Behind the Scenes of Puppy Bowl with Victoria Schade, Dog Trainer and Author

In this episode of Ask the Vet, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus welcomes Victoria Schade, a professional dog trainer, author, and longtime lead puppy trainer/wrangler for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl. With decades of experience helping dogs and their families thrive, Victoria shares behind-the-scenes insights from one of television’s most beloved animal events — and offers practical advice pet parents can use every day.

Topics include:

• What goes on behind the scenes to keep Puppy Bowl puppies safe, comfortable, and happy
• How Victoria’s training approach creates positive, low-stress experiences for puppies on set
• Why she decided to adopt Boris ("Mr. Pickles") after last year's Puppy Bowl
• How dog training has evolved over the years
• What new puppy parents should focus on in the first few months at home
• The most common mistake new pet parents make and how to avoid it
• Simple training tips that can make an immediate difference
• Victoria's journey from dog trainer to novelist
• Her newest novel, Fated Skates

Also on this month's show:

• Trending animal story about a rare case of adoption in the wild, where a young orangutan stepped in to raise her sister
• Animal news, including a pair of endangered owls who accidentally traveled by cruise ship from Florida to Spain; a funeral for a beloved train station cat that drew hundreds of mourners; and new research showing how our own emotions can influence the way we interpret a dog’s feelings
• Pet Health Listener Q&A: Persistent eye discharge in a kitten; a dog who won't go outside when it's raining; and when shedding becomes a health concern for pet rabbits

Do you have a pet question for Dr. Hohenhaus? Email askthevet@amcny.org to have your question answered on Ask the Vet's Listener Q&A.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X!

Transcript

0:00

We want to remind our listeners that this program is for informational and educational purposes only, and not intended to substitute for professional veterinary medical advice, diagnosis and treatment. The Animal Medical Center does not recommend or endorse any products or services advertised by Sirius XM. Welcome to Ask the Vet with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus. This is the place to talk about your pets and get advice for the top veterinarian from the Animal Medical Center in NYC. Hear from the leading authorities on animals and ask your questions. Now here's your host, doctor, and ho and house. Hello everyone and welcome to Ask the Vet, the podcast for people who love their pets and want the latest in pet health information and the animal news. I'm your host, I'm Dr. Ann Hohenhaus.. I'm a senior veterinarian and director of pet health information here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York City. I have an extra special guest today. It's Victoria Schade. She's a professional dog trainer with decades of experience helping dogs and their families build strong, healthy relationships. But what's maybe more interesting about than that is that for the past 20 years, she's also served as the lead puppy trainer and puppy wrangler on Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl. Working behind the scenes to make sure the puppies are safe, comfortable, and having a positive experience in a very unusual setting. Victoria is also an accomplished author, and her ninth book, Fated Skates, will be released this month. So I'm really looking forward to our conversation with her. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center is the only level one veterinary trauma center in New York City, with 115 years of being the very best place for your pet. If you're seeking advice on maintaining your pet's health, I'm here to help. Just send me your questions to ask the vet at amcny.org. That's our special email, and I'll answer your questions on next month's show. If you don't have a pen and pencil to write it down right now, don't worry, get one during the break and I will give it again later on in the show. And now it's time for the trending animal of the month. It's time for the internet's most talked about animal. Deep in Indonesia's Gunung Pauling National Park, researchers observed an unusual situation in the wild. A young Bornean orangutan caring for a much younger one that did not appear to be her own child. The older orangutan, named Rosa, was thought to be caring for her daughter Rani. But as researchers watch more closely, they realized something wasn't adding up. Rani appeared to be around four years old, while Rosa was estimated to be close to nine. Bornean orangutans don't reach adulthood until about nine years of age, and so that made the researchers realize that Rosa was too young to be Rani's first mother. So to find answers, the research team turned to genetic testing, and the results revealed that Rosa and Rani were sisters who had lost their mother, and Rosa had stepped in to care for Rani. This marked the first recorded case of this type of adoption in wild orangutans. Rosa cared for Rani in the way an orangutan mother cares for her young. She carried her through the trees, shared food, and stayed close at night to keep her safe. Researchers followed the pair for years, watching as Rani grew and became independent slightly earlier than is typical, likely shaped by her early life experiences. Eventually, the sisters went their separate ways. Rosa was later seen with a new baby of her own, while Rani built her own nest nearby, a quiet ending to an extraordinary story of care, survival and family in the wild. And this story has been published in a scientific journal called ethology, which is the International Journal of Behavioral Biology, which I just find absolutely fascinating and probably a good segue into our guest today. I'm very pleased to introduce Victoria Schade. Victoria is a dog trainer with decades of experience helping pet parents better understand their dogs and navigate common behavioral challenges. For the past 20 years, she's worked behind the scenes on Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl as the lead puppy trainer and wrangler, helping ensure the puppy's safety and well-being. Victoria is also an author, and her ninth book, Fated Skates, will be released on January 13th. Victoria, welcome to ABCs of it and thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for inviting me. I'm so excited to be here. So I always start asking questions of my guest by wondering what kind of pets they have. So can you tell me what animals are in your life right now? Yes. My favorite question to answer to gush about my dogs. So I have a senior smooth Brussels griffon. She is going to turn 16 in a couple of months. Her name is Millie and she's a genius. And then my newer dog is Boris. Some people might know him as Mr. Pickles because I adopted him from Puppy Bowl. Did you set out to adopt a dog from the Puppy Bowl or this one just spoke to you? Well, it depends on who you ask that question. Because officially, I wasn't supposed to be looking for a puppy. But unofficially, there was space on our couch. We had lost our beloved dog, Olive. She was a scruffy, mixed breed that we absolutely adored. And, you know, we we were missing having an extra dog, a second dog in the house. So it had been about 8 or 9 months without her. And just Millie and I could tell Millie was sad. So I walked into Puppy Bowl thinking, you know, if I fall in love, this is this might be meant to be. And that's exactly what happened while I was there. That's such a happy story. What kind of dog is Boris? So Boris is a Chuck. He is a pug Chihuahua mix. And I cannot say enough good things about this dog. I am so in love with him. I can't wait to tell my son that. Because when he was little, he used to love to go through central Park and make up names for breeds of dogs as only little boys could do. And so he would like a dog named or a breed a trog. He would think that was very good. It sounds like there's an old movie called Chud that no one heard of, and it sounds like that. I think it was some horror movies and not even close to the real Boris. So, you know, 20 years on, Puppy Bowl is a long time. Why? Why did Boris get to be the one you adopted? What about him? Spoke to you? Well, I have to say, I fall in love every single year on the show, because how can you not? I mean, being surrounded by 120 adorable, adoptable puppies is just an impossible thing to, you know, navigate without losing your heart a couple times. So with, with Boris, there are a bunch of things. I mean, obviously he's adorable, but the environment at Puppy Bowl is such that I'm able to see dogs in so many different scenarios. It's obviously not normal because, you know, it's a heightened reality on set, and we've got all these people and volunteers and being able to watch dogs navigate these really unusual circumstances and see how they react. It gave me a great insight into what he was like. Now, I will caution listeners because I did adopt Boris without him meeting my resident dog, Millie, which is not something that I would necessarily recommend. However, obviously after 15 years, I'm very familiar with Millie's likes and dislikes and I was able to get a lot of great insight from Boris's, rescue organization, Dallas Dogs. And they, you know, they told me he lived with his senior dog and they gave me great insight into what he was like. And then couple that with the fact that I got to see him being really, elastic and outgoing and comfortable in a variety of settings at Puppy Bowl. And I said, I think, I think this could work. I think this is meant to be. So for viewers who only see the finished Puppy Bowl, which I'm sure is edited down from thousands of hours of video, what what do you do? And what are your priorities for the puppies on the set? My number one top priority is making sure that every puppy that you see on screen is having fun and that, you know, it's it. You would assume that, oh, they're just going to be playing together. But not every dog loves that kind of scenario, that kind of play. You know, it does get pretty rowdy out and out in the field. So I'm always watching to make sure that all participants are having a blast. And I'm also looking for signs that maybe someone's getting a little punchy or a little overstimulated. And then part of my job is to to pull the dog off the set before things get less fun for the puppy, shall we say. So ensuring puppy happiness always is number one. Obviously, safety is a big part of it too, and I have two peers that are also, making sure that the puppies are safe and happy as well. Yeah. And then in addition to that, any time you see directed action. So if you see the puppies looking up at the camera during the Star Spangled Banner or flanking the, Lombardi Trophy, I'm there kind of coaxing those performances because, remember, these are anywhere from eight to 12 to 16 week old puppies that might not be trained. So it's not like I can say, okay, sit, stay for 30s. I have to do all of my my trainer tricks of the trade to coax those performances. I think trained and puppy 8 to 12 weeks don't go in the same sentence. You'd be surprised. Puppies are such little sponges. And I. You know, I like to start working with pups as soon as possible, because every single thing that they're exposed to is a potential lesson. But, you know, you can get a sit down and a come one called pretty quickly. So what do you do to get the puppies to, like, look at the camera. Oh, lots of funny noises. It's kind of my specialty. I will squawk and meow and, you know, squeak. And that's how we get those cute little head tilts. And then just also like my physicality, how I hold my body, it's if you look at some pictures, there's usually behind the scenes photos. And especially on my social media, I do lots of behind the scenes stuff, but you'll see me kind of standing in a certain way or contorting my arms, and it's just a way of of changing the space around the dogs. It sounds kind of woowoo, but it really does work. So how do you help create some of these great on camera moments to keep the appearance like it looks natural, but then also to have it be a positive thing for the puppies? I, I always let the puppies lead, especially in this kind of scenario, since we're not we're not trained. I just I keep it fun. Lots of treats. You should see the box of treats that gets delivered for my work. A variety, everything from my favorite freeze dried chicken to all sorts of puppy treats. So just, you know, making sure that it's fun watching the body language the dogs are giving me to make sure that they're comfortable, rewarding good behavior, and giving breaks if they need it. So how does the puppy get on the Puppy Bowl? Do they interview? Do they apply? Is it like getting your kid into kindergarten in New York City? I think it could be. Yeah, and it depends on if we're talking, like the TV version of how you get on or the real version. So the TV version is. And you'll see it this year on the show. They go through a combine just like the pros. A scout comes and selects team members, and I'm actually a part of the pre-game combine. This is my second year doing it. So that'll that'll air before the Puppy Bowl and then the reality is there is a network of rescues and shelters throughout the country that have a long standing relationship with the show, because it has been going on for so long. So we reach out to all of our rescue partners and volunteers, and it's really about timing, because if you think about it, we have a narrow window to film and we need pops of, you know, the same number of pups, the same size, because we're not going to put a little six pounder with one of the bigger breeds. So there's, you know, there's a lot of moving pieces that come together. And it really is amazing to see it happen because it's a huge production. So if I'm a puppy and I get selected for the Puppy Bowl, how do I get where I'm going to be filming? Where do you film and how do I get there as a puppy? Do I get to fly? That's an important distinction. The where and the when, because a lot of viewers think that it's live. But this show is pre-taped. We taped in October and we were in Manhattan for probably 15, 15, 18 years, 16 years. And then Covid hit and we needed more space because, you know, space in New York City is not easy to come by. And we really needed to be able to spread out because of Covid restrictions. So we wound up in, Glens Falls, New York, in an ice arena, which is just a beautiful it fit for our needs. We have a great open space for the stage, plenty of room for the volunteers and the puppies. So it's been a nice shift from deep in the city to the outskirts of New York. But is it a cold in the ice arena? It's not. Shockingly, they put they put, a floor down and. Okay, if you leave your bottle of water down on the ground, it will be pretty cold. But it's very comfortable for us and for the puppies. And you did ask, how do they physically get to the show? The volunteers. The amazing, wonderful, incredible. We love you. Volunteers throughout the country take it upon themselves to get their puppies to the show. So some drive, some fly. It really depends where they're coming from. Ice arena. Now, I had another question on the ice arena question? Oh, I wasn't a question as much as I saw something that said, you know, gratis and square garden. They have a hockey and basketball that are happening at the same time, not on the same day. And I didn't know, but they put a floor down. So the basketball floor is sitting on top of the ice, which I don't usually I don't think it's that cold in, Madison Square Garden when I go for the basketball game. But they're those guys are playing on ice like your puppies are. So, Yeah. And those guys might be fussier about what the conditions are than the puppies. In my mind, the grand tradition of, the Leafs. Right. Exactly, exactly. So you've been a dog trainer for longer than you've been doing Puppy Bowl, right? Yes. It's, I think 25 years now of training. So what's changed in how people approach dog training over your career? I think it's a happy change for the most part, that we now have a much better understanding of how dogs learn and what works and what doesn't. And I think people are finally starting to recognize that the old school ways, you know, the more force based training is absolutely the wrong way to work with your best friends. So an embrace of science backed methodologies, positive reinforcement, and I think a big shift is starting to acknowledge dogs as individuals rather than just, you know, this is a lab and labs do this. No, every dog is different. And I think that's one of the greatest gifts we can give our pets is recognizing this individual that's sharing, sharing your life. We had that discussion this morning in the clinic, talking to a pet owner about whether or not that pet should get treated. For the cancer that it has, and, and circled around to the fact that some cats would be totally fine to come to see us frequently for treatment and other cats would not. And the owners had to figure out whether frequent veterinary visits was what was going to be good for that particular cat. So I think we we recognize that in a, in a medical setting. And I don't think it's any different in, a dog training setting. Katrina, there may be no training for cats. I'm not sure about that. I work with the kittens on set, so you'd be surprised. I think that if you have a food motivated kitten that I've clicker trained a few, I can get them to come and sit somewhere for a clicker and a chew rule. But it's not the same as training dogs. I don't think, you know, they still are moderately independent. Yeah. Definitely agree. So sticking with the how to train your dog question when someone gets a new puppy, what should families focus on from the very beginning? And what mistakes do they could they avoid if if they talk to you first? I love this question. I think that the two best things that pet parents can do with their new puppy is focus on dog safe socialization. And this is where we I mean, we're obviously looking at vaccination schedules, keeping that in mind, but also recognizing that the socialization window is brief and the associated risks with with socializing a puppy are small. If you do it, the right way. So getting out there and helping to build an elastic, confident puppy is probably the most important thing you can do. And then number two is recognizing that every interaction is a learning experience. And my number one example for that is when little tiny baby puppies jump up on you and you reach down and you pet them, you're establishing a habit. You're letting that puppy know that jumping up on you is a really great way to get your attention. But then when a little baby puppy gets to be 30, 40, 50 pounds, we don't want that behavior. So rather than entrenching it young and then having to untrain it, I think always look at the big picture context of what's happening with your puppy and and visualize what, how what this behavior could become. Well, I think, I think the question is, is what my puppy doing today, what I want it to do next year. Yeah. And if the answer's no, don't reach down and pet the puppy. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Recognizing that every, every interaction is a chance to teach something new, to have a positive experience. Yeah. I think it's so important to start training ASAP. So if somebody is having a problem with their pet, what's what's the quick fix? What's the simplest thing that a parent pet parent can do? I think a quick fix is management. So whenever you're dealing with a behavioral challenge you have two options. You can train a competing behavior or you can manage that behavior. And management is as simple as my dog hates when someone comes to your front door and we're going to have pizza delivered, or it's Halloween rather than deal with a barking dog, every time someone shows up at your door, puts your dog in a far away room with a busy toy, you know, something stuffed with treats and everyone's happy. That's management. So the reason it's management is you're not changing the behavior. You're not training your dog something new. You're just preventing the behavior from occurring. So if we need a quick fix, I think management is the best way to go about it. So I want to completely change questions here and say that you're also a novelist. In addition to a puppy trainer. So what first got you involved in writing novels? So many years ago? I was noticing trends with my clients, my dog training clients where there was just a disconnect that I couldn't put my finger on. I knew that they were doing the homework, but there was just something off about certain relationships, and that caused me to really dissect what exactly this thing is that tethers us to our dogs. And I started working on this book that became my first, my very first book, bonding with Your Dog. And from that one I wrote another. But I realized that nonfiction is really hard when you're trying to impart lessons that people can replicate. You have to be letter perfect. So it was kind of like going back to school. You know, I was writing research papers in a way, but as I was working on the books, I was doing little story, little vignettes that illustrated the training concepts and that part I'm like, this is kind of fun. You know, these fictionalized little stories. I'm really enjoying this. So couple that with the fact that I was doing private training, private in-home training, which is just a world of of stories. You know, you walk in the door and you're going to see who knows what. So I would tell these stories to my mom at the end of the day, and she's like, this sounds like a book. Maybe you should consider writing fiction. So that was the push that I needed. And then it became my first novel, which was called life on the leash. So your new book, which is coming out very soon, is called Faded Skates. Yes. A fat CD, right. It's a little bit of a tongue twister. So based on the title and the fact that you do animals, I thought it might be about a skate like a big flat cartilaginous fish. And I was like, why is she writing about cartilaginous fish? And then I realized the book is about ice skating. Which makes way more sense. But I'm kind of an animal focused person, so I see skate and I think of fish. I love it so. So talk about faded skates. So yeah, it is a departure because most of my books up until this point have always had a dog aspect, whether it's about a veterinarian. Actually, my book, Dog Friendly is about a veterinarian who's facing compassion fatigue and burnout and needs to step away for a summer. There's lots of rescue representation in my books. Dog trainer, you know, you name it. But I felt like it was, you know, pivots are fun. You know, I had done. I think, seven dog centric books. I'm so bad at record keeping for myself. And I had started playing pickleball, and I'm like, this is kind of fun. And this is a really unique world. You know, the fact that we have 90 year old players playing with college students and everyone's getting along great. And I felt like there was a story there. So that became the foundation of my last novel, which just came out last month, two months ago in November called Pick Me. And I was like, well, I'm doing this sports thing. Let's keep it going, because we've got the Winter Olympics coming up. And that was faded skates. And just a note about the title. There are tropes in the romance community like, you know, love at first sight, that sort of thing. Love triangle. And one of them is Fated Mates, and that's it's going to sound silly, but it's in like the the werewolf world where you're fated to be together. So I just did a play on that where it's instead of Fated Mates, it's Fated skates. So it's kind of a deep cut in the romance world. But I do like the fish angle. You all. I thought about fish right away, because, well, it seemed like maybe it was, you know, something to do with fish. So it's. What, do you have experience in skating? I mean, how do you know? How does one know enough about ice skating to write a book that's believable? I did grow up ice skating. No. Nowhere near Olympic caliber. But I've always loved it. And the book, the research for this book was a lovely way for me to do research while having a good time. I was able to get back out on the ice. I love doing research for my books. You know, even when I'm writing about a veterinarian, I'm in the biz, but I'm not a veterinarian. So I went really, really deep on my research for that book. And it's true of every book that I've written, basically. So I spoke with, an Olympic athlete with coaches, skating coaches, and just really rounded out my understanding of what skating is with, you know, what it really is like for an elite athlete facing that kind of pressure. So I'll ask you, as ice skating trivia question and see what you learned while figure skating called figure skating. Because, I think it's because of initially the, the testing that the figure eight, that kind of thing. The initial. Yeah, yeah, the skaters had to skate certain figures into the ice and it was much more complicated than figure eight. And they used to only play it on the Olympics, like really early in the morning or really late at night. It was never like the 8 p.m. thing because it was kind of like watching paint dry, you know, and people going around tracing these things. But you got points for figure skating. And then I don't remember, but probably when I was a teenager, it, it went away, because no one was interested in looking at people, skating figures. Everyone was interested in the beautiful, the music and the pretty twirling and swirling and spinning and all that stuff. And so figures completely went away. I'm sure there's nobody who, who does figures anymore. Yeah, I would think that just then super young beginner skaters might be subjected to that. But at the Olympic level, no, we're all we're worried about is how many times can you spin in the air? Yeah, yeah. But you might be right. The young skaters to learn about control and position on the ice. The the figures might force them. Learning figures might force them to understand how they and the ice interact. There's definitely a process. You know, I came to my skating lessons last year a little bit cocky because, you know, I've been skating since I was little, little, little. And I hadn't done it in a while, but I was like, oh, oh, I'll ace this. Oh, no. It was so humbling to realize that my instructor was like, okay, yeah, I see you skating backwards, but get over here and do this circle. You know, crossovers on this circle. I had the hardest time. So it really was very, very eye opening about the technical aspects of being a good skater. So are you going to have the, floor ripped up after the Puppy Bowl's over and do a few twirls out on the ice? It is such a good idea. I'll make that request for next year. I'll say, let me do some Salchows and Biellmanns for you. Can you do either one of those? Hell no. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think only like there's probably three people in the world that can do a Biellmann. You know, you have to pull that foot way up over your head. And then I would think that hanging on to that blade would be uncomfortable, at least. And painful. Probably. Same thing. Yeah. I mean, the entire sport, if you really take a step back, they're putting their entire body weight, you know, revolving in the air and putting their entire force of their body weight on one thin blade. It's just incredible. There's so much science and physics that goes into making sure that, you know, the spins are safe and obviously pretty well. And if you watch the pairs skaters, the the lady skater will put her blades on the thigh of the man's skater while he's holding her up, and they're spinning around and I'm like, do you have, like, gouges in your legs when you take off those tights that you're wearing? I mean, it's, it's incredible that way. Yeah. They definitely have to piece themselves back together from what I learned, really. Are there a lot of blade injuries? Not blade injuries necessarily, but just the the wear and tear on the body because they start so young you know ankle. Oh they're little when they start. Yeah. You know if you watch the Olympics they'll always have you know the kid at age four spinning around the Glens Falls ice rink. You know with the home video by mom kind of thing. So yeah, they start really, really, really young, at skating in the junior competition and stuff. So do you like to watch skating or you only like to do skating? Oh, I love to watch it. I am so moved by it. I still remember crying watching, Debbie Thomas's concession skate to, it was George Michael song. One more try. Oh, I was very young when I watched it, but I was so moved because she was. She was saying like, yeah, I lost a Katarina Vette, but here's my best. So yes, I'm very much a fan, and I've got my eyes on Alyssa Lou this time around. So I go way back because I actually saw Peggy Fleming skate. Wow. And so it's always so much fun to. When she's the, commentator. You know? And I saw her. She skated for the Ice Capades, and I saw her probably the year after she won her Olympic medal. In the Ice Capades. It was, you know, just my dream kind of thing. Yeah. So. Okay, we've digressed a little bit from your books, but I love talking about skating. So if people want to read your books, which, remember Faded Skates is coming out very soon, or maybe even be out by the time this podcast drops, where can people find your books? Wherever books are sold? But I'm a huge supporter of independent bookstores, so I always recommend that if you have a bookstore in your town and it's not on the shelf, you can. You can special order it, you can request it, which is, you know, great for you and also great for the author and also the bookstore, because they get a better understanding of what, you know, people out there reading. So I always say, first try your local bookstore and then try the big guys and the library. I'm a huge library fan as well, and I think the library would get it for you if they didn't have it too. Yep. So. Well, victory! Thank you so much for joining me today and talking about skating and puppies. And we are looking forward to the release of Faded Skates on January 13th, which means the book is going to be available about the time my listeners hear this podcast. And then for everyone out there, don't forget the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, which will be on Super Bowl Sunday. Mark your calendars February 8th. Although how can anyone not know when the Super Bowl is? Thanks so much again. Victoria was a pleasure. Thank you. I know keeping your pet healthy is very important to you. And with that said, I hope you'll reach out to me if you have a question about your pet's health and I'll give everyone the answer to your question on next month's apps of that podcast, all you have to do is email me at ask at the vet at amcny.org We'll have a short break coming up, but stay tuned because there are lots of interesting animal news stories when we return. We're back with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back everyone to Ask the Vet. It's time for the animal news. It's time for animal headlines, the biggest animal news from across the world. A pair of owls from Miami, Florida, recently ended up on an unexpected journey after accidentally boarding a cruise ship headed for Spain. The owls went unnoticed before departure, but once the ship was at sea, crew members and passengers began spotting the owls in areas like the ship's park, the solarium, and the miniature golf course. They were identified as burrowing owls, a specie listed as threatened in Florida, prompting a coordinated effort to keep the owls safe and eventually return them home. Crew members contacted wildlife experts and were instructed in how to care for the owls until the ship reached port. The task proved challenging as the pair repeatedly evaded capture attempts, and at 1.1 owl even briefly escaped its enclosure. Despite all of this, the crew successfully kept both owls contained and well-fed for the remainder of the voyage. After docking, the owls were transferred to a wildlife rescue center in Morocco, Spain, where they were quarantined and monitored. The owls have remained there since the spring, but plans are now underway to return them to the United States. And their travel costs are being covered by the fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida. Once they complete medical evaluations, they're expected to be released back into the wild. So just a reminder here to my listeners. If you find wildlife in need of care, do exactly what the crew of this cruise ship did, which is contact experts. Contact your local authorities and they can be easily identified on your state's website. Look for Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Fish and Wildlife, or look for a wildlife rehabilitator near you. These are the folks with the expertise, skills and equipment to take care of wildlife, which most of us don't have. So don't forget that resource. If you find injured wildlife. Our second story comes to us from Japan. A beloved train station cat in Japan has died at the age of 15, and more than 500 people gathered to honor her at a funeral. Nitama was a calico cat who served as the train stations feline mascot in western Japan. A funeral was held at the Keisha's station, Nitama’s longtime home. Railway employees and long time fans came to pay their respects. Many of whom had come to know and love her through their daily commute. During the ceremony, the railway company honored Nitama with the title of Honorary Special Station Master. Visitors left flowers, photographs and cans of cat food at the Memorial. Railway officials commented that Nitama brought comfort and joy to passengers and helped continue the legacy of her predecessor, Tama. The first station cat, who helped revise the small rail line Nitama, took on the role in 2015 after Tama’s death, and I looked and Tama was featured in an AMC blog in 2013. She'd been adopted by the railway after being found sheltering under a car on a rainy day, and later graduated from the station's cat training program, which emphasized friendliness and a willingness to wear a hat. Railway staff say Nitama helped to turn an ordinary train station into a place people looked forward to visiting. And our third story is a bit closer to home. And this story comes from Arizona State University. They're studying dog cognition, and they found in their new study that our own feelings influence how we think a dog is feeling. So in this study, the human participants looked at a set of photos designed to shift their moods, such as pleasant objects upsetting images, or everyday things. They were then shown short videos of dogs and asked to judge how the dogs were feeling. When the photos had nothing to do with dogs, people's opinions about the dog stayed the same. When the photos were of dogs, people's judgments changed. People who had just seen positive dog images were more likely to think the dogs in the videos looked sad. People who just see negative dog images were more likely to think the dogs looked happier. Researchers interpret this data to say that we are not very good at reading a dog's emotions clearly. Instead, our own emotional state, especially when dogs are already on our minds, can shape what we're seeing. And this is important because if we misread a dog's emotions, we may not be responding to them in a proper way. And so if you think your dog is looking sad, maybe ask yourself, am I thinking right? Or am I just putting my own thoughts onto my dog? And now it's time for questions from our listeners. Our first question today is to Carolyn C. Carolyn asks. I have a five month old kitten we adopted named Chase, who has ongoing discharge from his right eye. Our veterinarian prescribed eyedrops for a possible infection, but the discharge continues. We were later told his immune system may not be fully developed and he was given a supplement. But the issue hasn't resolved. I'm wondering why this might be happening and what else we should consider. So I think your veterinarian was did the right thing by thinking this might be a chronic infection because cats get herpes viral infections, and they sometimes flare up when the cat is stressed or sick. So thinking that this is a chronic viral situation is very reasonable. Another possibility is that you and cats have a duct that goes from your eye to your nose. And so that's why when we cry, our nose gets runny because the tears are running down that duct and then coming out our nose. So cats have tear ducts too. And if the viral infection cause scarring or plugging of the tear duct, then the tears can't run down into the nose and therefore they bubble over the eye. And so the tears flow onto the face and looks like it's an eye problem, but it's really a tear duct problem. So if your veterinarian has not been able to resolve Chase's situation, one thing to think about is finding a veterinary ophthalmologist near you, and you would be able to find a veterinary ophthalmologist by going to the website of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists. And then they have a find an Ophthalmologist near you button on their website, and then you put in your zip code and you'd be able to tell us where the closest ophthalmologist is. An ophthalmologist can do additional testing, unplug a club tear duct, or help you to figure out why Chase's eye is always running. So good luck. There's nothing better. Let me tell you then a five month old kitten in your house. Our next question comes from Steve B. Steve wants to know. My two year old dog suddenly refuses to go outside when it's raining, even just to use the bathroom. Is there a way to help with this? Well, I mean, if it was raining. I don't like to go out when it's raining either, so I don't. I'm not sure that this dog is acting any different than we would in this situation. So maybe this dog doesn't like wet feet or doesn't like getting rained on. So you could try boots and a raincoat for the dog. But I'll also tell you that it's amazing how long some young dogs can wait between walks when they don't want to go outside and get their feet wet. So if the rain is supposed to stop in a few hours, I wouldn't worry too much about this dog's reluctance to go outside, and I would just wait till the rain stops before taking it out the dog. It would be really unusual for a dog to wait to go to the bathroom until their bladder exploded. That that just is not something that's going to happen. I know that's what clients I know that's what's underlying. Steve's question is, will my dog's bladder sprung a leak because he hasn't been outside. That's not going to happen. And ultimately your dog is going to go. But their ability to hold it is incredible. So Steve, don't worry too much, but you could try boots and a raincoat. And our last question today is from Beth K. Beth asks. My rabbit sheds a lot and sometimes seems to ingest his fur while grooming. How do we know when shedding becomes a problem? This is a really important question, Beth, because hairballs can be a serious issue in rabbits. So we all know that our cats puke up hairballs all the time, and they only puke them up right where you're going to step in them, and they're cold and squishy and just revolting. Rabbits can't vomit. Interesting. Fun fact, except that it's a serious issue because your rabbit can't vomit up a hairball like your cat can. So it's very, very, very important to not let the hair accumulate in your rabbit because it can make rabbits really sick. So lots of brushing for the bunny and lots of fibers such as hay in their diet will help to prevent the complications of rabbit hairball formation. And if your rabbit stops eating, any rabbit needs a trip to the veterinarian to see if there has been a hairball that's formed that's causing a problem. Well, that's all our questions for today. Or we're going to take a short break and then we'll be back with information from AMC's Usdan Institute. We're back with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back to the third segment of Ask the Event. And in this segment, we have important information from AMC's Usdan Institute for Animal Health Education. As winter weather settles in, AMC's Usdan Institute would like to share important reminders to keep pets safe and comfortable during a cold months. Cold temperatures bring added risk for dogs and cats. Always store antifreeze safely, and if you spill any antifreeze, adding some to your car, then be sure to clean those spills up immediately, because only a lick or two of antifreeze can damage your pet's kidneys permanently. If they just take a quick lick of that garish green stuff off the garage floor. Ice and deicing salts can irritate pores and skin. So after wax, wipe your pet's feet or consider booties or paw wax to protect their paw pads. Pets with thin coats may benefit from a jacket or a sweater when they go outside, and all pets should have a warm, draft free place to rest and sleep. Remember that in cold weather, outdoor cats may seek warmth by crawling into a car engine that recently was turned off, or b under your car's hood. So before starting your car, honk the horn or tap the hood to give any hiding animals a chance to escape before you turn the engine on. Over. Bathing pets during the winter can leave them with dry skin and never leave a pet in a cold car. Be sure to use space heaters carefully, because if a pet were to tip them over, that could start a fire in your house or apartment. And always be sure that pets have fresh water and that it is in some way protected so their water source doesn't freeze and they have to go without water. Small precautions can make a big difference in keeping your pets safe and healthy. Uncomfortable all winter long. We have more pet health and safety tips at the Houston Institute, and that can be found online at AMC, NY dawg backslash used an institute. Both dogs and cats get thyroid disease. Cats become hypothyroid from overactive thyroid gland, or dogs can become hypothyroid from an underactive gland. And since the thyroid helps regulate metabolism, problems with thyroid hormones can affect a pet's energy, weight, growth, and overall health. On Wednesday, January 21st, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, the Usdan Institute will host a webinar focused on thyroid disease in dogs and cats. And this session will be led by Doctor Mariel Covo, who's a specialist in AMC's internal medicine service. Doctor Covo will discuss the signs to watch for, explain how thyroid conditions are diagnosed, and review current treatment options that can help pets feel their best and maintain a good quality of life. The event, as all used and events are, is free, but in order to get the zoom link, you need to sign up at amcny.org/events. I'd like to thank Victoria Schade for joining me today. You can find out more about her at her website, which is www. Victoria Schade SCHADE .com. Don't forget if you want to know more about your pets health or well-being, just email me at Ask the Vet @amcny.org and I'll answer your question on next month's Ask the Vet. The event podcast can be accessed on the Sirius XM app, across all major platforms and on AMC's website. All of this thanks to AMC's long standing partnership with Sirius XM. Don't forget to follow us on social media on Facebook., it's the Animal Medical Center. On X, formerly, Twitter ,and Instagram it's @amcny. Please take a minute to give the Ask the Vet podcast a review, and be sure to like and subscribe so you get new episodes as soon as they are available. And I hope that everyone stays warm during this cold and dark month of January, and I'll look forward to seeing everyone next month for another episode of Ask the Vet. Thanks, everyone!