Arden Moore: Welcome to the Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio. I’m your host, Arden Moore. I’ve got my blue suede shoes on, I’m hugging my teddy bear and I’m all shook up. Are you catching the Elvis theme? If so, thank you, thank you very much. Our special guest on today’s show is David Best, the latest contestant to be booted off The Greatest American Dog Show on CBS. He’s the proud papa of Elvis, who in my book is definitely the king and anything but a hound dog. Welcome to the show, David.

David Best: Well thank you very much. I love the way you use the phrase ‘booted off of the show’.

Arden Moore: I was so bummed, I got to tell you. For the folks who’ve been watching the show, lets catch up on episode 3 if we can David. You know in episode 2 I thought Elvis got a little bit of a bad wrap, you know. He bullied Tillman the bulldog and, but in episode 3 he made nice and played with Tillman and that little itty bitty dog Andrew, and I could just see the love that you have for this dog and it’s, well it’s a Jack Russell but now they call them Parson Russell’s, whatever you want to do. But talk to me a little bit about that, ‘cause I really thought Elvis was making a comeback.

David Best: Yeah, I mean, you know, I never wanted to be on the show if it was about circus tricks. I said he’s got two left feet like some dogs do, they can’t dance, you know…

Arden Moore: Yeah.

David Best: He doesn’t do back flips. So if it’s about tricks, this show should be on at 2am on Animal Planet, but they said it’s about the bond you have with your dog and of various other creative interesting things, so that’s why I went on the show and I thought this is, you know, we’d have a great chance to do that and, but there were in the beginning, there was a lot of agility stuff and things and he’s a trooper. I mean, don’t forget, in that third episode none of the other teammates wanted to even try the teeter totter, everybody had an excuse. Tillman was too big and fat, Andrew was too small, Brandy and Beacon, they didn’t even know what a teeter totter was and, you know, so Elvis was chosen to do that tough…And he only learned before we flew out there the day before. He only went on it one time…

Arden Moore: Yeah.

David Best: I took him to Prospect Park in New York, he went up the seesaw and down, and that’s all he had experienced, but he did it and he was a trooper, you know, he was, he tried his best and, you know, he just went off on the second seesaw, so…But I thought we were going to survive because he was improving right along. He did get a bad wrap with Tillman. I mean, all they did is I think they went after a bone or a toy…

Arden Moore: Yeah.

David Best: and like most dogs, he just snapped a little bit. They never had a fight. In fact, he played with all the dogs on the show, all loved Elvis and Elvis played with every one of them. I mean, Andrew, which was the lapdog there, Laurie’s dog, she wouldn’t let Andrew play with anybody. And it was nice that they showed in the third episode of them playing together and he played with Tillman. I didn’t want to leave the show with Elvis having a reputation that he was, like I said, the Hannibal Lecter of the house, I call him the Animal Lecter of the house, ‘cause he is a sweet dog.

Arden Moore: Oh, he is, and I got to tell you, I was actually rooting out loud and applauding when I saw him gleefully playing with the other dogs in the yard, and I’m like, you know, I’ve had a dog before that was misunderstood if you will and, you know, dogs work sometimes things out by themselves and if you, as long as it’s safe and all that, and he and Tillman worked things out, you know. And, to me, sometimes we kind of muddy the waters if you will by getting all panicky and screamy and emotional, and the dogs feel that and they’re confused and they don’t know what to do, but I think you have an adorable dog, and what I’m amazed at, I was checking out your bio. You truly demonstrate your love for your dog. You threw a $10,000 dollar Bark-Mitzvah?

David Best: Yeah. Yeah, I fess up to that, but he was born on New Year’s day, so for his first birthday I threw him a brunch at the Tribeca Grand Hotel for about 50 people, it’s a very dog friendly hotel in New York, and I decided, what am I going to do for a follow up, and I calculated that in dog years he would be 13 on November 10th 2007, so I decided to have a party at this row eastside Romanian steakhouse called Sammy’s, invited a hundred people, including Doctor Ruth, who is a friend of mine and we had a great time, but of course it’s an excuse to have a party. I mean, Elvis doesn’t know what a bark-Mitzvah is, but we went all the way. We decided I was not going to make it a doggy party, meaning I’m not going to have napkins with paws on it, you know, the usually cliché. I want to make it like it was, if it really was a bar- Mitzvah boy. So we had a cake and we did the, we had dancing, we even had his mother there. The breeder brought his mother there…

Arden Moore: Elvis’s mother’s here.

David Best: His mother’s there, she had a corsage on her collar, it was, you know, we had a ball, and what we did is we put the video, I have a website called The Doctors Channel, thedoctorschannel.com and it’s an educational website for doctors, little streaming videos of one to two minutes of doctors teaching doctors, and it’s educational, it’s serious medicine, but we have a humor section. So we made a film of the bark-Mitzvah, I put it on the humor section, and next thing you know I get a call from CBS, my secretary said, “CBS is on the line”, I thought she meant CVS. I thought it was the drugstore. I said, “Who? CVS?” I thought I had a bad script out there or something. She says, “No, CBS.” So they’re on the phone, they said, “We saw the bark Mitzvah on The Doctors Channel, and would you be interested in participating on a reality series?”, and…

Arden Moore: That’s pretty good sniffing around research, don’t you think, going to a medical website and plopping out such a gem?

David Best: Yeah, I think what happened was I guess that, you know, the miracle of Google, I think they hit ‘bark-Mitzvah and there was a write up on Wikipedia, and then they saw that it said thedoctorschannel.com, led them to that, and they watched the bark-Mitzvah and the rest is history. And I don’t regret a second of it. It was a lot of hard work, you’re away for many, many weeks, you’re sequestered with no computers, no cell phone, nothing, but it is once in a lifetime. How often do you get a chance to be on primetime television, live with your dog and that, I mean, win or lose, the fact that you can live in that house with a big backyard and your dog is free to play, especially when you live in Manhattan…

Arden Moore: Yeah.

David Best: You know, that certainly was a nice plus, to be with Elvis and let him roam the backyard, and so it was a terrific experience. And we’re all friends on the show…

Arden Moore: Good.

David Best: We email each other everyday, we call each other. Despite the fights and all the other stuff we really all together have been through a very unique and amazing experience.

Arden Moore: Well David I definitely, I know my producers probably are drooling right now. We definitely want to put your bark-Mitzvah as a link on our site, ‘cause we always have, our guests have a nice little bio page, and it would be nice to showcase Elvis as well. We want Elvis to live on forever.

David Best: Oh, well sure.

Arden Moore: We want to do anything we can to further promote the very special relationship you have with Elvis. I mean, I have written 20 pet books and I got to tell you, you exhibit one of the strongest friendships I’ve ever seen between a man and a dog, and it just really is nice to see that.

David Best: Well I thank you, and it was no effort on my part. It’s, you know, it’s genuine. I felt a little silly I guess breaking down when I was, when I left the show, but…

Arden Moore: You got to feel your emotions. I mean, you know, I got to tell you, first before we get the sad part, it was hilarious in episode one when here’s this man from Manhattan who’s used to flagging cabs with his dog, saying, “What? I’m staying in the doghouse?” Tell the, tell our listeners what happened, and you really adjusted quite well-being in the doghouse.

David Best: Well I think, and you know what, I learned how to adjust to the doghouse through my dog, you know. Every night Elvis jumps in the bed with me, and I say, “Okay Elvis, lets go to bed”, and he knows it, he runs into the bedroom, he jumps on the bed. So here we are, I’m in this dog, I have not been in the house yet. I was the first one to be put in the doghouse, I’m in my suit still, my suitcase is literally behind the doghouse in a box of clothes. In fact, you don’t know this, a sprinkler went off at night, wet all my clothes, I was totally miserable, and I was thrown in this doghouse, but I looked down and I said, “Alright Elvis, lets go to bed.” He runs in there, his tails wagging, and I thought to myself, “You know what a dog teaches you? To be enthusiastic no matter what the situation.” And I thought to myself, “If he can feel that, you know what, I could cope.” And I went in there and his tails wagging and we snuggled up and he’s on this dog bed and I’m on, you know, the sleeping bag there and it was wonderful. And then I realized, I started to like the doghouse between you and I. And it sort of backfired on the show because they were going to make that the exile place, but then everybody saw how much I was enjoying it, I had my own room, I could go to bed when I want, I turn the lights out when I want. Everybody else is, you know, sharing rooms and stuff. So as it wore on I started to like it. Then I had contestants saying to me, “Between you and I, if, you know, select me, if you, you know, I wouldn’t mind going in there. I wouldn’t mind going in there.” So I think they closed the doghouse down after a while…

Arden Moore: Oh my gosh, well…

David Best: It became a retreat.

Arden Moore: Yeah, and you had some nice, the contestants that brought you the bed and some little, trying to make it more like a, you know, a four star hotel, bringing you little amenities, I thought that was kind of sweet.

David Best: That shows you how nice people are. I didn’t even know them for one, you know, for 24 hours and look how nice everybody rallied around to help me to be in that doghouse.

Arden Moore: That’s right. So when, what kind of medicine do you practice, David?

David Best: Well I was originally, did surgery, ran EMT and then left that to go into medical education and medical communications…

Arden Moore: Mm hmm.

David Best: So that’s what I do now. So we have a medical education company and that’s thedoctorschannel.com.

Arden Moore: I’m going to definitely check it out and watch Elvis in his bark-Mitzvah after our show. You know, with Elvis, tell us how you got Elvis in the first place and what made you say he’s the one?

David Best: Well, I was not a dog person. Never had a dog, I didn’t pet dogs, I never looked to them, I couldn’t tell you the difference in breeds, and somebody who works with me came in with a Jack Russell one day and asked them to roll over, Tom said to me, “Tell him to roll over”, and he did. “Tell him to sit”, and he did, and I said, “This is kind of neat. Can I babysit one night?” Next thing you know, “Can I babysit for a weekend?” “Hey, you’re going on vacation. Why don’t I take him for the week.” Next thing you know, I fall in love with this Jack Russell Terrier, so much so that the owner says to me, “Hey David, you got to get your own dog.” So I was lucky, I had friends in the UK that knew the vice chairman of the Kennel Society, the British Kennel Society, British Kennel Club, and he found the breeder for me in Conneticut and went up there and that’s where I met Elvis. I did have a little trick. I don’t know if you have it in one of your books, that they say when you meet your dog for the first time you take a pat of butter, you rub it on the back of your hand and you put your hand in the pen and the very first impression that they get of you is of the taste of you and the butter, and he was licking, the dog really must be saying, “Hey, this guys pretty good. This is a winner here. I’m going to go home with this one.” And that’s what I did and…

Arden Moore: I’ve never buttered up a dog before, but that’s a good one, so…

David Best: That’s what I did.

Arden Moore: I tell you, you can see the connection, it’s quite obvious. You know, I’m so happy that we’ve had David Best on our show. He is the guy with a very cool dog named Elvis that were the latest contestants on The Greatest American Dog Show unfortunately to be said goodbye to, but you said the classic line David, please share it with all our listeners, when the decision was made.

David Best: Well, they made that final lap and I was ready to leave the Best in Show arena, it just came to my mind is to turn back and say something that I guess very few people get a chance to say and have it mean something; I just said, “Elvis has left the building.”

Arden Moore: That was classic. David, my best to you David Best and to your dog, and I wish you the best.

David Best: Hey, well thank you so much. I enjoyed speaking with you.

Arden Moore: We’re going to take a commercial break and come back and talk to Jill James from Texas who is a big fan of the show. What we’re trying to do each week listeners is to get the publics intake on this show, The Greatest American Dog Show on CBS, and we will chat with her right after this commercial break.

Arden Moore: Welcome back to the Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio. I’m your host, Arden Moore. We just spoke with David Best, the doctor and his cool dog Elvis, who sadly were booted off as, in episode three of The Greatest American Dog Show. And as a tradition we’re doing on this show, each week we’re trying to talk to someone out there in the land of TV whose been faithfully watching the show and get what America’s take is on The Greatest American Dog Show. Today I’m delighted that a good friend of mine from the great state of Texas is here. She is Jill James. She’s is a teacher and she is a proud pet guardian of three awesome dogs; Jake, Gracie and Maddy. Welcome to the show, Jill.

Jill James: Thank you.

Arden Moore: So tell me, you’ve been watching the show, what’s the appeal for you of watching the show? You like to watch a lot of different TV shows, but what makes you tune in each week to The Greatest American Dog Show?

Jill James: Well I really like dogs, and because I’ve been through training with my dogs it’s kind of fun to sit and watch other people and see how they work with their animals.

Arden Moore: And, you know, there’s a lot of shows out there on Animal Planet and all that and they seem kind of hokey and all. It seems like this show though, I don’t know, it’s kind of got me on a tight leash. I want to watch every week and, is there something that you think that makes this show a little bit different or special than say just tuning in to Animal Planet?

Jill James: I think it’s because its taken on a lot of the reality based type shows that we’re seeing on television, you know, where people are competing against one another and, but this one’s got a little bit of a twist because they’re working with their dogs and so they’re not in total control because dogs have their own minds.

Arden Moore: Oh, definitely, definitely. So we were speaking with David and Elvis, and the little dog Elvis just for your edification, he’s only 2 years old. His favorite toy, obviously if he’s a Jack Russell, or a Parson Russell now they’re called, is a tennis ball, but he loves rib eye steak bone and he can do a few tricks, but what’s your thoughts about Elvis? In episode two he kind of bullied the bulldog Tillman and then the next week he’s out there playing with him.

Jill James: Well to me that’s typical dog behavior and you just, you know, for them to have reacted the way that they did, I know that everybody’s, you know, watching out for their, you know, their child as it may be, but…

Arden Moore: Yeah.

Jill James: you know, usually dogs will resolve it as we saw. They take care of it. They get into there, they want to be dominant. They want to show who’s the boss and they have to resolve those things amongst themselves. People can’t do it for them, they can’t tell them who to like, who to not like…

Arden Moore: Right.

Jill James: and how to play. They have to do it themselves.

Arden Moore: You’re spot on on that because I think there was too much AHHH and too much weird human behavior that was muddying the water for the dogs, didn’t you think?

Jill James: I hated it, the third show, whenever they showed him bringing Elvis out and he’s got him off lead and he said, “Elvis is off lead”, and then everybody takes their dog in, and I thought, “How rude!” I couldn’t believe that they had done that because if they really thought about it, dogs take care of themselves. Dogs do that. And…

Arden Moore: Oh yeah.

Jill James: and it’s water under the bridge. They don’t think about, “Oh, well I fought with him yesterday so I’m going to fight with him today.” That’s not the way it works with most dogs.

Arden Moore: Well I thought that the lady, I think her name is Laurie that had that itty bitty dog, Andrew…

Jill James: Mm hmm.

Arden Moore: I loved it when Andrew and Elvis were playing.

Jill James: You know, and, but they looked at him because they were, you know, Elvis and Andrew were doing a little face-off, but then they did that little bow down and then they started playing…

Arden Moore: Mm hmm.

Jill James: So, you know, it’s just typical dogs. They play more than they fight.

Arden Moore: That’s right. Well speaking of dogs, tell the listeners about your three charming ones. I’ve had the joy of being able to hang out in the backyard with your three dogs, but lets do a rundown of your three dogs.

Jill James: Well I have Gracie and she’s a rescue, and from all we can tell we know she’s a Terrier mix, but then another, one of my trainers felt like she was a Schnoodle, so that’s a Schnauzer and Poodle. We know she has poodle because she doesn’t shed…

Arden Moore: Okay.

Jill James: Then we have Jake, and Jake is Miniature Petite Golden Doodle, so h only weighs about 40 pounds instead of being the standard Golden Doodle size. And then we have our newest and that is Maddy, and she’s a Cock-a-poo and Bichon, and she is just…

Arden Moore: Oh, wow.

Jill James: Yeah, full of piss and vinegar, I’ll tell you what. She’s the smallest and she’s just feisty, feisty, feisty. So…

Arden Moore: She has no fear.

Jill James: No fear at all. She goes after the biggest dog and wants to play with the biggest dog. Right now we’re babysitting another standard Golden Doodle, and…

Arden Moore: Oh my gosh.

Jill James: I know, and that’s who she’s playing with. That’s who she goes after and who she wants to play with, so it’s pretty cute.

Arden Moore: Well you never have a boring day when you come home from, after teaching the kids in Texas, what’s the name of the school you teach?

Jill James: I teach at Sellers Middle School.

Arden Moore: Okay, giving a shout out to your school there.

Jill James: Yes, it’s, well we’re affectionately known as Sellers University because we try very, very hard to plant the seeds for further education in these kids at an early age, so they go to Sellers University, not Sellers middle school.

Arden Moore: So, lets do some crystal balling. I know the show is going to air tomorrow. Tell me your take on some of the remaining dogs that you’re rooting for and why.

Jill James: I really like Laura and Preston…

Arden Moore: Okay.

Jill James: Even though he’s been shaved, I really like him. My sister has a Pomeranian, and they’re smart little dogs, the are. And she has just done so much work with him. I loved watching him run through the tubes last week. He was just…

Arden Moore: Oh yeah.

Jill James: as fast as he could be in everything, and he just, no fear going through the sock at the end, nothing. So I really like Laura and Preston. I really like JD and Galaxy too, and I think I have an affection for Galaxy because he’s a frisbee dog…

Arden Moore: Mm hmm.

Jill James: And my Gracie is a frisbee dog, so it’s fun to watch them run and jump. Those are the two that have really stood out to me. I wouldn’t be a true Texan if I didn’t say something Star…

Arden Moore: Oh, you better.

Jill James: Oh my gosh, there’s Star. But Star just doesn’t demand a lot of attention. Star is just a good dog, sitting right there with Bill and doing whatever Bill says to do and everything, but, you know, as far as demanding center stage, Star hasn’t done that and that’s kind of nice in its own way I suppose.

Arden Moore: Well, a little trivia on Star. Star is a Brittany, who’s about seven years old, and Bill and Brittany and his wife, they live in, I guess in East Texas, so I guess Flint, Texas. Do you know where that is?

Jill James: No, but there’s so many little towns up northeast of here that I’m not sure of all the cities.

Arden Moore: Yeah. But he and his wife Sherry, they’ve been married 37 years, they have 3 grown children, and Star is now their little special one. But I thought it was funny, in their bio it asks the contestants to say what they’re favorite toys are, and for Star it’s a rag and Bill’s hat.

Jill James: Hey, that’s easy, that’s easy…

Arden Moore: He’s pretty…

Jill James: He doesn’t have to worry about going out and spending a lot of money on his dog.

Arden Moore: Yeah. I mean, at least she’s not a diva dog, that’s for sure.

Jill James: That’s right.

Arden Moore: All right, is there anything else you’d like to add about the show or, you know, what do you think, you’re going to tune in tomorrow night.

Jill James: Oh definitely. I mean, I look forward, you know,  to watching it every week just to see what they’re doing and to see what kind of challenges they have to go through, and to see the judges reactions, you know, because it’s very interesting to watch the judges, it truly is…

Arden Moore: Oh yeah.

Jill James: and to see how they approach their assessment of these dogs, and their owners.

Arden Moore: Well I think they have a good mix of judges if you will, ‘cause I know…

Jill James: Yes, they do.

Arden Moore: Alan Resnick, he’s kind of  a grumpy old man, but he really knows his dogs and he really, he doesn’t talk a lot but he says a lot.

Jill James: And you do get some ideas as to how people feel dogs should be trained when you listen to what they’re saying.

Arden Moore: Absolutely, absolutely. You know, when Victoria Stillwell was telling, I guess, the big dog, Kenji, the giant Schnauzer, she was just saying, you know, you can’t be bark, bark, bark at him and, you know, and then the other dogs, she was telling people you can’t just be pushing, forcing them into a sit. So she’s really, I thought she’s really good on her observations.

Jill James: Yes, I agree.

Arden Moore: Alright, well we have been listening to America through the voice of Jill James. She’s from Texas. She has 3 dogs; Jake, Gracie and Maddy. She lives in Allen, Texas. She is a very good school teacher. She’s grooming the good bright minds of our next generation. And she’s a big fan of The Greatest American Dog Show on CBS. So Jill, my good friend, I’m really glad you wanted to come on the show. It wasn’t so bad and, I hope, and I hope you had a good time.

Jill James: Well I’m so glad that I could talk with you about the show.

Arden Moore: Alright. Well you go give your dogs some treats from me, and we’re going to come back to you listeners right after this commercial break.

Arden Moore: Wow, what a show. We had Elvis, the king of dogs on with his pet parent if you will, Dr. David Best who was the latest to be said goodbye to on The Greatest American Dog Show, and a very good friend of mine, Jill James from Texas, who is giving us the insights from the public view point of the show. Hey folks, we got some cool news, and speaking of cool, we are hosting the Pet Life Radio and staging the Cool Cat Contest, and the deadline to enter is August 31st, so zip over to petliferadio.com and you’ll see all the rules and details for this Cool Cat Contest. It includes some prizes. You got to have prizes. We want you to send the great pictures of your kitties, and the top five are going to win a Nine Lives cat care kit and, of course, an autographed copy of my newest book, Happy Cat, Happy You. Nine Lives, you know who that is. That’s Morris the Cat, who was a guest on my show and his trainer Rose Ordell, so you can flip over some episodes before and check out about what it’s like to be training Morris the Cat. And secondly, speaking of Happy Cat, Happy You, yes my silly publisher is sending out on America for my second national book tour for the release of Happy Cat, Happy You, and, okay you dog people, Happy Dog, Happy You. The tour kicks off August 10th in Oceanside California and it stretches all across America and ends up on October 4th in Kauai. Not bad, huh? You can get more details of the tour on the Oh Behave page on Pet Life Radio and on my website, ardenmoore.com. I hope you come out because these books are fun, low fuss, time, money saving ways to bring out the very best in both you and your pet. So, I want to thank my cool producer, cool is the cool word today, for making this show possible. If you have some ideas for some segments coming up just give me an email at arden@petliferadio.com. We’ve had a great show. Send in those cool cat photos for our Cool Cat Contest, and we will be talking with you next week. So, until then, this is your flea free host Arden Moore delivering just two words for all you two, three and four leggers out there; Oh Behave.