Animal Instinct

This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher is delving into the interesting topic of music for animals. Lisa Spector is a concert pianist, Juilliard graduate, and canine music expert. By combining her passion for music with her love of dogs, she co-created Through a Dog’s Ear, the first music clinically demonstrated to relieve anxiety issues in dogs. Lisa heads the Through a Dog’s Ear “Music in Shelters” program, a project inspired by her volunteer work in shelters. Her piano playing is currently played in over 1,500 shelters worldwide, where it is helping increase adoption rates. In addition to calming the dogs, it helps create a quieter atmosphere, encouraging visitors to stay longer and adoption rates to increase. The donated music is also sent home with adopters and their new forever dogs. Explaining to Celia how she came to research and compose music that has been proven to calm dogs, she sheds a great deal of light on how much more in tune dogs are to sounds and humans’ reactions to sounds. Tune in to learn all about different types of listening! This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“In the shelter environment it’s classical music that helps calms dogs.” [5:30]

“Any anxiety issue has to do with stress.” [11:55]

—Lisa Spector on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher is speaking with Farah Ravon of the Vafa Animal Shelter, location in Iran. Founded in 2004, the Vafa Animal Shelter is the first animal shelter in Iran and is dedicated to providing help and shelter to injured and homeless animals in Iran. At present, the shelter is run by a group of devoted volunteers and caring veterinarians who donate much of their services and is home to over 450 dogs. Explaining the conditions that make owning a dog in Iran difficult, including the illegality to walk a dog in the country, Farah takes Celia through the typical adoption process. After the break, Celia delves into what the treatment of pets is like as well as what the most popular Iranian pets are. Farah also shares how she became involved with Vafa Animal Shelter and how listeners can get involved and help the shelter’s cause. Listen in for a truly inspiring show. This program was brought to you by Roberta’s Pizza.

“I think every single dog that I manage to re-home makes all the hard work worthwhile.” [28:30]

—Farah Ravon on Animal Instincts

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher welcomes Denise Herman of Empire of the Dog to talk about safety tips for dogs on Halloween. Most holidays tend to pack some threat to pets, however the little candies that come along with Halloween tend to be toxic to Fido. Starting off a discussion on costumes, both Celia and Denise recently judged pet costume contests and saw a variety of outfits, some of which were “designed but not engineered,” according to Denise. She goes on to explain signs of stress to look out for when the dog is in costume or in a parade setting. After the break, Denise points out that most sweets and decorations are without a doubt toxic to dogs and cats and how to handle a pet home on Halloween, especially with trick or treaters. Tune in to prep for a safe holiday! This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“The dog will eat the candy but the cat will eat the wrapper.” [18:20]

—Denise Herman on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher welcomes Maggie Howell, Executive Director of the Wolf Conversation Center (WCC) located in South Salem, NY. The Wolf Conversation Center’s mission is to promote wolf conservation by teaching about wolves, their relationship to the environment, and the human role in protecting their future. The main voice of the WCC, Maggie’s interest and experience with wildlife runs deep. Growing up in New York City, Maggie visited her local veterinarian more often than her pediatrician, routinely bringing in injured city “wildlife” she had rescued. She continued her studies more formally at Vassar, earning a degree in biology, focusing on animal behavior. Chatting plenty of wolf basics with Celia, Maggie also explains the genetic similarities between wolves and common dogs as well as the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Tune in to learn all about this remarkable animal and the great things happening at the Wolf Conversation Center. This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“You certainly can have an alpha female.” [11:07]

“Wolves are not really designed to care about people.” [24:25]

—Maggie Howell on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher is taking on the topic of animal medicine and spirit animals with guest Dr. Steven Farmer. Dr. Farmer is not only a shaman, but is also a licensed psycho-therapist, working with animal medicine while being an active writer and teacher. At the top of the show, Dr. Farmer explains what shamanism is and goes on to share his personal path to becoming a shaman. After initially attending a workshop, Dr. Farmer felt that becoming a shaman was his life’s calling. He goes on to share with Celia the concept of a spirit animal and how the natural world communicates with us if we choose to hear the message. After the break, Celia and Dr. Farmer discuss the differences between an animal spirit guide and a power animal and what to look for when deciphering possible messages from either. Tune in for a truly interesting show! This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“We’re born with specific power animals.” [20:20]

—Dr. Steven Farmer on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher is going nuts for squirrels! Welcoming the one of the country’s experts on the small mammal, Dr. John L. Koprowski, to the show, he explains the evolutionary background of the squirrel and that the squirrel can be found on every continent, minus Antarctica. Dr. Koprowski also explains the various colors of squirrels throughout the country, such as a black or orange squirrel, and the ill-attempts of taming a wild squirrel. After the break, Dr. Koprowski shares the details behind the lifespan, mating habits, and social behaviors of the different types of squirrels. Tune in to learn all about these interesting creatures and what to do if you find a lost baby squirrel. This program was brought to you by Edwards VA Ham.

“They’ve actually been around for a really long time. They first start to show up in the fossil record about 35 to 40 million years ago.” [4:19]

—Dr. John L. Koprowski on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, guest host Denise Herman takes over for Celia and welcomes Juliet Sternberg to talk about a topic that has no doubt touched us all: losing a pet. Juliette is a Licensed Master Social Worker and is also the founder and practice director at Hope Veterinary Clinic. Juliet shares how she came to find that palliative care for terminally diagnosed pets was a real need for many people. Many times when a pet is terminally ill, it is assumed that the pet should be put to sleep immediately. Today, it is common for many to consider pets as real members of the family. With this in mind, Juliet has found that many owners need more time to cope with the loss of the pet and to say goodbye. Denise talks with Juliet about the advancements of pet medicine and pain management, and that these issues now are vastly different than they were even a decade ago. Tune in for an important episode that can help you learn to manage the grief that comes along with the loss of a pet. This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“Essentially veterinary medicine is pediatric medicine because you’re treating the ‘child’ of the family.” [8:20]

—Juliet Sternberg on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher talks all about racing pigeons! Welcoming Deone Roberts, Sport Development Manager with the American Racing Pigeon Union, to the show, she gives Celia the story behind racing pigeons and how they are still relevant to this day. Located in Oklahoma City, she aids the members of the not-for-profit organization share the sport and hobby of racing homing pigeons and has done so for nearly 14 years. Chatting about the pigeons’ lifestyles and how the sport works, Deone explains the ins and outs of getting involved in area race clubs. Along with being an interesting hobby, she goes on to share that the sport actually fosters a community of bird lovers. The American Racing Pigeon Union endorses a mentorship program for experienced members to help beginners ease into the activity. Exceptionally knowledgable about this bird and excited about the sport, tune in to hear this great conversation between Deone and Celia. This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“It’s a unique person that enters the racing sport – they truly enjoy the birds.” [32:04]

—Deone Roberts on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, we’re talkin’ lions and tigers! Host Celia Kutcher welcomes Susan Bass, the Director of Public Relations for Big Cat Rescue, to the show. Located on 67 acres just north of Tampa, Florida, Big Cat Rescue is one of the world’s largest sanctuaries for exotic cats and is a leading advocate in ending abuse of captive big cats and saving wild cats from extinction. Susan shares that, currently, Big Cat Rescue is home to about 100 lions, tigers, bobcats, cougars, servals, and other species, most of whom have been abandoned, abused, orphaned, or retired from performing acts. Tune in as Celia gets a behind the scenes account of this organization and its noble mission. This program has been brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

“Every cat has a different story.” [9:09]

—Susan Bass on Animal Instinct

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This week on Animal Instinct, host Celia Kutcher kicks off the new radio season welcoming guest Dave Marcks, President of Geese Police, a Canada goose control company that, for the past 25 years, utilizes highly trained working Border Collies to herd the geese off a client’s property. Talking to Celia about his business’ beginnings and on his dog breed of choice, he goes into detail about why geese become such nuisances and about the dog training process. What makes his removal business different from other methods to eradicate geese is that he brings no harm to the geese. With his specialized training method, his dogs boast the brains to be patient and over several times a day per week, harass the geese using “fowl play” which forces the geese to loiter elsewhere. Once the geese see the property as an unsafe haven, the geese will simply start to gather in a new location where they do not sense danger. Tune in for an incredibly informative episode! This program was brought to you by Heritage Foods USA.

” I originally bought my first dog to take care of the goose problem on my golf course. It was fantastic, that dog listened to everything I said. The geese were gone – I’m a hero!” [10:15]

— Dave Marcks on Animal Instinct

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