Why Does Your Dog Invade Personal Space? - Episode 205

Rewind back to Sunday 9-7-2003 (hour 1)
In the episode you will hear
Mark, Donna, Brad, Jamie, & Jason the intern

Do you kiss your pets?

Do you talk to them

Kirby the stock tip cat

Fact or Fiction

A cat was given baby tylenol. That is a  BAD thing. 

Kayla listening on KFAB - What can I put in my rat's cage? Are cedar chips bad?  (spoiler: yes)

Email from Tony - Why do dogs sniff people's crotches?  

Annette on KFAB - tries the Fact or Fiction

Suzanne has a guess about the scorpions and cat pee question.

Email question: I see a trend of naughty pets. How do I keep from getting bit when I am out and about?

Chris from Hartford CT listening online. My wife wants a dog but I have a dog phobia, what can I do? 

Wearing Funny Amazing fun pet parent t-shirts
https://wearingfunny.com/product-category/pets/

https://linktr.ee/animaltalkradio

Animal Talk, it’s America’s Pet Show!
Jamie Flanagan
@DJJamieDetroit
AnimalTalkRadio.com
@AnimalTalkRadio

Thanks for listening and as always... Have an exotic week and kiss your wild thing for me.

Send your pet photos in now and we will add your fur kids to the #PetParade. jamie@animaltalkradio.com

Did you know that over half of pet owners admit to kissing their furry companions, and a third confess to talking to them on the phone? These surprising statistics reveal just how deeply connected we are to our animal family members - but this close bond sometimes leads us down dangerous paths.

We share the sobering story of a cat named Cuddles who nearly died after her owner administered "baby Tylenol" based on internet advice claiming it was safe. This cautionary tale highlights why consulting your veterinarian is always better than trusting Dr. Google with your pet's health. The internet might be the information superhighway, but it's also the misinformation superhighway when it comes to pet care.

For small animal owners, we dive into budget-friendly bedding alternatives like shredded newspaper that work just as well as expensive pet store options. Just remember to avoid cedar and pine shavings, which contain toxic oils that can harm your little critters.

Dog behavior takes center stage as we tackle everything from inappropriate sniffing to handling potential aggression. When your dog greets visitors with an embarrassing crotch inspection, the solution isn't punishment but training alternative greeting behaviors. And if you encounter an unfamiliar dog while walking, we provide potentially life-saving advice: avoid eye contact, turn sideways, remain still, and never run or scream - actions that could trigger a chase response.

Whether you're looking for the perfect breed match for your family or trying to navigate challenging pet behaviors, our decades of experience help cut through the noise to give you practical, reliable guidance. Visit WearingFunny.com for fun pet parent gear, and remember to subscribe, leave a comment, and join our community of passionate animal lovers!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to America's Pet Show
• 1:13 Talking & Kissing Pets Poll
• 5:25 Dangers of Internet Pet Advice
• 11:50 Rat Cage Bedding Options
• 15:11 Why Dogs Sniff Inappropriately
• 19:39 Handling Dog Aggression & Attacks
• 27:26 Finding the Right Dog Breed

Transcript

Introduction to America's Pet Show

Jamie 0:05

Hey, there's the music. That means it's time for Animal Talk. Some of the best doggone pet people on the planet helping you with your pet, one pooch at a time. It's America's pet show, animal Talk. Thanks for being with us. Be sure to like, subscribe, leave a comment, do all those podcast things In all the podcast places. We truly appreciate you coming around.

Jamie 0:25

Animaltalkradiocom is the website and, of course, wearingfunnycom if you're looking for some gear, some pet parent gear, some funny T-shirts they're all there. They're available for you. Appreciate our sponsor, wearingfunnycom. Great place. Go check them out. And for your pet health and information, you're in the right spot we're going to out. And for your pet health and information, you're in the right spot. We're gonna help you out. We have years and years of animal calls and emails and interviews and we're sharing them all you with you on these animal talk rewinds. Now, animal talk, it is for entertainment purposes only, so make sure you check with your local veterinarian, your local trainer, if you have any issues coming up, and we're here to help. Our professionals always got great ideas too. So here we go Having a little bit of fun.

Mark Honas 1:13

It's Animal Talk. You're in another one of those moods today, aren't you?

Donna 1:17

You know what? It was a nice day, had the windows down.

Jamie 1:21

Lots of fumes.

Mark Honas 1:22

Leave the garage Actually on the way up it was a fumes from sitting in traffic because Kiss Ted Nugent and Aerosmith are in concert tonight in downtown Detroit, right next door to the Lions playing as well, yeah, and so driving through there, there were fumes, but they were just different.

Caller 1:40

I'm not quite sure what they were, but they were different.

Mark Honas 1:44

So I'm feeling good. Anyone got any cookies? I am your fish, reptile and pet product expert, and sitting across from me is I'm Dr Brad Davis.

Dr. Brad 1:52

I'm a slight bit calmer than that. I'm here to answer all your veterinary-related questions.

Donna 1:57

And I'm Donna Blumel. I'll be here to answer any training questions.

Mark Honas 1:59

I'm going to be playing a little fact or fiction in a few moments here because we want to give something away, or at least I do. I like to give stuff away. It's animal talk. Okay, it's fine.

Mark Honas 2:10

Actually, I was taken to the woodshed lately for the amount of things that have been given away. So you're going to actually have to win this time, folks. So now he's giving away a woodshed. You know we're going to have a color poll today, according to the American Animal Hospital Association. Did you know there was such a thing, brad?

Dr. Brad 2:27

We're in it. Well, very good.

Mark Honas 2:29

Showed that 33% of pet owners admit that they talk to their dog on the phone or leave messages on the answering machine while away for their pets.

Dr. Brad 2:39

They're using the deuce for good things.

Mark Honas 2:43

And the same poll tells us that 55% of pet owners kiss their pets. So the poll question today is do you talk to your pet? Do you kiss your pet? We will find out the truth.

Donna 2:56

Well, aren't you going to poll everybody here? Okay, all right, do you?

Mark Honas 3:00

Do I talk to my pet? It depends on which pets my snakes and lizards and fish. I talk to the fish but not to the snakes and lizards.

Donna 3:07

Okay, why are the fish being talked to when they're through glass and water?

Dr. Brad 3:11

Yeah, well, he likes to make like it's a prison visit.

Caller 3:16

Okay all right, he puts his hand up against the glass, they put their fin on it Fair enough.

Mark Honas 3:21

I'll get out of here. Usually, put their fin on it, fair enough, I'll get you out of here. Usually it's like no, no, get away from the filter and take oh, stupid fish. Five seconds later, the fish was who is that. The cats? Yes, I talk to the cats and I do kiss them. Yes, the cats we do, but not the snakes and the yes, and you Brad.

Dr. Brad 3:39

Oh sure you got to talk to the animals. I mean, no one else talks to me, I have to Do you kiss them Occasionally, occasionally. Sometimes it's while I'm sleeping and I can't help it, duh.

Caller 3:50

Okay that scares me. Yeah, I'm a little worried about that one.

Jamie 3:52

There's a hand up as a trainer.

Donna 3:54

I'm always talking to not just my pets, but everybody's pets, Telling them what a good job they're doing.

Mark Honas 3:59

Do you kiss them? Yes, depends on which one, though, right. Yeah, the litter box licker. You probably don't right.

Donna 4:06

No.

Mark Honas 4:07

There's certain dogs you want to kiss and certain dogs you don't want to kiss.

Donna 4:10

Well see, and that's the good thing For any trainer out there here's a big tip for you. Ask questions first. Don't just lean down and start talking to the doggy until you find out why they're there New trainer's new trainer starting out. There's a little tip for you, especially if you've got a dog that's very aggressive with people's faces, and then you put your face down.

Jamie 4:28

See now I have a cat his name's kirby, and uh what you'd be surprised about amazing stock tips he gives you amazing stuff yes, yes, but does he does, he scratch on him, you know you put the newspaper out and you tell him which one I put on the news channel and he hits the ticker tape at the bottom. There you go.

Dr. Brad 4:51

That's a Disney movie, if I ever heard one.

Donna 4:55

Kirby, the Stock Tip Cat.

Mark Honas 4:58

I think that cloud I drove through goes through Jamie's house too. What you got there, Brad.

Dangers of Internet Pet Advice

Dr. Brad 5:02

I got something cool. This is something a fax I received from an emergency clinic. It's not really that cool because it's kind of a sad situation for the pet, but this is. I'm going to read the history here. I'm going to take out the names, but this actually arrived at my clinic today from an emergency clinic. Cuddles is a two-year-old female, spayed domestic short-haired cat who had enlarged some Some manipulative lymph nodes. We've been giving Clavamox but discontinued because of vomiting. Here we go. Although she seemed to be improving somewhat, the owner felt she was painful and started to give her one quarter of a tablet of baby Tylenol every eight hours after reading information on the internet that it was safe to give. Oh boy, all right, and so Cuddles gradually worsened until she was extremely depressed. This evening, apparently, cuddles is doing better. But the thing about it is I just was going to say it is the information superhighway, but this is something that I see way too much of, I'm sure you see way too much.

Mark Honas 5:52

We see this all the time.

Donna 5:53

It could also be the misinformation superhighway For the most part, especially when dealing with veterinary questions. Really the place to go is straight to your vet. Don't rely on the information you get on the Internet. You could seriously hurt your pet, and it's a sad reality. We see so much of that.

Mark Honas 6:12

I saw, and one of the things I saw was a site on rats, a posting board on rats, talking about the doses of amoxicillin you should be giving a rat.

Caller 6:24

And you know I don't know anything about that.

Mark Honas 6:25

You don't give amoxicillin. You should be giving a rat and you know, I don't know anything about that. You don't give amoxicillin. That was my first thought, but I reckon the dosage looked interesting to me.

Mark Honas 6:31

It looked high because just recently we had gotten amoxicillin for my daughter. It was the same dose that you would give a child. So basically what they and I'm thinking, oh my goodness. And one of two things happened, somebody and I'm thinking, oh my goodness.

Caller 6:45

And one or two things happen.

Mark Honas 6:45

Somebody types something in wrong or have no idea what the heck they're talking about and just want to sound like an expert, and that happens on the Internet a lot.

Jamie 6:54

So you've got to be really careful. Happens on the show from time to time, I'm sorry. What's this on?

Dr. Brad 6:58

As I always say, there's more clowns with websites than red noses, so just remember not necessarily everything you're going to read makes any difference in the world. It could be completely wrong and unfortunately this was just a great example of why that's a problem. So I just brought it in and probably broke a law, but there it is. What's that say?

Jamie 7:17

at the top, personal and confidential.

Dr. Brad 7:20

No, that was something else, jamie, that's not that.

Jamie 7:24

Hey, it's Jamie. I've got to hop on in here and remind you about our sponsor, wearingfunnycom WearingFunnycom for all your pet parent T-shirt needs. Head on over to WearingFunnycom and check out the vast array of amazing, hilarious T-shirts thoughtful, cuddly and cute for you and your kitties and your puppies. And, hey, we take requests. If you have a critter that we don't have represented, let us know. We'll get you connected with just the perfect shirt for you and your critters, showing your love for being the best pet parent you can possibly be WearingFunnycom. Back to the show.

Mark Honas 8:03

It's the only thing I'm going to say correctly all day, so I thought I'd get out of the way quick.

Jamie 8:07

Yeah, hurry up Moving right along Hubba gabba.

Donna 8:13

That was a wonderful impersonation. I did just like him.

Mark Honas 8:17

Now what we're going to do is, don't forget. We have the fact or fiction out there, three stories, three facts that we read. Two of them are a lie, a fabrication, out and out wrong, and one of them is true. Pick the true one and win a prize. Fact one Mountain chickens use whipped skin secretions to make their nests.

Donna 8:36

Fact number two A Florida state senator introduced legislation to make the word skeeter a legal synonym for mosquito Slap their skeeter.

Dr. Brad 8:46

I guarantee the words nom nom nom were not in there. It was not typed that way. A Sacramento man is suing for harassment after a supervisor put a business suit wearing chimp at his desk to show how easy his job is.

Mark Honas 9:00

You know, wouldn't it be? I mean, can you imagine coming home to secretion? Sweet secretions for home, sweet home, sorry. Okay, moving right along, Can you imagine coming home to Secretions? Sweet Secretions for Home, sweet Home, sorry.

Donna 9:06

Okay, moving right along. No, please.

Mark Honas 9:09

Okay, they play better up here than they do out here.

Donna 9:11

I'm so glad we rehearsed. We need to get him that special filter.

Dr. Brad 9:16

It's called a gag. I can show Brad where his turn off his microphone button is.

Mark Honas 9:21

Fine, let's go to Kayla. Listen to us on KFAB. Hey, kayla, welcome to Animal. Talk off his microphone button is fine let's go to kayla.

Caller 9:28

Listen to us on kfab. Hey, kayla, welcome to animal talk. What can we do for you today? Um, I have a question about my rat case. Okay, lining, I put in there and and the people the pet store we got it from said that we have to use a certain kind because wood chips are toxic to them okay c.

Donna 9:42

Cedar wood chips are toxic. Cedar and pine are definitely not good.

Caller 9:45

Yes, they are so.

Donna 9:47

You don't want to use either of those products. What I do with my own personal rat I use shredded newspaper and shredded paper. I have a paper shredder and whenever the bag gets full I just use that and I actually use that in most of my little critters' cages. They can wad it up. They can make bedding out of it. I also throw an additional that hamster bedding.

Donna 10:10

I don't know, yeah, the little fluffy stuff, the fluffy stuff that they can build a nest out of. I also supply most of my rats with nesting boxes as well, because they like to feel safe and they like to be close and that's their favorite spot. But I've used shredded newspaper for years and I've never had a problem. You just need to clean it a little bit better than most.

Mark Honas 10:32

Kayla, let me ask you a question. What are you currently using? What do the pet shops say you should use?

Caller 10:38

I'm not sure what it's called. It's pretty expensive. That's why I was asked. They were just telling me a fib, you know.

Mark Honas 10:46

Well, they were telling you correctly about the wood chips, but limbing it and saying it's only the very expensive bedding. The other thing if you don't want to go through the expense or not the expense, but the time and effort of shredding newspaper corn cob litter works well. The only problem with corn cob litter if you let it go too long between cleaning, you can end up with mold. You just have to clean it on a regular basis.

Donna 11:06

Right, that's true with anything that you're going to put in the bottom of the cage Any time that you have a little critter.

Mark Honas 11:12

Expense. I know I'm at expense of shredding newspaper. I meant time. There's not expense at the time.

Donna 11:17

But if you have a paper shredder or if you know somebody who has a paper shredder, I mean I'm telling you that's the best way to go because it's a never-ending supply and it's free.

Mark Honas 11:25

And your mom and dad have those papers in that file box.

Jamie 11:28

Sure, go ahead and use it If your parents work for Enron you're probably doing that already.

Dr. Brad 11:34

Report card time Bingo there you go Okay.

Mark Honas 11:37

Kayla, I got a question for you. Call or poll you ready.

Caller 11:40

Okay.

Mark Honas 11:41

Do you talk to your pet and do you kiss your pet?

Caller 11:46

Yeah, they're really cute.

Rat Cage Bedding Options

Jamie 11:49

Yeah, there you go.

Mark Honas 11:50

Yeah, they are I see, don't you wish somebody would say that about us, brad?

Dr. Brad 11:56

Well, not in our lifetime.

Jamie 11:59

Maybe if you're reincarnated as a rat. Hey, there you go.

Mark Honas 12:01

So you're saying for Brad and I a rat is a step up Pretty much All right. Hey, there you go. So you're saying for Brad and I a rat is a step up Pretty much All right. Hey, kayla, thanks for calling. We appreciate it All right.

Caller 12:10

Thanks for the help. Bye-bye.

Mark Honas 12:11

Pick up the phone and give us a call so we can make your world animologically safe and sound. I'm going to throw a little other little tricky trivia out here, just for the fun of it because, I like this one. What do scorp scorpions and cat pee have in common.

Jamie 12:29

Scorpions as the band, scorpions as the animal, because there's a smell thing, their dressing room and a litter box, yeah, Smelling like a cat box.

Mark Honas 12:37

What do scorpions? And cat pee have in common. Here I am smelling like.

Dr. Brad 12:43

Do we have any?

Mark Honas 12:44

scorpions.

Jamie 12:45

Smelling like a urinal See it works. Do we have any scorpions? Smelling like a urinal, see it works.

Dr. Brad 12:48

A litter box. Litter box.

Mark Honas 12:50

Yeah, but urinal rhymes, litter box doesn't.

Dr. Brad 12:53

The rehearsals here are great.

Mark Honas 12:56

Is this thing on? Let's do an email, okay.

Jamie 13:05

A thingy-do, yeah, exactly.

Dr. Brad 13:08

Okay, dear Animal Talk.

Mark Honas 13:10

Congratulations, Skippy. You've got mail.

Dr. Brad 13:12

Oh, I should have pre-read. Why do dogs sniff people's crotches? Wait, there's more. It is disgusting. Every time I bring someone over to my apartment, my dog goes right for the crotch. With guys, I just tell them to box his ears. But when it's a honey it's really awkward.

Mark Honas 13:35

Oh, gee whiz yeah.

Dr. Brad 13:37

I'm betting this is a problem fairly constantly. Yeah, how can I stop my goofy mutt from sniffing the neither regions, oh sir.

Mark Honas 13:46

I think there's too many.

Dr. Brad 13:47

I's in your life. This is from Tony, from the neither regions, neither regions.

Donna 13:54

That's great. Well, what you're going to want to do is train your dog to do something other than greet your guests at the door, for instance, having them sit and stay in place of going up and greeting. Give them corrections whenever they do something you don't like, but you need to understand that this is a dog's natural way of getting to understand who you are.

Jamie 14:15

Getting to know you Exactly. They're learning your scent If you've ever seen two dogs greet each other.

Donna 14:21

That's the first thing they're doing is jockeying for a position to see who can get there first. They're trying to check out and see who's who and if they recognize you. But you want to train them.

Caller 14:34

I know this is such a silly topic, isn't it?

Mark Honas 14:37

So when you call a dog a butt sniff, that's a good thing.

Donna 14:40

That's a normal dog thing. Okay good, I just wanted to make sure.

Dr. Brad 14:42

But let me answer this. Tony believes that boxing the dog's ears is a good idea. I would bet it's not.

Donna 14:50

No no.

Mark Honas 14:54

Because, especially where the dog's mouth is right at the time when you box.

Why Dogs Sniff Inappropriately

Donna 14:56

Yeah well, that would certainly be a problem, wouldn't it? No, anytime you hit a dog, you're going to get two responses out of them. You're either going to get what we call head shy, where anytime you reach to pet them, they think they're about to be hit and they become extremely worried and anxious about that, or they're going to become aggressive and they're going to fight back because you've just attacked them. Basically, you should never do that. That's why I said train the dog to do something other than what it's doing.

Dr. Brad 15:22

And much like housebreaking. You should never rub their nose in it.

Donna 15:25

Am I right? Yes, you've got that right. That's not going to help.

Mark Honas 15:31

All right. Hey, let's go to the phones. Let's go to Annette listening to us on KFAB. Hey, annette, welcome to Animal Talk. You guys just crack me up. You know that.

Caller 15:41

I bet you have a large net, don't you, Annette?

Mark Honas 15:48

I do. You are hilarious. Har, har, har, I get that response from everybody. Okay, I think.

Dr. Brad 15:58

I know which one is the fact. Which one? I think the chimp in the chair is the fact, sorry.

Mark Honas 16:01

That one is a lie.

Dr. Brad 16:03

That's a fabrication.

Mark Honas 16:04

But it seems like somebody should have done that by now, doesn't it?

Caller 16:07

You know, can I argue that point? Sure, you can. Sure you can, only if I could actually get anywhere. That's all right, never mind.

Mark Honas 16:16

Go ahead and argue with that point. We're used to it, we're married, okay, you're in big trouble, mister.

Donna 16:22

Always. Oh the tone, you got the tone. Yes, I do Thank you very much.

Mark Honas 16:28

You know, all women can do that. I don't know why it takes years of practice.

Donna 16:33

I know some people that can't.

Mark Honas 16:34

I don't know, I've mastered the look though. Oh, you can do the tone too, donna. I've heard the tone.

Dr. Brad 16:41

I'm not going down that hole with you, Mark.

Caller 16:42

Okay, well, thanks, anyway, all right.

Mark Honas 16:47

You know what you're thinking, Because actually what you've heard is that somebody said once upon a time that somebody had done that. They called the show and said oh, I heard somebody had did that. The person who read the fact this time mistakenly, mistakenly re-read it.

Dr. Brad 17:00

It was a fact that we've done before and I don't want to mention the person who read it.

Caller 17:06

Okay, I did, I didn't know, no no, I mean it, but it wasn't.

Dr. Brad 17:08

It wasn't marked up, so we just reread the fake fact over and that's why it seems real. Actually, quite tricky on our part. We did it on purpose, okay well, thank you anyway thank you for calling.

Mark Honas 17:17

Oh, we told him we got a caller poll for you, though did we? We have a caller poll for you, annette.

Caller 17:23

Okay, go for it.

Mark Honas 17:25

According to the American Animal Hospital Association, 33% of pet owners admit talking to their pets on the phone and leaving messages for them on their answering machines, and 55% of them admit to kissing their pets.

Caller 17:39

Of course.

Mark Honas 17:40

Do you leave messages for your pets on your phone or do you talk to them?

Caller 17:44

I talk to them on the phone.

Mark Honas 17:46

Do they answer back?

Caller 17:49

Well, I don't know, do we have any psychiatrists listening, because I'm a little worried about making that statement.

Mark Honas 17:55

No see, everybody that's here actually are psychotic. So come on, join the party.

Caller 17:59

Oh well, they don't actually answer, but their ears perk up. I have witnesses to that. Oh so you make them perky. They don't actually answer, but their ears perk up.

Mark Honas 18:06

I have witnesses to that, so you make them perky.

Caller 18:10

I'm not going there either, okay Do you kiss them. Of course.

Mark Honas 18:16

So you make them perky and then you kiss them.

Caller 18:18

Stop it. You know, I think we're done with this conversation.

Mark Honas 18:23

Thank you. Thanks for calling Annette, we appreciate it. I thought you were in trouble before, mister.

Caller 18:26

Now you've gone over the line I've been in trouble so many times in my life, it's scary.

Mark Honas 18:30

Hey, thanks for calling, Suzanne. We really do appreciate it, Annette.

Caller 18:33

All right, bye-bye.

Mark Honas 18:34

Bye-bye. So let's go back to the phones. Let's go to Suzanne. Hey, Suzanne, listen to us on KFAB how you doing. Hi Okay, so you think you know what scorpions and cat pee have in common.

Caller 18:46

Yeah, I think so. My daughter gave me this answer If you put black light on both of them, they'll both glow in the dark.

Mark Honas 18:54

You're absolutely correct. Congratulations, suzanne. You said your daughter gave you the answer.

Jamie 19:00

Yes, your daughter is very bright, your daughter Randy. How old is Randy?

Caller 19:05

Randy just turned 13. Okay, daughter Randy. How old is Randy? Randy just turned 13.

Mark Honas 19:06

Okay, congratulations, randy. All right, woo-hoo.

Jamie 19:11

Well, that's okay, Suzanne what kind of? Pets do you and Randy have?

Caller 19:16

We have a hamster and a rat.

Mark Honas 19:18

Oh, very good, I think we can come up with some critter love treats for your hamster and your rats. How does that sound? Yeah?

Caller 19:24

Very good.

Mark Honas 19:25

I like that. Oh, excellent, I'll tell you what we'll put you holding. Get your information and get your prices out, Alrighty. Thank you so much for calling. Thank you, Okay. So my, my accolade. My accolade was a little, it's like.

Handling Dog Aggression & Attacks

Dr. Brad 19:36

Mark's gone wild. I, I'm 44 years old. What do you want? I mean, that's as wild as it gets anymore. Okay, Decision Mark got a prostate exam.

Caller 19:47

Woo, this is funny, mark, this is a week.

Mark Honas 19:51

We're here for you in any way we possibly can, because we know people have animals and people have problems. We fix the problems. You keep the animals, the world's happy, everything's wonderful here. On Animal Talk, let's do an email Dr Brad.

Dr. Brad 20:06

Okay, well, we have two possible emails. We have an email about snakes, which is just about snakes, and we have a discussion email.

Mark Honas 20:12

Oh, let's do a discussion email.

Dr. Brad 20:13

All right, this one starts out, Dear Dr Davis.

Caller 20:16

You've got mail, baby, yeah.

Dr. Brad 20:19

This is a person who read a column I wrote about ill-tempered pets and says I've been a dog lover all my life, but lately I've noticed a trend of naughty dogs. Part of it, I'm sure, is the owners handling other pets. I was wondering if you could give any advice of how to avoid being bit by a dog. I take daily walks in my neighborhood. I've been lunged at by three different dogs over the past 18 months. These dogs were running around them forever. I know enough of body language to distinguish play from aggression.

Mark Honas 20:50

I love it, I love my little naughty pet.

Donna 20:54

You're naughty there, you go.

Dr. Brad 20:57

Her husband helped save her on both occasions when the dogs attacked. Now she finds she's afraid of dogs and doesn't like them anymore. She's puzzled why she's been attacked three times in such a short amount of time and she's getting a reputation of being afraid of pets in her neighborhood. So the question is I'm hearing more and more about this all the time. What I'm wondering is what's the cause? Is it because people are not taking care of their pets better? And what can you do to save yourself when you're well?

Donna 21:23

I, I don't, I don't want to say that it's because they're not taking care of their pet, because they may be taking their, their dog, to the vet and they may be doing everything that's required by veterinary standards, um, as far as vaccinating heartworm, all that good feeding them and all that kind of stuff they they, you know.

Donna 21:39

So it's not necessarily a matter of taking care of. I think it's more along the lines of too many people being in denial. We see that. I mean you've seen the animals that come into the clinic A lot of times. When I spend a half hour or so talking to them about their animal's behavior, I can tell that most of them don't believe me and it's because they don't want to. And I do believe that, especially the way that she worded this is. You know that people will laugh it off like, oh, they're just playing. I think a lot of people are in denial about that and they're not being as responsible as they absolutely can.

Mark Honas 22:13

Well, we had friends of ours who rescued a dog from the Humane Society, as they put it, brought it home and knew the dog had aggressive problems and they had a two-year-old or three-year-old child. But they brought the dog home and they were working with the dog. They worked with the trainer for months and months and months and what ended up happening is the dog seemed to be fine with the family. They hired a babysitter.

Caller 22:32

Mm-hmm.

Mark Honas 22:33

The babysitter took the child out to the park, brought the child back and came home and the dog went for the babysitter, bit her on the ankle and the back of the leg and the woman decided that she was going to have the dog put down because at this point couldn't trust the dog.

Caller 22:48

Right.

Donna 22:49

And didn't feel that she should take the dog back to a shelter, and pass this problem to somebody else, right, right, and a lot of people don't do that, and you know what was so amazing?

Mark Honas 22:57

It Right, and a lot of people don't do that. And you know what's so amazing? It's how many people and family and friends berated her. What did the babysitter do to cause the dog to attack?

Donna 23:05

Right, and now see. This is the thing, though. What people don't understand is dog language can be very subtle. Now, it could have been, in the dog's mind, a provoked attack.

Mark Honas 23:15

Right.

Donna 23:16

But who are we to say?

Mark Honas 23:18

And if the average person cannot judge it instantly and you can't there are some dogs.

Donna 23:23

I mean, I've encountered many dogs that are very hard to read, where one minute you know you're thinking, okay, yeah, he's not giving me the funny look and everything, and the doctor will come into the room and the dog will go after him.

Mark Honas 23:42

You know, the dog didn't give me any sign of that, no indication. When I saw the dog, the dog came up to me. I was petting it, everything was fine. It's that stink of death that's around all the vats.

Donna 23:46

But see, we have that too. We all work at the bad place you know, and it's something that I think a lot of people are really. I think what it is is. They're in denial, her family, your friend's family, berating her. She did what was right. She was being responsible.

Dr. Brad 24:00

Absolutely. Let me go a little bit further. I think the problem we're talking about the owners. We're putting it on the dogs, but I think it is on the owners. A few years ago we had a gunshot. This weekend we were talking about it a little earlier, but the thing is we had a gunshot of a dog, a Rottweiler. This man would let his Rottweiler run around the neighborhood.

Donna 24:16

Well, that's why he said responsible pet owners.

Dr. Brad 24:18

He lets the dog run around. It was a very nice dog. But it runs up to a guy, looks at him. The guy pulls a handgun from under his coat, points it at the dog's head and shoots. Now the dog survived. It just skidded over his scalp. But I mean, it's just amazing.

Mark Honas 24:32

There's no way this dog could have survived.

Dr. Brad 24:33

But the point is is that number one you know, here's a prescription fence apply liberally?

Jamie 24:38

And the second thing is you know, think about moving. There's people walking around carrying guns, but the thing about it is and it ain't Texas baby.

Mark Honas 24:48

But the thing about it is that's Jamie at AnimalTalkRadiocom. For those of us, no in Texas.

Jamie 24:52

They got pistols. That's what they do. That is true, they carry them around, they can Android. That's not so much, yeah, oh, yeah Well okay.

Dr. Brad 25:00

The point that I'm making, though, is that the person was horribly upset, but it was their own fault. If your dog is in your yard, no one's going to be scared of it and put a bullet in its head, I mean, and that's just a fact.

Donna 25:12

A responsible pet owner would be taking the necessary precautions to make sure that their dog because you know, and it really doesn't matter how friendly the dog is there are people out there that are scared of dogs. They live in your neighborhood. If you have a big dog, which I do, and she is possibly one of the sweetest dogs in the world and wouldn't hurt a fly, but because of her size people are terrified of her.

Mark Honas 25:37

My advice is anybody who is around, if I see a dog that's unaccompanied on a leash, I assume the dog is dangerous. I immediately assume that and I throw rocks to get it away. I'll make sure that it stays away from me. I mean just to scare the dog away, because I don't want the dog coming around my family.

Jamie 25:51

I usually scream like a girl and run. Not a good idea. Not a good idea.

Donna 25:55

Not a good idea, unless you can get into a tree quicker.

Mark Honas 25:58

Because that prey drive thing kicks right in and you're pretty much toast. Yorkie.

Dr. Brad 26:04

You had a dog that was at a different level, making a mess in your yard wasn't it? Oh yeah, and that just made for bad neighbor relations. But it wasn't a dangerous thing, but it just made you hate your neighbor.

Mark Honas 26:14

Yeah, jamie shared with something to poop on?

Donna 26:16

Yeah, no, but Jamie brought up a great point Never scream and run and you know shaking the hands and all that good stuff when you approach a dog, because this was another part of her letter to you. When you're walking and there's a strange dog approaching you, do not make eye contact, do not. That is a challenge in dog language. If you can turn your front away from the dog, kind of have your side more to them, that's a very non-threatening stance. To have a dog approach you in Don't say anything, just stand there very still like a statue. You're in statue mode, you don't move. You can raise your arms up over your head or you can leave them down at your side. You just really don't never try to call a dog to you. That's the other thing. And it's so hard because you really do want to save some of these dogs that are roaming free but you never know what you're going to get. I had a chow chase me to my house.

Mark Honas 27:09

What about when the dog comes up to you and you're scared and you pee yourself? Is that a good move?

Finding the Right Dog Breed

Dr. Brad 27:14

If you're dressed as a hydrant, it's fine. The dog will join in. Then you'll have something in common. Oh my, but no, if you hold still and if you are a tat, get down flat in your belly cover your head and just let them chew your butt. But your butt will grow back.

Mark Honas 27:33

Yeah, you know this, don't you? Brad's butt's been bit more times than— First-hand knowledge.

Donna 27:39

You want to make yourself as least threatening in appearance as you possibly can.

Mark Honas 27:44

If you want to see Brad's butt chewed on, you can go to animaltalkradiocom. Click on the pictures page and go right to classic favorites.

Dr. Brad 27:54

Now wait. We should point out this is not a video game. This is not where you will actually see my butt chewed on. You'll see where it was chewed on it's the bruise, it's the after effect.

Mark Honas 28:02

It's not watching Brad being chewed. We've thought about setting up the camera and catching that the Pac-Man sound.

Jamie 28:10

When animals attack Brad Don't forget.

Mark Honas 28:14

We still have the fact or fiction out there. Two facts. One it. We still have the fact or fiction out there. Two facts One of them is true, one of them is a lie. You got a 50-50 shot and you got to the end of the hour. Then we're giving the answer away and no one goes home with a prize this hour. Oh no, we did give one away. We can give it away, okay. Fact one Mountain chickens used whip skin secretions to make their nest.

Donna 28:32

Fact number two Stop that.

Dr. Brad 28:37

Remember the uncomfortable, is always free here at Animal Talk All right.

Donna 28:40

Fact number two A Florida state senator introduced legislation to make the word skeeter a legal synonym for mosquito.

Mark Honas 28:48

Can I have the skin secretion soup please?

Dr. Brad 28:51

One eight All right For.

Mark Honas 28:54

America. Yeah, thank you, chris, calling from Hartford, connecticut. Listen to us on the internet. What can we do for you today, chris?

Mark Honas 29:01

Not much. How are you?

Mark Honas 29:02

Wild and crazy.

Mark Honas 29:03

Beautiful Got a little home-related issue. My wife wants a dog. I am one of those people who are slightly scared of dogs. I was treed by five wild dogs when I was camping.

Mark Honas 29:18

And every one of them were Cujo. Yeah, close enough, exactly. So I mean we tried getting a beagle which is, I mean, harmless enough. We went to a reputable rescue agency up in New Hampshire and we brought him home and he was okay. For a couple weeks he started acting up. We figured it was just him adjusting to his environment. Took him to training, worked with him at least a half hour to 45 minutes daily Plus training twice a week, and he got progressively worse. He was fine when we were at training sessions. We'd get him home and he would respond to my wife and not me. And then it got to the point where I would go to even just give my wife a hug when I came home from work and he would lunge at me oh boy, maybe your wife was doing some extra training when you weren't around.

Mark Honas 30:14

You never know when the bad man comes in.

Donna 30:19

I always tell people beagles aren't for everyone, because they do have a strong personality. A lot of them do believe that, hey, if you're not going to be the boss, I will, and certainly a lot of them do have that personality in them. So I'm not terribly surprised to hear that this happened with a beagle. So I'm guessing that you're wondering what would be a good breed for you.

Mark Honas 30:41

Something that my wife would enjoy, because she had a, a pug, a pug.

Donna 30:48

They're very happy little dogs Full of energy. Boston Terrier. Maltese Bichon.

Dr. Brad 30:54

Golden, Golden yeah.

Donna 30:56

Now, yes, goldens are great, they are big. We were naming a lot of small breeds, thinking you'd start out small and work your way to the bigger breeds.

Mark Honas 31:04

You can hit a golden head with a rock and a gold Can we play that game again.

Dr. Brad 31:06

Yeah right, they take your lifestyle on. They're great though, yeah they really are.

Mark Honas 31:12

I hope that helps you out. My friend, the true fact is the skin secretion chicken, the skin secretion chicken, that was true.

Jamie 31:18

That was true.

Caller 31:20

That was pretty gross wasn't it, oh my God, the skin secretion chicken jacket Sandwich.

Mark Honas 31:26

Hey, if you enjoyed this hour of Animal Talk, don't worry, we're going to do it to you all over again.

Jamie 31:35

Thanks for being with us for another episode of Animal Talk. Make sure you do all those podcast things in the podcast places Like subscribe. Leave a comment. We hope you had a little fun along the way. Make sure you head on over to wearingfunnycom. You can grab yourself some gear to show off what a proud pet parent you are. Are you a cool cat mom? Are you a happy doggy daddy? We got all the gear just for you Hats, shirts, all kinds of swag WearingFunnycom. Go check it out and show yourself a little animal pride with Animal Talk. Once again, like subscribe. Leave a comment. Thank you so much for being here. Have an exotic week and kiss your wild thing for us.

Caller 32:12

Bye-bye boys. Have fun storming the castle, Think it'll work it would take a while.

Caller 32:19

Bye-bye.