071 Need to Know Advice if You’ve Recently Adopted a Dog and Why We Say Cats Have 9 Lives

Raising Your Paws- Your resource for dog & cat pet parents

Have you ever seen your cat get itself into a dangerous physical situation, that you’re sure is going to kill it, but somehow, they make it out okay? There is the myth that cats have 9 lives, because what else explains the perilous things they do, like leaping madly into the air or falling hundreds of feet and still live to meow again. The obvious conclusion is that they must have more than one life to live. (Just kidding.) In this episode, I’ll delve into what it is about cats that has resulted in the worldwide saying that “cats have multiple lives.”

Have you recently adopted a dog or are thinking about it? Bringing home this new companion is very exciting and fun, yet also, especially if this is your first time adopting a pet, can be challenging as you get used to one another and the dog learns the rules of the home. My guest, Steve Frost, lead behavioral trainer with “A Sound Beginning,” a dog training program created specifically for the newly adopted dog, talks about what to do to minimize the stress the canine may feel transitioning to their new home and how to build a good relationship of trust for you and your dog as well as the pets already residing in the home.

Do you have a terrier or know someone who does? Notice they bark a lot? It is not a casual happenstance that a Westie or Yorkshire may make a lot more noise than some other breeds. Why do they tend to yap so much? This has not always been the case. The breed originally did not bark as much as it generally does today. I’ll tell you their story.

Additional Resources for the Show.

A Sound Beginning Website.

How to order the book with the music CD, “Adopting a Dog? Start off right with A Sound Beginning” by Julie Dorsey-Oskerka, Patricia Rattray and Rebecca Cann.

A Sound Beginning’s phone number - 630-776-8197

Resource for the story about why Terriers bark so much – “How to Speak Dog” by Stanley Coren.