53. Dog Influencers, Social Media Trends & Holistic Cat Care

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Voice Over
Pets add life. Your guide to the latest in pet trends, products and the joy of the human animal bond with Christian Levine and Chris Bowen, a fan powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog TV.

00;00;14;24 - 00;00;28;27
Chris
All right. Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the Pet and Life podcast. I am Chris Bonafide. He joined as always, by the remarkable and radiant Kristen Levine. Kristen, how are we doing today?

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Kristen
It's my birthday.

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Chris
Had a great birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. I won't do the full thing, but I heard you're turning, you said 34 earlier on the show.

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Kristen
Yeah, I got you.

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Chris
I mean, you look radiant, as I said, for a 34 year old. Appreciate it.

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Kristen
The first time, it was so great. The first time I thought I'd turn 34 again. So.

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Chris
Yeah. Why not? Right. Yeah. Why not? Why not? Well, happy birthday to you. And why we've got a great show lined up for your birthday, don't we?

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Kristen
We sure do. We're talking to a couple great guests. One of them, I feel like. I know, but I've never actually met her in person, so I'm excited for that. That's, Well, we'll tell you about who that is later.

00;01;05;15 - 00;01;26;23
Chris
Yeah, well, we'll get to all of that good stuff. And, we're still here. I'm still here at home. We're. And this is like, part two of our little snowed in recording session because we are in the depths of winter. But unfortunately, here in Connecticut, it's not that fun. We always get like this icy, I see icy sludge type stuff.

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Chris
But, hey, it doesn't matter because we're bundled up warm. You might even hear my cat meowing through the microphone. Is she.

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Tori
Here?

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Chris
Yeah, she might be asking for cheese. But we're all bundled up warm, keeping you cozy with another awesome episode. So let's go ahead and get into story time. Kristen and Chris present story time.

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Kristen
I'm going to go first. It's my birthday.

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Chris
Yes, you should.

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Kristen
As you should. So February for many, many, many years has been known as spay neuter month to prevent pet overpopulation. But, my story today comes from, a newsletter that I get from a doctor, Nancy Scott. She's a veterinarian, and she has a her newsletter is called speaking for spot. And this is about a shift in veterinary thinking around the timing for spaying and neutering your, this particular one's for dogs.

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Kristen
And so we traditionally have been told that it's ideal to spay or neuter your dog after their first birthday. I came from the animal shelter world where we would spay and neuter pets before they like. Once they got adopted, they had to be fixed before we let them go home. So in some cases, they were puppies or kittens.

00;02;42;22 - 00;03;12;02
Kristen
But this the study, the research suggests that the timing might not be right for every breed and for every, like, male or female. So, this is a UC Davis study. They they looked at 15,000 dogs across 35 breeds. And, they wanted to see how the age at which those dogs were spayed or neutered affected their joint problems, potential joint problems, cancer risks and urinary incontinence, which I don't think that was one of the top problems.

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Kristen
But that's interesting that they chose that. And what they found was that the effects of spaying and neutering vary significantly by breed. So unfortunately, we can't say yes. It's ideal to wait till your dogs first birthday. It actually is is very different for each breed and each sex of that breed. Another finding was that small breeds generally don't have any increased joint risks.

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Kristen
So regardless, it doesn't really matter what you know, what age you spay or neuter them. And as I said earlier, male and female dogs of the same breed can have very different risks. So I think I might drop a link, in the show notes to this because they give you a chart and that shows the 35 different breeds, and it tells you whether it's a male or a female.

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Kristen
When the idea to spay or neuter that dog is. So I thought that was really interesting. You know, for folks who are planning to, you know, adopt or get a dog, you know, this, this spring, but having said all that, I think it's important to remember that the really the bottom line is it's about preventing unwanted litters, too.

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Kristen
So you kind of have to balance the ideal. What's what's best for your dog's health with. Are you able to, do you have the ability to prevent unwanted litters that ultimately contribute to pet overpopulation? So I thought that was interesting. I'll, I'll send Ron the link so we can pop that in the show notes. If you want to look up your particular breed and see what the findings show.

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Chris
That's great stuff. You're bringing the science today, Kristen.

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Kristen
Yeah, I yeah, I didn't want you to be the only science guy.

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Chris
Yeah. No, that's that's got to. Yes, obviously. Obviously. And you know, it's funny, I was just talking to somebody, who's, you know, maybe, maybe 60, 65 years old, and he was saying it's kind of out of the blue that there's no street dogs anymore. And that has a lot to do with, spay and neuter and, you know, really taking care of that.

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Chris
There's just like he was saying when he grew up in this area, there would, oh, there'd be three stray dogs that follow him down the road when he rode his bike, hoping that he'd stop for a sandwich and give them some food. And he's like, I never had a problem with the stray dogs, but they're just they're not here anymore because we've changed.

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Chris
And it has a lot to do with spaying and neutering.

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Kristen
Yeah, I think it's a combination of that. Obviously people are a lot more aware of the importance of spaying neutering, but I, I think also back then, I don't know when he was referring to what decade. But we also have a lot more rescue groups, people who are fostering unwanted pets. So we still do have an unwanted problem.

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Kristen
But, you know, we just gotta keep spreading the word about doing some great improvements. We have.

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Chris
Speaking of improvements, I'm going into the world of politics, but I'm staying away from American politics. Oh, I'm going over. I'm going across the pond, and I'm visiting our good friends in Scotland. They had a bit of a kerfuffle, when they, they basically a, a government official misspoke when talking, similar to, kind of what you're talking about with, you know, controlling the animal population.

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Chris
They misspoke talking about cats, and sort of insinuated that cats would be banned in Scotland. So now the first Minister of Scotland had to get and this was a huge is a huge thing. If you're over in that area, you probably heard of this. And he had to get in and be like, nobody's talking about banning cats.

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Chris
The, the, the premise was we got to promote the concept of indoor only cats, because outdoor cats, they get into the ecosystem and they mess it up entirely. They take out all the birds, all the. I mean, I know that our Maine Coon growing up, I don't think I saw a rabbit from age ten to to age 20 at that house, like, and I saw him all the time growing up.

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Chris
And then that cat came in and there there were no more rabbits. There. Were there rabbit carcasses? So it I just think it was very funny that this guy had to basically get out, put out a press release, and say, that that we were speaking on cat containment measures, that could that basically would be restrictions on introducing cats to households in vulnerable areas that they've now gotten rid of, because that was interpreted by some as effectively a ban.

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Chris
And he said, let me just clear this up today. The government's not going to be banning cats or restricting cats with no intention of doing so and will not be doing it funny, which is, you know, that's that little lighthearted. Yeah. The lighthearted politics of Scotland are dearly missed, right now here in the United States. I wish that was our biggest scandal, but hey, I know it would not be great.

00;08;07;18 - 00;08;19;09
Chris
That would be great. So don't worry. To all six of our Scottish listeners, nobody's coming for your cats. Beyond the Leash exploring the untold stories of passion and professionalism.

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Kristen
I am super thrilled to welcome to Mystic at Digital Marketing. Expert, dog blogger, and podcast host who's built an incredible brand around pets, also lifestyle and entrepreneurship. And she's the creator of where Wag Repeat, which I love. I love that name. It's an award winning blog and podcast that helps dog lovers and pet business owners thrive. And as a Certified Canine Enrichment specialist, Tori shares science backed activities to help dogs live happier, more fulfilled lives.

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Kristen
And she's also, social media and branding expert helping pet businesses grow their online presence. So whether she's crafting a dog friendly content or hosting top industry experts on her podcast, Tori is a leading voice in the pet space. So today she's here to talk about the booming world of pet influencers, dog friendly social media trends, and how to make every moment count with your dog.

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Kristen
Welcome, Tori.

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Tori
Thank you so much! Wow, I'm exhausted just listening to you.

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Chris
Like I don't know what I'm doing with this job. You should have this job. What do I look like? What am I even doing here?

00;09;24;28 - 00;09;46;17
Kristen
Well, you've been busy. You've been doing so much of the pet industry. Now, your journey started with this passion for fashion. And I love what you're wearing today, by the way. But you became one of the leading voices in the dog blogging world and social media. So what left led to the fashion to the dog sphere shifts?

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Tori
Well, you're right. When I started my blog where Wag or Pete, it was called that because it was I wear it, they wag it, and then we repeat. And it was just kind of about how every day we're having fun with our outfits and having fun with my dogs. And so, so early on, I thought I was going to be like the next big fashion blogger, for sure.

00;10;05;19 - 00;10;17;15
Tori
But as I started blogging, my dog blog post got a lot more traction. And the dog blogging community, unsurprisingly, was a lot more friendly and welcoming than the fashion blogging.

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Layla 
Yeah, right.

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Chris
Interesting.

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Tori
So you might have been able to guess that before I started, but I found that out the hard way. And, and it was really I kind of a happy accident because I ended up going down this dog path. And I've been blogging about dogs for 12 years, almost. And, it's I've met so many wonderful people and, you know, obviously over the years I've gotten certified in canine enrichment, and I, I've really leaned in to this, and I love sharing about life with dogs and helping people, you know, not take things too seriously and just kind of have fun with their dog.

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Chris
Yeah. That's, that is the that is the motif of the pet industry. Don't take it too seriously. You'll be you'll be a weirdo if you do. But yeah, even though you're not taking it too seriously, where wag repeat has been a pretty, pretty big success. So, what do you think has been the key to building a strong pet brand online?

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Chris
Really? Really making your mark.

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Tori
Well, thank you so much. I think that there's, you know, the first thing I want to say is be authentic. But there's lots of people out there who are authentic, and they share their day to day life with their pets. And, and that's wonderful that that people are doing that. But I think what's, what makes my site different and my content different is I also reach out to a lot of experts.

00;11;40;02 - 00;11;59;19
Tori
So I've been hosting my podcast for 5 or 6 years, and I've interviewed hundreds of people and I, I love to reach out to sources, even just for my blog posts, to make them, you know, really trustworthy. I'm just a lifelong learner, so that's why I'm always trying to find some new certification or new thing to do.

00;11;59;22 - 00;12;18;19
Tori
And I, I love being able to connect pet parents with all the experts that I have access to, because I know a lot of people don't. So, you know, if you're going through something with your pet, not everyone can call up, you know, three vets that they're friends with and, behaviorists and nutritionists and everything like I can.

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Tori
And so I like to then share that with everyone so we can all benefit.

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Kristen
Yeah. And and on the business side, you've helped a lot of pet pet. We call them Petra nurse in the pet space. So they're entrepreneurs in the pet business area. You've helped so many grow their business. What what is one of the mistakes you see them making? But let's take social media, for example.

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Tori
Yeah. So on social media and just kind of in marketing in general, I see a lot of pet brands who are just starting and they're really excited about their product or service or whatever it is that they have, and they want to tell you all about what it includes. So let's just say it's like a joint supplement, for example.

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Tori
And they want to tell you that it has all these amazing ingredients. And this is why we chose these ingredients. And it's been tested by these people. And, and I think kind of the disconnect or the mistake that they make is that pet owners, they really want to know, is my dog going to be able to run and play and have fun for as long as possible?

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Tori
So I think one of the mistakes is using your social media as like your, your product page with the listing of all the ingredients or the features, and instead you want to kind of use that space in that platform to share videos of your real customers, like what they're sharing on social media, which you know, might look look basic or not that interesting because it's just their dog going on a walk.

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Tori
But maybe for that person, your joint supplement made it possible for them to go on that walk. And so it's like those little magical moments about life with dogs that, I think can kind of get overlooked because people are looking for the big, exciting, sexy content to share, or they want to share just like a list of ingredients.

00;14;06;28 - 00;14;10;22
Tori
And, and it's really kind of about those, like, little magical moments, I think.

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Chris
Yeah. I always say, you know, entertain, engage, inform in that in that order. And nobody goes on social media to learn. You got to trick them into it. You got to trick them into learning, right?

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Kristen
Right. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead Chris.

00;14;28;02 - 00;14;43;28
Chris
Oh yeah. So I wanted to talk a little bit about like, there's a lot of people out there who they, they adopt a dog or a cat and they have a, you know, everybody's got a nice camera on their phone and they think, I'm going to be the next big thing. I'm going to be the next Bunny the poodle, or Magnus the therapy dog.

00;14;43;28 - 00;15;00;15
Chris
Right. Like, so what advice do you have for somebody who who really wants it? And maybe they've got, the right, the right set up and they've got the chutzpah, but they they have no knowhow. They've never done anything like this before. But what's your advice to them?

00;15;00;18 - 00;15;20;10
Tori
So number one piece of advice is just start. You got to start somewhere. So I think a lot of us we get that like analysis paralysis where you're just like there's too many options. I don't know what to do. I'm just I can't even handle it. So that's what's stopping a lot of people from from pursuing if they want to be an influencer or start a pet business or whatever it is.

00;15;20;12 - 00;15;41;03
Tori
So one just start, because like we said, it's not that serious. You can just start somewhere. Everyone has to start somewhere. And then I think, really, if you do want to become a pet content creator or a pet influencer pet blogger, you have to kind of take some time to really think about what makes what's going to make you unique.

00;15;41;03 - 00;15;59;19
Tori
What's your unique value proposition? So why should someone follow you? What's so cool about you and your dog? And and you might think, well, nothing. You know, we're just like everybody else, but I'm sure there is something unique and special. And so you have to just kind of think about what that is and, and really hone in on it.

00;15;59;19 - 00;16;24;16
Tori
So, you think about, like, my friend, his account is my canine life. Her dog. Is always carrying around this, like, stuffed animal. And so she's got all these pictures of their travels all over the world of her dog holding this stuffed animal in amazing locations, and that's, like, their thing. You know, and other people, like, you know, who use, like, the talking buttons that becomes like their thing of their account.

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Tori
So you just have to kind of find what your unique thing is and really lean into it.

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Chris
And, you know, I've heard a lot of people talk about, Mamba mentality with social media. If you're familiar with Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant took a lot of shots, but we only remember the ones that went in. And you have to be you have to just keep posting posts through it and, and, you know, not every single one is going to be a hit, but if you're not posting, you're not going to hit the algorithm.

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Tori
Right? I think it's Wayne Gretzky, right? You got to take shots to make shots or.

00;16;55;00 - 00;17;01;01
Chris
Yeah, something like that. Yeah. The more sports analogy is let's just keep throwing them at Chris. And you got a sports analogy in your back pocket.

00;17;01;02 - 00;17;05;17
Layla 
Oh, that's all I do.

00;17;05;19 - 00;17;30;15
Kristen
Well, I don't have a sports analogy. But I do have a question for you. So you host the Wear Wag Repeat podcast, which has over 340 episodes and 200,000 downloads. Chris and I are on episode 52. This this is our 52nd episode. So, we are very envious of your success. And just curious to know what some of your favorite interviews or favorite moments from your show have been.

00;17;30;17 - 00;17;55;05
Tori
Oh, gosh. So over the years I have interviewed so many people, and, you know, some highlights. You know, we're interviewing Suzanne Kogut. She was the president of Petco Love Foundation. And I think she's recently retired from that role. But that was one of my favorite interviews. But one of my most memorable interviews was with Lashonda Jaffrey.

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Tori
She's the founder of the Black Pet Business Network.

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Chris
She's great.

00;17;58;28 - 00;18;27;27
Tori
She's awesome. Yeah. Let me tell you how awesome she is. So we're in this interview, and she at the beginning, she said, just a heads up, my dog is, she is breeding her one of her Dalmatians, and so one of her dogs was pregnant and it was due to go into labor any day. And what do you know, 15 minutes into our 30 minute interview, her dog goes into labor and her, one of her kids comes into the room and is like, she's having puppies right now.

00;18;27;29 - 00;18;52;26
Tori
So Lashonda, tells her kid, like, one second, let me finish this interview. And she keeps talking to me. And her kids kept coming in saying, there's another puppy. This is not there's a third puppy. So eventually she did have to go. And, and we we weren't really done with the interview. And so she said, I'll message you when, when I'm ready.

00;18;52;26 - 00;18;59;24
Tori
And she messaged me like a couple hours later and got back on and finished the interview, and they had eight Dalmatian puppies.

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Chris
Oh my goodness.

00;19;00;26 - 00;19;03;17
Kristen
Wow. That's a true professional.

00;19;03;19 - 00;19;27;19
Chris
Yeah, eight Dalmatian puppies, 93 away from 101. But still a big litter. So social media is constantly changing. You know, with Tick Tock, you kind of have like a sound of the week and stuff like that. But, on top of that, there's sort of, you know, as somebody from the fashion world, you probably know the difference between fad and fashion, right?

00;19;27;19 - 00;19;42;16
Chris
There's the fads that happen quickly and the fashion that sticks around for a bit. So what do you think is the next, you know, social media trend that will be fashion, the thing that's going to stick for a little bit that people can get behind and sort of put their stake on.

00;19;42;18 - 00;19;48;28
Tori
Well, it's it's hard to predict trends. And I think any time you do, people end up being like, well, that didn't happen.

00;19;49;01 - 00;19;55;11
Chris
Like, yeah, I'm asking you to stake your entire reputation on this right now. Tori. This is it.

00;19;55;14 - 00;20;16;27
Tori
But look what I what I hope to happen. A lasting trend that I hope to see is, you know, we I think we had this trend of people sharing these elaborate bowls that they were making for their dog, where they're feeding raw or fresh, and they would really played it like they were a michelin rated chef.

00;20;16;29 - 00;20;41;05
Tori
And, and it was these really, esthetic bowls and, and while those are really cool and fun to look at, what I think is that, you know, your average pet parent is like, well, I could never do that or I there's no way I'm touching raw chicken feet or something like that. And so I would like the trend to happen where we just see, like just let's add just a little bit, let's do a little bit here.

00;20;41;05 - 00;21;13;00
Tori
Let's do a little bit there. You know, just add a little bit of, of variety to your dog's bowl. It doesn't have to be this huge piece of artwork. And I love, like, the, the artful topple creations and stuff, but I started, I started promoting, or creating content around what I called a dump topple, which was just taking a whole bunch of stuff left over the little dust at the end of the treat bag, dumping it all in the topple, adding some water and freezing it and calling it a day.

00;21;13;03 - 00;21;31;03
Tori
Because we're all so busy and we don't all have time to make, you know, a sculpture with our dogs food or our dogs enrichment toys. And at the end of the day, as long as you're doing something that's great and your dog doesn't necessarily appreciate what it looks like, but they appreciate the love and the care that you put into it.

00;21;31;03 - 00;21;32;02
Tori
So, just.

00;21;32;02 - 00;21;33;02
Chris
Doing a.

00;21;33;02 - 00;21;38;03
Tori
Little something, I think I would like to see people like, trying less hard, I.

00;21;38;04 - 00;21;40;05
Layla 
Guess. Yeah.

00;21;40;07 - 00;21;42;22
Chris
You can do less. People do less.

00;21;42;25 - 00;21;43;16
Layla 
Yeah.

00;21;43;18 - 00;21;50;09
Kristen
I think a lot of times we're doing it really for ourselves to make us feel like a better pet parent. Right? When your dog really doesn't care.

00;21;50;09 - 00;21;50;28
Chris
Listen, I.

00;21;51;00 - 00;21;52;20
Kristen
Spent time with you, and.

00;21;52;22 - 00;22;03;26
Chris
I'm willing to stake my reputation on the fact that there's not a single dog out there that cares about what their food looks like. You know, so, yeah. Kristen, I think we're doing it for us.

00;22;03;29 - 00;22;05;11
Kristen
Yeah. Yeah, I think so too.

00;22;05;12 - 00;22;26;24
Tori
But you're right. Kristen and your dog, they want to spend time with you. And I think, one of, like, the fallacies of enrichment, is that people are like, oh, I want to give this to my dog. So it keeps them busy and leaves me alone. And, that's like my pet peeve because I'm like, oh, enrichment is really, truly an opportunity to bond with your dog and do things together.

00;22;27;01 - 00;22;38;27
Tori
So that's why a lot of my blog content, social media content and, I have like an activity pack full of enrichment activities that are all about bonding together.

00;22;39;00 - 00;23;01;07
Kristen
I'm so glad you said that, because I also find that to be a pet peeve. I know there are so many really incredible, innovative toys on the market that are enrichment toys that sometimes people are using as babysitter toys, as opposed to, you know, when you go off to work and you maybe you do want to leave something for your dog to do while you're gone, but but yeah, it's it's the best quality time is the time you spend together.

00;23;01;07 - 00;23;03;19
Kristen
And that's where those bonds, bonds grow stronger.

00;23;03;19 - 00;23;05;23
Tori
So exactly.

00;23;05;25 - 00;23;14;00
Kristen
So where can our listeners and our viewers, find you on the podcast, on on your blog, help us, help us out here.

00;23;14;03 - 00;23;43;21
Tori
So basically you can search anywhere for where wag repeat. So it's where wag repeat.com is the website. And from there you'll be able to find tons of canine enrichment stuff. Like I said, I have this activity pack if you want to see some video lessons of exactly how to do certain enrichment games together. And if you are a pet preneur, I do have a membership called where wag society that's all about supporting pet printers.

00;23;43;24 - 00;23;52;08
Tori
And kind of being there to keep you accountable and give you all the resources and, and materials that you need to make your business successful.

00;23;52;10 - 00;24;00;15
Chris
Now, I'm a sucker for a society. I'm part of many. Yeah, you might see me there. Guess, because I love I love joining societies.

00;24;00;17 - 00;24;07;13
Tori
What is what's the saying? Like any club that would have me as a member. Like I don't want to be part of.

00;24;07;15 - 00;24;09;08
Layla 
It.

00;24;09;10 - 00;24;16;19
Chris
Tori, thank you so much for taking the time out of your at what I'm sure is a very busy schedule to talk to us today. It was an absolute treat.

00;24;16;21 - 00;24;19;00
Tori
That's my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

00;24;19;02 - 00;24;22;04
Kristen
Thanks, Tori.

00;24;22;07 - 00;24;29;09
Chris
Sheesh. Yeah. I'm through. It's just that for me, I've been exposed as a fraud.

00;24;29;11 - 00;24;30;13
Kristen
Because I've been.

00;24;30;13 - 00;24;51;22
Chris
Exposed as a fraud. No. But you know, a hey, I'm over here in, like, my wrinkled gap shirt and my corgi pillow and she's dressed to the nines like a fashion blogger. Okay? My hair isn't cut. My beard is untrimmed. It's. It's over for me, people. It's all. It's over. It's. Yes. Ron. Ron got her information after that interview.

00;24;51;23 - 00;25;12;09
Chris
Yeah. He has her home address. He's inviting her to dinner and like, it's it's it's been nice knowing you. And if this is the last you hear for me. Yes. Guest. You know, it was Ron. If if if my body is discovered, it was Ron.

00;25;12;12 - 00;25;40;16
Chris
Had to add life. Joining us today is Lila Morgan wild, a leading voice in the world of feline advocacy, holistic cat behavior, and cat centric storytelling. Lila is the founder of Cat wisdom 101, an award winning online magazine that has been educating and inspiring cat lovers since 2011. She's also the creator of black Cat Awareness Month, a movement dedicated to reshaping perceptions of black cats and increasing their adoption rates.

00;25;40;18 - 00;26;07;09
Chris
Layla's journey as a cat expert spans decades, from founding Anex Cat Rescue in Toronto in 1997 to becoming an award winning writer, photographer and consultant on all things feline. As a holistic cat behaviorist, she brings a unique perspective to understanding the human feline bond, blending alternative healing techniques with practical behavior solutions. Today, Layla is going to share some thoughts on cat behavior, feline enrichment, and the special place cats hold in our lives.

00;26;07;14 - 00;26;10;10
Chris
Layla. Welcome to Pets and Life.

00;26;10;13 - 00;26;14;11
Speaker 5
Thank you. I am thrilled to be here. That's a nice intro. Thank you.

00;26;14;17 - 00;26;32;14
Chris
I wrote it myself. I'm going to take all the credit for that one. So, Layla, you've spent your, career advocating for cats and educating pet parents, but what led you to become a cat behaviorist and really turn this into your your entire, career and calling?

00;26;32;16 - 00;27;02;05
Speaker 5
Well, I started, of course, in Canada, and I am Canadian. That's why I launched the annex Cat rescue. And at that time, I didn't know. Really. Honestly, I didn't know anything about cats. I'd had cats my entire life since I was a young child, but it was dealing with the ferals and then creating this whole organization where suddenly there were volunteers and we were doing things, and the organization still exists, very, very happily.

00;27;02;07 - 00;27;25;02
Speaker 5
Without me since I've been in New York since, Oh, God, I've been here since nine, 11. In fact, I moved here just before 9/11. And then, ironically, I had no intentions of doing anything with cats except because I immigrated and I married in American, and my green card got all messed up with after nine over 11.

00;27;25;04 - 00;27;54;07
Speaker 5
I couldn't work. So I started blogging. And in fact, my cat blog precedes Cat wisdom 101 by a few years. And then one thing led to another, and I just the writing started from there, and I guess it evolved organically, if you will. And then, I don't know, I just have always had cats and I don't know what what specifically.

00;27;54;10 - 00;27;56;12
Speaker 5
What specifically do you want to do?

00;27;56;14 - 00;27;56;28
Chris
Well, let's.

00;27;56;28 - 00;27;57;17
Kristen
I have a question.

00;27;57;18 - 00;27;58;17
Chris
Oh go ahead Kristen.

00;27;58;19 - 00;28;10;13
Kristen
Oh, no. Sorry. I was I'm I'm particularly interested in, how you started the annex cat rescue. I think that was back in 97, because that's a that is a pretty significant undertaking.

00;28;10;16 - 00;28;35;20
Speaker 5
How did I, I honestly, this is what happened. I had to move. I was living in a wonderful neighborhood in Toronto called the Annex. And in my backyard there were these feral cats that I was feeding, and I created a shelter for them, and I thought, I'm moving. What am I going to do? So I moved. I didn't move that far away.

00;28;35;20 - 00;29;00;21
Speaker 5
I was still in the annex, but I thought, how how am I going to continue? Because the property was sold, I didn't have access to go into the back yard. So I, I contacted by local newspaper and I said, well, you know, I'm, I'm looking for volunteers. I'm looking for help. I want to create something that's going to help these cats.

00;29;00;24 - 00;29;10;09
Speaker 5
They published the article with my home address. Oh, which is crazy. Oh, no. So the next.

00;29;10;09 - 00;29;11;10
Chris
Day.

00;29;11;12 - 00;29;29;00
Speaker 5
A young woman drives up on her bicycle to my house, and it was, it was a little townhouse, in Toronto in the annex. And she she lives. Is this the annex? Cat rescue? I'm going, I guess.

00;29;29;03 - 00;29;30;18
Chris
It is now.

00;29;30;20 - 00;29;56;05
Speaker 5
It is now. She has the $100 bill, and she said, this is for you. Do with it what you will. And I'm going. I guess I'm in business now. And then suddenly, all these volunteers came out of nowhere. We started meeting in my living room. We were creating these little catnip toys that we could sell to our local, pet shelters.

00;29;56;07 - 00;30;17;00
Speaker 5
And we basically it was this grassroots and hands on, as you can imagine. And one thing is led to another. And before you know it, we had people that were a little more experienced that I was in TNR, but I certainly learned. And then other people, like we had an attorney that took care of legal stuff, and one thing just led to another and it just blossomed.

00;30;17;02 - 00;30;26;03
Speaker 5
It was it was it was a little accidental, but I would say it was sort of divinely, that it was meant to be.

00;30;26;05 - 00;30;46;16
Chris
Yeah. I feel like a lot of people in the pet industry accidentally find their way into it. It's it seems to be a common theme. But I want to switch gears here and talk a little bit about, your role as a holistic cat behaviorist. Can you share for our audience listening? All of our cat parents and myself.

00;30;46;16 - 00;30;55;06
Chris
I'm a cat. Can you share some of these holistic approaches that, you know, some cat parents may be able to integrate into their day to day care?

00;30;55;08 - 00;31;22;09
Speaker 5
Yeah. Well, first of all, holistic just means that I'm taking the overall large view. And when I started out, we didn't have the amount of organic this and organic that, in the market, which of course we do now. And it's a very prominent, part of our, the the way that we feed cats, the toys, everything.

00;31;22;11 - 00;31;52;02
Speaker 5
But for me, it's it's really comes down to diet and nutrition. What are the biggest issues I still have? And it's change. People are learning that the dry kibble food is not optimum for your pet. It isn't. We have, record amounts of or I would say almost like an epidemic amount of kidney disease in this country because people still do feed their cats.

00;31;52;02 - 00;32;22;21
Speaker 5
Dry cats, in the wild, they like to eat their food. You know, they're catching wild prey, which of course is full of water. They don't need to drink as much water. Of course, they still do. Where? Whereas, you know, you'll never find a cat in the wild. Any anything dry. It's going to be, you know, juicy mouse that has all kinds of nutrients and all kinds of moisture levels.

00;32;22;23 - 00;32;37;17
Speaker 5
So that's my number one thing. Please get your cats off the dry food if possible, or do a mix and definitely transition them off, gradually if you are going to do that. Sort of my number one bugaboo about.

00;32;37;17 - 00;32;56;08
Kristen
Yeah, I think a good follow up question for that is, and with your behavioral expertise, in addition to quality nutrition for your cat, what kind of enrichment practices would you advise cat parents who maybe are looking to add a little bit more? Maybe their cat's bored and they they know they need to add some more enrichment.

00;32;56;08 - 00;32;57;12
Kristen
What what are some,

00;32;57;14 - 00;33;24;06
Speaker 5
I mean, the obvious one is obviously engage with your cat. I mean, they're not these independent creatures that can be stuck in a corner. Talk to them, play with them, engage with them. And you don't have to spend a lot of money, buying. Of course, there's a million toys you could get for them on catnip and all of that, but really, really be with them.

00;33;24;10 - 00;33;49;11
Speaker 5
Observe them. Cats are constantly communicating with us. I mean, if you look at their tail positions, their eye positions, their ear positions, their they're telling us stuff all the time. And when we're dealing with a cat who's behaving in a way that maybe we don't want to, it's not that they're a bad cat. They're giving us a clear signal that, listen, something's wrong.

00;33;49;17 - 00;34;15;15
Speaker 5
I don't I don't want this or I don't like that or whatever, whether it's litter box issues or aggression, there's a reason for it. I, one of the rare people that in this country, my cats are indoor, outdoor. I recently installed a cat door. We live in a really safe place where they have collars, and I know exactly where they are at all times.

00;34;15;17 - 00;34;34;07
Speaker 5
But we decided recently to put in a cat door, and it's been insane. The amount of that literally. This is what a cat would do if they really could go in and out and be outside as much as they want. I mean, it's locked up, obviously at night, in and out, in and out. My cat, Otto, he must go up 100 times a day.

00;34;34;07 - 00;35;04;11
Speaker 5
He literally goes in and out, in and out and that is just going to reflect what a cat might want to do if they could do. Now for indoor cats that have no access to outdoors, please consider doing something where they can get a little bit of fresh air even in the winter. You know, cracking open the window to get a bit of you know, I call from window with these, bring the outdoors in in some way.

00;35;04;14 - 00;35;26;00
Speaker 5
You know, whether it is, a cat grass, the alfalfa grass that you can buy or, I actually brought in a whole bunch of, I have a lot of moss in the garden, and, and then I stuck it on one of my plants, and they just have gone crazy for that. And I, I water it every day so it stays nice and moist, and they, they just love to sniff it.

00;35;26;06 - 00;35;52;04
Speaker 5
And these are indoor outdoor cats. And they still love all that, all that, sense of anything that's outdoors. Pine cones are a real wood. Branch. Just make sure that it is, doesn't have a lot of, decay or mold or bugs or whatever. That could be fun to.

00;35;52;06 - 00;36;20;25
Chris
Yeah, I my cat is, a 21 year old deaf cat, and she, you know, she, And here's to all the pet parents out there. Your elderly cats, they want to be engaged, but too, it's just it just looks a little different. So when I leave for work, I always make sure that the room she kind of spends time in and make sure the curtain is pulled because she'll sit on the windowsill and there's a bird's nest right there, and she just likes to sit and watch the birds, and she'll kind of put her pop, you know?

00;36;20;25 - 00;36;31;18
Chris
She's got nothing left in the tank. She wouldn't be able to get one of those birds if you wanted to. But she still is like, you know, looking and engaging. And that's sort of like her activity. And I think that's great.

00;36;31;20 - 00;36;38;23
Speaker 5
Ron, have you accommodated for her needs of climbing? Can she still climb out?

00;36;38;25 - 00;37;06;26
Chris
She. So she really doesn't, climb well anymore. She's got the arthritis in the in the back hips. So even to get up on the couch, it's stretch out, grab and then sort of scoot her way up. But she has multiple spots where she could get, you know, better elevation and things like that. But she has she has about 3 or 4 spots around the condo that she likes.

00;37;06;28 - 00;37;09;02
Chris
And she'll rotate her way through those.

00;37;09;02 - 00;37;22;22
Speaker 5
So because that's one of the first things when someone will see you. Oh, my cat really isn't that active or athletic or playful anymore. And it's because precisely. You know, there is the arthritis, which is. So.

00;37;22;22 - 00;37;23;14
Chris
Yeah.

00;37;23;17 - 00;37;50;06
Speaker 5
So that's the accommodations. Oh my goodness. My cats are both 14 and they're like two year olds are insane. But my last older cat, her, Clyde, my black cat who lived to 20, I started to have to accommodate all kinds of things. So there were, you know, extra, I would put a chair in front of, let's say, a dresser that he want to jump.

00;37;50;06 - 00;38;13;03
Speaker 5
Yeah. So there'd be little layers. Yeah. And of course, there's all kinds of cat stairs that they they saw now, but but just to make sure that all the cats that they have a windowsill or whatever, that they have easy access to get up there, a ramp or something. And there's beautiful designs now too, so there's no reason to like, what does that come down to?

00;38;13;03 - 00;38;36;10
Speaker 5
It comes down to suddenly and concern. It is like a daily thing that everybody should do. What is go and check in, observe. How are they moving? How are they playing? Is there something that's a little different? What what's changed? Because sometimes it can change on a dime. Yeah. And you know, cats are masters of hiding their symptoms, so we don't know.

00;38;36;10 - 00;38;50;18
Speaker 5
But if we're alert to it that we're not just stuck on our phones and, you know, being distracted by social media and the world at large and news and everything, if we're actually doing that with our cats, I mean, they're going to be a lot happier.

00;38;50;21 - 00;39;04;03
Kristen
That is so true. And, Layla, we are coming up on time. But before we let you go, first of all, thank you for spending time with us today. And where can our listeners and our viewers, learn more about your work?

00;39;04;05 - 00;39;08;17
Speaker 5
Cat wisdom 101 across all platforms.

00;39;08;19 - 00;39;22;00
Chris
That's great. Well, this has been, I love meeting fellow fellow cat parents. It's always it's always great to talk with them and make me feel good about being a good cat dad. So thank you so much for spending some time and educating ourselves and all of our listeners today.

00;39;22;08 - 00;39;28;23
Speaker 5
My pleasure. Absolutely. To.

00;39;28;25 - 00;39;31;00
Kristen
Tulip, enjoy that interview.

00;39;31;02 - 00;39;55;08
Chris
Yeah. The round of applause from tulip was incredible. But, you know, I always say it's great to have some cat experts on. And, you know, an interesting point that Layla brought up in our little, outro. There was the the how much longer cats are living now, right? Like it's not. Yeah. I always say it's obscene that Tiger's 21, but she's like, that's not that's Norm.

00;39;55;08 - 00;39;58;17
Chris
Now, when you adopt a cat that's almost a 20 year commitment.

00;39;58;19 - 00;40;05;02
Kristen
Yeah, we're better pet parents these days because we have more knowledge and resources and better nutrition and, you know, all that good stuff.

00;40;05;09 - 00;40;26;22
Chris
Yeah. Things are things are looking up. But hey, if you, you know, if you're considering adopting a cat and you're like, wow, 20 years is a long time. There are plenty of older cats who need a nice home, and they're already going to be litter trained, and they're going to be more mild mannered. So, you know, maybe consider that if you're if you're looking for more like a ten year long commitment.

00;40;26;24 - 00;40;27;19
Chris
Tulip agrees.

00;40;27;21 - 00;40;31;09
Speaker 5
The product of the week.

00;40;31;11 - 00;40;41;26
Chris
All right, it's time for the product of the week. And, Kristen, it's your birthday, so you get to go first twice.

00;40;41;28 - 00;40;47;09
Kristen
Sweet. Okay, well, I'm doing something a little different today. I hope it's okay. My product.

00;40;47;10 - 00;40;48;20
Chris
Think it's fine.

00;40;48;22 - 00;41;03;09
Kristen
Okay. So I love coffee, and I. But I'm kind of tired of drinking. What? I've been drinking at home, so I thought I might try something new. So I discovered this company called Grounds and Hounds Coffee Company. Have you ever heard of them?

00;41;03;11 - 00;41;06;10
Chris
I have not, but I'm already sold. Okay.

00;41;06;12 - 00;41;26;18
Kristen
So this is. This is a coffee company with a cause. And to put it in their words, they say, you know, beyond creating the best cup of organic and eco friendly coffee possible, Grounds and Hounds was created with an overarching purpose in mind, and that is to provide every At-Risk pet with a second chance at a great life.

00;41;26;21 - 00;41;48;16
Kristen
So what they do is they donate 20% of proceeds to, shelters, rescues. And it started out just dogs, but now they're doing it for both dogs and cat rescues. So I found, I'm going to order this because it sounds great. They've got great reviews, hundreds of five star reviews, and they have a blend called Snow Day.

00;41;48;18 - 00;41;49;04
Chris


00;41;49;06 - 00;41;50;29
Kristen
That I want to order for you.

00;41;51;01 - 00;41;52;05
Chris
I'd be appropriate for today.

00;41;52;05 - 00;42;10;20
Kristen
So. So, you know, I, I'm sure a lot of our viewers and listeners drink coffee. And if you're ready to try something different, check out Grounds and Hounds. They have a coffee club. They've got, they also have a lot of merch. And, just a quick glance here. It looks like they've got about 30 different coffee blends.

00;42;10;20 - 00;42;17;07
Kristen
So I'm sure you can find something you like and you're going to be helping homeless pets at the same time.

00;42;17;10 - 00;42;30;15
Chris
I was trying to come up with a pun for cats, and all I got to is beans and Filene's and I don't know, but I don't know about that. I don't know about Beans and Filene's Grounds and Hounds is mugs.

00;42;30;15 - 00;42;34;07
Kristen
Yeah, yeah, cats and coffee. How about that?

00;42;34;09 - 00;42;39;04
Chris
Yeah, yeah, that's yes. My standard morning. All right. Well I've.

00;42;39;04 - 00;42;39;25
Kristen
Got today.

00;42;39;25 - 00;43;04;20
Chris
I've got, I've got a nice cat one. You know, we were doing a lot of good stuff today, and I've got a product that costs one Abraham Lincoln. Right. That's just five, $5, five American greenbacks. So. And it's so simple, but it's really one of those things if you're a cat owner. It's one of those products that you didn't know you needed until you knew it existed.

00;43;04;20 - 00;43;24;22
Chris
And then you're wondering why you still have it. So it's from cat. It, Cat it makes all sorts of great products. You should definitely check out their site. And I'm going to, you know, the link is going to be there. And all this is, is a little rubber clip you put on a wall corner and it has, you know, little, silicone tendrils.

00;43;24;22 - 00;43;47;01
Chris
It's like it's like a self groomers here. Cat could go to the corner and rub up against it and groom their face and scratch their own head. Because fun fact, cats can't get under here. They don't really know how to get under their chin. So they'll often rub against things like, I'm getting one of these now because Tiger uses my backpack.

00;43;47;04 - 00;44;06;05
Chris
She'll find my backpack, finds where the zipper is, and rubs up against the zipper. Because they need to, you know, in nature they use a tree or something like that, or a rock or or something along those lines. So it's it's five bucks. It's $5. You clip it onto the, like a low part in a corner, somewhere out of the way and let them go nuts.

00;44;06;05 - 00;44;08;04
Chris
I just think it's one of those things I saw. I was like.

00;44;08;06 - 00;44;08;16
Kristen
I love.

00;44;08;16 - 00;44;31;08
Chris
It. Like, how do I not how do I not know about this? So for me and all the cats out there, spend the five bucks, people come out there working Q and A's. All right, Kristen, it's time for our favorite part of the show. That's right. We're gonna answer. We're going to answer some questions. We're going to answer some questions from our wonderful audience.

00;44;31;08 - 00;44;51;28
Chris
And I know what you're thinking. How do I have my question answered by Chris and Kristen? Well, it's quite, quite simple, people. You're going to go over to Pets Add life.org/podcast, stroll on down to the bottom of the page, and you're going to see a form to submit your question. Or if you're as brave as a startup social media star.

00;44;52;00 - 00;45;08;12
Chris
And if listen, if you're one of those, you're going to have to get on the microphone anyway. So you might as well practice by sending us a voice memo. Send us a voice memo and you'll hear your question played live on this show. But without further ado, Kristen, I've got a question here for you. You ready?

00;45;08;14 - 00;45;10;05
Kristen
All right, hit me with it.

00;45;10;07 - 00;45;33;03
Chris
All right. This question comes from Jake, who is from Austin, Texas. Thank you for the question, Jake. My dog buddy is super friendly with humans, but really shy around other dogs. I want to help him socialize more, but I don't want to overwhelm him. What's the best way to slowly introduce him to other dogs and help him feel more comfortable?

00;45;33;06 - 00;45;58;02
Kristen
Oh great question Jake, and it's nice that you're very sensitive to buddy's feelings about other dogs. I think, what I would suggest is to start with distance work. So in other words, let buddy watchdog dogs from, you know, a safe distance far away, either across the street or maybe there's a park on the other side of the street where he can watch safely without feeling intimidated.

00;45;58;04 - 00;46;19;19
Kristen
And then as he it if as long as he's got calm behavior, reward him with treats and only move closer if you feel like he's showing that he's relaxed at that distance, you know, and take it slow. Don't feel like this has to happen, you know, over a couple of days or weeks. This is something that you want to take several weeks, even maybe months to, to, to work on.

00;46;19;21 - 00;46;43;22
Kristen
And then also important is to choose the right setting. So you, I would say avoid dog parks because, I mean, unless you're, you're letting buddy, observe a dog park from afar. But a dog park can be really overwhelming for a dog who isn't. He is not, comfortable around dogs. And and also, you can do, the thing where you like parallel walk beside another dog.

00;46;43;22 - 00;47;04;07
Kristen
So let's say buddy, buddy's doing better. As with the distance training, and you're closing that distance gap. Try, you know, enlist a friend with a dog and maybe both walk your dogs on opposite sides of the street. And as long as buddy's comfortable doing that, give him treats and praise and, you know, before you know it, buddy might be very comfortable.

00;47;04;10 - 00;47;26;01
Kristen
You know, walking next to other dogs or playing with other dogs. But I think it's important to point out that the goal here is not to turn, buddy into just this canine social butterfly, but really just to make sure that he can calmly pass dogs on a walk. And if you find that he really can learn to enjoy being around other dogs, then that's bonus.

00;47;26;03 - 00;47;33;17
Chris
Buddy and I have a lot in common. Buddy and I have a lot in common now. I love your.

00;47;33;20 - 00;47;35;10
Kristen
Other dog stress. You are other people.

00;47;35;16 - 00;47;53;21
Chris
Other people stress me out. Okay. Yeah, especially when they're really close to me. Especially if they're trying to sniff me. I don't like it when people try to sniff me. But I really like what you said about, like, this is this is a lot like a long term training thing. I think a lot of people think there's like, a a get rich trick.

00;47;53;23 - 00;48;13;09
Chris
You get rich quick trick for a lot of training stuff. And something big like this is going to be a longer time commitment that you have to stay committed to because the dog is like, it's just like anything else. Dog's going to want to give up. But it's going to do anything with you to make you proud, make you happy.

00;48;13;11 - 00;48;23;25
Chris
That's the way the relationship works. So you have to stay committed, to help buddy through his social anxiety. But great. Be patient. Answer. Great answer. Kristen.

00;48;23;27 - 00;48;25;27
Kristen
Thank you.

00;48;25;29 - 00;48;37;21
Chris
Man. The energy of this podcast is insane. Right now we just go completely off the rails. And so I think we just have to call it I think it's over. I mean, it's been it's this has been this has been fun.

00;48;37;23 - 00;48;38;23
Kristen
It has been fun.

00;48;38;23 - 00;48;43;26
Chris
Yeah. I would say you'll see us here again next week. I don't know if you'll see me somebody else.

00;48;43;27 - 00;48;50;07
Kristen
You know, you're you're you're assuming Tori wants this job. You know, she has her own podcast. So I think you're. I think your job is safe, Chris.

00;48;50;10 - 00;48;58;19
Chris
Wow. That is. That's like a double burn across the board. That didn't make me feel good at all. I know you were trying to make me feel better, but.

00;48;58;24 - 00;48;59;26
Kristen
I meant to.

00;48;59;28 - 00;49;22;03
Chris
It's. That's okay. It's all right, people. Well, you want to make me feel better. Here's something you could do. You could follow us on Instagram and TikTok. I know I said TikTok was going to die, but they brought it back. So TikTok back. Instagram is not going anywhere. Follow pets, add life, follow dog TV. I get in the comments, talk about how wonderful I am, really boost my spirits, try to give me some job security.

00;49;22;03 - 00;49;43;15
Chris
People say talk about all the funny things Chris says that nobody else could possibly come up with. His beautiful, dark, twisted mind. Just keeps you entertained. Glued, glued to your television set for hours on end. Dog TV's got a new channel, so download that if you've got, you know, an Amazon Fire stick or whatever else that that works on it.

00;49;43;15 - 00;49;56;19
Chris
It's all sorts of good stuff, right? Kristen, we're at Christine's birthday. Happy birthday. So get get in the car soon. Wish you a happy 34th birthday.

00;49;56;22 - 00;50;03;06
Kristen
And I would also like to say, thanks for the birthday wishes and bon voyage. Until next week.

00;50;03;08 - 00;50;03;27
Chris
No comment.