Talking Animals

Vultures are nature's sanitation workers -- and officials in Peru are taking advantage. CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger has the story.

Jennifer Arnold—the founder and executive director of Canine Assistants, which trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities and author, most recently, of “Love Is All You Need: The Revolutionary Bond-Based Approach To Educating Your Dog”—recalls how she’s adored dogs since childhood and, as a teenager, a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (since revised to polychondritis), along with being unable to get a dog from California service dog pioneer Bonnie Bergin, helped launched Canine Assistants. That path was marked by obstacles, long waits, personal tragedy—but also, Arnold notes, by perseverance (the organization was officially started in 1991), a vision and sense of quest, when she confirms that she views her work with dogs as a calling. Arnold outlines the tenets of her Bond-Based Choice philosophy, which holds that dogs are social learners, and once they’ve bonded with their humans, the dogs become experts at reading the humans’ signals and can learn to make good decisions for themselves, thereby reducing the anxiety that she feels has become pervasive in canines. As one element of cultivating that bond, she describes the notion of food sharing with your puppy, offering, for example, the dog—who’s still off leash–a bit of string cheese, then taking a bit yourself, and so on, and then that dog later welcomes the leash, and what happens next. (She says this method can also work with older dogs.) Arnold explains how Bond-Based Choice eschews commands and cues, recounting an anecdote from the new book about a man and his son, with a form of muscular dystrophy, who arrived at the Canine Assistants facility and was initially frustrated over the lack of commands, but came to view the experience—and the relationship his forged with his dog—as awe-inspiring. Owing partly to some email inquiries that arrived in the days before the show, Arnold spends some time addressing her position on breeding dogs for this work versus using shelter dogs, and how—and why–that position has shifted. (www.canineassistants.org)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Nash McCutchen, from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay (HSTB), about a $25,000 grant the organization recently received, for the express purpose of spaying/neutering of feral and other outdoor cats. This allows HSTB to help with Trap Neuter Vaccination and Return (TNVR) of feral colonies in the Tampa Bay area, and to temporarily provide free spaying/neutering of people’s personal outdoor cats. (http://humanesocietytampa.org)

COMEDY CORNER: Bill Burr’s “Dog Trainer” (http://billburr.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Little Feat’s “Dixie Chicken”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/TASept14-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

US and Australian researchers have discovered that the archerfish can tell the difference between human faces. CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger has the story.

Humans aren't the only animals who make music. CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger has the story.

Mark Reinfeld—the award-winning vegan chef and author of numerous books, including “The 30-Minute Vegan” series and, most recently, “Healing The Vegan Way: Plant-Based Eating for Optimal Health and Wellness”—discusses the first portion of the new book, which features Reinfeld’s writing, as well as essays and testimonials from an assemblage of cardiologists and other doctors, nutritionists and various medical professionals, noting that many of our health problems (including diabetes, heart disease, and obesity) can be traced to the highly-processed food, and the Standard American Diet, that many of us eat each day. That part of the book involves Reinfeld and his contributors detailing how those illnesses can be combated—and, in some cases, reversed—by so-called superfoods, and weighing in on virtues of whole-food vegan diets. Reinfeld notes that these ideas, cautions and entreaties overlap and underscore those presented in a number of books (by Campbell, Esselstyn, Ornish, et al) and such films as “Forks Over Knives,” “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret,” and “Vegucated.” He responds to an anecdote I tell, illustrating the way people can react disagreeably to vegan food simply because it’s “vegan food.” He observes the advances made in vegan food and ingredients over the years, citing, for example, vegan cheese. We touch on some of the 200 recipes found in the second part of “Healing The Vegan Way,” mentioning that many are presented in “template” form, so that there are multiple variations possible, potentially yielding several dishes per recipe. Reinfeld reviews the components of his beloved Monk Bowl, some of the undertakings of his Vegan Fusion Culinary Academy in Miami, and more.  (http://veganfusion.com)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Claire Wray, from Friends of Strays, about their history and mission, and about their forthcoming Soiree, “A Night In The Roarrring 20’s,” their biggest fundraising event of the year, important for underwriting their efforts to place homeless cats and dogs, and the various programs they offer. We also discuss their Pet Food Pantry program, which helps low-income families keep their animals fed, and avoid feeling compelled to surrender those pets to shelters. (www.friendsofstrays.com)

COMEDY CORNER: Steve Martin’s “Cat Handcuffs” (www.stevemartin.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Al Hirt & others’ “The Green Hornet Theme”

AUDIO ARCHIVE

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/TASept7-.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger explains why a zoo in England is redesigning its chimpanzee enclosures.

CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger reports on how zoos across the nation are caring for geriatric animals.

There are plenty of fish in the sea -- and biologist Adam Summers wants to know about all of them. CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger has his story.

The manatee and monarch butterfly populations are making a comeback. Here's CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger with the story.

CBS News Correspondent Sam Litzinger discusses how the people of New Zealand are trying to get rid of invasive species.