74. Raw Food, Rescue Dogs & Bodega Cats

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Speaker 1 (00:00):

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 Bonafide, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv.

Speaker 2 (00:15):

Hello and welcome to another episode of Pets Add Life. My name is Chris Bonti and joining me is one of the fine diners. The Conno sours, one of the upper crust of the pet industry. It is Kristen Levine. Kristen, how are we doing today?

Speaker 3 (00:35):

Fine diners. Where'd you get that from?

Speaker 2 (00:38):

I don't know, man. I am just thinking of stuff at this point.

Speaker 3 (00:42):

I do like a fine dining series though.

Speaker 2 (00:43):

Yeah, there's

Speaker 3 (00:44):

Got me there.

Speaker 2 (00:45):

You

Speaker 3 (00:46):

Got me there. It's hot outside. It's so

Speaker 2 (00:48):

Hot and it is affecting my ability to think. It has got to the point where it's too hot to be good.

Speaker 3 (00:59):

Okay, well let's see. Let's jump into story time

Speaker 2 (01:05):

And

Speaker 3 (01:06):

Cool off a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:06):

Yeah. Let's towel off

Speaker 1 (01:08):

With some stories. Kristen and Chris, present story time.

Speaker 3 (01:14):

I'll go first today with my story. This is a close call story. So this is more like a PSA kind of a warning. I came across this story from the pet Poison control about a Labrador named Kaya. And what happened was Kaya got into her owner's medication for something, what was it? Powerful medication. Oh, multiple sclerosis. I can't say that without two cups of coffee

Speaker 4 (01:42):

Sclerosis.

Speaker 3 (01:44):

Yeah, that's not even funny. But so she got into this medication. She started to have seizures. They were freaking out, but fortunately they were aware of the pet poison control hotline. So they called them. They were told to go immediately to their veterinarian, and I think it was after hours. So they had to go to a Blue Pearl Hospital, which had an emergency department. And what happens when you call if you suspect your pet has ingested something toxic? When you call poison control, they work directly with your veterinarian to resolve the issue. Because even the emergency vet, although they're used to emergencies and toxicities, they might not be, have experience with each specific potential toxicity your pet could have gotten into. So that's why it's really important that the toxicologist at the pet, poison control collaborates with your veterinarian to set up the best protocol.

(02:43):

So in this case, things worked out well. Kaya did rack up a pretty significant vet bill because she spent some time in the ER and intensive care, but she got IV fluids and medication to control her tremors and vomiting. But the takeaways really are that time is very important. When you suspect a toxicity, your pet gets into a dangerous plant, a bag of chocolate medication, you really don't have time to wait around and see. You really should contact your vet or a poison control right away because even small amounts of a toxic substance can be deadly. I remember I interviewed, and I know we've interviewed her too, Dr. Renee Schmidt, who works over at the pet Poison Control, she was telling me that human medications are in the top three most common calls they get. And so I think it's a good reminder, thank goodness, thank goodness. Kaya is okay, but it's just a great reminder for us to keep things like that out of reach of not only our kids, but our pets as well.

Speaker 2 (03:57):

Every dog is a toddler.

Speaker 3 (04:00):

That is. So that's way you got to think

Speaker 2 (04:01):

About it. That is so true. If you wouldn't keep that medication in that spot because you have a toddler, don't keep it there because you have a dog. It's great rule of thumb. They will. They see you eating something from that bottle every day. They think it's delicious. They will learn that that bottle is valuable and they will see it and they will go after it.

Speaker 3 (04:22):

Well, and not only that, but even a childproof medicine bottle, it might be childproof, but if you have a Labrador, they're, it

Speaker 2 (04:29):

Ain't dog proof. They're going to chew right through that. It ain't, they call it child proof. It ain't dog proof, right? Yeah. Little fun fact. Pretty much every child proof thing is also crisp proof. I'm terrible at 'em. Can't get anything open. It's terrible. All my story, my story is about the legalization of something everybody's doing, but nobody ever really got in trouble for. No, I'm not talking about marijuana folks. I'm talking about Bodega Cats in New York City.

(05:02):

I didn't know. So it makes sense. Most bodegas, and for those of you who don't know what a bodega is, it's like a New York hole in the wall deli that's like park grocery store, part hot food, buffet Park Grill just serves their little tiny one block community for all the people going to work or walking to school and stuff. You could get yourself a breakfast or a bag of chips or a cold drink on a hot day. They're great and they always have the best sandwiches. Don't be afraid to go into a weird looking one. And part of the culture is they typically have cats and that culture revolves from the cats being used to keep the mice out. There's rat problems everywhere in New York, but it's not allowed, you can't have a pet in a restaurant like staying there because it counts as a restaurant making food fresh. Right. Well, it turns out that New York is now aiming to legalize. The headline is great. NYC aims to legalize bodega cats. For real,

Speaker 4 (06:10):

For real,

Speaker 2 (06:11):

For real. This time. So council member Keith Powers has announced plans this week to introduce a bill that would legalize bodega cats. Despite their popularity, cats have been technically banned from stores that sell food but hasn't stopped them from becoming beloved neighborhood fixtures. And many New Yorkers say these cats are what make a bodega feel like home. So I just thought, like me being a little New York guy over here, my favorite part of the bodega is the cat. I don't think it's complete without it. So very funny. New York is full of laws that exist that nobody follows and nobody enforces. So it's about time to strip this one away. I

Speaker 3 (06:53):

Know. I didn't know it was illegal to have a bodega cat. I

Speaker 2 (06:56):

Seen that. Well, I don't think they ever meant to make it illegal. I think it was just part of the food safety legislation that gets passed and wow, it turns out bodegas count is this because they're making food and nobody had the heart to actually enforce it. So it's time to give them the legal exemption

Speaker 1 (07:14):

Beyond the leash, exploring the untold stories of pet passion and professionalism.

Speaker 2 (07:18):

Alright, still here, live at Global Pet Expoing. Joined now by Brian McDonald, the director of e-Commerce at omas Pride, a fourth generation family owned company specializing in all natural, raw pet food with a rich background in marketing and sales across diverse industries. Brian has been instrumental in driving significant growth at omas Pride achieving a remarkable, remarkable, remarkable you TM trademark that remarkable 40% increasing just 10 months. His expertise encompasses crafting compelling brand stories, cultivating meaningful customer relationships, and implementing innovative marketing strategies beyond his professional endeavors. Brian operates the social media account, anything but a salad. He's also has his own podcasts. He does recipes, he does comedy skits. He's a real renaissance man residing in fellow Connecticut or fellow cutter with his wife and three children. Brian continues to blend his professional acumen with personal passions. Brian, thank you so much for hopping on the PO

Speaker 5 (08:26):

Today. I mean, what an intro.

Speaker 2 (08:27):

I know, right? There's no

Speaker 5 (08:29):

Time left. I feel like there needs to be fire coming up works. Where's the fuck you for NICs? Where's the bug? Where's the, it's some AI animation in here. No, that was great. Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate Course. Great to meet you guys. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (08:42):

Let's knock it off the, let's address first the business

Speaker 5 (08:46):

And

Speaker 2 (08:46):

That 40% growth in under a year.

Speaker 5 (08:51):

How,

(08:53):

Tell us your secret, how I came along. So long story short, it's a fourth generation family business. So the 1950s where the family was in human food, they own and operate on their own farm in Avon, Connecticut. And the human food line went up until the 1990s. And then from the nineties, the second generation owner noticed that, hey, something's about this raw pet food. So she had a very sick dog at the time, and next thing you know, she's like, we already have the human food, let's start feeding it. And that transformed into the raw pet food. So generation by generation came, and when I was in a separate industry, I met Adam, who's now the fourth generation owner. And at that time he was trying to bring the family's values, brand and product quality, and then add that to the 21st century. So the family was still stuck in its ways in regards to being that family New England business. We hit it off connected and he's like, Hey, let's do this together, help with the marketing and e-comm side of it. And he handles the actual operational aspect of the pet food business. So we came in and really ripped it to the guts in regards to how it's marketed and operated. Is

Speaker 3 (10:02):

That a pun? Like a raw food pun ripped it to the guts.

Speaker 5 (10:04):

No, it could be though. It could be that. I'll tell you, this should be on some package. Some of 'em was pride literally to the core in regards to email campaigns flows, product offerings, how we portray ourselves on social media. I'm a big social media guy. I believe in it heavily. So really the A to Z aspect of everything from the website to offerings to our email structure and campaigns and then to the social media side of it and just the brand's always been there. We have one of, if not the best product, I believe in the category. It was just a matter of amplifying it. And that's sort of, I talk loud, that's my specialty, right? So there we go.

Speaker 2 (10:45):

I'm right there with you. You don't have to say something smart, you got to say it real loud.

Speaker 5 (10:49):

That's it. So yeah, that's what I love to do. And just getting that distribution out there, distribution of product, distribution of media, that's the most important element of any business.

Speaker 2 (10:59):

If

Speaker 5 (10:59):

You have distribution, you hold the keys.

Speaker 3 (11:02):

So

Speaker 5 (11:02):

Yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:03):

So Brian, for our pet parents that are listening, I would imagine a huge part of what you have to do is educate people, educate the consumer about raw.

Speaker 5 (11:12):

Yes.

Speaker 3 (11:13):

So talk us through how you're doing that.

Speaker 5 (11:15):

Yeah, so believe it or not, I think one of the best things that happened in my eyes for us and then the pet industry in general was the growth of the freshly gently cooked category Before there was no bridge between kibble and raw. So it's very hard to get a consumer on that side over to raw. And the category that developed within freshly and gently cooked helps sort of bridge that gap a little bit. So all of the tens of billions of dollars that your farmer's dogs of the world are spending help us because once they get over to there, it's a little bit easier to transition to us. So I think educating that consumer, that's sort of our ICP, right? Someone that feeds either a high-end kibble or someone that's on freshly and gently cooked. And the educational component, once you have that, is a lot easier than attacking the wrong consumer.

Speaker 2 (12:03):

So educate me a bit, I'm a cat dad. My cat eats just like the most basic canned food. She's an old lady and she's not changing her ways. But what are the benefits to an Omas Pride diet? What's the basic pitch? What are you selling people

Speaker 5 (12:17):

On? Yeah, absolutely right. So we actually had a really cool story about two weeks ago, and this sort of encapsulates what we know our product to be true, to be able to do. So one lady, very itchy, very itchy cap, very itchy cap, had loose stools, regular stools coat wasn't that great. And she was really battling going back and forth between different canned options, switched over to Omas Pride and did that as a gradual method. So a lot of folks will incorporate a little bit days one, two, and three, add a little bit more, four, five and six, et cetera. And then after two or three weeks she was like, I can't, this looks like a brand new cat, right? More energy, better stools, shinier, healthier coat, incredible teeth. So the entire animal health or with the canines, it encapsulates the entire body inside and out and the energy and then the coat, I would say are the two big things that we get from pet parents

Speaker 3 (13:20):

In

Speaker 5 (13:20):

Regards to this is what we've noticed right away.

Speaker 3 (13:24):

What are some of the misconceptions about raw feeding?

Speaker 5 (13:27):

For sure. I think the biggest one is it's very two things. It's very intimidating, the raw name. So a lot of people get very scared in regards to handling the food themselves.

(13:37):

So I believe that pet parents have a harder time coming to terms with handling it and serving it than they do giving it to their animals. So that's a barrier that is a little tough to break down, which is why I mentioned the freshly, gently cooked stuff. But then once you get to the feeding portion of raw, it's your bacteria, salmonella, e coli, listeria. And we do a really good job at Omas Pride that comes first with us. We bacterial faia food. So it's an all natural kill step process. It only specifically targets salmonella, e coli and listeria within the food. It's the same process that's actually used when you go to the grocery store and buy smoked salmon for an example.

Speaker 4 (14:15):

So

Speaker 5 (14:16):

It's used in human foods, very safe, one of the, if not the safest. And that educational component in regards to getting pet parents to feel safe that their animals are going to be healthy and not get sick. That's a huge thing that we like to talk about a lot. Yeah,

Speaker 2 (14:31):

Absolutely. I want to pivot for a second. Can we pivot? Do it. You've got your other social media accounts, you've got your own podcast. And as somebody who also has two distinct personalities, I find that sometimes some of the best stuff for work comes out when I let it bleed through. So what are the lessons you learned from running comedy and cooking content and bringing that over into community engagement with omas Pride?

Speaker 5 (15:03):

Yes. Yes. I think we have an interesting crew at the office that always helps very interesting crew. And the pet world in my eyes, doesn't do a great job of having people sell to people. A lot of when we walk around the show, it's product selling to people and bringing the people at Omas Pride as the forefront. Standing next to the food is very important for us on it's who we are, what we do. People fall in love with us and they fall in love with our food or vice versa. So the big thing for us is showcasing our personalities, who we are at the office. We have a skit and TikTok that's going super viral right now where we compare ourselves to the office, the TV show

Speaker 4 (15:44):

Now. So

Speaker 5 (15:45):

We do an office thing on there, but the big thing for us is getting out there every single day, whether it's on social media, email, et cetera, showcasing who we are along with our product. Because you're the gym, aren't you? What's that? You're the gym, aren't you? Yes, yes. Say Jim. Yes, I get Michael sometimes a little awkward, but for the most part, the biggest thing is getting everyone at the brand sort of in front of the camera in

Speaker 4 (16:13):

A way.

Speaker 5 (16:14):

And when people think of Omas Pride, they think of our food, but then they also think of Adam and Brian and Nina,

Speaker 3 (16:20):

And

Speaker 5 (16:21):

That's the biggest missing gap in pet.

Speaker 3 (16:23):

That's really cool because then it kind of takes the brand away, not that you're trying to remove the brand, but people get to know the company through the people as opposed to it's always coming, the messaging is always coming from the brand.

Speaker 2 (16:34):

Absolutely. And I think that that always works really well because you think about how influencers exist, why do they exist? It's because you almost fall in love with their personality. It's like a cult of personality. So if you have these awesome people around your office, and it's something we're trying to do with Global Pads a little bit more is get some of our people in front of the camera

Speaker 5 (16:54):

Because

Speaker 2 (16:55):

You take away this idea of you've got a nice logo there with Omar. Yeah, there she is, right there. We've got just this global pet expo thing going on. So this is what people see and associate with us. But no, there's 25 hard workers with real lives, real stories, actual pets trying to work together for the industry. And I think that is really how you could reach out and grab a hold of a strong base.

Speaker 5 (17:19):

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. Couldn't agree more.

Speaker 3 (17:21):

Yeah. Can we pivot again? Pivot.

Speaker 5 (17:23):

Let's pivot again.

Speaker 3 (17:24):

I want to pivot again because I got to sit in on one of a panel that you spoke on

Speaker 5 (17:28):

Yesterday.

Speaker 3 (17:30):

Yesterday. Yes. It's awesome. And you were talking, I hope, I hope I'm getting this right, but didn't you say you guys had a one pound sample size

Speaker 5 (17:38):

Product

Speaker 3 (17:38):

Offering, which would be great for people who want to try Roth

Speaker 5 (17:41):

Meeting? Yes, absolutely. So Rob runs all of our, he's our national sales director on the retail side of it. And he came to Adam and I and a couple folks, and this was probably call it like seven, eight months ago. And he's like, Hey, there's a huge missing gap in the raw pet sector and retail where it's not only intimidating to try, but it's expensive to try. Yes. Right. Freshly and gently does a great job because they have their one pound sleeves, 10, $12 price point. A pet parent can try it. If they love it, they can come back, move up to the next volume in size. Well that was missing in RAW because you only had your three and six pound bags. So entry point was 50, $60

Speaker 3 (18:17):

Just

Speaker 5 (18:18):

To try raw, right? And it's like not only am I intimidated, but now I got to give you 50 bucks to try your chicken. So it's like, alright. So we're like, all right, well let's just do one pounders. So we sell 'em in six pound grab and go sleeves in our retail stores. Typical MSRP on those is like 10 to 12 bucks. Nice. So someone can grab our complete, their complete recipes we have per as well for the cats. And then we have our tripe and stuff like that, a bunch of single proteins. But the completes are chicken, Turkey, lamb, beef, we got trite, we have our purse. So pet parents can go in there, try that. Let me try a chicken and beef, see how I like it. If they like it, they can move up to the bag. If they like the bag, they can get a bolt box. Right. So it's sort of that.

Speaker 2 (18:56):

Is that like an idea you got because you're sort of listening to the consumer, listening to the customer when there's always pushback, right? That's the point of selling for sure is you have a pitch and people push back and you make that adjustment. Are there any other ways you've adjusted either operations or your brand or your marketing based on just what you hear back from your most faithful champions?

Speaker 5 (19:18):

Yeah. Yeah. I think on the retail and e-commerce side of it. So that's one example in retail. And when I look at pet, I look at, there's really two ways to sort of make your market. It's you either create a brand new innovative product that doesn't exist, or you create a different way that the products sold. Because 99% of the people, it's just different coloring and packaging. It's all the same stuff. So how do we take something that we know to be true and love and make it a different, easier way for folks to feed? So we did that in retail on e-comm. We offer some really cool bulk boxes that don't really exist in the e-comm world and the sizes that we sell them. So we make it easier for parents that want to order in bulk at home. We make it easier for people to try our food in retail. So all of those elements sort of encompass together.

Speaker 3 (20:01):

Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. Well, where can folks find omas pride and where can they follow you

Speaker 5 (20:05):

On social? Tell you what? Yeah, so social media, omas Pride, pet food or omas Pride on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, you got to follow TikTok right now. Got to follow you got to follow TikTok. Got it. They almost banned it. You got it. They're going to take it away again by LinkedIn's a great follow. I'm the funniest guy on LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 (20:20):

I believe that because there's nobody funny on LinkedIn. No one's funny. No, I'm not even funny on LinkedIn.

Speaker 5 (20:25):

Quick LinkedIn plug and then OMI pride.com, our direct to consumer. We also are available roughly now in a little over 1100, 1200 independent pet stores.

Speaker 2 (20:35):

Awesome.

Speaker 5 (20:35):

In the United States, we have a wholesale channel as well. So whether you're a breeder, whether you are, we still do driveway drops, we'll drop off pallets of food. It's our legacy business. That's how OMI Pride started. Wow. Started. Yeah. That awesome. We have our direct to consumer business and then we have our wholesale business. So our philosophy is we're not going to dictate where the customer wants to buy the food. We just want to be there where they want to buy it.

Speaker 3 (20:55):

So whether you want to a pound or a pallet,

Speaker 5 (20:56):

Yes. Pound can

Speaker 2 (20:57):

Help you. We got it. Pride's got you covered. Thank you so much. I know Global Pet Expo is super, super busy whirlwind, so we appreciate you stopping by taking the time almost Pride is lucky to have you. We're lucky to have you on the podcast. That's right. Thank you guys. Have fun at the rest of global man. Yes, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (21:17):

Alright, please join me in welcoming our first guest today, Susanna Charleston. She's a New York Times bestselling author, a pilot, a flight instructor. I'm not done yet. A service dog trainer and a seasoned canine search and rescue handler. Just an overall overachiever writing professionally since 1981, Susanna has created content across radio, tv, print, web, and even and a OL serial fiction as an SAR handler, which is Search and Rescue. She first partnered with Puzzle a certified golden retriever, and now works with Gambit. I love those names. They're both great at home in Texas. She cares for a lively crew of rescue dogs, cats, and even a paralyzed pup on wheels. And her debut memoir sent of the missing recounts her search and rescue experiences and hit the New York Times bestseller list. She also followed it with the possibility of dogs in 2013 and where the lost dogs go in 2019. She's a prolific writer as you can see. So without further ado, welcome Susanna.

Speaker 6 (22:27):

Thank you so much. Thanks so much. That is by the way, puzzle over my shoulder. Over my shoulder is the blade and wonderful puzzle.

Speaker 3 (22:37):

I love it. I love it. So let's just start off with, I would love to know, how did your background as a pilot and flight instructor influence your decision to volunteer in canine search and Rescue?

Speaker 6 (22:48):

Well, yes. I became a flight instructor in 1991, and very quickly after I started that work, I started flying with a couple of police officers who were working with a local jurisdiction and I was actually their flight instructor, but a few times, this was a jurisdiction that didn't have their own helicopter, didn't have, this was before drones, of course, didn't have their ability to do over flights, particularly for photographers after any kind of incident where they needed photography. And so I started flying for this jurisdiction and I ended up flying quite a bit over disaster areas. So farmland was often impacted by flooding, and so they would have me overly to check for stranded livestock, stranded people, stranded, whatever. I did a lot of that and word got around and I ended up flying for other small jurisdictions. And then there was a point where I was asked to carry a photographer once the air clearance was allowed over the site of the me federal building bombing. And I remember even at altitude, you can see a great deal. And I distinctly remember looking down and seeing a dog and handler coming out of the rubble.

(24:10):

And I remember thinking, not every disaster needs an airplane, but they almost all need dogs. And I mean, that was the pivotal moment for me. And I came back and started researching and there were some teams in the area and I joined one local to me. And that's how that all began. And it began at a really critical time. Interestingly, I finally found the team I wanted to work with just months before nine 11.

Speaker 3 (24:40):

Wow.

Speaker 6 (24:41):

Right. Yes. So we had no idea what was forthcoming. And then we had the fall of shuttle Columbia just two years later, Katrina just four years later. And if you've lived in the country we live in interesting times. Natural disaster. Yes, we do. And the need for dogs was so immediately critical, but I'm just glad you have had that chance to

Speaker 2 (25:08):

Do that. That's absolutely amazing. And looking in your background there, we've got the cover of the book, scent of the Missing. Can you talk a little bit about the book and what inspired you to share these stories?

Speaker 6 (25:23):

I was a journalist as well. I mean, my day job, if you will, was teaching journalism and radio, television, film. So when I started working with Canine Search and Rescue, I realized that very few people had an idea of what that work is actually like. I mean, we see it. It was all very hollywoodized and glitzy and we see these iconic photos coming out of the trade center, but the interior experience was relatively uncovered. So I wanted people to get in the field with us and know when we're training a dog, what goes through our minds, what catches our hearts, because the training process is frightening and you go into danger, the dog Sally's forth into danger and you love these animals, you love your partners and you want them safe, but they've got a job to do. And so I wanted that interior experience to be something that the audience was able to share. So I'm so sorry about it. Mail carrier, the mail carriers here, the mail carriers here, I must have a lot of mail.

Speaker 2 (26:33):

This is one of the few shows where the barking dog is encouraged. Ty. We're all pet people here.

Speaker 3 (26:40):

There you go. Yeah. So Susanna, I love how your books really give people a glimpse into your experience in the various capacities that you play. So in the Possibility Dogs, that's the book where you highlight service dogs from shelters. Right? Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Speaker 6 (26:59):

Yes. And in fact, I'm doing a presentation in Dallas on that tomorrow. Some of these topics are so evergreen. I mean, that book came out in 2013, and yet I'm still speaking on this work, which said, I mean, I think that's a credit to the work itself, that our possibility with partnership is ongoing and we're just really still scratching the surface. But yes, I was super interested in what capabilities were out there untapped in the rescue community because I saw some amazing search and rescue dogs that were the dogs that had come out of shelters that had been surrendered because they were too much for their families. Somebody bought a puppy and it got big and they put it out in the backyard because it was not a little tiny cute puppy anymore. And then it was very big and it was very active, and the family went more than I want.

(27:55):

And so they surrendered it to a shelter. And sometimes those big driven dogs turn out to be ideal working partners, and they turn out often to be ideal search and rescue dogs. And in the same sense, there are dogs and shelters that demonstrate that the core, solid, loving, supporting smart stability that makes for a good partner in service, emotional support or community comfort, also called therapy dogs. And I was just interested in exploring how we identify those dogs and how we track them successfully into those potential careers. And for 12 years, I was the executive director of a nonprofit, and that is exactly what we did. We identified dogs and rescue and we helped them find a place either as service dogs to support disability, emotional support, animals in the home or those wonderful community comfort dogs that go out and make a difference to a hurting public or an anxious public. And there are some sterling dogs out there. It takes care, it takes consideration, it takes thoughtfulness. It takes an excellent foster program to get those dogs accurately assessed and placed. But the turnaround for dog and human is amazing to see.

Speaker 2 (29:38):

Yeah. I'm curious, we've had a lot of people come on the show and talk about the dog breeds and traits that are predisposed to being therapy dogs or even seeing eye dogs, but I'm really curious about these search and rescue dogs, that pipeline. Where do they come from? Where do they come from? What type of dogs are sort of good at this kind of job? If there's any animal or dog fosters listening who may want to train their dogs for certain jobs, what type of traits should they be looking for?

Speaker 6 (30:16):

The search and rescue dog is the dog who is willing and eager to partner with a human. And that's true of all the working dog things. First of all, they've got to want to work with a human, but they need really good as well executive function. They've got to be good decision makers. So for instance, the rescue dog that you throw a ball, you got a big country yard and you throw a ball and it goes down into a ravine and it's in the water and there's ways to get to it. It's got to be a dog that figures out that way. The dog that you see is inventive, intuitive problem solving, that kind of thing, but is willing also to be trainable and to respond to your cues because sometimes your cues are what keeps 'em safe. You send a dog up on a rubble pile and you're at the base of it and you can see it wobble. You've got to have a cue to tell that dog to freeze, and that dog needs to freeze for their own safety and for the safety of anybody in the rubble. So these are the really motivated high prey or high play dogs, but also the dogs that love partnering with you who are eager to play with you, are eager to engage with. You are eager to learn new tasks and they've just got a lot of energy, a lot of drive, and they've got to be, obviously, they've got to be human friendly.

Speaker 3 (31:54):

Susan, Susanna, I was just going to say, you just described my dog to a T until you got to the part of human friendly. She only likes me and my husband.

Speaker 6 (32:02):

Yeah. That's the critical thing is because they're going to encounter on mass casualty, we don't know how many people are out there and they're going to encounter people who are in pain, who are terrified. And so they've got to be pretty human-centric as well.

Speaker 3 (32:21):

Yeah,

Speaker 1 (32:22):

Yeah.

Speaker 3 (32:23):

Well, we are coming up on time, but before we let you go, I know you have a fiction book coming out this year. Tell us a little bit about that and where we can find more about your experience and the books that you write.

Speaker 6 (32:35):

Well, I actually don't have a fiction book coming. I've got, sorry. No, that's okay. I've got a book dropping just on the 15th of July that is a partnership, actually a collaboration with a young woman who, with her husband renovated a house that was slated for demolition this awful circumstance only to discover an amazing historical secret in the house itself. So yeah, so it was her lived experience in my hands at the keyboard and me deep in the archives, the historical archives. But that's what's coming out. And then I've got another sort of more animal centric one slated for probably 2027. Fantastic. But anyway, my books are available anywhere. Amazon independents. I mean, they're out there, so they're easy to find.

Speaker 3 (33:32):

Excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Suzanne, and for all the incredible work that you've done in so many different areas. It was a pleasure meeting you.

Speaker 2 (33:40):

Yes, thank you. Thank

Speaker 6 (33:41):

You so much. It's great to be here and thank you. Take care.

Speaker 2 (33:46):

After you said that, tulip checks all the boxes in my head, I was just seeing a big army guy in his fatigues and his general stars looking at A-C-C-T-V of a disaster and getting on the microphone and saying, deploy the tactical tulip. A tulip like jumping out of an airplane with a parachute in the tactical tulip in there.

Speaker 3 (34:14):

18 pound tactical tulip. I love it.

Speaker 2 (34:18):

Oh, but Susanna, that's awesome. What a career. What a really cool career.

Speaker 3 (34:22):

Amazing.

Speaker 2 (34:24):

Yeah. I feel like everything we have all these guests come out and they just make me regret so many of my life choices. You still got time, you're young, you time some time I could train, search and rescue dogs and do all that. Cool. And become a pilot too. Yeah, I still got time. Alright, it's time for the product up for the week.

Speaker 3 (34:48):

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (34:48):

Getting little

Speaker 3 (34:49):

Ay, that was extra.

Speaker 2 (34:51):

Well, it's 3:00 AM in a warehouse and they're making me talk about pet products, so they're going to get that kind of energy. I found a little thing as I doom scrolled watching the news flood in from all of the incredible world events that are taking place, and I was seeking refuge in my safe little echo chamber of social media. I found a little advertisement because all I get is kitchen and pet products on Instagram. That is the only thing targeted towards me. And I think Instagram thinks I'm interested in adopting a dog, which is funny because we're really not a dog household. We don't have property. It's just not as much as I would love to have a dog. It's really not appropriate for us. But I digress, given me all these puppy products and I saw a really cool one, which is a pee padd that changes colors to monitor your dog's health.

(35:50):

So you could grab this, it's from genius litter actually, which makes a great cat litter. You should check that out too. But you throw down this pad and let me see, do they have, they do. They do. So if it's red, high acidity in urine, dehydration, kidney issues, metabolic acidosis, UTIs makes it more stable for bacteria. Deep red is like go bring them to the vet and then there's, it doesn't change colors stays as like a yellow to light green, it's fine. And then high alkaline, it might be a sign of osis, which I've never heard of before. So much must be pretty rare infections. Chronic kidney disease increases the risk of stones and crystal formations and may indicate bad metabolic disorders. So either way, no matter where you fall either on the blue or the red, it's like, okay, we need to bring this animal to the vet, but this is going to catch these issues before the puppy displays any outward symptoms. The one commonality about animals is they're going to hide their illnesses from you. They're going to disguise their symptoms until it becomes too much to bear. A product like this can help you diagnose early on before when you have these levels in the urine, it's often before the actual problem is taking place. And you could take corrective action or give medication before things get too bad. So check it out. I think it's like 25 bucks for a pack of these bad boys. So while your puppy is still using the pee padd, check it out.

Speaker 3 (37:41):

And I assume it sounds like they're made for puppies, but I assume you could use it for any dog that maybe, I know a lot of people that have small dogs use pee pads in the home. So I guess it could be for new dog. Okay.

Speaker 4 (37:51):

Very

Speaker 3 (37:51):

Smart diagnostic pee pads. Okay, so kind of along the same lines, my product is an AI health and behavior tracker for your dog. I guess it could be for your cat too. It's called the phi. And this is the PHI Series three smart Dog collar. Now there are a lot of smart dog collars, and this has been a trend for probably the past 10 years, but they just keep getting smarter and smarter. And now with ai, they can really, really deliver a lot of information just like those pee pads we talked about that can help you catch potential problems early on. So here's what this, it's got a real time monitoring device and it watches for things like barking, licking, scratching, eating, drinking, activity, and sleep. So I guess you get to know your dog's baseline for any of those activities. And if one seems to increase or decrease excessive licking of the paws or something like that, you might be alerted to a potential allergy or an infection or something like that. And then obviously it's got GPS tracking in it, which is what, that's the first reason I would get a eye collar for my dog tulip is because if she runs away, she loves to run after groundhogs out here. So if she takes off after a groundhog and gets lost, I want to be able to find her. So it's got the GPS, the behavior tracking. And what's cool now is they've integrated with the Apple Watch, so you can just get alerts right on your phone

(39:27):

About that kind of stuff. It's also waterproof and it has an LED nightlight. So as far as price goes, it looks like this thing's about 99 bucks. And then you have a monthly $14, what do you call that fee? It's like a subscription base. It's a subscription base that powers the GPS and all the features for $14 a month. However, if you watch the adoption show on dog tv, you may have noticed that if you adopt a dog from the adoption show, you're going to get a free PHI caller. So that's pretty cool. That's

Speaker 2 (40:04):

Awesome.

Speaker 3 (40:04):

If you check that show out, definitely. Definitely do

Speaker 2 (40:07):

So, man, I remember when the term smart dog collar just implied that it was very stylish. Had

Speaker 4 (40:15):

A bow tie on it.

Speaker 2 (40:16):

Yeah, he has like a little bow tie dogs walking around. Look at all smart. That's a lot of features. That's awesome. And yeah, if you could get your hands on one of those through the adoption show, that is a major award right there, q and as. Alright, Kristen Levi, it is time for our favorite segment of the show. That's right. We're going to answer two questions from our stupendous audience, our incredibly talented and attention giving audience, those who really key into our programming. And I know what you're thinking folks here. You want your questions answered and I have a solution for you. You're going to head on over to pets@life.org. I hope I did that right. If you're not watching us on video, you're missing my incredible physical comedy. Head on over to pets at life.org/podcast. Fill out the form, fill it out, ask your question, and we're going to answer it. But if you are feeling as brave as a bodega cat stopping an armed robbery, then yeah, it's happened before. Folks, just watch any movie about New York. It's always happening in the background. You can record a question and you'll hear it played live on the show. We got one last episode. If you didn't check that out, that was pretty cool. But for now, we're going to go ahead and get into today's questions, both of which were written into Kristen and Kristen. Kristen, you want to go first?

Speaker 3 (41:53):

Yeah, sure. So let's see. I'm going to read this question to you from Emma in Dallas, Texas. Emma says, my cat keeps, this is not a bodega cat, by the way. My cat keeps getting earwax buildup and scratching a lot. When should I schedule a vet visit and can I clean her ears at home safely?

Speaker 2 (42:11):

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think a cat scratching at its ears is already worth a vet visit if there's no obvious external rash where you're like, oh, skin issue and I could get some ointment, but typically you're looking at a few different possibilities. If there's a lot of either dark, brown black or just gross colored ear wax infection would be number one. I mean, people get it all the time. That's the sign of the ear infection is just sort of some gross leakage. Cats can get ear mites, which are tiny little parasites that could cause irritation. It could also be an allergy. But if you are seeing, especially the head shake when the cat's flicking its ear and the shaking its head like crazy. Yeah, take 'em to the vet. That's abnormal behavior. Your second question, can I clean my cat's ears at home? Absolutely. But you're not going to take a Q-tip and shove it down your cat's ears.

Speaker 4 (43:19):

No, you're

Speaker 2 (43:20):

Not going to do that. Okay, listen to me. You're not going to, you're go get a cotton pad or cotton ball and you are going to get some either warm water or any type of cleaning solution product that's safe for the cat ears, which is typically going to be water with the most trace amounts of either soap or alcohol. But some warm water is going to go a long way here and you're going to gently damp that cotton ball and you're just going to gently rub the inside of the ears. You're not going to go in, you're not going inside that ear. Cat's ears are incredibly sensitive, more so than people, we're not supposed to go inside our own ears. And I know we're doing that all the time. We shouldn't be. But cat's ears are even more sensitive. So you could clean the inside of the ear where you could easily reach your finger. We're not going to go down into the ear canal. And if there are issues in the ear canal that is a vet visit. So who was asking this question? What was the Emma? I think it was. This is Emma. Emma,

Speaker 3 (44:20):

Emma.

Speaker 2 (44:20):

So Emma, schedule that visit ASAP to get their next available appointment.

Speaker 3 (44:27):

Hey, you know what, Emma? I'm going to give Emma a bonus product of the week. And the reason being is it goes right along with your question. And I just saw this in my inbox yesterday. Reson has come out with a brand new ear rinse for dogs and cats. There

Speaker 2 (44:44):

You go.

Speaker 3 (44:44):

So check that out. I know veterinarians love that brand. So it's a good one to try

Speaker 2 (44:52):

A product of the question.

Speaker 3 (44:55):

What do you have for me

Speaker 2 (44:56):

Here? We got Jake from Orlando. I wonder if he works for State Farm. Jake asks My dog poles so hard on walks, I feel like I'm being dragged. Hit the gym. Jake, what's the best tool and training tip to fix leash polling?

Speaker 3 (45:14):

So Jake, I hope you don't have a 20 pound Be Sean or something like that. No, this is probably one of the most common problems that trainers get asked about. I am not a dog trainer, nor do I pretend to be one here on this podcast, but I do know that it's a very common problem and that it is something that can definitely be overcome. Typically, you have to have the right tools and the right kind of training methods. So first of all, let's talk about the tools you don't want to use. You do not want to use one of those prong collars or a choke chain

Speaker 4 (45:50):

Or

Speaker 3 (45:50):

Any kind of call that could cause your pet pain when they're pulling. There are a lot of really great harnesses and well, really harnesses are better when you have a pull than an actual collar. There's one called the no. Oh my gosh, this might be another bonus product of the week. No pull Freedom Harness, I think it's called. And then there's another one that I think Pet Safe makes Gentle leader. That's what it's called, the Gentle Leader. These are harnesses that use different pressure points on the body that deter your pet from pulling when you're walking them. So definitely look into those two tools. And then the other, I remember this tip from my trainer when I had chili because chili was a puller too when we first got him. And they always tell you to first of all, make sure you have some high value treats in your pocket when you go on a walk.

(46:44):

High value, meaning it's not the treats that you feed every day. It's something really, really, really special. And usually the stinky of the better. This will help you keep your dog's attention. When your dog starts to pull, you're supposed to stop walking, and then as soon as your dog stops pulling, then you start walking again. Or you can continually treat them with these high value treats as long as they're not pulling, but as soon as they pull, you stop. So that is my advice based on my experience. But Jake, if you're still having trouble, maybe you have a gigantic mastiff that is super, super strong, then you might want to inquire with a dog trainer.

Speaker 2 (47:25):

Well, Kristen, that is the end of our show for this week. How sad.

Speaker 3 (47:31):

So sad so long,

Speaker 2 (47:33):

Chris. We're going to be back in a week and if you aren't watching us, check us out on the dog TV Fast Channel dog TV unleashed. Check us out on YouTube, check us out on Instagram and TikTok and wherever social media clips are sold,

Speaker 1 (47:46):

Pets ad life, your guide to the latest in Pet Trends products, and the joy of the human animal Bond with Kristen Levine and Chris Bonafide, powered by the American Pet Products Association and Dog tv.