Have genetic bottlenecks, breeding for looks, small gene pools, and genetic health problems become so bad that purebred dogs can't be saved? What about outcrosses and "designer dogs"?

Join us on Thursday, March 31, at 9:30 PM Eastern time when journalist Gina Spadafori of Pet Connection talks with Dr. Jerold Bell, clinical associate professor and director of the clinical veterinary genetics course for the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and project administrator of genetic disease control programs for national parent clubs.

We're bringing you this interview in live streaming audio over Animal Wise Radio, with a text-based chat room running simultaneously so you can ask questions and discuss the interview with other listeners. To ask our guests questions during the interview, log into The Auditorium.

Learn more about how to listen and participate here.

Welcome to our Thirteenth Annual Chat Month! Our remaining guest is:

Thursday, March 31

9:30 PM Eastern: Journalist Gina Spadafori of Pet Connection talks with Dr. Jerold Bell on "Can the purebred dog be saved?" Dr. Bell is clinical associate professor and drector of the clinical veterinary genetics course for the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and project administrator of genetic disease control programs for national parent clubs. (Thursday, March 31, at 9:30 PM Eastern in The Auditorium)

This year, like last, we're bringing you our guests in live streaming audio, with a text-based chat room running simultaneously so you can ask questions and discuss the interview with other listeners.

New this year, we're streaming over the Animal Wise Network, a popular, successful 24/7 channel featuring original content and interviews about animals and animal issues.

Learn more about how to listen and participate here.

To keep up with additions to our guest list and any schedule changes, as well as to view links to archived chats if you're not able to listen live, watch this feed and follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

And if you're wondering about that logo in the upper right hand corner of this post, it's true; PetHobbyist.com is getting a name change! Please join us at the beta site for ConnectedByPets.com, and help us get up and running!

Guests from earlier in the month below...

Author and dog-trainer Carol Lea Benjamin and Denise Wall, a respected stock dog trainer and biochemist who serves on the health and genetics committee of the American Border Collie Association, will be joining us on Friday, March 25, at 9 PM Eastern Time, to discuss their new book, "Do Border Collies Dream of Sheep?"

It's the story of two dogs, both bred by Wall, one of whom goes off to New York City to learn to be a service dog for Benjamin, the other to stay behind and learn to be a working stockdog.

The story is amazing, and so are its authors -- don't miss this in-depth look at how dogs grow, think and learn, and what it teaches us about our relationships with them.

The interview is part of our Thirteenth Annual Chat Month. This year, like last, we'll be bringing you our guests in live streaming audio, with a text-based chat room running simultaneously so you can ask questions and discuss the interview with other listeners.

New this year, we'll be streaming over Animal Wise Radio, a popular, successful 24/7 channel featuring original content and interviews about animals and animal issues.

To listen and ask questions, join us in the Auditorium.

For more information on how to participate, click here.

How did Austin, Texas, go from being a city where thousands of homeless pets died every year to one where over 90 percent of the city's pets -- including their open-door animal control facility -- find new homes?

As part of our Thirteenth Annual Chat Month, I'll be speaking to the two people who spear-headed that change are joining us Sunday evening, March 20, at 9 PM Eastern to talk about what happened in Austin, why are animal advocates calling it "a miracle," and how it can happen in your community, too: Dr. Ellen Jefferson of Austin Pets Alive! and Ryan Clinton of FixAustin.org.

This year, like last, we'll be bringing you our guests in live streaming audio, with a text-based chat room running simultaneously so you can ask questions and discuss the interview with other listeners.

New this year, we'll be streaming over the Animal Wise Network, a popular, successful 24/7 channel featuring original content and interviews about animals and animal issues.

To listen and ask questions, join us in the Auditorium.

For more information on how to participate, click here.

Within hours of the tragic quake and tsunami in Japan last week, the search dogs teams of the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation were on alert. One team deployed to Japan almost immediately.

The SDF's Jim Boggeri will be joining us for a live radio interview on Wednesday, March 16, from 9-9:30 PM Eastern Time. Jim will be bringing listeners up to date on what's happening with the search teams in Japan, and sharing his experiences as a search dog handler.

He'll be interviewed by Dr. Marty Becker, resident veterinarian on "Good Morning America" and "The Dr. Oz Show," and father of dog-trainer Mikkel Becker, who is an evaluator for SDF. With Dr. Becker will be veteran journalist and blogger Gina Spadafori of PetConnection.com.

Boggeri is a captain with the Marin County Fire Department in the San Francisco Bay Area, a Type I advanced FEMA certified canine search specliast and a member of FEMA ASAR Task Force 4.

He joined forces with Recon, a yellow Lab, in 2001. Since then, they have responded to numerous disasters, including Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005 as well as Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008. Jim recently added a second canine to the team, another yellow Lab named Nino, with whom he is currently working toward certification.

If you'd like to ask Jim questions during the interview, which he will be able to respond to on the air, join other listeners in the Auditorum chat room.

You can find more information on listening, including how to tune in on your mobile device, here.

Photo: Jim Boggeri with Recon, courtesy of SDF.

Please join us on Sunday evening, March 13, at 9:30 PM Eastern/6:30 PM Pacific when I will interview Maddie's Fund president Rich Avanzino.

Maddie's Fund is a family foundation working to make America a no-kill nation by the year 2015. Avanzino will talk about how we're going to get there, and then he's going to discuss something we rarely think about: What will happen to animal shelters when we've created safe communities for all of America's homeless dogs and cats?

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the green "Animal Wise Radio" box in the upper left hand corner of the page at http://www.connectedbypets.com.

If you'd like to ask Rich questions during the interview, which he will be able to respond to on the air, join other listeners in the Auditorum chat room.

You can find more information on listening, including how to tune in on your mobile device, here.