The DogCast Radio blog

Do you ever see dogs tied up outside shops and worry about them? I do. Even though I live near a very small town, where dogs are probably fairly safe from theft, I still worry that they are clearly unhappy to be left alone. In their canine rationale of the world, surely they must feel abandoned by their pack.

Okay, I was going to write a blog about how many of the rescue shelters in Britain are reporting that they are filling up with dogs and can’t take in any more. But I wanted to blog about something happier, so I decided to talk about the upcoming movie of John Grogan’s book, Marley and me.

You can find a trailer and information about the film at http://marleyandmemovie.com/ and it looks like it’s a great film. Whether you’ve read the book or not you’ll enjoy the story of probably the naughtiest dog in the world. A Labrador of course!

The other day we returned from a walk in the dark, and I hurriedly let the dogs out of the car and in to the house. Then I was distracted by another task – possibly shutting the ducks in for the night, bringing in something from the car, or most important task of all putting the coffee on! Anyway, it meant that by the time I made it into the lounge both dogs were settled on the couch.

Mic Martin (www.micmartin.co.uk) is one of the dog trainers on the television programme Dog Borstal. Owners of dogs with problems of various natures endure the no nonsense approach of the show’s trainers, and emerge at the other side stronger, knowing more, and with a much better behaved dog.

Mic has trained dogs for many years, to perform many different behaviours, and is also the Patron of Support Dogs. At Crufts, in return for a donation to the charity, Mic will be trying to solve dog training problems.

Usually, if your dog goes missing in your garden, it doesn’t take you too long to find him, but when you’re royal it’s a bit more complicated. Bigger garden for a start.

The British Kennel Club has come in for a real mauling recently, and consequently more and more organisations have bailed out of Crufts 2009. I think the real question here is not can we live with the Kennel Club, but more can we live without it?

I met and interviewed Dr. Roger Mugford at his Train and Behave Week. He’s a real character who’s lots of fun and not afraid to speak his mind. He’s also passionately committed to dogs; his own and those whose owners appeal to him for training or legal help. He is extremely likeable in person.

Roger invented the Halti, and sells many variations on a Kong theme. You can find his website at www.companyofanimals.co.uk

Here’s some thoughts from Roger about Crufts and the contribution of showing to the development of dogs:

Sometimes you encounter a person who restores your faith in human nature, and Emma Foxall is such a person. She is the woman who heard about a Golden Retriever puppy with a heart condition. His name was Alfie, and his owners knew they couldn’t meet the costs of his treatment, and advertised him on the Internet. Emma knew she had to help him, and she did.

Episode 78 of DogCast Radio is now available. It includes the second part of veterinarian Paula Terrifaj’s interview about how you can spend less on your dog at the vet. Do you know what the single most significant step you can take to do that is? Paula does! – and she’ll let you in on the secret.

Usually when you're walking your dog, any thoughts of a toilet nature are concerned with what the dog is doing. Sometimes, however, the "call of nature" is speaking to you, and at that point if you're out alone with your dog, just what do you do?