 Animal Radio® Show #587 March 5, 2011
Unfinished Business
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
 Even though Phil Keoghan, Host of the Amazing Race, is never on hiatus, he has had pets all of his life and continues to do so. Currently his daughter has a “cool” cat named mellow, because as you can guess, he is really mellow. Phil’s first animal was a run-away dog named Buster, who when found as a young dog, stayed with Phil and his family for the rest of his life.
You have heard people say that if you work in television, the most difficult things to work with are children and animals. Phil agrees. While working on the Amazing Race, he has worked with both stubborn animals and interesting animals. One animal that comes to mind were the yaks that bolted off during shooting taking the teams with them, while others just stood there and seemed to say “I don’t care if you’re in a race, I’m not moving!”
 When he was twenty-years-old and the host of a New Zealand adventure show, Phil almost died while diving underwater to explore a shipwreck. Faced with the possibility of death, he was filled with an overwhelming desire to live and to take risks. At that time, Phil realized that life was really too short. He then decided to make a list of 100 adventures he would like to do.
One of the things on his list was to hand feed wild sharks. He also managed to round up three people who were debilitated by the fear of sharks and took them to Fiji to have a chance to get in the water with dozens of bull-sharks.
Phil wrote a book about his philosophy, "NOW, No Opportunity Wasted." Phil encourages everyone to make their own list and make these lists personal to us — only we know inside what will make ourselves most fulfilled.
Look for Phil, who is again hosting the Amazing Race for its 18th Season on CBS entitled "Unfinished Business" where previous contestants from the past 17 seasons who came close to winning their res[ective race but failed for whatever reason come back for another try at winning a million dollars in the always exciting race around the world.
Dodge Journey Pet Destinations
What Is Your Favorite Place To Take Your Pet?
People who have pets love to travel with them. At Dodge, they have made it easier with their pet friendly vehicle, the Dodge Journey, which contains concealed storage bins, Chill Zone glove box cooler and second-row dual in-floor storage bins with removable and washable liners (very handy for muddy paws!) Call us with your favorite place to take your furry-friend: 1-866-405-8405.
This week's Dodge Journey Pet Destination:
 Valerie of Southern California is a "Beach Girl" who loves to take her Boston Terrier, Rosie, to the Redondo Beach Dog Park. Rosie loves to run along the beach into the water, and according to Valerie, Rosie loves to "terrorize the beach!"
To view Past Dodge Journey Pet Destinations, click here.
The Dogfather's Grooming Tip with Joey Villani
Grooming An Unwilling Cat
Joey frequently gets asked how to groom cats. Often times his clients have cats that like to "bite" at the brush when they try to groom them, making it impossible to do so.
 Joey has a great answer for this perplexing problem. He says you should go out and buy cheesecloth, the kind that you would use in the kitchen as a strainer. Wrap the cheesecloth around your hand real well and just pet your cat. You can rub your hand all over the cat, down the legs and over the tail. This will work like a charm at grabbing all of the loose hair. When you have a handful of hair, just unwrap it from your hand and toss it in the garbage.
However, if your cat bites the brush, you don't want the cat to start biting the netting with your fingers in it! So as long as your cat likes to be petted, you're okay!
This also works great if you have a shorthaired dog that doesn't like his face brushed.
 DOGFATHER'S GROOMING TIP Brought To You By SeniorPetProducts.com. Use the code "radiospp" to receive 25% off!
Animal Radio® News with Stacey Cohen
 And The Number 1 Dog Is????
The Labrador Retriever continues to be the most popular dog breed in America, so says the American Kennel Club, which notes that the lab has held the top spot for 20 consecutive years. Labs are known to be gentle, intelligent and family-friendly and their stable temperament makes them suitable for a variety of activities beyond hunting. The German Shepherd was number two on the list, followed by the Yorkshire Terrier, the Beagle and the Golden Retriever. The Bulldog rose to number six on this year's list. AKC Spokesperson Lisa Peterson said, quote, "Not since the early 20th Century has the Bulldog enjoyed such sustained popularity."
Dancing With Wolves
A Norwegian boy who was walking home from school one day met up with an unusual group of would be bullies - a pack of wolves. But due to quick thinking on this 13-year-olds part he was able to fend them away by playing a Creed song on his cell phone. He was listening to the Creed song "Overcome," so when the scary animals confronted him, he turned up the volume to try to scare them away. Amazingly it worked, and the wolves left the scene. He said, "They didn't really get scared. They just turned around and simply trotted away." Perhaps that pack simply wasn't big on Creed. Who knows?
 Co-Creator of Ant Farms Passes Away
The co-creator of the iconic "Uncle Milton's Ant Farm" has died. Milton Levine passed away of natural causes at the age of 97 recently in Thousand Oaks, California. Levine was best known as a toy industry pioneer and inventor of the Ant Farm, a staple in homes and classrooms for more than 50 years. Levine and his brother came up with idea of creating the Ant Farm in 1956. To date, more than 20-million Uncle Milton Ant Farms have been sold around the world. The educational toy is made of clear plastic and allows children to observe worker ants. Many mothers protested the Ant Farm during its heyday, since acquiring the product involved receiving live ants through the mail.
 Reptile Struts Around Riverside, California
Residents in Riverside were startled to see what looked like a five-foot alligator walking around the other day before Animal Services officers could corner the reptile, which turned out to be monitor lizard. The lizard was skipping along the sidewalk when it was captured. Monitors are legal to own in California and are native to Africa. Police helped an animal services officer snare the lizard with a catchpole so it could be put in the bed of a pickup truck. Animal Services Chief John Walsh said the reptile didn't care for that and hissed at the officer, but once it was at the shelter it was very docile. Walsh said he expected someone would claim it soon because it is probably a lost pet.
Is Your Neighbor An Animal Hoarder?
Does somebody on your block seem like they have too many cats or dogs? That could be a sign of animal hoarding! Animal hoarders are becoming a big problem and it's a pretty complex issue. It is not clearly understood why people become animal hoarders. New studies and theories are leading toward attachment disorders and other mental illnesses. Some animal hoarders began collecting after a traumatic event or loss, while others see themselves as "rescuers" who save animals from lives on the street. It has been estimated that there are 900 to 2,000 new cases of animal hoarding every year in the United States, with a quarter million animals falling victim. Animals collected range from cats and dogs to reptiles, rodents, birds, exotics and even farm animals. What can you do? Pick up the phone and call your local humane law enforcement department, police department, animal shelter, animal welfare group or veterinarian to initiate the process. You may not want to get the person "in trouble," but a phone call may be the first step to get them and the animals the help they need.
 Do You Sleep With Your Pets?
A new report in the Journal Emerging Infectious Diseases suggests that sleeping with a pet in your bed could be a recipe for illness. According to a lead researcher of the University of California-Davis, pets can carry a variety of illnesses that are potentially lethal to humans. He explains that pets can carry sicknesses including plague and cat scratch fever. “The risk is rare, but when it occurs it can be very nasty, and especially the very young.” However, Larry Kornegay, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, says it is an acceptable risk. “The benefits of having a pet, whether or not you sleep with it, far outweigh the negatives, which are quite uncommon,”
Pets & Careers
What does it mean for your work life if you prefer cats to dogs? Plenty, according to a new survey of 2,300 pet owners. Odd as it sounds, the researchers discovered that there are career differences between cat and dog lovers. For instance, dog lovers are more apt to be senior-level nurses, information technology professionals, military professionals and entertainers. Cat people excel as real-estate agents, machine operators, personal caretakers and physicians.
 Don't Feed Birds in Spring
As temperatures dip in midwinter, many birds are no doubt feasting on the seeds and suet hanging outside many of our homes. More than 40 percent of U.S. households feed birds. But two new studies suggest that feeding birds at bird feeders in the spring can influence behavior in surprising ways. While experts agree that people should continue their beloved pastime of feeding birds at backyard feeders, they also suggest that bird lovers should take a hiatus in feeding birds during the breeding season. The fed birds laid their eggs earlier than unfed birds and incubated them for less time before they hatched. "Researchers suggest that people stop feeding by the end of March or at the latest when the snow is gone." They also suggest that feeders should be put away from cats.
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