116. Pet Food Transparency, Puzzle Toys & The Future of Smart Pet Care

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Pets ad Life, your guide to the latest in Pet Trends products and the joy of the human animal Bond with Kristen Levine and me. Chris Bonti, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv. Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Ad Life. I'm your host, Chris Bonti, and joining me is the woman who built this studio, brick by Brick. Kristen Levine

Speaker 2 (00:27):
By hand. I did.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah. Luckily Florida's a

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Gap over there. I miss

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Happens to the best of us. You're lucky. Florida's a right to work state. You didn't have to join the union to put this thing up. Yeah. Incredible work though. It's really a lovely piece. Thank you. I'm really, really proud of you. You went to trade school just to do what I heard. I did.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
I did. I just forgot to build in an air conditioning unit.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, next time it's a little sweaty in here. Imagine how loud it would be though if we had an air conditioning. Yeah. So you all are lucky. We're sweating so that you don't have to hear. I might do that in our next interview. I'll just go, please don't like a DFL drone like the bagpipes do.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Why?

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Why not? If you have to ask me why I'm doing something, it means you don't understand me, Kristen. Oh,

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But

Speaker 1 (01:12):
You know what? I do understand that

Speaker 2 (01:13):
There's going to be a similar format that you're

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Used to. Yeah, I do understand the format of this show. That's

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Right. Two

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Guests,

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Two

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Products stories. Two questions. Yeah. We're doing it up the same way as always, even though we're still here at Global Pet Expo. I have no idea when you all are going to be listening to this, but we're still here at global. We don't

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Know who the guest is coming up.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, I don't know. I actually don't know anything.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
I also don't know when my copy order that I placed an hour ago is going to arrive.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Who knows? I forgot my name. I am Bris Kdi. And before I forget more, we should head into

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Story time. Okay, let's do it.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
Let's

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Do it.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Kristen and Chris. Present story time.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
It's story time. Chris.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
It's story time and here I am pulling my story up. Are you

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Trying to find a story?

Speaker 1 (02:03):
No. No.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
This is a really good training for being talking on your feet. You're good at that. I'm having to learn how to do a show without preparation because they're kind of just throwing stuff at us and I don't get a chance to prep.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I'm pretty much always thinking on my feet.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
I know and I'm trying to learn something

Speaker 1 (02:22):
And then I wonder why I am so anxious all the time. I was like, maybe if you were prepared, you wouldn't be thinking like that.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
Take a little pill called preparation.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
A preparation pill. Preparation

Speaker 2 (02:35):
Pill, not preparation H.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Not that I was about to say. Probably don't want to take a pill of preparation H, but alas,

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Do you have one?

Speaker 1 (02:42):
I do have a story people, here's one thing I wanted to talk about and it's about more clear labeling. And this is actually a very recent story, and Ron told me, don't do anything that's in the news. He talks like this. Don't do anything that's in the news because we don't know when these episodes are going to air, but I think it's a really cool trend that I wanted to spot out and we're seeing it here at Global Pet Expo and it is the FDA leading the charge in how dog and cat food is labeled,

Speaker 4 (03:12):
Which

Speaker 1 (03:12):
I think is really, really important. If you're familiar with eating food, you'll know that on the back of your food are the nutrition facts. It tells you how many calories and the ingredients and things like that, and it's heavily regulated and you really got to nail what you're putting in there. It's very different for pets.

(03:28):
You may notice on the back of your cat cans or your dog bags, it's going to tell you things like fruit protein count. It might tell you some ingredients, it might tell you kill a calorie counts, but the FDA is really starting to hammer down on pet food and the way it's labeled. This article that I pulled up is showing me that 42% of pet owners now prioritize spending on high quality nutrition, which I absolutely believe, and that pet obesity rates are exceeding 59% and that this is a top concern. But this, according to this article, 56% of pet parents don't trust the label on their food. I believe that. So I think we're going to see a big change here with the FDA coming down hard on pet food manufacturers to make sure that food is labeled more accurately. And we had a guest on recently, I forget which one, who was talking about claims and how it was, I think it was Jane Lauder who was talking about in beauty, you have to back up your claims and it is the same thing with any sort of nutritional food for humans. I would love to see the same thing happen with pet food where if you're going to claim that this grain-free diet is healthy, that you've done some type of study behind that. So everybody hold onto your horses. I'm sure you're going to be seeing some changes in your packaging on your dog food coming down the pipeline. And we're going to get some more transparency folks, which we all, we

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Welcome

Speaker 1 (04:59):
That. How's that for a story, Kristen? That's a good

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Story. That's a good story.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
You're up.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
I've got somewhat of a story here.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
This

Speaker 2 (05:05):
Kind of has to do with a guest. We had a couple of episodes ago. You may remember Leah Craig, she was the executive director for Brother Wolf, which is the shelter

Speaker 1 (05:13):
That got

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Destroyed

Speaker 1 (05:14):
During

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Hurricane Helene back in 2024.

Speaker 1 (05:17):
What a story

Speaker 2 (05:18):
If you didn't catch that show. I don't know. Was it like one 15 or,

Speaker 1 (05:20):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Anyway, Ron,

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Ron put the episode here.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Put the episode here. Ron or up here. Either way it doesn't matter. But she was a great interview. But the story she told about how the community came together and how they are even today able to care for hundreds of adoptable animals through a foster network. They do not have a shelter yet.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yes. I mean a, that's so sad

Speaker 2 (05:46):
That

Speaker 1 (05:47):
They weren't able to rebuild faster. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (05:48):
It's incredible. And so I encourage anyone who's thinking about getting a pet maybe hasn't pulled the trigger yet or maybe just want to help out temporarily to consider fostering a pet through your local shelter system. Certainly if you're in Asheville, you can get involved with Brother Wolf and Foster. But the great thing about fostering is that the shelter generally provides all of the food, the supplies, anything that you need to care for that pet and also includes the medical care. And what you're doing is you're giving that pet a temporary home to stay healthy and happy and learn how to live in a home versus a shelter. And you're helping that animal ultimately get adopted into a forever home.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
The only hard part is when it's time to say goodbye. But other than that, you're really the people I know who foster animals, they're all incredibly special people. So if you're a special person at home or you're convinced you are, but if you consider yourself a special person and you're not fostering a dog, maybe you're not that special, maybe

Speaker 2 (06:45):
You're not. Or maybe you are fostering a dog or a cat and you fall in love and you decide I'm going to adapt, then you are a foster failure. However, you are a hero to that pet. So

Speaker 1 (06:53):
It's

Speaker 2 (06:53):
A win-win.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah, we see those all the time, right? Where it's like I got tricked in into this animal because they're so cute and well behaved. So you never know if you'll find your forever pet. That's right. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Good shot.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Beyond the leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
And joining us now is Nina Tuan, a Swedish dog trainer and the original creator of Interactive Puzzle Toys for Dogs. With a background in canine behavior and training, she pioneered the concept of mental stimulation through play, designing products that challenge dogs to think problem solve, and stay engaged. Her innovative toys have become widely popular around the world and are now part of the Outward Hound family helping dogs of all ages reduce boredom, build confidence, and improve overall wellbeing. Nina, thank you for joining us on the show today. Thank

Speaker 4 (07:44):
You for having me here. I am really honored to be here.

Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, of course, of course. So what inspired you to create that first dog puzzle toy? What was going through your head? What made you say, I need to make something for this animal?

Speaker 4 (07:58):
Yes. The reason was I feel a little bad for my dogs because I get brought to two children, so I didn't have the time for my dogs, so I started to do my own processes at home. So that was the start for my own, and then other people saw them and then they also wanted to have them. So that was the beginning of everything.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
It kind of always starts with guilt, right? It does. Pretty powerful emotion.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Very motivating. Well, and thank you for innovating this incredible category, which just turned into a very big category. Tell us why mental stimulation is just as important as physical stimulation for our dogs.

Speaker 4 (08:37):
Oh, mental ion is the most important for our dogs. The dogs need to use their brain. Yes. It's compared to people, if we don't use our brain, we will don't feel good. So that is really important for dog. And I have to say, I'm really proud of our people found out because of the puzzles, why puzzles and using the brain for our dogs is so important. They have discovered thankful for the puzzles. Sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
I think it's funny you said that using your brain makes us sad. I think that explains a lot. I don't think I've used my brain in about 33 years. I haven't been feeling great lately. But when a dog's not getting enough mental enrichment, what does that look like? How can a pet parent at home identify that their dog needs more mental engagement?

Speaker 4 (09:31):
A bull dog, find their own solution and find different ways to dig, bark, chew. That is destroy. Yeah, destroy. Yes. And you can see your dog need mental simulation and your dog need and puzzles is a great job for dogs

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Because taking all that energy and diverting it into something that isn't your sofa.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
Yeah, we know if you use our brain too much, we will get tired. Same is for dogs. I get tired to use the brain

Speaker 2 (10:01):
And I create a lot of content around pet anxiety, and I know that puzzle toys are very helpful for dogs who have anxiety issues. Why is that?

Speaker 4 (10:14):
It depends on, for example, take fireworks and everything like that can give the dog Ty. They live like that. You need to, I try to find the correct word because I'm from Sweden, so difficult to find horse. Sometimes you have to cut this off with different distractions and les can be a distraction. Training can be a distraction. You have to find out the best way. If a dog is next, you need to let the dog, what is the name to get better confidence, build their confidence and puzzle can be that as well.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah, and it can be tiring too, right? Oh yeah. Oh, kind of wear them out and they're little bit too tired to be too anxious.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, exactly. Are puzzle toys for all breeds of dogs? Are there some breeds that are more naturally inclined to take to them? Are there some that are going to be more stubborn and say, what the heck is this? There's no food in this. Is there a proper way to go about it? If somebody wants to introduce puzzle toys in their own home?

Speaker 4 (11:14):
Yeah. Well, of course 70% of all dogs love to treat and food. So they also love puzzles because they love, they're

Speaker 1 (11:22):
Hiding the food.

Speaker 4 (11:23):
Exactly. So of course, yes. And all the kind dog can use start from puppies to senior dogs, all the kind dogs. And it's a great way also to teach the puppets from the beginning. Sit, wait, be allowed, and have fun together. So that is also building up the confidence and the bonding with the dog owners on.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah. So if you're giving your dog a puzzle toy for the very first time, should you help them with it to figure it out? Well, I would imagine depending on the dog, some are going to be better at it than others.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
So what have you seen in that regard?

Speaker 4 (11:55):
You've seen it quite quickly because some dogs like rough directly, I won't have the treats and some is, okay, what is this? So it depends on the dog, help the dog to sheet a little and how it works because I think it's fair for the dog if it is the dog, how this concept is working. And don't start with two difficult possible the first time. Start with easy one and then go to more and more level and then you see if your dog is very smart or maybe not.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah. Well it's interesting. It is very cute. It's interesting you brought up difficulty, and this is like me being a board game and puzzle nerd. But I want to peek behind the curtain a little bit on how you design these puzzles. Do you draw inspiration from puzzles that humans solve? Do you kind of put yourself in the dog's shoes paw, put them in your paws and think about what a dog would find challenging? Where do your ideas for design come from?

Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, I always study dogs for long, long, long time. And that is my ground to this. I check out how the dog using the pod, the nose, the body, everything. But my inspiration is the wife because all white animals have to find food in different ways. And this is something our dog should do as well to feel good. So I think that is really important. So that is my inspiration. Yeah,

Speaker 1 (13:20):
I think that's really cool

Speaker 4 (13:21):
Actually. And also that we have different levels because we talk about before all dogs have different clarity, some are less smarter than others. That is the reason we have different levels. So you can choose the right level for your own dog.

Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah. And I think it was the last episode, we featured your puzzles as our product of the week. Yes, we did. We could see how you had the different challenging more, some more challenging, some less. I'm curious to know, aside from puzzles, if you're looking for an enrichment activity for your dog, just instantly, what is something that would be helpful to your dog? Sorry, one

Speaker 4 (13:56):
More I didn't

Speaker 2 (13:57):
That. Oh yeah. So aside from the incredible puzzles that you've created, what are some other good enrichment activities

Speaker 4 (14:02):
For our

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Dogs?

Speaker 4 (14:03):
Okay, it is train the dog. You can do fun tricks and you can do a lot of stuff with the dogs. I do by myself. I've teach them different tricks to do. You can teach them to touch your hand and you can do a lot of stuff. Agility. There is a lot of fun stuff to do with you. Puzzle is for indoors. Puzzle is

Speaker 1 (14:23):
For indoors. There we go. So Nina, before we let you go, can you let our listeners know where they could find either yourself on social media or your products, let know where they could go learn more?

Speaker 4 (14:34):
Oh yeah. You find us of course for outdoor Hand, you find on Instagram TikTok just everywhere. And also Nina Linean two T and two s on Instagram, also on TikTok and also on different channels. Of course, if the Social N Town, you will find us.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
There we go. So go ahead and search that Nina Otu son with two T's and two S's and three O's. And I believe there's an end in there as well. There is. Might as well spell it out. But thank you so much. I know Global Pet Expo is a very busy time. Thank you for finding a few minutes to spend with us. This was really cool.

Speaker 4 (15:11):
Thank you so much for having me here. Of course. Yeah. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Wow, I'm so glad we finally got to meet her.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
I know, it's so funny. She said like 10 years ago she came onto Outward Hound, which lines up perfectly with when my family got Stella, our dog. And I remember distinctly getting a puzzle feeder and thinking like, what the heck is this thing? Why is the bowl shaped like this? And so I feel like I'm an early Nina adopter and I'm very hipster about it, and I'm going to stand on that soapbox and just gobble up all the attention I can from it.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
And learn Swedish.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
And learn Swedish. Yes.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Alrighty. Chris, it is my pleasure to introduce our audience to Annamarie Maza and Alexander Figueroa. They're the co-founders of Lt Paw, a pet technology company focused on redefining how we monitor and care for our pets, their flagship product. The Lupa GPS and Behavioral Tracker combines real-time location tracking, escape alerts and health monitoring in a lightweight connected device designed for everyday use. And I wanted to add, this says here, Dr. Rohani, who's not with us, that brings over a decade of experience in healthcare and technical leadership, applying his expertise to advance pet health through data and innovation. Welcome Anna, Maria and Alex.

Speaker 5 (16:30):
Hi. So nice to be here. Thanks for having us.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
Of course. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
Great to have you. So what inspired you to start Lupa?

Speaker 5 (16:38):
Well, I had a cat named Tony Cannoli. He was the most rambunctious cat. I

Speaker 1 (16:45):
Love an Italian cat.

Speaker 5 (16:46):
We said, what's the most Italian thing we can name this cat,

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Tony Cannoli. That's awesome.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
He ended up being the most insane jump off the walls kind of

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Cat you could imagine.

Speaker 5 (16:57):
Was

Speaker 1 (16:58):
He orange? Yeah.

Speaker 5 (16:58):
No

Speaker 1 (16:59):
Surpris. He was an orange cat. Sounds like an orange

Speaker 5 (17:02):
Cat. The Linx Point. Siamese. He was so cute. But he was also a little escape artist. He was like a game to him. He'd be like, oh, you can't catch me. Looks like me. I'm in a tree now. But one night he was too good at the game and we lost him for real. And we searched everywhere, couldn't find him, and he never came back home. And he was our family pet and the whole family was just devastated. Yeah, that's terrible. My mom is still so upset. I am too. But I mean upset.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
Not Tony Cannoli. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (17:27):
Not our baby boy.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
Well, there's already GPS trackers on the market, but I mean, I've done my research into Lupa because I featured your product before, but I want to hear it from you two. What makes LT Paw different? What makes it so special?

Speaker 6 (17:44):
So basically we started with, okay, what are cat owners actually looking at for trackers? Basically when you look at the trackers that were available when we started development, a lot of them were dog focused. And people might think, okay, well why don't you just take the dog tracker and put it on the cat? Well, there's certain specific considerations of both the cat and the cat owner. A couple examples is number one, the size. You don't want to put a boat anchor on that cat on the ground like that. That's

Speaker 1 (18:14):
One way to keep them from escaping.

Speaker 6 (18:16):
They're

Speaker 5 (18:17):
Not

Speaker 6 (18:17):
Going anywhere,

Speaker 5 (18:17):
Their business model,

Speaker 6 (18:19):
But then they're also not going to be happy when you put it on them. So true. So we needed to make it small, we need to make it lightweight. And then also as well, another particular thing that we saw was that cat owners like to use their own. So that was another big feature. So we couldn't just design it into a collar like other trackers were. A lot of them were that day. They had to be attached to what was already there. So there was a lot of technical considerations that had to go into making a device that was small, had long battery life, and also as well could be just attached to any collar or harness. So that's basically what led down the path of that development as well. Making an app that is easy to use and intuitive. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Sure. And why is it so important to integrate the location tracking and the behavioral and health insights altogether?

Speaker 5 (19:21):
So actually another thing that kind of makes us different is we started off as just building a tracker. This is the best project we've ever made. We just recently are in the middle of launching our new smart pet feeder. Oh, cool. That links with this tracker and it basically gives you an entire snapshot of your pet's health. So the tracker tracking the activity, the sleeping patterns, how much they're moving, how much they're not moving, how big they are, how fat they are. No, I'm just kidding. No, but the feeders

Speaker 6 (19:49):
Will track

Speaker 1 (19:50):
How cat is joking, but it's real. It's happening.

Speaker 6 (19:54):
People, I mean, the best thing, think about it. So the feeder actually knows which tracker came and visited it for mealtime, so it knows how much food was dispensed for the cat and how often they came to eat. So in a way, yes, it is tracking it.

Speaker 5 (20:10):
Right. It also pairs with our virtual vet service with Telltales that we actually found here at Pet Ex though.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
Nice.

Speaker 5 (20:17):
And basically within our app 24 7, you can message or call a vet pro for preventative care, so you can save vet bills. So if your pets acting weird, you can just message our Vet Pros. I'd go through some scenarios with them and they'll tell you if you should go to the vet or not. Nine times out of 10, you really don't need to go to the vet. And honestly, this whole system is just a way to make your pets live longer, to do more preventative care. This is going to analyze their behavior, their movement, what's their baseline normal. And if it starts seeing things abnormal, it'll alert you. Say, Hey, maybe you should go get them a checkup. Because most pet parents, when do they take their animal to the vet when it's already kind of too late and it's already gotten bad and now they need a surgery. Our goal is to stop that from happening. And we like to say, Luke, pop pets live longer.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
We

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Go,

Speaker 2 (21:03):
Well,

Speaker 1 (21:03):
I really like that because I have my smart watch here and it tracks all of these metrics. And I don't think I've taken science since 11th grade, so I don't know what these things mean. But one of the things that the watch does is it'll, recently, it's been telling me your heart rate's way too high and I'm no, I'm stressed. I'm running global, but X, Y, I got all these things going on. But I think that's a really cool application with pets because it takes the know-how out of it. You don't have to understand these technical terms. It's going to gather the data and say, Hey, this is abnormal. And you're saying that your app is going to connect them with vet care?

Speaker 5 (21:45):
Yes. In our app, you can hit a button whenever you want, 2:00 AM 1:00 PM If something's going on with your pet, anything small or big, you can message them.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That's amazing. Yeah, because I'm an anxious phone millennial. I'm that, I'm that brand of millennial who's like, oh, I got to order a pizza. Do they have an app? I can't call them on the phone. What is this? 2006? Guess what?

Speaker 6 (22:08):
You have an app for that.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
That's amazing. Yeah, that's great stuff.

Speaker 6 (22:11):
The one example I like to bring up is let's say we noticed that over a few days that the number of visits to the feeder has been going down.

(22:21):
And also as well, we notice that there's less activity from the activity tracker. Well, in the cloud analyzing this data, we can leverage machine learning and AI to analyze, track these patterns, and then deliver an insight to the pet owner that says, okay, we noticed something's wrong. Your cat's behaving a little sluggish. You want to keep an eye on that. And then also as well, we can link you to say, if you have any questions here is you can reach out to our tele VE service and they will help guide you through with next steps. That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
Yeah. Yeah. You actually started to answer my next question. It was about how taking complex AI driven pet data and making it practical and simple for everyday pet parents. And you've obviously done that.

Speaker 5 (23:05):
Yes. We want everything to be as user-friendly as possible because I'm not a tech person.

Speaker 6 (23:09):
I am the tech person. Tech person. There

Speaker 1 (23:11):
We go. My

Speaker 6 (23:12):
Background is in machine learning, machine vision for agricultural applications.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah. You're far away from me, man. As far as I'm concerned, computers are shiny rocks. We tricked into thinking

Speaker 6 (23:25):
At the base level. It is. It's sand that hallucinates. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Sand that hallucinates. Yeah. What is this dune? Well, so I want to ask you guys, because you seem to be at the forefront of some of this stuff, and we're here at Global Pet Expo where everybody is looking at today, but also looking at tomorrow. So where do you see tech going in maybe the next five years? Are we really going towards this sort of fully connected ecosystem? Is that five years away, 10 years away? What do you an opinion question? You don't have to give me facts here.

Speaker 5 (23:59):
Well, oh, want to,

Speaker 6 (24:01):
I was just going to say from my perspective, it seems like people, yeah, for the anxious phone, millennials amongst us, probably a little sooner than that, but it'll take a little while, especially as we start figuring out more and more on how to integrate this data and also how to make these insights easy for people to act on. So

(24:23):
The one thing I've learned from deploying the machine learning to actual end users is that all the data, all the ooh and ah, but after five minutes it wears away. What really helps is being able to reliably deliver simple insights that people can act on. So probably over the next few years as the models mature and as we figure out how to do that, then we'll see more of an uptick and more interest in these ecosystem devices. Because one of the things I'd like to say is the hole is greater than the sum of the parts. And now as we start figuring out how to plug all these pieces together with these larger and larger models, essentially people will start seeing that benefit of the whole taking over and over.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
If

Speaker 5 (25:10):
I could add to your comment, we honestly think in the next five years it's just going to explode exponentially. For us personally, we're saying we're doing an ecosystem. We have our tracker first, our pet theater. Second, we're going to have an entire line of items that all connect smart water fountains, smart litter boxes, smart doggy doors, everything. So you can really monitor everything going on with your pet. And I really think that that's going to come here sooner than we think. It's just

Speaker 6 (25:35):
To give you an example with the smart water, we can also now track, we would actually be able to track how often they go. Your cat goes and drinks

Speaker 5 (25:43):
Because a lot of cats, they don't get enough water. That's too true.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
That's true. And a point of clarification, you were telling the story about your cat and then is also for dogs

Speaker 5 (25:51):
Is Yes. I would like to say we started off with cats because it was just the underserved market at the time. The thing that was most close to home for me at the time. But we are a hundred percent branch anti dogs. We have a bunch of dogs that already wear this and it can attach to any kind of collar. I will say since it was designed to be one of the smallest trackers, it's a little harder to scale up right now, but people do put them on their large dogs as well. But we are a hundred percent for cats and dogs.

Speaker 6 (26:16):
All right, fantastic. And then also another thing is the activity monitoring that happens inside the device because all that processing actually happens on the tracker is actually slightly different for cats and for dogs to count that dogs actually move differently, different,

Speaker 1 (26:29):
They

Speaker 6 (26:29):
Have different dynamics. We had several stunt cats and stunt dogs.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
We had to record them with a video camera while it was running the tracker and say, this is what a dog movement is like. This is what a cat movement is like.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
Now that sounds like a good afternoon. That sounds like

Speaker 6 (26:43):
Some good fun. It was great. It was a few weeks to get all the data together.

Speaker 5 (26:47):
Well,

Speaker 1 (26:49):
I was just going to ask where we could go to find more or our pet parents at home.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
So for more information, you can go to our website@lootpawpets.com or you can follow us on social media at Loot pa official. And we post funny videos every day.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
Fantastic.

Speaker 6 (27:05):
Honestly, even if you're not interested with a tracker, just go for the cat mem.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
There we go.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
It certainly worth

Speaker 1 (27:11):
It. Come for the cat memes. Stay for the tracker. Alexander. Amanda, thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate it. Good luck with the rest of global. Thank

Speaker 5 (27:18):
You so much. This was wonderful.

Speaker 1 (27:23):
Well, all I got to say to that, Kristen, is Tony Cannoli, if you're out there listening to this episode, come home. Your family misses you.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
Oh my gosh, Chris.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
Poor Tony. Poor

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Tony, but

Speaker 1 (27:35):
What a cool product. Tony

Speaker 2 (27:35):
Left a legacy. Tony

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Left a legacy, an

Speaker 2 (27:38):
Incredible technology piece that is great for cats, great for dogs too.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
And yeah, how cool were they? They

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Were so much

Speaker 2 (27:45):
Fun.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
I feel like I'm just going to go hang out at their booth and I'm going to just integrate myself into their friend group, whether they like it or not. The product

Speaker 3 (27:53):
Of the week.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
Chris, we get to talk about some cat products.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
I know, I'm so excited. We have so much fun stuff in front of us and I've been pawing at it because I'm so excited to touch the products.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
I'm going to start with this cat daddy, because this, first of all, it's from cat stages and you've probably seen something similar to this. It was called the Tower of Tracks. It's like a three layers.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
Well, that's what is so popular that they now came out with the Infinity Ball track, which is I feel like it's like a NASCAR track for

Speaker 1 (28:25):
Cats. Yeah. Well, I like it because it's less predictable. I've seen the ones that are just a circle and it just goes round and round. It looks like they're going to changes over a little bit. The cat gets a little confused. I could definitely see that as being more stimulating. And that sound is so satisfying.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
And I don't know if you can see this, but one of the balls has a blinker on it.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
Oh, I see it. Kristen. I'm tracking it.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
It's kind of like a roller rink with the

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Gates

Speaker 2 (28:48):
With the blinkers. Yeah,

Speaker 1 (28:49):
I think that's really great. The sound is like a SMR it. A lot of movement, which I really like for a cat toy.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
And we talk a lot about puzzle feeders.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
We do.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
But this one is specifically for cats from cat stages, and it's just a really, I love the colors too. Yeah,

Speaker 1 (29:07):
It's really

Speaker 2 (29:08):
Nice looking

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Puzzle toys. Underrepresented for cats. Cats are smart too. Cats want to figure out puzzles. So this thing, it's just like, I'm going to show the camera here. You have different layers and they'd have to use their little paw to get to the next set of treats. Put your high value treats in the toy. Have them play around with it. I mean, listen, I know we all love to treat our cats like the little princes and princesses they are and hand feed them their treats. But sometimes you should really be putting your treats in something like this and make them work for it. They're going to like that too.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Yeah. You know what I'll say? They like little things that they can grab onto and scratch with their back feet.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
And this one's got the crinkly paper and it's a pickle. It's a pickle pickle. And it says, I'm kind of a big dill. Get it?

Speaker 1 (29:56):
I do get it because it is kind of a big deal.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
And I do want to mention that casts focuses on enrichment toys designed around natural feline instincts. And also that infinity ball track we were just talking about. It's a great example of how interactive design can help keep indoor cats mentally and physically engaged.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, because more than just exercise, it's mental enrichment and they're more tools than toys. I like that. There we go.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Puzzle tools. Puzzle

Speaker 1 (30:24):
Tools.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Thank you. Cat stages.

Speaker 1 (30:27):
Thank you. Cat stages. So if you want to check out cat stages, we are going to slam a QR code onto your screen now. Right here. It's here now. Yeah, it's right there. It's floating in the air. Oh no, it's coming for me. It's going to get me

Speaker 3 (30:43):
Q

Speaker 4 (30:43):
As.

Speaker 1 (30:46):
All right. It's time for our favorite part of the show. That's right. We are going to answer two questions from our interesting and intriguing audience. And I know what you're thinking, interesting and intriguing audience. How do I get my question answered by Chris and Kristen? Well, it could not be more simple. Head on down to pets at life.org/podcast is at the bottom of your screen. Scroll on down to the bottom of that page and you'll see a form to submit that question. Or if you're feeling as brave as a non-native English speaker hopping on our podcast, that is entirely in English, you can record a voice memo.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
You can,

Speaker 1 (31:20):
And you'll hear your question played live on the air. So

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Record it in English.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Record please,

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Please.

Speaker 1 (31:26):
I know very little Swedish.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
I've got a question for you, Chris.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (31:31):
Alright. Timmy from David in Atlanta. David says There are so many different types of cat litter out there, clay, natural crystal. How do I choose the best one for my cat and my home?

Speaker 1 (31:44):
That is a great question, David. And the first question back I would have is what kind of litter box are you using? Because not all litters are compatible with all litter boxes.

(31:55):
So I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to operate on the assumption that you don't have one of those automatic ones. We're going to live in a reality where the litter box in question is like the boring old cheap pan of a litter box. The clay is so dusty, it's so dusty. I don't know if anybody out there has ever poured clay cat litter and then there's that cloud of dust that comes up. Yeah, it's quite bad. But the cats take to it, the easiest cats have a natural instinct to bury their waist and that clay is going to trigger that instinct. You're going to have a very easy time training them. Natural. I've never used it. I wouldn't know. And then the crystal I really want to talk about, because there's a lot of really cool cat litters out there that do a lot of really cool things.

(32:50):
So there are some cat litters that will let you know if it spots an infection. There are some cat litters that will let you know if your cat is dehydrated. Basically with all of these colors, they're going to cost you more. But there's some really cool options out there that are going to balance the comfort of your cat with information about your cat's health as well as impact on the environment. The clay litter creates a lot of waste and it's so heavy. So we did clay litter forever for tiger. And one thing I will say is that towards the end of her life when she was taking less care of herself, my number one cat chore was cleaning the litter from her paws

Speaker 4 (33:30):
Because

Speaker 1 (33:31):
She wasn't taking proper care of her own hygiene. So that could be a little rough. And we didn't want to switch her litter on her because she was 23 years old and had used the same brand of litter her whole life. We weren't going to change it then. So that could become difficult. So I would shop around. If you have a cat who's easygoing and not going to freak out, if you change their litter, try some things out. Otherwise, I would shop by price point and number one thing I would be looking at if I were to bring a new cat into my home is going to be how easy it is to carry it up to my third story walkup condo because cat litter is super heavy and not everybody gets their stuff delivered by Chewy. True. So that would actually become my number one thing. Yeah, you want to make your cat comfortable, but man, these shoulders could only carry so much. So thank you for your question, David. Kristen, that

Speaker 2 (34:26):
One for me.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
I believe I have a question from Brian in Seattle.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
Hey Brian.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
And Brian asks, my dog seems bored at home and sometimes gets destructive. How much mental stimulation do dogs really need and what are easy ways to provide it? It's a great question for this episode.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
Yeah, that's a great, great question for this episode. Great question. You just heard us talking to Nina. She gave us some great tidbits, but when your dog is being destructive, it almost always is your dog communicating to you that they are very bored or they're anxious or they need a job, they need something to do, they're not using their brain enough. So they give their brain something to do by doing destructive things. So as Nina had said, most, actually, I think she said all dogs need more to Nina. Oh, she's in the next one.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
You're going to have to

Speaker 2 (35:19):
Redo

Speaker 1 (35:19):
The whole

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Thing. Okay. Okay. Alright.

Speaker 1 (35:21):
Wait.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Okay. Okay. Sorry.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
I was getting confused with the random the product. The product

Speaker 2 (35:32):
Was the last one, but yeah. Okay. So do I start at the top? Okay. Okay. Okay. Brian, this is a great question. Typically when your dog is being destructive, they're telling you that they're bored or they're anxious or like Nina Sison just said, all dogs need more mental

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Stimulation. Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
But the good news is that can be pretty easy to fix. Physical exercise is obviously ideal, but mental exercise is just as important. So make sure that you are getting your dog out for regular walks, playing games with them in the home. And I mean, how about a puzzle? Puzzle feeder or puzzle feeder and puzzle toys from Nina?

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Yeah, and I think one of the things she brought up is how the puzzle toys kind of act like dogs would in the wild and that's what she's emulating. And I think one thing we forget is that dogs aren't like hunters naturally. I think that's a common misconception because of wolves. Dogs are opportunistic omnivores, they're more similar to goats in the way they eat than wolves. So they will just start tearing things up looking for food. But that's sort of where that behavior comes from. So I think you made some really great points there, Kristen with it. And also

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Even teaching them a new trick. All of these things take up a lot of mental energy, which you'd be surprised at how much that can wear your dog out.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
Give those a try. Thanks Brian.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
Well, it's another day in Paradise here at Global Pet Expo. We're wrapping up

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Show number four.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
Show number four. He just

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Wrapped up in this booth in one day.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
You know what I was just thinking about? How funny would it be if Ron just shuffles around the order with which he uses these episodes and we're like, show number four, global Pet Expo. This is the first time you're hearing from us. Oh

Speaker 2 (37:24):
My gosh. He's going to be so mad at us or mad at me. I just

Speaker 1 (37:26):
No, no, no. He's going to be mad at me because I'm PAL'S punching bag apparently where it's impossible to get mad at Kristen, but very easy to get mad at Chris. Hey, you didn't see that gesture. I just did because you're not watching me on video. So if you want to see Chris and Kristen in the flesh together in studio, you got to head on over to our YouTube channel or Dog tv or dog tv, unleashed their Amazon Fast Channel. Share this show with someone who reminds you of home. Yeah, I think that's a nice one. I'm feeling sweet. Yeah, I'm feeling sweet. I'm feeling sweet. We'll be back next Tuesday. As always, we never miss an episode so long. For now, be kind to yourself. Be kind to your pets. Woo woo pets, add life, your guide to the latest in Pet Trends products and the joy of the human animal bond with Kristen Levine and me. Chris Bonafide, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv. I not say dog tv, I say it weird.

Speaker 7 (38:25):
This episode was recorded at Global Pet Expo 2026. Here's some other moments from this year's show.

Speaker 8 (38:32):
This is where the pet industry comes alive. Welcome to Global Pet Expo 2026, more than 20,000 attendees, over 1000 brands and thousands of products shaping the future of pet care all under one roof.

Speaker 9 (38:54):
The coolest part is there's so many people that are passionate about the work they do. It's like walked in multiple football fields. I am so excited.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
We have over 350,000 square feet of just booth space that doesn't include any of the special areas. That area is the equivalent to 11 US football fields.

Speaker 9 (39:16):
Many people here, many people there. I heard it's so big exciting things happening in the expo. So what are we waiting for?

Speaker 10 (39:25):
A PPA was one of the original associations that came together to bring the industry together and then we partnered up with the Pet Industry Distributors Association here a number of years ago to bring their organization in and make sure that we're creating an ecosystem that will fuel the next 60 years of growth.

Speaker 7 (39:40):
Oh my gosh. Whatcha guys excited to see? My goal is to find stuff I've never seen before, and I think I'm going to find that here. I'm also really excited about the new product showcase and seeing what they've got in there. Let's

Speaker 9 (39:48):
Have a ball guys. Let's do it. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (39:56):
This is where trends don't just appear. They're created.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
We had over 800 products submitted to our new product showcase. This is an amazing opportunity for exhibitors to show you and the buyers exactly what's new in the industry. There's so much innovation happening behind me

Speaker 8 (40:11):
From cutting edge technology to breakthrough products. Global Pet Expo sets the tone for what's next.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
This is the year the Cat Cat is really having its moment. It's a huge shift in the industry and it's only duplicated here by this amazing new product showcase. So for all those cat moms and dads out there, you're going to be seeing some of this awesome stuff. Hit your retail shelf soon. Another huge hit at Global Pet Expo was our startup pavilion. We've been talking a lot about new products. These are the newest, some of them haven't even hit market yet. How did

Speaker 10 (40:43):
Ever you Jeremy? It's been great. You know what? We're just having so much fun and love seeing this industry, love being a part of it. Love seeing the community come together. That's what it's all about.

Speaker 8 (40:55):
The all new pet fluent studio where content meets commerce and innovation takes center stage, capturing the energy of the show and turning it into powerful storytelling beyond the floor industry. Leaders shared insights shaping the future from retail media and AI to shifting consumer behavior and data-driven growth strategies.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
Okay, three more questions and then we'll keep it going.

Speaker 8 (41:24):
And that was really unique. I hadn't seen that much in that kind of setting, so

Speaker 3 (41:27):
I wanted to show people today the basic nuts and bolts, the stuff as trainers that we all deal with the messy stuff. Yeah, because things get messy before they get clean, but

Speaker 9 (41:35):
I'm very

Speaker 10 (41:35):
Passionate

Speaker 9 (41:36):
About what I put in my dog's mouth. Right? Great stocking stuff for four year pit.

Speaker 7 (41:40):
We are going to head to the Wellness Pet Company booth because I heard they are celebrating their 100th year anniversary. You guys found a really fun way to celebrate that

Speaker 5 (41:51):
Crunchers.

Speaker 7 (41:52):
I'm going to have to buy one of these off of you. My dogs are going to lose their mind. Oh my gosh. Look at that thing. That's so fun.

Speaker 9 (41:58):
This is actually great for those who are working in the hospital.

Speaker 7 (42:02):
When your dog is having a really stomach, this is the thing that saves your day.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
And I'm here at our aquatics and exotics lounge, which is one of my favorite parts of the show with all sorts of tropical fish, some really beautiful creatures as well as exotic animals. It was really cool to be able to see that. I've always wanted to own a reptile

Speaker 4 (42:23):
Pets in

Speaker 6 (42:24):
The classroom.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
What's so amazing is just met them yesterday.

Speaker 5 (42:29):
Once you hear about this organization, you can't unhear it.

Speaker 2 (42:32):
It would been a synergistic brain session and it was like a total mind meld.

Speaker 8 (42:38):
This is where partnerships are built. Ideas turn into opportunities, and the global pet community comes together. You

Speaker 7 (42:45):
Guys want to know what you want? Who? Right? Yeah. Ready? Ready.

Speaker 5 (42:49):
There's so many brands out there, it truly is a big win.

Speaker 9 (42:58):
Real quick, what got you into the animals? What was your first pet that you like? I love love animals. I love animals. You people, mentally, physically, emotionally, wanted to be able to get in the space and find ways to be able to make a connectivity between pets and people and mom. Hair.

Speaker 7 (43:11):
You hear the music. I hear it. The party means we get to dance to the dance. That's true.

Speaker 8 (43:27):
At its core, this isn't just about business. It's about improving the lives of pets and the people who love them. Global Pet Expo doesn't just reflect the industry. It defines where it's going next.

Speaker 10 (43:41):
It's cool to see these early stage companies that are bringing new innovation. And here's the thing that's also really amazing, is that we're bringing more capital to these founders now. We're bringing them money now to take these brilliant ideas and to bring 'em to market. That's what every healthy industry does, is we disrupt. We continue to innovate, we get better. And you know what? More than anything, it's better in these pet's lives. I get excited for

Speaker 9 (44:02):
It. It makes life a lot better on the human animal bond. I for our pets.

Speaker 8 (44:13):
We'll see you next year.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
Pets. Add Life with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonafide, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv.

Speaker 1 (44:28):
Guess what, suckers, we got a special episode for you. A big round of applause for all the winner today. Woo.

Speaker 2 (44:34):
Congratulations Scott. We are going to show you some of our best, funniest, smartest, greatest guests. Oh, sorry Chris. You go your

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Ahead. You're getting right to what I I was

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Excited. I know. I know. I know. Beyond

Speaker 3 (44:47):
The leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Yeah. Go to the vet. Don't ask us.

Speaker 5 (44:59):
Oh, this is our dog shaped cat. Birdie.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
Wow. Is Chris as handsome as he sounds? Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (45:19):
The product of the week.

Speaker 2 (45:21):
Because we're having so much fun together. Hopefully some bloopers. I don't know. I think bloopers might be in

Speaker 1 (45:33):
There. Some bloopers. We don't make mistakes. We don't make mistakes. There's going to be no bloopers if you encounter a snake, don't be a crisp. Just walk the other way. Don't be a cry. Why risk people with big feelings and dogs with big feelings? I think you get applied words to so many situations that I've seen

Speaker 5 (45:51):
To allow your dog to just kind of think that you're a bit more fun than you are. Boring.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
Tail end. Yes.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
Q and eight.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
He says sometimes he wants to be a puppy again.

Speaker 1 (46:05):
Don't we all?

Speaker 2 (46:06):
He was always.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
Next time she comes on the show, she's going to be like, yeah. So I was training dragons in China.

Speaker 2 (46:21):
You never know what I'm, you

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Never know. You really don't.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
Lemme tell you, my life is full surprises and I wouldn't be surprised.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Kristen and Chris, present story time.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Your step count must have been ridiculous. Insane. And I'm over here. There's some days where I rack up like work from home days and I'm racking up like 45 steps. So I don't think I'm any further away that we already have the giggles. I'm sure that the energy's unhinged. Yeah, energy's unhinged. Tough chart. I'm going to be an old man doing pet's a life. So prepare self, but

Speaker 4 (46:57):
Chef's Kiss.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Listen to pet's ad life with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonti. Every Tuesday, wherever you get your podcasts,

Speaker 2 (47:06):
God questions. The experts have answers.

Speaker 1 (47:09):
Every Friday a brand episode of the Experts Drops featuring the biggest names in pet care,

Speaker 2 (47:15):
From behavior to health training to nutrition. Our panel of top veterinarians, trainers, and technicians tackles it all.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
Real questions from real pet parents and real answers. From the best in the business,

Speaker 2 (47:28):
The experts. Every Friday only on unleashed by dog tv.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
Watch and learn. Your pet will think

Speaker 11 (47:36):
So. What exactly is pet's ad life? You're asking? It's a weekly podcast with two hosts sharing two pet stories, interviewing two amazing guests, recommending two awesome products and answering two questions from the audience. And all this is produced by two major pet brands, I guess you can say is too good to be true. You're right. Check out pets. Add life with new episodes every Tuesday.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
If you encounter a snake, don't be a crisp. Just walk the other way.