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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We Told You Pet Foods NEVER Caused Heart Problems in Dogs

#860B: Pet food consultant Dr. Ryan Yamka shares Tracie’s frustration with veterinarians who cannot get past the erroneous mistaken belief that premium pet foods using peas and lentils have any relationship to DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) in dogs

K9 Search & Rescue in a Collapsed Condominium

#860A: Jen Danna, writing “That Others May Live” as Sara Driscoll, explains how search and rescue teams navigate a building collapse with their highly trained dogs — and in this thriller how they get to the bottom of the cause of the disaster.

A Zoo Beneath a Florida Prison

#859C: Jeanne Selander runs the Monroe County Prison Zoo on Key West — where she turned the hurricane-proof space beneath the detention center into an eclectic zoo that inmates maintain and work with the animals. Children and community members visit and learn about the local wildlife and exotic animals housed there.

Delicious Paintings of Dogs in the East Village

#859B: Heather LaHaise is a painter and dog portraitist who features dogs in almost all her art, which will be on display for three days from 11AM to 8PM — Dec 15, 16, 17 — at what she’s calling Dog Borough, 616 East 9th in New York’s East Village.

Naval Intelligence by Day, Dog & Cat Angel by Night

#859A: US Navy Captain Risa Simon talks about why and how she created Leashes End, a home setting sanctuary for senior dogs and cats in Maryland (her “day job” is Deputy Senior Naval Intelligence Manager, Near East, assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence)

Do British Golden Retrievers Get Less Cancer?

#858C: Dr. David Brodbelt discusses a UK study on cancer, which they based on the Morris Animal Foundation Golden Retriever lifetime study. Tracie asks whether there are differences between US and British Golden Retrievers in their genetic tendency to cancer.

The Liberator and Champion of Greyhounds

#858B: Christine Dorchak talks about her book ”Brooklyn Goes Home: The Rise and Fall of American Greyhound Racing and the Dog That Inspired a Movement, which chronicles her career as an activist lawyer fighting to end greyhound racing worldwide.

A Rollicking Tale of Bird Smuggling from Brooklyn to Bali

#858A: Wendall Thomas explains how she created the hilarious protagonist of “Cheap Trills,” a fashionista travel agent, who is on a quest to rescue endangered birds while dealing with a captivating cast of colorful characters.

Alexis Devine’s Divine Book “I Am Bunny”

#857A: Tracie is mesmerized by the all-encompassing world view of Alexis Devine, who discusses her magnificently architected book “I Am Bunny: How a ‘Talking Dog’ Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Being Human,” a book that changed Tracie’s opinion about dogs “using” human vocabulary because Alexis learned to communicate with Bunny on levels far beyond the “talking buttons” that made her an online phenomenon.

Is a Disabled Dog for You?

#857B: Dr. Melissa Shapiro — the veterinarian who raised Piglet, a tiny blind deaf puppy, who inspired the nonprofit pigletmindset.org, discusses how she took in Georgie, another blind deaf puppy who also enlarged her life and world view.