There's a certain magic that happens when someone takes a leap of faith from a secure path into the unpredictable yet thrilling world of entrepreneurship, especially when it involves our four-legged friends. Amanda Shaw's story is one such tale, starting her journey as a dedicated student of neuroscience and emerging as a full-service event planner for the most joyous dog birthday parties. Listen as we navigate the intricacies of crafting the perfect canine celebration, weaving in the heartfelt narratives of support from loved ones and the emotional bond we share with our pets.
Useful Links :
https://www.thebarkdayplanner.com/
Follow Amanda on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thebarkdayplanner/
If you are enjoying The Baroo Podcast you can now support the show by buying me a coffee.
Shop the podcast:
https://www.thebaroo.com/shop-pod
Follow The Baroo:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/baroopup/
Blog- https://www.thebaroo.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/baroopet/
Pet parent question or story of canine companionship to share ? Email charlotte@thebaroo.com or call 424-273-5131.
*This podcast is for informational purposes only, even if, and regardless of whether it features the advice of veterinarians or professional dog trainers. It is not, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary care or personalized canine behavior advice and should not be used as so. The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast author or the individual views of those participating in the podcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Dogs make the best companions for humans.
This podcast aims to help makehumans better companions for
their dogs.
Welcome to the Beru podcast, amodern lifestyle podcast for
dogs and their people.
I'm your host, charlotte Bain.
I've been caring for otherpeople's dogs for more than 15
(00:21):
years and while I've learned alot in my career, I definitely
don't know it all.
So I've collected anever-evolving roster of amazing
dog people and I learn newthings from them all the time.
Hi, you guys, thank you so muchfor joining me for this episode
(00:46):
of the Baru Podcast.
In today's chat, I am joined byAmanda Shaw, founder of the Bark
Day Planner.
Amanda shares her journey fromleaving her background as a
neuroscientist to finding herpassion as a full-service event
planner that specializes increating incredible birthday
parties for your caninecompanion.
A little side note that sincerecording this episode, amanda
(01:10):
had to say goodbye to one of herbeloved pups, so our heart goes
out to Amanda and her family asthey navigate this difficult
loss.
All right, you guys, let's jumpinto the chat.
I'm so excited to chat with youbecause you've kind of like
(01:34):
switched up your life to offersomething like super fun for pet
parents, and also it seems likeit would be a fun job to have.
So you are an event planner fordog birthday parties, which is
like so cute and I'm just socurious.
What was the inspiration behindthat?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So the inspiration was.
It all stemmed from our goldendoodle Teddy.
So that's what I figured.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
While I was in my PhD , we PhD.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
We grew our family pretty quickly Once we got
married.
We ended up with four dogs andthe Instagram world started with
creating a really fun Instagramfor your pets.
And, of course, we jumped onthat bandwagon as being dog
parents and we decided to throwone once we started doing more
with the community and it justlit a fire inside of me.
Um, it was kind of random, butit was super fun and I'm glad
(02:29):
that it happened.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
What were you doing before you started throwing
doggy birthday?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
parties.
I was working in scientificresearch and then I started my
PhD in neuroscience at UTMB inGalveston.
When I actually got accepted, Ireceived my acceptance letter,
opened it.
I panicked because I think Ijust knew in my gut it wasn't
what I wanted to do, but it wasthere and it was long years, you
(03:00):
know, hard work, all of thatcompiling into what you should
do.
And so I panicked and afterworking in the lab I would go,
and I was an apprentice for awedding planner.
So I decided to start thislittle internship on the side
and see maybe I should ventureinto this instead of accepting
this next week.
And I did not like weddings, itwas not for me, so that was
(03:25):
good, Um, but it was funny tolook back on.
I panicked, went and didsomething in the event industry
and it should have been a sign.
But it was really good to learnthose different, you know, just
lessons and everythingthroughout the three years that
I was doing that.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I love that and so, um, that's quite a shift from
scientific research to partyplanning for your pup.
How did, like everybody else inyour life, respond to that?
Were they pretty supportive?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
For the most part, everyone was supportive.
I think there was a few thatwere just like question marks,
like why, what is this?
Like wait a minute, you're,you're leaving your PhD, that
you're almost done.
Like you're getting there.
You know, you maybe have twoyears left.
I say almost, you never know.
But um, you're leaving that togo manage a doggy daycare and do
(04:15):
dog parties, what Like it wasjust they were so confused.
But once they understood why Iwas doing it and the logic and
like how I set myself up to makesure I was still financially
good with my stipend, I wasgetting from school and
everything like that, it waslike, okay, well, we understand
it.
I think my parents were alittle confused at first, and
(04:36):
then my husband.
He was super supportive fromthe get go because I proposed it
to him and so it was reallygood.
But there were, you know,people in my science life that
were very just confused and youknow I don't really talk to them
anymore and that's fine.
We went on two different pathsbut for the most part everyone
was supportive.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Right, it's so fascinating.
How so you think it's so itstemmed from your was the golden
doodle, your first pup.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, my first pup is Lola.
We just threw her, probably oneof the biggest parties I've
done.
Um, she's obsessed with tennisballs and she's 14 and she is
hopefully in full remissionwe're not 100 sure with her
cancer.
So, um, she was my first pupand we did small things like hey
, everyone come to this breweryand we're gonna bring her cake
and everyone can sit inside andhang out.
(05:26):
But we didn't do it to thelevel that I had started kind of
doing for our golden doodle, um, and so he was actually our
fourth out of the four.
He was the last one to kind ofcome in and, um, yeah, we just.
It was his birthday and Idecided to do something a little
bigger and just invite randompeople off Instagram I had never
met in my entire life.
(05:47):
Bring your dog, come, hang out.
And some of them becamelifelong friends that I've been
in their weddings and it'screated a really, really awesome
, just community of people thatI know friendships, vendors, you
know everything in between.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I love that.
It sounds so joyful it is.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I absolutely love it.
Everyone is like, why did youniche down so much, like you
could do kids birthday partiesand baby showers and graduation,
like all these things, and I'mlike, well, I just love animals.
I always did.
From a young age I thought Iwas going to be a veterinarian
and I didn't know that there wasall these other you know
(06:28):
outlets in the pet industry orin animal care that you could do
that were you know a littledifferent.
They just don't talk about thatin high school and going into
college and things.
So I did science because that'swhat I was told.
You know it's really great youhave so many different options.
You can be a PA, a nurse,scientific research, whatever.
And so that's what I didbecause it was a good option and
(06:49):
it just wasn't the right optionfor me.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Right, I think that you know, I think that moving we
didn't always have theseopportunities.
You know, in the pet industryit's just such a growing.
It's such a growing industrynow and so opportunities are all
around us.
And I mean, I didn't know Icould make a living when I
started my dog care business.
(07:13):
It was really just kind of togive myself a break.
I didn't quite know what I wasdoing.
I wanted, I was an actress andit was just kind of supposed to
be to kind of supplement.
I loved animals, I want tospend all my time with my pup.
But it blew into this wholefull-fledged job and I was not,
(07:34):
which I love and I'm so gratefulfor it.
But I had no idea it could.
It could do that Right, and Icould, it could bring me so much
joy and I felt I also felt alittle bit of you know judgment,
just kind of like wait, whatare you doing?
You're going off to work withdogs, you know, instead of you
know going back to school anddoing something else if you
don't want to do the acting.
No, no, I'm going to go spendsome time with my dog and see
(07:56):
how I can make that work.
So I mean, the opportunitiesare there.
First of all, I'm so sorry thatyour pup is had cancer and she,
but she's looking good, she'sin remission yes, so far, so
good.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We caught it in august.
She had surgery immediately.
What?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
kind of cancer.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
May I ask?
It was um anal sacadenocarcinoma?
Okay, you have a client whojust said that.
Yeah, yeah, it's a prettyaggressive one say, and it can
move to the lymph nodes prettyquickly.
We opted not to put her throughchemo.
Just with her age and herarthritis, we didn't want to put
(08:37):
her through that.
Plus, it's an hour drive fromwhere we live to get to the
oncologist and she hates the car.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Oh, so it's so stressful yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yes, Going every other week and giving her the
trazodone.
She looks at me like mom.
Why do I feel like this?
And I just don't want to dothat.
So we opted for all naturaloptions and herbs and she, she
loves most of them.
She gets them daily and she'sbeen doing great.
She just loves to play ball.
Um, she gets them daily andshe's been doing great.
(09:07):
She just loves to play ball,run around and hang out and
sleep and get her peanut butteryeah, that sounds good.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
That's about it.
My dog has started picking that.
He goes through periods oftimes where he'll eat his herbs,
but then he's now.
He's now in the phase where hestarts picking all of them out
of his food, like all of thesupplements she does.
Does that with.
Yeah, I don't know.
Are you there?
Speaker 2 (09:29):
I think I lost you there for just a little bit.
We have some pretty bad weathercoming through, so I don't know
if it's it's been crazy, I know, and technical difficulties.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
All the things are happening right now.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I know.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
It's always something .
So I'm so curious, like whatwas so when you were planning
someone's birthday party forsomeone's pup?
What are some can you share,like some of the?
Well, let's start with justwhat are the some of the basics.
When it what, what is abirthday party for a pup look
like?
When someone, if someone, whatone of my listeners is just
(10:03):
thinking like I'd like to plan abirthday party for my pup, but
what does that actually mean andwhat does that look like?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Can we talk a little bit about that, definitely so a
lot of my clients.
They'll find me a lot of timesfor first birthday parties or
big milestones, so they reachout to us and I like to do a
free consultation call just toget a better idea of what their
vision is, what they're wanting,so the process can be easy when
planning for them.
(10:28):
The biggest thing that wetypically talk about is venue,
because a lot of times like, say, for my client coming up at the
end of April, he's not mobile,so we need an indoor venue
that's got either some grip or,if we can bring in turf grassing
, things like that.
Plus, it's Texas, so theweather is really really fun and
(10:49):
chaotic.
So having some indoor, outdoorvenue options is really nice for
my clients.
But venue is always a topchoice that people are like I
really need to know what venueoptions you offer.
Of course, the cake if they haveany allergies.
We always go over those beforeI reach out to my vendors to
make sure that we don't have anyissues with treats or the cake
(11:12):
or different things like that.
And then we'll also talk aboutactivities, because keeping them
, you know, mentally stimulatedand enriched and having some fun
things for them to do, whetherit's a ball pit or a ball
launcher, or doing some arts andcrafts, where they make their
own portrait with, you know,little canvas and paint, and
they look at peanut butter.
Even just some fun cup cups forthe humans to kind of decorate,
(11:34):
take a cute photo of them, letthem dive in with either some
coconut whip or regular whip,whichever they prefer, just
those fun things.
And then also on the other side, we'll think of some things for
the humans.
Do we want to have some humangames for the guests to play?
Do they want to have somedrinks or possibly an open bar,
sandwiches or cupcakes, a cakefor them to everyone.
(12:05):
But of course the pup is thebiggest, you know, concern.
We want to ensure that theyhave everything they want.
And then we go into themes.
So the themes is something thatI love because I want to bring
the personality out from the pup.
So if they love something orhave a meaning behind their name
, anything like that, I want toknow.
So I can try and incorporatethose aspects, especially if
they don't have a theme alreadypicked out.
So I can give them like threeto five options on themes and
(12:28):
just let them envision which oneworks best for them and their
pup.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
I love that.
This is so sweet.
Have you had any like um Anyjust wacky requests?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I've had a few.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Okay, If you don't mind sharing.
We don't have to say names, butI would love to know some of
the wacky things that peoplerequest for their pups and stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
So some wacky stuff.
I would say one of the funniestthings recently was, um it's.
It goes back to the themeselection.
Sometimes they're not thinkingabout how this could be
incorporated into a theme, butthey just are like I'm obsessed
with it.
Um, so one of the pups has anemotional support stuffed
(13:17):
broccoli that he takeseverywhere.
I know.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Oh my God, I love that so much and emotional
support stuff.
So that's his, that's his likelittle stuff, animal, but it's a
broccoli yes.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
And it's in shape of broccoli, and so that was what
she put down as the theme, and Ijust remember being like how am
I going to make an entirebroccoli party?
How am I going to do this?
Like it's?
How am I going to do theballoons?
How are we going to make theentire broccoli party?
How am I going to do this?
Like it's?
How am I going to do theballoons?
How are we going to make thecake?
Like?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
can I?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
make it look like a broccoli head.
You know what I mean, um.
So I gave two options.
We could do all out broccoli,figure it out, make it cute.
I started doing my mood boardand everything, um.
Or we can do farmer's marketand incorporate a lot of
broccoli aspects.
And so we went with thefarmer's market.
It's super cute.
Do some broccoli veggie boardsfor the humans just to snack on,
(14:09):
and then, of course,incorporate some really fun
balloons that have the differentshapes of different vegetables
and all that fun stuff.
So sometimes it's funny when Iget the inquiries because people
are like I just know I wantthis, but I don't know how to
say it, so I just want broccoli,and so it's really funny.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
My dog would love that, because my dog loves
broccoli, so he'd be all overthat.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Right, it's so funny that he likes broccoli.
It's so weird, yeah, and youwere going to say another one,
um, another one would probablybe, um I'm trying to think back
to a few of them Um, just thethings and this might seem
outrageous to other peoplebecause of the money cost, right
, but videography, having avideographer there because,
(14:59):
honestly, a lot of these partiesfor my clients are about
memories.
They want to keep the memory oftheir pet with them forever and,
yes, photos are great, but ifyou can look back on that video
in 10 years and just have thatmoment where they're still happy
and healthy and having a greattime and everything is about
them and you're celebrating thelife that you get with them,
that's one of the biggest things.
So I don't know if it'soutrageous or wacky, but it is
(15:22):
something that other people Ihad someone say it to me this
weekend people spend what for adog party and it's like you know
what.
They spend it for their kidswhy not for our kids?
Because a lot of my clientscan't have kids, right, or they
opt not to for whatever personalreasons or at this moment in
their life, right, and so it's.
(15:44):
It's a special moment that Ithink is really really special
having videography or even justphotography.
It's really great to have thoseprecious moments just captured
into you know a document you canopen up and look at whenever
you want.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I love that I was just actually thinking like I
have, you know, thousands ofphotos of my dogs and of my own
dog and and all of the and andof my clients.
But I have.
I was just thinking I have veryfew videos of him, um, and as
he's aging, um, I was just litliterally just thinking that I
(16:18):
needed to take more videos ofhim because just to capture, you
know, his movements and thelittle looks that he makes and
all of those little things youknow so.
I think it's a great idea.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I love that I always take like cute little videos
while they're sleeping and myhusband thinks I'm crazy.
I don't know if I told you butwe have seven dogs.
Oh my gosh, you have seven.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Oh my gosh, what kind of dogs Are they all rescues?
Or are they just all ahodgepodge of different dogs?
A?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
hodgepodge of everything.
I love it.
Some of them are rehomed, someare rescues, some are just from
the pound.
Both of our first ones.
Yeah, just a little bit ofeverything.
Both of our first ones.
Just a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And they all get along pretty well, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
They're all spread out pretty well, where you've
got your seniors and then thealmost seniors and then we've
got one that's just kind of he'sin between he's about to be
five, so he's just there andthen the two younger babies that
are three and two, so they justkind of pick their bestie andie
and play and have their youknow favorites.
I feel like the one that's therescue.
(17:27):
She went through three otherhomes before us so she's taken a
long time to adjust.
I think probably last year wasthe first year.
She's like rolled over let usactually give her a belly rub
and like been more vulnerablewith us, not sleeping in a
curled position by herself.
Um, but she, she doesn't I.
I sometimes say we should havelet her live with my mother
(17:50):
because she would totally loveto be the only dog.
Yeah, yeah, but besides suey,everyone else loves one another.
Yeah, she's like a cat anyway,so she just just does.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, she likes she just likes to keep to herself
yeah, absolutely.
Um, what was my next question?
Oh, do you have?
Have you ever had a dog?
Like when, when you're throwingthe birthday party, just kind
of be like what the hell is thisLike?
What are we doing?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yes, I've had the birthday pup kind of look like
that at first, yeah, um, yes, Imean sometimes it is a lot.
At the party we have just thispast weekend, for reference,
there was a dog that came andshe was super sweet, really
great.
She was the first dog with thebirthday pup and so they knew
each other.
But then once other dogs andpeople started arriving, you
(18:40):
could tell she would stick withmom she was a little nervous,
nervous had a little bit of youknow the salivation, just
nervous in general.
And I asked her yes, I told hermom.
You know she asked me is sheokay?
Do you think she's fine?
I'm like you know.
She just is overstimulated withthe environment.
There's new people, there's newplace smells treats dogs.
(19:01):
There's new people, there's newplace, smells treats dog.
It's definitely something thathappens quite a bit, especially
when they first walk in.
They're like what is this?
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah, they're like and is this about me?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yes.
Or when you sing happy birthdayand they're standing over there
or they have their cake infront of them, they're like am I
supposed to lick this?
Can I yet Like what's going on?
And then there's others thatare just like I know this whole
day is about me and they run inand they're having a blast and
they're jumping in the pool andall that fun stuff.
So it's funny to see thedifferences.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Those are your labs, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yes, or the Goldens man they love water, my sister's
pup.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Every time you would sing happy.
He thought every birthday wasabout him because he got cake
one day on someone's birthdayand so anytime he would hear the
song happy birthday he wouldimmediately think it was like he
was going to get some cake andit was his time.
It was so funny.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I love that it was so cute, yeah, all of my dogs know
the word cake, especially ourbird, and when they would go to
work with me and daycare, wewould have daycare parties, you
know, monthly, and so they wouldbring out the cake and they
would say that word a lot.
And so if he is being stubbornand not wanting to come inside,
I'll just have to yell do youwant some cake, sanford?
(20:22):
And he comes barreling in thehouse.
It's hilarious, that's so cute.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Is he like?
I'm sure is he like your littleassistant.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
No, he's a big goober , he's just a mess.
I would say Lola's probably mybest assistant.
She's just the best all around.
You know those ones from thepound that you have no clue what
they are, but they're just thebest, that's my guy, yeah, yeah,
he's my little assistant forsure.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, that's so sweet .
So do you do jokes?
Do you do what happened guys?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
sorry, that was a huge crack of thunder.
I don't know if you heard thatI'm sorry no, I heard something.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Yeah, like you went in and out a little bit.
Oh, so is it.
Is it about to storm?
Speaker 2 (21:05):
yeah, right now.
It's been storming all daypretty much here it's supposed
to come through and be prettybad today and tomorrow,
unfortunately I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And are the pups okay ?
Did so they?
So they heard this.
Do any?
Do they all do okay, thunder?
Because I know that's a bigtrigger for a lot of pups.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Most of the time.
Yeah, suey is just.
She likes to alert because shedoesn't know what it is.
So that's her.
But Lola used to be the worstwith her cancer and now, being
on this CBD oil, her hearing isgoing a little bit, so she's
fully asleep right now.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I can see her.
She is out, not even moving atall.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Everyone else could care less.
Half of them are asleep rightnow, everywhere, wherever they
are.
So, thankfully, but fireworksare horrific.
For our about three or four ofthem, it's pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
They're scary for all of us.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I know and we live.
I guess it's like fireworkscity out here.
I don't know why.
I guess it's like firework cityout here, I don't know why, but
it's like huge stands wherepeople go and buy them for every
holiday.
Sure, it is like what to turnthe music on.
Yeah, give them some calmingtreats.
Yes, it is real fun for that.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yeah, that's hard.
That's all those things arehard for pups, yeah that's hard.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
All those things are hard for pups.
So do you offer just in Texasor do you do?
Like virtual planning and stufflike that?
So if anybody around thecountry wanted to talk to you
about you know, get on the phonetogether, pick out a theme
design.
I'll send you over a full recap.
But also, once we figure outthat theme and everything, we
create a shopping list for you.
So it's clickable links.
Click them.
They're from a lot of placesthat we love to purchase or
(22:57):
items that I use personally atall of our parties for our
clients and they're just reallygreat, and so we'll tailor it to
the theme, the colors, thedesign.
And then they also have anoption to have a secondary call
where I can help them the day ofwith setting up or anything
else that they might need,depending on where they're at in
the planning process and howfar out they have before their
(23:18):
party.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That makes sense, that's great, that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, what do you think is the biggest joy that
this brings for you, or thebiggest lesson that this has
brought you, this completechange in?
Well, you've been doing thissince 2018 now, so it's been
quite some time right.
So it's been quite some timeright.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Yeah, it has.
It wasn't like my full-time jobup until 2022.
I stayed with the pet resortfor four years and absolutely
loved it, but knew it was mytime to go and do this full-time
because I couldn't do both.
I was getting exhausted, I betyeah.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Working with dogs is still a job.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Even though it brings a lot of joy, it still is a lot
of hard work it is, and myfavorite place to be is in the
middle of the path with 20 to 30dogs just having a blast.
That's my favorite.
People thought I was crazy.
I remember when I actuallyinterviewed for the job, they
looked at me and they were like,well, we have a couple of
positions at our front desk andI was like, oh okay, I really
wanted to be hands-on, I reallywanted to be in daycare and like
(24:24):
the look that they gave me whenI was interviewing.
They were shocked and I'm like Ido.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
That's where I want to be.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Um, and so it was really, really awesome.
But I think the biggest thingthat I've learned throughout
this um, this big change incareer and everything in between
, is just it's never too late todo something you love or to
follow that crazy passion thatyou think everyone's going to
judge you for.
Because if I had stuck it out,I know that I would have been
(24:52):
miserable.
I would have been mentallychecked out half the time,
mentally exhausted.
I don't even know what I wouldhave done afterwards, so many of
my peers had a plan.
They were going to go to apostdoc at a different
university, or they were goingto go into pharmaceuticals or
maybe the sales rep or whateverit was, and I never had an
(25:15):
answer for anyone.
I wasn't sure, and so for me itwas just finally finding what I
wanted to do and then just goingfor it.
It was the scariest thing I'veever done in my entire life, but
it was.
I look back on it now and I'mlike this was the coolest thing
I could have ever done.
It was just so much fun.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Did you feel like there was a?
You know you were being pulledin that direction A little bit,
yeah, Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
A little bit.
I think if we hadn't immersedourselves in the community and
started going to some of thecommunity events, I probably
wouldn't have, and so it's funnyto say that, like creating an
Instagram for my dogs is how Igot pulled into this.
But this day and age, witheveryone Sure.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
That sounds crazy now .
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Loving their dogs.
And then, of course, you knowjust the difference in how pets
are in our lives and in ourfamilies now is just so
drastically different than itwas even just five years ago.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So yeah, yeah, side note, how many people are
usually at these parties andlike how many dogs does it.
Does it vary or do you havelike a limit or yeah, it varies
pretty drastically.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
honestly, I've had up to 38 dogs and then one to two
humans per dog.
That was there and then I'vehad it where it's literally just
the dog that we are celebratingand then all of the humans,
because obviously I have to takeinto account like, how are they
in crowds?
Are they comfortable with otherdogs?
Speaker 1 (26:52):
That was going to be my next question.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Because some of our venues they are outdoors and
they completely fenced in, butit's in the middle of Dallas and
people can be walking kind ofnearby and so if they're
reactive that's probably not thebest venue for them, things
like that.
And so once they book we have aquestionnaire and we do all
these fun things just to makesure, because, with my
(27:15):
background managing the petresort and managing the daycare
beforehand, you know, was ableto give me a lot of those great
tips and just understandings ofwhat we need to do for our dogs
to still make them comfortablewhile we're celebrating them.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
And create a safe space for the people and for the
dogs.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I always say safety and fun go hand in hand.
I used to tell my clients thatat daycare and I always tell all
of them on the call when wehave it.
We have first aid kits for thedogs, first aid kits for the
humans and ironically we've onlyever had to use it for the
humans because of somethingsilly like stubbing their toe or
things like that.
Grabbing their collar and theyran so fast that it like pulled
(27:55):
their finger, you know, and allof that stuff.
But when it comes to likeserving the cake, for safety, we
hand it to the parents andallow them to either feed it to
them by hand or take them to acorner, and or we might just box
it up.
If the dog's not eating itbecause they're just
overstimulated, they can take ithome and enjoy it for dinner.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yeah, this whole conversation is bringing me joy.
Just even talking talking aboutthis, I can see how it's so
great for you.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I am it's so much fun .
Honestly, like the people whoare skeptics, there was one at
my party this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
He was like man oh really, I've never had a party
like guest yes, I've had almostat every party.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Um, he was like man, this party party is better than
any party.
I've had that balloon arch.
I've never had one like that.
And I looked at him and waslike, come back to me at the end
of the party and tell me whatyou think.
Because, we do stay to helpmonitor and restock and just do
all of that for our clients.
But he laughed and afterwardshe was like man, I'm gonna have
to hire you to do my birthdaynext year, I'm just laughing
(28:58):
because they are skeptical, likethis is for a dog, like why are
we doing all this?
And then once they like see thatthe dog's just having a blast,
you get to hang out.
You know people are assistingyou.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, it's a lot of fun, it's for everybody, it's
for the, it's for the petparents just as much as it's for
the dogs.
Definitely, yeah, yeah, oh,that's so sweet.
Well, amanda, do you haveanything else that you want to
share?
Speaker 2 (29:24):
I don't think so.
I think we covered a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I think we did too.
I hope you guys stay safe inthis storm and I so appreciate
you having this chat with me.
This is really sweet and reallyfun, and I will put a link in
the show notes, obviously, tothe work that you do if anybody
wants to get in contact with youto help them plan a sweet
birthday.
What do you call them?
A bark day party?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, we say bark day a lot now I almost feel like,
because saying potty sounds soweird.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Oh, yeah, potty, yeah , yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
My business coach.
She says it sounds like you'repottying.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
The word potty Like a potty potty.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And so ever since she said that, I get self-conscious
and I'm like okay, birthdayparty, you know, just say it
normal, yeah, that makes senseyeah.
But this was great.
Thank you for having me on.
Hopefully it's just a bunch ofrain and nothing else crazy, but
yeah, north Texas weather isvery fun and interesting.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Well, thank you, Amanda.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Baru podcast, as always, ifyou enjoyed the episode, please
don't forget to rate and followus wherever you listen to
podcasts.
You can also follow us onInstagram at Baru podcast.
As always, if you enjoyed theepisode, please don't forget to
rate and follow us wherever youlisten to podcasts.
You can also follow us onInstagram at Baru podcast.
And if you have a story of cancompanionship you'd like to
share with me, or you have aquestion, a suggestion or even a
comment, I would love to hearfrom you.
(30:53):
You can email me, charlotte, atthe Barucom.
All right, you guys, let's chatsoon.
Dogs make the best companions for humans.
This podcast aims to help makehumans better companions for
their dogs.
Welcome to the Beru podcast, amodern lifestyle podcast for
dogs and their people.
I'm your host, charlotte Bain.
I've been caring for otherpeople's dogs for more than 15
(00:21):
years and while I've learned alot in my career, I definitely
don't know it all.
So I've collected anever-evolving roster of amazing
dog people and I learn newthings from them all the time.
Hi, you guys, thank you so muchfor joining me for this episode
(00:46):
of the Baru Podcast.
In today's chat, I am joined byAmanda Shaw, founder of the Bark
Day Planner.
Amanda shares her journey fromleaving her background as a
neuroscientist to finding herpassion as a full-service event
planner that specializes increating incredible birthday
parties for your caninecompanion.
A little side note that sincerecording this episode, amanda
(01:10):
had to say goodbye to one of herbeloved pups, so our heart goes
out to Amanda and her family asthey navigate this difficult
loss.
All right, you guys, let's jumpinto the chat.
I'm so excited to chat with youbecause you've kind of like
(01:34):
switched up your life to offersomething like super fun for pet
parents, and also it seems likeit would be a fun job to have.
So you are an event planner fordog birthday parties, which is
like so cute and I'm just socurious.
What was the inspiration behindthat?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
So the inspiration was.
It all stemmed from our goldendoodle Teddy.
So that's what I figured.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
While I was in my PhD , we PhD.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
We grew our family pretty quickly Once we got
married.
We ended up with four dogs andthe Instagram world started with
creating a really fun Instagramfor your pets.
And, of course, we jumped onthat bandwagon as being dog
parents and we decided to throwone once we started doing more
with the community and it justlit a fire inside of me.
Um, it was kind of random, butit was super fun and I'm glad
(02:29):
that it happened.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
What were you doing before you started throwing
doggy birthday?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
parties.
I was working in scientificresearch and then I started my
PhD in neuroscience at UTMB inGalveston.
When I actually got accepted, Ireceived my acceptance letter,
opened it.
I panicked because I think Ijust knew in my gut it wasn't
what I wanted to do, but it wasthere and it was long years, you
(03:00):
know, hard work, all of thatcompiling into what you should
do.
And so I panicked and afterworking in the lab I would go,
and I was an apprentice for awedding planner.
So I decided to start thislittle internship on the side
and see maybe I should ventureinto this instead of accepting
this next week.
And I did not like weddings, itwas not for me, so that was
(03:25):
good, Um, but it was funny tolook back on.
I panicked, went and didsomething in the event industry
and it should have been a sign.
But it was really good to learnthose different, you know, just
lessons and everythingthroughout the three years that
I was doing that.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
I love that and so, um, that's quite a shift from
scientific research to partyplanning for your pup.
How did, like everybody else inyour life, respond to that?
Were they pretty supportive?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
For the most part, everyone was supportive.
I think there was a few thatwere just like question marks,
like why, what is this?
Like wait a minute, you're,you're leaving your PhD, that
you're almost done.
Like you're getting there.
You know, you maybe have twoyears left.
I say almost, you never know.
But um, you're leaving that togo manage a doggy daycare and do
(04:15):
dog parties, what Like it wasjust they were so confused.
But once they understood why Iwas doing it and the logic and
like how I set myself up to makesure I was still financially
good with my stipend, I wasgetting from school and
everything like that, it waslike, okay, well, we understand
it.
I think my parents were alittle confused at first, and
(04:36):
then my husband.
He was super supportive fromthe get go because I proposed it
to him and so it was reallygood.
But there were, you know,people in my science life that
were very just confused and youknow I don't really talk to them
anymore and that's fine.
We went on two different pathsbut for the most part everyone
was supportive.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Right, it's so fascinating.
How so you think it's so itstemmed from your was the golden
doodle, your first pup.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, my first pup is Lola.
We just threw her, probably oneof the biggest parties I've
done.
Um, she's obsessed with tennisballs and she's 14 and she is
hopefully in full remissionwe're not 100 sure with her
cancer.
So, um, she was my first pupand we did small things like hey
, everyone come to this breweryand we're gonna bring her cake
and everyone can sit inside andhang out.
(05:26):
But we didn't do it to thelevel that I had started kind of
doing for our golden doodle, um, and so he was actually our
fourth out of the four.
He was the last one to kind ofcome in and, um, yeah, we just.
It was his birthday and Idecided to do something a little
bigger and just invite randompeople off Instagram I had never
met in my entire life.
(05:47):
Bring your dog, come, hang out.
And some of them becamelifelong friends that I've been
in their weddings and it'screated a really, really awesome
, just community of people thatI know friendships, vendors, you
know everything in between.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I love that.
It sounds so joyful it is.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I absolutely love it.
Everyone is like, why did youniche down so much, like you
could do kids birthday partiesand baby showers and graduation,
like all these things, and I'mlike, well, I just love animals.
I always did.
From a young age I thought Iwas going to be a veterinarian
and I didn't know that there wasall these other you know
(06:28):
outlets in the pet industry orin animal care that you could do
that were you know a littledifferent.
They just don't talk about thatin high school and going into
college and things.
So I did science because that'swhat I was told.
You know it's really great youhave so many different options.
You can be a PA, a nurse,scientific research, whatever.
And so that's what I didbecause it was a good option and
(06:49):
it just wasn't the right optionfor me.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Right, I think that you know, I think that moving we
didn't always have theseopportunities.
You know, in the pet industryit's just such a growing.
It's such a growing industrynow and so opportunities are all
around us.
And I mean, I didn't know Icould make a living when I
started my dog care business.
(07:13):
It was really just kind of togive myself a break.
I didn't quite know what I wasdoing.
I wanted, I was an actress andit was just kind of supposed to
be to kind of supplement.
I loved animals, I want tospend all my time with my pup.
But it blew into this wholefull-fledged job and I was not,
(07:34):
which I love and I'm so gratefulfor it.
But I had no idea it could.
It could do that Right, and Icould, it could bring me so much
joy and I felt I also felt alittle bit of you know judgment,
just kind of like wait, whatare you doing?
You're going off to work withdogs, you know, instead of you
know going back to school anddoing something else if you
don't want to do the acting.
No, no, I'm going to go spendsome time with my dog and see
(07:56):
how I can make that work.
So I mean, the opportunitiesare there.
First of all, I'm so sorry thatyour pup is had cancer and she,
but she's looking good, she'sin remission yes, so far, so
good.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We caught it in august.
She had surgery immediately.
What?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
kind of cancer.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
May I ask?
It was um anal sacadenocarcinoma?
Okay, you have a client whojust said that.
Yeah, yeah, it's a prettyaggressive one say, and it can
move to the lymph nodes prettyquickly.
We opted not to put her throughchemo.
Just with her age and herarthritis, we didn't want to put
(08:37):
her through that.
Plus, it's an hour drive fromwhere we live to get to the
oncologist and she hates the car.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Oh, so it's so stressful yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Yes, Going every other week and giving her the
trazodone.
She looks at me like mom.
Why do I feel like this?
And I just don't want to dothat.
So we opted for all naturaloptions and herbs and she, she
loves most of them.
She gets them daily and she'sbeen doing great.
She just loves to play ball.
Um, she gets them daily andshe's been doing great.
(09:07):
She just loves to play ball,run around and hang out and
sleep and get her peanut butteryeah, that sounds good.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
That's about it.
My dog has started picking that.
He goes through periods oftimes where he'll eat his herbs,
but then he's now.
He's now in the phase where hestarts picking all of them out
of his food, like all of thesupplements she does.
Does that with.
Yeah, I don't know.
Are you there?
Speaker 2 (09:29):
I think I lost you there for just a little bit.
We have some pretty bad weathercoming through, so I don't know
if it's it's been crazy, I know, and technical difficulties.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
All the things are happening right now.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I know.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
It's always something .
So I'm so curious, like whatwas so when you were planning
someone's birthday party forsomeone's pup?
What are some can you share,like some of the?
Well, let's start with justwhat are the some of the basics.
When it what, what is abirthday party for a pup look
like?
When someone, if someone, whatone of my listeners is just
(10:03):
thinking like I'd like to plan abirthday party for my pup, but
what does that actually mean andwhat does that look like?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Can we talk a little bit about that, definitely so a
lot of my clients.
They'll find me a lot of timesfor first birthday parties or
big milestones, so they reachout to us and I like to do a
free consultation call just toget a better idea of what their
vision is, what they're wanting,so the process can be easy when
planning for them.
(10:28):
The biggest thing that wetypically talk about is venue,
because a lot of times like, say, for my client coming up at the
end of April, he's not mobile,so we need an indoor venue
that's got either some grip or,if we can bring in turf grassing
, things like that.
Plus, it's Texas, so theweather is really really fun and
(10:49):
chaotic.
So having some indoor, outdoorvenue options is really nice for
my clients.
But venue is always a topchoice that people are like I
really need to know what venueoptions you offer.
Of course, the cake if they haveany allergies.
We always go over those beforeI reach out to my vendors to
make sure that we don't have anyissues with treats or the cake
(11:12):
or different things like that.
And then we'll also talk aboutactivities, because keeping them
, you know, mentally stimulatedand enriched and having some fun
things for them to do, whetherit's a ball pit or a ball
launcher, or doing some arts andcrafts, where they make their
own portrait with, you know,little canvas and paint, and
they look at peanut butter.
Even just some fun cup cups forthe humans to kind of decorate,
(11:34):
take a cute photo of them, letthem dive in with either some
coconut whip or regular whip,whichever they prefer, just
those fun things.
And then also on the other side, we'll think of some things for
the humans.
Do we want to have some humangames for the guests to play?
Do they want to have somedrinks or possibly an open bar,
sandwiches or cupcakes, a cakefor them to everyone.
(12:05):
But of course the pup is thebiggest, you know, concern.
We want to ensure that theyhave everything they want.
And then we go into themes.
So the themes is something thatI love because I want to bring
the personality out from the pup.
So if they love something orhave a meaning behind their name
, anything like that, I want toknow.
So I can try and incorporatethose aspects, especially if
they don't have a theme alreadypicked out.
So I can give them like threeto five options on themes and
(12:28):
just let them envision which oneworks best for them and their
pup.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
I love that.
This is so sweet.
Have you had any like um Anyjust wacky requests?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I've had a few.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Okay, If you don't mind sharing.
We don't have to say names, butI would love to know some of
the wacky things that peoplerequest for their pups and stuff
like that.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
So some wacky stuff.
I would say one of the funniestthings recently was, um it's.
It goes back to the themeselection.
Sometimes they're not thinkingabout how this could be
incorporated into a theme, butthey just are like I'm obsessed
with it.
Um, so one of the pups has anemotional support stuffed
(13:17):
broccoli that he takeseverywhere.
I know.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Oh my God, I love that so much and emotional
support stuff.
So that's his, that's his likelittle stuff, animal, but it's a
broccoli yes.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
And it's in shape of broccoli, and so that was what
she put down as the theme, and Ijust remember being like how am
I going to make an entirebroccoli party?
How am I going to do this?
Like it's?
How am I going to do theballoons?
How are we going to make theentire broccoli party?
How am I going to do this?
Like it's?
How am I going to do theballoons?
How are we going to make thecake?
Like?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
can I?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
make it look like a broccoli head.
You know what I mean, um.
So I gave two options.
We could do all out broccoli,figure it out, make it cute.
I started doing my mood boardand everything, um.
Or we can do farmer's marketand incorporate a lot of
broccoli aspects.
And so we went with thefarmer's market.
It's super cute.
Do some broccoli veggie boardsfor the humans just to snack on,
(14:09):
and then, of course,incorporate some really fun
balloons that have the differentshapes of different vegetables
and all that fun stuff.
So sometimes it's funny when Iget the inquiries because people
are like I just know I wantthis, but I don't know how to
say it, so I just want broccoli,and so it's really funny.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
My dog would love that, because my dog loves
broccoli, so he'd be all overthat.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Right, it's so funny that he likes broccoli.
It's so weird, yeah, and youwere going to say another one,
um, another one would probablybe, um I'm trying to think back
to a few of them Um, just thethings and this might seem
outrageous to other peoplebecause of the money cost, right
, but videography, having avideographer there because,
(14:59):
honestly, a lot of these partiesfor my clients are about
memories.
They want to keep the memory oftheir pet with them forever and,
yes, photos are great, but ifyou can look back on that video
in 10 years and just have thatmoment where they're still happy
and healthy and having a greattime and everything is about
them and you're celebrating thelife that you get with them,
that's one of the biggest things.
So I don't know if it'soutrageous or wacky, but it is
(15:22):
something that other people Ihad someone say it to me this
weekend people spend what for adog party and it's like you know
what.
They spend it for their kidswhy not for our kids?
Because a lot of my clientscan't have kids, right, or they
opt not to for whatever personalreasons or at this moment in
their life, right, and so it's.
(15:44):
It's a special moment that Ithink is really really special
having videography or even justphotography.
It's really great to have thoseprecious moments just captured
into you know a document you canopen up and look at whenever
you want.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I love that I was just actually thinking like I
have, you know, thousands ofphotos of my dogs and of my own
dog and and all of the and andof my clients.
But I have.
I was just thinking I have veryfew videos of him, um, and as
he's aging, um, I was just litliterally just thinking that I
(16:18):
needed to take more videos ofhim because just to capture, you
know, his movements and thelittle looks that he makes and
all of those little things youknow so.
I think it's a great idea.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I love that I always take like cute little videos
while they're sleeping and myhusband thinks I'm crazy.
I don't know if I told you butwe have seven dogs.
Oh my gosh, you have seven.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Oh my gosh, what kind of dogs Are they all rescues?
Or are they just all ahodgepodge of different dogs?
A?
Speaker 2 (16:50):
hodgepodge of everything.
I love it.
Some of them are rehomed, someare rescues, some are just from
the pound.
Both of our first ones.
Yeah, just a little bit ofeverything.
Both of our first ones.
Just a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
And they all get along pretty well, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
They're all spread out pretty well, where you've
got your seniors and then thealmost seniors and then we've
got one that's just kind of he'sin between he's about to be
five, so he's just there andthen the two younger babies that
are three and two, so they justkind of pick their bestie andie
and play and have their youknow favorites.
I feel like the one that's therescue.
(17:27):
She went through three otherhomes before us so she's taken a
long time to adjust.
I think probably last year wasthe first year.
She's like rolled over let usactually give her a belly rub
and like been more vulnerablewith us, not sleeping in a
curled position by herself.
Um, but she, she doesn't I.
I sometimes say we should havelet her live with my mother
(17:50):
because she would totally loveto be the only dog.
Yeah, yeah, but besides suey,everyone else loves one another.
Yeah, she's like a cat anyway,so she just just does.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, she likes she just likes to keep to herself
yeah, absolutely.
Um, what was my next question?
Oh, do you have?
Have you ever had a dog?
Like when, when you're throwingthe birthday party, just kind
of be like what the hell is thisLike?
What are we doing?
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yes, I've had the birthday pup kind of look like
that at first, yeah, um, yes, Imean sometimes it is a lot.
At the party we have just thispast weekend, for reference,
there was a dog that came andshe was super sweet, really
great.
She was the first dog with thebirthday pup and so they knew
each other.
But then once other dogs andpeople started arriving, you
(18:40):
could tell she would stick withmom she was a little nervous,
nervous had a little bit of youknow the salivation, just
nervous in general.
And I asked her yes, I told hermom.
You know she asked me is sheokay?
Do you think she's fine?
I'm like you know.
She just is overstimulated withthe environment.
There's new people, there's newplace smells treats dogs.
(19:01):
There's new people, there's newplace, smells treats dog.
It's definitely something thathappens quite a bit, especially
when they first walk in.
They're like what is this?
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Yeah, they're like and is this about me?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Yes.
Or when you sing happy birthdayand they're standing over there
or they have their cake infront of them, they're like am I
supposed to lick this?
Can I yet Like what's going on?
And then there's others thatare just like I know this whole
day is about me and they run inand they're having a blast and
they're jumping in the pool andall that fun stuff.
So it's funny to see thedifferences.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Those are your labs, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Yes, or the Goldens man they love water, my sister's
pup.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Every time you would sing happy.
He thought every birthday wasabout him because he got cake
one day on someone's birthdayand so anytime he would hear the
song happy birthday he wouldimmediately think it was like he
was going to get some cake andit was his time.
It was so funny.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
I love that it was so cute, yeah, all of my dogs know
the word cake, especially ourbird, and when they would go to
work with me and daycare, wewould have daycare parties, you
know, monthly, and so they wouldbring out the cake and they
would say that word a lot.
And so if he is being stubbornand not wanting to come inside,
I'll just have to yell do youwant some cake, sanford?
(20:22):
And he comes barreling in thehouse.
It's hilarious, that's so cute.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Is he like?
I'm sure is he like your littleassistant.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
No, he's a big goober , he's just a mess.
I would say Lola's probably mybest assistant.
She's just the best all around.
You know those ones from thepound that you have no clue what
they are, but they're just thebest, that's my guy, yeah, yeah,
he's my little assistant forsure.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, that's so sweet .
So do you do jokes?
Do you do what happened guys?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
sorry, that was a huge crack of thunder.
I don't know if you heard thatI'm sorry no, I heard something.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Yeah, like you went in and out a little bit.
Oh, so is it.
Is it about to storm?
Speaker 2 (21:05):
yeah, right now.
It's been storming all daypretty much here it's supposed
to come through and be prettybad today and tomorrow,
unfortunately I'm so sorry.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
And are the pups okay ?
Did so they?
So they heard this.
Do any?
Do they all do okay, thunder?
Because I know that's a bigtrigger for a lot of pups.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Most of the time.
Yeah, suey is just.
She likes to alert because shedoesn't know what it is.
So that's her.
But Lola used to be the worstwith her cancer and now, being
on this CBD oil, her hearing isgoing a little bit, so she's
fully asleep right now.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I can see her.
She is out, not even moving atall.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Everyone else could care less.
Half of them are asleep rightnow, everywhere, wherever they
are.
So, thankfully, but fireworksare horrific.
For our about three or four ofthem, it's pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
They're scary for all of us.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I know and we live.
I guess it's like fireworkscity out here.
I don't know why.
I guess it's like firework cityout here, I don't know why, but
it's like huge stands wherepeople go and buy them for every
holiday.
Sure, it is like what to turnthe music on.
Yeah, give them some calmingtreats.
Yes, it is real fun for that.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yeah, that's hard.
That's all those things arehard for pups, yeah that's hard.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
All those things are hard for pups.
So do you offer just in Texasor do you do?
Like virtual planning and stufflike that?
So if anybody around thecountry wanted to talk to you
about you know, get on the phonetogether, pick out a theme
design.
I'll send you over a full recap.
But also, once we figure outthat theme and everything, we
create a shopping list for you.
So it's clickable links.
Click them.
They're from a lot of placesthat we love to purchase or
(22:57):
items that I use personally atall of our parties for our
clients and they're just reallygreat, and so we'll tailor it to
the theme, the colors, thedesign.
And then they also have anoption to have a secondary call
where I can help them the day ofwith setting up or anything
else that they might need,depending on where they're at in
the planning process and howfar out they have before their
(23:18):
party.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
That makes sense, that's great, that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, what do you think is the biggest joy that
this brings for you, or thebiggest lesson that this has
brought you, this completechange in?
Well, you've been doing thissince 2018 now, so it's been
quite some time right.
So it's been quite some timeright.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Yeah, it has.
It wasn't like my full-time jobup until 2022.
I stayed with the pet resortfor four years and absolutely
loved it, but knew it was mytime to go and do this full-time
because I couldn't do both.
I was getting exhausted, I betyeah.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Working with dogs is still a job.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Even though it brings a lot of joy, it still is a lot
of hard work it is, and myfavorite place to be is in the
middle of the path with 20 to 30dogs just having a blast.
That's my favorite.
People thought I was crazy.
I remember when I actuallyinterviewed for the job, they
looked at me and they were like,well, we have a couple of
positions at our front desk andI was like, oh okay, I really
wanted to be hands-on, I reallywanted to be in daycare and like
(24:24):
the look that they gave me whenI was interviewing.
They were shocked and I'm like Ido.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
That's where I want to be.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Um, and so it was really, really awesome.
But I think the biggest thingthat I've learned throughout
this um, this big change incareer and everything in between
, is just it's never too late todo something you love or to
follow that crazy passion thatyou think everyone's going to
judge you for.
Because if I had stuck it out,I know that I would have been
(24:52):
miserable.
I would have been mentallychecked out half the time,
mentally exhausted.
I don't even know what I wouldhave done afterwards, so many of
my peers had a plan.
They were going to go to apostdoc at a different
university, or they were goingto go into pharmaceuticals or
maybe the sales rep or whateverit was, and I never had an
(25:15):
answer for anyone.
I wasn't sure, and so for me itwas just finally finding what I
wanted to do and then just goingfor it.
It was the scariest thing I'veever done in my entire life, but
it was.
I look back on it now and I'mlike this was the coolest thing
I could have ever done.
It was just so much fun.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Did you feel like there was a?
You know you were being pulledin that direction A little bit,
yeah, Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
A little bit.
I think if we hadn't immersedourselves in the community and
started going to some of thecommunity events, I probably
wouldn't have, and so it's funnyto say that, like creating an
Instagram for my dogs is how Igot pulled into this.
But this day and age, witheveryone Sure.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
That sounds crazy now .
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Loving their dogs.
And then, of course, you knowjust the difference in how pets
are in our lives and in ourfamilies now is just so
drastically different than itwas even just five years ago.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
So yeah, yeah, side note, how many people are
usually at these parties andlike how many dogs does it.
Does it vary or do you havelike a limit or yeah, it varies
pretty drastically.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
honestly, I've had up to 38 dogs and then one to two
humans per dog.
That was there and then I'vehad it where it's literally just
the dog that we are celebratingand then all of the humans,
because obviously I have to takeinto account like, how are they
in crowds?
Are they comfortable with otherdogs?
Speaker 1 (26:52):
That was going to be my next question.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Because some of our venues they are outdoors and
they completely fenced in, butit's in the middle of Dallas and
people can be walking kind ofnearby and so if they're
reactive that's probably not thebest venue for them, things
like that.
And so once they book we have aquestionnaire and we do all
these fun things just to makesure, because, with my
(27:15):
background managing the petresort and managing the daycare
beforehand, you know, was ableto give me a lot of those great
tips and just understandings ofwhat we need to do for our dogs
to still make them comfortablewhile we're celebrating them.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
And create a safe space for the people and for the
dogs.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I always say safety and fun go hand in hand.
I used to tell my clients thatat daycare and I always tell all
of them on the call when wehave it.
We have first aid kits for thedogs, first aid kits for the
humans and ironically we've onlyever had to use it for the
humans because of somethingsilly like stubbing their toe or
things like that.
Grabbing their collar and theyran so fast that it like pulled
(27:55):
their finger, you know, and allof that stuff.
But when it comes to likeserving the cake, for safety, we
hand it to the parents andallow them to either feed it to
them by hand or take them to acorner, and or we might just box
it up.
If the dog's not eating itbecause they're just
overstimulated, they can take ithome and enjoy it for dinner.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yeah, this whole conversation is bringing me joy.
Just even talking talking aboutthis, I can see how it's so
great for you.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I am it's so much fun .
Honestly, like the people whoare skeptics, there was one at
my party this past weekend.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
He was like man oh really, I've never had a party
like guest yes, I've had almostat every party.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Um, he was like man, this party party is better than
any party.
I've had that balloon arch.
I've never had one like that.
And I looked at him and waslike, come back to me at the end
of the party and tell me whatyou think.
Because, we do stay to helpmonitor and restock and just do
all of that for our clients.
But he laughed and afterwardshe was like man, I'm gonna have
to hire you to do my birthdaynext year, I'm just laughing
(28:58):
because they are skeptical, likethis is for a dog, like why are
we doing all this?
And then once they like see thatthe dog's just having a blast,
you get to hang out.
You know people are assistingyou.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Yeah, it's a lot of fun, it's for everybody, it's
for the, it's for the petparents just as much as it's for
the dogs.
Definitely, yeah, yeah, oh,that's so sweet.
Well, amanda, do you haveanything else that you want to
share?
Speaker 2 (29:24):
I don't think so.
I think we covered a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I think we did too.
I hope you guys stay safe inthis storm and I so appreciate
you having this chat with me.
This is really sweet and reallyfun, and I will put a link in
the show notes, obviously, tothe work that you do if anybody
wants to get in contact with youto help them plan a sweet
birthday.
What do you call them?
A bark day party?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Yeah, we say bark day a lot now I almost feel like,
because saying potty sounds soweird.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Oh, yeah, potty, yeah , yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
My business coach.
She says it sounds like you'repottying.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
The word potty Like a potty potty.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And so ever since she said that, I get self-conscious
and I'm like okay, birthdayparty, you know, just say it
normal, yeah, that makes senseyeah.
But this was great.
Thank you for having me on.
Hopefully it's just a bunch ofrain and nothing else crazy, but
yeah, north Texas weather isvery fun and interesting.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
Well, thank you, Amanda.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Of course, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Baru podcast, as always, ifyou enjoyed the episode, please
don't forget to rate and followus wherever you listen to
podcasts.
You can also follow us onInstagram at Baru podcast.
As always, if you enjoyed theepisode, please don't forget to
rate and follow us wherever youlisten to podcasts.
You can also follow us onInstagram at Baru podcast.
And if you have a story of cancompanionship you'd like to
share with me, or you have aquestion, a suggestion or even a
comment, I would love to hearfrom you.
(30:53):
You can email me, charlotte, atthe Barucom.
All right, you guys, let's chatsoon.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!