"HERO PEOPLE OF THE WEEK" - Cornelius Austin, The "Dog Man"

The Animal Radio® Hero Person this week spends his mornings outside the Los Angeles Coliseum giving out free training to dog owners and especially pit-bull parents. At times he'll have up to 50 people at his free clinic. He wants you to know that pit-bulls are getting a bad rap!

A Southern California man has made it his mission to educate the public about the sweet side of often-misunderstood pit bulls by teaching dog owners how to properly train their pups. Cornelius Austin's office is just outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where you can find him every Sunday from 9:00am to 11:30pm holding classes.

Besides his classes on Sundays, he also goes to the shelter every Saturday from 7:30am to 10:00am to help the dogs in the shelter.

What does Cornelius charge for his training? Nothing – it's free! Cornelius' goal is to help the Pit Bulls and help people save these dogs. He tells everyone it is not the dog, but the owners. He has been doing this for 22 years, and was taught by someone else at the Coliseum.

Unfortunately, the people that need this training the most, won't show up at class. These are the people who get these dogs for the wrong reasons, such as status symbol, fighting and breeding. The dogs then end up on the streets and shelters, where innocent people, mainly women, go to the shelters and adopt these dogs without knowing much about the breed.

Cornelius is then there to help them, as he wants to save the breed. He mentions that when you adopt these dogs, the dogs don't know you. Plus, their original owners have already hurt them. You don't know what they've been through, and if they called talk, they would have a lot to tell you! He suggests everyone treat these dogs real gentle and always consult with a professional dog trainer.

He says all dogs, including Pit Bulls, have wonderful personalities, feelings and heart. There is also no dog that can't be trained. Training a dog properly takes time, and if you don't have the time, you shouldn't even have a dog.

Cornelius is also very involved in the community of Pit Bulls and wanted to give a shout out to a special lady that they lost from Angel City Pit. Kristine Reiser, a devoted animal lover, was in the process of saving a Pit Bull when she lost her life. Our hearts go out to her family!

http://www.facebook.com/PitForLife

Animal Radio's HERO PEOPLE is brought to you by Zeuterin a safe, permanent and virtually painless alternative to surgical castration.





Pet Food Myths
Dr. Marty Becker, America's Veterinarian

Every year, Dr. Becker looks for the top new pet products of the year. To find the best, he asks a group of about 150 people, from the veterinary and pet industry, to submit things that they have seen.

Through the survey, Dr. Becker heard about one product, Revitamal and was immediately skeptical, because there is always a product that is the new "wonder" drug. The person who told him about it is a biochemist that developed these flavorings for pediatric medications. He has a strong background and encouraged Dr. Becker to look into this new product.

There was a person at church whom Dr. Becker knew, whose dog was in his last chapter in life. They started asking advice from him, along with the age-old question, "Will we know when it's time?" Dr. Becker always answers the question with the same statement, "That as long as the good days outnumber the bad days and the quality of life is still good. It is always best to do it a week too early than a minute too late."

Dr. Becker decided to take some of the Revitamal to church and gave it to this person for their dog at 8:30 in the morning. They gave it to their dog that afternoon, and called Dr. Becker the next day and asked, "What is in that stuff?" They said it was almost as if someone put batteries in their dog, and they even started playing again.

This got Dr. Becker's attention!

Dr. Becker also had a friend whose cat had a scab on it. They had taken the cat to four veterinarians and two veterinary dermatologists and no one could figure out what it was. This person then gives Revitamal to their cat and three days later the scab falls off and heals up.

Dr. Becker is now thinking, "What is this stuff!!!" and he wants to learn more. He finds out it is a hard thing to understand. It is a plant-based nutraceutical. It was tested for it's safety and is the only compound this company ever tested for toxicology where the treated animals lived twice as long as the un-treated animals. They also didn't get the normal sicknesses and infirmities of old age, like tumors.

Dr. Becker then decided to send it out to ten people in the veterinary profession that he trusted the most, with most of them being board certified. He asked them to try it out on three patients and let him know what they thought of it. The responses he received were unbelievable.

Dr. Becker even tried it on his own dog. He has a Lab/Pit Bull mix that is very crippled. The dog was in a shelter so long, that after repeatedly jumping up and down all of her waking hours on the cement, she pounded the growth plates off her back legs. X-rays show that there is a 2-inch gap in her legs where there is no bone. It is amazing that she was able to walk at all. She also had a very bad coat. After putting her on Revitamal, she was very active, had a glossy coat and was in much less pain.

Revitamal also has an incredible safety record, and you can't really even overdose your pet. To administer Revitamal, all you do is add a few drops to you pet's food everyday, wet or dry. A bottle contains about a one-month's supply and is not real expensive.

Dr. Becker mentions that it doesn't work on every pet, and those that it will work on, it might not necessarily work overnight. But Dr. Becker has seen it enough to know that it is possible.

Dr. Becker has been practicing veterinary medicine for more than 30 years and is a best-selling author, syndicated columnist and a frequent guest on national shows. You can also find Dr. Becker on Vetstreet.com, a new animal health and lifestyle website dedicated to giving pet owners the most accurate information possible to keep their pets healthy and happy. Follow Dr. Becker on Facebook and Twitter.

Dating 101 for Pet Owners
Kris Rotonda, YouMustLoveDogsDating.com

Kris Rotonda created an online dating website specifically for dog owners. He says if he's going to date anyone, they've got to love his dogs. And let's face it, single dog guardians have a rougher time of it because of their furry-children.

Kris Rotonda got his first dog, a poodle named Rocky, when he was eight. Still together, Rocky and Kris have been joined over the years by Kobe and Coco, two dogs abandoned by an ex-girlfriend, and Jordan, a big loveable girl who lived in a shelter cage for more than three years before her rescue.

Kris has had problems with relationships in the past because of his dogs, so he saw an opportunity for a niche-based dating site to bring pet lovers together, creating YouMustLoveDogsDating.com.

Kris tells us of a previous relationship where he had two dogs and so did his girlfriend. The girlfriend apparently inherited her two dogs from a family member and she didn't take care of them. During her breakup with Kris, she actually left her two dogs with him, so that is how he ended up with four dogs.

To join the site, YouMustLoveDogsDating.com, you need to not only create a profile for yourself, but also one for your dog, which will be linked together. You can upload pictures and videos, and list things and people your dog likes best.

There are three different membership types; a one-month ($29.95 monthly), three-month ($19.95 monthly) and a six-month ($15.95 monthly). There is also a 30-day free trial so you can test it out and see if you like it.

So now you have met someone online who also loves dogs, but where do you go on a doggy double date? Kris offers three easy ideas with lots of potential for having a good time.

- Look up the nearest dog beach or park: Dog parks and beaches have lots of interesting things to see and smell, particularly if you're a dog, and room for running and playing games. You and your date can toss Frisbees, take a leisurely stroll with your dogs, or just kick back for some entertaining dog watching.

- Dog-friendly bars and restaurants: More and more establishments are realizing the value of setting a place at the table for dogs.

- Go shopping together. Pet stores are also dog-friendly zones; check out fun new products together, scope out the fish and birds available for sale, you may even get a little paw mani-pedi together!

Kris started his website a little over a year ago, but he mentions that there haven't been any marriages, yet!

http://www.youmustlovedogsdating.com

Animal Radio® News with Tammy Trujillo

Bad News For Greedy Cats
An inventor in Taiwan has come up with a cat-feeding machine that uses facial recognition technology. The Bistro Smart Feeder has an app that allows the pet parent to monitor their pet's diet history and health and even watch them eat live through a built-in camera. The feeder requires cats to put their heads inside it and the food and water will only come out if the built-in computer recognizes them and only if they haven't eaten within a certain amount of time. The inventor, Mu-Chi Sung says he got the idea after his cat Momo nearly died from pancreatitis due to his other cats taking more food than they should. He pointed out that with cats, you often don't know they are sick until it's too late to help them. Just to be on the safe side, the feeder has a scale connected to it to ensure the cat is recognized even if the facial recognition software fails.

What Puts The Cute in Cute Pets?
Most of us think our pets are cute, but what makes the cute? According to researchers, floppy ears, patches of white, younger faces and smaller jaws are the keys to cuteness and they are all traits that Charles Darwin noticed 140 years ago. The research team at Humboldt University in Berlin think the traits may be linked to the domestication of animals and would explain things like why wolves look wild, while their relatives, domestic dogs don't. It could also explain similar differences between domestic and wild felines, birds and even fish. The theory hasn't been tested yet, but that could happen soon as researches map the genes of domestic animals.

Cure For Parvo?
A few weeks ago, we talked about a possibly more effective treatment and far less expensive treatment for the deadly disease Parvo in puppies. That medicine is made from goose eggs and is being tested at the animal shelter in Kansas City Missouri and people at the shelter say it is making a huge difference. Puppies in what is being called the Kansas City Pet Project are bouncing back and starting to eat and drink within two days. That's about half the time it used to take, if the puppies were able to bounce back at all. The clinical trial is set to go through November. If all continues to go well, it could be for sale as soon as next spring at about $75 per dose. Right now, current treatments for Parvo can easily run into the thousands of dollars and often don't work. So this is fantastic news.

Safety Guidelines For Pet Harnesses
There are now safety guidelines for pet harnesses. The Center for Pet Safety is behind this first scientific approach to pet product safety in the U.S., providing guidelines for pet product manufacturers. It's Harness Crashworthiness Study outlines what safety harness restraints need to do to protect pet's and people's lives in the event of a crash. The Center has even created a series of Crash Test Dogs, just like the Crash Test Dummies that are used by automakers to check out the effectiveness of safety features in cars. The certification of the harnesses is a voluntary program, but products that pass the test qualify for a Safety-Certified Seal on their product packaging.

The Human Walking Project
This is a unique idea, it's called the Human Walking Project and it's going on in Salt Lake City. The County Animal Services takes it's adoptable dogs to various office complexes and lets people walk them on their lunch hour. The agency says it's a good way to get people away from their desks, get them outside doing a little exercise and helps them de-stress. It also showcases the shelter dogs in a better light than they often show in a kennel and the program has already resulted in several adoptions. The Human Walking Project is pattered after a similar one in Canada.

Home Builders Cater To Dogs
Home builder Standard Pacific Homes is building and selling homes with amenities that not only cater to people, but to dogs in 27 of its 190 developments from Florida to California. The most lavish features a 170-square foot pet paradise with a step-in wash station, handheld sprayer and leash lead, tile walls and floors, a drying area with a commercial-sized pet dryer, a water station, automated feeders, bunk-style bed, cabinets for toys and treats, a stackable washer and dryer, an attached puppy run and, of course, a flat screen TV. Standard Pacific decided to offer pet suites after it did several livability studies with homeowners. Real estate experts say building homes designed to cater to pets is a new concept but that pet accommodations in remodels have been going on for some time

NEWS UPDATE brought to you by Drs. Foster & Smith, affordable pet supplies. Low prices every day, so you save on every order.

Listen to the entire Podcast of this show (#765)