DOG TALK® (and Kitties Too!) on 
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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Words Matter: Don’t Just Tell Someone Their Pet is “Fat”!
#931B: Dr. Ernie Ward’s own non-profit — the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) discusses the importance of using non-shaming vocabulary when speaking about overweight pets; and that veterinarians unconsciously have a bias (as do doctors in human medicine) towards patients that “have obesity” — which is a clinical condition requiring medical intervention.
The Horrors of the “American XL Bully Breed”
#931A: Annie Phenix (author of Positive Training for Reactive & Aggressive Dogs) discusses the horrible phenomenon in England of dogs with the moniker American XL Bully (a “breed’ not recognized as such in the U.S.), a type of dog which is now banned in the UK because of maulings of people by these massive powerful dog.
Brooklyn Kitty Plays Matchmaker to Humans
#930B: Tanya Guerrero (who now lives on a hillside outside Manila in a home constructed of shipping containers with her husband, their daughter and a clowder of cats) reads from her Brooklyn-based novel “Cat’s People,” the heroine of which is a stray cat who works to bring disconnected people together.
Fast-Track to a “Pet Shrink” for You & Your Pet
#930A: Brandy Kuentzel talks about her Ease Pet Vet (winner of an Innovation prize at the VMX veterinary conference) a platform that gives pet owners and their own veterinarians access to one of the hard-to-reach Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist doctors to get a treatment plan for their dog's or cat’s behavior issues.
A British Look at Our Relationship With Dogs
#929B: Suzanne Rogers, co-director of the non-profit Human Behaviour Change for Animals, talks about the book she edited: "Canine Behaviour in Mind: Applying Behavioural Science to Our Lives with Dogs.”
The 1,000 Dogs Left Behind at Chernobyl
#929A: NYC cat behaviorist Stephen Quandt (Cat BehaviorHelp.com) talks about how he was part of a delegation many years ago to help manage and study the 1,000 dogs left behind when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986. What has become of them?
Black Dogs Deserve Love and Happy Homes, Too
#928B: Fred Levy wrote and took the photos for his book “Black Dogs - Stories of Love and Friendship,” because of the “black dog syndrome” at shelters — where they get overlooked and euthanized at a higher rate — and explains why it is hard to photograph a black dog.
Are "Button-Pushing" Dogs Really "Saying" Anything?
#928A: Federico Rossano — Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at UCSD — conducted an international study of people using the "buttons" to communicate with their dogs — and took a lot of professional flak for doing the study, and the conclusion that the dogs do seem to be "saying" something, despite Tracie's unwavering skepticism about the whole concept!
Is Your Dog Happy? How Do You Know?
#926B: Emma Grigg — who is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, focused on Companion Animal Behavior and Comparative Biomedical Sciences — discusses her book “The Science Behind a Happy Dog.”
An Explorer's Guide to the World’s Living Wonders
#927A: Cara Giaimo discusses her book “Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World’s Living Wonders” and how she managed to collect such a cornucopia of information and beautiful images about flora and fauna around the world.