Confessions: ALLLLLL the Ways Our Dogs Have Embarrassed Us

Marty and Laura share their most embarrassing stories with their dogs. From obedience exercises gone wrong to inappropriate public ejaculation, and many more incredibly awkward humiliations.

“Dogs don’t process things the same way we do,” Laura said. “If it feels good, it’s good and so whatever it is that makes them feel good, which might be eating all of your entire ham roast that you had for dinner.

Dogs live in a perpetual pleasure zone. That’s their gig.”

“We have to just realize that dogs don’t think like we do,” Marty said, “and they never will and we don’t want them ever to really because the whole point of being friendly with dogs is that they’re dogs.”

“Dogs do terrible things, not because they think it’s funny, but because it feels good to them,” Laura noted. “And it entertains them and it makes them happy. And so while we are often mortified, terrified, devastated, you know, all the emotions that we go through, dogs are just smiling. Their ears flying and their nostrils flaring and they’re having a grand old time.”

Check out the author Laura mentioned, Patrick McManus, HERE.

“And we really should appreciate dogs for that,” Marty added. “They live in the moment. They don’t plan for the future. They have no recriminations. No guilt. Maybe we should be more like that. I have often thought that we should all be a little bit more like our dogs.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Examining the Power of the Human Animal Bond

Marty and Laura examine the powerful human animal bond and how we can help our pets be healthier while they help us be healthier.

The power of this ancient connection is documented at the Human Animal Bond Research Institute.

“The value that pets bring to our lives,” Laura said, “is they impact whether we go out and exercise with them because we need them to lose weight. Whether it is the companionship, whether it is the social activity where we actually go into the public with our pet, where we might otherwise be cave dwelling hermits like myself.”

“It is enormous how much of a difference (pets) make in your interactions with other people,” Marty said. “I raised dogs for Canine Companions for Independence. If I had to run into Target with a dog, it would take me 45 minutes to an hour to get back out the door because everyone would stop us and want to talk to us and ask about the program. And I actually had one dog that was placed in a family with a young man who had a disability because they met us at Target.

“So it’s truly incredible what these dogs do for you socially. They are social lubricant. Dogs open pathways to conversation that ordinarily you would just walk past the other person. You would kind of ignore them, you’d look the other way, you wouldn’t really interact with them. But now you have a dog and they come up to you and they say, oh, what kind of dog is this?”

“Social life is a big part of it, exercise is a big part of it, mental stimulation,” Laura said. “I am someone who deals with autoimmune disease. There are days that if I did not have a puppy lying next to my head, I would not get out of bed. I just wouldn’t. And that puppy wakes up at 5:00 AM. I crawl out of bed no matter how crunchy I am and I get her outside.

“And so this is a thing across the board for people with large and small health issues. A pet keeps them moving. Sometimes it’s the only thing you wanna talk to. You don’t want to talk to anybody on the phone. You don’t want to talk to anybody at the store. You just want to talk to your dog.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Summer Vacation with Dog as Co-Pilot

Marty and Laura drop useful tips and share hilarious stories about summer vacation with dogs.

Top tips from the Pros:

• RV, hotel, campground or visiting friends and family, and on the road along the way, pick up after your dog! Abandoned dog droppings can spread “germs and worms,” are smelly and disrespectful to other travelers. Marty’s Pro Tip Keep your used grocery bags in an empty kleenex box for easy access and a “reuse, recycle” mindset.
• Xpens are your friend! Find the height and style you like to make an instant mini yard wherever you are, inside or out.
• Get a BuddyBadge collar tag for your dog. The QR code scans to show all pertinent info about your pet.
• Make sure you post “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) information on your dog’s crate. More from a previous Pure Dog Talk episode HERE.

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Do Stuff with Your Dog, Safely!

Marty and Laura are talking puppercise today with a great run down of the fun stuff to do with your dog and how to do it safely. They even throw in a little philosophy. Like, what is “hiking?” Are we climbing cliffs or strolling on a volksmarch. Hosts discuss.

Back on track, our intrepid hosts cover communicating with our dogs. How to hear what they’re trying to tell us, whether it’s that their feet are hot or they’re tired and need a rest period.

A discussion of dog boots for tender feet segued rapidly into the fake paralysis dogs can exhibit when they’re dressed in their first outfit.

Then there’s Marty’s tip for dogs who forget themselves while playing and tear up their pads: “New skin, the stuff that you can buy at the store, it’s in the human pharmacy with the Band -Aids. That works pretty well to serve as a surface, kind of it coats the surface so it’ll help to protect that so the dog isn’t sore with a raw open wound. If there’s an actual laceration, like a cut or the pad is flapping, then you may need to go to the vet and have that stapled closed.”

The team talks blue green algae, hot cars and other summer time topics so make sure you drop by to catch the whole show, share it with your friends and don’t forget to follow us and leave a review!

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.

Marty takes Laura and listeners through the entire pantheon of cat life! 

“Cats are not small dogs and dogs are not big cats,” Marty says. “So cats are a species unto themselves, and they have their own special wants, needs, desires, techniques, food, everything. It’s a little different with the cat.

“This is why a spay or neuter in a cat at six or eight months is very appropriate. Now, I don’t like to see them spayed or neutered when they’re itty-bitty babies. I still think that there’s some risk that goes with that. You know, those four, five, six-week-old kittens should not be spayed or neutered, and there are places that do that.

“A lot of the shelters, as soon as the cats weigh two pounds — and that frequently means two months of age, eight weeks — they’ll start to talk about spaying and neutering, and there are some orthopedic problems that happen, especially in the boys’ fat. So I care about that, but basically, you don’t want to do that so young. Closer to six months is still a better choice, but not after, you know, don’t wait until they’re eight, nine, or ten months old, because by then you’ve already got some behavioral issues that are going to be difficult to manage.”

The Marty & Laura Show is produced by Pure Dog Talk Inc., with sound design and editing by Premium Audio Services.