Wednesday, September 2, 2009

ANIMALS ON THE RADIO

Whenever we're in the car, my human makes us listen to NPR (National Public Radio). She says it's "good for the brain". Sometimes it can get pretty boring, but most of the time it's cool. This week is especially cool because it's Animal Week on the interview show Fresh Air. For an hour a day for one whole week, there will be no financial crisis. No war in Iraq (or Afghanistan). No health care reform debate. Just 100% animals.

YAY!

Yesterday's show was about how to be your dog's b
est friend when it comes to health care. The interview was with a really cool vet who wrote a book called Speaking for Spot to help humans learn how to speak up for their dogs. Brother Dutch actually went to the vet's special hospital once and was really impressed (Dutch has been to LOTS of vets and isn't easy to impress) so I'd trust her advice.

On today's Fresh Air they interviewed Temple Grandin, a super-genius animal behavior scientist who totally gets how animals work. She also happens to have a form of autism called Asperger's Syndome -- which could be the secret behind her special abilities. She definitely seems to be aware of things non-autistic people don't notice - but animals do. My human has a few of her books and has promised to help me write a review real soon.

Oh - and speaking of reviews... in a second interview that aired today, they talked to the guy who wrote that book I just reviewed, One Nation Under Dog. If you don't have time to read a whole book, you should at least listen to the interview. Good stuff!

I don't know what all the rest of the week's sho
ws will be, but tomorrow's will be about something called "veterinary forensics"; animals rescued during hurricane Katrina; and the Puppies Behind Bars program.

You can listen to all of them online here for
free!

Here are direct links to the shows I mentioned:

Speaking for Spot
-a
prescription for being your dog's best advocate
Temple Grandin - author of Animals Make Us Human

One Nation Under Dog - interview with author Michael Schaffer

4 comments:

Taryn said...

Puglet, you much be the most patient little pug in the world! You pose so perfectly for every photo, even with all those silly props around. Those headphones couldn't have been comfy!

THE PUGLET said...

Oh, the head things weren't bad. I guess they look like they're squashing my head, but they're really just resting there. No biggie.

I used to be kinda afraid of the camera, but now I LOVE it because cameras=cookies! My human always gives me a cookie (and hugs) when the picture-taking is over.

Stubby said...

Hi Puglet! I am still working on ideas for Plan C, so I will get back to you when I have finalized them.

Thanks for the heads up on the animal radio shows. I don't really listen to the radio but Mom does. She will definitely be tuning in.

Mom is leaving tomorrow for San Francisco and is already freaking out about the Bay Bridge closure this weekend. Will it really take her 5 hours to get to East Bay?

Stubby xoxo

THE PUGLET said...

Wow. Thanks for taking care of Plan C for me - I'm all out of ideas.

Not sure what to say about the dumb bridge. We were going to play in the mountains this weekend but my human doesn't want to deal with the "bridge SNAFU".

My human says 5 hours sounds a little crazy, but maybe it depends where you are going. The San Mateo-Hayward bridge is probably better, but at least the Golden Gate/San Rafael bridge combo would have scenic traffic.

Personally, I think your human should take the ferry. Then she can float and tell me all about it :)