This week's podcast covers three topics: the seasonal dumping of unwanted pet dogs into animal rescue centres in Ireland, the issue of animal hoarding, and the situation in Australia where millions of native wildlife are dying.

Veterinarian Pete Wedderburn has written a book about his life as a vet in practice: you can buy this book on his website at www.petethevet.com. This podcasts explains more about what's in the book.

The message of this podcast is to think very carefully before taking on a pet: it is a decision for the entire lifetime of the animal, which means looking 10 - 15 years into the future. A dog can bring great pleasure to your life, but it's a serious responsibility that takes up time, money and energy.

Black dogs spend longer than lighter-coloured dogs in animal rescue centres, and there's no good reason for this. #BlackDogAppreciationDay is an effort to undo the unfounded negative feelings that some people have about black-coloured pets.

Plus StopTober is a campaign to get people to stop smoking: the additional aspect discussed in this podcast is the fact that pets can suffer serious consequences from passive smoking if they share a home with a smoker.

Dog ownership causes people to take significantly more exercise, and it improves people's moods. Also, what will happen to pet travel after Brexit.

Dogs have been domesticated by humans over thousands of years. To find out how this has happened, and what complications have arisen as humans have been increasingly selective, listen to this podcast.

This podcast starts with a public service announcement for Brayvet clients (my own vet clinic) and then goes on to discuss Harvest Mites and how they affect pets at this time of year.

Dogs lose heat by panting, so when the environmental temperature is high, dogs overheat far more quickly, and they easily become dehydrated. Listen to this podcast to learn more about how to keep your dog cool and healthy.

In this week's podcast, Pete talks first about his love of doing triathlons, and he then discusses the dangers of heat stress to dogs.

Research from Sweden has proven that the inclination to like dogs is primarily caused by nature, rather than nurture. In other words, if you like dogs, it's because of your genetic make up.