Full show notes for the episode.

Introduction Timestamps: 00:00 – 01:00

Segment 1: 01:02 – 06:05

In today’s creature feature, you’ll hear three stories from England about cats bringing presents home to their humans – but not the dead rodents you would normally expect.  Sometimes felines hunt out and capture more people friendly things.

Segment 2: Guest Interview – 06:08 – 37:18

Does your dog ever have times where they behave in uncharacteristic ways like acting all hyper and crazy, other times, becoming mopey and rather sad looking or even taking up a bad habit that no amount of training seems to be able to stop? Can’t figure out for the life of you what is going on in the dog’s mind?  Today, you’ll hear that the reason for your pet’s behavior may have nothing to do with its mind but has everything to do with your emotions. In a posthumous conversation, Kevin Behan, veteran dog trainer and author of the book, “Your Dog is Your Mirror, The Emotional Capacity of Our dogs and Ourselves,” talks about the startling and radial new way of understanding your dog that can explain why dogs act out at times. The answer is as close as your own heart and emotions. I think this will surprise you.

Segment 3: 37:21 – 42:35

Have you ever wondered why your cat spends so much time licking and grooming themselves?

Of course, you know cats clean themselves this way, but they still seem to continue and repeat this a lot even after they are spotless. Why?  Turns out there are other benefits for all that attention to their fur coats. I’ll explain them in this segment.

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 Additional Resources for the Show.

Source for the stories about the cats – “Exploding Pigs and Other Bizarre Animal Stories” by Ian Simmons.

Natural Dog Training – The Official Website for the Theory and Practice of Kevin Behan’s Natural Dog Training.

Kevin Behan.

Natural Dog Training on Facebook

Order “Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves” by Kevin Behan.

The interview with Kevin Behan was originally heard on the Wild About Pets Radio Show, an internet show I used to host. A feature of that show was that listeners were able to see photos that illustrated the conversations as they listened. This is why during the interview, you hear Kevin mentioning two photos we were looking at during the show.

I included these photos, here on the show notes for the podcast. Here is the photo Mr. Behan spoke about regarding letting dogs, work out their energy. It shows him using the technique of lungeing as a method of exercising his dog and allowing him to use its prey drive.

Kevin Behan, using technique to exercise this dog.

Kevin Behan spoke about both us and dogs needing emotional “grounding” at times – especially when there is stress. Dogs naturally use their mouths at times to ground themselves. Kevin thought that this photo of a business man feeling overwhelmed by constant demands on his time, biting on the telephone is a perfect demonstration of his frustration and attempt to calm himself.  

Source for the story about cats grooming – “Why Does My Cat Do That” by Catherine Davidson and “Think Like A Cat,” by Pam Johnson-Bennett.