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Animal Radio® Show #473 December 27, 2008
Looking Back Over 2008
Family Pays $50,000 For Cloned
Dog
The South Korean team of scientists who created the world's first
cloned dog 3 years ago say they've done it again. Their first
success was an Afghan named Snuppy cloned in 2005. Now the team
says three cloned puppies are expected to arrive this month via
surrogate mothers. The McKinney family paid 50-thousand dollars
to the South Korean firm R-N-L Bio to clone their former pit-bull
terrier named Booger, who died in 2006.
Leona Helmsley Leaves $12 Million
for Trouble the Dog
Tralee Pearce, Globe and Mail
Twelve million dollars will buy a lot of Milk-Bone. That's
the value of a pet trust fund set up by the late Leona Helmsley
to provide for Trouble, her fluffy, white Maltese, according to
court documents made public in New York on Tuesday.
Ms. Helmsley's brother Alvin Rosenthal, who received only $10-million, will take care of the pooch and administer the fund.
Everything else, including cash from the
sale of residences and belongings, reportedly worth billions,
is to go to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Home Sweet Home, Where Bailey the Buffalo
Roams
Jim Sautner, Bailey the Buffalo
For
thousands of years, the majestic North American buffalo roamed
freely over the wide-open Canadian prairies. Today, most of these
brown, woolly beasts spend their time grazing on ranches - or
in the case of Bailey, watching TV in the living room of an Alberta
family's home.
Jim and Linda Sautner are the proud owners of Bailey, a nearly
four-year-old bison, who has a penchant for spending his time
inside the couple's home, about 20 kilometers west of the provincial
capital of Edmonton. "My wife wouldn't let me bring my German
shepherd puppy in the house one day, so I got even with her by
bringing Bailey in," Mr. Sautner said on Wednesday. "He's
made a mess on the carpet a couple of times, so now we bring out
an ice-cream pail whenever he gives us that look."
The Sautners, who own 270 head of buffalo, have become used to
having the 725-kilogram beast watching television in their lounge
room. "He prefers to watch The Nature of Things," Mr.
Sautner said, referring to a Canadian nature series.
The couple rescued Bailey as a baby, after the calf was abandoned
by his mother. Along with farm hands, they bottle-fed Bailey with
milk daily and their affinity for one another grew rapidly. Christmas
was especially memorable at the Sautners with 21 wide-eyed guests
sitting down to a dinner of mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables,
and buffalo meatballs - with the furry giant snorting behind them.
http://www.baileythebuffalo.com
NOTE: We are sad to report
that Bailey passed away in April 2008 from a freak accident. Jim
was pretty upset and said he was going to take two years off and
have a "pity party." However, when a new orphaned Bison
showed up, the party was put on hold. The new baby has been named
Bailey Jr. (no relation to the original Bailey) and took immediately
to Jim. http://www.baileythebuffalo.com
Human Meds Not for Cats
Dr. Jim Humphries, Veterinary
News Network
Human medications are a no-no for cats! Human
medications are the most common source of animal poisoning. The
most common source of these medications for cats is those that
are left out on the countertop or table, or those that are accidentally
dropped on the floor. However, many times owners think that when
a medication is safe for children, then it is probably safe for
their cat. This is far from true, and in fact, many of these medications
can cause death in cats.
Why do various human medications, something
as simple as aspirin, cause death in cats? The primary reason
is that cats do not have the necessary enzymes to metabolize these
drugs. Even small amounts can be very toxic. Most notably are
the topical flea and tick products labeled "dogs only."
A single application of these on a cat may mean sudden or an agonizing
death for a cat. Tylenol is one of the deadliest and most common
drugs that we see that causes fatalities in cats. Second on the
list of most frequent toxins in cats is aspirin.
http://www.myvnn.com
Vladae, The "World Famous" Russian
Dog Wizard
Papillion
Barks Constantly
An electronic barking collar worked a little bit but did not cure
the problem, as it doesn't address the cause. Vladae suggests
purchasing the "Good
Neighbor Barker Breaker" which creates a sound to distract
and dissuade the dog from barking. And to address the cause, the
dog needs to have both his physical and mental activities increased.
4 Ankle-Biting-Barking Chihuahuas
When someone comes to the door, these dogs start barking and won't
stop when guests enter the home. These dogs need to learn which
behaviors are acceptable and which ones aren't. Get a large crate
and arrange for guests to come to your home to train these dogs.
Get some rope and attach about 6 feet to each of these dog's collars
so that when guests arrive you can get them into the crate. When
the guests knock, if the dogs bark, snap the crate and lunge at
it making a loud growling noise. When the dogs are quiet, praise
them. When the guests enter the home, let the guests give the
dogs treats and make it a positive experience.
Are Shar-Peis
A Bully Breed?
Unfortunately, Shar-Peis, along with Chows and Akitas, and are
known to be a bully breed. However, these dogs are young and need
to have training started immediately. They also have a habit of
bolting out the front door. This is an easy fix. Get a clothes
line, about 20 feet long. Attach one end to the dog's collar and
the other to a heavy object in the house. Open the door and let
them run. When they take off, call them back before they reach
the end of the line. Of course, they won't come, but don't worry,
they will correct themselves when they reach the "end of
their rope." At that time, call them back and when they come
to you, praise them and give them a treat. A few times of doing
this and they will learn.
http://www.animalradio.com/vladae.html
Vinnie Penn, Animal Radio's Resident Party
Animal
Six Degrees of Animal Separation
I got together in New York City the other day to meet up with
a girlfriend of mine going way back. She shows up with her new
dog, Puffy. I don't know if it's a "Diddy" thing. I
immediately accused her of being a Paris Hilton Want To Be. To
which she deflected and shot back that I was a Rick Springfield
Want To Be when she first met me and I used to have a working
class dog and she claims I got my first dog because of Rick Springfield's
love for dogs, which is something we fans of his have known for
a million year, and I had a few things to say to that.
One, first and foremost, Rick's got a great new album out and it's called "Venus in Overdrive" and it kicks ***. If you're a Rick fan, go out and get it. But two, isn't it funny how we associate certain animals with certain celebrities. I don't think I ever really realized it until today. Here she was with this tiny little dog and I immediately associated her with Paris Hilton. She immediately associated me with a certain type of dog with Rick Springfield. Another friend of ours has a pig and we're constantly making George Clooney jokes well, that's not really true! But you do, you associate pigs with George Clooney. Whenever the subject of neutering or spaying comes up, you think Bob Barker. You also think Bob Barker when you think of old men hitting on 25-year-old girls too, but that's beside the point.
The fact of the matter is that celebrities carry such clout with what they can do with a certain animal. I know back when Michael J. Foxx did the voice for Stuart Little, for the longest time he was associated that way. Even Mel Gibson, back in the day, when he did the movie with the chickens and they were trying to make a break for it, you associated him with that long before you associated him with DUI's and other horrific stances and beliefs.
These celebrities are linked. There's got to be a board game in this, with 6 degrees of animal separation where you can kind of link up the specific animal to the specific celebrity, and about as far reaching as you can get.
I thought of snakes, and you think of Snake Pliskin, Kurt Russell from escape from New York. I've got to get in touch with Parker Brothers, because there's a board game in this. And if ever a specific animal is in danger, you can just associate a celebrity to it and get a celebrity campaign behind it and the fans of that celebrity will just come rushing in. Look at Siegfried and Roy with the white tigers? And granted, we've discovered they're not the most gentle of creatures, but again, beside the point.
I would love to get email on this. Email me at Vinnie@AnimalRadio.com. Send me your list and I will follow up on this one. This will be the first Party Animal where I do a Part Two on it. Associate the celebrity with the specific animal. And the crazier the animal, the better. See if you can get it to ferrets or things of that nature, and who is really associated with them.
I know I was watching that show on the E Channel it's complicated. Her home is a variable farm. They say her and Charlie Sheen broke up for this reason and that reason; they had to break up, because I think she's got pigs! She actually has pigs, and associating Denise Richards with the word pig that's not a big leap.
Let's play the game, ""Six Degrees of Animal Separation!"
Hidden Dogs in Parked Cars
I have an interesting question I would like to ask you. Also,
feel free to hit me up at vinnnie@animalradio.com.
My question is this, why is it that whenever I park my car in a convenient store parking lot and I'm getting out and cutting between two other cars on my way to walking to the store, the rabid, aggressive, hostile beast that someone has left in their vehicle, usually a pickup truck, is ninja quiet until I'm in between the two cars and then lunges through that half-way rolled down window of the truck, just at the time that I'm passing through the cars? Can anyone answer that? It's like these dogs are left in the front seat of the vehicle and almost trained to, "Now, you don't make a sound, don't let anybody know you're in there until they're creeping in between our car and the car next to us and then scare the bejesus out of them!" Cause you know the guys who own these dogs say things like bejesus!
The other day I was on my way into the convenient store. I just wanted to grab a soda, which I didn't even wind up doing because the Mountain Dew would have finished me off with the heart attack I had in the parking lot. It would have been the final blow. I'm walking in between a car and a truck when this German Shepherd/Pit Bull/Rottweiler/Hybrid, yes, I believe they exist and I'm going to call it a Germit Weiler, comes lunging through the half-way rolled down window just at the exact moment, not three minutes or three seconds before, just as I'm in between. And there's just enough window down so that he's barking wildly and his saliva splatters me on the side of my face, and I had to scream (which I've been told that I scream kind of like a girl) in the parking lot of the convenient store. The owner of course thinks that this is hilarious, but if I was with my five-year-old, that would have been it, dogs would have been off limits for the rest of her life.
So please, somebody out there tell me, are dog owners training their dogs to sit like ninjas on the front seat of their vehicle with the window rolled halfway down, trained to wait just until that person cuts in between their vehicle and the one next to it, just for laughs?
I got it it's a hidden camera show.
"It's When Dogs Scare the Crap Out of You in Parking Lots."
And hey, Vinnie Penn's on the debut episode!
Animal Radio® News with Bobbie Hill
Economic Downturn Has Deadly
Effect on Puppies
In Europe the global economic downturn is having a deadly effect
on puppies. Bad economy has given extra incentives to smugglers
of puppies and other small pets that are in high demand. Italy
is launching a campaign calling for Europe to stamp out the practice
of illegal pet trafficking. Over 70-thousand puppies were smuggled
into Italy this year with nearly a quarter of them dying in route.
The others arrive sick and usually die within a few months of
arrival.
Cat Burglar Is a Cat!
There's been a string of burglaries over the past year in a Swindon
neighborhood near London. Authorities have a suspect - he's Frankie....
the cat. Frankie is indeed a cat burglar who's been swiping cat
toys from neighbors for the past year. Frankie has filched 30
stuffed toys by sneaking into houses to grab the loot. Frankie's
owner says he's very proud of the booty his cat's hauled home
in 2008 but admits finding the original owners may be difficult.
Squirrels Disable Car
As winter arrives squirrels will gather and hide nuts...an Indiana
woman found that out the hard way. Hope Wideup had let her car
sit idle for a few weeks and when she started it up the engine
made a loud whirring noise, the turn signals didn't work and neither
did the windshield wipers. Hope got out and looked under the hood
and found thousands of walnuts in the engine compartment. Apparently
the little rodent or rodents used her car for storing their nuts
with most of them stuffed under the throttle. It cost Hope $242
in towing and repairs but she says now she doesn't take any chances
- she doesn't let her car sit idle too long saying "It's
funny, but it's not"
Guardian Cited After Dog Freezes to
Sidewalk
Police in Sheboygan Wisconsin have cited the owner of a 12-year-old
border collie with neglect after she left the chubby dog outside
overnight in frigid temperatures. Alice Bigler faces charges of
violating an ordinance against animal neglect after leaving Jiffy
outdoors two weeks ago. Jiffy froze to the sidewalk but was protected
by his massive layers of fat, which insulated him. I spoke with
Pam at the Sheboygan County Humane Society who reported Jiffy
is doing better. He's not only getting around on his own, he's
dropped 5 pounds. Pam said she spoke with the vet who's cared
for Jiffy for several years who said he suggested to Jiffy's owner
that he lose some weight. Bigler, the owner, could not be reached
for comment.
Dogs Show Envy or Jealousness by Sulking
Animal psychologists at the University of Vienna found dogs who
didn't get equal rewards actually sulked. A study looking into
canine emotions showed dogs had more complex feelings and emotions
than normally attributed to them. In experiments, dogs positioned
side by side and given less or no reward for a task showed signs
of stress and stopped performing the task altogether. The research
showed dogs do indeed show envy or jealousy by sulking or refusing
to "shake" paws
Cat's
Face Reattached in Unusual Surgery
Veterinarians at Boston's Angell
Animal Medical Center successfully completed an unusual surgery
in December - they reattached Edgar the cat's face. Seems the
4-year-old feline was staying warm in her owner's engine compartment
- when the car started the fan belt slashed the cat's face. She
disappeared for a couple of day's before resurfacing with part
of her face dangling off. Vet's say Edgar should be fine after
having her face reattached with 35 stitches.
NEWS UPDATE Brought To You By Simple
Solution Natural Line Of Products
NAPPS Annual Conference
NAPPS
has been around for a dozen years and is the largest non-profit
pet sitting organization in the United States. NAPPS offers certification,
educational programs and business advice to pet sitters. They
provide all the tools necessary to start up a business, including
everything from contracts to marketing and advertising.
For someone considering pet sitting as a career, NAPPS has an annual conference both in the business field as well as people in the pet care and behavior industries. This year's 2009 Annual Conference is scheduled for January 16-18, 2009 at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. From pet sitting business basics for the novice pet sitter to programs for the more seasoned pet sitter, you won't want to miss this conference!
Animal Radio will be broadcasting live
at this conference come out and say Hi!
http://www.petsitters.org
Animal Minute With Britt Savage
Manure
Bomb Maker Slips in Tank
In Germany, police say a woman attempting to make manure stink
bombs with stockings slipped into a manure tank and fled the scene
naked. Two women entered a farm in the northern village of Eberholzen
and started filling up stockings with manure. A police spokesperson
said one of them slipped in the manure tank right into the cow
muck. The other one helped her out. Their clothes were found in
a field. One seems to have run off completely naked, the other
in her underwear. The police said it was unclear what the women
had intended to do with the manure bombs, adding the woman can
get their clothes back from the local police station unwashed.
Now that stinks!
Your Vet Questions Answered
with Dr.
Debbie
2 Cats Travel In Truck But One Screams
These cats are 15 and have always traveled in trucks. In the last
few months, however, one of the cats will start screaming for
no reason at all. The first thing Dr. Debbie suggests is having
the cat's blood pressure checked, because it is common for older
cats to have high blood pressure, which can cause them to be very
vocal. Another problem could be their thyroid gland, which can
produce too much of thyroid hormone which can cause anxiety behaviors.
Yorkie Possibly Has Collapsed Trachea
This dog has a cough about 2 two 3 times a week, but the episodes
don't last too long. Her vet didn't want to put the dog through
a battery of tests, as they felt it wasn't that severe. Dr. Debbie
disagrees and suggests the dog have x-rays taken, which are very
basic, and can be a great diagnostic tool.
English Bulldog Won't Stay Off Couch
This dog will wait to no one is around before she will jump on
the couch. While she does not destroy it, her guardian doesn't
like all of the hair and drool on the furniture. It seems that
since the family has moved she misses lying on the carpet, as
there are now only hardwood floors in the new house. A good alternative
is to get a doggy bed that is nice, comfy and meets her needs.
Make sure it is placed in the same vicinity as the couch and not
some other place in the house. This dog should also be watched
constantly, and when she can't be watched closely, she should
be kenneled so she doesn't have access to the couch.
American Bulldog Has Bad Breath
This dog eats once a day and has horrible breath. He eats a high
protein dog food, one for extreme athletes. He gets his teeth
brushed occasionally with water and an old toothbrush. He is only
2 and 1/2, so it is unusual that he would have a lot of dental
problems, which is normally the cause of bad breath. Dr. Debbie
suggests using a doggy toothpaste, which is enzyme based, to help
break down some of the bacteria, and also doggy breath rinses.
The next thing to look at is his diet and perhaps switch him to
another food.
Toy Poodle Has Separation Anxiety
This dog is only left crated for a few hours a day, but when her
guardians return home, she goes crazy and won't settle down. If
you give your dog an excited greeting when you return home, you
can actually make the problem worse. The best thing to do is when
you return home; let your dog out to go potty. During this time,
do not talk to them or make eye contact with them for about 15
minutes, until they have calmed down.
Mathilde DeCagney Marley & Me Trainer
Marley's trainer, Mathilde DeCagney says, "Between all
the scenes, we used a total of 22 yellow labs. Most of the scenes
required them to be 'bad!' even though the dogs themselves are
not bad, just rambunctious! Mathilde worked with a total of 5
dogs who played the age range from one-year-old Marley to seven
years old. She has a warning for anyone who is interested in adopting
a lab, to please be aware that they need a lot of exercise and
attention.
She reported recently from Philadelphia - where one of the Marley's just finished eating three Philly Cheese Steaks - just one of the rewards of show business!
Mathilde is an animal trainer with Birds
and Animals in Los Angeles and has worked on many Disney films
including Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Harry Potter.
http://www.birdsandanimals.com
http://www.marleyandmemovie.com
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