I’m doing a one hour radio show tomorrow, Wednesday, I have to be at the Mansion Assisted Care Facility at 2:30 p.m to help launch our new Karaoke Sing-A-Long program. So the broadcast will begin at its usual time, 1 p.m. and end at 2 .p.m

I have chosen a topic for tomorrow – Can We Love Our Dogs Too Much?” –  I hope you’ll be able to listen or call in. The broadcast, “Talking To Animals,” will be on WBTN Am live tomorrow, the 28th. You can live stream it here, or download a free radio app like Simple Radio and hear it from anywhere.

You are invited to call in: 866 406-9286, or if you live in the listening area, 802-442-1010. You can also e-mail  your questions anytime, including during the broadcast. My e-mail is [email protected].

There are now about 87 million owned dogs in America, even more cats, they have entered our personal and emotional lives in ways no one even imagined just a few decades ago.

It is difficult to quantify the deep love affair Americans are now having with their pets. In recent years, the amount of money spent on dogs, cats, fish, horses has skyrocketed to anywhere between $70 and $80 billion dollars.

The more isolated we are from one another, the greater the need for animals to love in our lives.

The more disconnected we are from one another, the more we bring pets like dogs into the very center of our personal and emotional lives, we now see them as companions, members of our family, soulmates, even partners.

This kind of relationship to pets is new to the animal world, especially in this intensity.

This is not always a good thing for animals, especially animals like dogs. Millions of dogs die each year from overfeeding, are killed because no one will train them, or are abandoned by people who have no idea what it means to have an animal in their lives.

Behavioral problems are a leading cause of death for dogs, mostly because many people and many vets would prefer to medicate them than train them.

The new work of many dogs is supporting the emotional lives of people.  There is growing evidence that this can be unhealthy for some people, who grieve so intensely it is difficult for them to live their lives, or who use animals as a way to avoid dealing with people, or as surrogate children.

The animal rescue culture in America didn’t exist a generation ago, not there are hundreds of thousands of people seeking out animals to rescue, looking for homes, fostering them and transporting them all over the country.

Hundreds of thousands of dogs are now on Prozac and other antidepressants, people are literally transferring their human neuroses onto them in the name of loving dogs.

Managing dog or cat love has become a challenging emotional issue for so many people. Call us or listen to “Talking To Animals” tomorrow, one p.m. WBTNAM 1370.

This is the topic I want to talk about on the broadcast tomorrow. Please call in and remember, it will be shorter than usual tomorrow, from one p.m. to 2 p.m.

How much love is too much? When do we go too far?

Do you know someone who loves their pet too much? How much  money would you spend to keep your dog or cat alive? Do you have any questions about it how to handle dog love?

Call us tomorrow at 866 406-9286. Or listen live here. Or use your Simple Radio app, it’s free online or on the Apple App Store. Please consider being a sponsor/supporter of a single hour of “Talking To Animals”, you can be a “Golden Leash” supporter of the broadcast for $25.

The Paypal donate button is out-of-order at the moment, you can send a $25 payment to WBTN, 407 Harwood Hill,  Bennington, Vt., 05201. We will read your name, cause or pet on the air.

If you can’t call or listen, you can e-mail me your questions anytime [email protected]. And thanks.