July 18, 2023 • 45 mins
Ever wonder if your pet’s behavior problems could be solved with a toy?
Most pet parents don’t realize that play and enrichment aren’t just fun extras—they’re essential to your pet’s mental and emotional health. When pets don’t get enough stimulation, they act out, get stressed, or even end up surrendered to shelters.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How play impacts your pet’s brain and behavior
- The surprising link between toy selection and fewer training issues
- Simple ways to prevent boredom-related behavior problems before they start
If you want a happier, healthier pet (and fewer messes to clean up), this episode is for you.
P.S. You may hear us refer to the show as Starlight Pet Talk in this episode. That was our original name. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place.
CONNECT WITH KAT KEKEL
Website: Von Kekel Canine
OTHER LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
KONG Company and KONG Classroom
Love the show? Please share it with another pet parent who wants less chaos and more clarity. Please leave a 5-star review to help others find real-life, judgment-free advice.
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Big pet challenges we help pet parents solve include: puppy training, cat behavior, pet budgeting, stress-free vet visits, solutions for multi-pet households, and more.
Contact: Amy@muddypawsandhairballs.com
©Ⓟ 2025 by Amy Castro.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:02):
Welcome to the Starlight Pet Talk podcast,
where we'll talk about andexplore ways to help pet parents
and future pet parents learneverything they need to know to
have a happy and healthyrelationship with their pet.
So sit up and stay forStarlight Pet Talk rescue,
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Amy Castro (00:25):
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(00:47):
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your merchandise today.
Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk.
I'm your host, amy Castro, andI was thinking this morning
about how many of us perceiveour pets as being there for us
as opposed to us being there forthem, and what I mean is we get
(01:09):
a dog because we want acompanion, or we get a cat
because we want something that'slow maintenance.
But we want a pet, and that'sgreat.
I think that animals definitelyfulfill a lot of needs for
human beings, both physical andmental.
But what about their needs?
I think that too many times, wethink about only their very,
very basic physical needs forfood, water, shelter and maybe
(01:31):
some veterinary care, and we doa pretty good job of taking care
of those things.
But what about their mentalneed for stimulation, their
instinctive need as a speciesfor certain activities.
That's what we're going to talkabout today with our guest
expert.
Catherine Keckle, or Cat the DogTrainer, is a certified dog
trainer who works not only fulltime with her local county
(01:54):
animal shelter, which puts herin a special place in my heart,
but she's also a professionaldog trainer and a Kong
ambassador.
And Kong is one of my favoritetoy companies and I think it
might be for her, especially forthose of you who are looking at
the video and see all her Kongstuff in the background there.
And what's nice about Cat isthat she has had the opportunity
to work not only with a varietyof animals, but with pet owners
(02:18):
through every step of theprocess, from the time that they
meet a pet to going through theadoption process and then
working with their familiesafter the fact in training
situations.
So, cat, thank you so much fortaking the time to be here with
me today.
Absolutely Thanks for having meAwesome.
So can you give us just alittle bit of an overview about
(02:38):
what you do at, you know,between the shelter, the Kong
ambassador role and then yourown training business?
Kat Kekel (02:45):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My full time job is I work inmy local animal shelter and I
get to do all sorts of thingsthere.
I've helped from the momentthey enter the facility to the
moment they get adopted and allthe fun spots in between.
That gives me a unique aspectof their life, right?
So sometimes we get them in asa stray and I don't know any
information about this dog.
I just have to go on what it'sgiving me as far as its behavior
(03:07):
and stuff that is giving me atthe shelter, and then sometimes
I do get the benefit of theowner telling me it's got
problem behaviors or what haveyou.
So that's nice.
I get to get to have all ofthat, and then I get to see them
get adopted.
Matching people with theirforever family member is a
pleasure and an honor that I getto have every day, and then I
(03:28):
get to work with them as my sidebusiness.
I do do training off the side,but that's just to help them
from coming to the shelter.
A lot of people don't getquality training at a reasonable
price, and so that's what I tryto do is give people who are in
lower income areas who are ableto really work with their
animal instead of having to turnthem into the shelter.
And then I get to be a Kongambassador, which means I get to
(03:48):
work with Kong and share in theknowledge that they've given me
.
As far as the product and howit works and what it's used for
and it's origin story andeverything, it's great.
I use it every day in my house.
I use it every day at theshelter.
It's wonderful.
Amy Castro (04:03):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Kong.
We've got a lot of Kong toyshere, not only, and I think
sometimes when people thinkabout Kong they think about just
the.
You know the traditional Kong.
You know the red rubber bouncyKong that you fill with peanut
butter.
But they have so many more toys, and especially for cats.
A lot of people don't realizethey have all kinds of cat toys
(04:23):
too.
So definitely check thosethings out.
So you know, you mentionedworking with people from a
training perspective in thehopes to help them avoid
returning a pet or giving up apet.
But why is play so important tothat process as well?
You know why is play soimportant to our pets?
Kat Kekel (04:42):
So play as it relates to dogs, right, it's something
we don't really think about alot because we don't give our
animals a lot of choice, wedon't give them that autonomy.
You know, every day we decidefor them what they're going to
eat, where they're going tosleep, what they're.
They are and aren't allowed todo what we deem as a appropriate
behavior, that, as a dog, theydon't see any problem pooping in
(05:04):
the house or sitting on top ofyour counters because they're a
dog.
Those, for us, are problembehaviors.
So play is really importantbecause not only does it help us
with those problem behaviors,but it also helps them be
mentally stable, relieve stressand just really give them a more
(05:25):
mental, stimulated environment,right?
So different types of thingsthat we could do for them to
make them a more well-rounded,healthy, physically and
emotional dog.
Right, that's something wedon't really think about because
for dogs, when they're a yearof age, they have the mental
capacity of a three-year-oldchild, so they can think, feel
and make decisions.
As such, and that's somethingpeople don't really know.
(05:47):
And the fact that dogsoriginally, as they became,
evolved, if you will, theylearned a lot of things from us.
They are no longer that wolfthat we talk about a lot, they
still continue to play, even totheir adulthood.
So, like a cheetah in theircubs, they play in order to
learn to hunt and then they nolonger play as adults.
(06:07):
Dogs continue to play.
So those life stages that wetalk about from puppyhood we
think, oh, they're just doneafter they're a year of age.
Not necessarily.
They continue to play and chewand do those types of behaviors
just like humans do, if thatmakes any sense.
Amy Castro (06:22):
No, it does, and I think we think a lot about that,
like you said, through thatpuppy phase.
And same thing with kittens youknow we play with them, you're
playing with the string, you'replaying with the feather toy,
whatever it is.
And the same thing with thedogs.
You know you're throwing theball, you're using the tug rope,
whatever it might be.
But then once they get intoadulthood, it's almost like with
the potty training or with the.
(06:43):
Now that you're an adult, westop playing.
We might provide a certainlevel of exercise for our dogs,
like taking them for a walk, butthere's a lot of people that
just consider letting the dogout in the backyard to potty and
they run around as being enoughstimulation, and it's
definitely not.
And so what happens whenthey're not getting that?
Whether it's the mentalenrichment or just the burning
(07:07):
off steam with play, whathappens to that animal over time
?
Kat Kekel (07:12):
So you get a dog who can be doing those problem
behaviors we talked about, right, so they can start doing the
digging and the chewing and thejumping up and from puppy biting
to now they're an adult dog andit's real biting.
They don't learn how to haveappropriate behavior as well as
they don't continue to developcognitively, and that's
something that is reallyimportant for them is that
(07:33):
mental stimulation, stress isalso a really big factor.
So if you think about it, ifyou were only given one book a
day to read or one televisionshow to watch, you wouldn't
really be relieving your stress.
You would know exactly the sameroute over and over and over
again, just like your backyard.
Right, you put the dog out inthe backyard, like you said, and
they know the same smell, theyknow that squirrel was there,
(07:55):
they know that.
You know I've already peed onthis thing and they don't get
anything new.
So when we talk about exerciseand play and enrichment, it has
to be varied and it has to belots of different things.
So even as simple as the type oftexture of toy, not all toys
are the same and they all havedifferent purposes, and that's
(08:15):
something that people don'tthink about a lot they think, oh
, I gave my dog a tennis ball orI gave my dog a rope toy and
that's great.
Those are options.
I have a dog who loves thetennis ball.
However, that's not all sheneeds, right?
She needs other things toscavenger hunt or do the stuffed
Kong, which can be all sorts ofdifferent things that you put
(08:36):
in it.
It doesn't have to just bepeanut butter, it can be
anything dog safe.
My dog particularly likes sweetpotatoes, so she gets sweet
potatoes and applesauce andsometimes a little bit of canned
dog food on top to really gether into it.
And then she gets that and I'llhide it somewhere in the yard.
So that makes the backyard thatwas normally something that
she's like oh, I've been outhere a million times new and
(08:58):
exciting.
It really branches them out andgets them to do other things.
So thinking about it that way,it's not just developmentally
wise, it's also stress relievingtoo.
Amy Castro (09:09):
Yeah, that's such a good point, is that?
Yeah, I remember back in theday when I was, when I was thin
and I used to run.
Yeah, I used to run a lot whenI was going to school in
Washington DC, because every day, even if, even if I took the
same route, there was going tobe different people there, there
was different activities goingon.
You know, it's a big, it's abig city, so it's exciting.
Move to the suburbs and youknow, a friend says why don't we
(09:31):
go walking every day?
I don't want to walk around theblock every day.
It's boring, it's the samehouses, the same landscaping,
we're having the sameconversation.
We've run out of things to talkabout.
But if I had an exciting placeto do that, you know, and I
think that kind of goes back towhat I was saying in the
beginning is that we realizethat for ourselves, for
ourselves and for our humanchildren, but yet we're going to
(09:52):
our dog's, going to spend itsentire life outdoors, just going
in our own backyard, and thenyou wonder why they?
You know and we'll talk moreabout some of the other
behaviors in just a minute butmakes me think about the fact
because I've kind of been guiltyof this with my dogs is that
when you do put them in the carto take them someplace else,
they act like the fool.
And it's not because they'rebad, or even because they're not
(10:12):
trained, it's because they'reso darn excited to be doing
something different.
Exactly.
Kat Kekel (10:17):
Yeah, as simple as putting them in the car is
complete.
Whoa, you know, you get the dogthat's jumping all over the
place and scratching people toget on top of them because
they're like, oh my gosh, Ihaven't seen a new person in you
know three weeks.
We don't think about that.
You know how often especiallyafter everything you know as
health wise and whatnot howoften people really come over to
our houses.
(10:37):
You know I'm a homebody.
Nobody really ever comes over.
So when my dogs do go with mesomewhere, they go oh my gosh, I
haven't seen a human in likethree years.
What are we doing here?
And that's exciting for them.
So that's something to thinkabout too.
Just giving them newexperiences, new things.
And it doesn't have to be, youknow, you don't have to go out
(10:57):
and buy you know 70 differentdog toys, right, it just needs
to be something as simple asokay, here's two or three new
dog toys and we'll rotate themthrough your week.
You know, here's your thisweek's, and then we pick them up
and then here's the next week'sand making it a very throughout
, or something as simple as dogwater bowls.
A lot of people don't thinkabout.
(11:18):
What do we give our dogs todrink out of.
So I personally have more thanthe average pet owner, because I
have a dog who guards waterbowls.
He is a resource gardener, sowe have to manage our
environment a little bit.
So we have about 15 differenttypes of water bowls.
Basically.
I have one dog who likes thefountain because he is a shizu
and he is a prince, and then Ihave a cattle dog who purses.
(11:41):
She likes her metal water bowl.
And I have an Australianshepherd puppy who is in her
wackadoo face and she likes tobe inside the water bowl.
So it needs to be big enoughfor her to put her front paws in
.
And that's just how it is rightnow and that gives them
different variety, right,because some of them are not
going to want to drink out ofthe one that the puppy had her
(12:02):
paws in.
Amy Castro (12:03):
You know, we just don't think about those things,
right?
Yeah, I kind of discovered thatwith my cats too, because, like
I said, we're talking a lotabout dogs but cats need that
same level of variety as well.
And I had always kind of takenthis approach and I keep my.
I do clean my water bowl quitefrequently, but when we I just
had one big water bowl foreverybody, thinking that
(12:24):
everybody passes by the kitchenand there's plenty of water in
it and it gets changed outfrequently.
But I kind of noticed that whenI got my bulldog Gwenevere, she
tended to slobber up the waterbowl more than previous dogs
that we'd had and the cats justkind of seemed like they maybe
didn't like it quite as much.
And so I went ahead and got oneof those cat fountains and I
(12:44):
actually put it well, at first Ihad it out in the main area and
then everybody was using thefountain, so that wasn't working
too well because it was makinga huge mess.
So I moved the cat fountain tomy master bathroom and they love
that thing and they areconstantly like they tell.
In the morning when I, when Iwake up, I can hear the cats
outside the door and the firstthing when I open the door, they
run in and go straight to thatfountain.
(13:06):
And it's not that they don'thave access to water other types
of water they just really likethe fountain.
Apparently, cats like movingwater.
I didn't know that before.
Kat Kekel (13:15):
Yeah, people don't think about favorites.
You know my dogs have theirfavorite for bones or toys or
spots to lay.
I, my cattle dog, will.
I have a lot of toys, probablymore than the average pet parent
, just with my career and shewill go in and she will go in
her toy bins and she will findthe specific toy that she wants,
because my dogs have suchvariety.
(13:38):
There are certain textures thatshe likes that are more unusual
, that people don't really thinkof, right?
So bamboo she loves a bambootoo.
Kong actually does make one orone that is made out of wood.
It's wood put back together,sawdust kind of like.
You know, real wood put backtogether in them.
Oh, I have one of those,digestible and safe for them to
(13:59):
eat.
So instead of them chewing yourdrywall right, they're chewing
the wood.
That gives them the sametexture and the same flavor as
as what they would be chewing.
That's not what we don't want,but that's her one of her
favorites because it's got alittle bit more give to it.
So she'll go in there.
She'll find it in that big toybin she digs to the bottom.
Amy Castro (14:19):
Yes, it's funny.
Two things.
Number one it's interesting howdogs have different needs and
what they do with their toys.
So I had a dog named Bonnie onetime and we had her for nine
years before we lost her and shehad a stuffed.
It was like a white woollylooking.
It was almost shaped like agingerbread man had no face, no,
(14:39):
nothing.
It was just this woolly personshaped baby and she called her
baby and she carried that thingaround for nine years and would
take it wherever she was layingdown, but never, never, chewed
on it, never put a hole in it,nothing.
And then we get jack, ourdoberman.
You couldn't give him anythingstuffed, for in two seconds he
(14:59):
would have eviscerated, thesqueaker, would be gone, he
would have eaten the stuffingand you know, many times got
himself in some digestive issues.
So we had to kind of stopgiving him those kind of toys
because of what he was doing.
But it's interesting how thesame Type of toy, one dog treats
it one way and one dog treatsanother, and again, the light
bulb still never went off.
(15:20):
It's also funny you saidsomething about chewing drywall,
because that literally happened.
I was sitting in my living roomthe other day and my daughter's
puppy, gigi, who I think Gigineeds to keep moving on she's.
She came in as a rescue andsomehow she's not managed to go
on the adoption market yet.
And Gigi I had a scraping soundand Gigi is standing over in my
(15:42):
dining room literally chewingon the wall, like trying to
scrape on the wall, and I'mthinking, okay, why is this dog
doing this?
And then I started thinkingabout our pre recording
conversation when we wereplanning for this episode.
And you know, gigi has thisarea that she's normally stays
in and it's the same toys havebeen sitting there since the
(16:04):
time we've got her.
So for the last let's say,three months she's had the same
it's a lot of toys, there'sprobably seven or eight toys but
it's the same toys that havebeen laying on the floor in that
area for the entire time andobviously she's Needed something
else to do absolutely.
Kat Kekel (16:21):
And types of toys matter, right?
So I mean, you were saying thestuff he was good for one but
wasn't good for the other and itdepends on what we're doing
with them, right?
So we've got the harder, moretextured toys, like the bamboo
one or the wood composite, andthen you've got the rubber right
, like the classic Kong rubber.
Well, those come in differenttypes for different life stages
(16:44):
of your dog, right?
So you've got the classic Kong,which is the one that most dogs
are on.
You've got the puppy, whenthey're little puppies and they
got their needle teeth.
And then you've got the black,which is the hardest one for
dogs who do through the drywall,and you need something that
they are going to be able to notget through.
And then you have the seniorright, when your dog is older in
their teeth and gums and jawstrength are no longer there,
(17:07):
you've got something that'sgoing to be Good for them to
still continue to play in thosesenior golden years, if you will
.
And, thinking about it that way, you know what's going to be
for that type of player.
What is that dog like to do?
So?
My dog is a cattle dog.
She is a Cattle dog through andthrough and she loves to do
lure, coursing and chasing andthat's something that she just
is really good on.
So we get those types of toys atoy that I can play with her
(17:30):
like a giant cat it's got areally fun fluffy animal on the
end and I can wave it like awand and she can play in that
manner.
Or Her favorite one is a.
It looks like a bear and it'scalled the cong knots toys and
it's got rope inside of a fluffytoy.
So there's not a lot ofstuffing to it, it's mostly that
(17:51):
rope and then the plush.
On the outside it feels likebones when they're crushing on
bones and so that's somethingthat she loves to take and shake
and pull doesn't destroy it,but she enjoys that feeling in
her mouth.
So the toys have differentmeaning for different types of
dogs.
You know there's a predatorysequence in all dogs.
It depends on your dog wherethat predatory sequence stops.
(18:14):
So that goes from alerts topoint like the pointers, go and
grab like the lab.
You know the labs with the duck, my dog, which is the run,
chase and bite the heel of thecattle, and then the ones that
are go all the way, which is the, kill the plush toy and get the
phone out and then consume, eatthe plush toy.
So you have to think of wheredoes my dog's predatory sequence
(18:36):
?
And then what toys would maybebe better for them versus others
?
Amy Castro (18:40):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I think you know whether it'sknowing the breed if you've got,
you know purebred dogs and youknow what they've been basically
bred to do and then meetingthat need for them.
But for those of us who have my, you know, might have mixed
breed dogs, it's.
It's basically experimentation,wouldn't you say?
And I think we don't do enoughof that.
We go, and I know I've beenguilty of this.
(19:02):
We used to have this dog thatused to just wander down the
street from us.
His name's fish.
He's a black lab, and that doglove to play.
It didn't matter if you, if you, threw a toothpick, he would
chase it.
I mean, he just didn't carewhat it was, he just wanted to
go and get it and bring it backto you, and so it was kind of
fun, because none of my dogslike to play ball.
Well, I've got a chihuahua no,she's not going to chase a
(19:23):
tennis ball and bring it back tome and I've got a two third, a
two thirds of no, two thirdsEnglish bulldog, one third
American bulldog.
So she's a lot like an Englishbulldog that she's not much of a
runner and you probably don'twant her running too much
because we've already replacedone ACL.
We don't want to replaceanother one.
So if I threw a ball she mightrun halfway to it and then she's
(19:43):
going to abandon it and then wesay, okay, well, our dogs don't
want to play.
Well, no, you just haven'tfound the right play or the
right activity for that, forthat animal.
So, you know, tried different,and I think that's great.
You brought up a variety ofthings.
You know the prey drive thatthey have, and so giving them
something to chase or hunt down,or whether it's just something
(20:04):
to love on, or whether it's theretrieving that they like to do,
you've got to try differentactivities.
The same goes for cats,wouldn't you say, oh, absolutely
.
Kat Kekel (20:13):
I mean with cats, especially you've got.
Are they bush dwellers?
Do they like to be hello to theground and hunting down there?
Or they treat well as do theylike to be up high and catching
the butterfly or the bird thatgoes by.
I have my own cat version ofthat.
They watch the squirrels.
I have a squirrel feeder andthey sit there and they watch
and that's that's theirenrichment, right?
(20:34):
But one of my cats is more intothat than the other one.
The other one likes to go playwith the feather toy in the
house.
That's her jam.
So it really just depends onyour type of cat, right?
Or your type of dog.
I have a senior dog as well, theone who has resource guarding,
and he is a mutt.
I don't know what he is, buthe's an 80 pound mutt and he is
a kill consume.
He wants to destroy and takeout.
(20:56):
But it depends on the toy andit depends on the stress level
he is at.
He's a very anxious, stressfuldog and when he is in a more
stressful time he will destroymore of the toys because he
needs to get that out of thesystem when he is not as
stressed and he's had a betterday or he's more relaxed again.
He is a senior, so he's gotsome senior decline in cognitive
(21:18):
ability and stuff and you knowsundown or syndrome I'm not sure
if you're familiar with, wherethey just kind of get a little
wonky at night time sometimesand they just don't know where
they are.
So he can be a little bit moreanxious.
In those times he will destroythings more, versus other times
where he'll just hold it like ababy and walk around with it in
his mouth.
A lot of people want to takethings away when they start to
do those behaviors, because oh,you're destroying the thing that
(21:39):
I spent money on and theyshould not do that.
Right, we have this idea in ourhead that that's, they're only
there to play with it and thennot not destroy it.
And dogs are dogs.
We buy these toys so that theycan play with them and it's
their decision, their autonomyon what they do with it.
If they decide they want todestroy it, that's great.
It's a more of a monitor toy.
(22:00):
Then you have to supervise themand if they start getting
pieces off for their safety,take it away.
Obviously you don't want themto consume anything, but you've
got to let them be able to makethat decision.
You know, that's something thata lot of people don't do.
Amy Castro (22:14):
Yeah, kind of like when I was a kid I used to cut
all the hair off my dolls.
I used to drive my mother crazy, but it's like, hey, that's
what I found enjoyable to dowith them.
I didn't want to dress them upand play house, I wanted to cut
their hair.
That's a whole other subject,but anyway.
But that is that is a goodpoint, and I'm glad you made the
safety point too, becausethat's you know.
Back to my dog, jack theDoberman.
I mean he was definitely aneviscerator.
(22:36):
He just was going after thatsqueaker and you could get the
alleged indestructible toy andhe'd have a hole in it in 10
minutes and that was fine.
And so you realize you're goingto make an investment in those
kind of things.
But I think it is important notto let them ingest too many of
the non-ingestible toy parts,because that can get you into
some serious trouble at the vetand a big vet bill.
(22:56):
So in working at the shelter,when you see like maybe some of
the common reasons that peoplemight show up to surrender a pet
, can you give an example ofsome of those and how maybe some
better play might have avoidedthat?
Kat Kekel (23:10):
Oh yeah, so I better toys Right, we get in.
You know obviously lots ofdifferent, different ones, but
our most common, I would say, isnot enough time, which usually
means it's translated to I don'thave enough time for training,
play with my dog, payingattention to them.
They feel like they may be aninadequate home for that animal,
and that's their thoughts andfeelings on it, obviously, if
(23:31):
that's what they feel.
And then moving is another bigone, especially with what's
going on in the economy andeverything people are starting
to move and whatnot, they maynot have a place for that animal
and then just the pet'sbehavior in general.
So they may have behaviorproblems where the dog is more
aggressive towards other dogs orthey're having anxiety,
(23:52):
separation anxiety, and theycan't deal with that because
they work 18 hour shifts and,you know, overnight shifts and
things like that.
That's just not conducive tothat type of dog behavior.
Gnipping and biting is a bigone as well, where they are now
adolescent dogs.
They're now in the life stageof they're no longer a cute
puppy, they're now a bigger,adolescent and they're still
biting, they're still causingmore damage now that they're no
(24:15):
longer a tiny puppy.
What I like to say is could wefix a lot of these problems with
pre-behavioral work and toysbeforehand?
Absolutely A lot of thoseissues could be taken care of.
A big one a lot of people don'trealize is dog aggression right.
You can work with dogaggression if your dog say most
(24:35):
dogs with dog aggression not alldogs, obviously, but most dogs
have some sort of fear aspect toit where they're afraid of the
other dogs which causes thatfrustration and that get away
from me before you get me typebehavior.
If we can build our dogsconfidence up right, because
that's a lot of times what it isis it's a low self-esteem, low
confidence dog.
If we can build theirconfidence up with puzzle games
(24:57):
and a stuffed Kong where theyhave to, or a goodie bone I
don't know if you've seen thegoodie bones where they've got
little things on the end theyhave to figure out how to hold
it and work their face and tryto get their food out those are
all building confidence toys andif we can do that we can help
build their confidence sothey're not as afraid when
they're going out for walks andthey see another dog.
(25:18):
They're not going to actaggressive.
It's not a cure-all but it canhelp some of those more
borderline dogs who are startingto show some issues.
Maybe they're not as extreme.
And you know, freaking out onthe end of the leash, that would
be an easy fix.
Do you know what I mean?
And a lot of people don'trealize that if they have those
things to do, it could even curesomething like that.
Amy Castro (25:39):
That and I think proper socialization and I think
we could do a whole episode onsocializing our dogs especially.
But one of the things that Isee is the people that you know
they get the puppy and thepuppy's at home, and especially
in these last couple of yearswith COVID and people being
isolated.
But even, just like you said,we're more sedentary, we're
(26:01):
homebodies, we like being homeand so we don't necessarily get
our puppies out and aboutamongst other people and other
dogs and so that can causeissues later on.
What are your thoughts?
As far as you know, thingspeople can do, appropriate
things people can do tosocialize, assuming the puppy is
(26:22):
fully vaccinated.
Obviously we want to be safemedically, but socializing with
other dogs.
Kat Kekel (26:28):
Oh yeah, so something you don't really think about
too.
You don't have to make it a bigyou know or deal.
A lot of people think, oh well,we, you know, I need to
schedule it and we're gonna goout, we're gonna go to the dog
park, we're gonna do the x, yand z and it does not have to be
that intense.
It could be I'm gonna turn onYouTube to the dog TV channel
(26:48):
and it's gonna be dogs playingin a dog park.
I didn't even leave my houseand my dog can be getting the
sounds and and environmentalstimulus of if they were in a
dog park.
You can start simple, like that.
You could also take your puppyin your car, drive to the dog
park and stay in your car, butroll the window down so your dog
can go.
(27:09):
If it's, you know, still inthat borderline time of fully
vaccinated, right, we can stillbe sitting in our car and
looking out the window andseeing the other dogs, right,
those are all appropriate andsafe things to do when they're
really, really young.
To start making it not such anovel thing because, like we
were talking about earlier, whenthen it's it's all said novel
(27:30):
and we've not seen it, we becomethe crazy wackadoo and that's
something that we can reallywork on.
Super, super early is littleplaces like that, or if you have
you know five minutes, you'relike you know what?
I'm gonna go get a coffee fromStarbucks and I'm just gonna
make a quick run, put them inthe car, drive through.
They don't have to get anythingwhen you're there, obviously,
but you know, putting them inthe car, making that habit, then
(27:53):
your dog's gonna go.
Oh, we get in the car all thetime.
We just go places with mom andwe sit and people talk to me in
the window.
It doesn't have to be an ordeal.
They may not actuallyphysically touch that person
handing you your coffee when yougo through the drive-through,
but they saw it.
It wasn't a negative or apositive experience.
It was a neutral experience andit becomes more common.
(28:13):
The more we can put in thatbank, the better versus well,
that one time I saw that thatperson, I got really, really
scared because I went to the vetand I got a shot, or there was
a big, loud bang when we went totractor supply or something.
That all can add up in thenegative too, if it's so few
that we're doing thoseexperiences that's a good point,
(28:34):
it, but it doesn't have to besome big plan thing.
Amy Castro (28:37):
It could just be, you know, if you know you're
running to Home Depot.
I think there's a balance inthere too.
It's like if your dog isn'twell behaved, or if it's not
potty trained yet, then you know, does everybody need to be
dealing with that at Home Depot?
Probably probably not, but thatcould be part of the part of
the progression, can be anopportunity as your dog gets
older and is in, you know,better control all around.
Kat Kekel (28:59):
Absolutely.
It just depends, yeah, on thedog and, obviously, taking
safety precautions into play,just like we were talking about
earlier with the toys, takingsafety precautions into play.
And what I like to tell peoplewhen it comes to playing with
toys, when it comes to takingyour dog and socializing them,
is you want to treat everyexperience as if you're going in
the car.
Right, if you go in the car,there's a high probability of
(29:19):
you getting in a car accident,but we take safety precautions,
right, we put our seatbelt on,we look both ways, we use a turn
signal.
So that's the same goes forwhen I'm playing with this toy.
I'm going to monitor my dog,I'm going to watch my dog.
Some people are very afraid of,like hard toys with the, you
know, antlers, or even the woodcomposite shoes, things like
that.
They become fearful that theymay break a tooth, and that is
(29:42):
completely plausible.
It absolutely could happen,right?
But they are designed for dogsto chew, so there is that
component in it, right?
Because if it was anindestructible toy, a dog
wouldn't play with it.
So it is designed for the dogto play with it, but that
doesn't mean we don't takesafety precautions.
So something that happens withKongs and you'll see a lot of
times as they scissor bite orthey pick at the top part, where
(30:05):
they pick pieces of rubber off.
Okay, if that's how they chewthat Kong, then we need to take
that away.
Maybe we need to try the adifferent color, maybe we need
to try a bigger size.
Or they only get it for whenwe're using it for this time and
we take it away and they don'tget it unless we're using it for
enrichment or a play, if thatmakes any sense.
So it's all these experiences.
We put a safety belt on, wedon't just give it to them, or
(30:29):
we don't just take them andthrow them in the dog park
without all their shots.
Amy Castro (30:33):
Well, and that I was actually going to ask you about
dog parks.
I am kind of opposed to dogparks for a couple of reasons.
Number one I don't know thateverybody else there has fully
vaccinated their pets, whetherthey're wormed, etc.
Etc.
And I also based on the factthat I feel like people don't
spend a lot of time exposingtheir dogs to other dogs.
(30:54):
That can turn into a dangeroussituation.
But what about, from yourexperience, what are your
thoughts on taking?
Because there's lots of themand they're just building more
and more, and there's a lot ofpeople that they do it multiple
times a week and it's not onlytheir dog's social thing, it's
their social thing too.
Kat Kekel (31:10):
So I used to be a dog park goer myself with my cattle
dog and she, when she was puppy, she was fully vaccinated.
In my opinion, you can only dowith what you feel comfortable
with, with what you arecomfortable with as far as dog
behavior as well, right?
So are you up to date on whatdoes this dog body language mean
(31:31):
versus that dog body language?
What are my emergency plan ifthere is an altercation, things
like that.
So proper dog play.
So we at the shelter do youplay groups with our dogs.
It's a good social interactionfor them as a stress relieving
activity.
We only do two at a time, soit's two dogs.
We find their match, their playmatch and we play for usually
(31:54):
anywhere from 10 to 15 minutesdepending on the set of dogs and
their interaction, and we maybuild up time in that, but
starting really small.
So it's not a long drawn outprocess and you want it to be.
That's a proper play.
That's a good two dogs.
You can monitor really wellwhen it becomes 15 dogs.
(32:16):
Most places there's a notenough people to proper.
Some people take five dogs tothe dog park.
You know all five of my dogsare going in.
There's one person who's goingto be part?
The person right who's?
If there's a dog fight, whatare you going to do?
There's only one of you.
That's not safe.
You see that happen a lot oftimes and a lot of people don't
know what to do.
If there's an emergency right,there's an emergency are you
(32:38):
going to stick your hand rightin?
Well, most people do.
They stick their hand right into try to grab the collar and
pull up.
So you have to be prepared ifyou're going to go.
No proper safety protocols.
Make sure your dogs are up todate on everything, because it's
easy to go and re-dewarm yourdog if you start to see
something in their stool.
But most dogs are on a properdewormer anyways, with a flea
(33:01):
and tick preventative.
They have it in them already along time, so like so you don't
really have to worry about that.
And as long as your dog is onall of its shots and everything
and you and your vet have talkedabout having those
conversations, you know do youthink it would be safe for my
dog to go to the dog park?
Then it's up to you.
At that point, are youcomfortable with it?
So I stopped going when Istopped feeling comfortable at
(33:24):
that particular dog park.
I had a apartment complex thathad a dog park.
It wasn't well maintained, butwhen I was there and I had a
group of people who knew whatthey were doing with their dogs,
we scheduled times.
We called it our dog park group.
We would go at a certain timeand my dog had her dog park
friends.
They all played.
(33:44):
They had a great time.
Sometimes we would get a newdog into the mix and we would
all watch and be on guard andsee we all had our leashes in
our hands and that happenedorganically.
So it completely is possible tohappen.
You can get those really goodtimes.
You just have to find it.
You know, I don't think they'reinnately all bad.
It's just kind of where you siton the situation.
(34:06):
You know how.
What's your comfortabilitylevel?
Are you going to go in flipflops and not know how to take
your dog out of a situationthat's unsafe in?
Are you going to go with tennisshoes and a leash and a safety
air horn in case something doeshappen?
An air- horn.
Exactly.
An air horn I also a greatsuggestion is a pop-up umbrella,
(34:27):
so if there is an issue, youcan quickly pop it up and use it
as a shield, if you need to inthose types of situations,
something to break up the fightin a safe manner without
injuring any of the dogs.
Amy Castro (34:37):
And I think that's a good point you made is that you
can create those opportunitiesto have a play group.
I mean, people do it with theirhuman children all the time.
So you know, you find, and weeven do that at the house.
I find, because here I live onthis rescue ranch right and
we're in the process of buildinga dog shelter building, but
until then a lot of the dogs arein my house and so I have them
(35:00):
housed separately in theirlittle areas when I'm not
monitoring them, like right now.
But we do let them out incertain pairs because it's like,
okay, well, these two areresident dogs, you know, they're
going to go out and just dotheir business.
These two are going to want toreally get out there and play,
and so we'll let them outtogether and they're about the
same size and have about thesame energy level and we, you
(35:21):
know, we do kind of match themup in that way so that their
needs are met.
And I think that would besomething that would be so easy
to do, whether it's reaching outto your friends and just
creating those opportunities toget together with your dogs, or
even, you know, puttingsomething up on your
neighborhood Facebook page ifyou've got one, or on next door
and you know, see if there arelike-minded people that want to
(35:42):
go and, you know, take the dogsout together.
It's, I bet you.
There's probably a lot morepeople like that than we.
Then we realize.
Kat Kekel (35:50):
Oh yeah, and having those safety precautions in
place, right?
So bring your toolkit, bringyour stuff that you know where,
the proper if you want to callit PPE, like you wouldn't work
before you go and creating lessplaces of opportunity for the
dogs to get into trouble, right?
Don't bring food, Don't bringtoys.
Have multiple places of accessto water, because water at that
(36:13):
point is now a resource and youcan't have a resource garter in
that situation.
So it doesn't need to be onewater bowl, it needs to be five
water bowls so that we don'thave an issue.
You know, just putting thosethings into place and you're
more likely to have a positiveoutcome in those situations.
Amy Castro (36:27):
Yeah, definitely, and you made a good point too I
want to make sure people didn'tmiss it too about talking to
your vet.
I think it's important to letour vets know what kind of
lifestyle that we're living withour pets, not only from an
activity level but from thevaccination standpoint Like I
know for my pets because we dobring in strays, fosters, things
like that that are not fullyvaccinated my pets probably have
(36:50):
more vaccines on board thanyour average pet who doesn't
really go anywhere.
If your pet is going out andabout and going to a dog park
then, yeah, they might have moreof a need for routine worming
that maybe a dog that only goesout in its own backyard needs.
So talk to your vet and letyour vet know what you're doing
with your dog, where do you go,what do you do, who do you
(37:10):
interact with, so that you canhave an appropriate preventative
medicine plan for your pet.
So we talked a bit aboutpuppies and I think people are
pretty darn good about havingplenty of different toys and
playing with their puppies.
I thought it was veryinteresting when you said this
the other day in ourconversation and you brought it
(37:31):
up just briefly before about theneeds for play or toys for
senior pets, because I don't seelike I've got a senior
Chihuahua.
Her name's Tinkerbell.
She doesn't have any toys, atleast not tiny enough for her.
So why would they still needthat?
At a senior age, they like tojust kind of lay around and
sleep.
Kat Kekel (37:51):
So I mean that's a lot of people think right,
they're in their golden years,they're just going to hang out
and chill and they're not goingto do a whole bunch.
But you would be surprised onthe behavior difference you can
have if you start re-engagingyour senior dog.
So something as simple asgetting one of like, for
instance, we still have ourpuppy toys.
(38:13):
A lot of dogs are 10 years oldand they still have puppy toys
which are the harder plastics,the indestructible rated stuff,
right, which no toys,indestructible, but you know
what I mean.
Like the tougher toys.
And our dogs have now aged at apoint where their jaw muscles
not the same they may bestarting to take joint
supplements.
(38:33):
Maybe they've lost some teeth.
A lot of little dogs no longerhave teeth in their little faces
anymore.
They've had too many that aregone.
So now getting something like asenior Kong, which is a softer
rubber, or the senior toys thatare softer, plush, right,
something, maybe, like you weretalking about that Doberman, you
(38:55):
had destroyed toys.
Well, maybe at 10, 12 years oldnow they're no longer in the
destroying toys phase let'soffer them that type of toy
again and see what they do withit.
Amy Castro (39:06):
Yeah, and I never did that, which was dumb.
I never did that.
Kat Kekel (39:11):
Well, I'm giving them that opportunity again.
Do you?
Are you going to destroy it nowthat you're 15 years old?
Maybe now you just want to layyour head on it and maybe chew
on it, maybe play a little bitof tug, something like dogs.
When they're young and theirtheir neck muscles are all
strong, years and years ofplaying something like a game,
like tug of war, really takes itout on them.
They can no longer do that typeof behavior running to play
(39:34):
fetch, like you were talkingabout earlier.
That takes a toy on their jointmuscles and their ligaments.
So now you need to finddifferent types of play that may
be more sedentary.
One of the best ones is havingsomething that they can just sit
in a puzzle toy, the foodreleasing, like the Kong toy
that they can sit and still chewon if they want.
(39:54):
Get the food out, because a lotof times that's helps with the
initiative to start the playright.
Some dogs they're no longer inthat play mode anymore.
They no longer have that.
They don't think that that'sengaging anymore because we
haven't played with them anymore.
So maybe we need something likefood to help bring them back to
that again, like oh, here'ssomething in this.
(40:15):
Let me start chewing, nibbling,playing, rolling.
I had a dog who was I want tosay he was 17 years old.
He had not one tooth in hishead and I gave him a senior
Kong.
He was a Maltese, he was onlythree pounds.
That dog went from laying inhis dog bed literally 24 hours a
day to getting up and lookingat me waiting for his stuffed
(40:38):
Kong going hey, I'm ready.
Because he still had a tongue,he was still wanting to lick and
try to gum at that toy and playand he got more animated.
His cognitive ability startedcoming back.
He went from kind of stumblingaround when he would get up
because he was sedentary for solong to being able to walk a
little bit more and being ableto make better judgments with
(41:02):
his steps because he wasthinking again.
He was using his brain.
People don't realize they stillneed, even if we can't do
things physically with them, westill need to do things
cognitively with them.
They aren't potatoes.
Five minutes of mentalstimulation right, five minutes
of mental stimulation is equalto a two mile walk.
It makes them tired and that'ssomething that we can do with
(41:25):
them, even in that old state,even though they're old.
We can't take them for that twomile walk anymore, but maybe we
can do five minutes of chewingon a senior Kong.
You know what I mean.
Amy Castro (41:35):
That's such an excellent.
I feel guilty about all the old, because I've had obviously a
lot of dogs and even older cats.
It's funny I did notice, and Ithink I mentioned this to you
before, is that when we've hadkittens come through, then
suddenly we bust out the feathertoys and whatever, and
everybody comes out of thewoodwork, even the 13 year old
cat's out there.
Now she's not running andflipping and leaping into the
(41:59):
air like the crazy kittens, butwhen it comes her way she's
given it a bat, you know, andshe's given it a swat or trying
to grab it with her teeth.
And I think that's such anexcellent point.
We love our animals so much andwe want them to stay with us
forever.
Right, we know that they're notgoing to.
But yet once they hit a certainage where they're not as
(42:21):
physically active, like you said, we just kind of let them
become a potato.
And you could probably, I'mquite sure, increase the not
only the quality of your pet'slife but the quantity, the
length of their life, by keepingthem physically moving, like
you said, and mentallystimulated, wouldn't you say?
Kat Kekel (42:40):
Oh yeah, and on your cats, right, and they're in that
senior time, their joints, fromjumping up and down, are no
longer the same.
We can't play the feather toyand have them jump up or chase
down the hallway with the ball.
So maybe giving them somethinglike the cat kong, which is
something that is there, theycan actually sit and just roll
(43:01):
it around or hold it and chewand lick out something like
churu or canned baby food,that's still hunting for them,
they're still hunting that preyand that's going to be a
cognitive ability for them to bemore inclined and it's not
taking its toll on their joints.
You know, something that wereally want to worry about when
they're in their older times isthat hurting themselves because
(43:22):
they are so old doing thosethings that they used to do when
they were a puppy or a kittenand now we got to think a little
bit differently on how we dothings with them.
But it really can help andextend their lives.
Amy Castro (43:34):
Definitely Well.
Kat, thank you so much forbeing here with me today and for
talking us through this process.
You know it's a lifetimeprocess of keeping our pets not
only playing and exercise butjust mentally engaged as well,
and I think you've really atleast for me have really opened
(43:54):
my eyes to the needs of our petsbeyond just basic food and
water and especially for seniorpets.
I mean I can't wait to kind ofwrap up this podcast and get out
there and get those cat congsout for my older cats and think
about what little Tinky mightwant to play with or get
involved with, because I justthink it would add so much
quality to their lives.
So thank you so much forsharing such valuable
(44:16):
information with us.
Kat Kekel (44:18):
Thank you so much for having me.
I hope that everybody can takesomething, at least a little bit
, from the podcast and go homeand do something with their pet.
Amy Castro (44:25):
Definitely All right .
Well, thank you all forlistening to another episode of
Starlight Pet Talk and pleaseshare this episode with your pet
loving friends, because thisone in particular, especially
for somebody who might have anadult or senior pet and thinks
that they don't need to playwith them anymore, they will
look at how important it reallyis and hopefully start engaging
their pet more and, like I, wrapup the show every week and say
(44:47):
if you don't do anything elsethis week, make sure you give
your pets a hug from us.
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Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk.
I'm your host, amy Castro, andI was thinking this morning
about how many of us perceiveour pets as being there for us
as opposed to us being there forthem, and what I mean is we get
(01:09):
a dog because we want acompanion, or we get a cat
because we want something that'slow maintenance.
But we want a pet, and that'sgreat.
I think that animals definitelyfulfill a lot of needs for
human beings, both physical andmental.
But what about their needs?
I think that too many times, wethink about only their very,
very basic physical needs forfood, water, shelter and maybe
(01:31):
some veterinary care, and we doa pretty good job of taking care
of those things.
But what about their mentalneed for stimulation, their
instinctive need as a speciesfor certain activities.
That's what we're going to talkabout today with our guest
expert.
Catherine Keckle, or Cat the DogTrainer, is a certified dog
trainer who works not only fulltime with her local county
(01:54):
animal shelter, which puts herin a special place in my heart,
but she's also a professionaldog trainer and a Kong
ambassador.
And Kong is one of my favoritetoy companies and I think it
might be for her, especially forthose of you who are looking at
the video and see all her Kongstuff in the background there.
And what's nice about Cat isthat she has had the opportunity
to work not only with a varietyof animals, but with pet owners
(02:18):
through every step of theprocess, from the time that they
meet a pet to going through theadoption process and then
working with their familiesafter the fact in training
situations.
So, cat, thank you so much fortaking the time to be here with
me today.
Absolutely Thanks for having meAwesome.
So can you give us just alittle bit of an overview about
(02:38):
what you do at, you know,between the shelter, the Kong
ambassador role and then yourown training business?
Kat Kekel (02:45):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My full time job is I work inmy local animal shelter and I
get to do all sorts of thingsthere.
I've helped from the momentthey enter the facility to the
moment they get adopted and allthe fun spots in between.
That gives me a unique aspectof their life, right?
So sometimes we get them in asa stray and I don't know any
information about this dog.
I just have to go on what it'sgiving me as far as its behavior
(03:07):
and stuff that is giving me atthe shelter, and then sometimes
I do get the benefit of theowner telling me it's got
problem behaviors or what haveyou.
So that's nice.
I get to get to have all ofthat, and then I get to see them
get adopted.
Matching people with theirforever family member is a
pleasure and an honor that I getto have every day, and then I
(03:28):
get to work with them as my sidebusiness.
I do do training off the side,but that's just to help them
from coming to the shelter.
A lot of people don't getquality training at a reasonable
price, and so that's what I tryto do is give people who are in
lower income areas who are ableto really work with their
animal instead of having to turnthem into the shelter.
And then I get to be a Kongambassador, which means I get to
(03:48):
work with Kong and share in theknowledge that they've given me
.
As far as the product and howit works and what it's used for
and it's origin story andeverything, it's great.
I use it every day in my house.
I use it every day at theshelter.
It's wonderful.
Amy Castro (04:03):
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Kong.
We've got a lot of Kong toyshere, not only, and I think
sometimes when people thinkabout Kong they think about just
the.
You know the traditional Kong.
You know the red rubber bouncyKong that you fill with peanut
butter.
But they have so many more toys, and especially for cats.
A lot of people don't realizethey have all kinds of cat toys
(04:23):
too.
So definitely check thosethings out.
So you know, you mentionedworking with people from a
training perspective in thehopes to help them avoid
returning a pet or giving up apet.
But why is play so important tothat process as well?
You know why is play soimportant to our pets?
Kat Kekel (04:42):
So play as it relates to dogs, right, it's something
we don't really think about alot because we don't give our
animals a lot of choice, wedon't give them that autonomy.
You know, every day we decidefor them what they're going to
eat, where they're going tosleep, what they're.
They are and aren't allowed todo what we deem as a appropriate
behavior, that, as a dog, theydon't see any problem pooping in
(05:04):
the house or sitting on top ofyour counters because they're a
dog.
Those, for us, are problembehaviors.
So play is really importantbecause not only does it help us
with those problem behaviors,but it also helps them be
mentally stable, relieve stressand just really give them a more
(05:25):
mental, stimulated environment,right?
So different types of thingsthat we could do for them to
make them a more well-rounded,healthy, physically and
emotional dog.
Right, that's something wedon't really think about because
for dogs, when they're a yearof age, they have the mental
capacity of a three-year-oldchild, so they can think, feel
and make decisions.
As such, and that's somethingpeople don't really know.
(05:47):
And the fact that dogsoriginally, as they became,
evolved, if you will, theylearned a lot of things from us.
They are no longer that wolfthat we talk about a lot, they
still continue to play, even totheir adulthood.
So, like a cheetah in theircubs, they play in order to
learn to hunt and then they nolonger play as adults.
(06:07):
Dogs continue to play.
So those life stages that wetalk about from puppyhood we
think, oh, they're just doneafter they're a year of age.
Not necessarily.
They continue to play and chewand do those types of behaviors
just like humans do, if thatmakes any sense.
Amy Castro (06:22):
No, it does, and I think we think a lot about that,
like you said, through thatpuppy phase.
And same thing with kittens youknow we play with them, you're
playing with the string, you'replaying with the feather toy,
whatever it is.
And the same thing with thedogs.
You know you're throwing theball, you're using the tug rope,
whatever it might be.
But then once they get intoadulthood, it's almost like with
the potty training or with the.
(06:43):
Now that you're an adult, westop playing.
We might provide a certainlevel of exercise for our dogs,
like taking them for a walk, butthere's a lot of people that
just consider letting the dogout in the backyard to potty and
they run around as being enoughstimulation, and it's
definitely not.
And so what happens whenthey're not getting that?
Whether it's the mentalenrichment or just the burning
(07:07):
off steam with play, whathappens to that animal over time
?
Kat Kekel (07:12):
So you get a dog who can be doing those problem
behaviors we talked about, right, so they can start doing the
digging and the chewing and thejumping up and from puppy biting
to now they're an adult dog andit's real biting.
They don't learn how to haveappropriate behavior as well as
they don't continue to developcognitively, and that's
something that is reallyimportant for them is that
(07:33):
mental stimulation, stress isalso a really big factor.
So if you think about it, ifyou were only given one book a
day to read or one televisionshow to watch, you wouldn't
really be relieving your stress.
You would know exactly the sameroute over and over and over
again, just like your backyard.
Right, you put the dog out inthe backyard, like you said, and
they know the same smell, theyknow that squirrel was there,
(07:55):
they know that.
You know I've already peed onthis thing and they don't get
anything new.
So when we talk about exerciseand play and enrichment, it has
to be varied and it has to belots of different things.
So even as simple as the type oftexture of toy, not all toys
are the same and they all havedifferent purposes, and that's
(08:15):
something that people don'tthink about a lot they think, oh
, I gave my dog a tennis ball orI gave my dog a rope toy and
that's great.
Those are options.
I have a dog who loves thetennis ball.
However, that's not all sheneeds, right?
She needs other things toscavenger hunt or do the stuffed
Kong, which can be all sorts ofdifferent things that you put
(08:36):
in it.
It doesn't have to just bepeanut butter, it can be
anything dog safe.
My dog particularly likes sweetpotatoes, so she gets sweet
potatoes and applesauce andsometimes a little bit of canned
dog food on top to really gether into it.
And then she gets that and I'llhide it somewhere in the yard.
So that makes the backyard thatwas normally something that
she's like oh, I've been outhere a million times new and
(08:58):
exciting.
It really branches them out andgets them to do other things.
So thinking about it that way,it's not just developmentally
wise, it's also stress relievingtoo.
Amy Castro (09:09):
Yeah, that's such a good point, is that?
Yeah, I remember back in theday when I was, when I was thin
and I used to run.
Yeah, I used to run a lot whenI was going to school in
Washington DC, because every day, even if, even if I took the
same route, there was going tobe different people there, there
was different activities goingon.
You know, it's a big, it's abig city, so it's exciting.
Move to the suburbs and youknow, a friend says why don't we
(09:31):
go walking every day?
I don't want to walk around theblock every day.
It's boring, it's the samehouses, the same landscaping,
we're having the sameconversation.
We've run out of things to talkabout.
But if I had an exciting placeto do that, you know, and I
think that kind of goes back towhat I was saying in the
beginning is that we realizethat for ourselves, for
ourselves and for our humanchildren, but yet we're going to
(09:52):
our dog's, going to spend itsentire life outdoors, just going
in our own backyard, and thenyou wonder why they?
You know and we'll talk moreabout some of the other
behaviors in just a minute butmakes me think about the fact
because I've kind of been guiltyof this with my dogs is that
when you do put them in the carto take them someplace else,
they act like the fool.
And it's not because they'rebad, or even because they're not
(10:12):
trained, it's because they'reso darn excited to be doing
something different.
Exactly.
Kat Kekel (10:17):
Yeah, as simple as putting them in the car is
complete.
Whoa, you know, you get the dogthat's jumping all over the
place and scratching people toget on top of them because
they're like, oh my gosh, Ihaven't seen a new person in you
know three weeks.
We don't think about that.
You know how often especiallyafter everything you know as
health wise and whatnot howoften people really come over to
our houses.
(10:37):
You know I'm a homebody.
Nobody really ever comes over.
So when my dogs do go with mesomewhere, they go oh my gosh, I
haven't seen a human in likethree years.
What are we doing here?
And that's exciting for them.
So that's something to thinkabout too.
Just giving them newexperiences, new things.
And it doesn't have to be, youknow, you don't have to go out
(10:57):
and buy you know 70 differentdog toys, right, it just needs
to be something as simple asokay, here's two or three new
dog toys and we'll rotate themthrough your week.
You know, here's your thisweek's, and then we pick them up
and then here's the next week'sand making it a very throughout
, or something as simple as dogwater bowls.
A lot of people don't thinkabout.
(11:18):
What do we give our dogs todrink out of.
So I personally have more thanthe average pet owner, because I
have a dog who guards waterbowls.
He is a resource gardener, sowe have to manage our
environment a little bit.
So we have about 15 differenttypes of water bowls.
Basically.
I have one dog who likes thefountain because he is a shizu
and he is a prince, and then Ihave a cattle dog who purses.
(11:41):
She likes her metal water bowl.
And I have an Australianshepherd puppy who is in her
wackadoo face and she likes tobe inside the water bowl.
So it needs to be big enoughfor her to put her front paws in
.
And that's just how it is rightnow and that gives them
different variety, right,because some of them are not
going to want to drink out ofthe one that the puppy had her
(12:02):
paws in.
Amy Castro (12:03):
You know, we just don't think about those things,
right?
Yeah, I kind of discovered thatwith my cats too, because, like
I said, we're talking a lotabout dogs but cats need that
same level of variety as well.
And I had always kind of takenthis approach and I keep my.
I do clean my water bowl quitefrequently, but when we I just
had one big water bowl foreverybody, thinking that
(12:24):
everybody passes by the kitchenand there's plenty of water in
it and it gets changed outfrequently.
But I kind of noticed that whenI got my bulldog Gwenevere, she
tended to slobber up the waterbowl more than previous dogs
that we'd had and the cats justkind of seemed like they maybe
didn't like it quite as much.
And so I went ahead and got oneof those cat fountains and I
(12:44):
actually put it well, at first Ihad it out in the main area and
then everybody was using thefountain, so that wasn't working
too well because it was makinga huge mess.
So I moved the cat fountain tomy master bathroom and they love
that thing and they areconstantly like they tell.
In the morning when I, when Iwake up, I can hear the cats
outside the door and the firstthing when I open the door, they
run in and go straight to thatfountain.
(13:06):
And it's not that they don'thave access to water other types
of water they just really likethe fountain.
Apparently, cats like movingwater.
I didn't know that before.
Kat Kekel (13:15):
Yeah, people don't think about favorites.
You know my dogs have theirfavorite for bones or toys or
spots to lay.
I, my cattle dog, will.
I have a lot of toys, probablymore than the average pet parent
, just with my career and shewill go in and she will go in
her toy bins and she will findthe specific toy that she wants,
because my dogs have suchvariety.
(13:38):
There are certain textures thatshe likes that are more unusual
, that people don't really thinkof, right?
So bamboo she loves a bambootoo.
Kong actually does make one orone that is made out of wood.
It's wood put back together,sawdust kind of like.
You know, real wood put backtogether in them.
Oh, I have one of those,digestible and safe for them to
(13:59):
eat.
So instead of them chewing yourdrywall right, they're chewing
the wood.
That gives them the sametexture and the same flavor as
as what they would be chewing.
That's not what we don't want,but that's her one of her
favorites because it's got alittle bit more give to it.
So she'll go in there.
She'll find it in that big toybin she digs to the bottom.
Amy Castro (14:19):
Yes, it's funny.
Two things.
Number one it's interesting howdogs have different needs and
what they do with their toys.
So I had a dog named Bonnie onetime and we had her for nine
years before we lost her and shehad a stuffed.
It was like a white woollylooking.
It was almost shaped like agingerbread man had no face, no,
(14:39):
nothing.
It was just this woolly personshaped baby and she called her
baby and she carried that thingaround for nine years and would
take it wherever she was layingdown, but never, never, chewed
on it, never put a hole in it,nothing.
And then we get jack, ourdoberman.
You couldn't give him anythingstuffed, for in two seconds he
(14:59):
would have eviscerated, thesqueaker, would be gone, he
would have eaten the stuffingand you know, many times got
himself in some digestive issues.
So we had to kind of stopgiving him those kind of toys
because of what he was doing.
But it's interesting how thesame Type of toy, one dog treats
it one way and one dog treatsanother, and again, the light
bulb still never went off.
(15:20):
It's also funny you saidsomething about chewing drywall,
because that literally happened.
I was sitting in my living roomthe other day and my daughter's
puppy, gigi, who I think Gigineeds to keep moving on she's.
She came in as a rescue andsomehow she's not managed to go
on the adoption market yet.
And Gigi I had a scraping soundand Gigi is standing over in my
(15:42):
dining room literally chewingon the wall, like trying to
scrape on the wall, and I'mthinking, okay, why is this dog
doing this?
And then I started thinkingabout our pre recording
conversation when we wereplanning for this episode.
And you know, gigi has thisarea that she's normally stays
in and it's the same toys havebeen sitting there since the
(16:04):
time we've got her.
So for the last let's say,three months she's had the same
it's a lot of toys, there'sprobably seven or eight toys but
it's the same toys that havebeen laying on the floor in that
area for the entire time andobviously she's Needed something
else to do absolutely.
Kat Kekel (16:21):
And types of toys matter, right?
So I mean, you were saying thestuff he was good for one but
wasn't good for the other and itdepends on what we're doing
with them, right?
So we've got the harder, moretextured toys, like the bamboo
one or the wood composite, andthen you've got the rubber right
, like the classic Kong rubber.
Well, those come in differenttypes for different life stages
(16:44):
of your dog, right?
So you've got the classic Kong,which is the one that most dogs
are on.
You've got the puppy, whenthey're little puppies and they
got their needle teeth.
And then you've got the black,which is the hardest one for
dogs who do through the drywall,and you need something that
they are going to be able to notget through.
And then you have the seniorright, when your dog is older in
their teeth and gums and jawstrength are no longer there,
(17:07):
you've got something that'sgoing to be Good for them to
still continue to play in thosesenior golden years, if you will
.
And, thinking about it that way, you know what's going to be
for that type of player.
What is that dog like to do?
So?
My dog is a cattle dog.
She is a Cattle dog through andthrough and she loves to do
lure, coursing and chasing andthat's something that she just
is really good on.
So we get those types of toys atoy that I can play with her
(17:30):
like a giant cat it's got areally fun fluffy animal on the
end and I can wave it like awand and she can play in that
manner.
Or Her favorite one is a.
It looks like a bear and it'scalled the cong knots toys and
it's got rope inside of a fluffytoy.
So there's not a lot ofstuffing to it, it's mostly that
(17:51):
rope and then the plush.
On the outside it feels likebones when they're crushing on
bones and so that's somethingthat she loves to take and shake
and pull doesn't destroy it,but she enjoys that feeling in
her mouth.
So the toys have differentmeaning for different types of
dogs.
You know there's a predatorysequence in all dogs.
It depends on your dog wherethat predatory sequence stops.
(18:14):
So that goes from alerts topoint like the pointers, go and
grab like the lab.
You know the labs with the duck, my dog, which is the run,
chase and bite the heel of thecattle, and then the ones that
are go all the way, which is the, kill the plush toy and get the
phone out and then consume, eatthe plush toy.
So you have to think of wheredoes my dog's predatory sequence
(18:36):
?
And then what toys would maybebe better for them versus others
?
Amy Castro (18:40):
Yeah, that's a good point.
I think you know whether it'sknowing the breed if you've got,
you know purebred dogs and youknow what they've been basically
bred to do and then meetingthat need for them.
But for those of us who have my, you know, might have mixed
breed dogs, it's.
It's basically experimentation,wouldn't you say?
And I think we don't do enoughof that.
We go, and I know I've beenguilty of this.
(19:02):
We used to have this dog thatused to just wander down the
street from us.
His name's fish.
He's a black lab, and that doglove to play.
It didn't matter if you, if you, threw a toothpick, he would
chase it.
I mean, he just didn't carewhat it was, he just wanted to
go and get it and bring it backto you, and so it was kind of
fun, because none of my dogslike to play ball.
Well, I've got a chihuahua no,she's not going to chase a
(19:23):
tennis ball and bring it back tome and I've got a two third, a
two thirds of no, two thirdsEnglish bulldog, one third
American bulldog.
So she's a lot like an Englishbulldog that she's not much of a
runner and you probably don'twant her running too much
because we've already replacedone ACL.
We don't want to replaceanother one.
So if I threw a ball she mightrun halfway to it and then she's
(19:43):
going to abandon it and then wesay, okay, well, our dogs don't
want to play.
Well, no, you just haven'tfound the right play or the
right activity for that, forthat animal.
So, you know, tried different,and I think that's great.
You brought up a variety ofthings.
You know the prey drive thatthey have, and so giving them
something to chase or hunt down,or whether it's just something
(20:04):
to love on, or whether it's theretrieving that they like to do,
you've got to try differentactivities.
The same goes for cats,wouldn't you say, oh, absolutely
.
Kat Kekel (20:13):
I mean with cats, especially you've got.
Are they bush dwellers?
Do they like to be hello to theground and hunting down there?
Or they treat well as do theylike to be up high and catching
the butterfly or the bird thatgoes by.
I have my own cat version ofthat.
They watch the squirrels.
I have a squirrel feeder andthey sit there and they watch
and that's that's theirenrichment, right?
(20:34):
But one of my cats is more intothat than the other one.
The other one likes to go playwith the feather toy in the
house.
That's her jam.
So it really just depends onyour type of cat, right?
Or your type of dog.
I have a senior dog as well, theone who has resource guarding,
and he is a mutt.
I don't know what he is, buthe's an 80 pound mutt and he is
a kill consume.
He wants to destroy and takeout.
(20:56):
But it depends on the toy andit depends on the stress level
he is at.
He's a very anxious, stressfuldog and when he is in a more
stressful time he will destroymore of the toys because he
needs to get that out of thesystem when he is not as
stressed and he's had a betterday or he's more relaxed again.
He is a senior, so he's gotsome senior decline in cognitive
(21:18):
ability and stuff and you knowsundown or syndrome I'm not sure
if you're familiar with, wherethey just kind of get a little
wonky at night time sometimesand they just don't know where
they are.
So he can be a little bit moreanxious.
In those times he will destroythings more, versus other times
where he'll just hold it like ababy and walk around with it in
his mouth.
A lot of people want to takethings away when they start to
do those behaviors, because oh,you're destroying the thing that
(21:39):
I spent money on and theyshould not do that.
Right, we have this idea in ourhead that that's, they're only
there to play with it and thennot not destroy it.
And dogs are dogs.
We buy these toys so that theycan play with them and it's
their decision, their autonomyon what they do with it.
If they decide they want todestroy it, that's great.
It's a more of a monitor toy.
(22:00):
Then you have to supervise themand if they start getting
pieces off for their safety,take it away.
Obviously you don't want themto consume anything, but you've
got to let them be able to makethat decision.
You know, that's something thata lot of people don't do.
Amy Castro (22:14):
Yeah, kind of like when I was a kid I used to cut
all the hair off my dolls.
I used to drive my mother crazy, but it's like, hey, that's
what I found enjoyable to dowith them.
I didn't want to dress them upand play house, I wanted to cut
their hair.
That's a whole other subject,but anyway.
But that is that is a goodpoint, and I'm glad you made the
safety point too, becausethat's you know.
Back to my dog, jack theDoberman.
I mean he was definitely aneviscerator.
(22:36):
He just was going after thatsqueaker and you could get the
alleged indestructible toy andhe'd have a hole in it in 10
minutes and that was fine.
And so you realize you're goingto make an investment in those
kind of things.
But I think it is important notto let them ingest too many of
the non-ingestible toy parts,because that can get you into
some serious trouble at the vetand a big vet bill.
(22:56):
So in working at the shelter,when you see like maybe some of
the common reasons that peoplemight show up to surrender a pet
, can you give an example ofsome of those and how maybe some
better play might have avoidedthat?
Kat Kekel (23:10):
Oh yeah, so I better toys Right, we get in.
You know obviously lots ofdifferent, different ones, but
our most common, I would say, isnot enough time, which usually
means it's translated to I don'thave enough time for training,
play with my dog, payingattention to them.
They feel like they may be aninadequate home for that animal,
and that's their thoughts andfeelings on it, obviously, if
(23:31):
that's what they feel.
And then moving is another bigone, especially with what's
going on in the economy andeverything people are starting
to move and whatnot, they maynot have a place for that animal
and then just the pet'sbehavior in general.
So they may have behaviorproblems where the dog is more
aggressive towards other dogs orthey're having anxiety,
(23:52):
separation anxiety, and theycan't deal with that because
they work 18 hour shifts and,you know, overnight shifts and
things like that.
That's just not conducive tothat type of dog behavior.
Gnipping and biting is a bigone as well, where they are now
adolescent dogs.
They're now in the life stageof they're no longer a cute
puppy, they're now a bigger,adolescent and they're still
biting, they're still causingmore damage now that they're no
(24:15):
longer a tiny puppy.
What I like to say is could wefix a lot of these problems with
pre-behavioral work and toysbeforehand?
Absolutely A lot of thoseissues could be taken care of.
A big one a lot of people don'trealize is dog aggression right.
You can work with dogaggression if your dog say most
(24:35):
dogs with dog aggression not alldogs, obviously, but most dogs
have some sort of fear aspect toit where they're afraid of the
other dogs which causes thatfrustration and that get away
from me before you get me typebehavior.
If we can build our dogsconfidence up right, because
that's a lot of times what it isis it's a low self-esteem, low
confidence dog.
If we can build theirconfidence up with puzzle games
(24:57):
and a stuffed Kong where theyhave to, or a goodie bone I
don't know if you've seen thegoodie bones where they've got
little things on the end theyhave to figure out how to hold
it and work their face and tryto get their food out those are
all building confidence toys andif we can do that we can help
build their confidence sothey're not as afraid when
they're going out for walks andthey see another dog.
(25:18):
They're not going to actaggressive.
It's not a cure-all but it canhelp some of those more
borderline dogs who are startingto show some issues.
Maybe they're not as extreme.
And you know, freaking out onthe end of the leash, that would
be an easy fix.
Do you know what I mean?
And a lot of people don'trealize that if they have those
things to do, it could even curesomething like that.
Amy Castro (25:39):
That and I think proper socialization and I think
we could do a whole episode onsocializing our dogs especially.
But one of the things that Isee is the people that you know
they get the puppy and thepuppy's at home, and especially
in these last couple of yearswith COVID and people being
isolated.
But even, just like you said,we're more sedentary, we're
(26:01):
homebodies, we like being homeand so we don't necessarily get
our puppies out and aboutamongst other people and other
dogs and so that can causeissues later on.
What are your thoughts?
As far as you know, thingspeople can do, appropriate
things people can do tosocialize, assuming the puppy is
(26:22):
fully vaccinated.
Obviously we want to be safemedically, but socializing with
other dogs.
Kat Kekel (26:28):
Oh yeah, so something you don't really think about
too.
You don't have to make it a bigyou know or deal.
A lot of people think, oh well,we, you know, I need to
schedule it and we're gonna goout, we're gonna go to the dog
park, we're gonna do the x, yand z and it does not have to be
that intense.
It could be I'm gonna turn onYouTube to the dog TV channel
(26:48):
and it's gonna be dogs playingin a dog park.
I didn't even leave my houseand my dog can be getting the
sounds and and environmentalstimulus of if they were in a
dog park.
You can start simple, like that.
You could also take your puppyin your car, drive to the dog
park and stay in your car, butroll the window down so your dog
can go.
(27:09):
If it's, you know, still inthat borderline time of fully
vaccinated, right, we can stillbe sitting in our car and
looking out the window andseeing the other dogs, right,
those are all appropriate andsafe things to do when they're
really, really young.
To start making it not such anovel thing because, like we
were talking about earlier, whenthen it's it's all said novel
(27:30):
and we've not seen it, we becomethe crazy wackadoo and that's
something that we can reallywork on.
Super, super early is littleplaces like that, or if you have
you know five minutes, you'relike you know what?
I'm gonna go get a coffee fromStarbucks and I'm just gonna
make a quick run, put them inthe car, drive through.
They don't have to get anythingwhen you're there, obviously,
but you know, putting them inthe car, making that habit, then
(27:53):
your dog's gonna go.
Oh, we get in the car all thetime.
We just go places with mom andwe sit and people talk to me in
the window.
It doesn't have to be an ordeal.
They may not actuallyphysically touch that person
handing you your coffee when yougo through the drive-through,
but they saw it.
It wasn't a negative or apositive experience.
It was a neutral experience andit becomes more common.
(28:13):
The more we can put in thatbank, the better versus well,
that one time I saw that thatperson, I got really, really
scared because I went to the vetand I got a shot, or there was
a big, loud bang when we went totractor supply or something.
That all can add up in thenegative too, if it's so few
that we're doing thoseexperiences that's a good point,
(28:34):
it, but it doesn't have to besome big plan thing.
Amy Castro (28:37):
It could just be, you know, if you know you're
running to Home Depot.
I think there's a balance inthere too.
It's like if your dog isn'twell behaved, or if it's not
potty trained yet, then you know, does everybody need to be
dealing with that at Home Depot?
Probably probably not, but thatcould be part of the part of
the progression, can be anopportunity as your dog gets
older and is in, you know,better control all around.
Kat Kekel (28:59):
Absolutely.
It just depends, yeah, on thedog and, obviously, taking
safety precautions into play,just like we were talking about
earlier with the toys, takingsafety precautions into play.
And what I like to tell peoplewhen it comes to playing with
toys, when it comes to takingyour dog and socializing them,
is you want to treat everyexperience as if you're going in
the car.
Right, if you go in the car,there's a high probability of
(29:19):
you getting in a car accident,but we take safety precautions,
right, we put our seatbelt on,we look both ways, we use a turn
signal.
So that's the same goes forwhen I'm playing with this toy.
I'm going to monitor my dog,I'm going to watch my dog.
Some people are very afraid of,like hard toys with the, you
know, antlers, or even the woodcomposite shoes, things like
that.
They become fearful that theymay break a tooth, and that is
(29:42):
completely plausible.
It absolutely could happen,right?
But they are designed for dogsto chew, so there is that
component in it, right?
Because if it was anindestructible toy, a dog
wouldn't play with it.
So it is designed for the dogto play with it, but that
doesn't mean we don't takesafety precautions.
So something that happens withKongs and you'll see a lot of
times as they scissor bite orthey pick at the top part, where
(30:05):
they pick pieces of rubber off.
Okay, if that's how they chewthat Kong, then we need to take
that away.
Maybe we need to try the adifferent color, maybe we need
to try a bigger size.
Or they only get it for whenwe're using it for this time and
we take it away and they don'tget it unless we're using it for
enrichment or a play, if thatmakes any sense.
So it's all these experiences.
We put a safety belt on, wedon't just give it to them, or
(30:29):
we don't just take them andthrow them in the dog park
without all their shots.
Amy Castro (30:33):
Well, and that I was actually going to ask you about
dog parks.
I am kind of opposed to dogparks for a couple of reasons.
Number one I don't know thateverybody else there has fully
vaccinated their pets, whetherthey're wormed, etc.
Etc.
And I also based on the factthat I feel like people don't
spend a lot of time exposingtheir dogs to other dogs.
(30:54):
That can turn into a dangeroussituation.
But what about, from yourexperience, what are your
thoughts on taking?
Because there's lots of themand they're just building more
and more, and there's a lot ofpeople that they do it multiple
times a week and it's not onlytheir dog's social thing, it's
their social thing too.
Kat Kekel (31:10):
So I used to be a dog park goer myself with my cattle
dog and she, when she was puppy, she was fully vaccinated.
In my opinion, you can only dowith what you feel comfortable
with, with what you arecomfortable with as far as dog
behavior as well, right?
So are you up to date on whatdoes this dog body language mean
(31:31):
versus that dog body language?
What are my emergency plan ifthere is an altercation, things
like that.
So proper dog play.
So we at the shelter do youplay groups with our dogs.
It's a good social interactionfor them as a stress relieving
activity.
We only do two at a time, soit's two dogs.
We find their match, their playmatch and we play for usually
(31:54):
anywhere from 10 to 15 minutesdepending on the set of dogs and
their interaction, and we maybuild up time in that, but
starting really small.
So it's not a long drawn outprocess and you want it to be.
That's a proper play.
That's a good two dogs.
You can monitor really wellwhen it becomes 15 dogs.
(32:16):
Most places there's a notenough people to proper.
Some people take five dogs tothe dog park.
You know all five of my dogsare going in.
There's one person who's goingto be part?
The person right who's?
If there's a dog fight, whatare you going to do?
There's only one of you.
That's not safe.
You see that happen a lot oftimes and a lot of people don't
know what to do.
If there's an emergency right,there's an emergency are you
(32:38):
going to stick your hand rightin?
Well, most people do.
They stick their hand right into try to grab the collar and
pull up.
So you have to be prepared ifyou're going to go.
No proper safety protocols.
Make sure your dogs are up todate on everything, because it's
easy to go and re-dewarm yourdog if you start to see
something in their stool.
But most dogs are on a properdewormer anyways, with a flea
(33:01):
and tick preventative.
They have it in them already along time, so like so you don't
really have to worry about that.
And as long as your dog is onall of its shots and everything
and you and your vet have talkedabout having those
conversations, you know do youthink it would be safe for my
dog to go to the dog park?
Then it's up to you.
At that point, are youcomfortable with it?
So I stopped going when Istopped feeling comfortable at
(33:24):
that particular dog park.
I had a apartment complex thathad a dog park.
It wasn't well maintained, butwhen I was there and I had a
group of people who knew whatthey were doing with their dogs,
we scheduled times.
We called it our dog park group.
We would go at a certain timeand my dog had her dog park
friends.
They all played.
(33:44):
They had a great time.
Sometimes we would get a newdog into the mix and we would
all watch and be on guard andsee we all had our leashes in
our hands and that happenedorganically.
So it completely is possible tohappen.
You can get those really goodtimes.
You just have to find it.
You know, I don't think they'reinnately all bad.
It's just kind of where you siton the situation.
(34:06):
You know how.
What's your comfortabilitylevel?
Are you going to go in flipflops and not know how to take
your dog out of a situationthat's unsafe in?
Are you going to go with tennisshoes and a leash and a safety
air horn in case something doeshappen?
An air- horn.
Exactly.
An air horn I also a greatsuggestion is a pop-up umbrella,
(34:27):
so if there is an issue, youcan quickly pop it up and use it
as a shield, if you need to inthose types of situations,
something to break up the fightin a safe manner without
injuring any of the dogs.
Amy Castro (34:37):
And I think that's a good point you made is that you
can create those opportunitiesto have a play group.
I mean, people do it with theirhuman children all the time.
So you know, you find, and weeven do that at the house.
I find, because here I live onthis rescue ranch right and
we're in the process of buildinga dog shelter building, but
until then a lot of the dogs arein my house and so I have them
(35:00):
housed separately in theirlittle areas when I'm not
monitoring them, like right now.
But we do let them out incertain pairs because it's like,
okay, well, these two areresident dogs, you know, they're
going to go out and just dotheir business.
These two are going to want toreally get out there and play,
and so we'll let them outtogether and they're about the
same size and have about thesame energy level and we, you
(35:21):
know, we do kind of match themup in that way so that their
needs are met.
And I think that would besomething that would be so easy
to do, whether it's reaching outto your friends and just
creating those opportunities toget together with your dogs, or
even, you know, puttingsomething up on your
neighborhood Facebook page ifyou've got one, or on next door
and you know, see if there arelike-minded people that want to
(35:42):
go and, you know, take the dogsout together.
It's, I bet you.
There's probably a lot morepeople like that than we.
Then we realize.
Kat Kekel (35:50):
Oh yeah, and having those safety precautions in
place, right?
So bring your toolkit, bringyour stuff that you know where,
the proper if you want to callit PPE, like you wouldn't work
before you go and creating lessplaces of opportunity for the
dogs to get into trouble, right?
Don't bring food, Don't bringtoys.
Have multiple places of accessto water, because water at that
(36:13):
point is now a resource and youcan't have a resource garter in
that situation.
So it doesn't need to be onewater bowl, it needs to be five
water bowls so that we don'thave an issue.
You know, just putting thosethings into place and you're
more likely to have a positiveoutcome in those situations.
Amy Castro (36:27):
Yeah, definitely, and you made a good point too I
want to make sure people didn'tmiss it too about talking to
your vet.
I think it's important to letour vets know what kind of
lifestyle that we're living withour pets, not only from an
activity level but from thevaccination standpoint Like I
know for my pets because we dobring in strays, fosters, things
like that that are not fullyvaccinated my pets probably have
(36:50):
more vaccines on board thanyour average pet who doesn't
really go anywhere.
If your pet is going out andabout and going to a dog park
then, yeah, they might have moreof a need for routine worming
that maybe a dog that only goesout in its own backyard needs.
So talk to your vet and letyour vet know what you're doing
with your dog, where do you go,what do you do, who do you
(37:10):
interact with, so that you canhave an appropriate preventative
medicine plan for your pet.
So we talked a bit aboutpuppies and I think people are
pretty darn good about havingplenty of different toys and
playing with their puppies.
I thought it was veryinteresting when you said this
the other day in ourconversation and you brought it
(37:31):
up just briefly before about theneeds for play or toys for
senior pets, because I don't seelike I've got a senior
Chihuahua.
Her name's Tinkerbell.
She doesn't have any toys, atleast not tiny enough for her.
So why would they still needthat?
At a senior age, they like tojust kind of lay around and
sleep.
Kat Kekel (37:51):
So I mean that's a lot of people think right,
they're in their golden years,they're just going to hang out
and chill and they're not goingto do a whole bunch.
But you would be surprised onthe behavior difference you can
have if you start re-engagingyour senior dog.
So something as simple asgetting one of like, for
instance, we still have ourpuppy toys.
(38:13):
A lot of dogs are 10 years oldand they still have puppy toys
which are the harder plastics,the indestructible rated stuff,
right, which no toys,indestructible, but you know
what I mean.
Like the tougher toys.
And our dogs have now aged at apoint where their jaw muscles
not the same they may bestarting to take joint
supplements.
(38:33):
Maybe they've lost some teeth.
A lot of little dogs no longerhave teeth in their little faces
anymore.
They've had too many that aregone.
So now getting something like asenior Kong, which is a softer
rubber, or the senior toys thatare softer, plush, right,
something, maybe, like you weretalking about that Doberman, you
(38:55):
had destroyed toys.
Well, maybe at 10, 12 years oldnow they're no longer in the
destroying toys phase let'soffer them that type of toy
again and see what they do withit.
Amy Castro (39:06):
Yeah, and I never did that, which was dumb.
I never did that.
Kat Kekel (39:11):
Well, I'm giving them that opportunity again.
Do you?
Are you going to destroy it nowthat you're 15 years old?
Maybe now you just want to layyour head on it and maybe chew
on it, maybe play a little bitof tug, something like dogs.
When they're young and theirtheir neck muscles are all
strong, years and years ofplaying something like a game,
like tug of war, really takes itout on them.
They can no longer do that typeof behavior running to play
(39:34):
fetch, like you were talkingabout earlier.
That takes a toy on their jointmuscles and their ligaments.
So now you need to finddifferent types of play that may
be more sedentary.
One of the best ones is havingsomething that they can just sit
in a puzzle toy, the foodreleasing, like the Kong toy
that they can sit and still chewon if they want.
(39:54):
Get the food out, because a lotof times that's helps with the
initiative to start the playright.
Some dogs they're no longer inthat play mode anymore.
They no longer have that.
They don't think that that'sengaging anymore because we
haven't played with them anymore.
So maybe we need something likefood to help bring them back to
that again, like oh, here'ssomething in this.
(40:15):
Let me start chewing, nibbling,playing, rolling.
I had a dog who was I want tosay he was 17 years old.
He had not one tooth in hishead and I gave him a senior
Kong.
He was a Maltese, he was onlythree pounds.
That dog went from laying inhis dog bed literally 24 hours a
day to getting up and lookingat me waiting for his stuffed
(40:38):
Kong going hey, I'm ready.
Because he still had a tongue,he was still wanting to lick and
try to gum at that toy and playand he got more animated.
His cognitive ability startedcoming back.
He went from kind of stumblingaround when he would get up
because he was sedentary for solong to being able to walk a
little bit more and being ableto make better judgments with
(41:02):
his steps because he wasthinking again.
He was using his brain.
People don't realize they stillneed, even if we can't do
things physically with them, westill need to do things
cognitively with them.
They aren't potatoes.
Five minutes of mentalstimulation right, five minutes
of mental stimulation is equalto a two mile walk.
It makes them tired and that'ssomething that we can do with
(41:25):
them, even in that old state,even though they're old.
We can't take them for that twomile walk anymore, but maybe we
can do five minutes of chewingon a senior Kong.
You know what I mean.
Amy Castro (41:35):
That's such an excellent.
I feel guilty about all the old, because I've had obviously a
lot of dogs and even older cats.
It's funny I did notice, and Ithink I mentioned this to you
before, is that when we've hadkittens come through, then
suddenly we bust out the feathertoys and whatever, and
everybody comes out of thewoodwork, even the 13 year old
cat's out there.
Now she's not running andflipping and leaping into the
(41:59):
air like the crazy kittens, butwhen it comes her way she's
given it a bat, you know, andshe's given it a swat or trying
to grab it with her teeth.
And I think that's such anexcellent point.
We love our animals so much andwe want them to stay with us
forever.
Right, we know that they're notgoing to.
But yet once they hit a certainage where they're not as
(42:21):
physically active, like you said, we just kind of let them
become a potato.
And you could probably, I'mquite sure, increase the not
only the quality of your pet'slife but the quantity, the
length of their life, by keepingthem physically moving, like
you said, and mentallystimulated, wouldn't you say?
Kat Kekel (42:40):
Oh yeah, and on your cats, right, and they're in that
senior time, their joints, fromjumping up and down, are no
longer the same.
We can't play the feather toyand have them jump up or chase
down the hallway with the ball.
So maybe giving them somethinglike the cat kong, which is
something that is there, theycan actually sit and just roll
(43:01):
it around or hold it and chewand lick out something like
churu or canned baby food,that's still hunting for them,
they're still hunting that preyand that's going to be a
cognitive ability for them to bemore inclined and it's not
taking its toll on their joints.
You know, something that wereally want to worry about when
they're in their older times isthat hurting themselves because
(43:22):
they are so old doing thosethings that they used to do when
they were a puppy or a kittenand now we got to think a little
bit differently on how we dothings with them.
But it really can help andextend their lives.
Amy Castro (43:34):
Definitely Well.
Kat, thank you so much forbeing here with me today and for
talking us through this process.
You know it's a lifetimeprocess of keeping our pets not
only playing and exercise butjust mentally engaged as well,
and I think you've really atleast for me have really opened
(43:54):
my eyes to the needs of our petsbeyond just basic food and
water and especially for seniorpets.
I mean I can't wait to kind ofwrap up this podcast and get out
there and get those cat congsout for my older cats and think
about what little Tinky mightwant to play with or get
involved with, because I justthink it would add so much
quality to their lives.
So thank you so much forsharing such valuable
(44:16):
information with us.
Kat Kekel (44:18):
Thank you so much for having me.
I hope that everybody can takesomething, at least a little bit
, from the podcast and go homeand do something with their pet.
Amy Castro (44:25):
Definitely All right .
Well, thank you all forlistening to another episode of
Starlight Pet Talk and pleaseshare this episode with your pet
loving friends, because thisone in particular, especially
for somebody who might have anadult or senior pet and thinks
that they don't need to playwith them anymore, they will
look at how important it reallyis and hopefully start engaging
their pet more and, like I, wrapup the show every week and say
(44:47):
if you don't do anything elsethis week, make sure you give
your pets a hug from us.
Announcer (44:53):
You've been listening to the Starlight Pet Talk
podcast.
We're glad you joined us togain new insight on the many
loving ways to adopt and carefor your pets.
Be sure to subscribe so you'llnever miss an episode, and if
you want more information, go tostarlightpettalkcom, because
your pet can't talk.
Join us next time for StarlightPet Talk.
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