August 19, 2009 – Giving interviews, went to Albany to do “Dog Talk.” Great broadcast. We talked about a lot of things, but especially the souls of dogs. One dog owner called up to say she had spent more than $20,000 in medical bills to save her dog. She bribed the animal hospital to get inside, massaged the dog for days, and said the experience, to her, was just like saving a child. Some people thought that was wonderful, but I thought she had lost perspective.
  She said at one point her daughter came to her and said, “Mom, you care about the dog as much as me,” and she said at first that was true, then said of course it wasn’t.
  I am never sure how to respond to that sort of over-the-top view of animals. She has the right to spend whatever she wishes, but I hope I don’t ever get lost in Dog Love to the extent that there are no limits or barriers involving what I would do for them or spend on them.
  And I certainly love my dogs. In a way that was what was interesting about writing “Soul Of A Dog,” the worship of animals, and the declining regard for humans in our culture. I will hear a lot of this on the book tour, and it is fascinating.