Maria's Mutts & Stuff

Maria chats with elementary school teacher (30 years as an educator!) and children's book author Lori Skala about her books The Road To Rosie and The Hair Tie . Proceeds from Lori's books go to animal rescue and pediatric cancer, her two passions. Give a listen and learn about Lori and her mission. Lori can be found on IG at storyloribooks or visit her website storyloribooks.com. See omnystudio.co...

Maria chats with returning guest Operation K9 Beethoven 's VP & Co-Founder Brian Reyngoudt! They are a charity organization for veterans that includes Pet Therapy Programs and Psychiatric Therapy Dog Programs. They provide service dogs to veterans at no cost to the vets. And the best part?  Their service dogs come from rescues and shelters so it's Win Win for both the vets AND the dogs!! Give...

"Learn Practice Master Begin Again" is Linn Boyke's motto when it comes to dogs. Linn runs The School of Dog Psychology. I first saw Linn when he was on Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer TV show--he was one of his students. Linn also indirectly helped me with my dog Fredo many years ago. Give a listen and learn about Linn's path. Recently, he learned that he needs quadruple bypass heart surgery.  I'm i...

Maria chats with Born Free USA' s Devan Schowe about the organization and all they do to prevent humans from exploiting wild-animals.  In 1966, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers starred in the classic wildlife film Born Fre e. In 1984, they launched the charity Zoo Check which evolved into  Born Free; in 2002, Born Free USA was launched in the states! Their campaigns include the fur trade, trappin...

Maria chats with actor and animal advocate Brooke Shields about her partnership with Prospect Pet ; pet supplements and wellness products that carry the Clean and Conscious promise of products that are good for your pets and the planet! Check out the products PROSPECTPET . ***NOTE :  There were some technical difficulties with this interview, so you'll hear drop-outs and cut-offs. Please bear with...

Maria chats with Traps To Lap s Director Chiquita Taylor about this program which breaks the cycle of homeless cats and kittens.  TTL has a network of rescue groups, fosters, and volunteers who help get feral cats off the streets--especially kittens before they become feral--and then gets them ready for their forever home through fostering and socialization. It's a new and unique program that coul...

Maria chats with The Sultan of Garbage author Brian Belefant about how we can all do our part--even if it's small--to reduce waste in our everyday lives! Although fiction, the book shares four tips on how to reduce waste: repurpose materials (be creative!); create "free piles"; donate rather than throw away; think about your purchases. To learn more about Brian, go to BELEFANT.COM . See omnystudio...

Maria chats with Certified Clinical Pet Nutritionist & Bow Wow Lab's Chief Nutrition Officer Johnna Devereaux about preventing your pet from choking! Did you know there are CPR classes for animals? Listen and learn what to do and how to prevent your pet from choking. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria chats with Will Zweigart, founder of Flatbush Cat s and Flatbush Veterinary Clinic in Brooklyn NY.  Flatbush Cats focuses on solving the problem of cat overpopulation. Will has innovative ideas and solutions that will hopefully expand to all five boroughs in NYC and then be a model for other communities around the country. Learn more at flatbushcats.org. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Maria chats with Jim Kessler, Director of Instruction and Training at The Seeing Eye in Morristown NJ. The Seeing Eye has been training and providing dogs to people since 1929, and celebrated their 95th Anniversary last year! Give a listen and learn all about this amazing organization. You can volunteer, donate, or other ways you can help:  SEEINGEYE.ORG. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Maria chats with naturalist Charles Hood--a poet, essayist and photographer, about his latest book Nature At Night:  Discover The Hidden World That Comes Alive After Dark . Charles takes us on a journey into the dark--as most of us are sleeping--and teaches us about the nocturnal world through descriptions and stunning photos. The night time awakens and we are there to observe it through  Nature A...

In-studio guests Kimberly Cassar and Adrienne Maglione from NYLABONE chat with Maria about Nylabone's 70th Anniversary and all that they're doing this year to celebrate!! For every Nylabone bought, another is donated to a shelter! Their goal is to help get shelter pets across the country adopted; they're partnered with Best Friends Animal Society. Plus you can win prizes from Nylabone too.   It's...

Maria chats with returning guest Ornithologist and bird expert Andrew Farnsworth about Spring migration from south to north; how you can enjoy birds this time of year and what you should do if you find a bird that fell out of its nest! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria chats with science writer and naturalist Ryan Mandelbaum about his book WILD NYC . As Ryan says everyone thinks of New York City as a concrete jungle, but "it's full of amazing wildlife"! Between the info, photos, amazing artwork by Chelsea Beck, and the chapter of Field Trips,  YOUR next trip should be to New York City! More info:  ryanmandelbaum.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Maria chats with Pawsitive Beginnings founder Nicole Navarro. In existence for five years, Pawsitive Beginnings gives permanent homes to foxes rescued from the fur trade. (Many come from fur farms where they're deemed "inadequate") Btw 100% of donations go to the foxes! pawsitivebeginnings.org See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria chats with herb farmer, author and gardening expert Bevin Cohen about his latest book  Herbs In Every Season: 48 Edible and Medicinal Herbs for the Kitchen, Garden, and Apothecary , which just came out! Learn about herbs you eat daily or even ones that you never tried before with recipes, plus info about their medicinal qualities!  Learn more at smallhousefarm.com . See omnystudio.com/listen...

Maria chats with Skool Dogs co-founder Brandon Womack. Skool Dogs are highly trained dogs that can detect ammunition, firearms, explosives and more! As their website states "First Patrolmen, then cameras, and Now Skool Dog s" They patrol schools across America. Listen and Learn! For more info:  SKOOLDOGS.COM See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria chats with Bodega Cats of New York Founder Dan Rimada about all the cats we see in our local bodegas, delis, and corner stores!  Dan started a petition to protect these cats and the stores they live in. Did you ever hear of  Cats About Town Tours ? Dan is a co-founder!  If you LOVE cats (and I know you do) give a listen! And Sign the petition too CLICK HERE FOR THE PETITION. bodegacatsofnewy...

In 2016, Heather and Gil Johnson left their home in New Jersey and relocated to Mexico. Maria chats with Heather:   After seeing so many homeless dogs and "Pinto"--a broken starving dog--Heather and Gil knew what their mission had to be:  helping these homeless strays. To date, they're spayed and neutered over 8050 animals and have placed over 300 adoptions!! Give a listen and learn all about Beac...

Maria chats with returning guest Roseanne Parry about her latest book A Wolf Called Fire, a story inspired by the real wolves of the American West, especially Wolf 8 who was at Yellowstone National Park as a pup and later became a successful pack leader.  Although the book is aimed at middle-school children, if you love dogs and their behavior, you will enjoy this book! See omnystudio.com/listener...

Maria chats with ecologist, biologist and bat scientist  Dr. Alyson Brokaw about her book The Weird and Wonderful World of Bats! Give a listen and I'll bet you will learn something about bats (and why they're actually pretty cool and not scary at all!) that you never knew!  Dr. Brokaw has a blog about bats too alysonbrokaw.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria chats with Funny For Fido founder and president Justin Silver about the upcoming fundraiser on February 19th at The Cutting Room in NYC.  2025 is their 20th anniversary!! Comedians from Jerry Seinfeld to Jim Gaffigan have performed to support. Funny For Fido' s (they're a 501c3) yearly fundraiser raises money for animal rescues with 100% of the profits going to veterinary care; food; trainin...

Maria chats with Mark Rowlands--author, professor and chair of the philosophy department at the University of Miami. Mark's latest book The Word of Dog: What Our Canine Companions Can Teach Us About Living A Good Life which teaches us that we can live a better life if we just live our lives like dogs do with a lack of self-examination.  As Mark writes "The life of a dog is a voyage and not a plan"...

Maria chats with renowned scientist, explorer and author Neil Shubin about his latest book Ends of the Earth , which will be out Feb 4th. Neil has been exploring the north and south poles for over three decades! So much can be learned from ice, rocks, and nature which helps us understand the planet and our future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maria chats with Ami Cullen, Director of Equestrian Operations at the C Lazy U Ranch in CO, and author of Running Free . Running Free tells the story of how 200 horses at the ranch had to be relocated when the East Troublesome Fire hit.  Although fictionalized, the story is based on what really happened and how ranchers across the state helped save the horses. See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...