46. Best of 2024 – Celebrating the Moments That Made Us Smile

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00:00:00:04 - 00:00:14:12
Voice Over
Pets add life. Your guide to the latest in pet trends, products and the joy of the human animal bond with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonifati, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog TV.

00:00:14:13 - 00:00:16:19
Chris
Hello pals, and welcome to.

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Chris
2025 New Year.

00:00:20:16 - 00:00:34:03
Chris
Yeah, and hey, listen, I know you guys are all anticipating a regular old normal show, but guess what, suckers. We got a special episode for you. Why don't you give them a rundown on what we're doing here today?

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Kristen
Sure. Well, we are going to show you some of our best, funniest, smartest, greatest guests from last year. Some of Chris's great introductions of me. He always has the alliteration going. And then hopefully some bloopers. I don't know. I think Herbert might be in the bloopers.

00:00:53:14 - 00:01:19:17
Chris
You don't make mistakes. We don't make mistakes. Going to be no bloopers. Don't listen. But let's say this is our highlight reel. We can't believe I. Me personally, I say we, but I can't believe we've been doing this for a year already. We've got a year's worth of content to boil down into a single highlight reel. So whether you are an avid listener day, a day one, or you've just hopped on to the bandwagon choo choo, the train is running.

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Chris
Enjoy all these awesome moments, whether you're hearing them for the first time or reliving them along with us. And we'll see you at the end for a little goodbye and welcome into 2020. Beyond the leash exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionals.

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Kristen
All right. Joining us now is Alexis Devine, the creative mind and loving guardian behind the internet sensation Bunny. The bunny, by the way, it's the talking sheep, a doodle. Now, together, they've captivated millions with their unique journey into interspecies communication, where Bunny uses a set of over 100 buttons to express her thoughts and emotions. Now, Alexis is a passionate advocate for human animal connections and has not only trained Bunny to communicate, but has also embarked on a journey of self-discovery and healing through this profound bond.

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Kristen
Her memoir, I Am Bunny How a Talking Dog Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Being Human, explores the emotional and philosophical depths of her relationship with Bunny, offering readers a heartfelt and humorous look into ancient and evolving bonds between humans and their canine companions. Welcome, Alexis.

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Chris
Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

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Chris
It really is an honor. Yeah. I've been a fan for a very long time, to be honest. And, you know,

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Chris
Why don't we start out?

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Kristen
I just oh. Sorry. Chris.

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Chris
I'm so.

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Chris
Glad you're getting right to what I.

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Kristen
I don't get it. I know, I know, I know. And so tell us what inspired you to start using the buttons with Bunny? And did you have any idea it would lead to such a profound connection?

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Chris
No, I had no idea. It has completely changed the trajectory of my life. I had wanted a dog for a really long time, and, the timing just hadn't been right. Like I was moving a lot, or I didn't have, you know, a stable job. And finally, I was in a place where it was beginning to make sense.

00:03:12:02 - 00:03:41:16
Chris
And my partner, Johnny, for years and years when I'd ask, hey, maybe we should get a dog. He had been saying, no, just flat out no. And finally, one year I asked. He didn't say yes, but he also didn't say no. He's like, okay, well, maybe a small dog. So I brought home a 60 pound dog. And, before bringing her home, I was very dedicated to the idea that I wanted to have this sort of Lassie ask relationship, this incredibly close bond and develop the best communication I possibly could.

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Chris
So I began reading books, and I stumbled across Christina Hunger, who's a speech language pathologist. She was using these buttons with her dog to express sort of simple requests, and I was like, oh, I can definitely do that. No business teaching my dog how to talk, but I am, frustratingly tenacious is what a lot of people say.

00:04:01:13 - 00:04:19:01
Chris
And so I figured I'd give it a shot. And I had an outside button waiting by the door for Bunny when I brought her home, and with sort of no idea how to proceed, I recorded the word outside on it, and I would press it every time we would be going outside. So she would hear the word, I would say the word, we would go outside.

00:04:19:01 - 00:04:38:11
Chris
And then within a couple of weeks, my partner and I were watching Netflix, sitting on the couch or something, and Bonnie was over by her button, and she was sort of looking down at it and looking back up at us. And then all of a sudden she lifted her pie and she smashed the button herself, and her ears flew up, and she looked so proud of herself.

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Chris
And I screamed, and it was sort of game on. After that, I figured if she could learn one button, then she could learn to. If she could learn two, she could learn a hundred.

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Kristen
Tom Tucker is a motivational speaker, photographer, and the 10th person ever to walk around the.

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Chris
World.

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Kristen
After a personal tragedy struck him at the age of 17, Tom decided to dedicate his life to exploring the world on foot, an adventure that spanned seven years and 28,000 miles across six continents and 38 countries. His faithful companion, a dog named Savannah, joined him for the journey, making them the first man dog duo to ever achieve such a feat.

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Kristen
That is so cool. Now, throughout his trek, Tom experienced the extremes of humanity and nature, from life threatening encounters to acts of incredible kindness. His story captured in his memoir The World Walk, is a testament to resilience, adventure and the deep connection between man and his best friend. Welcome, Tom.

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Speaker 4
Thank you so much for having me.

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Chris
Wow.

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Kristen
I just I love story. What was the most unexpected lesson you learned during this seven year journey with your dog around the world?

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Speaker 4
I'd say the most unexpected one was just how small we all are. I think it really bears out when you see the world on foot. One step at a time, how much everyone and our lives are influenced by geography that you're born into, the politics, the family you're born into, and it really drives home just that. We are very tiny and I think seeing the world on foot also, you know, you see the cities are concentrated into these little areas.

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Speaker 4
And then in between them are these big expanses of still pretty untouched nature.

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Chris
That's absolutely extraordinary. I mean, your step count must have been ridiculous. 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, I don't think I'm any further away from what you were able to achieve, but I think what's most, not necessarily impressive, but awesome about your story in particular is that you did this walk with Savannah.

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Chris
So I would imagine that you guys have a very unique bond after a trip like that.

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Speaker 4
Yeah, I would say unique is the correct word there. She's the first dog to walk around the world. So in turn, I'm the first dog, first person to walk around the world with a dog. And I adopted her in Austin, Texas, after four months of walking and camping in strange places and being on my own and realizing how nice it would be to have a dog that could listen while I was sleeping.

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Speaker 4
And so really, I got her initially, just for the original reason. We paired up with dogs, which was, you know, a wake me at night if something was coming and I would give her some food and, you know, protection myself. But as time went on and we spent every minute of every day together and were navigating these cities and Central America that I didn't yet fully understand.

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Speaker 4
And then we're walking through the deserts of Peru and Chile and over the mountains of the Andes, and then into Europe and North Africa and everywhere else. And going through all these challenges and changes together. We were together through everything, and we were each other's only constant through this endless barrage of change. And so I really relied on her like nothing else to write.

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Kristen
Joining us now is the kitten lady, Hannah Shaw and her husband, Andrew. She is an award winning kitten rescuer, humane educator, and New York Times bestselling author dedicated to revolutionizing kitten care and advocating for the most vulnerable felines known globally. For her project Kitten Lady, Hannah provides educational resources, training and workshops aimed at improving kitten welfare with sick.

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Kristen
With a significant social media following, she shares her knowledge and passion with millions, inspiring and educating on the intricacies of neonatal kitten care. Alongside her hubby, professional cat photographer Andrew Marcela, Hannah has traveled. Hannah and Andrew have traveled to over 30 countries, capturing the essence of feline culture worldwide and their latest book launching today on National Cat day, cats of the world.

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Kristen
Welcome, Hannah and Andrew.

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Chris
Thank you for joining us here.

00:09:24:00 - 00:09:26:23
Kristen
Yes. And who is your little friend joining us?

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Chris
Oh, this is our, dog shaped cat.

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Chris
She is, six and a half pound Chihuahua who is our newest member of our family. And she just. I don't know, she just wanted to be here to be on TV.

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Kristen
That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, we are super excited to have you on the show and to talk to you about the book. Let me just start out by asking you what inspired you and Andrew to embark on this journey exploring feline culture around the globe?

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Chris
Sure. So we love to travel. We? I feel like we do so much work with animals here that the only way we can kind of stop working with animals is to leave. So we would leave and travel and, you know, when we would, we would inevitably find ourselves like, hey, it would be cool to find out about cat rescue in Peru or in Japan or these places that we would visit, and we would end up like making connections with other cat advocates and rescuers.

00:10:24:15 - 00:11:00:16
Chris
We would end up, inevitably, like on a Japanese Cat Island or, you know, rescuing a kitten in Machu Picchu. Like we just were always finding ourselves working with cats. And so, we had about six countries worth of beautiful photos that Andrew had captured. He always has his camera with him. Yeah. And we had all these connections, and we started to think, wouldn't it be powerful to tell some of these stories and to show some of these incredible places that cats live and, really center the people who are helping them?

00:11:01:01 - 00:11:21:15
Chris
I think that it is very cool to be able to show a global lens of kind of the shared compassion that we all have around the world, but also kind of the unique things that cap space in different countries and how advocates help them. So, that's kind of how it came to be. And it, it's beautiful.

00:11:21:15 - 00:11:42:18
Chris
We're so proud of it. Andrew's photos are incredible. Thank you. And we ended up, yeah, talking with our publisher and getting to go to 30 different countries around the world to explore cat welfare, visit Cat in some of the most iconic settings in the world. And then also just, you know, document everyday life with cats, in some of these communities.

00:11:42:18 - 00:11:50:18
Chris
And, we learned a lot. And the photos are just. Yeah, chef's kiss.

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Kristen
All right. Joining us today is Doctor Peter Roark. He's the founder of Dog is My Copilot, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transporting animals from over crowded shelters, to adoption centers nationwide. Peter is a seasoned pilot since the age of 16. And he's combined his passion for flying with his love for animals to create a really a truly life saving solution for at risk pets.

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Kristen
It started in 2012. Doug is my co pilot, has flown thousands of animals to their forever homes, which obviously is reducing significantly euthanasia rates in shelters across the country. Peter's innovative approach and dedication have made a profound impact on animal rescue efforts, providing a second chance for countless pets. Welcome, Peter or doctor work. I, I presume.

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Speaker 4
Now please call my Peter.

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Chris
Right. Well, it's it's amazing to have you on. So, to get us started, why don't you tell us a little bit about the origins of dog? Is my copilot, and maybe the inspiration behind the idea?

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Speaker 4
Yeah. I always thought that after my life in medicine, I would go back and do something in aviation. And prior to to leaving, my practice, I registered with an organization called Pilots and Pilots. And that's a you sign up and they'll, you know, assign a trip for you or a segment of a trip to transport one animal from one place to the other.

00:13:19:16 - 00:13:45:09
Speaker 4
And I found out very quickly, a couple things. One, if you're transporting one animal and 4 or 5 hours of flight time, that's a really expensive way to transport an animal. Now, for the cost per animal, per transport is would be thousands of dollars. And although it's a game changer for the dog, I mean, it's you can run out of resources pretty quickly.

00:13:45:11 - 00:14:09:16
Speaker 4
And also the pilots and paws didn't really vet why the animals were being transported. And I did end up transporting two dogs that were going to be using for breeding purposes. So I was asked to transport animals from San Francisco back to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which is my home. I knew I had to get a bigger aircraft, and I knew the aircraft that would serve our purposes as well, which is a Cessna Caravan.

00:14:09:18 - 00:14:17:19
Speaker 4
You often see them. It's a high wing, single engine turbine aircraft, and it usually has Fedex painted on the side. You've seen them at the airport?

00:14:17:21 - 00:14:18:21
Chris
Yeah, I know the one.

00:14:18:23 - 00:14:43:05
Speaker 4
Yeah. So, I bought a car's, passenger version of that, and it was all beat up and everything, but it was meticulously maintained. And the very first flight I flew out of mercy said with that aircraft, a 251 animals on board. And so that was a game changer for us. And I did that for years by myself.

00:14:43:16 - 00:15:05:11
Speaker 4
A pilot who's my executive director. I mean, it was the Kara and Peter show, forever. But we still had I felt we needed the scale up because we were getting so many requests to to fly animals. So, I brought on some volunteer pilots to help me cause I was flying five, six days a week.

00:15:05:13 - 00:15:34:18
Speaker 4
And honestly, I was getting a little burned out. Never wanted to be an airline pilot. For a living, I was. The medicine was always my first love. So, I was up with the other pilots, and then, I knew we had to get a second caravan. So a couple years ago, we bought our second caravan, put a couple hundred thousand dollars into it, upgrading it so it would meet our weather and and navigation requirements.

00:15:34:20 - 00:16:01:01
Speaker 4
And then, about a month and a half ago, it was sitting on the ramp down in Dallas, Texas, and a tornado came by and turned it upside down and crushed it like a pinpoint. So we're we're back to one one caravan at this time, but now it's flying seven days a week. We I have gone from ten volunteer pilots to three full time pilots and five volunteer pilots.

00:16:01:03 - 00:16:15:11
Speaker 4
And, we're currently in the process of obtaining a second caravan. Anyway, I went from flying a thousand animals a year to a thousand animals a month to.

00:16:15:12 - 00:16:41:12
Kristen
Okay, our guest is a very special treat. I'm excited to talk to her today. So joining us is Laura Sedgefield, an internationally renowned pet psychic and people medium. Laura, I know one of your specialties is connecting with animals in the afterlife. And, I'm wondering if. And I don't mean to put you on the spot here, but are you here to help me connect with my dog chili, who passed away about three years ago?

00:16:41:21 - 00:16:42:05
Kristen
Sure.

00:16:42:05 - 00:16:44:17
Chris
Do you have Chili's picture?

00:16:44:19 - 00:16:55:06
Kristen
He was just such a wonderful, like, Labrador mix that we adopted. And unfortunately, at at age 11, he developed hemangioma sarcoma, which is a super.

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Chris
That's so sad.

00:16:56:19 - 00:17:09:23
Kristen
Cancer. Yeah. But I, we my husband and I think about him and talk about him all the time, like, you know, and it's been almost three years, so let me just try and find a good picture. Does it? Here's a look.

00:17:10:04 - 00:17:13:21
Chris
Look at like Ron's got. Oh, Ron beat me to it. Yeah.

00:17:14:03 - 00:17:16:01
Chris
It's cool channel and.

00:17:16:03 - 00:17:17:00
Chris
You're amazing as of.

00:17:17:00 - 00:17:17:22
Chris
Kelly for those.

00:17:18:00 - 00:17:29:05
Chris
Yeah. Oh that is I am. Oh, my God, he's so cute. Oh that's you. Oh my gosh, I'm going to cry. What do you. Yes. What is that. Oh it's a comic aid. Yeah.

00:17:29:07 - 00:17:35:20
Kristen
Yeah. He was, he he was a working dog. Yeah. He he reviewed products.

00:17:35:22 - 00:17:38:18
Chris
So we were treating them.

00:17:38:20 - 00:17:40:01
Chris
For a.

00:17:40:03 - 00:17:45:23
Chris
Different kind of working dog. But he was just. When he passed, he looks. He was. He was.

00:17:46:01 - 00:17:52:14
Kristen
It? Well, in this video, he's probably 6 or 7. He. Yeah. He passed when he was 11.

00:17:53:18 - 00:18:07:05
Chris
And he just was so cute. Look at him. Look at those eyes. Yeah. Really beautiful. So what do you want to know? What do you want to know about him? You know.

00:18:07:06 - 00:18:23:06
Kristen
I just want to know, you know, his last his last months were really stressful on us because we. He had surgery to remove the mask, and we were told that it would definitely come back. And so it was kind of like we just didn't know what what day it was.

00:18:23:08 - 00:18:24:02
Chris
What was. Right.

00:18:24:07 - 00:18:37:09
Kristen
So, I guess I just want to know that he's okay and, that maybe he's hopefully with some other family dogs who've passed on and that I'll see him again. I would, I hope I can.

00:18:37:09 - 00:18:57:07
Chris
See him again. Oh, yeah, 100%. See them again? Yeah, 100%. Okay, let me get him. Hello? Yeah. What did he say? His name is? Chili. Right? Chili? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's cute. He's a doll.

00:18:57:09 - 00:19:04:02
Kristen
I get my Kleenex ready.

00:19:04:04 - 00:19:07:22
Chris


00:19:08:00 - 00:19:14:08
Chris
He says sometimes he comes next to you, and he, like, bumps your hand to pat him. Oh, yes. Yeah.

00:19:14:10 - 00:19:17:06
Kristen
Like, if you're sitting in a chair, he'll flip your arm up to pat him.

00:19:17:08 - 00:19:23:12
Chris
Yeah, yeah. He says he's with you a lot more than you know.

00:19:23:14 - 00:19:32:18
Chris
He says sometimes you races to the door before you,

00:19:32:20 - 00:19:45:07
Chris
Or he's saying something about when he got to heaven. He's. What is she doing?

00:19:45:09 - 00:19:47:02
Speaker 4
Oh.

00:19:47:04 - 00:19:56:14
Chris
He she he said when he got there, he saw a woman who was on a pool raft.

00:19:56:16 - 00:20:12:12
Chris
Yeah, and she was telling me to come in the water. Okay. And she said that she knew you from long ago. Do you know where that would be? I mean, it's time to be someone who likes the water. It.

00:20:12:14 - 00:20:16:23
Kristen
Yeah. I had a friend who passed who loved the water was.

00:20:17:00 - 00:20:18:23
Chris
Oh, my God, son.

00:20:19:01 - 00:20:21:04
Kristen
Sun worshiping goddess.

00:20:21:06 - 00:20:27:06
Chris
It's got to be her. It's got to be her right to be on a pool raft. That's so funny. Did he like the water?

00:20:27:07 - 00:20:35:01
Kristen
He he like he didn't like to swim, but he liked to stand in the water, and and he used to throw toys, and he would stick his head in the water and pull them out.

00:20:35:14 - 00:20:58:07
Chris
Cute. Because it's interesting that she's by the water because sometimes what happens like, so when people come in from the other side, when they talk about people from the other side, it's for two different reasons. It's ones. And he can say like, hey, she's with me. I'm not alone, right? But then it's also your friend coming in to say that that she's here, like with you, and she knows what's going on, that she's going to greet him.

00:20:58:09 - 00:21:23:05
Chris
But there's also something about the water like, for her. And like, water means emotion. Like, I think there's more symbolism to it too. Yeah. Like like and maybe if he's, like a little bit nervous, like she's showing him like, look, it's really good, you know, it's okay. So anything you thinks.

00:21:23:07 - 00:21:43:05
Chris
Oh like he said that she also told him that when he was going to eat that he that he wasn't going to have a bellyache, he, she said he said that she made him a, like, a bowl of cut up steak. Me? Oh.

00:21:44:04 - 00:21:47:09
Kristen
I used to eat. She and I used to cook steaks on the grill all the time.

00:21:47:13 - 00:21:48:22
Chris
Oh, you did? Oh, we.

00:21:48:22 - 00:22:05:03
Kristen
Did, we did. Yeah, that did I wonder too. It's one of his. His favorite things to do was we used to take him to the beach, to Honeymoon Island and in Florida, and he wouldn't go in the water to swim, but he would run up and down the surf. He just loved the surf fun.

00:22:05:03 - 00:22:07:04
Chris
Isn't that so nice? Yeah.

00:22:08:00 - 00:22:14:09
Kristen
Oh, my gosh, I, I wish my husband was here.

00:22:14:11 - 00:22:17:12
Chris
He says sometimes he wants to be a puppy again.

00:22:17:13 - 00:22:19:02
Chris
Oh, don't we all?

00:22:19:07 - 00:22:25:02
Chris
He was always. He, I mean it that might mean that he might come back to you one day.

00:22:25:17 - 00:22:34:02
Kristen
Yeah. Well, that would be wonderful. We were considering, adopting a puppy soon, so maybe that's gonna come back nice.

00:22:34:04 - 00:22:51:13
Chris
Yeah. So if he does come back to you, they'll be like signs and synchronicities. Like, like you might find him on like, the day of your friend's birthday or your husband's birthday or something. I mean, it could be just like little things that happen that you're like, oh, that's kind of weird. That's kind of neat.

00:22:51:15 - 00:22:55:04
Kristen
Yeah. That's amazing. Oh, you made my.

00:22:55:04 - 00:23:00:19
Chris
Day. Oh, he says, son, he says sometimes he gets in bed with you and he kicks you and rolls over.

00:23:00:21 - 00:23:05:15
Kristen
Oh yeah, he was a bed hog. He was a total bed hog.

00:23:06:10 - 00:23:09:01
Chris
So cute. Oh.

00:23:09:03 - 00:23:11:19
Kristen
Gosh. Thank you. Laura. That was that was,

00:23:11:21 - 00:23:13:02
Chris
My pleasure.

00:23:13:10 - 00:23:16:15
Chris
That's an amazing skill. Woof.

00:23:16:17 - 00:23:18:05
Kristen
You know what? I, I, I just beat.

00:23:18:06 - 00:23:18:14
Chris
Back to.

00:23:18:16 - 00:23:18:20
Chris
You.

00:23:18:23 - 00:23:22:12
Chris
You are coming back this year. Oh, my.

00:23:22:12 - 00:23:26:17
Chris
God, that's so sweet.

00:23:26:18 - 00:23:32:07
Chris
All right. Joining us now is Anika McDade, the founder of Canine Connection Training.

00:23:32:09 - 00:24:09:05
Chris
I do a lot of online coaching and most of what I do is emotional coaching for people that are feeling overwhelmed and anxious and might not have a community of friends and family that understand that a dog could make you feel so many things that are difficult to navigate. So really working on the human under the leash before we look at the dog's behavior, because so much of a dog's behavior is a reflection of their human, and we don't want to punish a person for that, but we might be able to actually change behavior or achieve a lot of training goals if we first address like, how are you feeling?

00:24:09:05 - 00:24:30:07
Chris
And are you actually okay? And it's okay if you're not okay. Let's move you through some of those big emotions. So I do online coaching for people with big feelings, with dogs that have big feelings. And we also have a group community call once a month where people can join at a lower cost so that they can participate and feel supported and truly just know that they're not alone.

00:24:30:07 - 00:24:34:18
Chris
Because navigating a dog with behavioral challenges can be very isolating for people.

00:24:34:19 - 00:24:57:09
Chris
That's true, I love that. I love, people with big feelings and dogs with big feelings. I think you get you get applied words to so many situations that I've seen in my day. And it's like light bulbs are are, turning on up here. But we previewed it at the beginning of the interview. You've got a wonderful show coming up called The Holistic Way that's going to be airing on dog TV.

00:24:57:12 - 00:25:06:06
Chris
We heard you bust, three common myths, about our dog. So what else can we expect from your new show?

00:25:06:07 - 00:25:38:19
Chris
Yeah, this season is very much about little integrative training games or thoughtful things that we can do to allow our dogs more comfort, to allow our dogs more joy, to allow us to connect and be calm together versus rushing around and maybe not feeling super connected. Some solutions for distracted dogs and interactive games. You can play that are super simple on walks to allow your dog to just kind of think that you're a bit more fun than you are boring.

00:25:39:18 - 00:25:59:22
Chris
And yeah, I think my, my mission and my goal is to help people feel understood and to help dogs feel heard and that it doesn't have to be serious and hard, and it can be playful and fun and actually quite enjoyable to integrate our well-being with their well-being.

00:26:00:00 - 00:26:02:03
Kristen
Wow, I just can't wait I love this, I.

00:26:02:06 - 00:26:03:16
Chris
Will be tuning in.

00:26:03:18 - 00:26:05:17
Kristen
Yeah, and I love your philosophy. Annika.

00:26:05:18 - 00:26:08:11
Chris
It's it's it's it's comforting.

00:26:08:11 - 00:26:26:21
Kristen
It's comforting as a dog owner who's had dogs that have had behavior problems, that kind of look at it in a different in a different light. So thank you for that. And I'm sure a lot of our listeners are going to want to learn more from you. Watch the holistic way, check you out online. And just thank you so much for for joining us today.

00:26:26:21 - 00:26:33:23
Kristen
And best of luck with, whatever you're going to do next, there's going to benefit people and their dogs.

00:26:34:01 - 00:26:42:00
Chris
Next time she comes on the show, she's going to be like, yes, I was, training dragons and.

00:26:42:02 - 00:26:51:02
Chris
You never know. You never know. You really do. Well, you my life is full of surprises. I wouldn't be surprised to.

00:26:51:04 - 00:27:28:22
Chris
We are so excited to welcome our next guest, Roni Siggy, an internationally acclaimed dog trainer, performer, and founder of the Top Dog Dancing School. Alongside her incredible border Collie Rhythm, Roni has captivated audiences worldwide, most recently as the 2024 runner up on America's Got Talent. I told you, we're getting star power this episode, Rooney's unique blend of dance training and artistry transforms traditional dog routines into breathtaking duets, creating an emotional connection that has to be seen to believed.

00:27:28:22 - 00:27:51:11
Chris
And I've seen the videos, folks, we're not lying within your national accolades, including the second vice champion at the OEC Championships in 2022 and top placements in 2021 and 2023, Roni has become a trailblazer in the world of canine freestyle. Roni, thank you so much for joining the Pets Add Life podcast.

00:27:51:12 - 00:27:53:22
Speaker 5
Thank you for having me here. I'm so happy.

00:27:54:03 - 00:28:02:15
Kristen
I was just wondering, what's your approach to choreographing these performances and how do you train rhythm to move so naturally with you?

00:28:02:17 - 00:28:20:22
Speaker 5
So I think first of all, the most important thing for me is that the dog will have fun, you know? I mean, yeah, we're doing something that is meant to be a way to bond with your dog and to try and find something in common and create a common language with your dog. So if the dog's not having enough fun, you're going to see it.

00:28:20:22 - 00:28:42:02
Speaker 5
Also, when you're dancing with him. And it's really important to, cute tricks that he enjoys doing and choosing the moves that he feel comfortable about and not trying to push him to do something that he's not ready to do. You know, because it's really important that he's enjoying the process. Because the dog is not enjoying is not a good performer.

00:28:42:02 - 00:29:06:00
Speaker 5
Also, and we have to consider that when we're building up a choreography. And then the second part of actually creating it with the music and flow, I think that's my talent, actually, you know, because, it comes it's just like I'm not thinking, oh, maybe here this week I'm like this and then this will work. This I hear it in music.

00:29:06:02 - 00:29:11:04
Speaker 5
I know the dog and I have a vision. And then it's about bringing that vision to life.

00:29:11:06 - 00:29:35:08
Chris
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, you say that your mission is to create the feeling of two humans dancing together, but obviously a dog is not a human. So how. So how do you achieve such a seamless, partnership between you and rhythm? And in that sense, when you're watching it, that they're two equal performers.

00:29:35:10 - 00:30:00:21
Speaker 5
I think it's, first of all, about knowing the style of movement of your dog, you know, because each dog is moving differently. Each dog has its own, rhythm inside of him. And each dog, either faster or slower or prancing more, or maybe going a bit slower when he's walking. Or if you have a small dog, he's like more bouncy most of the time.

00:30:00:23 - 00:30:26:03
Speaker 5
And it's about understanding what the style of movement of your dog in trying to adjust your movement to it so that it looks like it's really, harmonic together. And then once you're doing that, it's about showing the best qualities of your dog. So if your dog is a great jumper, is showing him jumping, and if your dog is really good in this stunt work, show that he can make that distance work.

00:30:26:05 - 00:30:38:19
Speaker 5
And after you finish choreographing for the dog, take a look at yourself. Make sure that you're happy with how you're looking in the choreography. And you know it's just about teamwork.

00:30:38:21 - 00:30:48:10
Chris
Joining us now is Samantha Martin, the visionary founder and animal trainer behind the amazing Acro Cats. Emphasis on the amazing. I've seen the videos how.

00:30:48:12 - 00:30:55:17
Kristen
How do you I would love to know how do you audition the cats to to take the places of the the the show cats that are retiring?

00:30:56:01 - 00:31:17:12
Chris
Bogie I'm in. I kind of, I start putting them on stage early on was just with simple things. I see what they like to do, what they're what they're drawn to do. Some of the cats prefer to be more elevated and do things up. You know, high and up on the bars and other cats are more comfortable doing things on the floor and then also how they respond to crowd noise.

00:31:17:12 - 00:31:46:00
Chris
And if they're shy, it's, you know, their energy level so that you so there's a lot of factors that involved and, and, you know, adding a new kitty to the show. So right now our youngest is, is about two. That's official. And then we have three kittens that we have four foster kittens, three of them that I'm kind of teaching some things and, and you know, talking them into the show and saying, oh, you know, it's going to be one of the next soccer cats.

00:31:46:02 - 00:32:11:04
Chris
That's awesome. Samantha, you've brought up, you've brought up clicker training a couple of times here. So can you explain a bit about what, clicker training is, why it works for cats and for those of, like, those of us out here like myself, who have a cat and may be interested in teaching them a couple of things, some advice on, on, how to be an effective clicker trainer.

00:32:11:11 - 00:32:41:08
Chris
Well, like, the clicker is is a communication tool. So the sound of the clicker tells the cat they've just done something that's going to give them reward. So it's all positive reinforcement. You just ignore anything that you don't want and then you click and reinforce anything that you do want. So if you're trying to teach a cat to high five, you start with like maybe a target stick and, you know, you put if you put a target stick and near them and they're going to look, they're going to be interested in this new object and they'll look at it, or they might even paw at it.

00:32:41:08 - 00:33:02:14
Chris
At that point you click and give them a treat, and then they figure out pretty quickly that this something with this target stick and this sound equals a great reward. So you can have a following, this target stick around initially. And then, you know, they might be able to get a high five or pretty a spin. So some of those basic things just take minutes to teach.

00:33:02:16 - 00:33:30:21
Chris
Our next guest is highly anticipated, much to my chagrin. Freddy has a fascination with reptiles that began at a young age when he would spend hours in his backyard catching house geckos. Nice to do the same thing. This early interest in all things alive and moving soon developed into a deep passion for reptiles. His journey into reptile care and education took a significant step when his father purchased his first reptile, a leopard gecko.

00:33:30:21 - 00:33:53:05
Chris
Great intro reptile, folks, although the gecko passed away because all things are fleeting, Freddie's curiosity and determination only grew from visiting pet shops to handling a large green iguana. He found him at a swap meet in California. Freddie's dedication to understanding and caring for reptiles solidified his goal to open a reptile store where people could not just find a pet, but the perfect pet.

00:33:53:05 - 00:34:01:00
Chris
So Freddie, thank you so much for joining us. Chris. I love you like this. You brought some animals for us to see.

00:34:01:01 - 00:34:10:19
Speaker 6
Actually, I didn't bring him. I actually brought my son. Do you guys want to be my son? Yeah. Why not? Let's do it. Senior. Let's. He's gonna come right out to you guys.

00:34:10:21 - 00:34:17:16
Unknown
Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

00:34:17:18 - 00:34:39:08
Speaker 6
I thought I would introduce to my son who is. This is Kumba. He is a potbelly pig. It's Buda. That's cool. But we actually had like seven different names for him. And we're like, I like my daughter decided my daughter was like, Boba. And I'm like, okay, yeah, okay. Yeah, but he is a potbelly pig. Believe it or not, he's the only one that survived in his name.

00:34:39:10 - 00:34:40:06
Chris
Really?

00:34:40:08 - 00:34:41:19
Speaker 6
Yes, yes, yes.

00:34:41:21 - 00:34:42:21
Kristen
So how.

00:34:42:21 - 00:34:43:11
Chris
About if people like.

00:34:44:00 - 00:35:01:12
Speaker 6
The mother was very new. She didn't know what she was doing. For one of them passed away. Yeah. He likes to come out for them. Passed away at birth. And then she accidentally rolled on the others, and. Gosh. And he was the only one left. But here is about a week old now.

00:35:01:14 - 00:35:03:11
Chris
Oh, look at we can I live in.

00:35:03:12 - 00:35:09:22
Speaker 6
Oh, a little baby. Oh my God, yes, very very cute. He is very curious.

00:35:10:00 - 00:35:12:05
Chris
He's got something to say. He's going for the microphone.

00:35:12:07 - 00:35:17:09
Speaker 6
Do you want it? Do you want to feed him? I would love to see Christmas. I look like I said, this is his dog.

00:35:17:10 - 00:35:21:16
Chris
So there's such a lot right at that.

00:35:21:16 - 00:35:23:03
Speaker 6
Oh, okay.

00:35:23:05 - 00:35:25:05
Chris
Higher. Pick it up higher and higher like that.

00:35:25:05 - 00:35:39:02
Speaker 6
And he's latched on. Oh boy. Oh my gosh. So I believe he's he lived 20 years. Wow it in the state in laws in the state of Nevada and Las Vegas you can only have two. So I have to right now I'm not getting another one.

00:35:39:04 - 00:35:40:03
Chris
Yeah yeah.

00:35:40:05 - 00:35:43:18
Kristen
Now how big does a potbelly pig actually get a full pig?

00:35:43:22 - 00:35:50:20
Speaker 6
Can you get around 50 pounds sometimes on rare occasions are are fed. They can even get 100 pounds okay okay.

00:35:50:20 - 00:35:55:05
Kristen
So you need to be thinking about they're tiny now but you need to be thinking about when they're they call.

00:35:55:05 - 00:35:58:17
Chris
Them potbelly pigs, not tiny belly pigs. You know.

00:35:58:20 - 00:36:09:15
Speaker 6
I've seen the miniature ones are like 30 pounds. I'm like, is it on top of the cake? I'm like, so how are you? So they want a big. Yeah, right. Yeah. It's it's crazy the way these animals are nowadays.

00:36:09:18 - 00:36:12:00
Voice Over
Pets add life

00:36:12:02 - 00:36:14:09
Chris
for really good at our jobs.

00:36:14:11 - 00:36:17:13
Kristen
We are that was I really enjoyed that show.

00:36:17:15 - 00:36:20:00
Chris
That was awesome. We're really good at you. Think?

00:36:20:00 - 00:36:21:18
Chris
Hurry baby. Top all that.

00:36:21:19 - 00:36:33:00
Kristen
Oh, we are so going to top that. We've got a really exciting year ahead. Got some new changes coming out and, I'm not going to mention what they are because I'm not even sure what they are myself, but I.

00:36:33:02 - 00:36:50:17
Chris
I definitely don't know what they are. I don't look at the documents. I just get in front of the microphone. I yell for anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes. And then I got yelled at for about 5 to 10 minutes. And then we have an episode. So if I could keep doing that, I'll be a happy kid.

00:36:50:19 - 00:36:53:10
Kristen
So easiest job you've ever had.

00:36:53:12 - 00:37:14:01
Chris
Yeah, I mean, that was just the first year. By my count. We're going to be doing this for another 49 years. So everybody buckle up. I'm going to be an old man doing that job right. So prepare yourself. But hey, from from all of us, here at APA and dog TV. Happy New year. Thanks for sticking with us.

00:37:14:07 - 00:37:36:06
Chris
We'll be back next Tuesday with a, more, more, standard standardized episode here. Back to either our new format, our old format. Who knows what we'll be doing. I certainly don't, so stick with us. We will see you next.

00:37:36:07 - 00:37:37:04
Voice Over
Pets add life.