
If the kitties take one step too far down the hall then all hell breaks
loose.

I cannot figure out why Bailey’s wrath is now fully focused
in on the cats.

But I saw equal part odd and funny thing yesterday. Behind my back I heard the familiar growling
and chasing of Bailey after a kitty. We
have adopted an “Ignore” treatment when he misbehaves. We simply remove Bailey from the situation
without a word and place him in his “time out” area for 10-15 minutes. As I walked Bailey away from the scene to his
spot of thought and ponder, I heard the spitting and growling of Jack-Jack fast
approaching. Jack-Jack had decided to
retaliate. He was all puffed up, bushy
tailed and spitting. He chased Bailey
right out the back door.

It gave me a new perspective on this Saga. Maybe Pupper vs. Kitty is not correct at
all. Maybe it should be the Saga of
Kitty vs. Pupper.

Recommended Reading
for this week- Mine! By Jean Donaldson available at http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB740

Sheila Rinks is the editor of Finding Fuzzybutt Four, producer of the Raising Indiana podcast and shares her home with her husband, 4 Great Pyrenees and 2 very well-fed kitties.

Where's the Off Switch?

I think I have a faulty foster dog. Can someone please call the factory and check his model & serial number for recalls?

As most of you know, I am a Great Pyrenees owner. This bred suits my lifestlye and personailty. A little walkies, a snuggle, some kibble and they're back asleep. After a few years they trained me to ignore the constant barking because a leaf fell from a tree three houses down. Yes, they do get the zoomies in the back yard but it's rare and doesn't last long.

My foster on the other paw is a bundle of non-stop wiggles. He is a blue heeler (or ACD mix). Boy, is he having fun herding those pyrs across the yard!?! You've never seen 100+ pounds move so fast! It's funny because he is exercising them for once instead of me. Our 4 walkies a day and hour long play session are getting to me, and I thought I was in pretty good shape. But Starbucks & Dunkin Donuts better invent a "herding breed latte" soon so I can keep up with him!

We've had herding breed fosters before. An ACD named Xman that was adopted out through the Nashville Humane Association, and a Border Collie named Seven who was adopted out to a great family that was younger and had more energy than I do.

I keep hoping one day as I rub bellies just so I can sit still for a minute that I'll find that off switch... I just don't think they included that option on the herders.

 Xman

 Seven

Sonic

If anyone knows it's location or can brew up that herding breed latte, let me know.

Sheila Rinks is the editor of Finding Fuzzybutt Four, producer of the Raising Indiana podcast and shares her home with her husband, 4 Great Pyrenees and 2 very well-fed kitties.

Canine Companions for Independence

My father with Supermax

Canine Companions for Independence

My father was not a big lover of dogs. He liked some, others he didn’t. Growing up I think he tolerated most of the
dogs we owned because of my love for
them, not his. He developed allergic
reactions to dogs, and that curtailed his interaction with most dogs even
more. But not Supermax.

Supermax is my oldest, a pyr-collie mix (we think). When my father first met Supermax I worried
he would be bitten. Supermax was new to
our home and a rescued stray—he didn’t like men. Time went by and my father and Supermax
developed a relationship that rivaled best buddies. My father loved my three other dogs but
Supermax, or simply Max, as he called him was his favorite without a
doubt! And Max loved his “grandpa”!

My father passed away recently, and as the family was
planning his funeral I kept thinking “Daddy would be so pleased to have Max
here with all his other close loved ones.”
I struggled with the idea of letting Supermax attend the service, not
because it has become the trendy thing to do, but because my father loved
him. And, I could just hear my father proudly
saying in Heaven, “Did you know Supermax- a dog-was at my funeral!?!”

Part of me admitted that having Supermax at the service
would comfort and distract me, and maybe other’s from the grim reality of
losing a family member.

That’s where Pam Turner and her Golden Retriever mix, Aragon, come
in. Aragon
is a grief counselor at Turner Funeral Home in Ellwood City, PA. Aragon
underwent several months of training with the nonprofit Canine Companions for Independence; he was then
placed with Turner and began work helping heal broken hearts.

Aragon
is one of only a few dogs that work funeral homes in the country. He sits at the back waiting on family and
friends to stop for a pat or hug.
Sometimes he sits beside family members as they grieve, resting his head
on their lap for comfort. At Turner
Funeral Home almost 95 percent of mourners request Aragon’s presence during services.

Turner says “Having Aragon there is never going to take away
the hurt they’re feeling, but it takes their minds off of it for a little bit.”

In the end, I decided not take allow Supermax to attend his
“grandpa’s” services. Not because he
wasn’t allowed, I thought others would be offended or because “grandpa”
wouldn’t have wanted him there—quite the opposite. I left Max at home that morning because I
wasn’t certain how he would react around grieving family and friends. Dogs are so keyed into our emotional energy
that I did not want to stress him. He
would not have understood why we were sad or what the flowers were for or what
the large casket was, he would have picked up on smells that the humans would
never notice and he would develop that little frown he gets when he’s worried.

That’s why dogs like Aragon, who are specially trained
for Compassion Work and funeral service settings, are a benefit to the business
and mourners.

Supermax and I had a long talk that morning about my father
and how much he loved him. Even though
dogs are not allowed in the cemetery, one day Supermax and I will make a
special trip to my father’s grave and maybe we’ll leave a dog treat for
him. “Grandpa” would find that funny.

http://www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG/b.3978475/k.3F1C/Canine_Companions_for_Independence.htm

Sheila Rinks is the editor of Finding Fuzzybutt Four, producer of the Raising Indiana podcast and shares her home with her husband, 4 Great Pyrenees and 2 very well-fed kitties.