Dog Talk ® (and Kitties Too!)

#1010B: Dr. Matt Brunke in Gaithersburg MD — who is board certified in veterinary sports medicine and in pain medicine — is rehab specialist for sports athletes, working dogs and aging dogs, often using the revolutionary joint injection Synovetin OA for long-lasting relief from arthritis. His most famous patient was Hurricane, the Secret Service dog who took down the intruder who breached the White House in 2014 when Barack Obama was President. The Belgian Malinois was medically retired from service in 2016 after sustaining injuries during that incident and Dr. Matt looked after him while he lived out the rest of his life to age 16 with his handler.

#1010A: One of the many service dog organizations to which RAWZ gives monetary support for training and placing service dogs is Patriot Service Dogs. Tracie was absolutely thrilled to be reunited with Brigadier General Scott Wiggins, who was featured with his magnificent dog Bear in one of the Service Dog Salute films in Tracie's NY Dog Film Festival. Bear came from Patriot Service Dogs and Scott talks about what the support from RAWZ means to an organization like Patriot Service Dogs and what dogs like Bear mean to veterans suffering from PTSD. 

#1009B: Michelle Lerner's memoir "A Series of Opinionated Animals" is a funny and touching testament to the limitless patience and generosity of one woman — and her husband — in a lifetime of giving a loving home to all manner of animals, with dogs being high on the list. 

#1009A: Dog trainer Laurel Saville has unique ideas about how we need to respect and honor what our dogs experience of life actually is, not how we want it to be. Her book “How to Live With a Dog: Stories and Solutions for Humans With Dog Problems and Dogs With Human Problems” is filled with wisdom, kindness and profound solutions to situations with dogs that could be solved if only we could slow down... stop trying to control and manage... and let the dog show us who he actually is.

#1008A: Sindhoor Pangal is a canine behavior consultant with a Master's in Anthrozoology from the University of Exeter. She researches India's free-living dogs in Bangalore, is a TEDx speaker and author of "Dog Knows." She recently published a peer-reviewed paper “The Open Palm Gesture in Human-Dog Communication,” which is her unique observation of how an open palm facing down towards a dog can calm, reassure and strengthen your bond with the dog. 

#1008B: Lea Korsgaard — an award-winning journalist and author, cofounder and editor in chief of the digital Danish newspaper, Zetland —  talks about her wonderfully baffling book, "The Butterfly Season," which recounts how she got it in her head to try to find every one of the 64 species of Danish butterflies in one year... when she knew absolutely nothing about butterflies! An otherwise highly accomplished journalist, businesswoman and practical wife and mother, she is the embodiment of the word "Quixotic" —  "foolishly idealistic, romantic, or chasing an impossible dream." Her book and odyssey is an inspiration to those who might want to live out an idea, no matter how impractical.

#1007B: Dr. Tracy Lord has her own holistic practice veterinary clinic that supports owners who want to lean into home-cooked diets as part of illness prevention and management of health. She cautions that people should use one of the balanced whole food diets like the ones offered on the IVI Blend website (privately owned by two veterinary nutritionists), along with the supplements they have blended for fully balanced nutrition and optimal health.

#1007A: Philosophy professor Mike Dacey's book “Seven Challenges for the Science of Animal Minds” examines the way some of the greatest "animal observers" may be misguided in their perspectives in looking at the "intelligence" and lived experience of non-human creatures. 

#1006B: K.T. Landon's “Abide” poetry collection won the 2025 Richard Snyder Prize and hearing her read from this collection of wonderfully, powerfully accessible poems will make it clear why she got that honor. 

#1006A: Dr. Deb Zoran Texas A&M director of VET (Veterinary Emergency Team) which she also teaches to 4th year veterinary students — also serves on the FEMA Incident Support Team as a DVM specialist supporting the working canines deployed to national disasters.