To the Best of Our Knowledge: Good Dog

In this hour, Michael Schaffer is the author of One Nation under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies, Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food. He tells Anne Strainchamps he didn't want to be one of THOSE people who take excessive care of their pets, but found himself realizing that the line between normal and extreme has made a major shift in our culture in the last fifteen years. Pound puppies like Schaffer's St. Bernard, Murphy, are the big winners and Schaffer thinks it's a good thing.

Next, psychologist Stanley Coren tells Jim Fleming how the modern dog developed and why they have such an important place in people's lives. Coren's latest book is The Modern Dog: A Joyful Exploration of How We Live with Dogs Today.

Then, the Dog Whisperer comes calling! Cesar Millan, author of A Member of the Family: Cesar Millan's Guide to a Lifetime of Fulfillment with Your Dog, tells Steve Paulson that dogs need exercise, discipline and affection, in that order. He talks about being a pack leader and eliciting a calm submissive state in your animals.

After that, Temple Grandin, co-author (with Catherine Johnson) of Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals tells Steve Paulson she worries about pets in our modern society; critiques Cesar Millan's techniques as being appropriate only for large unrelated packs of dogs; and opposes the breeding of so-called criminal dogs.

Maureen Adams tells Jim Fleming about the dogs who were the companions and inspiration of some of our greatest women writers. Her book is Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edith Wharton and Emily Bronte. [Broadcast Date: February 26, 2010]