The DogCast Radio blog

Are you tired of Health and Safety getting in the way of common sense? Well never mind Health and Safety gone mad, it's gone to the dogs now.

Here's a story about a life saving Newfoundland who is being hounded off a beach. Bilbo the Newfoundland is owned by an RNLI lifeguard, and has taken an active role in ensuring swimmers' well being in Cornwall as a beach rescue dog, this is as well as visiting schools to educate children about water safety, and attending charity events. Now Health and Safety officials want

What other animals does your dog share his home with, and how well do they get along together? Ours cohabit with various other species, but have never had to put up with the situation I read about recently. One dog owner's parrot has learned to mimic her voice, to the point where he can give instructions to her dogs. The parrot in question lives with an Alsatian-Collie cross, and two Cairn Terriers. The poor dogs are fooled into responding when the bird calls them over to his cage. Although the bird praises them, he apparently hasn't so far managed to treat them for their obedience.

The RSPCA has issued a warning about putting coats on dogs. You can see an article in the Telegraph newspaper about it here. The charity suggests that putting a coat on a dog could cause it to overheat, and amount to cruelty. This caught my eye as I had recently sat in a training class, next to an older Labrador. When it was time to go back out into the bitter cold, the owner produced a warm and waterproof coat, which the dog did not object to having put on at all.

Oh dear, Kevin McKidd has given us another celebrity example of how to get it wrong with dogs. Kevin is the Scottish actor you may have seen in the television series Journeyman, or the films Trainspotting, or Made of Honour. He has two dogs, which he obviously thinks a lot of, as he flew them out to LA with the family when they moved. However, Kevin's dogs are male and female, and he just didn't manage to remember to get them neutered.

Well, you know what happened don't you?

Episode 80 of DogCast Radio is now available. The first interview is with dog aggression expert, Susie Aga. It's always great to talk to Susie, as she has such wonderful insight into canine thinking and behaviour. In this episode she is giving advice in response to a listener's problem. Katarina Anthony is having problems with her German Shepherd, Bismakr, who is constantly vying with one of his companions, a Great Dane/Shepherd mix, for the position of top dog.

It sounds like Katarina is doing many of the right things to keep the peace, but Susie has lots of suggestions for further action.

When I walk my dog in the field opposite my house, I usually take along one of those long plastic tennis ball flingers. This is because I got tired of nearly putting my shoulder out to produce a throw that it took him three seconds to retrieve. These devices are marvellous and once you get the knack, you can launch that tennis ball really impressive distances.

I’m pretty good at it, even if I do say so myself. If tennis ball launching were an Olympic Sport, I would definitely make my national squad.

A Dalmatian in the UK has given birth to eighteen – yes eighteen! – puppies. You can see the story here. By the way, the media loves the references they can get in about it not being exactly one hundred and one, but being a good start.

10. I’m not really a people person.
Dogs love people. It’s why they are so popular; they love us and we love them right back. That strong bond has been cemented over thousands of years, and is now unbreakable. There are a tiny minority of anti-social dogs, but that’s mainly our fault for treating or breeding them wrongly. In the main dogs can’t wait to meet – and lick - as many people as possible.

9. You go without me; I’ll be fine on my own./ Oh you’re home – I didn’t notice you’d gone.

The media has been bandying the phrase “arctic conditions” about a lot. Well, yes it’s been cold, and yes we’ve had some snow, but arctic? Not quite!

We have been out and about in it though, and Star loves the snow. I took this in our local park, and I love the way she is too busy posing for the camera to keep up with Jenny. She obviously wants me to get her good side.

Take care,
Julie x

I received this sad email recently:

Please help us find Noddy the greyhound

“We don’t know what else to do without the help of the local people.” stated Tina, a volunteer from New York. We’re a team of greyhound owners that all belong to a forum called GreyTalk. When we got