86. Honest Pet Reviews, Advocacy in Action & 30 Years of Earthbath

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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. The

Speaker 2 (00:14):

World's a little loud right now, so why not pause and relax. Download the dog TV app and stream soothing dog friendly content anytime. No signups, no credit card, no stress, just you, your pup, and a little peace and quiet. Pause and relax because your dog deserves a chill day too. Available now free through the end of 2025.

Speaker 3 (00:44):

Hello and welcome to an episode of Pets Add Life. This is ai Chris introducing his partner, ai Chris and Levine. Just kidding. It's us in the flesh.

Speaker 4 (00:58):

It is, it is. Now I've seen and heard AI Kristen Levine and it's scary.

Speaker 3 (01:03):

Yeah, it's jarring. You'll know that ai Chris is AI Chris because he's not funny. Only flesh suit. Chris can crack jokes like this. Get out on a T-shirt. Let's get dog tv. T-shirts that say only flesh soup. Chris can crack jokes. Jokes like this. It's like a tongue twister too. It's great. Full of ideas. Merch store. Coming to a merch store near you. Kristen, how are we doing today?

Speaker 4 (01:32):

I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Nothing to complain about. Got tulips sitting here next to me. Got a fun day planned.

Speaker 3 (01:39):

That's great. I've got plenty to complain about, but the show's only 48 minutes long. All right, then let's start it off with story time. Kristen and Chris, present story time. All right, story time. Kristen, you want me to kick it off? You want to go?

Speaker 4 (01:57):

Yeah, you can kick it off today.

Speaker 3 (01:58):

Alright. Yeah, that was a very Spice Girls. Yeah, only real Christian category. Oh no, hold on. So is that technically AI making the joke? So AI is making only real, Chris, I said, by the way, I said flesh suit Chris, because that is how AI would refer to me. Those look like game changer prompts. Anyway. Anyway, Ron's trying to distract me. He's taking away from the show. He's a man who subtracts. I've got a very serious story for you all, and I am serious about how serious it is, but this is a little bit of science coming at you should you let your pet sleep next to you? And does it even matter what the experts say? So this is a very funny kind of two-sided article from the Associated Press. Yeah, they brought in a bunch of this woman, Melissa Melanic, I hope I'm pronouncing that correct.

(02:53):

A professor at Medical University of South Carolina specializing in sleep health. And this is her exact quote. You can't say hands down, it's bad for every single person, but there is a lot out there saying it negatively impacts your sleep. And I as an example can say definitely it definitely can listen. Animals are going to wake you up. So if you have a dog, they're going to nuzzle up against you and that could wake you up if you have a cat, they're muscular. And she talks a lot about cats, how their sleep cycles are just so different from people and they get zoomies right before dawn and they get hungry right at dawn and they're going to wake you up and they don't care. They can't relate to a solid eight hours. They sleep different, they sleep like an hour at a time and then they're up.

(03:44):

They actually are weirded out by you sleeping for eight hours and in fact might wake you up. They think you're dead. They're like, wow, why is this big cat sleeping so much? Is he dead? Also, allergens, even if you don't have a cat allergy or a dog allergy, the allergens can still impact your breathing and your ability to fall asleep and prevent you from getting deep sleep. So these are all aspects. And then the second part of the article is basically a bunch of people being like, I don't care. I'm sleeping with my pet. Would to tell you yes, I'm not here to tell you here or there what you should be doing when it comes to sleeping with your pet, but you may be getting better Zs if you figure out a system where you could get some uninterrupted sleep. But hey, you're going to do what's right for you and that's fine.

Speaker 4 (04:44):

My story is so powerful that it crushed my computer. So I have a little bit different set here. So bear with me. Okay. You know how we talk about food puzzles a lot on this show, Chris? I know I featured it as a Proctor of the week many times and it just comes up a lot. I subscribed to this newsletter called Today's Veterinary Nurse just because I like to hear, I like to read about what veterinary nursing, what's happening in nursing. And they had this really great article about how they're encouraging their clients to use food puzzles, both obviously both the vets and the nurses. And I just thought I would share this with you because it really addresses so many potential challenges you might be having with your pet. Everything from obesity to boredom to providing enrichment. So along the lines of mental and emotional enrichment, food puzzles, let pets express natural behaviors like hunting, forging, and problem solving that they're not going to get to do with just a food bowl in terms of reducing boredom driven behavior, which could be destruction or even chewing or licking. These enrichment toys can help prevent anxiety, excessive barking or chewing and other unwanted habits. And there's tons of health benefits because puzzle feeders slow down your pet's eating, they support weight management and stimulates physical activity, which also encourages more natural foraging. So if we haven't already convinced you to try puzzle feeders and enrichment toys, then take it from the veterinary nurses. They want us all to do this for our pets. They

Speaker 3 (06:33):

Are good people to listen to trust, they're good people to listen to. They are

Speaker 1 (06:40):

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

Speaker 4 (06:45):

And our next guest is Pamela and her adorable dog. So hi guys. Hi. Thank you for having us. So this is another one of my friends. Chris,

Speaker 3 (06:56):

You have so many friends.

Speaker 4 (06:58):

I have lots of friends. No, Pamela and I have been working together for 10 years,

Speaker 5 (07:02):

I think it's been about 10 years.

Speaker 4 (07:04):

So she helped me make Tet Living what it is today, and she's just been a fantastic carner in my business. But she has started a really cool dog review website and it's called Dogs Review Stuff,

Speaker 3 (07:19):

Right?

Speaker 4 (07:20):

So look at Zuzu,

Speaker 3 (07:22):

Zuzu knows zuzu reviews stuff too. She reviews

Speaker 4 (07:24):

Stuff does all the time. She does. So tell us about dogs review stuff and why it's so important for pet parents to get real reviews. Not, I don't know, not that they're bought reviews, not thought reviews, but they're

Speaker 3 (07:39):

Out there.

Speaker 4 (07:39):

Tell us about it. And then I have a question about different types of reviews.

Speaker 5 (07:42):

Yeah, absolutely. I think we should start with the background of dogs reviews stuff and why I started it in 2021. I was looking for a carrier because Zuzu was going to go on her very first plane ride to Maine. Yes. We were headed back up to see family. And so I went to Petco or whatever was looking around and then wanted to look for reviews on products. And all I found were products that were very obviously paid reviews, just go buy this. This is what I use. But there was no real information.

Speaker 6 (08:11):

So

Speaker 5 (08:12):

When you're talking about taking your dog on a plane ride, you want to make sure they're comfortable, they're not going to be too hot. You want to make sure that the carrier actually fits underneath the seat so you don't have to have this last minute panic. And then the airline gives you their just crummy carrier just to get on the plane. And what I found was that a lot of these reviews were just very clearly paid or they were very blurry pictures or videos like low quality. And so I just felt like pet parents, they need to know the ins and outs. I'm a very pro and kind of person. So being able to see the pros and cons of a product and get that in depth review that was honest to me is just so important as a pet parent. And I think it's needed.

Speaker 3 (08:56):

So what makes the site different? Is it verified reviews? What is that differentiator that as a pet parent logging on? I know what I'm getting is earnest feedback.

Speaker 5 (09:07):

So that's a good question and one of the things that we do is have all of our dogs' review it. Typically, all of our dogs on our panel will review it. We have about seven dogs across three countries now. We have trainers that are some of our reviewers as well. And so we're super honest about if a product doesn't fit well with a dog. For instance, Zoe sent us one of their deer shake bone for reviews and Zuzu wouldn't touch it, but she's a super picky eater. So it wasn't really a big surprise.

(09:39):

And so we're just very honest about that. Hey, it worked for these other, I think we had four dogs on the panel that tried the seaweed bone and they loved it. We talked all about the ingredients and all the benefits to it, but because Suzu is a very picky eater, it just wasn't her thing. So I think being very honest and forthright about, okay, it might not be for your dog because of X, Y, Z, I think that helps instill some confidence and pet parents that they're not just getting another kind of BS review. Right,

Speaker 4 (10:09):

Right. And to that point, I think it's easy to spot a BS review, but what are some maybe red flags that maybe a review is not as authentic as the reader may think it is?

Speaker 5 (10:20):

So I think if it's all positive, there's some really great products out there, but no product is perfect and no product is perfect for every doc. I think Suzu is, she wants to say something, she's leaning into the microphone, speak up sweetie. So if there's absolutely no negatives about the product, I feel like that's a red flag.

Speaker 3 (10:41):

I like my go-to thing on Amazon. I call it the four star window of opportunity. Anything that's like a 4.8, I'm like fake. Anything too low, I'm, it might be bad, but when it's like that 4.0, 4.1, I'm like, oh, this works for most people. Or when you see 85,000 reviews, it's like, okay, there's no way that many people, how many people out there have actually left a review on Amazon? I've never done it. Where are these 85,000 coming from? So I think that's a really cool idea. It reminds me a lot of consumer reports actually.

Speaker 5 (11:17):

Yeah,

Speaker 3 (11:17):

But the consumer's the dog.

Speaker 5 (11:18):

Exactly. And they love it. I mean, all of our dogs love to try the products. We've got dogs like Suzu size, she's about 13 and a half pounds Yorkie Mix. And then she has her cousin Doug, who's 80 pounds, Doug the dog, and he's a big boy. He's a big chewer. So we have a really good range of dogs to try things out.

Speaker 4 (11:41):

And tell us how it works, since we're talking about the importance of authentic reviews, how does it work? How are you getting these products? Are brands paying you to do the reviews? What does that look like?

Speaker 5 (11:52):

Well, we're fairly new. And so yes, some brands have said, Hey, we'll send you some product. And we always disclose that. Of course, our primary platform is TikTok, and we're also on Instagram. The website actually just launched last week, so we'll be getting written content. We're brand new, we're going, we're going. And so sometimes they'll reach out and they'll send us product. Sometimes we just review products that we have around the house because we know other pet parents might want to know about it too. And so yeah, that's how we do it.

Speaker 3 (12:23):

So what do you see in terms of, as somebody who's using a lot of products, being sent some stuff, Steph, we have talked a lot about this podcast of the humanification of pets. The products are becoming higher quality, they're becoming more humanized. That blend between a pet and partner is sort of being dissolved. Is that the way you see the industry going? Do you see a lot more quality out there, or are there still some pitfalls that consumers should look out for?

Speaker 5 (12:58):

So I think yes and no, I guess is my take on that. I think during COVID, there were a lot of brands that launched because they saw holes in the market they thought they could fill. They may have launched a little bit sooner than they should have. They may not have the quality control that they should have. But now we're seeing those brands that are not designed to last, those are going away. And I think absolutely, yes, the humanification thing is a real thing. And we can see that even with nutrition trends, anything that's very trending with humans, that's going to follow for pets as well.

Speaker 4 (13:35):

And also people are wanting things more personalized. I met a lady yesterday that owns a dog supplement company that's only for giant breed dogs. If your dog is up, weather pounds are over. So people want not only just great quality nutrition, but nutrition for my breed, nutrition for my dog.

Speaker 3 (13:52):

I think that's super interesting. I mean, dogs are not just like people. They're not the same. They've got their own unique needs. I think that's why you had in that panel of dogs are so interesting because other influencers, and this is not a knock at influencers, but they have one or two dogs,

Speaker 6 (14:07):

And

Speaker 3 (14:07):

Oftentimes they're the same breed because that owner really likes that breed. So they'll have two corgis and that's fine. Yeah, the product is great for Corgi, is it going to be good for my great Dane's? A pretty big difference there. Exactly.

Speaker 5 (14:20):

Yeah. So we wanted pet parents to be able to relate to a pet on our panel. My sister is on our panel too, and she's got a little Frenchy bulldog. She lives in Paris. So we

Speaker 3 (14:33):

Has a French bulldog in French. She

Speaker 5 (14:34):

Has a French bull.

Speaker 3 (14:36):

I

Speaker 5 (14:36):

Know. So cliche, isn't it a French, French bulldog? It's a French French bulldog. His name is Max. And so we just have a really wide variety. We've got some schnauzers on our panel that are super hyper. And then of course you can see Suzu, my dog. She's not hyper. She's not hyper dogs.

Speaker 4 (14:54):

Well, this is awesome, Pamela. Thank you for joining us today and tell us where we can find dogs, review stuff online and non-social.

Speaker 5 (15:01):

We are dogs review stuff, one word on all of the platforms. TikTok, Instagram. We don't really do Facebook a whole lot, but you can find us also now on our new website, dogs review stuff.com.

Speaker 4 (15:10):

Fantastic. Fantastic. Excellent. Thank you, Zuzu, thank you for

Speaker 5 (15:13):

Having us. Thank

Speaker 4 (15:14):

You. Thank you. She just woke up. That's where I'm awake on. I'm glad we got to have Pamela on the show. She was kind of surprised when I asked her to be a guest, but I love what she's doing with dogs review stuff. I mean, it's a really cool platform where you can find really cool stuff for your dog that has been tested by real people that don't have any real true incentive monetarily to review it and give you an honest opinion.

Speaker 3 (15:45):

And joining us now is Mike Bober, the president and CEO of the Pet Advocacy Network, a leading organization dedicated to promoting responsible pet ownership and advocating for policies that support the wellbeing of pets and the pet care community. Under Mike's leadership Pan is undergone significant transformations including a successful rebranding, not easy from its former identity as the pet industry Joint Advisory Council. Oh my gosh. Pja what? Mouthful.

Speaker 4 (16:13):

So much better. So much better.

Speaker 3 (16:14):

With over a decade of experience in political outreach, Mike has been instrumental in engaging and educating elected officials on issues affecting companion animals and those who care for them, he is returning to the show for a second time. Mike, how are we doing today, ma'am?

Speaker 7 (16:29):

We're doing great. I need to pay you to follow me around and tell everybody that.

Speaker 3 (16:32):

Yeah, well they gave me one of those little portable microphones so I could do just that. So my rates are very competitive. Excellent. So why don't we just start with talking a little bit about pan. I'm sure most of our listeners prefer to ignore all the things that happen in Washington, but talk about a bit behind what Pan does and sort of the work that you're advocating for.

Speaker 7 (16:55):

Yeah, absolutely. We are the legislative and regulatory trade association that represents the responsible pet care community. We like to say that we represent everybody who's involved in bringing animals into the world, bringing them into your home, and then helping you care for them for their entire natural lives. We work with legislators and staff at the federal level, the state level, sometimes the local level, and we work on some international issues as well.

Speaker 4 (17:21):

Wow. What are some of the key advocacy campaigns that Pan's working on right now?

Speaker 7 (17:25):

Oh, we've got a lot going on right now. Broad basket. We say that everything we do kind of boils down to access to responsibly raised companion animals. So that's anything that makes it easier hopefully for people to bring dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, and small mammals into their lives. Would

Speaker 4 (17:44):

That be like pet-friendly housing?

Speaker 7 (17:46):

Housing is a big one. We're a big fan of the inclusive housing initiatives that have been going on. One of the things that we're working on in concert with the Human Animal Bond Research Institute is a program called the People and Animal Wellbeing Act. Paw. The PAW Act is an effort to make it possible for people to allocate money from their health savings accounts or flexible spending accounts to pay for veterinary visits or in some cases pet insurance.

Speaker 4 (18:13):

That's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (18:15):

Wow. Yeah, that would be really helpful. That's one of those things I didn't know I needed until you just explained it to me and now I need it now.

Speaker 7 (18:21):

And people leave a lot of money on the table in their HSAs and they can

Speaker 4 (18:24):

Use it for

Speaker 7 (18:25):

Potentially Medicare. And with two thirds of American houses having pets, we want to make sure that they have the ability to take care of them.

Speaker 3 (18:32):

Yeah, that's amazing. So smart. So let's talk a little bit about transforming a brand. It is not easy, especially pja was around as pja for how many years?

Speaker 7 (18:41):

50 years?

Speaker 3 (18:42):

50.

Speaker 7 (18:43):

That

Speaker 3 (18:43):

Is quite a bit of time. A lot of, as we say, equity in the brand.

Speaker 7 (18:47):

Indeed.

Speaker 3 (18:47):

Indeed. But it was time to make that change. A, why, and B, how did you do it so well?

Speaker 7 (18:54):

The why is the easy part, and that's that reaction that everybody has. When you start rattling off pet industry joint, advise people fall asleep halfway through the name.

Speaker 1 (19:03):

You're right.

Speaker 7 (19:03):

And honestly, when you get about 15 to 20 minutes to talk to a legislator, you really can't spend five of it telling them your name.

Speaker 6 (19:10):

Good

Speaker 7 (19:10):

Point. So we wanted a change to reflect who we are and what we do. Pets advocacy and a network of activists.

Speaker 4 (19:18):

Keeping it simple. Yeah,

Speaker 7 (19:19):

It wasn't easy. It was a two year process going into the 50th anniversary. We knew it was time. Had a really great communications director on our team at that point, Gwen Donahue, and she really made the whole process as smooth as possible. We worked with an outside branding firm, we worked with a new website designer, and at the end of the day, the PAN story kind of told itself.

Speaker 4 (19:42):

Yeah. Before we started recording, you were telling me a little bit about your new network. Can you explain that?

Speaker 7 (19:47):

Yeah. The newest project that we've got is called the Network of Advocates. We recognize that there's about 1.4 million people in the country who are either employed by or directly related to the pet care community. And while we do a really good job of telling the story of the community writ large, people love to hear about individual stories, their own experiences with pet care, the challenges they face. And for us, it seemed like it was time to start to tap into that broader community. So anybody who's interested can go to pet advocacy.org/network and they can sign up to become part of the network of advocates. We'll be giving them advocacy training, access to tools, and we'll be keeping them informed about different pieces of legislation and activations across the country.

Speaker 3 (20:35):

That's awesome, man. I really appreciate how Pan focuses on both the federal government, this big macro lens, but also gets down into local legislation and engaging the community. But what are some of the more local issues? You face these regulations that largely involve banning pet store sales, right? That's a big one, is a big one that happens at the local level. What are some of the things that Pans doing to help simultaneously protect animals, but also making it simple to acquire one if that's what you want?

Speaker 7 (21:10):

That's a great point. One of the things that we try to do is to help educate people about some of the protections that are already in place and in places where more protection is needed. We advocate for that as well. We're big fans of demonstrated data and sound science. On several occasions. We've urged the Department of Agriculture to take a look at the Animal Welfare Act standards. But locally, what we try to do is really just work with communities and the people who are there to help them understand how pet stores and the broader pet community fits into their overall structure. I think the big one for us that we're working on right now is trying to remove barriers for people to own pets in terms of insurance and also in terms of living in multi-housing communities. Sure,

Speaker 4 (21:56):

Yeah. Talk to us about pan's involvement in Pet Week on Capitol Hill.

Speaker 7 (22:03):

Yes. Pet Week on Capitol Hill has been an evolution of growth of what started out as Pet Night on Capitol Hill. And that's an annual event that takes place in Washington. About 85 to 90% of congressional offices have an office pet. Either the member's pet themselves or a staffer brings in a pet, and we want to celebrate that. We hold a contest every year. The Animal Health Institute identifies the cutest pets on Capitol Hill. We give out our pet's Best Friend awards, which are legislators who've gone above and beyond. And we do a reception that legislators and staff come out for. And it's a huge hit. But Pet Week is an expansion of that. There's programming every day, usually available online virtually. And then we do a legislative fly in where we bring people in, we train them, and we invite them to sit down with their legislators to talk about the issues of importance.

Speaker 4 (22:59):

And when is that happening

Speaker 7 (23:00):

This year? It's going to happen on Tuesday, September 16th. People who are interested can sign up at pet advocacy.org/events and get more information there. Or you can check out pet night.com.

Speaker 3 (23:11):

Great. Yeah, that's it. I've never had the chance to go, but maybe one day

Speaker 7 (23:17):

We'd love to have you there. Let's do, I think it would be great to have you guys on site.

Speaker 3 (23:21):

If there's one thing I could do, it is yell at my local legislature. Believe me when they goof up. I am. I'm hitting that website. Sign

Speaker 6 (23:28):

Me up

Speaker 3 (23:28):

Then. We need you. We need there. So obviously I know working for APA that APA supports pan with resources, both financial and otherwise, but we are not the only ones. So I think it would be great for our listeners to understand all the different organizations that kind of have a hand in making it possible for you guys to do this work.

Speaker 7 (23:51):

Yeah, absolutely. We are very fortunate to partner with the American Pet Products Association, the Pet Industry Distributors Association and the World Pet Association. They're our primary supporters, but we are a 5 0 1 C six member organization. So we've got individual companies throughout the industry that join us and support our efforts as well. But apa, PIDA and WPA really do kind of give us the lion's share and we're so grateful for the opportunity. Yeah,

Speaker 3 (24:18):

It's great that despite the, I always call it coopetition, that's a great way to, I know it's competition. Ideally I want my association to do better, but it is what it is. But I think it's great that we're all able to agree on these things, these really important issues. And sure we're going to be competitive within our own businesses, but there is a bigger picture here that we're all able to take a step back look at and have you guys to advocate for us. Yeah,

Speaker 7 (24:44):

We had a great example of that yesterday. There was a round table that was put on, hosted by apa, had the other associations lending their hand to it as well. In addition to the Pet Food Institute and Indie pet, we sat down with folks who were really concerned about where things are with tariffs right now. And the short answer is we don't know. There's a lot of moving parts to this, but the pet care community as a whole is going to be working on this to make sure that all of the folks that have been here at Global all around us have the best possible information and the ability to get involved.

Speaker 4 (25:18):

Yeah, fantastic.

Speaker 3 (25:19):

Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us. No, thank you. It's always a pleasure to have you on. I think in the future we're going to have Mike er for a third time.

Speaker 7 (25:28):

Excellent.

Speaker 3 (25:28):

So we're looking forward to that. But thanks for all the work you do for both the industry and all the little critters sitting at home.

Speaker 7 (25:35):

My pleasure. Thanks. And definitely want to guys have you guys at Pet Night.

Speaker 3 (25:41):

Always a pleasure to have Mr. Bober on the program. The legislative work goes unnoticed, but it's such an important part. I mean, keeping pets, it requires the support of our governments and to give them better lives. Things have to change a little bit. It's always good to have these frontline guys watching out for our furry little friends and making sure life is as easy as it can be for pet owners.

Speaker 4 (26:13):

Alrighty righty. Our next guest is Carla Ang from Earth Bath, a company renowned for its commitment to natural pet grooming products, and they are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. Me Too. Earth Bath continues to support animal welfare by partnering with 30 nonprofit organizations through its rescue and service dog program. Welcome, Carla. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I know, I know you weren't expecting the camera and the lights, but beautiful. Look, she's got the most beautiful purple jacket on. I dress to impress. Thank you. Only at global. Only

Speaker 3 (26:49):

At global.

Speaker 4 (26:50):

Only at global. So 30 years. That's an incredible milestone.

Speaker 8 (26:54):

Yes, it is. And I have been a witness at Earth Bath to the incredible, the stability and progress that we have made. I have been here for the 23 out of the 30 years that we've been in business, so I'm definitely proud to say that that's commitment. Well,

Speaker 4 (27:12):

Congratulations.

Speaker 3 (27:13):

Yeah. And I mean 30 years a, that's already a remarkable achievement. Helping 30 organizations is an insane initiative. Was the idea just like, yeah, 30 30 we're going to do it. Where did that come from and how's it going so far?

Speaker 8 (27:30):

It's great. We are always about giving back. The pet community has given to us by supporting us through the year. So I think that it was just the right thing to do to be able to celebrate and also give back to those who've give back to us, especially the pets. Right?

Speaker 4 (27:48):

Sure.

Speaker 8 (27:49):

So

Speaker 4 (27:50):

Take us back 30 years. I know you weren't there in year one, but what did Earth Bath look like 30 years ago?

Speaker 8 (27:57):

So I can say when I was there, it was close to 30 years, but not quite. The owner, Paul, he started the company. He just saw that there was a need for sustainable products for pets.

Speaker 6 (28:13):

And

Speaker 8 (28:13):

So he kind of took it and ran with it. He expanded the product line a little bit, changed the labels, made it bright and colorful, which is what we're known for today. Still, when he first started, he was out there selling shampoo out of the trunk of his car. So when I was there, it was just a little bit past that. Yeah, it was out of the bed

Speaker 3 (28:43):

Of a pickup truck.

Speaker 8 (28:44):

It's a little step up. We were a little bit above that. So I mean, even though we were kind of seven years in when I started, we were still really at a starting point. And then from there we just really grew.

Speaker 3 (28:55):

So I'm relatively familiar with the brand. My understanding is you guys really put a strong emphasis on plant-based and natural ingredients. What are some of the main benefits for using those ingredients in the shampoos and other products for dog grooming?

Speaker 8 (29:11):

Well, mainly that it doesn't hurt your skin and coat well, your pet skin and coat, right. So we want pet skin and coat is very sensitive. So we definitely make our products based on the pH, make sure that it's soap free so it doesn't strip or dry out the skin. And also, so then for whatever issue that you might have that deals with the skin and coat, we try to make solutions for them. So such as our oatmeal and allo shampoo, it's our number one cellar scraped for moisturizing the coat. It's great for helping with Deandre and it smells really good, especially our vanilla al.

Speaker 3 (29:49):

And that part's important.

Speaker 8 (29:50):

Yes,

Speaker 4 (29:51):

Absolutely. Love that. I remember, and I saw Carla on a panel the other day at the pet summit,

Speaker 3 (29:55):

Lucky. And

Speaker 4 (29:55):

You were talking about people often don't remember the name of the scent, but they remember what color the label is,

Speaker 8 (30:01):

Isn't it? Exactly. So, which is really important. That's why I mentioned that because when he first took over the company, it only had black and white labels. So what he did was change it to a red label, yellow label. And to this, it is very important to him. When we update things on the product and the labels, we just always make sure that the colors are on there. Because yes, the customers might not know the name of the product, but they do know the color. I use the yellow one, I use the purple

Speaker 3 (30:29):

One. And it's so true. I mean everybody out there listening to this right now, just right now, think of a green smell. And I bet you almost everybody's smelling the same thing right now. Think of a purple smell. Exactly. But if I were to try and say what lilac lavender and lemon, you'd be like, ah. Now my brain's confused. Exactly.

Speaker 8 (30:48):

So here we are on the I Am

Speaker 4 (30:50):

Dress for the occasion. Nice bright purple. Yes, yes, exactly. And if you're not watching us on YouTube, you should be because you've got to see Carla's gorgeous jacket. Oh, thank you. So sustainability is also very important at Earth Bath. So talk to us about that.

Speaker 8 (31:05):

So all our products are non-toxic. We make natural ingredients is biodegradable. So let's say you take your dog out to the river, which most of us do for camping or whatnot, and you want to wash your dog down, all the ingredients in the product will degrade and it will not harm the environment. So that's very important to

Speaker 3 (31:25):

Us. Yeah, that's awesome. And I mean, sustainability in the pet industry is really taking off now, but you guys have been doing it for 30 years. You were really ahead of the curve on that one.

Speaker 8 (31:34):

Yes, we have. And very lucky. Absolutely. So we're very blessed. And my boss, the owner, really had a vision of along with selling great product, that we are also stewards of the environment and the earth. Absolutely. And for our pets, right? I mean, because our most precious

Speaker 3 (31:55):

Part

Speaker 8 (31:55):

Of the family. That is so true. For

Speaker 3 (31:57):

Sure.

Speaker 8 (31:58):

Oh, go ahead Chris.

Speaker 3 (31:59):

Okay. I was just going to ask, I think there's a lot of pet owners out there who don't necessarily really know how to groom their animal properly or they just aren't good at getting into a good routine. So what advice do you have for the pet owners out there on how they could be taking better care of their dog through regular bath time and taking care of their coat and their skin?

Speaker 8 (32:26):

Well, the great thing about our products is that it doesn't dry out the skin. So when we talk to veterinarians, they always recommend the minimum of bathing is probably once a week just to really not strip any extra oils on the body to dry out the skin. The next thing I would say if you have a Longhaired dog is leave it to the professionals and take them to the groomer because they know best. And making sure that we have a lot of customers who actually buy our product and send the product with the groomers so they know that they're getting the best shampoo and they're being bathed.

Speaker 4 (33:04):

Well, what's new for Earth Bath this year? I'm

Speaker 8 (33:08):

So glad that you asked, waiting for that. Objection, leading question. So along line with grooming products, we have our new pet wash, our paw wash with the same great ingredients, coconut based cleansers. It has shea butter, which is really moisturizing for the coat as well as avocado and calendula and aloe. So it not only helps soothe and cleans the coat, it's it just a great benefit.

Speaker 3 (33:37):

Is that like a little brush at the end of the bottle there? Yes, exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (33:39):

That's awesome. So we have a silicone brush at the outside of the tip. So once you do a couple sprays of foam, you can just kind rub it onto the paw and you just towel it off really simple. And the silicone tip can be taken off and washed and then you just put it right back on. Fantastic.

Speaker 4 (33:57):

If my grandparents could see the products available now for dogs.

Speaker 3 (34:00):

Yeah, my grandpa was definitely is like behind the house just hitting the dog with a hose. That was the extent of grooming.

Speaker 8 (34:07):

Exactly. Now products are safe for human and pet use right nowadays because we do make products that are sensitive and gentle enough for both humans and pets.

Speaker 3 (34:17):

Yeah. And I think that's great. I noticed one thing with my parents' dog before they really found higher quality products is my hands would be so dry if I didn't use latex gloves

Speaker 8 (34:29):

After

Speaker 3 (34:29):

Giving the dog a good scrubbing. And we have used Earth bath, they take care of the dog upstate now, so I don't know what they use now, but I had used Earth bath products and my hands felt amazing. It was like, I guess got a manicure. It was absolutely incredible.

Speaker 8 (34:45):

A lot. Yes. Thank you. And just on the side note, I do use the conditioner every day on my own hair, on your

Speaker 3 (34:53):

Hair's looking amazing in this word of humidity. Thank you. A testament Testament to our

Speaker 4 (34:57):

Project and I'm a as wellm a. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And did you get that done at the professional groomer, your hair? No, but I should. I should. No, it's beautiful. Thank you. And thank you so much for all that you and Earth Bath have done to bring set the industry standard and to elevate the product quality. And we appreciate you and congratulations on 30

Speaker 6 (35:19):

Years. Congrats.

Speaker 8 (35:20):

All the pet parents. I've supported us through the years. We wouldn't be here without them. Well thank them too. Yes, absolutely. So thank you very much. Alright, thanks so much for joining us today. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. The product of the week.

Speaker 3 (35:34):

It is time for the product of the week. And Kristen, you were teasing yours out a little bit during story time. So why don't we get on with it, give the people what they've been waiting with bated breath for.

Speaker 4 (35:55):

Okay. Well, I talked about the importance of puzzle feeders and I decided instead of telling you a cool puzzle feeder to go purchase, I instead have some DIY puzzle feeder ideas for you. And these are free, you can just use things around the house. The first one is to take a plastic water bottle and you can cut holes in an empty one, add kibble or treats in there, put the cat back on, and then watch your dog or cat just kind of roll it around to get the little kibble treats out. So that's an easy breezy one. This is a good one for a cats, and I've actually done this before, toilet paper roll treats. So what you do is you take an empty toilet paper roll, you fold one end closed, you fold half of it on each side closed, you put the treats and kibble inside, or you could put catnip in there too.

(36:46):

And then you fold the top closed and let your cat safely unravel the cardboard tube for the tree. You can also use a muffin tin from the kitchen and put little food pieces. You can make it a little bit more challenging by putting food pieces and then maybe putting a ball or a crumple piece of paper on top of it. So your pet has to kind of unravel the paper to get it out of these little nested boxes. And then finally, the snuffle mats. If you don't have a snuffle mat, you can use carpeting or a rug if the pile is deep enough as a snuffle mat. So those are all things that we probably all have in our own homes. So no need to go out and purchase one.

Speaker 3 (37:29):

That is great advice. That is great advice. I've got a PPA product that you can just go purchase. This is one you can just go buy no need to DIOY, but it's great if you've got one of those cats. Here's the sales pitch. Does your cat scratch up the arm of your sofa? Well, do I have a product for you? So it is from a company called Hilda and Phil, I think it's Hilda. Nonetheless, it is a very stylish end table that sort of connects onto the arm of your sofa. It's got a little end table and then the entire padding of it is just like scratch pad. And it comes in different scratch pad colors, different wood colors, different sizes for the riser, different lengths for the table, really get it to fit any space here. And cats are destructive. They will destroy your furniture if they do not have good places for them to scratch and mark.

(38:37):

So you want to make sure that you have a few of these things, but a lot of the products out there are either really cheap, really ugly, and just don't look good in your home. So if you are worried about your aesthetic, this is a great one. It's going to cost you, it's $379, but consider it a piece of furniture because you are getting an end table out of it too. Somewhere to put your drink or your little notebook or your Kindle or your comic books if you're me. So check it out. That's Hilda and Phil Link will be in the notes. Folks, check the notes q and As. Here we go folks. It is time for our favorite segment of the show. We are going to answer two questions from our talented audience. You guys are talented today and I know what you're thinking.

(39:28):

It's like, man, I've got so many questions. I got so many questions and I need Chris and Kristen to weigh in on these questions asap. So here's what you're going to do. Going to head on over to Pets at Life, pets at life.org/podcast. I really hope I'm doing these arm gestures properly. Otherwise I'm going to look ridiculous in the videos. Head on over to pets ed life.org/podcast. Fill out the form and we'll get around to your question. And if you are feeling as brave as Kristen Levine triaging internet issues and having to do the rest of the podcast episode from her phone, listen, if Chrissy could do this podcast from her phone, you could send us a voice memo. You could do it, you'll see a little segment there, a little linky poo, and you could upload your voice memo right from your device and you could hear it played on this show. The spiel is done, spiel is done. We're ready to ask some questions. So Kristen, here's what I got for you. This comes from Carlos in Austin and Carlos asks, my dog barks nonstop when I leave the room. I think it's separation anxiety. What can I do to help?

Speaker 4 (40:56):

Hey Carlos, great question. And you might be right, it might be separation anxiety. It also might be your dog's way of training you to return. It depends. I need more information on this, but we talked a lot about separation anxiety on the show and last month with Dr. Lisa Ssta because it is a really common problem. I think the statistic was almost 30% of dogs experienced some level of separation anxiety. So typically what the recommendation is, is to start with by practicing some short absences. So walk out of the room for just a few seconds and then walk back in before the barking starts. Ideally then you gradually increase that time and distance over multiple sessions. You're basically rewarding the calm behavior before you return. You also could do a second strategy where you're creating positive associations with your departure. So before you leave, you give your dog something they really love, like a Kong filled with peanut butter or a L mat or a treat puzzle.

(42:04):

And this can help your dog associate your absence with something that's going to be fun or tasty. And you also can help your dog build independence, encourage your dog to settle on a mat or a bed when you are home, but they're just nearby you, but they don't have to be right up next to you or in your lap, and you slowly increase the distance as your pet becomes more comfortable with that distance being increased. Now, having said all that, those are kind of early stage things you would want to do if you start to notice the symptoms. But it sounds like if your dog is barking incessantly after you leave, your pup might be a little bit more advanced in the separation anxiety. So if that is the case, I'm going to recommend that you go see your veterinarian because there could be medical things going on that you don't know about. And if it is indeed separation anxiety, there are some really great medications that work really well to help your dog relax in your absence. But ultimately it might be a medication and a training situation where you give the medication to calm your pet and that allows them to focus better so you can do some behavior modification to kind of unravel that problem. So I hope that helps, Carlos. I know it's frustrating and you want to help your pup, so give that advice a go.

Speaker 3 (43:32):

That is some great advice there. Kristen, what do you got for me?

Speaker 4 (43:40):

I have for you? This one comes to us from Laura in Portland.

Speaker 3 (43:46):

They love us in Portland, Oregon.

Speaker 4 (43:50):

Laura says, I recently found a missing pet flyer and it made me wonder, what are the first steps I should take if my dog goes missing? Are there any proven search strategies? I can start immediately

Speaker 3 (44:02):

Contrary to popular belief, the best strategy is not to run out into the pouring rain and scream Fido at the top of your lungs like your Marlon Brando from a streetcar named Desire, a letter A. If you are looking at a missing pet flyer and then looking at your dog and going, man, what would I do if you went missing? Get your dog shipped. Do it now. That is number one thing you could do that's going to help. They make the GPS chips, they make the identification chips. Get yourself a nice fancy one if you're really worried about it. They make dog tags that can be GPS tracked. Get that. This is not a, I find it a little strange when people do this with their children. Maybe because I was a nineties kid and I was just given a bicycle and told to go into the neighborhood and be back by sunset.

(44:55):

But this is a dog. It is okay to keep track tabs on their location, especially if you're going to be letting 'em out into the backyard without a leash or a steak, or if you have an outdoor cat that sort of is just allowed to come and go as they please. It is completely ethical and in fact, your responsibility to know where this animal gets into. So that would be number one. Now, let's say your animal does go missing and you don't have them micro shipped. I have a couple of pieces of advice. The first is, if you have a scared animal or a nervous animal check like your crawlspace, there's a lot of missing pets that were just under the crawlspace and we're too nervous to get out. Number two, you sent, bring their bed outside, leave their food outside, give them, we've been talking a lot on the show about how dogs have the 600 million scent receptors.

(45:58):

It's incredible. They will smell it. You may think, wow, this seems really foolish. They are going to find their way back home using their sense of smell. And then obviously, leverage your social media and your communities. Post your flyers, make your posts on your next door and your Facebook and see if anybody's seen the pet cast a nice wide net, a lost dog or a lost cat truly lost where they're lost. And not just on an adventure may wander pretty damn far away without you realizing it. So cast a nice wide net. But I will reiterate once again, the best way to find your pet is to have taken preventive measures and have that animal chipped, because then you'll just open up your app and be able to find where they're at and you'll rest easy at night knowing that if they ever did go missing, you'd be able to find them.

Speaker 4 (46:52):

Excellent advice, Chris.

Speaker 3 (46:53):

Don't lose them pets. Anyway, that do be the end of our episode. Woo-hoo. Woohoo or sad that do be at sad times because it is time for us to say goodbye. But don't worry, folks, we're going to be back here next Tuesday. If you're not catching us on video, check us on the socials. Check us on dog TV unleashed. Check us on YouTube. Our production team works hard on these beautiful templates and video editing so that you can see us in beautiful 10 80 p. So check it out, check it out, check it out. Remember to submit your questions, submit your voice memos, engage with the show, share it with an animal lover, share it with an animal hater, turn 'em into an animal lover, and we're going to be back next Tuesday as always. So we'll see you then.

Speaker 1 (47:45):

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