Whether your affection for your pets knows no bounds, or your allergies to the furry little things are similarly unbounded; we've got all kinds of advice for you today. It's Ask Amy day, and Amy Dickinson will be here to answer questions about humans, while pet specialist Steve Dale will be here to answer all your questions about the animals. It's been a crazy week for pet lovers, with the pet food recall causing at least one pet lover (it's me! I admit it!) to consider feeding her little princess ... er ... kitty, home cooked meals. That's particularly odd since most of the humans in my house don't get that treatment. Before you start feeding your little fuzzbucket three course haute cuisine, listen to the show, or read Steve Dale's FAQ about the recall. It's possible you should spend your time knitting Muffy a sweater, rather than slaving over a hot stove.
Blog of the Nation
At first blush the idea of homecooked meals for pets seems a little crazy to me, but who knows? Maybe it's cheaper than buying the kibble from the store? In any event, telling other people how to nurture their pets -- or what to feed them -- is about as inapropriate as telling parents how to raise their kids, IMHO.
Wanna make your pet's food homemade style? Knock yourself out. Judging from the recent pet food recall, it may be a safer alternative, anyway.
The tainted pet food wasn't just a scare. Our local news is covering the first case in our area, of a cat who is suffering kidney failure.
As a former cat owner, this is striking home.
I was so nervous about the wet/moist food recall that I threw out my pet's dry dog food when it was learned that it was the same product line.
My dog is has now been eating homecooked meals for a week. She has no complaints.
I feed 5 dogs and 2 cats, so this has been pretty upsetting, but NOTHING compared to learning that the Menu Company KNEW pets were dying back in February. To investigate, they then fed the suspected food to up to 50 "test" animals and sure enough, a large percentage died! I can't even contemplate buying pet food from a company with such callous disregard for the lives of dogs and cats and have written to the president of Nutro, the company from whom I have bought literally tons of food that I will NOT buy from them again if they continue their relationship with Menu. Does the company think the lives of their "test" animals are worth less than those that are fortunate enough to be pets?! Outrageous!
The last caller spoke about her "racist dog" and I wanted to comment on Stave Dale's last comment. I am a dog training instructor at our local dog club. We all do this as volunteers out of love for dogs only. Steve's answer was 100% right on the mark. He said to slowly introduce the dog to a divirse group of people to get it used to the differences. Anyway, it was the last thing he said that caused pause.... He said the the "dog is not a racist, it just doesn't understand" How true, in both dog's worlds and our world as well. How we could lessen or even eliminate racism by understanding those of different races and cultures. But sometimes it is so much easier to train dogs than change people. We can all learn a thing or two from our dogs.
I am a devoted NPR and TOTN listener, but I felt the show experienced an unfortunate low today. You chose to air the comments of dog owners who claimed their dog was "racist" because he barked whenever he came in contact with an African American. While I've heard or read about similar claims from other dog owners before, it seems like dangerous territory to traverse incautiously. I was unhappy with how your show handled the discussion, and felt it was discussed too lightly. I think that a more appropriate response would have provided a greater context: Animals have complex reactions to people which cannot be reduced to our own social constructs. If the dog reacts differently to a particular subset of people, this is a result of training by humans, a traumatic experience as a young dog, or a lack of exposure. Most importantly, it must be mentioned that this could happen with a multitude of subsets: tall people, men with beards, people wearing hats, etc. If this topic is ever revisited it would be appropriate to have a guest speaker educated in veterinary science who will avoid perpetuating the myth of 'racist dogs.'
It was a pleasure to appear on the Talk of the Nation. And, of course, to appear with Amy; I am a huge Amy Dickinson fan.
I'm here to comment on a few of the posts:
It's true the tainted pet food issue more than "a scare." Seemingly it is causing renal failure in some of the animals who have eaten the food. There's additional information on my website:
www.stevedalepetworld.com
or
www.avma.org
Sadly, some of the information out there has been sensationalized.
As for home cooking for pets, it sounds easy enough - but it isn't. It's certainly possible - but getting it all right takes some homework, knowing the right amino acids, vitamins, protein content, etc. For example, cats without enough taurine in their diets can suffer multiple problems, including a kind of very serious heart disease. Never mind the time commitment and also the cost involved. Again, I'm not suggesting this route isn't possible, but I am saying to do it right, it's not always practical for all our lifestyles.
About the "racist dog." Of course, the dog isn't really a racist, it doesn't seem like from the caller's description that she trained the dog not to like African Americans (which would be possible to do).
I agree with Jim:
sometimes it is so much easier to train dogs than change people. We can all learn a thing or two from our dogs.
I am always learning from our dogs, and cats too!
However, Amanda didn't listen to the whole conversation apparently - I said EXACTLY what she said I should have said! Listen again, Amanda - you will hear it. I spoke about how this "racist" dog likely didn't have exposure (and should have mentioned, or could have had negative experiences) which would explain the dog's reaction to African Americans. I did mention - I repeat: I DID MENTION, a multitude of subsets. My examples, as I recall, a rabbi on roller skates, shopping carts, etc. And, so you know Amanda, I am a certified dog and cat behavior consultant (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, www.iaabc.org).
I do thank you all for listening.
Hey Steve, maybe you're right on that point, I may not have listened as carefully to the show as I thought. I also was unaware of your credentials, so I apologize about my last comment in particular. And I do remember you saying "a rabbi on roller skates," "desensitizing the dog," etc.
However, I think my issue was that the topic was discussed pretty lightly, and I take racism really seriously. Plus, there's an issue around white privilege that is lurking in the shadow here: I'm guessing that there weren't any African American commentators on TOTN today, and I'm wondering how they would handled that comment--differently, I'm imagining--it's easy for white people to pass it off lightly, right? Since the example given was African Americans and not "rabbis on roller skates," I felt offended because it only perpetuates ideas of being "afraid" of encountering members of that particular group on the street.
Plus, there is a REAL historical context of white owners training dogs to react negatively to black people so the topic is potentially a serious one that's may not be appropriate for a lighter show about general pet behavior. I believe I was responding to the subtleties of the issue...I was also thinking about the demographics of NPR's speakers and audience and thinking how unlikely it would be for a black person to call the show to report that their dog is "racist" against whites.
Perhaps this is all just food for thought, but to me, there were undertones of a very serious issue.
Thanks for responding personally to my comment, Steve.
For people who are dealing with the death of a dog or cat, very good resources are the books Dog Heaven and Cat Heaven, written and illustrated by Cynthia Rylant. Although they are children's picture books, I have taken great comfort from them and given several copies to friends to help them with the grieving such an occasion produces. Of course, buy them from your local INDEPENDENT bookseller! :-)
Boycott Menu Foods. They have done unforgiveable things in the name of the mighty dollar. Only a complete boycott will get their attention.
I think you're all NUTS about racist dogs! Our yellow lab/shepherd mix reacts differenlty to African American men. We have friends from many different ethnic groups. If you study the shepherd breed, you will see that they are known to be more aggressive toward men. And I would venture to guess that someday a scientist (not your non-expert on your show) would say that dogs perhaps cannot see the facial expressions on a dark surface (in this case the face) as well as they can on a lighter service (in this case a non-black human). Dogs use all their senses to "feel out" stangers. I bet if you were more or less blind in a particular setting, you would be less open to greeting a stranger. So, enough with trying to paint whites as racists because their canines don't react to black people in the same manner as they do white people. I would bet my wonderful DOG on it that it has to do with science and not training...in most cases (ours in particular). On an added note, NPR receives taxpayer money to survive, so why so LIBERAL in most reportings? Very sad agenda when quality reporting is unbiased and leaves the reader/viewer/listener to form his/her own conclusions about a story.
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