Creative genius Dean Koontz talks about his muse: Trixie, his Golden Retriever. Then, we follow our noses to meet some special pooches who can sniff out Coronavirus.
Dean Koontz: How dogs changed my life
Dean Koontz writes international suspense bestsellers by habit ... and his massive body of work is bristling with furry faces and friendly wags. Why? Koontz joins us to share how dogs -- particularly a Golden Retriever named Trixie -- inspire him. Whether a major or minor character in life or fiction, dogs teach Koontz things no human ever could. Also discussed is his long-time support for Canine Companions for Independence ... and his love for his wife, business partner, and co-author, Gerda.
Sniffing out Coronavirus
Dogs have 300,000,000 olfactory receptors in their noses. Is it any wonder they know what COVID-19 smells like? As the pandemic rages, some very special dogs with very sensitive snouts may be our first line of defense. Dogs are training to sniff out COVID-19 in countries around the globe. As the world adjusts to a new normal, dogs may be screening us at airports and other important locations. But what does it take to make an accurate COVID sniffer dog? And how does the science behind it work?
Dean Koontz
International bestselling author Dean Koontz has written more than 105 novels, a number of novellas and short stories, and has sold over 500 million copies to date. Fourteen of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. After graduating from Shippensburg State College Dean Koontz wrote nights and weekends around other jobs to launch his career as an author. With the support of his wife Gerda, Dean eventually made his mark and she eventually quit her job to run the business end of her husband’s writing career. The couple live in Southern California with their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirit of their goldens now passed, Trixie and Anna.
https://www.facebook.com/deankoontzofficial/
https://twitter.com/deankoontz
https://www.instagram.com/deankoontzofficial/
https://canine.org/
Anne-Lise Chaber
Dr Anne-Lise Chaber co-ordinates the Australian of an international research alliance into COVID sniffer dogs, led out of the National Veterinary School in Alfort, France. She is a One Health expert at Adelaide University's School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences who focuses on cross-disciplinary approach to Human, Animal and Ecosystem Health. After graduating from the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Liège in Belgium, she obtained a Master of Science from the Royal Veterinary College and the Zoological Society of London and pursued her graduate training with a PhD on disease detection and management at the wildlife-livestock-human interface with the ULg. Anne-Lise has ten years of practical experience as a field epidemiologist in England, Botswana and the United Arab Emirates.
Alex Withers
Alex Withers is a dog Handler and Senior Firefighter with the Metropolitan fire service South Australia and the SA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. He's working with researchers from the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide to train sniffer dogs to detect COVID-19 in people. The Adelaide study is part of an international research effort aimed at training COVID-19 detection dogs who could be used to screen people for coronavirus such as at airports, hospitals or quarantine facilities.
https://www.instagram.com/uniofadelaide/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/UniofAdelaide?s=20
https://twitter.com/UniAdelSciences?s=20
https://www.facebook.com/uniofadelaide
Here’s What We Found at The Hydrant
Canine couture: Badgley Mischka teams up with K9Wear for first ever dog capsule collection
Sensory gardens open at Greyhound rescue ‘Greysland’
8-year-old sells prized Pokemon cards to pay for sick dog’s vet bill 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices