DOG TALK® (and Kitties Too!) on

icon of side silhouette of dog and cat drawn inside the dog Tracie Hotchner the Radio Pet Lady

DOG TALK® features Tracie's interviews with authors, pet experts and animal welfare advocates from around the world, discussing practical and philosophical issues regarding our relationships with dogs, cats, other pets, wildlife and the natural world.

The show broadcasts from WLIW FM 88.3 in Southampton, the only NPR station on Long Island, reaching from the East End across Long Island into Southern Connecticut and Westchester.

The show’s theme song is “Mmm My Best Friend” by Sophie B. Hawkins from her album TIMBRE.

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Would Licensing Breeders Reduce Bad Breeding?

#911B: Lisa Milot, professor at University of Georgia School of Law, holds the prestigious Annie & Zack Stanton Distinguished Professorship in Canine Welfare Law (named after the benefactor’s Corgi Annie). Milot teaches animal welfare law, floating the idea that to reduce “bad breeding” a license could be required like hunters have to get — but Tracie points out the unintended negative consequences to responsible breeders.

Traveling the World to Celebrate Its Creatures

#911A: Rick LeCouteur — formerly a veterinary neurosurgeon — is the educator for Veterinary Expeditions, as well as being an illustrator/wildlife photographer and author of the children's book “Nasty Names Are Hurtful: An Australian White Ibis Responds to Name-Calling in the City.”

The Labrador Who is His Wingman

#910B: Retired Air Force Brigadier General Scott Wiggins talks about being the subject of the documentary “The Wingman” — which was one of three finalists in the Purina Dog Chow Service Dog Salute — a new category of the NY Dog Film Festival. He explains how having his PTSD-trained service dog Bear — a Labrador from Patriot Service Dogs — has transformed his life.

K9 Search Dogs Survive an Avalanche

#910A: Sara Driscoll’s new FBI K-9 novel, “Summit’s Edge,” will have you at the edge of your seat as her protagonists navigate an avalanche while investigating a plane crash in the Colorado mountains with their dogs, who have to track the man who blew it up.

Only 100 Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorists in the World

#909B: Dr. Esther Eng, who is completing a residency at the Animal Behavior Wellness Clinic to join an elite group of board certified veterinary behaviorists, talks about having been an Asian American student at Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine, a Historically Black College.

Where Did These Shelter Dogs Wind Up?

#909A: Katherine Carver’s book “Abandoned: Chronicling the Journeys of Once-Forsaken Dogs” photo-documents a series of dogs in shelters and then revisits them again a year later after adoption — sometimes with new names, along with a new lease on life. She calls her own rehomed Sheltie Victory “my daughter’s fur sister.”

Does Your Cat Fetch?

#908B: Tracie’s co-host on CAT CHAT, Dr. Mikel Maria Delgado, discusses her scientific research paper about cats who retrieve objects and how common it is for cats to play fetch with their humans.

Around the World in 2,555 Days

#908A: Tom Turcich describes his epic journey, with Savannah, an adopted puppy, by his side in his book “The World Walk: 7 years, 28,000 miles, 6 continents. A grand meditation one step at a time.”

“Doing a paternity test on a boa constrictor as a favor to a friend…”

#907B: Warren Booth, Associate Professor Department of Entomology in the Urban Evolutionary Entomology Lab at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, talks about the many topics he has studied, from bed bugs to reptile reproduction.

Grand Pet Necropoli Around the World

#907A: Paul Koudounaris talks about the pet cemeteries he found and photographed all over the world in his book “Faithful Unto Death: Pet Cemeteries, Animal Graves & Eternal Devotion,” chronicling fascinating tales of how people have memorialized their beloved pets forever.