Have you ever had a hard time finding a ride home from the airport? Or had trouble getting a ride to bring your pet to the vet? If you rely on ridesharing for some of your transportation needs, it can be very difficult to find a driver that will agree to bring your pet along. And, unless your pet is a service animal, they’re not typically allowed on public transportation.

Aparna Srinivasan is changing that. She is the founder and CEO of SpotOn, a fairly new rideshare company that is dedicated to getting pets and their owners from point A to point B. Unlike other companies, SpotOn drivers are willing (and excited!) to welcome pets of all kinds into their vehicles.

Have you ever thought about owning your own franchised business? We’re all familiar with McDonald’s, Burger King, Sonic and all the other popular fast food franchises, but what about franchise options in the pet industry? If you’re wondering what franchising is all about or how to get started with this entrepreneurial adventure, this podcast is for you!

I invited DanBarton, founder and CEO of Splash and Dash Groomerie and Boutique, to be a guest on my show. He’s sharing information for potential franchise owners and tips and tricks for anyone thinking about starting their own business. You’ll learn what makes this particular franchise different from others and what features you should be looking for when choosing a company to franchise through.

Do you think your dog understands you when you speak to him? Or does he just associate the sound you’re making with a certain action? For example, does he understand what the word ‘sit’ means or does he just associate that sound with the action that you are expecting of him?

If your dog actually understood the words that you were using, you wouldn’t need to repetitively train him to perform a trick - he would just understand what you are expecting and do it. Dogs don’t speak English, or German or French for that matter. Dogs have their own language, which is based more on actions than sounds.

Pets and humans have a lot in common, including mental health and disorders. One of the best ways to keep your pet’s mind sharp is to provide mentally stimulating toys and activities. Pets can suffer from boredom, stress, anxiety and even depression. For this reason, it’s just as important to care for their mental health as it is their physical health.

Exposure to different environments, stimulating different sensory receptors, playing games, and teaching pets new tricks/commands can all be viable methods of mental stimulation for pets that impact canine behavior, prevent mental disorders and may even trigger changes. There are hundreds of pet products on the market designed to stimulate animals and increase their mental health.

If you take your dog with you everywhere you go, you probably take a lot of safety precautions. He probably wears a harness, and I’m sure you bring a leash with you wherever you go. There are also some precautions that you should take when bringing your pet along for a car ride.

If your dog is free to roam around the vehicle while driving, it will be dangerous for you, him and any other passengers in the vehicle. A free roaming dog will distract you, and he will become a dangerous projectile in the event of an accident. He could also climb into your lap, get into things that he shouldn’t, or any number of other distracting behaviors.

Picking the right type of nutrition for your dogs and cats can be quite overwhelming for pet owners. There are so many options to choose from. How do you know which product is the best choice for your furry companion?  Reading labels can be confusing, and online research is time consuming.

Tom Arrix is the founder of Joy Food, a fairly new pet food company that builds vet-designed, curated meals for your pet from fresh and wholesome ingredients. In 2018, one of Tom’s dogs became very sick. He worked with his vet to change the dog’s diet, and quickly saw a direct correlation between the quality of food and his dog’s quality of life.

In this podcast episode, Tom discusses why he decided to create a new pet food company instead of buying a product that was already available. He also tells us about the ingredients he uses, and why he chooses these ingredients. He’ll talk about what a human-grade dog food diet is and why it’s important for your pup.

Digestive health is a topic that is greatly underserved in the pet food industry, and vastly underappreciated by pet owners. Most pet parents believe that feeding a high quality food is equivalent to caring for their pet’s digestive health. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

If your pet’s gut health is not balanced, their body cannot properly digest food. So, no matter how good the food is, their body won’t be able to get the nutrients it needs from the meal. In this podcast episode, I spoke with Rei Kawano, Co-founder and CEO of Heed Foods.

This relatively new company has taken a different approach to creating high quality meals for dogs. Not only are they focused on using the healthiest ingredients, they are also determined to help pet owners care for their dog’s digestive health. Find out more about the importance of proper digestive health and how you can get your dog’s digestive tract back on track in this episode.

Did you know that rodenticides and insecticides are among the top 10 household toxins that poison pets, especially dogs, every year? Insect and rodent poisons can be just as toxic to our curious pets as they are to the pest itself. Common active ingredients include long-lasting anticoagulants, which can prevent animal’s blood from clotting, Cholecalciferol, which can lead to kidney failure in animals, and Bromethalin, a neurotoxin that can result in tremors, seizures and paralysis.

March was Pet Poison Prevention Awareness month, with Poison Prevention Week spanning from March 14th - 21st. We’re responsible for protecting our four-legged friends, so as we gear up for spring, it's time to choose pest prevention that doesn’t put them in harm’s way.

In this episode I interview Kari Warberg Block from EarthKind’s. They special in making plant-based, poison-free pest prevention. Their products are eco-friendly and safe for use around pets and children. Kari also discusses the dangers of chemical-heavy products and their effects on your pet. She’ll tell you what to do if your pet is poisoned, and how to keep your furry family members safe from these harmful products.

A few weeks ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus a global pandemic. As the panic around this virus grows, many pet owners are worried about the health of their companion animals. Can dogs get coronavirus? Is this something that you should be worried about?

I’ll answer that question in this podcast episode. I’ll also tell you about some things you can do to keep your pet safe during these trying times. I’ve done a lot of research, and I share information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the American Veterinary Medical Association in this episode.

The pet industry is booming! There are new businesses popping up everyday. If you have a dream of working with pets and their owners, there has never been a better time to get into this thriving industry. But, how do you get started? How do you take your dream and turn it into a successful pet business?

In this week’s episode, Kristin Morrison (founder of the Six-Figure Pet Business Academy) is some of her top tips on starting your own pet-related business. She has provided pet business coaching to thousands of pet sitters, dog walkers, trainers and other service-based pet business owners. Her million-dollar pet business is an inspiration to many aspiring business owners, and she’s sharing some tricks of the trade in this episode.

Canine obesity is a growing epidemic and it is just as dangerous as obesity in humans. If a human is overweight, they can make changes to their lifestyle to quickly shed a few pounds. Unfortunately, it is up to us to manage the weight of our pets. That means if your dog is overweight or obese, you're the only one that can help him.

The longer you wait, the more severe the health effects will be. Obesity could ultimately take years off your dog's life. In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Prof. Alex German about this topic. He is a Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the University of Liverpool.

If you’re a pet owner, you have seen the amazing effects that animals can have on our overall health and well-being. These positive effects have piqued the interest of scientists around the world who have recently taken a strong interest in this topic. The more research is done, the more we are realizing that animal interaction has a much greater effect on humans than we originally thought.

In this week’s podcast episode, I’m chatting with Austin Gerber. He is the licensed administrator of a nursing home in Ohio. He has seen the positive effects that animals can have on his residents, and feels very strongly about making animal interaction a part of the treatment options on his campus.

Of course pet owners buy certain products that non-pet owners do not need. But, did you ever consider how owning a pet influences your shopping habits? We all need pet food, supplies, toys, treats, etc. How do we choose one product over another? What influences our buying decisions?

In this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Adrian Tennant. He is the Vice Pesident of Insights at Bigeye, an advertising agency based in Orlando, Florida. The company has recently done a research study, led by Tennant, to find out how owning a pet influence purchases, brand appeal and devices.

I recently ran into a problem trying to find a sweater for a new rescue pup that we adopted. It was difficult to find a sweater that was thick, warm and made from quality materials. I started looking into the materials used in most pet clothing, and was really disappointed with the quality of the garments for the price.

In this week’s episode, I am chatting with a like-minded fashion designer who recently launched a pet clothing company. You may recognize the name Ivy Higa from Season 8 of Project Runway. She has been working in the fashion industry for over a decade, and is now bridging that passion with her love of pets.

There is a longstanding narrative that dogs were domesticated from orphaned wolf pups. This narrative is being overturned with the emerging theory that we didn’t tame wolves into dogs, but instead, dog packs integrated with our families in an Alpha partnership. This developing theory is reinforced by recent DNA evidence, archaeological discoveries from Paleolithic caves and our own better understanding of dog dynamics.

I find this theory fascinating, and I wanted to speak with an expert that could help me understand more about it. Bernie Taylor is an independent naturalist, thought leader and author. His research explores the mythological connections and biological knowledge among prehistoric, indigenous and ancient peoples.

In this week’s episode, Bernie shares his thoughts on this interesting theory and the scientific proof that supports it.