Pet fashion hounds? You know who you are! Bark & Swagger went on the hunt for you at this year’s Global Pet Expo to uncover our faves you have to know about! Don’t miss out on this fashion forward tips!
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EPISODE NOTES: Fetching Fashion or Just Plain Cute Stuff for Your Pets - My Global Pet Expo Roundup on Faves!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to Global Pet Expo twenty twenty four. This is
Jody L. Tyche of Bark and Swagger. Every year for
the past ten years now, I've been coming and it's
always a fun show for me because I get to
see the new products and turn you guys onto things
(00:44):
I think are special, different and helpful in the lives
of your pets and you. And this year is no different.
So I am going to take you inside to Global
and introduce you to the brands that I thought were
special that I wanted you to know about. Let's go
(01:04):
check them out. What if your cat could live in
the Chrysler building, a Chrysler building of their very own.
That is what Mario Aborre, the Italian architect who is
behind Square Pause does. He designs intricate cat homes that
(01:28):
are like nothing I've ever seen, so I'm very excited
to introduce him to you. Mario. Welcome to Bark and Swagger.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Thank you, Jody, very nice to meet you, and thank
you for having me. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Tell us a little bit about first.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
What you do.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
So I'm an architect by trade and ten years ago
I started building cat towers for my own cats. Started
out with a lighthouse for my own home and just
kind of the ideas kept coming after that, working out
of my garage for the first two years and then
moved into some workshop space and we've been building all
(02:03):
kinds of custom cat towers since then. We've done things
for animal shelter renovations, cat cafes, personal homes. We've done habitats,
cadio installations, anything related to cats.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
We enjoy.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
That is amazing. So talk to me about I see
the leaning tower, Pisa on your stand. Yes, I see
a big ben clock. Tell us about a couple of
your more unusual creations.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
Well, in twenty nineteen, Beth and Howard Stern actually approached
us when they were working on the North Shore.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Animal League renovation.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
They were building having an extension built for their project,
Bianca's Furry Friends for Cats. It was the cat wing
basically the shelter, and Beth had called us and said
we hadn't really known her before, and said, we're going
to make a room entering Billy Joel.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
You know, we'd love for you to design it.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
So we were working on that, and while we were
doing that, North Rona League said we're going to do
two rooms for Billy Joel, can you handle that? And
it was a very short timeframe and we said absolutely yes.
So we designed one room called the Piano Man Room
and it was great. We took the sort of like
waterfall shape of the piano, mounted it on the wall,
(03:24):
had an electronic piano that would be playable in the
room so like guests could come play and cats could
listen to music. And of course it has all kinds
of cat shelves in it. And then we did a
New York State and Mine room which had the Empire
State Building has the Empire State Building in it. Yankee
Stadium we built sort of a catwalk of the Loja
(03:47):
if you're familiar with the Yankee Stadium both old and new,
has that sort of you know, multiple archway, so we
use that as a sort of motif for a cat
shelf installation. And there's a subway car Brooklyn Bridge. So
we got to do a lot of really creative iconic items,
which is why you see the Chrysler building here. We
(04:08):
wanted to show, you know, the breath of things that
we can do for cats.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
That is so cool. I love that. Where are you
based we're.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Here in Melbourne, Florida.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
I'm from New York originally I've been down here, Yeah,
down here like thirteen years almost. But yeah, we we
have a workshop in Melbourne.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And I know it depends on how intricate it is,
but generally, how long does it take for you to
design and build? Or is the best way for people
to go on your site and pick one of an
existing design that you have?
Speaker 5 (04:46):
Really both, But most of what we do is really bespoke.
So for example, we've done multiple lighthouses. We've done ferris
wheels for cats. But for example, like well that that
actually is a concession stand. Like we had someone in
the Panhandle of Florida that raises Maine coons because she
(05:07):
says she's not a breeder, she's more about maintaining the
integrity of the Maine coon breed. So but she basically
breeds Maine coons and had a circus theme in mind.
So she came to us and said, I love the lighthouse.
I'm going to get a lighthouse. So we made one,
you know, specifically for the dimensions of the room, you know,
so things like that need to be altered.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Maine coons are big.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
Cats, so obviously there's a concern and consideration of scale
and dimensions for them. But the circus theme, we did
a ferris wheel for her, a sort of like now
showing kind of like lit a pinboard.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Box for the wall.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
We did this sort of concession stand night stand as well.
So yeah, I mean it really it sort of comes
out of, you know, an interplay of like, Okay, what
is it you're looking for, what room is it going in,
what's your motif for the decor of your home, and
what can we sort of tailor for you?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Right?
Speaker 5 (06:06):
So another example, like a lighthouse. Last year, we had
a client who wanted a lighthouse. She has a very
tall ceiling in Chicago and has three Savannah cats, which
are you know, semi wild kind of breeds of cats, right,
and they get big and they love to climb, and
so we had to kind of tailor the lighthouse design
(06:28):
to work for the size of her cats in a
tall space but a very narrow space, but with ample
room for them. And then you know, we get into
things like color, what fits the room?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
You know, is it this is sort of your style?
Do you like blue? Do you like brighter colors? Do
you like you know more muted tones.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
So as an architect, I can sort of speak to
not just like scale and dimension, but decor and design
as well.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, and I love that. As an architect, precision and
attention to detail is part of your training. So where can.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
People you squarepaus dot com. We're also on Instagram, We're
on TikTok, We're on Facebook. They can just google Square
pause and they'll find us perfect.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Thank you so much, Mario, Thank.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
You, JODYR.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Pleasure meeting you, and thank you for having me on
your podcast you as well.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Thanks. This is for all of you kitty cat lovers
and kittykat moms and dads. I came up across a
booth that jumped out at me because the cat toys
are really really cute and different than what I've been
seeing around the show, and so I introduced myself to
(07:37):
Anna Maria Weir, who is the designer behind this brand
called Princess Dreams and the cat line is called Dreamcat,
and I thought this was super cool. When I was
talking with Anna, she told me that her students she
teaches design, or she used to teach design at the Call,
(08:00):
and her students would tell her that she was the
lost child of Martha Stewart and Bob Villa because she
is so creative. So let's talk to Anna and find
out more about Dreamcat. Hi Anna, Hi, how are you, Yodi?
Speaker 6 (08:15):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I'm doing great. Tell us about how you got inspired
to create Princess Dreams and then Dreamcat.
Speaker 7 (08:23):
Well, Princess Dreams started about nineteen years ago, designing small items,
hallowing customs for all things for my daughter, which is
a true princess. Everything was Princess, Dragon, princess, spaceship, princess
and all everything. And then the neighbors started asking for
can you do a party around this thing? And soft goods,
(08:46):
and then I started decorating bedrooms and then construction. With
my background, I do a lot of engineering work. I
design furniture retail stores. For ten years, I was doing
remodeling construction in Chicago, start to Chicago and after that,
you know, as people asked me, so she set it
up the house and so essentially I can knock the
(09:07):
house down, build it up again and have dinner ready
on the table. So all of these these toys, a
dream Cat. Part of it came out of Rescue Cats.
But have a friend that I designed their retail store
in Geneva in Illinois for them, and she has this
rescue business on the side and very heavy on it,
(09:29):
and we were trying to make something different for a
fund raiser for Chicago and an on Keo shelter. So
we came up with an idea well, crazy story connecting
very fast. My daughter rescued this little cat and she
brought it for Thanksgiving and the little things start chasing
(09:52):
the corn and things that fell on the ground, and
then we said, oh maybe, Oh my god, we have
a vegan cat. So everybody just kind of stopped and said,
oh my god, this is the line that we're going
to do. We're going to go all vegetables of fruit
and everything like that. So that was nine years ago.
A subscription box like three days after we put it in,
(10:13):
twenty four hours after we put it in an Etsy,
we had the first large order and the rest is history.
So we're doing this and I designed it, We have
made the patterns and we make it. I hired ladies
that already retired that they love quoting. They cannot work anymore,
(10:33):
they can find jobs, so we will have a really
nice little sawing circle to do all this stuff. And
I just kind of keep it fun and just kind
of make people happy. And that just the comments of people.
They just love to see a broccoli on the floor
and a banana somewhere in there instead of a mouth,
(10:57):
So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
First of all, I love all the stories. I love
that you talked about rescue because Ark and Swagger is, Yes,
it's about living stylishly with your pet, but it's also
very much about rescue, so that this collection was inspired
by that is important. And they're so adorable, as you said,
there are different fruits, adorable pears and apples and strawberries,
(11:23):
and then you've got really cute things like cinnamon rolls
and ice cream cones and beautiful little cakes sweets in
your sweet section. And you've got some halloweeny kind of things.
Speaker 7 (11:35):
As Christmas also that I didn't bring over. But just
something that is very important for us is that at
least twice a year. The first donation that we have
is in June and the other one is in November December.
When I develop products that they said that are they
give it that like the rejects I recalled because I'm
(11:57):
not top my standards or we sow for or these
large subscription boxes and we have extras because they don't
pass the munsters.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Like when you say that.
Speaker 7 (12:07):
We donate everything, so we don't have stale products or anything.
The catnip is sourced in Canada.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You should know, all of the toys are filled with premium.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
So the fiber fill is you know, of course whatever
is here and uh, the Canadian catnap and we mix
it up and to certain toys when they ask for
this organic catnip that is actually grown in Washington State,
so we mix it up like that and it's like
in the minty branch of the of the catnap because
(12:44):
the other ones that are more peppery, more spicy, and
my cat actually sneeze with that, so we just kind
of cupulate that.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So you found what works and the catt neet. But
you the ones that don't pass muster for you are
donated to shelters.
Speaker 7 (12:58):
Everything is donated to shelters. Don't have people ask me
do you have anything to give away?
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Note, we have local shelters people.
Speaker 7 (13:06):
What you call this sanctuaries that they have all types
of animals and they started a lot of faro cats
and that are there. They receive some stuff so ones
that I donate these toys. I get asked several times
to Etsy do you have anymore? And said, well, you know,
I am about to finish a product. Call me in
(13:27):
about a month and then we'll see what we have
we have leftover. So honestly, it's like scraps whatever. It's
yourly cadnep that everybody receives stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
So I love it. So tell people where they can
find you, Anna.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
They can find me in Etsy. The store is called
Princess Dreams Ink all together and you can see all
the list that is right now for this year. We
have three new toys that are not on Etsy yet
but they will be next Tuesday, which are the bell, pepper,
the corn and the apples, so that you can find it.
The toys are really affordable. The most expensive thing that
(14:03):
we have is thirteen dollars, which are the most complex.
What this thing is special ones and then the range
between seven and twelve.
Speaker 8 (14:12):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Wonderful. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So on Etsy,
Princess Dreams Inc. Is where we can find you all right, Anna,
thank you and continued success. Thank you so much for coming.
Thank I love Clay pet lifestyleing you. They are a
beautiful brand that makes beds and toys and mats and
(14:34):
all sorts of wonderful, really cool looking products for our
pets who we love. So I'm here yet again with
Miss Natalie Hennessy, who is the director of pure and
Marketing for the brand. This is what our eighth year.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Natalie, I think tenth. I've been here ten years.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, I've been here ten years too. Was it the
very first time that I interviewed you?
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I think so yes, Yeah, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
And we won't talk about it how much older we are.
But let's talk about the products, new products, and you
have some really cool things that one of them in particular,
I mean, the first thing I said is it's like
the mats, the activity mats that we bought for our
kids when they're young, and this is what is happening
with our pets. Talk about these activity mats for dogs.
Speaker 9 (15:19):
We have new stuffle mats out so for us, like
you mentioned, we're always looking to really mentally engage and
stimulate our pets, and we've really been seeing that the
pet space has been kind of booming with these mats,
and we wanted to kind of add our own flare,
so we have different styles. We started out with holiday.
Last year we launched a Christmas, a Thanksgiving, and a
Halloween matt and now all of everyone was where's the
everyday mats? So we hurried up and kind of like
(15:40):
picked our rains, like what can we do to make
these different? So we have a coral cove and we
actually added some detachable plush toys so you can put
them in the holes and like the dogs can pull
out the toy, have the squeaker aspect where they can
also have all these cool slits and like little pieces
where they can like tuck in their treats.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
And we've just seen them do so well.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
I feel like they're really well received. We love to
have fun, you know, we love color. So we also
have a nice birthday mat. We're looking I know people
always looking for birthday gifts. There's a candle that comes
out and there's a really cute cake in the middle,
and there's a card that opens up, so adding little
crinkle elements and they're all washable, which is always so
important to us. We also have a savory Sunrise breakfast one.
You can start your day off with enrichment and fun
(16:16):
and just have that time with your pet while you're
watching the sunrise. So we're just always trying to find
a way to bring just joy to pets and just
try to really keep that going with that mental simulation.
So love the fact they have non slip bottoms. It's
just always just it's always fun. We have a great
time trying to die and all these things we also
enrichment end up expanding more.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
We launched our.
Speaker 9 (16:35):
Alien Buddies collection, so you know, we don't really have
any super chewer toys. That's been something we've been hearing about.
This Alien Buddies toy has a plush outer shell and
if it does get ripped off, inside is a dishwasher
safe had like hard rubber like toy. It has a
bottom opening you can slip treats in it, so you
can also have that as well. You know, it's always
so cute seeing the dogs. They're like trying to lick
out the peanut butter and they're a little bit heavier,
but again they're just they're really designed for bigger dogs,
(16:57):
more medium to big dogs.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Three different types of shapes right now.
Speaker 9 (17:00):
We have a robot rover, a little StarBlaster guy, and
a rocket ship, so that's great.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
And then the kitties. We have not forgotten Gus.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Let's not forget the kidnies.
Speaker 9 (17:08):
And every year they're like, what do you have for cats?
And I feel like we've always just some plush toys.
So we're really repurposing a lot of our dog bedding
fabric and trying to bring them back in cool shape.
So we have this lawful leaf fabric that we source
the designer out of France like forever ago, probably the
first time we chatted, and we repurpose it into a
playfic playtime mat, so it has a crinkle element. We
introduced that catnip that we always use, that source out
of the Pacific Northwest, so it has that element. It
(17:30):
has a little dangly things that are really fun kittieskin
lay on it, play with it, scratch it. There's a
non slit bottom, so again safety is always really important
to us. We have some new doughnut beds, so there's
that kindly soft aspect, a new chill pad as well
for them that has the cat nip again also in it,
and there is a cat crinklesack as well. It's coming
out in July. We sold out pretty fast with the retailers.
But it has a crinkly element you can go in
and burrow. It has a little feathery dangle element as
(17:52):
well for like play, sleep, fun. So just really trying
to bring things out I know the cats, like we
tend to have a lot of dog toys that work
for kitties, but really trying to create more of a
market in the cat space as well, for you know what.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It is a market that is growing rapidly. I noticed
it at Global this year. First of all, cats are
getting far more attention now than they ever have before,
and that's growing. More and more people have cats, and
you know, cat parents are fearce cat fans in the
Capital f so I'm seeing like people telling me brands
(18:24):
that their cat things are flying out the door. So yeah,
I think it's really smart idea and I love how
everything is very thoughtful. And guys, these Snuffle Slash activity
mats are super super cute. I'm talking about really think
modern like activity mats, colorful activity mats for kids, for
(18:47):
our furry kids, and there's so much for them to do.
And I know that I want my Suki to try
that crinkly like activity mat. I think cats are going
to love that between playing with the dangly little tassel
and then the crinkly sound and you know, bunching it
up like cats love to do. Right, And I'm interested
in the tough, big doy big dog toys. How do
(19:11):
you test those?
Speaker 9 (19:14):
So we have a wide range of brand ambassadors. We
have a little program in sur community. They've been with us,
some of them with us since the start I started
back in twenty fifteen, and we've kind of grown.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
It through customers.
Speaker 9 (19:23):
A lot of our products in people we've met at
these great shows, and we have them tests. We look
for dogs that meet the criteria is at large, super truer,
and we have you know, we also have smaller dogs.
Just have these We go to this community and say, hey,
can you try this out for us? What do you
like about it? What don't you like about it? How
was it in the dishwasher? Did it hold up if
it's washable? Put it in your washer? Do you see
(19:43):
any problems? So we go through a lot of testing
for us. It was really important because I know, especially
with enrichment toys where you put treats in, you need
to have an extra hole for the air. So that
there's a suction, so we did a lot of tests
with that making sure that it was safety because safety
is so important to us. Honestly, we spend I wish
I could tell you how many hours in days we
spend all these things back and forth trying to make
sure as a team and then also using our utizing,
(20:04):
our brandveshers, our community to really give us the feedback
and we listen and we adapt and try to make
it better. So it took a couple of months to
get these off the ground. We have another set that
we're going to be launching next global hopefully you do
you know if these do really well, and we're just
really excited about just adding some new twists and really
being able to offer the bigger dogs something because we
know plush is not it's not undestructible, and some of
our other toys that are USA made are great, but
(20:25):
they're just not for superchewers. So we just really wanted
to offer a more variety. Just like with the mini toys,
we launched them for dogs. I mean, we were hearing
cat parents or little dog parents were buying cat toys
taking out the catnip, and we're like, what are we doing.
Let's just shrink down some of our popular collections and
really offer something because you know, small dogs are underserved.
They don't have that same variety, that interactiveness worth.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
You know, you can pull it apart and put it back.
Speaker 9 (20:45):
Together with like you know, with like bellcrow or the
bungee aspects, and a lot of them are dog toys
are too big, you know for a little seven pound dog.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
So trying to really cater to everyone.
Speaker 9 (20:54):
That's really what we do, which is why we have
so many great things, and we launch so many things
every year, which is always hard to market, but it's
just so much fun. Like we're always out there, Jennifer,
how do we fill that gap? What do people want?
And listening to our retailers, listening to our customers, what
can we do better?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, So that's I mean, that's the thing, really market driven.
What do people want?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
What are the holes?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And hearing you know, it's fun to hear from you
a little bit of the behind the scenes how you
figure it out and you do what you do really well.
Remind people where they can find you.
Speaker 9 (21:25):
They can find us on petplay dot com or on
Instagram at pet playsf andy, And we do have retailers
as well. For some reason, you want to come and
carry our products, come on over. You can fill out
the forum. But we're we are always offering specials and
there's always great things. If you sign up and follow us,
you could be you know, an next brand Abasser of
Force as well. So I feel free to reach out
and ask any questions. We have a great form and
a help center as well.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Thank you so much, Natalie. Always great to see you.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Thank you. Always great to see you as well.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
So if you go on the pictures associated with these interviews,
you are going to see beautiful, feathery, furry, fabulous sweaters
for dogs and beautiful colors. And that's what stopped me
in my tracks and I walked over the Max Bone.
(22:12):
So I'm here with Marianna, the director of marketing, and
she's going to tell us all about the really fun
and also functional fashion that we have here. Hi Marianna, Hey,
how are you Jodi? Yeah?
Speaker 10 (22:26):
So Max Bone was founded should be a one stop
shop for all modern patent needs. So you see here
a Christian Cohen jumper, which we did in collaboration with
the British designer Christian Coen. He's responsible for designing costumes
for like Lady Gaga, j Lo, Mariah Carey, and we
brought you know, his iconic designs to the pets industry.
(22:47):
So this has been a bad seller. But also you
can find for example, rain coats or lightweight jackets that
are equally nice esthetically and also very functional. We also
have is Link carrier bags that you see here. They
are eco friendly because they're made of water bottles. So yeah,
we think about of course, like d iconic designs, we
(23:09):
want to be very instagrammable, but also we never forget
about the functional aspect. And you see here with our leashes,
our go with these leashes our best seller because it
is three and one. You can wear a crossbody around
your waist or as a regular lesh so you see here.
You know, from treats to freeze right food to grooming
carrier bags, we have everything for all the modern pat needs.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
I love that. First of all, I love that you
got Christian to do this. And actually a dear friend
of mine in New York, Nina has I think this
hot pink one for her dog Holly. Where is the
brand base?
Speaker 10 (23:48):
So we're based in Los Angeles. We have our channel,
our e commerce Cantelmaximum dot com and we also sell
internationally and nationally to independent path boutiques. We are also
on Bloomingdalos, Herods Salfridges and we recently have been acquired
by weg Yeah, and we are bringing in our amazing
pet supplies for the group and it has been amazing
so far.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
That's fantastic, Mariana. Thank you so much. And where can
people find you out at Maxbone dot com.
Speaker 10 (24:14):
Maxmone dot com and follow us on Instagram at dim Maxbone.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Okay, perfect, thank you so much, Thank you so much.
Let's hang on to all of this goodness. We're going
to take a short break from our sponsor and when
we come back, more new products and ideas for you
to take in for your pets. So grab that favorite beverage,
get comfortable. We'll be right back.
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Speaker 2 (25:27):
Done petco at Life Radio, Hetline.
Speaker 12 (25:29):
Radio, Petlight Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
You might have heard me talk about the Hunter brand
and past episodes of Bark and Swagger. It is a beautiful,
high quality brand and I am so pleased that at
Global this year I had the pleasure of meeting the
CEO of the entire Global brand. And her name is
Nadine Troutwine. And just to give you a little bit
(26:05):
of insight, Hunter has stores all over the world, a
huge e commerce business, and a huge B to B
business all throughout Europe. So I'm very excited to be
able to be with the source here, Nadine. Who's going
to tell us what's new at Hunter that you can
get for your animal. Welcome, Nadine, Thank you very much,
(26:27):
great to be here.
Speaker 13 (26:28):
It's a pleasure to meet you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Thank you. So talk to us a little bit about
what was the inspiration for Hunter, and then so we
can sort of set the stage and then talk about
what's new.
Speaker 13 (26:41):
Well, first of all, it's I have to say, it's
a family business. I took over the business maybe twenty
years ago from my father who established the company in
ninety eighty, So it's really lots of emotion included. It's
like our baby, really, so this is what we are
standing up for every morning. We believe in high quality products,
(27:01):
we believe in premium, and we believe in serving our
customers as best as possible as we believe that when
our customer is happy, then in the end we are
happy as well. So this is what is really one
of our motivations every day.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yeah, so that's beautiful that it's a family business and
it's been in the family for decades. Did it start
with only sort of specific things? Was it for dogs
and cats or was it for horses or was it
for like how did it start with? What kind of
key product or products?
Speaker 13 (27:39):
My father started with leather articles for dogs, like colors
and leashes and old types of letters, types and yeah, designs,
and over the year the categories get bigger and bigger,
and by now we have three thousand, five hundred different
SKUs in our assortment. And the assortments grow and we're
(28:01):
very innovative. So there is every year like three hundred
and four hundred, five hundred new article numbers entering in
our assortment and just because we are listening what the
customer really needs and what the customer really wants and yeah,
and then re developing this under the Hunter brand.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, and you can get everything. I mean, yes, color
is unleashous, beautiful of every type, whether you want vegan,
whether you want leather, beds, bowls, toys, so much. Tell
us what's new for Hunter?
Speaker 13 (28:33):
Something is it's always something. You have to say that
we are never standing still. There's always changes in the company.
Whereas it's about products, but also about leadership in you know,
how we work with our talents, with our employees, with
our people. But maybe one trend is looking very much
(28:56):
on sustainability, which I think is our duty as responsible people.
I mean, the main part of our product is letter products.
We manufacture in Germany in Billefeld, in our property and
we changed everything to the vegetable tenoring processes, so this
(29:17):
is one very very big part. And just looking that
we're using more recycling materials. We are in a program
that we want to be a CEO to emission free
in our part in Germany in twenty thirty. So this
is what we are aiming for at the moment and
working hard on. And yeah, this is something that we
(29:37):
are focusing on at the moment, next to many many
other projects that we are working on.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
But this is bad sounded. Yeah, that is beautiful. So
you can be socially conscious and we're beautiful things at
the same time, So that's wonderful. Is there a particular
new like color line or bedline or anything like that
that you debuting or just more of what you've been doing.
Speaker 13 (30:03):
Which is brand new. Is that we really were focusing
on dog accessories in the past, and we just recently
bought a cat brand last year, so we will actually
now shift also the focus to more cat articles because
it's a huge potential farce and from my point of view,
they're not so many nice premium cat articles in the
(30:25):
market so far, so we think that we can do
it in a very nice, nicely way. And this is
what we actually present as well on the inter zoom
in me very shortly.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So can you spill the beans on anything coming out cat?
For my cat parents listening lovely furniture.
Speaker 13 (30:41):
Yeah, really nice products you really want to put into
your flat and not too hide when somebody is coming
to visit you. So yeah, this is probably one of
the nice things that will come.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
That's really exciting, So stay tuned for that. Everyone. Nadine,
thank you so much. We really appreciate you. And the
brand is so beautiful. Thank you, Thank you very much.
What was my pleasure?
Speaker 13 (31:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
One of my dear friends that I come to visit
every year at Global is Gila Kurtz, and she and
her husband John Kurtz created a brand how many years
ago now?
Speaker 4 (31:16):
I think it's about sixteen years.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Oh, Lord, have mercy. Sixteen years ago. That is everything
if you love your dog, and it's called dog is good. So,
whether it's clothing, whether it's certain products, gifts, and they
have debuted something new that is so beautiful because of
the world we live in and how we're trying to
be more conscious about the environment that I want us
(31:41):
to talk about here and John you are the guy
to do it. So this is Gila and John Kurtz. Everybody, Hello,
Bay John tell us about zero plastic waste bags.
Speaker 14 (31:51):
Great, yeah, zero plastic waste bags there's a new technology
in what's called polyvinyl alcohol. You're probably familiar with poly
vinyl alcohol because it's what breath strips are made of.
It's also what the tide pods and other soluble products
like that are made of. Well, our product goes a
step further than polyvinyl alcohol. And to clarify, it's not
(32:13):
our product, per se, but we're the we're the licensed
brand for the manufacturer who's actually.
Speaker 8 (32:20):
Doing the product.
Speaker 14 (32:21):
So he loved the loved the Dog is Good brand
and wanted to do this application of the product for
the pet space. So this goes a step further as
I said, and it's constructive of sugarcane.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
So now not only is.
Speaker 14 (32:33):
It water soluble, but it's entirely plant based, and it
is the unequivocally the best solution to single use plastics
for any for any application of its type, for any
film use, per se.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
But there's also some solid uses too.
Speaker 14 (32:51):
The same application for the same product, sugar cane based
is being used for replacing certain styrofoam applications like packing peanuts,
meat trays, food service trays. So now an organization like FEMA,
for example, can have food trays that can be dissolved
in a commercial at large scale, in a commercial dishwasher.
(33:11):
So these are as I said these are water soluble,
so water soluble in poop bag. You might think that
doesn't go together, but one of the secrets in this
is how it's constructed and it can be formulated to
dissolve at different temperatures depending on the application. So a
demonstration I do here at the show is I pour
hot water on it just to accelerate the process, and
(33:33):
it immediately breaks, just totally breaks apart. And you can
actually replicate that with you might get your sync up
to one hundred and fifty degrees. And it's not that hot.
I mean, it's not really that close to boil. I
mean it's hot to touch. But it'll dissolve right away
in there too. So if you're gonna throw it into
a toilet bowl, I tell people, well, don't expect it
to break apart. If you put a tea spoon of
(33:55):
sugar into a glass of water, it's gonna go to
the bottom, right. You need some mechanical action, and that's
what throw sending it down.
Speaker 8 (34:01):
Through to wastewater disposal system will do.
Speaker 14 (34:05):
It'll break apart on the way, it'll break apart. There
the microbes, microbial action that wastewater treatment will eat it.
Speaker 8 (34:11):
But it'll dissolve in both an aerobic or anaerobic environment.
Speaker 14 (34:15):
So if you have a septic system, it'll dissolve it
to it can go to landfill and it will dissolve
beaten by microbes.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
And because it will dissolve anaerobically, it.
Speaker 14 (34:25):
Can get compressed under other waste and it'll still it'll
still break apart. Unlike plastic, which could last five hundred
years and it would off gas methane, this will not
off gas methane.
Speaker 8 (34:36):
So it's going through a lot of testing.
Speaker 14 (34:39):
Right now, and literally there's no better solution out there
than the zero Plastic Waste Oor Zero plastic waste bag.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
I love this. So a warm poop is not going
to start it breaking down, at least not while you
still are holding the bag.
Speaker 8 (34:57):
Correct, Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 14 (34:59):
So the bag could deform worm you know that, depending
how long or how hot, how hot is it outside,
And I will say, you know it's not plastic, right,
so you have to get away from well I can
use it like I would any normal plastic.
Speaker 8 (35:11):
You can't.
Speaker 14 (35:11):
You got to keep it dry you got to keep it,
keep it out of humidity, just you know, the regular
keeping a cool dry place out No, really, this time
keeping a cool dry place, or you know, it starts
sticking together, it'll be it'll be difficult to use.
Speaker 8 (35:24):
But it's not plastic.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Yeah, right, that's a small price to pay to really
have not a single molecule left when it decomposes.
Speaker 14 (35:32):
Yeah, basically, basically that's correct. And you know we're seeing
it now. Municipalities are saying states, entire states.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
And around the world.
Speaker 14 (35:41):
It's not just the US and Canada that oh, no
plastic use, no plastic blah blah blah. The UAE, you
know United you know, yeah, they're they're cracking down on
it too.
Speaker 8 (35:52):
Who to who? You know, we don't think about We
don't think about that.
Speaker 14 (35:55):
One other word, though, because we see all these compostables
and biodegradables out there, you have to be careful.
Speaker 8 (36:01):
About about composts.
Speaker 14 (36:02):
People sell compostable bags and buyers think, well, it'll it'll
work in a landfill. No, it's gonna last forever in
a landfill, right, or I'm a home compost or.
Speaker 8 (36:11):
I can do it. Well, do you want dog poop
in your compost, it's not.
Speaker 14 (36:14):
Really safe because the bacteria can carry all the way through. Now,
if you're really careful and you're an expert composter and
you've got a pre season thing to you know, to
get your your soil up to speed, yeah okay, but
once you've got plant, you know, plants with vegetables, let's say, yeah, flowers, Okay,
you don't want you don't want dog poop in your
(36:34):
in your compost. As far as putting it in your
green waste with the compostable bags, the people at the
green waste facility will say, the knuckleheads are throwing plastic
bags away still, and they're gonna, they're gonna they're just
gonna take it out and throw it in the landfill.
But most municipalities they just don't want dog poop in
their green waste anyway, and and for good reason.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yeah, okay, so this is all great information for pet parents.
You know, we go through so many poop bags, and
for my cat too. Sometimes you know, I'll just use
a poop bag to put all the stuff from the
litter box in that we don't want, right, So this
is something small that we can do right to contribute.
Speaker 14 (37:16):
Was that you don't want cat poop at all to
go to go in your compost.
Speaker 8 (37:22):
Yeah, yeah, that's a big yeah.
Speaker 14 (37:24):
Yeah, apparently that's really I didn't know. I've learned a
lot of interesting things.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
I bet you did. I bet you did. But this
is a beautiful product. Where can people get this?
Speaker 8 (37:34):
Yeah, so we should have it out.
Speaker 14 (37:35):
We're looking at June now, we're finalizing packaging and it'll
be a US made product.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
And this is on dogs Good dot com.
Speaker 14 (37:43):
It'll be dogs Good dot com and yeah, soon it'll
be you know, we'll get into distribution and at a
store near you.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Love it, Thank you so much. John Gilla tell us
about a couple of new fashion oriented things and the
Dog is Good repertoire catalog.
Speaker 15 (38:00):
Yes, so every year we're always coming out with something new,
of course, because the essence of the brand is celebrating
who the dog lover is as a person and how
they live their life.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
With their dog.
Speaker 15 (38:11):
And so this year we are really focusing quite a
bit on as we do every year, getting people prepped
for National Dog mom Day. And I'm always amazed at
the number of retailers who actually are not aware that
this is a real holiday that many millennials and Gen
xers definitely celebrate. And it's the day before Mother's Day,
(38:32):
so we have a full feature of our Dog Mom
Best Relationship Ever product line on tunics, t shirts, new colors, hats,
tote bags, car magnets. So it's just a great set
And one of the things that we do as a
brand specific when we're working with retailers, of course, is
giving them marketing assets and ideas on how they can
(38:54):
truly create experiences for their customers in their store and
engage their customers through social and expand their reach in
a much more profound way. Additionally, new products are this
has been I can't even believe how popular this has
been Whiskey and My Dog. We literally just came out
with it like ten days ago, i believe, and it's
(39:15):
already it already almost sold out just as soon as
we released it. So of course we have it all
in production again and back on the shelves. Conversation not required,
very typical for the guy who literally just wants to
hang out with his dog and not get into a conversation.
But for the ladies who love to have a good conversation,
we have our new Wine and My Dog both in
(39:37):
a beautiful, yummy crew neck sweatshirt and a T shirt
soon to be a hat as well. We've been just
so delighted at the response to this particular design.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Very simple, but very apropos.
Speaker 15 (39:51):
Because this is really truly, as I said earlier, how
people are living their lives each and every day with
their dogs, and at the end of the day, it
is all a out just enjoying life the best that
we can with the things that we love most, and these.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
Days it is our dogs.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
They make life so much better. I love it. You'll
be able to see photos of these things on the
Bark and Swagger page of Pet Life Radio. Thank you
so much, Kila, Thanks so much, Jerdy. Three million cats
are surrendered to shelters every year and one million of
them a third are due to litter box issues. And
(40:32):
so I'm here with Ken Wilkes, who is the VP
of Sales and Marketing for Boxy Cat, a litter that
I love and use. I use their eco for my cat,
and they have an innovation that is geared to everyone,
but especially geared to shelter cats and cats that are
(40:52):
in that system to help make sure that these things
don't happen Ken, Thank you so much for doing.
Speaker 16 (40:58):
The Show's pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
So tell us about this new formulation of the litter
and what and why.
Speaker 16 (41:08):
Well, when we learned that a million cats a year
were you know, literally losing our lives because they couldn't
use the cat box, we started researching this about four
years ago and we learned that cats can see in
the ultra violet spectrum. And what that means is is
that cats can see what we can see with a
black light. When you shine a black light around your
(41:29):
home to find where a cat's urinated or dogs urinated,
they see that naturally without the black light. So several
years at testing later, we learned that that's actually a
visual queue for cats to urinate. And so the irony
is is that everybody in America is scooping the clumps
out of the litter box and they're taking that queue
(41:50):
out of the litter box that cats need to say, oh,
that's the place to go. So we found a way
to put that queue back in the litter box. Our
litter natural really fluoresces and ultraviolet so that cats can
see it and say that's the place to go.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Amazing, tell us how you do that? And so that
we know obviously you've done tests, but we know it's safe.
Speaker 16 (42:14):
Yeah, we use a human grade ultraviolet ink that's applied
directly to the litter, so it's completely safe for cats.
And again, our motivation was just to save some cats lives.
So we're introducing this litter as much as we possibly
can into shelters, into places where cats are surrendered so
(42:36):
they get a second chance at life.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
And where can people find you if they want this
for their own home.
Speaker 16 (42:43):
Well, boxycat dot com does have litter available for sale.
We're also available for sale in brick and mortar stores
like PetSmart and of course Amazon dot com they carry
everything that we have as well.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
And is this new line available now?
Speaker 16 (42:58):
It is, in fact, chew just put it up for
sale recently. We're launching it at the show, but Chewey
Chewey has it already up for sale if somebody's interested.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Wonderful.
Speaker 16 (43:08):
Thank you so much, Ken, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
We're here at the Worthy Dog. And you know I
cover this all the time because I love this brand.
It is very affordable and very adorable and you can
find it so many places, so I do love them.
And my friend now because I come here every year
(43:31):
to say hi to Debbie. Debbie Carroll, she is the
director of design and product development for the Worthy Dog.
They now as of January, came out with the Worthy Cat.
So for all you cat lovers and cat parents, there
are really wonderful collars toys that they're offering, and Debbie's
going to tell us a little bit about what the
(43:52):
Worthy Cat has to offer.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
Deb Okay, Actually, we have been shipping the cat collars
for a couple of years and they're just the same
as what we do for dog. The cat toys started
in January. We have two kinds. We have the plush
that are made of a plush soft fabric, and then
we have the kicker toys which are for the lay
on the back, kick with your back feet type toys
(44:16):
and those are made of a stronger Oxford nylon fabric
since they scratch them quite a lot. So the plush
toys they will all the toys have organic catnip and
crinkle in them, and the plush toys they're all very
similar to the dog toys that we already have success with.
We picked our best dog toys and did the cat
toys for them. They are two ninety five for the
(44:39):
small plush toys and with a few exceptions, the kicker
toys are four ninety five. And then we have the sets.
We have a lot of birthday sets and just the
mouse and cheese, will Sabi, just cat favorite cat things. Yeah,
so that's that's pretty much it.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Okay, So with the cat collars, they can get out
of them if God forbid they need to. Which dogs.
Speaker 6 (45:04):
Yeah, they're all breakaway buckles. Yes, breakaway, so that's different
bell so you can find them when they're hiding.
Speaker 8 (45:11):
And that's it.
Speaker 6 (45:11):
Yeah, But we've had a lot of success with the
cat of the collars, which is why we expanded the
line into the toys.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
And the thing I love about the Worthy dog is
they love to match. And all of us who love fashion,
we love things that match or off match. You know,
it's not quite exact. And I saw over there you
now have like these really cute beach clothes with beach
hats and everything for our dogs. Tell us a little
bit about the bucket the bucket hats.
Speaker 6 (45:35):
Yes, Well, we design our own prints, so we take
and use those prints in every category. So the collars
will have a matching bow tie, a matching flour, which
also worked for cats the size small. We have shirts
and dresses with the same prints as the collars and leads.
The bucket hats have the same prints, and the toys
have the same prints. So you can make a really
cute end cap for dog and cat with.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Those and gifts a gift basket. Well.
Speaker 6 (46:00):
Yes, and we also started with some party hats that
are hats, but if you cut the elastic cord off,
they're all crinkled and they become toys.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
I saw that last time, and that's really adorable. And
you do them also holiday specific.
Speaker 6 (46:16):
Yeah, holiday specific. The best ones are the birthday of
the Christmas and the cowboy cowboy hat. So people take
the pictures, it's make a great Christmas gift or a
Birthday gift. They take the pictures, they cut the elastic
draw cord off, and then they play with it.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
I love it. Where can people find you? I know everywhere,
but where can they find you?
Speaker 6 (46:35):
Easiest online on our website, theworthydog dot com.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Perfect. Thank you, dev You're welcome.
Speaker 8 (46:42):
Thank you for stopping.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
I can't believe that it's already done. We've come to
the end of another global and I'm excited about sharing
super Zoo with you. You know, Global and super Zoo
with the two big pet trade shows of the year
in the US. Super Zoo's coming up in August, so
stay tuned for that. And it has been wonderful sharing
(47:07):
these brands and ideas and creativity with you and as
pet parents, I hope that they make a difference in
the lives of your pets. So until next time, this
is Jody L. Tish when Feerce Fashion calls bark and
swagger
Speaker 1 (47:24):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlight
Radios dot Com.
This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to Global Pet Expo twenty twenty four. This is
Jody L. Tyche of Bark and Swagger. Every year for
the past ten years now, I've been coming and it's
always a fun show for me because I get to
see the new products and turn you guys onto things
(00:44):
I think are special, different and helpful in the lives
of your pets and you. And this year is no different.
So I am going to take you inside to Global
and introduce you to the brands that I thought were
special that I wanted you to know about. Let's go
(01:04):
check them out. What if your cat could live in
the Chrysler building, a Chrysler building of their very own.
That is what Mario Aborre, the Italian architect who is
behind Square Pause does. He designs intricate cat homes that
(01:28):
are like nothing I've ever seen, so I'm very excited
to introduce him to you. Mario. Welcome to Bark and Swagger.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Thank you, Jody, very nice to meet you, and thank
you for having me. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Tell us a little bit about first.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
What you do.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
So I'm an architect by trade and ten years ago
I started building cat towers for my own cats. Started
out with a lighthouse for my own home and just
kind of the ideas kept coming after that, working out
of my garage for the first two years and then
moved into some workshop space and we've been building all
(02:03):
kinds of custom cat towers since then. We've done things
for animal shelter renovations, cat cafes, personal homes. We've done habitats,
cadio installations, anything related to cats.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
We enjoy.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
That is amazing. So talk to me about I see
the leaning tower, Pisa on your stand. Yes, I see
a big ben clock. Tell us about a couple of
your more unusual creations.
Speaker 5 (02:36):
Well, in twenty nineteen, Beth and Howard Stern actually approached
us when they were working on the North Shore.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Animal League renovation.
Speaker 5 (02:44):
They were building having an extension built for their project,
Bianca's Furry Friends for Cats. It was the cat wing
basically the shelter, and Beth had called us and said
we hadn't really known her before, and said, we're going
to make a room entering Billy Joel.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
You know, we'd love for you to design it.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
So we were working on that, and while we were
doing that, North Rona League said we're going to do
two rooms for Billy Joel, can you handle that? And
it was a very short timeframe and we said absolutely yes.
So we designed one room called the Piano Man Room
and it was great. We took the sort of like
waterfall shape of the piano, mounted it on the wall,
(03:24):
had an electronic piano that would be playable in the
room so like guests could come play and cats could
listen to music. And of course it has all kinds
of cat shelves in it. And then we did a
New York State and Mine room which had the Empire
State Building has the Empire State Building in it. Yankee
Stadium we built sort of a catwalk of the Loja
(03:47):
if you're familiar with the Yankee Stadium both old and new,
has that sort of you know, multiple archway, so we
use that as a sort of motif for a cat
shelf installation. And there's a subway car Brooklyn Bridge. So
we got to do a lot of really creative iconic items,
which is why you see the Chrysler building here. We
(04:08):
wanted to show, you know, the breath of things that
we can do for cats.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
That is so cool. I love that. Where are you
based we're.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Here in Melbourne, Florida.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
I'm from New York originally I've been down here, Yeah,
down here like thirteen years almost. But yeah, we we
have a workshop in Melbourne.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
And I know it depends on how intricate it is,
but generally, how long does it take for you to
design and build? Or is the best way for people
to go on your site and pick one of an
existing design that you have?
Speaker 5 (04:46):
Really both, But most of what we do is really bespoke.
So for example, we've done multiple lighthouses. We've done ferris
wheels for cats. But for example, like well that that
actually is a concession stand. Like we had someone in
the Panhandle of Florida that raises Maine coons because she
(05:07):
says she's not a breeder, she's more about maintaining the
integrity of the Maine coon breed. So but she basically
breeds Maine coons and had a circus theme in mind.
So she came to us and said, I love the lighthouse.
I'm going to get a lighthouse. So we made one,
you know, specifically for the dimensions of the room, you know,
so things like that need to be altered.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Maine coons are big.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
Cats, so obviously there's a concern and consideration of scale
and dimensions for them. But the circus theme, we did
a ferris wheel for her, a sort of like now
showing kind of like lit a pinboard.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Box for the wall.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
We did this sort of concession stand night stand as well.
So yeah, I mean it really it sort of comes
out of, you know, an interplay of like, Okay, what
is it you're looking for, what room is it going in,
what's your motif for the decor of your home, and
what can we sort of tailor for you?
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Right?
Speaker 5 (06:06):
So another example, like a lighthouse. Last year, we had
a client who wanted a lighthouse. She has a very
tall ceiling in Chicago and has three Savannah cats, which
are you know, semi wild kind of breeds of cats, right,
and they get big and they love to climb, and
so we had to kind of tailor the lighthouse design
(06:28):
to work for the size of her cats in a
tall space but a very narrow space, but with ample
room for them. And then you know, we get into
things like color, what fits the room?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
You know, is it this is sort of your style?
Do you like blue? Do you like brighter colors? Do
you like you know more muted tones.
Speaker 5 (06:46):
So as an architect, I can sort of speak to
not just like scale and dimension, but decor and design
as well.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Yeah, and I love that. As an architect, precision and
attention to detail is part of your training. So where can.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
People you squarepaus dot com. We're also on Instagram, We're
on TikTok, We're on Facebook. They can just google Square
pause and they'll find us perfect.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Thank you so much, Mario, Thank.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
You, JODYR.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Pleasure meeting you, and thank you for having me on
your podcast you as well.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Thanks. This is for all of you kitty cat lovers
and kittykat moms and dads. I came up across a
booth that jumped out at me because the cat toys
are really really cute and different than what I've been
seeing around the show, and so I introduced myself to
(07:37):
Anna Maria Weir, who is the designer behind this brand
called Princess Dreams and the cat line is called Dreamcat,
and I thought this was super cool. When I was
talking with Anna, she told me that her students she
teaches design, or she used to teach design at the Call,
(08:00):
and her students would tell her that she was the
lost child of Martha Stewart and Bob Villa because she
is so creative. So let's talk to Anna and find
out more about Dreamcat. Hi Anna, Hi, how are you, Yodi?
Speaker 6 (08:15):
How you doing?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
I'm doing great. Tell us about how you got inspired
to create Princess Dreams and then Dreamcat.
Speaker 7 (08:23):
Well, Princess Dreams started about nineteen years ago, designing small items,
hallowing customs for all things for my daughter, which is
a true princess. Everything was Princess, Dragon, princess, spaceship, princess
and all everything. And then the neighbors started asking for
can you do a party around this thing? And soft goods,
(08:46):
and then I started decorating bedrooms and then construction. With
my background, I do a lot of engineering work. I
design furniture retail stores. For ten years, I was doing
remodeling construction in Chicago, start to Chicago and after that,
you know, as people asked me, so she set it
up the house and so essentially I can knock the
(09:07):
house down, build it up again and have dinner ready
on the table. So all of these these toys, a
dream Cat. Part of it came out of Rescue Cats.
But have a friend that I designed their retail store
in Geneva in Illinois for them, and she has this
rescue business on the side and very heavy on it,
(09:29):
and we were trying to make something different for a
fund raiser for Chicago and an on Keo shelter. So
we came up with an idea well, crazy story connecting
very fast. My daughter rescued this little cat and she
brought it for Thanksgiving and the little things start chasing
(09:52):
the corn and things that fell on the ground, and
then we said, oh maybe, Oh my god, we have
a vegan cat. So everybody just kind of stopped and said,
oh my god, this is the line that we're going
to do. We're going to go all vegetables of fruit
and everything like that. So that was nine years ago.
A subscription box like three days after we put it in,
(10:13):
twenty four hours after we put it in an Etsy,
we had the first large order and the rest is history.
So we're doing this and I designed it, We have
made the patterns and we make it. I hired ladies
that already retired that they love quoting. They cannot work anymore,
(10:33):
they can find jobs, so we will have a really
nice little sawing circle to do all this stuff. And
I just kind of keep it fun and just kind
of make people happy. And that just the comments of people.
They just love to see a broccoli on the floor
and a banana somewhere in there instead of a mouth,
(10:57):
So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
First of all, I love all the stories. I love
that you talked about rescue because Ark and Swagger is, Yes,
it's about living stylishly with your pet, but it's also
very much about rescue, so that this collection was inspired
by that is important. And they're so adorable, as you said,
there are different fruits, adorable pears and apples and strawberries,
(11:23):
and then you've got really cute things like cinnamon rolls
and ice cream cones and beautiful little cakes sweets in
your sweet section. And you've got some halloweeny kind of things.
Speaker 7 (11:35):
As Christmas also that I didn't bring over. But just
something that is very important for us is that at
least twice a year. The first donation that we have
is in June and the other one is in November December.
When I develop products that they said that are they
give it that like the rejects I recalled because I'm
(11:57):
not top my standards or we sow for or these
large subscription boxes and we have extras because they don't
pass the munsters.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Like when you say that.
Speaker 7 (12:07):
We donate everything, so we don't have stale products or anything.
The catnip is sourced in Canada.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
You should know, all of the toys are filled with premium.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
So the fiber fill is you know, of course whatever
is here and uh, the Canadian catnap and we mix
it up and to certain toys when they ask for
this organic catnip that is actually grown in Washington State,
so we mix it up like that and it's like
in the minty branch of the of the catnap because
(12:44):
the other ones that are more peppery, more spicy, and
my cat actually sneeze with that, so we just kind
of cupulate that.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So you found what works and the catt neet. But
you the ones that don't pass muster for you are
donated to shelters.
Speaker 7 (12:58):
Everything is donated to shelters. Don't have people ask me
do you have anything to give away?
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Note, we have local shelters people.
Speaker 7 (13:06):
What you call this sanctuaries that they have all types
of animals and they started a lot of faro cats
and that are there. They receive some stuff so ones
that I donate these toys. I get asked several times
to Etsy do you have anymore? And said, well, you know,
I am about to finish a product. Call me in
(13:27):
about a month and then we'll see what we have
we have leftover. So honestly, it's like scraps whatever. It's
yourly cadnep that everybody receives stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
So I love it. So tell people where they can
find you, Anna.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
They can find me in Etsy. The store is called
Princess Dreams Ink all together and you can see all
the list that is right now for this year. We
have three new toys that are not on Etsy yet
but they will be next Tuesday, which are the bell, pepper,
the corn and the apples, so that you can find it.
The toys are really affordable. The most expensive thing that
(14:03):
we have is thirteen dollars, which are the most complex.
What this thing is special ones and then the range
between seven and twelve.
Speaker 8 (14:12):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Wonderful. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. So on Etsy,
Princess Dreams Inc. Is where we can find you all right, Anna,
thank you and continued success. Thank you so much for coming.
Thank I love Clay pet lifestyleing you. They are a
beautiful brand that makes beds and toys and mats and
(14:34):
all sorts of wonderful, really cool looking products for our
pets who we love. So I'm here yet again with
Miss Natalie Hennessy, who is the director of pure and
Marketing for the brand. This is what our eighth year.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Natalie, I think tenth. I've been here ten years.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, I've been here ten years too. Was it the
very first time that I interviewed you?
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I think so yes, Yeah, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
And we won't talk about it how much older we are.
But let's talk about the products, new products, and you
have some really cool things that one of them in particular,
I mean, the first thing I said is it's like
the mats, the activity mats that we bought for our
kids when they're young, and this is what is happening
with our pets. Talk about these activity mats for dogs.
Speaker 9 (15:19):
We have new stuffle mats out so for us, like
you mentioned, we're always looking to really mentally engage and
stimulate our pets, and we've really been seeing that the
pet space has been kind of booming with these mats,
and we wanted to kind of add our own flare,
so we have different styles. We started out with holiday.
Last year we launched a Christmas, a Thanksgiving, and a
Halloween matt and now all of everyone was where's the
everyday mats? So we hurried up and kind of like
(15:40):
picked our rains, like what can we do to make
these different? So we have a coral cove and we
actually added some detachable plush toys so you can put
them in the holes and like the dogs can pull
out the toy, have the squeaker aspect where they can
also have all these cool slits and like little pieces
where they can like tuck in their treats.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
And we've just seen them do so well.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
I feel like they're really well received. We love to
have fun, you know, we love color. So we also
have a nice birthday mat. We're looking I know people
always looking for birthday gifts. There's a candle that comes
out and there's a really cute cake in the middle,
and there's a card that opens up, so adding little
crinkle elements and they're all washable, which is always so
important to us. We also have a savory Sunrise breakfast one.
You can start your day off with enrichment and fun
(16:16):
and just have that time with your pet while you're
watching the sunrise. So we're just always trying to find
a way to bring just joy to pets and just
try to really keep that going with that mental simulation.
So love the fact they have non slip bottoms. It's
just always just it's always fun. We have a great
time trying to die and all these things we also
enrichment end up expanding more.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
We launched our.
Speaker 9 (16:35):
Alien Buddies collection, so you know, we don't really have
any super chewer toys. That's been something we've been hearing about.
This Alien Buddies toy has a plush outer shell and
if it does get ripped off, inside is a dishwasher
safe had like hard rubber like toy. It has a
bottom opening you can slip treats in it, so you
can also have that as well. You know, it's always
so cute seeing the dogs. They're like trying to lick
out the peanut butter and they're a little bit heavier,
but again they're just they're really designed for bigger dogs,
(16:57):
more medium to big dogs.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Three different types of shapes right now.
Speaker 9 (17:00):
We have a robot rover, a little StarBlaster guy, and
a rocket ship, so that's great.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
And then the kitties. We have not forgotten Gus.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Let's not forget the kidnies.
Speaker 9 (17:08):
And every year they're like, what do you have for cats?
And I feel like we've always just some plush toys.
So we're really repurposing a lot of our dog bedding
fabric and trying to bring them back in cool shape.
So we have this lawful leaf fabric that we source
the designer out of France like forever ago, probably the
first time we chatted, and we repurpose it into a
playfic playtime mat, so it has a crinkle element. We
introduced that catnip that we always use, that source out
of the Pacific Northwest, so it has that element. It
(17:30):
has a little dangly things that are really fun kittieskin
lay on it, play with it, scratch it. There's a
non slit bottom, so again safety is always really important
to us. We have some new doughnut beds, so there's
that kindly soft aspect, a new chill pad as well
for them that has the cat nip again also in it,
and there is a cat crinklesack as well. It's coming
out in July. We sold out pretty fast with the retailers.
But it has a crinkly element you can go in
and burrow. It has a little feathery dangle element as
(17:52):
well for like play, sleep, fun. So just really trying
to bring things out I know the cats, like we
tend to have a lot of dog toys that work
for kitties, but really trying to create more of a
market in the cat space as well, for you know what.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It is a market that is growing rapidly. I noticed
it at Global this year. First of all, cats are
getting far more attention now than they ever have before,
and that's growing. More and more people have cats, and
you know, cat parents are fearce cat fans in the
Capital f so I'm seeing like people telling me brands
(18:24):
that their cat things are flying out the door. So yeah,
I think it's really smart idea and I love how
everything is very thoughtful. And guys, these Snuffle Slash activity
mats are super super cute. I'm talking about really think
modern like activity mats, colorful activity mats for kids, for
(18:47):
our furry kids, and there's so much for them to do.
And I know that I want my Suki to try
that crinkly like activity mat. I think cats are going
to love that between playing with the dangly little tassel
and then the crinkly sound and you know, bunching it
up like cats love to do. Right, And I'm interested
in the tough, big doy big dog toys. How do
(19:11):
you test those?
Speaker 9 (19:14):
So we have a wide range of brand ambassadors. We
have a little program in sur community. They've been with us,
some of them with us since the start I started
back in twenty fifteen, and we've kind of grown.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
It through customers.
Speaker 9 (19:23):
A lot of our products in people we've met at
these great shows, and we have them tests. We look
for dogs that meet the criteria is at large, super truer,
and we have you know, we also have smaller dogs.
Just have these We go to this community and say, hey,
can you try this out for us? What do you
like about it? What don't you like about it? How
was it in the dishwasher? Did it hold up if
it's washable? Put it in your washer? Do you see
(19:43):
any problems? So we go through a lot of testing
for us. It was really important because I know, especially
with enrichment toys where you put treats in, you need
to have an extra hole for the air. So that
there's a suction, so we did a lot of tests
with that making sure that it was safety because safety
is so important to us. Honestly, we spend I wish
I could tell you how many hours in days we
spend all these things back and forth trying to make
sure as a team and then also using our utizing,
(20:04):
our brandveshers, our community to really give us the feedback
and we listen and we adapt and try to make
it better. So it took a couple of months to
get these off the ground. We have another set that
we're going to be launching next global hopefully you do
you know if these do really well, and we're just
really excited about just adding some new twists and really
being able to offer the bigger dogs something because we
know plush is not it's not undestructible, and some of
our other toys that are USA made are great, but
(20:25):
they're just not for superchewers. So we just really wanted
to offer a more variety. Just like with the mini toys,
we launched them for dogs. I mean, we were hearing
cat parents or little dog parents were buying cat toys
taking out the catnip, and we're like, what are we doing.
Let's just shrink down some of our popular collections and
really offer something because you know, small dogs are underserved.
They don't have that same variety, that interactiveness worth.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
You know, you can pull it apart and put it back.
Speaker 9 (20:45):
Together with like you know, with like bellcrow or the
bungee aspects, and a lot of them are dog toys
are too big, you know for a little seven pound dog.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
So trying to really cater to everyone.
Speaker 9 (20:54):
That's really what we do, which is why we have
so many great things, and we launch so many things
every year, which is always hard to market, but it's
just so much fun. Like we're always out there, Jennifer,
how do we fill that gap? What do people want?
And listening to our retailers, listening to our customers, what
can we do better?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, So that's I mean, that's the thing, really market driven.
What do people want?
Speaker 4 (21:12):
What are the holes?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And hearing you know, it's fun to hear from you
a little bit of the behind the scenes how you
figure it out and you do what you do really well.
Remind people where they can find you.
Speaker 9 (21:25):
They can find us on petplay dot com or on
Instagram at pet playsf andy, And we do have retailers
as well. For some reason, you want to come and
carry our products, come on over. You can fill out
the forum. But we're we are always offering specials and
there's always great things. If you sign up and follow us,
you could be you know, an next brand Abasser of
Force as well. So I feel free to reach out
and ask any questions. We have a great form and
a help center as well.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Thank you so much, Natalie. Always great to see you.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Thank you. Always great to see you as well.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
So if you go on the pictures associated with these interviews,
you are going to see beautiful, feathery, furry, fabulous sweaters
for dogs and beautiful colors. And that's what stopped me
in my tracks and I walked over the Max Bone.
(22:12):
So I'm here with Marianna, the director of marketing, and
she's going to tell us all about the really fun
and also functional fashion that we have here. Hi Marianna, Hey,
how are you Jodi? Yeah?
Speaker 10 (22:26):
So Max Bone was founded should be a one stop
shop for all modern patent needs. So you see here
a Christian Cohen jumper, which we did in collaboration with
the British designer Christian Coen. He's responsible for designing costumes
for like Lady Gaga, j Lo, Mariah Carey, and we
brought you know, his iconic designs to the pets industry.
(22:47):
So this has been a bad seller. But also you
can find for example, rain coats or lightweight jackets that
are equally nice esthetically and also very functional. We also
have is Link carrier bags that you see here. They
are eco friendly because they're made of water bottles. So yeah,
we think about of course, like d iconic designs, we
(23:09):
want to be very instagrammable, but also we never forget
about the functional aspect. And you see here with our leashes,
our go with these leashes our best seller because it
is three and one. You can wear a crossbody around
your waist or as a regular lesh so you see here.
You know, from treats to freeze right food to grooming
carrier bags, we have everything for all the modern pat needs.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
I love that. First of all, I love that you
got Christian to do this. And actually a dear friend
of mine in New York, Nina has I think this
hot pink one for her dog Holly. Where is the
brand base?
Speaker 10 (23:48):
So we're based in Los Angeles. We have our channel,
our e commerce Cantelmaximum dot com and we also sell
internationally and nationally to independent path boutiques. We are also
on Bloomingdalos, Herods Salfridges and we recently have been acquired
by weg Yeah, and we are bringing in our amazing
pet supplies for the group and it has been amazing
so far.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
That's fantastic, Mariana. Thank you so much. And where can
people find you out at Maxbone dot com.
Speaker 10 (24:14):
Maxmone dot com and follow us on Instagram at dim Maxbone.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Okay, perfect, thank you so much, Thank you so much.
Let's hang on to all of this goodness. We're going
to take a short break from our sponsor and when
we come back, more new products and ideas for you
to take in for your pets. So grab that favorite beverage,
get comfortable. We'll be right back.
Speaker 11 (24:43):
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(25:04):
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visit petlife Radio dot com slash advertised today, Let's talk past, Let's.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Done petco at Life Radio, Hetline.
Speaker 12 (25:29):
Radio, Petlight Radio dot com.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
You might have heard me talk about the Hunter brand
and past episodes of Bark and Swagger. It is a beautiful,
high quality brand and I am so pleased that at
Global this year I had the pleasure of meeting the
CEO of the entire Global brand. And her name is
Nadine Troutwine. And just to give you a little bit
(26:05):
of insight, Hunter has stores all over the world, a
huge e commerce business, and a huge B to B
business all throughout Europe. So I'm very excited to be
able to be with the source here, Nadine. Who's going
to tell us what's new at Hunter that you can
get for your animal. Welcome, Nadine, Thank you very much,
(26:27):
great to be here.
Speaker 13 (26:28):
It's a pleasure to meet you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Thank you. So talk to us a little bit about
what was the inspiration for Hunter, and then so we
can sort of set the stage and then talk about
what's new.
Speaker 13 (26:41):
Well, first of all, it's I have to say, it's
a family business. I took over the business maybe twenty
years ago from my father who established the company in
ninety eighty, So it's really lots of emotion included. It's
like our baby, really, so this is what we are
standing up for every morning. We believe in high quality products,
(27:01):
we believe in premium, and we believe in serving our
customers as best as possible as we believe that when
our customer is happy, then in the end we are
happy as well. So this is what is really one
of our motivations every day.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Yeah, so that's beautiful that it's a family business and
it's been in the family for decades. Did it start
with only sort of specific things? Was it for dogs
and cats or was it for horses or was it
for like how did it start with? What kind of
key product or products?
Speaker 13 (27:39):
My father started with leather articles for dogs, like colors
and leashes and old types of letters, types and yeah, designs,
and over the year the categories get bigger and bigger,
and by now we have three thousand, five hundred different
SKUs in our assortment. And the assortments grow and we're
(28:01):
very innovative. So there is every year like three hundred
and four hundred, five hundred new article numbers entering in
our assortment and just because we are listening what the
customer really needs and what the customer really wants and yeah,
and then re developing this under the Hunter brand.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, and you can get everything. I mean, yes, color
is unleashous, beautiful of every type, whether you want vegan,
whether you want leather, beds, bowls, toys, so much. Tell
us what's new for Hunter?
Speaker 13 (28:33):
Something is it's always something. You have to say that
we are never standing still. There's always changes in the company.
Whereas it's about products, but also about leadership in you know,
how we work with our talents, with our employees, with
our people. But maybe one trend is looking very much
(28:56):
on sustainability, which I think is our duty as responsible people.
I mean, the main part of our product is letter products.
We manufacture in Germany in Billefeld, in our property and
we changed everything to the vegetable tenoring processes, so this
(29:17):
is one very very big part. And just looking that
we're using more recycling materials. We are in a program
that we want to be a CEO to emission free
in our part in Germany in twenty thirty. So this
is what we are aiming for at the moment and
working hard on. And yeah, this is something that we
(29:37):
are focusing on at the moment, next to many many
other projects that we are working on.
Speaker 2 (29:41):
But this is bad sounded. Yeah, that is beautiful. So
you can be socially conscious and we're beautiful things at
the same time, So that's wonderful. Is there a particular
new like color line or bedline or anything like that
that you debuting or just more of what you've been doing.
Speaker 13 (30:03):
Which is brand new. Is that we really were focusing
on dog accessories in the past, and we just recently
bought a cat brand last year, so we will actually
now shift also the focus to more cat articles because
it's a huge potential farce and from my point of view,
they're not so many nice premium cat articles in the
(30:25):
market so far, so we think that we can do
it in a very nice, nicely way. And this is
what we actually present as well on the inter zoom
in me very shortly.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
So can you spill the beans on anything coming out cat?
For my cat parents listening lovely furniture.
Speaker 13 (30:41):
Yeah, really nice products you really want to put into
your flat and not too hide when somebody is coming
to visit you. So yeah, this is probably one of
the nice things that will come.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
That's really exciting, So stay tuned for that. Everyone. Nadine,
thank you so much. We really appreciate you. And the
brand is so beautiful. Thank you, Thank you very much.
What was my pleasure?
Speaker 13 (31:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
One of my dear friends that I come to visit
every year at Global is Gila Kurtz, and she and
her husband John Kurtz created a brand how many years
ago now?
Speaker 4 (31:16):
I think it's about sixteen years.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Oh, Lord, have mercy. Sixteen years ago. That is everything
if you love your dog, and it's called dog is good. So,
whether it's clothing, whether it's certain products, gifts, and they
have debuted something new that is so beautiful because of
the world we live in and how we're trying to
be more conscious about the environment that I want us
(31:41):
to talk about here and John you are the guy
to do it. So this is Gila and John Kurtz. Everybody, Hello,
Bay John tell us about zero plastic waste bags.
Speaker 14 (31:51):
Great, yeah, zero plastic waste bags there's a new technology
in what's called polyvinyl alcohol. You're probably familiar with poly
vinyl alcohol because it's what breath strips are made of.
It's also what the tide pods and other soluble products
like that are made of. Well, our product goes a
step further than polyvinyl alcohol. And to clarify, it's not
(32:13):
our product, per se, but we're the we're the licensed
brand for the manufacturer who's actually.
Speaker 8 (32:20):
Doing the product.
Speaker 14 (32:21):
So he loved the loved the Dog is Good brand
and wanted to do this application of the product for
the pet space. So this goes a step further as
I said, and it's constructive of sugarcane.
Speaker 8 (32:32):
So now not only is.
Speaker 14 (32:33):
It water soluble, but it's entirely plant based, and it
is the unequivocally the best solution to single use plastics
for any for any application of its type, for any
film use, per se.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
But there's also some solid uses too.
Speaker 14 (32:51):
The same application for the same product, sugar cane based
is being used for replacing certain styrofoam applications like packing peanuts,
meat trays, food service trays. So now an organization like FEMA,
for example, can have food trays that can be dissolved
in a commercial at large scale, in a commercial dishwasher.
(33:11):
So these are as I said these are water soluble,
so water soluble in poop bag. You might think that
doesn't go together, but one of the secrets in this
is how it's constructed and it can be formulated to
dissolve at different temperatures depending on the application. So a
demonstration I do here at the show is I pour
hot water on it just to accelerate the process, and
(33:33):
it immediately breaks, just totally breaks apart. And you can
actually replicate that with you might get your sync up
to one hundred and fifty degrees. And it's not that hot.
I mean, it's not really that close to boil. I
mean it's hot to touch. But it'll dissolve right away
in there too. So if you're gonna throw it into
a toilet bowl, I tell people, well, don't expect it
to break apart. If you put a tea spoon of
(33:55):
sugar into a glass of water, it's gonna go to
the bottom, right. You need some mechanical action, and that's
what throw sending it down.
Speaker 8 (34:01):
Through to wastewater disposal system will do.
Speaker 14 (34:05):
It'll break apart on the way, it'll break apart. There
the microbes, microbial action that wastewater treatment will eat it.
Speaker 8 (34:11):
But it'll dissolve in both an aerobic or anaerobic environment.
Speaker 14 (34:15):
So if you have a septic system, it'll dissolve it
to it can go to landfill and it will dissolve
beaten by microbes.
Speaker 8 (34:22):
And because it will dissolve anaerobically, it.
Speaker 14 (34:25):
Can get compressed under other waste and it'll still it'll
still break apart. Unlike plastic, which could last five hundred
years and it would off gas methane, this will not
off gas methane.
Speaker 8 (34:36):
So it's going through a lot of testing.
Speaker 14 (34:39):
Right now, and literally there's no better solution out there
than the zero Plastic Waste Oor Zero plastic waste bag.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
I love this. So a warm poop is not going
to start it breaking down, at least not while you
still are holding the bag.
Speaker 8 (34:57):
Correct, Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 14 (34:59):
So the bag could deform worm you know that, depending
how long or how hot, how hot is it outside,
And I will say, you know it's not plastic, right,
so you have to get away from well I can
use it like I would any normal plastic.
Speaker 8 (35:11):
You can't.
Speaker 14 (35:11):
You got to keep it dry you got to keep it,
keep it out of humidity, just you know, the regular
keeping a cool dry place out No, really, this time
keeping a cool dry place, or you know, it starts
sticking together, it'll be it'll be difficult to use.
Speaker 8 (35:24):
But it's not plastic.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
Yeah, right, that's a small price to pay to really
have not a single molecule left when it decomposes.
Speaker 14 (35:32):
Yeah, basically, basically that's correct. And you know we're seeing
it now. Municipalities are saying states, entire states.
Speaker 8 (35:39):
And around the world.
Speaker 14 (35:41):
It's not just the US and Canada that oh, no
plastic use, no plastic blah blah blah. The UAE, you
know United you know, yeah, they're they're cracking down on
it too.
Speaker 8 (35:52):
Who to who? You know, we don't think about We
don't think about that.
Speaker 14 (35:55):
One other word, though, because we see all these compostables
and biodegradables out there, you have to be careful.
Speaker 8 (36:01):
About about composts.
Speaker 14 (36:02):
People sell compostable bags and buyers think, well, it'll it'll
work in a landfill. No, it's gonna last forever in
a landfill, right, or I'm a home compost or.
Speaker 8 (36:11):
I can do it. Well, do you want dog poop
in your compost, it's not.
Speaker 14 (36:14):
Really safe because the bacteria can carry all the way through. Now,
if you're really careful and you're an expert composter and
you've got a pre season thing to you know, to
get your your soil up to speed, yeah okay, but
once you've got plant, you know, plants with vegetables, let's say, yeah, flowers, Okay,
you don't want you don't want dog poop in your
(36:34):
in your compost. As far as putting it in your
green waste with the compostable bags, the people at the
green waste facility will say, the knuckleheads are throwing plastic
bags away still, and they're gonna, they're gonna they're just
gonna take it out and throw it in the landfill.
But most municipalities they just don't want dog poop in
their green waste anyway, and and for good reason.
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yeah, okay, so this is all great information for pet parents.
You know, we go through so many poop bags, and
for my cat too. Sometimes you know, I'll just use
a poop bag to put all the stuff from the
litter box in that we don't want, right, So this
is something small that we can do right to contribute.
Speaker 14 (37:16):
Was that you don't want cat poop at all to
go to go in your compost.
Speaker 8 (37:22):
Yeah, yeah, that's a big yeah.
Speaker 14 (37:24):
Yeah, apparently that's really I didn't know. I've learned a
lot of interesting things.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
I bet you did. I bet you did. But this
is a beautiful product. Where can people get this?
Speaker 8 (37:34):
Yeah, so we should have it out.
Speaker 14 (37:35):
We're looking at June now, we're finalizing packaging and it'll
be a US made product.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
And this is on dogs Good dot com.
Speaker 14 (37:43):
It'll be dogs Good dot com and yeah, soon it'll
be you know, we'll get into distribution and at a
store near you.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Love it, Thank you so much. John Gilla tell us
about a couple of new fashion oriented things and the
Dog is Good repertoire catalog.
Speaker 15 (38:00):
Yes, so every year we're always coming out with something new,
of course, because the essence of the brand is celebrating
who the dog lover is as a person and how
they live their life.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
With their dog.
Speaker 15 (38:11):
And so this year we are really focusing quite a
bit on as we do every year, getting people prepped
for National Dog mom Day. And I'm always amazed at
the number of retailers who actually are not aware that
this is a real holiday that many millennials and Gen
xers definitely celebrate. And it's the day before Mother's Day,
(38:32):
so we have a full feature of our Dog Mom
Best Relationship Ever product line on tunics, t shirts, new colors, hats,
tote bags, car magnets. So it's just a great set
And one of the things that we do as a
brand specific when we're working with retailers, of course, is
giving them marketing assets and ideas on how they can
(38:54):
truly create experiences for their customers in their store and
engage their customers through social and expand their reach in
a much more profound way. Additionally, new products are this
has been I can't even believe how popular this has
been Whiskey and My Dog. We literally just came out
with it like ten days ago, i believe, and it's
(39:15):
already it already almost sold out just as soon as
we released it. So of course we have it all
in production again and back on the shelves. Conversation not required,
very typical for the guy who literally just wants to
hang out with his dog and not get into a conversation.
But for the ladies who love to have a good conversation,
we have our new Wine and My Dog both in
(39:37):
a beautiful, yummy crew neck sweatshirt and a T shirt
soon to be a hat as well. We've been just
so delighted at the response to this particular design.
Speaker 2 (39:49):
Very simple, but very apropos.
Speaker 15 (39:51):
Because this is really truly, as I said earlier, how
people are living their lives each and every day with
their dogs, and at the end of the day, it
is all a out just enjoying life the best that
we can with the things that we love most, and these.
Speaker 4 (40:06):
Days it is our dogs.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
They make life so much better. I love it. You'll
be able to see photos of these things on the
Bark and Swagger page of Pet Life Radio. Thank you
so much, Kila, Thanks so much, Jerdy. Three million cats
are surrendered to shelters every year and one million of
them a third are due to litter box issues. And
(40:32):
so I'm here with Ken Wilkes, who is the VP
of Sales and Marketing for Boxy Cat, a litter that
I love and use. I use their eco for my cat,
and they have an innovation that is geared to everyone,
but especially geared to shelter cats and cats that are
(40:52):
in that system to help make sure that these things
don't happen Ken, Thank you so much for doing.
Speaker 16 (40:58):
The Show's pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
So tell us about this new formulation of the litter
and what and why.
Speaker 16 (41:08):
Well, when we learned that a million cats a year
were you know, literally losing our lives because they couldn't
use the cat box, we started researching this about four
years ago and we learned that cats can see in
the ultra violet spectrum. And what that means is is
that cats can see what we can see with a
black light. When you shine a black light around your
(41:29):
home to find where a cat's urinated or dogs urinated,
they see that naturally without the black light. So several
years at testing later, we learned that that's actually a
visual queue for cats to urinate. And so the irony
is is that everybody in America is scooping the clumps
out of the litter box and they're taking that queue
(41:50):
out of the litter box that cats need to say, oh,
that's the place to go. So we found a way
to put that queue back in the litter box. Our
litter natural really fluoresces and ultraviolet so that cats can
see it and say that's the place to go.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
Amazing, tell us how you do that? And so that
we know obviously you've done tests, but we know it's safe.
Speaker 16 (42:14):
Yeah, we use a human grade ultraviolet ink that's applied
directly to the litter, so it's completely safe for cats.
And again, our motivation was just to save some cats lives.
So we're introducing this litter as much as we possibly
can into shelters, into places where cats are surrendered so
(42:36):
they get a second chance at life.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
And where can people find you if they want this
for their own home.
Speaker 16 (42:43):
Well, boxycat dot com does have litter available for sale.
We're also available for sale in brick and mortar stores
like PetSmart and of course Amazon dot com they carry
everything that we have as well.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
And is this new line available now?
Speaker 16 (42:58):
It is, in fact, chew just put it up for
sale recently. We're launching it at the show, but Chewey
Chewey has it already up for sale if somebody's interested.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Wonderful.
Speaker 16 (43:08):
Thank you so much, Ken, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (43:10):
We're here at the Worthy Dog. And you know I
cover this all the time because I love this brand.
It is very affordable and very adorable and you can
find it so many places, so I do love them.
And my friend now because I come here every year
(43:31):
to say hi to Debbie. Debbie Carroll, she is the
director of design and product development for the Worthy Dog.
They now as of January, came out with the Worthy Cat.
So for all you cat lovers and cat parents, there
are really wonderful collars toys that they're offering, and Debbie's
going to tell us a little bit about what the
(43:52):
Worthy Cat has to offer.
Speaker 6 (43:54):
Deb Okay, Actually, we have been shipping the cat collars
for a couple of years and they're just the same
as what we do for dog. The cat toys started
in January. We have two kinds. We have the plush
that are made of a plush soft fabric, and then
we have the kicker toys which are for the lay
on the back, kick with your back feet type toys
(44:16):
and those are made of a stronger Oxford nylon fabric
since they scratch them quite a lot. So the plush
toys they will all the toys have organic catnip and
crinkle in them, and the plush toys they're all very
similar to the dog toys that we already have success with.
We picked our best dog toys and did the cat
toys for them. They are two ninety five for the
(44:39):
small plush toys and with a few exceptions, the kicker
toys are four ninety five. And then we have the sets.
We have a lot of birthday sets and just the
mouse and cheese, will Sabi, just cat favorite cat things. Yeah,
so that's that's pretty much it.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Okay, So with the cat collars, they can get out
of them if God forbid they need to. Which dogs.
Speaker 6 (45:04):
Yeah, they're all breakaway buckles. Yes, breakaway, so that's different
bell so you can find them when they're hiding.
Speaker 8 (45:11):
And that's it.
Speaker 6 (45:11):
Yeah, But we've had a lot of success with the
cat of the collars, which is why we expanded the
line into the toys.
Speaker 2 (45:17):
And the thing I love about the Worthy dog is
they love to match. And all of us who love fashion,
we love things that match or off match. You know,
it's not quite exact. And I saw over there you
now have like these really cute beach clothes with beach
hats and everything for our dogs. Tell us a little
bit about the bucket the bucket hats.
Speaker 6 (45:35):
Yes, Well, we design our own prints, so we take
and use those prints in every category. So the collars
will have a matching bow tie, a matching flour, which
also worked for cats the size small. We have shirts
and dresses with the same prints as the collars and leads.
The bucket hats have the same prints, and the toys
have the same prints. So you can make a really
cute end cap for dog and cat with.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
Those and gifts a gift basket. Well.
Speaker 6 (46:00):
Yes, and we also started with some party hats that
are hats, but if you cut the elastic cord off,
they're all crinkled and they become toys.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
I saw that last time, and that's really adorable. And
you do them also holiday specific.
Speaker 6 (46:16):
Yeah, holiday specific. The best ones are the birthday of
the Christmas and the cowboy cowboy hat. So people take
the pictures, it's make a great Christmas gift or a
Birthday gift. They take the pictures, they cut the elastic
draw cord off, and then they play with it.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
I love it. Where can people find you? I know everywhere,
but where can they find you?
Speaker 6 (46:35):
Easiest online on our website, theworthydog dot com.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Perfect. Thank you, dev You're welcome.
Speaker 8 (46:42):
Thank you for stopping.
Speaker 2 (46:44):
I can't believe that it's already done. We've come to
the end of another global and I'm excited about sharing
super Zoo with you. You know, Global and super Zoo
with the two big pet trade shows of the year
in the US. Super Zoo's coming up in August, so
stay tuned for that. And it has been wonderful sharing
(47:07):
these brands and ideas and creativity with you and as
pet parents, I hope that they make a difference in
the lives of your pets. So until next time, this
is Jody L. Tish when Feerce Fashion calls bark and
swagger
Speaker 1 (47:24):
Let's Talk Pets every week on demand only on Petlight
Radios dot Com.
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