Madcap Radio

Today’s question is a fan request for an episode on teenagers:

“I wonder if you could do a podcast covering what you have learned works best regarding how to frame the adolescents mind and some general guidelines around training and general standards we should be aware of at this time in her development. You know, like with the puppies at their different stages.”

“Adolescent dogs” is a huge topic spanning several developmental periods, but in this episode I’m throwing out some big, universal landmarks that I have observed in adolescent dogs. I discuss:

• The shift in reinforcers around the time of teething – why it happens, what it looks like, and what to do about it

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

This week’s star question is from a puppy owner who’s puppy is drooling and throwing up in the car.

They’re wondering, is it general anxiety or carsickness?   It’s very troublesome because these puppy owners have lots of big plans for travel with their pet and it’s important that their puppy ride well in the car.  What can they do to fix this situation?

In this episode I answer these questions and look at:

• The evolutionary reason we experience motion sickness

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

Today’s question comes to us from a breeder who’s having a large litter and wondering how she’s going to get everything done:

“Help, I am actually freaking out…just confirmed 11 via x-ray…have got a really bad feeling that I am going to be short on time for individual work. How do those of you who have big litters work?”

In this episode, I talk about:

• My Five key tips to save time when working with litters

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

Today’s question comes from a viewer who has a puppy that wakes up at 5AM and screams her head off.  They’ve been ignoring the screaming but it’s not going away...what should she do?

This is a common problem that both puppy owners and breeders regularly write in about.  In this episode I cover:

• Why puppies scream at seemingly odd hours of the morning

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

Today’s question comes from a person who’s thinking about taking in rescue litters.

She’s thinking that a good early start could help rescue puppies, but she’s wondering if she’ll be able to use Puppy Culture. She’s worried that, because the dams are stressed, she might not be able to do some of the protocols.

What should she do? Are there any special considerations for doing Puppy Culture with a rescue litter?

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

Today’s question comes from a viewer who’s wondering how early puppies need to be separated from their littermates to avoid the dreaded “Littermate Syndrome.”

In this episode, I tackle that question and discuss key issues around “littermate syndrome.”‌

• Is littermate syndrome a real thing?‌

If you do keep two littermates, how can you successfully raise them together?‌

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

​In a brand new Madcap Radio podcast series, Jane grabs a question from the Puppy Culture discussion group that sparked interested and talks about it on air.

In this first episode, the person asking the question finds herself torn… she’s very attached to a particular puppy in a litter, but also feels like that puppy does not interact a lot with the rest of the litter.

This person has previous experience with a puppy that was somewhat retiring within her litter, and that puppy grew up to be reactive to other dogs. The person is hoping that this new puppy will be her next big performance prospect, but she’s worried about winding up with another reactive dog that she can’t run in dog sports.

What should she do?

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading.

Dietary Choline for Lactating Dams

In this episode, Jane is joined by Magda Chiarella to review dietary supplements and food sources that can help prevent mastitis in lactating dams.  Although sunflower lecithin is often recommended, sunflower lecithin has some potentially serious side effects and there are many far superior dietary sources of the active ingredient in sunflower lecithin, which is choline – phosphatidylcholine, to be exact.

Visit our website, madcapradio.com for further reading and studies referenced in this episode.

Act One: Low Birthweight Puppies

How our "stories" can blind us to what's before our eyes and potentially keep us from learning something new.