1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:04,800 What are we? Talking about Welcome to the 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:06,800 Weekly Pet Roundup. I'm Isabel. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,720 That's Jessica. And today we're talking about 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:18,600 creative ways to save money in pet care, my creative pet care 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,440 ideas for when things get expensive. 6 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,440 We talked about tariffs last week. 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,400 We don't know how prices of pet products are going to be 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,480 impacted, but we suspect that they are going to go up just 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,760 because of the threat of tariffs and cost of packaging and all 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:37,000 that. If you want to listen to that 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,120 conversation, it was last week and it is on the pet parenting 12 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:46,040 resets feed. There were a couple of issues at 13 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,120 the beginning. So just know that if you Fast 14 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,560 forward a little bit, you should get to a point where you can 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,240 hear that I don't leave and come back. 16 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,480 So that was. I think I edited all that when I 17 00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,240 posted it to the. Did you? 18 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,760 Podcast page. You did 'cause I think I heard 19 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:03,000 it. On a SO. 20 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,440 I got an yeah, I got an e-mail to, I got an e-mail 'cause I'm 21 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,240 on like this, like, you know, podcast e-mail thing and ours 22 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,560 came up. So they like just like post 23 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,640 random ones whenever. And I guess because it's a 24 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,880 trending topic, we got posted and I listened to it at the 25 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,800 beginning and I don't know that we did edit it out. 26 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,160 And I also. Felt like can you? 27 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,240 Hear like any movements I make a little bit really. 28 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,880 Loud, but it's not that bad. I got to be more careful because 29 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,880 I felt like I heard a lot of like background noise on my end 30 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,320 I think. I I mean, I could hear a little 31 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,400 bit, but it, it wasn't like super distracting. 32 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,720 I can go back though and I can replace that audio. 33 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,720 I maybe I select file or something. 34 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,680 It's not that we give a deal, just fuss hurdle, but but yeah, 35 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:52,920 so we were talking about how things are inevitably going to 36 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,360 get expensive and we all know that things have been getting 37 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,040 more expensive. The economy obviously is what 38 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,680 both candidates ran on in the election. 39 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:07,720 So obviously this is like not new, but we are getting to a 40 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,480 point where people have like, you know, vacations coming up 41 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:16,000 and maybe they want to add a pet or maybe their pets getting 42 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,800 older and they have to start getting a little more creative 43 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:26,320 about budget. And so we wanted to talk about 44 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:31,560 some fun ways or some creative ways to meet your pet's needs. 45 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:41,160 And I asked AII said provide creative ways to save money on 46 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,800 pet care. And AI came up with a very long 47 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,240 list of things. And I thought it would be fun if 48 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,440 we discussed each of these things. 49 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:51,960 And we're talking about dogs and cats. 50 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,760 That's what Jessica and I both specialize in. 51 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,760 So if you have other creatures, I'm so sorry. 52 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,480 We probably won't speak about like how to take care of your 53 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,760 aquarium on a budget or anything like that. 54 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,400 But we have no idea how you do that. 55 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,440 But we do know that dogs and cats can be expensive. 56 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,800 And so the first tip that it gives us, and we hope 57 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,600 everybody's having a good day and if you have any tips or ways 58 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,040 that you save, please comments, we can add them to our 59 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,840 discussion here. But the first one it says is 60 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,800 homemade toys. Create toys from old shirts, 61 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,280 socks or plastic bottles to keep your pet entertained without 62 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,560 breaking the bank. So I first of all, don't want 63 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,760 any dog chewing on bottles because micro plastics. 64 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,320 So let's like immediately take that off of the table. 65 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,320 I'm trying to reduce as much plastic as I can in my life, in 66 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,240 the world, just because I'm so concerned about studies that are 67 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,760 coming out with like plastic in our, you know, autopsies showing 68 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:56,000 that there's plastics in our cells, in our tissues, in our 69 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,760 organs. And it's really bad. 70 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,560 And it's obviously in our environment, in our oceans, in 71 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,960 the fish that we eat. So I don't love that idea. 72 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,720 An old T-shirt or sock. I mean, I guess unless your 73 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,760 dog's going to ingest that, which could be very, very 74 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,880 dangerous. I mean, if you feel like a like 75 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,959 an old sock with catnip, that might work for your cat. 76 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:23,960 But I'd be very careful with an old raggedy like fabric anything 77 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:28,600 shirt sock that can be adjusted. I actually had to take a very 78 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:34,720 long sock out of a dog's butt when I was a dog Walker. 79 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:39,200 What it was like this big? Oh my gosh. 80 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:47,320 He was big surprise, a Labrador, a puppy, and he was just eating. 81 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,920 He was just eating anything he found and he was like struggling 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:53,960 to get it out. And I thought maybe it's like a 83 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:59,240 little grass or something. And I pulled and I pulled and I 84 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,600 pulled with a poo bag around my hand. 85 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,720 I promise I did not. I'm not that savage that I just 86 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,480 went like pulled poo. And it was a white athletic sock 87 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,560 about size 11 men's. I mean, honestly, you got so 88 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,800 lucky. I, I know, like veterinarians 89 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,000 say, don't ever pull anything out of your pet's butt. 90 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,840 Because I just. Have no idea, I know that's. 91 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:23,000 Crazy. I know, I know. 92 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,080 It could have been really bad. I didn't feel any like I didn't 93 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,360 pull any hard. I literally just went like 94 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,400 little by little and I didn't feel any stopping and I just 95 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,160 genuinely didn't know what it was until he pooped the rest of 96 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,640 it out. So I knew it wasn't like in any 97 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,040 way entangled and I definitely would have left it in there and 98 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,880 rushed him to the vet had it been, but it was like. 99 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,520 Huge. It was, it was like obviously 100 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,400 digesting it went through the whole process. 101 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,520 So yeah. What are your thoughts on 102 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,280 homemade toys? Yeah. 103 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,760 I mean, I think, you know, it's, it's like you said, kind of a 104 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,720 double edged sword because I'm gonna go on a tangent here. 105 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,320 One of the things that I'm learning about and I believe me, 106 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:10,320 I'm not saying this because I'm perfect. 107 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,160 I am not, but it is one of my goals over the next couple of 108 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,840 years to to try to switch as much as my wardrobe out to 109 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:22,160 natural fabrics as possible. Because even with most of our 110 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,080 clothing, they are made from plastics. 111 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,120 So if you have like a polyester shirt or something, it is also 112 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:29,800 micro plastics. So if we're worried about the 113 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,080 bottle, we should also be worried about the clothing. 114 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:40,000 That said, you know, that's, that's me being insanely 115 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:46,840 nitpicky and I have in the past years and years and years ago 116 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:51,440 made like homemade toys out of shirts and things like that. 117 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,560 So like you can make rope toys different, like you braid and 118 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,800 tie them to where you know if you have a dog that isn't a 119 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,000 Labrador. Isn't. 120 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,240 Going to ingest it yeah I mean it can be fun to play with. 121 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:12,440 I also make, I have made snuffle mats before with, you know, you 122 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:18,280 just get big things of fabric from, from my or Joanne's or 123 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,000 wherever and like the kitchen sink mats and that have the 124 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,200 holes in them and make your own snuffle mats. 125 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,320 Those are actually really, really popular videos that I've 126 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,240 had on YouTube in the past. And I mean, I, I think it's fun. 127 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,920 I think it's, it gives you something to do if you're bored 128 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,160 and, you know, scrolling social media and way too many hours in 129 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,160 a day. And it also makes you feel like 130 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,400 you are doing something for your pet, which is, you know, that's 131 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,560 a really good feeling that that we can get from whether it's 132 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,240 cooking for them or making something, a toy or something 133 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:53,960 for them. So like there's, it's more than 134 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,160 just about the toy. It's about, it's about doing 135 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,400 something and showing you care and, and putting your love into 136 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:03,400 something that that you're doing for your pet. 137 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:05,360 So like, yeah, that's, that's amazing. 138 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,960 That's wonderful. Keep, you know, doing that. 139 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,920 There's also a lot of things you can do with cardboard and making 140 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,280 like enrichment boxes for dogs and for cats. 141 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,520 I, I, yeah, there's, there's a lot. 142 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,520 In fact, my stepmom, when I was taking care of her cats a while 143 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:27,240 back, she had like shoe boxes that she had like half cut 144 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,000 toilet paper rolls in and like little pieces of tissue paper 145 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,799 and treats sprinkled around. And they loved it. 146 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:38,799 They used it every single day. So yeah, I mean, I think that's 147 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:45,280 within reason, of course. Just be careful of like Isabel 148 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,040 said, you don't want anything small enough that they can 149 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,120 ingest and you just have to really be aware of your pet and 150 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,280 making sure you're not giving them anything that's gonna 151 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,880 that's gonna harm them. Well, also you can just do nose 152 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,440 work without having to do all those things, just like hide 153 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,480 treats around your house there. Yeah, like you know what I mean? 154 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:07,480 Yeah, and I, that's really good for cats too. 155 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,400 I have, well, they're, they're back in Texas, but hunting 156 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,080 feeders for my cats. And it's one of the things that 157 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,480 I don't, I don't use them near as often as I should with my 158 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,480 cats. But like my cat Riley, who lost 159 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:27,720 his sight after some brain injury from a surgery that he 160 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,760 had. I, I was pretty religious and 161 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:34,640 using the hunting feeders with him because he, you know, he, he 162 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,200 lost his sight and I wanted to make sure I was providing some 163 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:41,960 sort of enrichment for him. And so it, he was definitely a 164 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,000 little frustrated at first, but he got used to him. 165 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:49,680 And yeah, yeah. I I feel like also new pet 166 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,280 parents may think they need more toys than they do. 167 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,360 And I also feel like we need to remind you that you don't need 168 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,960 that many toys for your like. What you need is to exercise 169 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,400 them, interact with them, like hide a treat behind each hand 170 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,440 and make them choose like there's your game. 171 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,880 And like the way that it's like, it's like having children and 172 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,920 giving them an iPad, right? Like, oh, that's parenting. 173 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,120 Well, I mean it, it can be part of parenting and like a toy can 174 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,160 be part of pet parenting. But the part that they really 175 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,680 much more look forward to is the part where you're interacting 176 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,480 with them. Even if you're watching a show 177 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:28,720 and you're just like kind of like holding a treat and letting 178 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,560 them kind of sniff it out and like slowly opening your hand, 179 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,800 That is a game and it takes very little effort. 180 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,000 The next one is homemade treats, which I guess you could put in 181 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,240 your hand and play with your dog or your cat. 182 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,840 Bake your own treats from ingredients like peanut butter, 183 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,400 oats or chicken. Saving money compared to store 184 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,000 bought options. My kids eat peanut butter. 185 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:54,960 I don't love it. I know it's not super healthy. 186 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:56,480 I don't actually give it to my dogs. 187 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,720 My cat probably licks peanut butter every once in a while 188 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,040 because he's like a he's an eater so he'll like whatever he 189 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,520 can get from the kids he'll eat. But oats are fine. 190 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,840 Like I've never really put oats in anything dog related or cat 191 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,040 related. Chicken, of course, I do think 192 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:14,560 is a really great thing to do. You can dehydrate chicken. 193 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:17,640 I mean, if there's a little bit of an expense there, if you, 194 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:20,520 especially if you have expensive gas prices and you have a gas 195 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,840 range that that's expensive. And I like electrical bills. 196 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,680 I have solar panels. So maybe my like my cost 197 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,000 wouldn't be so high, but I haven't, I have a gas range and 198 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,040 gas in this area is so expensive that I wouldn't dehydrate 199 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,240 chicken. And obviously you don't want to 200 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:37,800 do raw chicken because it's like not very practical. 201 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,520 So it depends on I for me, like this one depends on like the 202 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:47,080 ingredients, how long the shelf life is going to be and how 203 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,160 convenient it is to dispense. Because like treats are not that 204 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,120 expensive. You can even get like really 205 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,680 high quality treats and just use them minimally for a pretty 206 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,960 decent amount. You just don't have to overdo 207 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:01,400 it. Like maybe you get a really high 208 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:03,680 quality treat and do 1 treat a day instead of three. 209 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:07,160 Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, yeah, I like the idea 210 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,960 of making treats as well. And I think, you know, 211 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:13,600 dehydrators are not very expensive. 212 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:16,520 They, you know, they're going to use electricity, but not that 213 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,040 much. And what I do or what I used to 214 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,880 do because I don't do it anymore, when I would dehydrate 215 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:24,800 things, I would dehydrate all kinds of things. 216 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,320 I would kind of plan to dehydrate all kinds of things at 217 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,320 one time, whether like I would do some chicken hearts because 218 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,040 they're really inexpensive at the grocery store. 219 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:43,040 Beef liver, sometimes that one is usually easier in the oven 220 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,320 because it's so it has so much moisture in it. 221 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,280 But I mean, yeah, even like thin strips of chicken, whatever and 222 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,640 make. You can also do non single 223 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,880 ingredient treats so you can have recipes of things that 224 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:00,840 you're cooking in the oven. That's totally fine. 225 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,680 I'm not against that, especially when we're using like fresh 226 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,280 herbs and things that really have a lot of wonderful 227 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:13,080 properties to them for our dogs. And then I would do huge batches 228 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,560 and then portion them out and freeze them so that when I would 229 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:19,440 run out, I can just pull some out of the freezer. 230 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,200 So I wasn't like wasting anything. 231 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,040 I do look anything frozen, like even frozen blueberries. 232 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,640 You bought blueberries, you didn't use them up, freeze them, 233 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,600 give them to your dog. Those are frozen. 234 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,480 I do feel like it's a really good idea, especially now that 235 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,200 it's going to start getting hot. Yeah, yeah. 236 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,120 But I mean, for for me, it's just anything that has fat in 237 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:41,600 it. Like I just don't want it to sit 238 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:43,880 in it. So anything animal based really. 239 00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:47,480 I don't want it sitting in the fridge for more than a few days. 240 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,000 So I'm going to freeze it. And also so like even the oat 241 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,560 based stuff, like or wheat based stuff, people it like you see 242 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:57,920 the recipes, a lot of my clients like to put like a recipe and 243 00:13:57,920 --> 00:13:59,120 like their newsletters or whatever. 244 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,640 And I see the recipe being like stored in an airtight container 245 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,240 for up to a week. And I'm like, in a humid 246 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,640 environment, this is going to get mold. 247 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:09,720 Mold. Yeah, like there's no and then 248 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,240 maybe you don't see the mold yet. 249 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,760 Maybe it's early enough that the mold is not super visible. 250 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:15,720 It's not like a science project, but it's still there. 251 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,080 So I'd be I'd be really cautious about making too much, not 252 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,640 storing it properly and making your pet like a their stomach 253 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:25,920 upset trying to save some money and now you're spending more 254 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,120 than that. Yeah, absolutely. 255 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,320 But generally speaking, yeah, I mean, it is a way to save money 256 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:37,680 and can be, again, one of those things, anything you do for your 257 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,520 animal, I feel like it's very nurturing. 258 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:43,040 Yeah. So there there's that added 259 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,480 benefit to whatever you're doing. 260 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,040 And they enjoy the smell of it while it's happening. 261 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,680 So they have like that that excitement of like what's naked 262 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,640 DIY grooming learn basic grooming skills like brushing, 263 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,320 bathing and nail trimming at home to avoid professional 264 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:03,200 grooming costs. And I just had I just had 265 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:08,640 Katrina on my show who is from Oh my gosh, I'm forgetting the 266 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,040 name of her business. She's in the Northern California 267 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,240 area and she was just on my show, not last week, but the 268 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,600 week before. And she and I talked about this 269 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,880 like I asked her. I was like, so how do you feel 270 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:22,240 about she's a professional groomer? 271 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:24,360 She does cats and dogs. She does. 272 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,280 She's very, you know, very proud. 273 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:32,160 I met her at Super Zoo and she's very proud of like, you know, 274 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,520 the trade and like doing it right and doing it well and 275 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,480 really taking care of the pets. And so I asked her and she said, 276 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:46,120 you know, by the time you invest in all this stuff, it may. 277 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,640 And if you're not really going to do it right, like you say, 278 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,400 oh, I'm going to start DIY and then you order all this stuff on 279 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,560 Amazon, like you may end up spending more than you really 280 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,240 needed to. So especially bathing yes, but 281 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:03,400 like like grooming and bathing in nail trims, yes, could DIY no 282 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:05,400 problem. She was concerned about, you 283 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:10,600 know, people investing so much and like do it yourself haircuts 284 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,720 for pets that they may not get the bank for their or the 285 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,920 savings that they're expecting. I will say that I tried with my 286 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,520 Maltese mix Baci very long time ago to DIY and I was very bad at 287 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:24,640 it. So I think it's also like a 288 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,600 personal thing. I have a friend Diane who cuts 289 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:32,200 her Schnoodles hair and it looks she looks cute all the time but 290 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,680 I just didn't have like the patience or like this and like 291 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,160 my dog was easy so it's not like she fought me or anything. 292 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,800 But I don't think that DIY grooming is for everybody in 293 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,520 every case. Yeah, well, and it's funny 294 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,880 because I, I put up at the beginning of the pandemic, I put 295 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,400 up videos on DIY grooming at home and they were very popular 296 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:56,240 as well. And I, I was very clear that I'm 297 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:57,840 not a professional groomer, right? 298 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,640 And I actually had a groomer comment and, and tell me like, 299 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,200 this is great. I would just maybe do this or 300 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:07,720 this or that. You know, it was, it was kind of 301 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,400 really, really cool for her to say it. 302 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,040 And it was silly things that I didn't think about, like don't 303 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,079 use the scissors until after you've bathed them because it 304 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:18,720 can dull the scissors and you know, things like that. 305 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,599 So like, I'm like, I'm very clearly not a professional. 306 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:23,319 I'm just trying to help people who are stuck in there. 307 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:27,920 And also exactly. The priority wasn't really the 308 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,480 groom, it was just like, yeah, you couldn't get into the 309 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,400 groomer so you had to do it yourself. 310 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,160 Right. Yeah, but I still tend to stay 311 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,160 in Groom Kim myself. And she is not one of those dogs 312 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,640 that she's not a poodle or whatever. 313 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,320 It's like it has to have this perfect, like round shaped 314 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,040 whatever. Like I'm not doing that. 315 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,080 And no, I can't do that either. Like it's not gonna look good. 316 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,240 Yeah, I think that's like a little bit like unrealistic to 317 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,960 expect of like somebody who hasn't gone through any kind of 318 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,360 grooming training to do that. Yeah, I know. 319 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,680 Yeah, I was. Mine was really bad though. 320 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,360 Mine was like short here along here like it looked like ship 321 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,680 and hacked. See, I do that. 322 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,120 I do that with my cat Riley, because he won't sit still. 323 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,160 He's just moving around. And I'm like, I'm trying to get 324 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,040 to, I'm just trying to get the mats off of him like because I 325 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:23,120 brush him a lot, but he just because he's he's blind, he 326 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:28,160 doesn't have, I try so hard. He's not grooming himself, he's 327 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:33,480 not engaging. He sleeps a lot, He doesn't. 328 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,920 I try really hard to to engage him and he's just the older he 329 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:42,120 gets, the less interested he is. So he's very sedentary and it 330 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,320 almost doesn't matter how much I brush him like he gets mats. 331 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,800 So I do generally like I have in the past, if I have somebody 332 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:55,000 help me, it like if I had my husband help me and hold him, I 333 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,160 could do a pretty decent lions cut on him. 334 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:01,480 It wasn't perfect, but it was like, give it, give it a week 335 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:03,720 after I did it. And then it was kind of halfway 336 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:08,400 cute, right? But just me doing it. 337 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,440 No, it's like I'm I've butchered, but I'm getting the 338 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,400 mats out. And that's the important thing 339 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:14,960 for me. Like I don't care what he looks 340 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:19,040 like as long as one, I'm not hurting him, 2, the mats aren't 341 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:22,360 getting worse and hurting him. And then, you know, he's he, 342 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:23,840 he's good. Like I don't care. 343 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:28,600 He's not going into any shows. I think it's a little like it 344 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,120 depends a lot on the pet's hair too. 345 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:36,000 Like, you know, people with doodles are known for like 346 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,640 neglecting their their doodles hair and trying to do it too 347 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,760 late. And that's when even a 348 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,040 professional runs into trouble. So you definitely don't want to 349 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,600 start too late. So like if you were to start 350 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:54,000 DIY, maybe you take them to the professional groomer and before 351 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,120 they even need their next groom, you start kind of doing it 352 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,920 yourself where you haven't let it get to that point where it's 353 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,280 like a mess because only a professional groomer really 354 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,880 knows what to do at that point. And some of them will even tell 355 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:09,920 you. I've had a few groomers on my 356 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,040 show who are like. I will say like I can't do 357 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,000 anything like this. This dog, mostly cats, this cat 358 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,240 needs has a pelt now and this cat needs to be sedated and it 359 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,440 needs to be removed by a veterinarian. 360 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,200 So that is something you as a pet parent who doesn't know the 361 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,080 difference between like a mat and pelts, right? 362 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,760 Like you don't want to get in there and like find that you're 363 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,880 hurting your pet. And then now the DIY turned into 364 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,960 so you do it how often? Like and you're, I know you're 365 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,560 super disciplined, but like how often are you doing it? 366 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,640 Yeah, I mean for Kim and I actually, so I'm I'm extra. 367 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:53,880 So she has she is a mixed breed and the very first time I tried 368 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,320 to groom her, I found her Pomeranian. 369 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:03,800 She has this mane around her neck where her undercoat is 370 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:09,400 completely Pomeranian. So I actually in this like area 371 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:16,280 around her neck and shoulders. I actually, I have thinning 372 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,760 shears that I take and thin that out so that her hair lay is a 373 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:27,000 little bit nicer. And I probably do that maybe 374 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,320 maybe quarterly, maybe like seasonally. 375 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,320 OK, just kind of keep it under control. 376 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,400 Like, yeah, it's it's not bad at all. 377 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:40,240 I will take the shears not on the lowest setting. 378 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:44,520 I'm very careful about not, you know, I, I have never nicked 379 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:49,200 her, but I, I will kind of clean up her back end maybe closer to 380 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:53,560 once a month just because if she does get diarrhea like it is, 381 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,200 it's messy. And so I try to keep that area a 382 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:01,960 little cleaner to just to make it easier if I do have to clean 383 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:05,800 her up. And then I am, I've been really 384 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:07,880 bad. I used to trim her nails every 385 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,600 two weeks and now I'm doing it like once a month because it's 386 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:17,520 just me now and it's so hard. It's so hard to do it by myself. 387 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:22,160 But I will say, going back to the nail trims specifically, I 388 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,320 was terrified. I was absolutely terrified to 389 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,160 trim my dog's nails when I first started doing it. 390 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:31,520 Like I literally took them to the vet every two weeks and had 391 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,920 their nails trimmed. And when the pandemic hit and I 392 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,640 couldn't do that anymore, I'm like, I've got to figure this 393 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,240 out. So I went online. 394 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,040 It was like $100.00. So I realized this isn't like in 395 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,560 everybody's budget and I have no idea what it costs now, but 396 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:52,320 Doctor Busby BUZBY has an online course showing you how to trim 397 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,360 dogs nails and it's pretty extensive. 398 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,320 And she goes through, you know, translucent nails and black 399 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:02,360 nails and all the things. And I mean, I've evolved what I 400 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:07,720 do with Kim since taking that course, but it helped me so much 401 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:09,920 and gave me confidence to at least try. 402 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:16,920 And so I actually do the regular like clip trimmer on her nails 403 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:22,000 and and now I go back after that with a Dremel, A Dremel tool. 404 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,520 I find that she isn't patient enough for me to a 100% do the 405 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:31,800 Dremel, but if I'm only doing the Clipper they're just too 406 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:36,200 sharp. Sorry I left you for I left you 407 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,280 for a second. I'm hearing us like on 408 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:43,160 Instagram, unfortunately. And I'm trying to make it so 409 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,680 that it sounds better for whomever is listening. 410 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,360 But yeah, I agree with you. I was terrified and I still am 411 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:51,880 terrified. I had big, big dogs from, you 412 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:56,360 know, the the first dogs I got with my ex were two big dogs and 413 00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:59,920 like their nails were just like, yeah, so I wouldn't do it 414 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:03,080 myself. And then now I still don't do it 415 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,640 my my husband does our cat's nails and I mean, I can do it 416 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,480 but like I feel like he's just quicker at it and whatever. 417 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,720 It just doesn't seem like a way a way I want to spend my time. 418 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:22,960 But I definitely don't DIY either One of my pets grooming. 419 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,640 I mean, Kira is a short haired dog who sheds a lot and we've 420 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,240 had her bathed every month and it's a lot of money. 421 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,120 It really does get expensive. And then now that Satchmo's 422 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,040 here, he needs, he needs haircuts. 423 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,560 He's a long haired dog. He's a schnauzer mix. 424 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:44,240 And dude, it's like 230 a month, $230 a month for both of them 425 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:45,320 together. Yeah. 426 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,280 So like what we've been doing instead of DIY ING is just kind 427 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,720 of extending between. We were doing it once a month. 428 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,600 Now we're doing it like maybe every six weeks, every seven 429 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,240 weeks. It sucks because obviously my 430 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:05,440 house is dirtier, but it's more budget friendly and we're still 431 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,360 supporting the business in our own way. 432 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:13,320 And, like, Satchmo just had his teeth done his, like, a dental 433 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:17,480 cleaning at the vet. And I asked her to, like, trim 434 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,600 all of his beard so we could get a fresh beard going. 435 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,400 And he looked so funny for so long because he was under when 436 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:24,840 she did it. So she was able to get real 437 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:25,800 close. Yeah. 438 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,080 But it does get nasty under there. 439 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:30,920 And, like, he's the kind of dog that pees on his leg when he 440 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,920 lifts it. Wow. 441 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,560 So it's gross. And so, like, I like to keep him 442 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:37,960 real trim. Like he does not have a 443 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:39,480 schnauzer cut. Yeah. 444 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:41,480 Well, yeah. I mean, you've got to be 445 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:43,880 practical. I mean, I'm sure there are 446 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,520 people out there that want their dogs to look a certain way no 447 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,960 matter what. But like for me and for you, I'm 448 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,520 sure you've got to be practical If they're going to like pee on 449 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,360 themselves, you got to be able to clean them easily, 450 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:57,200 frequently. Dude, he stinks. 451 00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,800 I mean, the reason he went to get the teeth cleaning is 452 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:04,560 because he's his teeth stunk and it has made a huge difference. 453 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:06,200 But he still kind of stinks because of. 454 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:10,520 So I mean, going to six every six weeks has been a sacrifice 455 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:16,160 on my part. But we actually use some like 456 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:20,080 dry shampoo that I got at one of these events that I went to and 457 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,560 it's like a natural dry shampoo kind of thing. 458 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:25,600 And it does help a little bit. Like it really does like it 459 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,240 doesn't smell much, but it just kind of absorbs the scent of the 460 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,040 pee. So that's our thoughts on DIY 461 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,000 grooming. OK, bulk buying, bulk buying. 462 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,640 I think it's a really good idea. I actually, it says buy pet food 463 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,440 supplies and even some medications in bulk when 464 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,840 possible, especially if you have a if you have the storage space. 465 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,760 So like I do have storage space. Unfortunately, my storage space 466 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,400 is being utilized because we have so much junk and I complain 467 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,840 about all the time, but like literally I donate things on a 468 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:55,840 daily basis and I still have stuff. 469 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:00,480 And that just tells you how consumerist my family is and how 470 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,240 consumerist I've been at some point. 471 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,520 So it's, I'm not blaming it fully on them, but like I have 472 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,800 little kids who like just have junk given to them constantly. 473 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,240 But I do like the idea of bulk buying pet food. 474 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,360 And I used to do that with, and this stopped, but for a long 475 00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:25,920 time. Oh my gosh, Doctor Judy Morgan's 476 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:31,240 website, her, her shop had like 20% off the whole site. 477 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,240 And I was doing green juju at the time and they included green 478 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,000 juju. So I would buy like multiple 479 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,720 bags of green juju at 20. Percent, yeah. 480 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,040 So definitely did that. I don't believe it's happened 481 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,800 for a long time and I've had the food that I got from that like 482 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,680 shopping spree that I want. So I just use that that food as 483 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:58,000 a Topper. So I I don't buy it that often, 484 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,440 but I was getting boxes full of Doctor Judy Morgan, you know, 485 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:04,520 shipment from from them. So I do like that. 486 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,000 I just feel like most bulk buying opportunities are like 487 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,640 Costco and Sam's and like the quality is just not there. 488 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,920 So I wouldn't do that. I'd rather, I'd rather not. 489 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,040 Yeah. The The thing is I tend to bulk 490 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,080 buy. I will wait for like annual 491 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,920 sales for more shelf stable things. 492 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:31,800 So for Luger, for example, they have a thankful Thursday sale 493 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:33,720 instead of like a Black Friday sale. 494 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,000 They do a thankful Thursday, I think it is. 495 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:40,200 And so and their shampoo, like a bottle of their shampoo for me 496 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:47,360 lasts for forever. So like I'll buy 3, which isn't 497 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,360 a ton, but it's going to that's going to last me like I mean 498 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,720 years. I don't have to do that every 499 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,520 year. And then like Coco therapy, 500 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,920 coconut oil, that stuff is shelf stable. 501 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,480 It lasts forever. So anytime they have a, you 502 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,880 know, whatever their big sale of the year is crude carnivore, 503 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,360 which honestly, going back to making treats at home, you can 504 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:11,400 make your own bone broth at home too, much less expensive. 505 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:13,960 As long as you have the freezer space for it. 506 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,200 Then please, you know, that's amazing. 507 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,320 Do that. But yeah, with crew Carnivore 508 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,440 has their anniversary sale. I will stock up on their stuff. 509 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,080 And yeah, I would stock up on frozen stuff as well. 510 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:29,720 Previously when I had the storage space. 511 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,960 Currently I don't. So I'm not stocking up on on 512 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:36,200 anything frozen. But I, you know, if you shop at 513 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:40,280 your indie pet stores, most of them are going to have some sort 514 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,520 of loyalty program. And I actually, I, I, those 515 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,400 store I shop out now has 2. So I have the like Astro 516 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,000 loyalty, which is a nationwide thing that a lot of brands, a 517 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:56,720 lot of brands participate in. So like I buy 12 goats milks and 518 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,000 then I get the 14th one for free kind of thing. 519 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:04,440 And then the store itself has loyalty rewards where you spend 520 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,720 X number of dollars and you get X number of dollars back to, you 521 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,160 know, use on your next purchase. So like those are things to, 522 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:16,680 again, incentives to shop local at your local indie pet stores. 523 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:21,000 So take advantage of those things and yeah, figure out the 524 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,240 things you love that you cannot live without. 525 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,840 And if they are shelf stable, stock up whenever they do their 526 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,880 their annual whatever the biggest sale of the year is. 527 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,680 Yep, for sure. And also remember that you can 528 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:37,960 reach out to the companies and ask them, are you having a sale 529 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:42,480 anytime soon or how long is the shelf life on this before I 530 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,040 place an order? So don't don't be shy, like be 531 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,360 strategic and like reach out, especially if it's a small 532 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,440 brand, they'll be happy to answer your questions and they 533 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:53,480 might give you if like if they're not having a sale, they 534 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,080 might give you a, you know, coupon code just for reaching 535 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:57,200 out. So we'll see. 536 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,040 Absolutely it does. The the next one is actually 537 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:01,920 utilize pet store loyalty programs. 538 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:04,320 So I agree with that. And the big box stores do it 539 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,720 too. Like I've gone to, you know, 540 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,240 PetSmart for like stuff for like the cat. 541 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,720 Like when we first got the cat, we just went to a PetSmart and 542 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,480 bought like litter boxes and things like that. 543 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,240 And before I knew it, I had like, you know, $10 to use 544 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,240 towards something else and I went and like bought cat food or 545 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:23,160 whatever. So everybody does those these 546 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:24,880 days. And honestly, like, if I don't 547 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:27,400 get like some kind of reward, I, I stop buying there. 548 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,040 Like, I'm like, I want a freebie. 549 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:33,560 I like a freebie. I buy Redmond's like electrolyte 550 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,600 mix, the salts, Redmond, the really great brand. 551 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,360 And like, they send me texts being like, you have $10 to 552 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,200 spend. And I'm like, oh, OK, I'm gonna 553 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,280 send that. So it works for them as well. 554 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,240 Let's see what's the next one. Discount stores. 555 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,920 Check discount stores for pet supplies like beds, bowls and 556 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,240 toys, which may be available at significant discounts. 557 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:57,240 I say don't do this. Yeah, Because what you're going 558 00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:59,560 to get at a discount store, which I'm assuming they're 559 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,360 talking about like a like a dollar store, Like I don't know, 560 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:03,640 Like I don't know what they're talking about. 561 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,400 It depends on the store. So like HomeGoods maybe? 562 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:08,640 Yes. Maybe. 563 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,480 Yeah, I mean. Sometimes they have. 564 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,600 Decent brands, yeah, but like dollar store, No, please don't 565 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:16,400 do that. You're going to get stuff that's 566 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:20,000 covered in toxins, that's plastic, that is not good for 567 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,880 your pet that may maybe is covered in lead too. 568 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,840 Like there's this guy I follow now on social media that's like 569 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,160 the lead guy or something. And he like goes into, he 570 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:30,840 recently went into HomeGoods actually. 571 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:35,680 And like every single plate said he tried, he puts like his 572 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,280 little dye on it tested positive for lead. 573 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,600 And then apparently like years ago, I just discovered him, but 574 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,760 he's been around for a while. Years ago he went to IKEA and 575 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,040 there was stuff with lead. And then this year I think he 576 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:49,880 went to IKEA and they've done better. 577 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,240 So like if you have an IKEA near you, they have some good pet 578 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,160 products that that might help. That might be and IKEA does a 579 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:01,560 good job of like VOC's and things like that for bedding. 580 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:06,560 So I do, I prefer that to like Amazon, but I don't know, I just 581 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,480 I wouldn't discount buy because sometimes I feel like when we 582 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,480 think we're saving money, we spend more anyway. 583 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:14,960 We've talked about this a lot when it's like, do we need this 584 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,000 right? Does the bet, does the pet 585 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,680 really need another bed or is my pet right now? 586 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:20,960 And I'm speaking from experience. 587 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,520 Sachimo has two beds in my bedroom right now. 588 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:25,320 Why? Like, why does he need 2? 589 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,760 Like Kira has one big one, the big Barker bed that that is for 590 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,720 her. And then he has like this like 591 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:34,000 little watermelon cushion and then like a cat bed that like he 592 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:38,040 took over and I'm like, why? And like it's in the way it's 593 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:39,920 dirty. And I'm just looking at it like 594 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,120 next time I remember, I'm just going to toss this in the trash. 595 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,720 Like I don't need this. And if I were to be like not 596 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:46,640 thinking about it, I might even replace it, right? 597 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:48,160 Like I might be like, oh, we need a new bed. 598 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:49,640 No, we don't. We don't need this one. 599 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,760 We don't need a new one. So just if you have to resort to 600 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:59,640 like deals and steals, maybe. Yeah, yeah, I mean, the 601 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,080 literally the only thing I've ever purchased at the Dollar 602 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:07,160 Tree from their pet section are the cat nail trimmers. 603 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,120 That's a good one. That's a good. 1. 604 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,560 Because those do, yeah, like they're cheap, so they get kind 605 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,560 of like off center and like they get dull pretty quickly. 606 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:20,960 Yeah, I've actually had the ones I've had for like 6 years and 607 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,639 there's they still work fine. From the dollar store, from the 608 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,080 I'm sure they're the same ones you buy at the. 609 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:27,760 They have like literally the same thing. 610 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,400 They look exactly the same. They look exactly like 611 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,920 literally, they look exactly like the ones the veterinarian 612 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,360 uses. Yeah, and they might get them at 613 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:40,080 the dollar store too. The next one I do, I'm a big fan 614 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,040 of used or refurbished items, so consider buying gently used pet 615 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,159 supplies or exploring refurbished options to save 616 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:49,040 money. I'm part of a very, very special 617 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:52,199 bi muffin group here in El Paso. We're on the West side. 618 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:56,159 And I mean, let me tell you, people give away and I've given 619 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:59,800 away amazing stuff. You lose a pet like it's 620 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,520 perfectly, you know, it's perfectly good bowls and 621 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,480 perfectly good, you know, harnesses and you don't have A 622 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,040 use for it anymore. And I've always handed those off 623 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,320 like the collar was always harder for you to do. 624 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:14,320 So I would keep collars like Christmas collars. 625 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:17,280 I still have everybody's Christmas collars, but 626 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,560 everything else I was like, it's time for it to pass it on. 627 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:21,520 And like these things are in really good shape. 628 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,080 So I have a box houses actually that I have for the for the 629 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:30,000 shelter where like I was given a bunch of stuff like enrichment 630 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,160 toys is what they they put out a call for enrichment toys and I 631 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,720 have a bunch that were given to me and I'm not really utilizing 632 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:38,400 and like I want to use them mostly when I travel. 633 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,320 So I leave them ready for the pet sitter And like we only need 634 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,560 so many. Like we have 3 pets. 635 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:45,080 We only need so many. We don't need like 8. 636 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,800 So I, I literally kept like 3 or 4 and I'm, you know, donating 637 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,320 the rest and I'm giving it parts. 638 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,280 In my case, I'm giving it to the shelter. 639 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,880 But like in the past, if the shelter hadn't put that call 640 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:58,840 out, I would have just put it on the buy nothing group. 641 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,560 And in order to, to, to go into a buy nothing group, all you 642 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,760 have to do is live in that area. So they'll check with you your 643 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:08,040 address. You do have to provide your 644 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,720 address or street number or whatever, or street address at 645 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:12,920 least. And they'll let you in. 646 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:17,400 And if you're in a good one, you can get a lot of amazing stuff. 647 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,800 Sometimes it's competitive. So they have like one set of 648 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,360 bowls and like 20 people want it. 649 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,040 But you can't. You could get lucky sometimes. 650 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:26,920 So I like it. I like I like the buy nothing 651 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,400 concept. Yeah, I do too. 652 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,960 And tell me that you put up a special tree that you put all of 653 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,360 your dogs Christmas collars on. I don't. 654 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:41,520 I actually decorate, I decorate. What I do is I have my pet, my 655 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:44,640 all the pets that have passed away are on a shelf in my family 656 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:49,200 room and they each have a frame that my mother-in-law sends 657 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,920 whenever one of them passes. And I have a photo from my 658 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,640 friend Jeannie Taylor, who photographed all my pets that I 659 00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:00,800 put in those frames. And I just hang their Christmas 660 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,400 collars on those photo frames every year. 661 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,400 That's so sweet. I know I thought about a but 662 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:11,240 like socks was big, so it needs to be a big tree because she had 663 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:14,120 like a big collar Titan kind of too. 664 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,520 But yeah, that's that's, you know, something to do. 665 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,040 I mean, you can you can, you can also ask me for Christmas 666 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,560 collars and I'll probably send it your way because, I mean, 667 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,360 it's been long enough. I feel like now that I can 668 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:30,040 probably part with them. Yeah, yeah, I know. 669 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:35,080 I was, when I was starting to clean up back home, I came 670 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,960 across some stuff like that and I'm like, I think, I think I 671 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,040 might be ready to donate some of this. 672 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,200 Stuff because it's like. Really nice, good condition, but 673 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:44,360 you know, I've just been folding off. 674 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,320 And you, you really have to wait until you're ready to pass it 675 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,520 on. And then you as the receiver 676 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,720 have to honor what you got. One of the things that I really 677 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:57,880 like is to see, I think I gave one of because Titan had two 678 00:37:57,880 --> 00:37:59,760 Christmas collars. I gave one to my friend Debbie 679 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:02,320 and like she did send me a picture of her dog in it for 680 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,600 Christmas. So you know, we, we actually the 681 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:10,600 best gift my mother-in-law ever gave me was sending me for 682 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,120 Christmas or it wasn't for me, it was for the dogs, but she 683 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,440 sent each one of them a Christmas collar when we had 684 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,240 four. So Kira wears her Christmas 685 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:22,120 collar every year. Every other dog, like December 686 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,600 1st, we would change the collar like early January and change it 687 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,280 back. And I've always said that it was 688 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,160 like the best gift ever because it was so like it was so 689 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:32,520 perfect. They each had their own. 690 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,040 It was wonderful. And it's, you know, it's 691 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:39,720 something that once you're ready to pass on, it still has a ton 692 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:42,360 of life in it because we've only used it one month out of the 693 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,000 year. So. 694 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:51,160 Yeah, OK, let's see. I don't I want to talk about 695 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,360 anything veterinary related because I feel like we could do 696 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,360 a Part 2 about how to save money in veterinary care because 697 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,920 there's so many. But I do like this one. 698 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:08,760 This one's an interesting one. And I do feel like that one has 699 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:11,280 legs or paws, whatever you want to say. 700 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:14,040 Because I feel like, for example, like we're both 701 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:18,120 affiliates with CBD dog health with a 2 crazy cat ladies. 702 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:20,600 Like when I need some kind of cat product, that's where I go 703 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,840 to two crazy cat ladies. When I any CBD that I buy of any 704 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:26,720 sort is going to be from CBD Dog health. 705 00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:32,400 So like it makes sense for me to, you know, become an 706 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,280 affiliate. I get I keep in touch with the 707 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,360 company more. Also I feel like I learned more 708 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:41,720 about their promos that way. But also, like, if people ask 709 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:44,440 you if like you're the the friend who like has all the 710 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:47,520 answers on pet stuff, then it would make total sense to be 711 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:49,160 like, Oh yeah, I'll send you the link. 712 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,080 Yeah, absolutely. And send the link. 713 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:53,880 Don't be shy. Like don't be shy. 714 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:56,040 Don't be like, Oh yeah, don't give the name. 715 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:57,480 Just be like, I'll send you the link. 716 00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:58,960 Yeah. And then you send the link and 717 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,520 keep the links in like your notes, right? 718 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,880 Like I'm an iPhone user. So like, go to your notes and 719 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:05,040 just put all your links in there. 720 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:06,560 And then you'll be like, oh, give me your number, I'll send 721 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,080 you the link. And in like 2 seconds, you've 722 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:10,240 sent them a link. They purchased the name. 723 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:14,160 I made like 12. $12.00 last week from Green Line Pet Supply. 724 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:19,720 Nice, nice. $12.00 I didn't have right and it's a product I use 725 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:23,160 all the time and I know the owner and like I love the owner 726 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,200 and I love the business model and I love the concept and I'm 727 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,160 super happy to make a little Commission, but helping her grow 728 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,320 her business. Yeah, well, yeah, you were 729 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,880 talking about them. Well, you talk about them a lot, 730 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,360 but around Earth Day, I'm sure that was a. 731 00:40:38,560 --> 00:40:41,760 That I posted it on my personal Facebook page being like, hey 732 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,760 guys, if you're looking to do something for Earth Day, they're 733 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,720 having a promo. So like a lot of these places, 734 00:40:46,720 --> 00:40:50,040 the good thing is like, it's not a hard sell because the people 735 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,000 that purchase from that link save 20% from the retail price, 736 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,840 right? So they got a deal and I got 737 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,240 $12.00. So the only one who really made 738 00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:00,920 less money was the company itself. 739 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,280 But like we spread the word, we, we share the wealth and like I 740 00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:08,120 shared it on my personal page where I have like 2500 friends 741 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:12,120 and two people purchased. So if you are just like a pet 742 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,320 parent who's passionate about pet care, why can't you do that 743 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:16,640 on your Facebook page every so often? 744 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:18,040 Of course. You can. 745 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:18,880 It's. Like a side. 746 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,040 Gig. Yeah, and side gigs are a good 747 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:21,840 thing. They are. 748 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:24,360 Yeah. No, I think affiliate programs 749 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:25,480 are great. And I mean, there are some 750 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:29,240 companies that require you to have a business ID, but not all 751 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,080 of them. I've never run into that, no cuz 752 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:35,040 I don't do many I'll be honest. And I do have an Amazon 753 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,840 affiliate but I think I just used my Social Security number 754 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,040 when I set that up. It doesn't go very well for me 755 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,360 on Amazon at all. And I don't know why because 756 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:49,080 I've literally sent an affiliate link to my mom and she'll buy 757 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,160 the product and then I don't get a Commission. 758 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:52,840 So I'm like. I know. 759 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:56,000 That's crazy. Yeah, I think Amazon is a little 760 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:59,400 well any Amazon probably has like the smallest percentage out 761 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,240 of any company, yes and as well they. 762 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:03,960 Probably have like a lot of red tape, like where if like they, 763 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:07,240 they clicked it and they didn't like buy and then like maybe 764 00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:09,680 they clicked it and bought it once, then like they can't use 765 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:11,600 anything else again. Like they can't buy anything 766 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:12,680 from you again. I don't know. 767 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,640 But they, I think they they make it so that they're not giving 768 00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:19,960 too much away. Yeah, well, they they all, well 769 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,960 it's supposed to have like a, I don't remember 30, I mean 30 a 770 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:26,960 30 day cookie is is pretty typical. 771 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:28,680 But like for every new in the space, right? 772 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,440 It should be for every new product or no? 773 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:35,320 Well, it's yeah, anytime you, anytime they click a link of 774 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:37,560 yours, it's a it should be a 30 day cookie. 775 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,960 But also anything else they have in their cars that they 776 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,240 purchase, you're supposed to get Commission on that too. 777 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:49,640 But my, my question would be 1. I mean, maybe they're just not 778 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:52,120 being honest. Like that's a thing and then 779 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,480 there's such a huge company. But then also like me, if she 780 00:42:56,480 --> 00:42:59,680 has something else in her cart that somebody else had sent her 781 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,120 a link for, if that would override it. 782 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:04,760 I don't know, doesn't know anything about links and doesn't 783 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:08,200 really follow influencers. So I'm pretty sure I'm like, mom 784 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:09,960 use this link and she's like, why? 785 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:12,320 So yeah. Yeah, yeah. 786 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:14,480 I don't know. I don't know. 787 00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:16,800 That's a good one. I mean I make money off of 788 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:19,280 Amazon every month but. OK. 789 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,080 So we don't have a lot of time and this one's going to take us 790 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:25,680 a good amount of time. So this is look for free or 791 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:28,880 discounted services. Many shelters and clinics offer 792 00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:33,120 free and discounted services for different things, whether it's 793 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,040 spaying, neutering, microchipping and other 794 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:36,680 services. And I don't want to focus on the 795 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,920 spaying, neutering or microchipping because I would 796 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:40,520 like to talk about those things next week. 797 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:44,440 But I want to talk about services as in like dog walking, 798 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:51,080 pet sitting, boarding, because these companies and if you don't 799 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:54,400 know me at all, you don't know this, but I was a professional 800 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:56,800 pet sitter for 12 years. I had a multiple 6 figure 801 00:43:56,800 --> 00:44:01,480 business with 20 employees in the DC area from 2008 to 2020. 802 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:03,880 When we all know what happened. I had to close my business 803 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:06,080 because I was no longer in my service area and didn't want to 804 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:08,480 go back. But anyway, that's the, the 805 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,520 quick version. So I'm, but I'm still very much 806 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:14,920 involved in the industry of pet sitting dog walking, pet care 807 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:18,440 industry in home pet care. And I'm still pretty adjacent to 808 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,240 like boarding and stuff. And these companies, whether it 809 00:44:22,240 --> 00:44:26,440 be like a really established company like mine was or a newer 810 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:29,680 smaller company, or like a solo pet sitter who's like been doing 811 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:31,720 this for 25 years, but they don't have a staff. 812 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:35,440 It's just that the margins are very, very, very small. 813 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:39,960 So to ask for discounted services to me is an absolute no 814 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,320 go. If you cannot afford their 815 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,320 services, do not find something else. 816 00:44:44,240 --> 00:44:49,560 But also, nobody's, nobody should be pet sitting for you 817 00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,720 for free. And I'll tell you why, because 818 00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:54,720 pet sitting is a huge responsibility. 819 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,880 They have access to your home, your pet, all your things, your 820 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:03,040 house. And there's just too many risks 821 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,640 for somebody to take that on. So if anybody's willing to take 822 00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:08,960 that on either, they're desperate, like they don't have 823 00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:10,880 a place to live. Like maybe they're between 824 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,400 houses and they're like, hey, this is a good negotiation for 825 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:15,000 both of us. I'll stay with your pet. 826 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:18,120 You let me stay in your house. If you trust them enough, they 827 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,080 might be a good fit for you. But somebody was just like, 828 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:23,240 yeah, I love pets. I'm going to stay with them. 829 00:45:23,240 --> 00:45:27,680 Like they may not show up. They may bring strangers into 830 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:29,720 the home. They may lose your pet. 831 00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:34,840 So definitely never look for free pet care in your home, free 832 00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:40,920 boarding in their home like they may, you know, what if your pet 833 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:43,800 like, pees all over their rug? What if your pet bites their 834 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:45,360 couch? Like, do you have an 835 00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,360 understanding on who's responsible for that? 836 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:48,960 Because if you have a professional pet sitter, they 837 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:51,760 have insurance to cover that. So their insurance covers it. 838 00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:53,280 You don't have to pay for it. It's all good. 839 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,320 But you paid for the care, but you don't have to pay for the 840 00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:58,440 damage. If you go to a friend's house 841 00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:01,000 and you're like, here's my dog and the dog does a terrible 842 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:02,600 thing. Now you're on the hook to pay 843 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:03,920 for that. I would hope you would do the 844 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:06,640 right thing and pay for it. But that's something that 845 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:09,720 obviously might ruin your friendship, might cause some 846 00:46:09,720 --> 00:46:12,920 stress financially. So like free and discounted pet 847 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:16,120 care always is like a really big red flag for me. 848 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:19,320 But because we're talking about getting creative, I do think 849 00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:22,360 that there are situations where you could do something like an 850 00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:25,880 exchange with a friend who, you know, is a really dedicated pet 851 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,640 parent, you know, but that doesn't happen overnight. 852 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:30,680 Like that would be something that I would do, like where you 853 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:34,080 did play dates together and your dogs or cats got to know each 854 00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:39,080 other, where maybe you did like drop off your dog for the day 855 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:42,440 while you go somewhere to make sure that it's that it works. 856 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:47,480 You would have some say in, you know, like make sure that your 857 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:53,000 yard is safe or like asking questions about like, you know, 858 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:58,000 what is your pet vaccinated? Is the, you know, if you're of a 859 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:01,360 puppy and you're bringing them in, like what are the risks to 860 00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:03,840 my dogs? Those kinds of questions you 861 00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,240 should be able to ask because you guys are doing it for each 862 00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:07,680 other. So it has to be like really on 863 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:10,360 the up and up, I would say. But I do think there's a world 864 00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:12,920 where like you and I, like Jessica, if we lived in the same 865 00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:15,400 place, like I would be happy to come over and like pet sit your 866 00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:19,760 pets and I would immediately trust you with mine because I 867 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,960 know that the level of care would be the same. 868 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:26,440 But like, I mean, I was, I shared custody of my dogs with 869 00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:28,840 their dad. This was in my previous 870 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,640 relationship. And I didn't feel safe dropping 871 00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:34,240 them off. Yeah, because they would jump 872 00:47:34,240 --> 00:47:36,160 the fence. They would jump the fence at his 873 00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:40,480 house. And so it was a legal agreement 874 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:42,960 where we shared custody of the dogs. 875 00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:44,480 And so when I traveled, I would drop them off. 876 00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:46,040 And if he traveled, he would drop them off to me. 877 00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:47,200 And we would have like back and forth. 878 00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:51,440 And I was like primary caregiver and he paid for their insurance. 879 00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:54,920 That was like the legal thing that, that we agreed to. 880 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:59,400 But every time that I dropped them off, especially when Socks 881 00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,200 was young, I would get a call being like, we found your dog 882 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:09,040 And I would be like, they're, well, they're not at my house. 883 00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:13,400 Let me call, you know, whomever. So it really has to be somebody 884 00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:17,960 that you align with as like as, as, as a pet, a pet person. 885 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:25,280 If I, if I, if you have to, you know, you move somewhere, you 886 00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:29,000 don't know anybody. I wouldn't just be like, oh, do 887 00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,400 you mind taking care of my pet? Which I know a lot of people do. 888 00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,040 And like in the military, people ask for favors like that all the 889 00:48:34,040 --> 00:48:35,560 time. And it just boggles my mind 890 00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:38,960 because like, you're giving access to your pet to your home 891 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,440 to a stranger and like, just because they live on post or 892 00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:43,760 they live in your neighborhood doesn't make them automatically 893 00:48:43,760 --> 00:48:47,160 like a good choice. I would say better than to just 894 00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:51,120 leave your pet with just anybody is shorten your trip and get a 895 00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:53,720 pet sitter, right? Like maybe you don't need to be 896 00:48:53,720 --> 00:48:55,840 gone for two weeks. Maybe you need to be gone for 897 00:48:55,840 --> 00:49:00,000 five days if that's all you can afford as far as pet sitting. 898 00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:04,840 And just definitely make sure that you guys discuss all the 899 00:49:04,840 --> 00:49:09,120 details of if my pet damages something, what are we going to 900 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:11,160 do? And like in my house versus your 901 00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:13,600 house? Like, what if our dogs get in a 902 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:15,200 fight? Yeah, right. 903 00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:18,920 Like when you board your dog at a boarding facility, they have 904 00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:22,520 insurance that will cover your dog if your dog is injured in 905 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:25,640 that facility. If I take my dog to Jessica's 906 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:30,120 house and the two dogs fight, who covers the cost? 907 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:31,360 Right. Yeah. 908 00:49:32,360 --> 00:49:34,680 Do we know who started it? Are we going to really nitpick 909 00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:36,240 that? Are we going to go 5050? 910 00:49:36,240 --> 00:49:38,960 Are we going to, you know, is does my dog have a bite history? 911 00:49:38,960 --> 00:49:40,840 And so am I automatically going to agree to pay? 912 00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:43,880 Like, those questions have to be asked and those things need to 913 00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:49,200 be discussed because I do think, like I said, it could work, but 914 00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:53,200 everything has to be done really, like, really mindfully. 915 00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:58,880 I wouldn't drop my kid off for a week at anybody's house without 916 00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:03,320 asking a ton of questions. Without even with my, like, my, 917 00:50:03,360 --> 00:50:05,600 my in laws haven't taken care of my kids overnight. 918 00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:08,640 My mom refuses to take care of my kids overnight. 919 00:50:09,120 --> 00:50:13,480 She's like, that's too long. I mean, my mom, my mom is not 920 00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:16,880 like your nurturing grandmother type that wants to like, take 921 00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:19,080 care of them all the time. Like, she loves them and they, 922 00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:22,240 like, they adore her. But she's more like, I make them 923 00:50:22,240 --> 00:50:24,600 dinner, we go out like, we have good time. 924 00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:26,840 And then like, it's time for you to fight with them to get them 925 00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:27,880 to bed. Like, I'm not doing that. 926 00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:32,040 Yeah, so think about like, if I were to be like mom, take care 927 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:34,680 of my pets, I would never. Like, she's my mother, she 928 00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:36,600 raised me. I know she's a super competent 929 00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:38,480 person, but I just wouldn't because she's not. 930 00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:40,080 It's not for her. Like she doesn't want to do 931 00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:40,800 this. Yeah. 932 00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:44,440 So if I were to drop off my kids at somebody'd house, like I 933 00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:48,600 would be like what, you know, what do you want money for food? 934 00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:51,640 Do you like do you want like how often should I call? 935 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:54,640 Like what happened? Like if they break anything, 936 00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:56,320 please let me know. I'll replace it. 937 00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:58,400 Like and they're children that you could be like you better be 938 00:50:58,400 --> 00:51:00,840 on your best behavior. You can't say that to your pets. 939 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:05,720 No, no. You're literally dropping them 940 00:51:05,720 --> 00:51:09,280 off being like I'm abandoning you now have right and that 941 00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:11,680 they're going to be like they have might have colitis all over 942 00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:14,680 the rug. They might like throw up. 943 00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:17,800 They might choose something out of like, you know, just like the 944 00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:19,760 nerves of being in a new environment. 945 00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,080 Like all of that could go very, very wrong. 946 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:26,680 Absolutely. And I mean, this is 1 very much 947 00:51:26,680 --> 00:51:28,120 an agreement with everything you said. 948 00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:31,960 This is absolutely one, a place where I would not skimp. 949 00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:36,520 I just, I just would not. And I mean, I, I, I realize like 950 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:39,560 I have, and I know I've said this before and we've talked 951 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:43,760 about this before, like I have seen so many posts where people 952 00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:47,720 are posting in the neighborhood group like, oh, I'm going out of 953 00:51:47,720 --> 00:51:49,760 town next week. I need somebody to watch my dog. 954 00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:57,080 Like first of all, I will never book travel unless I already 955 00:51:57,080 --> 00:52:00,760 have pet care established period, end of story. 956 00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:04,920 And if in this has happened to me twice now. 957 00:52:05,240 --> 00:52:10,240 If I book travel having pet care established and sometime between 958 00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:17,000 my booking and my departure they cancel or try to change the days 959 00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:19,840 I freak. The heck. 960 00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:23,520 I'm like cancel the trip. Find somebody you know, like 961 00:52:24,080 --> 00:52:27,360 this is not like, oh we'll figure it out. 962 00:52:27,360 --> 00:52:31,240 This is serious. This is your pets lives. 963 00:52:31,440 --> 00:52:34,840 Yes, in the 12 years that I ran my business, we only had to 964 00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:37,480 cancel on one client. And it was because they were 965 00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:42,560 like at the end of our service area and the person that was 966 00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:46,880 their pet sitter who had committed to it was automatic. 967 00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:50,400 Like out of nowhere, her family was relocated by the, I think 968 00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,520 she, I think they were ice and they were just like 969 00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:54,800 automatically relocated and that she could not. 970 00:52:54,880 --> 00:52:57,080 And like, I wasn't in town, so I couldn't do it. 971 00:52:57,080 --> 00:52:59,800 I would have just done it. I would have driven like the 40 972 00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:02,480 miles every three times a day I would have. 973 00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:04,720 But like, I finally had to be like, I'm so sorry. 974 00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:07,400 Like we have exhausted every option and I had 20 staff 975 00:53:07,400 --> 00:53:09,200 members to choose from and nobody could do it. 976 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:12,440 And it was truly like so heartbreaking and like I know 977 00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:15,000 that they hated us for it, but I had to do it. 978 00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:17,680 And I know that I think there's such a wrench in there and 979 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:21,560 wrench in there like plans in their travel stress them out. 980 00:53:21,560 --> 00:53:24,440 It felt awful. But like we genuinely couldn't 981 00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:25,760 do it. It was like 2 months before. 982 00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:27,600 So it's not like we like waited till the last minute. 983 00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:34,200 But that's why you want to also think about booking a business 984 00:53:34,360 --> 00:53:38,320 with either employees where they have backups like they like. 985 00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:40,920 In my business, we had an assistant manager, we had two, 986 00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:44,360 we had a general manager me and we had an operations manager, 987 00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:47,200 Beth. And so like until I moved away, 988 00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:49,920 you had three managers that could back up the employees. 989 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:54,720 Once I moved away, it was 2. And then within each group we 990 00:53:54,720 --> 00:53:57,880 had buddy it which in each service area we had buddies. 991 00:53:57,880 --> 00:54:01,400 So like if and Allison couldn't make it, then you know, Sherry 992 00:54:01,400 --> 00:54:03,840 would go in her place and they would back each other up and 993 00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:05,640 they both had keys to the same client. 994 00:54:05,640 --> 00:54:06,840 So they could like work as a team. 995 00:54:06,840 --> 00:54:10,880 I know that there are individual pet sitters that work on their 996 00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:12,040 own. Like they have their own 997 00:54:12,040 --> 00:54:13,520 business. They're the only ones who, but 998 00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:16,440 they have another individual pet sitter that they network with 999 00:54:16,760 --> 00:54:19,200 that if something were to happen to them, they're like, hey, like 1000 00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:24,080 I know the perfect example is like in Houston, there's these 1001 00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,400 two that are like best friends and they pet sit for each other. 1002 00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:31,280 So like Scott travels, Bobby takes care of his pets, and then 1003 00:54:31,280 --> 00:54:36,000 Scott has something going on, Bobby takes care of his pet, 1004 00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:39,320 like his clients pets too. And so the same thing happens 1005 00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:42,680 when Bobby goes and like they both travel all the time because 1006 00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:45,800 they have this support system. So when you are hiring a pet 1007 00:54:45,800 --> 00:54:49,360 sitter or a friend or anybody, you have to think about what 1008 00:54:49,360 --> 00:54:52,480 happens if this person, the person who's in front of me 1009 00:54:52,480 --> 00:54:56,160 saying yes, I'll be there, get sick, gets in a car accident, 1010 00:54:56,880 --> 00:54:59,920 has an emergency where like their mother is sick and now 1011 00:54:59,920 --> 00:55:01,760 they have to fly out of town. Heaven forbid. 1012 00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:05,880 Like life happens no matter what you're doing and what your pet 1013 00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:07,480 needs, like life is going to happen. 1014 00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:11,800 So always asking like, what happens if something like 1015 00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:14,560 there's an emergency and maybe like their spouse can step in, 1016 00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:16,240 right? Like if you, if it's like, if 1017 00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:19,720 it's friends, you could be like, oh, you know, like, hey, you 1018 00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:21,960 know, Jessica, if something happens to me, like Chris will 1019 00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:24,720 step in or whatever, or like that'd be fine, right? 1020 00:55:24,720 --> 00:55:28,680 Because Chris is pretty. I mean, he's not this level, but 1021 00:55:28,680 --> 00:55:31,640 like he's, he's capable, right? Yeah. 1022 00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:35,560 But like in the case of like 2 single friends, like who steps 1023 00:55:35,560 --> 00:55:38,800 in, right? Like, yeah, two single women, 1024 00:55:38,920 --> 00:55:41,880 one of them, like they like back each other up, but like they're 1025 00:55:41,880 --> 00:55:44,200 friends from work. What happens if one of them like 1026 00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:47,600 ends up really, really sick? Appendicitis happens like the 1027 00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:50,360 other ones in like Europe being like, Oh my God, my cat's still 1028 00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:53,080 waiting to be seen today. So that's one of those things 1029 00:55:53,080 --> 00:55:56,160 that I agree with you. Like, we can get creative and 1030 00:55:56,160 --> 00:56:00,960 minimize in other places, but finding a reputable pet sitter, 1031 00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:04,040 pet care provider is so important. 1032 00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:07,640 And honestly, it the only place I would skimp is dog walking. 1033 00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:12,160 Like so basically your dog doesn't get walked midday but 1034 00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:14,160 you like rush home and walk them yourself? 1035 00:56:14,160 --> 00:56:16,520 If like that's your reality, then that's your reality. 1036 00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:19,240 Or do you take them for a really long walk before you go to work 1037 00:56:19,240 --> 00:56:23,000 so that they're tired and maybe, you know, let them drink a 1038 00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:25,360 little bit of water and like fill the bowl that where they 1039 00:56:25,360 --> 00:56:29,000 don't drink an excessive amount. Kind of be more strategic about 1040 00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:30,480 that. And you could probably save 1041 00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:32,760 money on a dog Walker instead of doing it five days a week, maybe 1042 00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:35,600 you do it twice a week and your dog gets that break and that 1043 00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:37,200 great thing. But it's, you know, it doesn't 1044 00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,120 break the bank. But when you're traveling, 1045 00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:41,040 you're literally outside of the area. 1046 00:56:41,720 --> 00:56:43,480 I would not take it. I would not. 1047 00:56:43,640 --> 00:56:47,760 I would not. Yeah, it's scary to me. 1048 00:56:47,760 --> 00:56:48,520 It's scary. Yeah. 1049 00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:50,320 I don't. I just can't. 1050 00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:53,760 I can't wrap my head around that mindset of somebody who's like, 1051 00:56:54,200 --> 00:56:56,600 I'm leaving tomorrow and I need somebody to watch my animal. 1052 00:56:56,840 --> 00:57:00,360 Those people will end up on Wagon Rover, and I will say that 1053 00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:05,080 Wagon Rover are technology companies that connect you with 1054 00:57:05,080 --> 00:57:09,480 pet care providers. They do not vet the person who's 1055 00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:11,960 coming to your house. They do not background check 1056 00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:15,080 them. They can pay for a background 1057 00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:18,320 check to be listed on their profile and they get like a 1058 00:57:18,480 --> 00:57:21,360 little badge or something that they've done that, but that 1059 00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:23,960 could have been done a year ago and something has changed on 1060 00:57:23,960 --> 00:57:26,000 their background and you wouldn't be the wiser. 1061 00:57:27,160 --> 00:57:29,200 As a professional Pet City business owner, I would 1062 00:57:29,200 --> 00:57:34,000 background check my my staff constantly and I would do it. 1063 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:37,080 I would check credit scores. I would check everything because 1064 00:57:37,080 --> 00:57:39,600 I didn't want to send somebody who was like loan they ever had 1065 00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:41,920 into your home where they might be tempted to steal. 1066 00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:47,080 So like I checked everything. They also do not cover any. 1067 00:57:47,200 --> 00:57:51,240 They don't provide any kind of insurance for you for the pet or 1068 00:57:51,240 --> 00:57:54,360 for the pet care provider. So if you are going through a 1069 00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:59,200 wag, you basically it's mostly dog walks and you're just kind 1070 00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:02,360 of hoping that the person who has access to your house is like 1071 00:58:02,360 --> 00:58:05,280 a decent person. They've had they've had 1072 00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:07,680 situations where they lost pets. That's just wag. 1073 00:58:08,320 --> 00:58:11,800 They lost pets, they abused pets. 1074 00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:14,600 Obviously they've had situations where people steal. 1075 00:58:14,600 --> 00:58:17,120 I mean, bad people are over there everywhere. 1076 00:58:17,120 --> 00:58:19,320 And I'm like, you're telling me that I can get access to 1077 00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:21,080 people's homes by say I'm going to walk their dog? 1078 00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:23,280 That sounds amazing. Like you know what I mean? 1079 00:58:23,280 --> 00:58:27,680 Like I vetted people and I still had like issues where like I had 1080 00:58:27,680 --> 00:58:30,040 somebody who was like potentially high on the job and 1081 00:58:30,040 --> 00:58:34,760 I had to be like, I need to get all your keys right now, right? 1082 00:58:34,760 --> 00:58:41,600 And I was a manager, Yeah. Like see like in the same area, 1083 00:58:41,600 --> 00:58:45,280 not a technology company like in Seattle managing like managing 1084 00:58:45,320 --> 00:58:47,520 something in whomever, wherever else. 1085 00:58:47,720 --> 00:58:49,320 And then Rover is different in the. 1086 00:58:49,360 --> 00:58:51,920 Well, it's the same in the sense that it's a technology company. 1087 00:58:51,920 --> 00:58:54,920 It's like a, it's like a, it's like a search engine for pet 1088 00:58:54,920 --> 00:58:57,480 care providers. They do not vet anybody who 1089 00:58:57,480 --> 00:59:00,360 lists themselves on there. They none of these people work 1090 00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:03,320 for these brands. They are just listed as it's 1091 00:59:03,320 --> 00:59:04,880 like an Uber. Yeah, exactly. 1092 00:59:06,360 --> 00:59:10,440 So, Rover. Will not only do pet sitting in 1093 00:59:10,440 --> 00:59:12,400 your home, they will also do boarding. 1094 00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:16,200 So like I could, I could list myself on Rover and take your 1095 00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:20,040 dog or your cat into my home. There is no way for Rover to 1096 00:59:20,040 --> 00:59:23,400 know if they're, if the pets that exist there are aggressive, 1097 00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:27,000 if your pets going to get hurt. There's no way for people for 1098 00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:29,440 Rover to know if those people are just trying to make money 1099 00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:32,120 and will not feed your pet for a week that you're gone. 1100 00:59:32,400 --> 00:59:34,960 And that's happened. It's happened where pets die, 1101 00:59:35,080 --> 00:59:40,040 get lost, are abused. It's just it's not a pretty 1102 00:59:40,040 --> 00:59:41,760 thing and it happens all the time. 1103 00:59:41,760 --> 00:59:46,320 And in Rover and Wags defense, they never promised anything to 1104 00:59:46,320 --> 00:59:50,760 these pet parents, but the pet parent assumed that when they 1105 00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:54,240 hired Rover, they were hiring somebody like my company and 1106 00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:56,880 they are not. So it's really like what I think 1107 00:59:56,880 --> 00:59:59,200 it is. It's false advertising in a in a 1108 00:59:59,200 --> 01:00:02,520 way, because the consumer is kind of not educated enough to 1109 01:00:02,520 --> 01:00:05,200 recognize the difference, but it's also on the consumer to 1110 01:00:05,200 --> 01:00:07,120 know. So that's why I'm so passionate 1111 01:00:07,120 --> 01:00:09,480 about educating people about the difference between a 1112 01:00:09,480 --> 01:00:14,360 professional pet sitting business versus Wag Rover or any 1113 01:00:14,360 --> 01:00:16,760 kind of like thing you might find on. 1114 01:00:17,040 --> 01:00:21,840 Online, the only search engines that I recommend are PSI Pet 1115 01:00:21,840 --> 01:00:24,960 Sitters International and National Association of 1116 01:00:24,960 --> 01:00:27,920 Professional Pet Sitters. Those are the two places that 1117 01:00:27,920 --> 01:00:30,960 are professional pet sitters with businesses whether they're 1118 01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:35,560 one person or 20 or 885. I mean, there are, there are 7 1119 01:00:35,560 --> 01:00:40,440 figure pet sitting businesses in major metropolitan areas and 1120 01:00:41,120 --> 01:00:43,880 they're all listed there and they're all members of these 1121 01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:48,640 organizations that like have like codes of ethics, they have 1122 01:00:48,760 --> 01:00:51,800 minimum standards, they have insurance. 1123 01:00:51,800 --> 01:00:55,760 All of these people are legit. And so again, that's NAPS, the 1124 01:00:55,760 --> 01:00:59,080 National Association of Professional Pet Sitters and PSI 1125 01:00:59,080 --> 01:01:01,400 Pet Sitters International. And actually the president of 1126 01:01:01,400 --> 01:01:03,960 PSI Beth is going to be on my show on Thursday. 1127 01:01:04,080 --> 01:01:06,520 Oh nice. Yes, totally. 1128 01:01:06,560 --> 01:01:08,360 I'm related to this. We're gonna just talk about like 1129 01:01:08,360 --> 01:01:11,280 the state of the pet sitting industry and pets and things 1130 01:01:11,280 --> 01:01:12,720 like that. And just like catch up. 1131 01:01:13,480 --> 01:01:17,000 And if you have any questions about pet sitting or one of the 1132 01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:20,160 things that I find is it's tough in certain areas to find a 1133 01:01:20,160 --> 01:01:22,840 professional pet sitter. So if you are in those areas, I 1134 01:01:22,840 --> 01:01:25,920 really do feel for you because it's almost like the only option 1135 01:01:25,920 --> 01:01:29,120 you have is Rover because like why won't go to those areas, but 1136 01:01:29,360 --> 01:01:31,280 you know, you might find somebody on Rover and be like, 1137 01:01:31,280 --> 01:01:34,600 well, that's my only choice. And when you, if you are in that 1138 01:01:34,600 --> 01:01:37,360 position, you just need to know what answer, what questions to 1139 01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:39,520 ask. And so that's one, one of the 1140 01:01:39,520 --> 01:01:42,160 things that I often do when I have a pet sitter, professional 1141 01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:45,800 pet sitter on my show is ask them like, what questions should 1142 01:01:45,800 --> 01:01:49,080 pet parents be asked and what red flags and what green flags? 1143 01:01:49,280 --> 01:01:51,840 I think I might play a game about red flags and green flags. 1144 01:01:53,000 --> 01:01:54,440 Nice. Yeah. 1145 01:01:55,280 --> 01:02:00,000 I have interviewed some people that I'm like, wow, how do you 1146 01:02:00,000 --> 01:02:07,760 get through life? But yeah, no, yeah, again, this 1147 01:02:07,760 --> 01:02:10,800 is 1 area I definitely would not try to skimp on. 1148 01:02:10,800 --> 01:02:14,880 I just could not imagine, just like with a child like you said, 1149 01:02:14,880 --> 01:02:19,560 I could not imagine just being like leaving your child at home, 1150 01:02:20,200 --> 01:02:24,400 opening up an app and saying here's the code to my door, come 1151 01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:25,680 and check on my child in a few hours. 1152 01:02:25,680 --> 01:02:27,760 You know what I mean? Like thought of it that way 1153 01:02:27,760 --> 01:02:29,160 which I mean. You would think I would have 1154 01:02:29,160 --> 01:02:32,160 thought of it that way, but that sounds that sounds illegal, 1155 01:02:32,480 --> 01:02:34,720 right? Like they the government should 1156 01:02:34,720 --> 01:02:38,160 not allow that type of service to even exist because of how 1157 01:02:38,160 --> 01:02:40,600 dangerous that could become. Like, you just got a bunch of 1158 01:02:40,600 --> 01:02:42,160 pedophiles coming into your home. 1159 01:02:43,280 --> 01:02:45,880 Why are we, why? Why do we not, like, worry 1160 01:02:45,880 --> 01:02:49,560 about, well, animal abusers and thieves coming into homes, 1161 01:02:49,560 --> 01:02:51,720 property. There's no real liability. 1162 01:02:51,720 --> 01:02:53,360 Yeah. It's like it's like opening the 1163 01:02:53,360 --> 01:02:55,560 door to a cleaning. Lady, the same. 1164 01:02:55,560 --> 01:02:58,840 It's the equivalence in, in the eyes of, you know, the 1165 01:02:58,840 --> 01:03:01,160 government or whatever. But yeah, I would never, I mean, 1166 01:03:01,880 --> 01:03:06,440 as a parent to two children who can speak and tell me how it 1167 01:03:06,440 --> 01:03:08,440 went. I can only leave them in the 1168 01:03:08,440 --> 01:03:12,640 care of anybody, like I Yeah, and they can tell you everything 1169 01:03:12,800 --> 01:03:14,880 and they can they. Can tell me if it went well if 1170 01:03:14,880 --> 01:03:16,200 they? Were mean if they yelled like 1171 01:03:16,440 --> 01:03:19,720 one of my kids doesn't like this particular like place that has 1172 01:03:19,720 --> 01:03:22,080 great like a kids night out on every Saturday. 1173 01:03:22,080 --> 01:03:24,480 They do like a parents night out and it's like fun for the kids. 1174 01:03:24,480 --> 01:03:26,120 My daughter loves it, my son hates it. 1175 01:03:26,840 --> 01:03:30,000 And why he can tell me like they every time I do anything, they 1176 01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:33,160 like, yell at me and like they love Mila, Mila, cuz Mila goes 1177 01:03:33,160 --> 01:03:36,200 there for gymnastics. So like she knows all the 1178 01:03:36,200 --> 01:03:39,000 coaches and blah, blah, blah. So she's like the everybody like 1179 01:03:39,000 --> 01:03:41,000 loves her. And like he feels like the ugly 1180 01:03:41,000 --> 01:03:42,520 stepchild and he's like, I hate it there. 1181 01:03:42,960 --> 01:03:45,200 And So what do we do? We don't take him there. 1182 01:03:45,600 --> 01:03:47,080 Yeah, because he doesn't like it. 1183 01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:50,640 And because if I went out that night, I would be worried about, 1184 01:03:50,640 --> 01:03:53,440 like, no one getting into trouble or, like, acting out 1185 01:03:53,440 --> 01:03:54,640 because he didn't feel comfortable. 1186 01:03:54,640 --> 01:03:58,080 And he's 7. He's able to speak his mind and 1187 01:03:58,080 --> 01:03:59,520 very well. My God. 1188 01:03:59,840 --> 01:04:03,160 And like, Kira, Kira would just cower in the corner and, like, 1189 01:04:03,160 --> 01:04:06,120 whine until I picked her up. Poor thing. 1190 01:04:07,640 --> 01:04:10,160 Yeah. Kira, you keep farting, man. 1191 01:04:10,160 --> 01:04:16,000 Kira's been. Farting this whole show, God 1192 01:04:17,800 --> 01:04:20,400 cheat. I don't know. 1193 01:04:21,280 --> 01:04:24,160 Hi Brooke, I'm sorry I didn't see you until now. 1194 01:04:24,160 --> 01:04:26,200 Thank you for joining Brooke on Facebook. 1195 01:04:26,200 --> 01:04:28,280 She's one of my friends. She's a professional pet sitter 1196 01:04:28,280 --> 01:04:29,760 in Houston. If you need a professional pet 1197 01:04:29,760 --> 01:04:31,560 sitter in Houston, I'm going to shout her out. 1198 01:04:31,560 --> 01:04:34,680 Animal admiration. She has the biggest pet sitting 1199 01:04:34,680 --> 01:04:36,600 dog walking business in West Houston. 1200 01:04:36,600 --> 01:04:46,560 She serves Katie Full Share, Cypress and I forget what else. 1201 01:04:46,640 --> 01:04:51,480 So one of those Katie Cypress full Share and why can't I 1202 01:04:51,480 --> 01:04:53,760 remember the other one? But anyway, she is awesome. 1203 01:04:53,760 --> 01:04:55,960 And like, she runs a tight ship, I'll tell you that. 1204 01:04:56,200 --> 01:04:59,360 She is very, very involved. Nice. 1205 01:05:00,560 --> 01:05:01,920 Yeah. All right. 1206 01:05:01,920 --> 01:05:03,880 So we're going to continue this with. 1207 01:05:04,880 --> 01:05:07,480 Saving on vet care next week. Yes. 1208 01:05:07,560 --> 01:05:10,680 OK, creative. Ways creative on vet care and 1209 01:05:10,680 --> 01:05:13,000 one of the things I want to discuss and we'll, you know, do 1210 01:05:13,000 --> 01:05:19,960 our research before is these like like virtual medicine 1211 01:05:20,600 --> 01:05:25,080 places that now are available and what our thoughts are on 1212 01:05:25,080 --> 01:05:28,320 like the limitations, whether they really save money, that 1213 01:05:28,320 --> 01:05:29,960 kind of stuff. I feel like there's a big 1214 01:05:29,960 --> 01:05:32,480 conversation to have and it's actually I'll be answering my 1215 01:05:32,480 --> 01:05:33,840 own questions because I haven't looked into it. 1216 01:05:33,840 --> 01:05:38,480 I've seen some, you know, ads for like a vet, like a virtual 1217 01:05:38,480 --> 01:05:41,280 vet Med service and I use that with my kids. 1218 01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:43,160 Actually, I have a blueberry Pediatrics. 1219 01:05:43,160 --> 01:05:45,800 I have like one of these things where I, if I can't get into the 1220 01:05:46,600 --> 01:05:51,240 to the pediatrician, I will, you know, upload their picture and 1221 01:05:51,360 --> 01:05:54,960 give them their their vitals and they can send in prescriptions 1222 01:05:54,960 --> 01:05:57,040 or whatever. But I haven't really looked at 1223 01:05:57,040 --> 01:05:59,400 it for bat Med and it would be a good conversation to have. 1224 01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:01,960 Yeah, let's do it. All right. 1225 01:06:02,360 --> 01:06:06,160 Well, thank you guys for. Joining us, thank you so much. 1226 01:06:06,160 --> 01:06:09,560 We really appreciate you. Guys for being here and I'm 1227 01:06:09,680 --> 01:06:11,040 looking forward to seeing you next week. 1228 01:06:11,800 --> 01:06:12,000 Bye bye.