#895A: Director Les Owen discusses his short film “One Mind,” which celebrates the relationship between a veteran with PTSD and his specially trained service dog — one of the semi-finalists being considered for the new Service Dog Salute category of the upcoming 9th Annual NY Dog Film Festival, presented by Purina Dog Chow  

#894B: Anne Marie Farage-Smith’s book “How to Heal from Pet Loss and Different Forms of Grief” offers wisdom and support for coping with the often surprisingly powerful grief that accompanies the death of a pet.

#89A: Dr. Andy Roark is what Tracie calls a Physician Philosopher, dispensing humorous insights to other veterinarians (and the rest of us!), with a weekly blog Tracie eagerly anticipates for his musings into the joys and burdens of being human — like his recent one “No One Cares About Your Broccoli” that they discuss. (Tracie knows she has a lot of company in Andy’s fan club — his podcast “Cone of Shame” has had over one million listens!)

#893B: Dr. Carolynne Joone, reproductive veterinarian and professor at James Cook University in Australia, discusses being surprised by the results of her own study of neutered Rottweilers (3,085 intact and 4,100 neutered Rottweilers) which showed that when neutered before one year of age, males died about 18 months younger and females one year younger than those left intact. Tracie adds that early spay/neuter also increases the risk of obesity, cancer and ACL/CCL tears in any dog desexed before fully grown.

#893A: The role of horses in warfare throughout history [Hitler’s war had only 10% mechanized equipment — the rest was horsepower] is but one of the many amazing facts in Timothy Winegard’s riveting historical narrative “The Horse — a Galloping History of Humanity,” that shows how horses have been central to the entire arc of human history. 

#892B: Melissa Stagnaro describes the fun of training for Search and Rescue competitions (vs. “real life” missions) that have different levels of competition, including one test that certifies you for “mission ready” qualification. Dogs [and people!] of all types and sizes can participate. Searchandrescuesport.org.

#892A: Erin Jones, author of “Constructing Canine Consent: Conceptualising and Adopting a Consent-focused Relationship with Dogs,” questions why we expect our dog to do something he doesn’t want to? Where is the mutual reciprocity in the relationship? Are we missing the chance to truly respect and communicate with them?

#891B: Hanna Mandelbaum, co-founder of Evermore pet food, is crowing because their company has made “chicken history” by receiving rare GAP 4 certification by exclusively using Mary’s Free-Range chicken — which are slow growth, heirloom birds raised on pasture (and happen to be the closest link to the Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs!) 

#891A: Wendall Thomas explains how a dormouse drives the story in her London-based mystery "Fogged Off,” while an endangered Tasmanian Tiger does the same in Australia in “Drowned Under.”

#890B: Sara Goldenthal is a professional jazz singer, composer and dedicated advocate for cats in shelters, who wrote lyrics and sang “Angels Surround You” (free on Spotify!) which has ambient music in the calming frequency of 528 Hz to soothe shelter cats.