Do you wonder exactly why cats get hairballs and if there is anything you can do to reduce the amount that form in your cat’s stomach and then get thrown up exactly when and where you most don’t want them? I’ll explain how hairballs are a good thing for your feline, what to do to lessen their existence and the symptoms to watch for that might indicate an excessively large hairball may be causing health problems.

There have been two different types of highly upsetting dog biting incidents recently in my town, one involving a child that got bit after asking if she could pet the dog, the other where two dogs broke loose and attacked two separate dogs being walked by their owners. The circumstances of these incidents, convince me we need to keep talking about what we can do to prevent traumatic bites and attacks.  About preventing children from getting bit when wanting to pet a dog, there are two things that we must be mindful of that greatly affect the outcome. In this episode, my guest, Michael Shikashio, a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant, the founder of the Aggression in Dogs Master course and host of the podcast, “The Bitey End of the Dog” explains those two critical things.

If you are of a certain age, then you’ll remember when Fido was the quintessential name given for any generic dog. Some real dogs actually had this name, President Abraham Lincoln named his dog Fido, but the most famous was an Italian dog that came to public attention in 1943 because of his demonstration of unwavering loyalty to his dead master. Fido was written about in many Italian and international magazines and newspapers, appeared in newsreels throughout Italy, and was bestowed several honors, including a public statue erected in his honor. Today’s creature feature is his story. 

Additional Resources for the Show. 

Michael Shikashio’s website: Aggressive dog.com.

Listen to the podcast, The Bitey End of the Dog. 

Source for the Story about the Italian dog, Fido – The book, The Dog’s Best Friend by Simon Garfield, plus varied news stories found on the internet.