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A Very Special Interview with Doug the Pug

February 24, 2019

All photos from this post belong to @itsDougthePug.

Recently, you may have heard about World’s Most Amazing Dog on Facebook Watch.

This contest allowed pet parents to highlight the amazingness of their pets and for every video submitted, Facebook donated $1 to the ASPCA. Every pet entered has a chance to compete on Facebook Watch’s show for $100K. Now the audition period has ended and comedian Preacher Lawson hosts the series while George Lopez and Lisa Vanderpump judge the top dogs in each episode. To see the results of this contest, and view the most recent episodes, please visit https://www.facebook.com/MostAmazingDog/

As a result of participating in this campaign, I had an opportunity to interview one of the hosts for this contest…the one, the only….Doug. The. Pug! 

Below is our quick interview with Doug and his mom, Leslie. We cover everything from:

  • Doug’s most amazing trait
  • What potential Pug parents need to know
  • Doug’s highlights as one of the world’s most famous dogs
  • Leslie’s background and how that has translated into Doug’s career
  • Doug’s favorite celebrity
  • Extra steps Leslie takes to keep Doug healthy

1. What made you want to get involved with the World’s Most Amazing Dog Contest?

We see so many incredibly talented dogs on the Internet, and I think it’s an amazing and much deserved platform. Dogs make so many people smile, and dogs deserve to be rewarded for that! 

2. Besides being adorable, what makes Doug the most amazing dog?

Doug has a very human-like personality and loves to act. He is just hilarious and a very special little creature. 

 

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“‪There’s snow one like u” -Doug

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3. How did you know that Doug had the ability to bring so much joy to people all over the world?

From the moment I brought Doug home, he was making everybody laugh. I knew right then that I wanted more people to experience the joy that he brought me – I just didn’t know it would be on such a large scale!

4. For people who are thinking about bringing a Pug into their life, what do you think is something they should know?

They do shed – a LOT! Carry lint rollers around with you everywhere and you will be fine. It is well worth it, I still manage to wear black almost every day! 

5. What has been your most rewarding moment as a Dog Mom?

When we brought Doug to the children’s hospital and I saw just how much he touched the children. It is a moment I will never forget. 

6. You made the most amazing journey from the Record Label/Music Business industry to being a full-time Dog Momager and Influencer for Doug The Pug. How has your previous experience influenced your career with Doug?

A lot of the skills I learned in music have carried over to my current job of managing the Doug brand. It helped so much with marketing, networking, and just managing a crazy schedule. Luckily Doug is a very humble guy and easy to work for! 

7. How does Doug get to meet so many celebrities? Who is his favorite?

He has a lot of celebrity fans! It’s hard to pick a favorite, but Shakira absolutely loved Doug and so did Brendon Urie from Panic! At The Disco. 

8. What’s the campaign you have completed as an influencer that are most proud of?

Our campaign with Planet Fitness! We were so proud of the video content we made for it, and ended up even winning a Shorty Award. It’s so much fun to create videos for brands that feel true to our own brand. 

 

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“‪What can I say, I spoil bae” -Doug

A post shared by Doug The Pug (@itsdougthepug) on

9. My Kid Has Paws has a strong emphasis on pet health, what do you think is the most important aspect of keeping Doug healthy?

Being in tune with Doug’s health has always been a priority for us. We make sure he gets plenty of rest and eats the healthiest diet possible. He even has a nutritionist! We take him for a walk every day and just let him life his happy pug life. 

I was excited about this interview because Doug truly has brought so much joy to so many people. There is a reason that Doug has 3.7M followers! He and his mom have made a career out of bringing joy to people and showing people how amazing dogs are, and I think that is so wonderful! Thank you to both Leslie and Doug for their time!

Do you follow Doug the Pug? What’s your favorite post?

How Chewy.com Simplifies My Life

February 4, 2019

Disclaimer: I am a Chewy.com Partner. However, My Kid Has Paws only shares content we believe our readers will find valuable. There are affiliate links throughout this blog post which we may benefit from financially. 

Chewy.com arrived in our lives a few years ago, and I have recently identified a few ways this platform can make my life a lot simpler by saving me time, allowing me to leverage automation, and lastly, accommodating my natural procrastination tendencies (I’m looking at you two-day shipping).

In light of the New Year, I have spent significant time assessing my goals and evaluating the amount of time I waste. Specifically, I’m looking to exchange wasted time for more efficiency, automation, unencumbered free time, and time spent working on my goals. In addition to finding and “fixing” inefficiencies, I evaluated the opportunities, habits, and tools that already make life more simple, that I could leverage even further. One of the the pet-related platforms I identified as an opportunity to make my life more efficient is Chewy.com.

How Chewy.com Simplifies My Life

Helping Manage Responsibilities 

To be clear, I love the responsibilities that are associated with pet ownership; the dog-walking, the exercise, and the companionship, not to mention the constant reminder to spend time in the present. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the other responsibilities that tend to take up space in my brain. When I feel overwhelmed, the thing that makes me feel better is to immediately look for inefficiencies, and subsequent opportunities, to create new habits, add new tools, or somehow improve our current way of doing things so that we can spend more time outside with Rooney.

After taking a look at Chewy.com, I wanted to share with you some of the ways we as pet parents can leverage this awesome platform to make our lives easier:

  • Food automation: That’s right, you can set up a reoccurring food delivery on Chewy.com so that you don’t have to rush to the store before/after work to pick up your dog’s brand of dog food. Rooney eats a combination of Petcurean and The Farmer’s Dog. The Farmer’s Dog actually has it’s own reoccurring delivery option since the food is made fresh. However, Petcurean is only in a few stores in the Bay Area, so it’s soooo much easier for me to order directly from Chewy.
  • Treat Automation: Rooney gets treats in a Kong every time we leave the house to distract him from the fact that we are leaving. Therefore, we can’t run out of treats. I also recently discovered that the price of the treats we buy for Rooney was more affordable on Chewy.com, which helps us stick to our monthly budget.
  • Poop Bag Automation: Rooney poops approximately 2-3 times on every walk/hike/beach trip. He will poop in total 2-3 times a day without those activities, but if you take him out of the house he will 100% poop at least 2-3 additional times, it’s uncanny. Meaning, we can’t leave the house without poop bags, and we can’t run out either! Chewy thankfully carries the Earth Rated poop bags which are our favorite because they are compostable and lavender scented.
  • Supplies: Last year my family was hit with a few unpleasant surprises, and it was really helpful to be able to order for my family member’s dogs whatever they needed directly through Chewy. If they needed more food, treats, poop bags, dog toys, dog ramps, dog booties, you name it, I could order it and have it delivered to their house, providing me a quick and easy way to help my family.

How Chewy.com Simplifies My Life

Accommodating the Procrastinators

I don’t want to be a procrastinator, and trust me, I am working on it! It’s actually been a lifelong project to stop procrastinating on the stuff I know I need to do. However, with Chewy.com by my side, and their amazing ability to ship the items I need within 24 hours, I am able to quickly place orders and know that the items will be at my house within 2 days. This feature is particularly convenient for pet parents who are already used to Amazon Prime.

What about the Local Shops?

I didn’t write this whole blog post without thinking about the local shops and small businesses. Supporting local shops and small businesses is important to me as well. I intentionally visit local pet shops in the Bay Area and buy Rooney new treats and dog toys to try. Honestly, most treats and dog toys don’t last that long in our house, so while we are never without them, I do switch it up and buy from local pet shops when the opportunity presents itself.

Additionally, I try to make decisions where I can to support local and small businesses. For example, Petcurean, which can be purchased through Chewy.com, is a family-owned Canadian business, and The Farmer’s Dog is a growing startup based in New York.

I wrote this post because I know overwhelm is inevitable for people, no matter what. My hope is that if people can relate to feeling overwhelmed, they can find some useful ideas in this post so they can spend more quality time with their pets.

Do you use automation or Chewy.com to make your life easier? If so, would you mind sharing how you make your life easier in the comments below?

2019 Fitness Goals for Your Dog

January 12, 2019

This post is dedicated to Jack from Leash Your Fitness. Sadly, Jack left this world for the Rainbow bridge recently. He spent so many years with his mom Dawn bringing joy, better health, and inspiration to people and their dogs all over the nation. Jack, you will be greatly missed, but never forgotten. 

 

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#flashbackfriday Jack and I reached great heights together ⛰ #mtelbert #hikingadventures

A post shared by Leash your fitness (@leashyourfitness) on

As we have all gone about attempting to achieve our newest fitness and health goals for 2019, I bet some of us have already hit some road blocks and could use some grace and understanding as we continue to forge forward toward our inevitably audacious goal.

While it’s almost like clockwork to set fitness goals for ourselves at the beginning of the year, I wanted to ask everyone this year if they added fitness goals for their dog to the list of things they were hoping to move from occasional activities to daily healthy habits.

To spark the discussion, I thought I would outline a few ways that you can workout with your dog in this next month, to determine the right habits and schedule for you.

Hiking

A few years ago (3?!?!) we outlined 5 activities to try with your dog in the New Year and hiking was at the top of the list. I truly love hiking. I find it to be an activity that’s rigorous, outdoors, and reenergizing. Additionally, when we take Rooney with us he is usually reeeaalll tired afterwards and in my mind a tired dog = a happy dog.

If you are in the Bay Area, I outlined my top 4 favorite Bay Area hikes here.

Running

Running with your dog is an activity that is either natural to both of your or requires a lot of training and discipline. When I first started running with Roo it was really challenging. Rooney basically refuses to start running until he has pooped (which could be a solid half mile, or right away), then he definitely felt like the run was depriving him of smells, and lastly decided that anything above 2 miles was too far. After a few weeks of working with him to increase the distance, he didn’t seem to enjoy the longer runs. I honestly think he prefers walks instead.

Therefore, when I do take Roo for a walk I schedule my run either before or after, to ensure that he gets plenty of opportunity to sniff.

2019 Fitness Goals for Your Dog

Walking

It may seem too simple, but it’s one of those activities that is outdoors (meaning it’s great for your mood), and not too lofty of an exercise goal for many dogs and humans to try, even if just for a half a block every day to start with. I highly recommend starting small and setting yourself up for success by picking a time you can meet every day. As someone who has a flexible and ever-changing work schedule and commitments, the times I can walk Rooney are always changing, but I try to be somewhat consistent from week to week.

Tools for Success

Apps

These days there is an app for literally everything, but dog-walking apps can remind you that it’s time for your daily walk and can even help you raise money for your favorite rescue.

Bullet Journal

I am giving Bullet journaling a try this year. I am truly amazed by what the bullet journal community has created in terms of daily/monthly “spreads”, mixed in with beautiful and elaborate designs. Despite the fact that the activity itself might be a little daunting, they have some amazing habit tracker ideas that help you achieve discipline in your lifestyle, which is something I am working on.

My idea is to add health goals for Rooney, mostly maintaining weight and building muscle mass, in the new year to my habit tracker.

Photo Credit: https://wellella.com/bullet-journal/habit-tracker/

I would love to hear from you. Have any of you Bullet journaled before? Would you be interested in learning more?

Accountability Buddy

One of the most well-known ways to ensure that you reach your fitness goals in 2019 is to use an accountability partner/buddy who will make sure that you aren’t skipping out on your workouts and daily habits. Thankfully, with a dog, accountability is built right in. If you can make walking or running with your dog a consistent part of your daily routine, it’s unlikely your dog will let you forget.

We would love to hear in the comments below about your 2019 fitness goals for you and your dog? What tools are you using to  keep you accountable?

Main Photo: Photo by leonides ruvalcabar on Unsplash

Are Christmas Tree Allergies a Thing?

December 7, 2018

I’ll never forget it. One day in December at the veterinary hospital we were treating a Boxer for signs of allergies and atopy. This poor thing was so itchy, and if I remember correctly, also developing an ear infection.

California weather is considered moderate to most, meaning, we see a reduction in the number of patients with seasonal allergies in December. However, our weather isn’t cold enough to eliminate all allergens, so occasionally, we still see pets for symptoms of atopy. I remember the poor pet parent being so confused because we were struggling to figure out the exact cause of this sudden allergy flare up. If my memory serves me correctly, this dog hadn’t suffered from seasonal allergies before. What was even more curious was that in January when she came back for a re-check, she was fine. Ultimately, we determined that the Christmas tree may have been the catalyst that brought about her allergy flare-up.

Are Christmas Tree Allergies a Thing?

This photo was taken at West Elm Palo Alto, where they did an amazing fundraiser and donated $1 to the ASPCA for every photo taken at their stores and posted on social media with hashtag #WestElmxASPCA

Since this was an assumption we made at the time, and there were no symptoms left to treat, I wanted to research and share with all of you, are Christmas Tree allergies even a thing?

Unfortunately, it seems that the cases and rare and the research limited. However, this is what I have been able to uncover thus far:

The specific version of canine allergies that are caused by Christmas trees is referred to as: Christmas Tree Syndrome. While many blogs have documented this syndrome as an issue for dogs when Christmas trees are brought into the home, the evidence and explanation around the syndrome seem to be specific to human medicine.

According to an article written in Balsam Hill:

“Live Christmas trees can cause an allergic reaction in certain individuals who may be sensitive to the mold and dust often found in branches and foliage. The number of mold spores continues to rise once the live tree is placed indoors, making the holidays nearly unbearable for those with particularly sensitive allergies.

Other known causes of Christmas tree allergies are tree sap, pollen, which is scattered in the air during the fall season, and terpenes, a compound that gives pine trees their characteristic scent. Chemicals used at Christmas tree farms may also cause skin and eye irritation.”

In reality, it isn’t the tree itself that is causing the allergy symptoms in many cases, but the mold, dust, sap, pollen, and possible additives from the Christmas tree farms that are causing the irritation for many people and pets.

So the questions still remains, how do you determine if a December allergy flare-up is caused by the Christmas tree?

1) Track the severity of the allergy symptoms in a journal (rating their allergies from 1-10) from the day you bring the Christmas tree in the house.

According to an article published in IQAir:

“During the first three days that the tree was indoors, mold spore counts remained at about 800 spores per cubic meter of air. Starting on the fourth day, however, the spore counts began rising and eventually reached 5,000 spores per cubic meter within two weeks. Counts higher than 700 spores per cubic meter are an indication that mold growth is occurring in an environment.”

Based on the findings above, it’s possible that your pet’s allergies will become severe, not right away, but after the tree has started to grow more spores. Additionally, tracking the allergies through the month of January can be very telling as to the correlation between the Christmas tree, and allergy symptoms.

2) Work with your veterinarian to eliminate other causes of allergy flare-ups.

With any allergy symptoms you don’t want to wait too long to treat, and/or make too many assumptions about the cause. Allergies for pets can be a lifelong battle and the more information you get earlier on, the better. The allergy journal mentioned above will be incredibly useful for your visit to the veterinarian.

Is there anything else I can do to protect my pet?

Fortunately, the answer is yes! IQAir recommends the following to protect both humans and pets from symptoms of Christmas Tree Syndrome:

  1. “Clean and wipe the trunk of your tree thoroughly with water and bleach before you bring it into the house.” I would add that if you wipe down your trunk with bleach be extra diligent that your pet doesn’t drink the water.
  2. “Use a leaf blower to remove as many pollen grains as possible before bringing the tree indoors.”
  3. “Get rid of the tree sooner. Mold spores increase the longer the tree is around. Consider removing the tree from your home the day after Christmas.”
  4. “Consider purchasing a self-cut tree. By cutting your tree yourself you bypass the storage and transportation conditions that promote mold growth.” We are very interested in trying this next year. 
  5. “Use a high-performance room air purifier in the same room as the tree.”

I realize as I am writing this Christmas is over. However, if your pet has been suffering inexplicably from allergies this December, I highly recommend tracking their allergy symptoms through January to determine if the Christmas tree was part of the problem, so that you can prepare for next year.

We hope you had, and are having, an amazing holiday season!

The Importance of Fresh Food – The Farmer’s Dog

November 5, 2018

I was recently approached by The Farmer’s Dog to review their fresh dog food recipes. Their team is awesome, and when we were initially discussing the review, I felt like I had to be honest with them.

The review topic can’t really be focused on whether or not Rooney likes the fresh food, because he will. Rooney doesn’t have any real food preferences. If it’s edible he will eat it. He even likes Spinach (which is of course, is a good thing)!

via GIPHY

As the conversation continued, I realized that a thorough review of The Farmer’s Dog would include seeing if my parent’s German Shepherd Sasha liked the food and saw an improvement in her allergies. Sasha struggles with ongoing allergies (a combination of food allergies and atopy). She occasionally struggles with vomiting as a result of a sensitive stomach and the inevitable finding of a stray crumb left around the house. I thought that if we fed her The Farmer’s Dog food for a few weeks and saw a decrease in the frequency of her vomiting, that would be an indicator that the food was not only enjoyed by the dogs, but could indeed improve their overall gut health.

And really, that’s The Farmer’s Dog’s goal; to share with pet parents the benefits of a fresh food diet.

How much does a dog’s diet matter?

According to a book titled “Canine Nutrigenomics“, published by Dr Jean Dodds, DVM (and quoted in this TEDX talk), “30-40% of all Canine Cancers can be prevented simply by implementing dietary changes”. Meaning, your dog’s diet doesn’t only give them the nutrients needed to sustain life, but also can assist in the ability to fight disease, cancer, and obesity.

The importance of diet is how the Farmer’s Dog got its start.

The Co-founder of the Farmer’s Dog, Brett Podolsky was struggling to find a food that would keep his dog Jada healthy. After two years, he had yet to find the right solution to her stomach problems, until he started feeding her fresh home-cooked food, a suggestion made by a veterinarian, and it worked! He then began to search for a company that provided fresh food, and that’s when he decided to found the Farmer’s Dog.

Why is Fresh Food in a Dog’s diet so important?

If you know me, you know that I studied Animal Science. So, when people say “fresh food is important”, my immediate response is, “Well, that makes sense, but…I would love to see some research”. So, I was interested in reading some of the research supporting that fresh food can improve a dog’s health.

One of the interesting pieces of research shared with me by the Farmer’s Dog team was this paper published by Purdue in JAVMA: “Evaluation of the effect of dietary vegetable consumption on reducing risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers.”

After studying 92 adult Scottish Terriers they found that, “results suggest that consumption of certain vegetables may prevent or slow the development of transitional cell carcinoma in Scottish Terriers.” JAVMA

Reading a little more about the study you see that cruciferous vegetable types (read: of the broccoli variety) didn’t have a conclusive effect on the risk of development of transitional cell carcinoma. However leafy greens and yellow-orange vegetables did seem to have an affect.

The Importance of Fresh Food - The Farmer's Dog

What kind of vegetables do the Farmer’s Dog diets include?

Vegetables included in Rooney and Sasha’s at home recipes:

  • Parsnips
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Green beans
  • Cauliflower

As you can see, even though there are some cruciferous vegetables included (they still provide a good source of fiber), there are lots of leafy greens and carrots (those yellow-orange vegetables), that can help Rooney and Sasha fight disease.

What’s Rooney’s opinion of the food?

What about Sasha?

Sasha is a big fan of the Farmer’s Dog food, and after a month or so of adding this food to her diet, my parents noticed a decrease in her occasional stomach upset. Additionally, after stopping the food for a bit, because our initial trial ran out, Sasha had a big allergy flare up, and ended up with a hotspot. Which anecdotally, could indicate that the food was reducing her allergy symptoms.

After reviewing the science, the food, our dog’s opinion, and the overall customer experience, here are my conclusions:

The Farmer’s Dog is for:

Pet parents who appreciate a delivery service

My husband and I have used Hellofresh for over 2 years now (maybe 3?), and we love this service. Everything is prepared, dinner doesn’t require creativity or another trip to the grocery store. I think the Farmer’s Dog provides a similar level of convenience for pet parents. All of the food is prepared and pre-packaged all you have to is remember to move a package from your freezer to your fridge every few days.

The Importance of Fresh Food - The Farmer's Dog

An example of the questions you are asked when filling out your pet’s profile on TheFarmersDog.com

Pet parents who want fresh food in their dog’s diet to improve overall health

While Sasha’s allergy flare-up may have been anecdotal evidence to her experience with fresh food, she definitely enjoyed the food and seemed happier and healthier while eating Farmer’s Dog consistently.

Pet parents who are looking for fresh food that is less time consuming

Many pet parents take hours out of their days and weekends to make sure their pets food is cooked fresh. This is a huge commendable effort, but not something that everyone has time for. Not to mention, the Farmer’s Dog recipes are sure to include those essential nutrients and vitamins necessary in a fresh-food diet.

Pet parents who are trying to improve their dog’s gut health

We noticed a significant descrease in Sasha’s vomiting and overall stomach upset. Additionally, Rooney’s BMs (bowel movements) looked healthier in my former veterinary technician opinion. Lastly, Jimmy, my parents Chihuahua also got a chance to try the food, and he LOVED it. Outside of seeing my mom, Jimmy doesn’t get excited about much, but he was so excited about dinner time with Farmer’s Dog. Additionally, because the food is fresh it provided him with the water content he needs in his senior years, as he has never really been one to drink lots of water.

Pet parents who are looking to try something new

The Farmer’s Dog has a variety of different delivery options and frequencies. For example, we have written in the past about Petcurean and Rooney still loves, and does really well on that food. However, why not try something new and make some of Rooney’s meals a little extra special? He is a spoiled dog after all. #SorryNotSorry. We have set Rooney & Sasha up with a toppers plan, making the Farmer’s Dog 33% of their ongoing diet. And we prefer to have this food delivered to us every month.

Are you looking for anything new out of your dog’s food? Would you want to give The Farmers Dog a try?

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