Speaker 1: This is pet Life Radio. Let's talk pets.
Speaker 2: Hello pet lovers, Welcome to the Best Buds for Pets. I'm
your show host, Michelle Fern, and what a great show
I have for you today. You know it's new year,
and what do we think about when we think about
our pets in the new year? We want them looking good? Right,
start the year with them looking good. And for me,
the start of the year lasts about the first quarter,
so we're still on the start of the year. So
I'm excited to introduce my next guest. Stay tuned. We'll
be right back.
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Speaker 4: Let's talk pets on Petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome Maria Fernandez. She
is the senior director of brand and product development for Tweezerman.
Welcome Maria. Thank you so much. Michelle ts on the show.
I am drilled to have you on this show, so
talk a little bit about this prior to the show.
But I just have to say, Tweezerman, I mean, you
have the best tweezers and people that are listening these
are for people, of course, the Tweezers, but the people
Tweezers are, They're the best there are. I don't care
if you're like another brand or whatever, No, try Tweezerman.
I'm not getting paid or a stash of Tweezers. I
wish to say this, but they have the best, best tweezers,
and I'm so excited to hear that they've come out
fairly new, but they've come out with pet grooming tools.
So Maria, keeping in mind that Tweezerman is well known
for their tweezing products, you know, the Tweezers and all
kinds of products that are in that same family of
grooming for people, how does that craftsmanship and philosophy translate
to pet grooming tools.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Michelle. That's so true about our brand. We
definitely stand behind our quality and we take really good
pride in our tweezers as well as all of the
other products. We want to make sure with every product
we put out there, the product is doing what it's
intended to do in a precise way, with a quality
that's going to stay with you for the long term.
And we wanted to make sure that we were extending
that every member of the household. We have products for
humans of every age, every demographic as well as baby
and pets are our baby, so why not have them
also included in our grooming routines. We wanted to ensure
that this collection was delivering all of the safety standards,
all of the quality standards, and giving parents a product
that could really really trust to bring home to their
pets and give them the best possible care during their
grooming routine.
Speaker 2: Thank you. And let's talk about grooming for a minute,
because some of us, you know, take our pets to
a groomer, and some of us prefer to do the
grooming ourselves, and some of us are in between. You know,
we might if we live in warm climates, even though
people are on the fence about that, but do maybe
a shorter coat for our dogs during that, you know,
warmer months, But otherwise we just self groom. Why is
it important for pet parents to know that the quality
of the grooming tools that you use on your pets
are so important? So what would be the biggest risks
for someone using low quality grooming tools and what are
the benefits of using high quality grooming tools?
Speaker 5: Absolutely, Michelle, we consulted with groomors along the entire development process.
We know that there are so many pet parents out
there who are just so comfortable going to the groomer,
and some might be scared of grooming at home. Our
goal was to take that stress away and to bring
tools that have safety features built in. So some of
the things that we were learning throughout our research and
development process and working with not only groomers, but also
that is that using a low quality tool can actually
risk your pets hats. For example, let's say you're using
a low quality nail clipper. You're going to have to
put so much more force into that clipper to get
one smooth cut for your pet, and that leads the
pet to have added pain, stress, discomfort, and eventually they
grow really, really tired and really scared of ever being groomed.
And we want to make sure the pets are comfortable.
We want it to be a bonding routine with the
pet parent. We want them to want to be brushed,
So we ensured all of our products have those safety
features to let your pet really have this moment of pampering,
bonding with your owner, with your pet parent, and that
they feel safe. So we build in safety features. So,
for example, our clippers are super sharp and are going
to cut in one smooth motion, so that reduces the
level of stress on the pet and the amount that
you have to spend grooming them. Our slicker brushes, for example,
have these safety tips that are going to prevent the
skin from being scratched. And that's a health concern right
there that we wanted to address, and we wanted to
make sure that we were eliminating mistakes that could be
made in the grooming process that later end up with
an unfortunate situation during a bed visit. For example, ticks.
A lot of people use our bro Tweezers, and we
love that people love our tweezers, but they're not really
made to remove ticks. What could end up happening is
they're too sharp, the tick is actually caught in half,
and now you're leaving part of the tick under the skin,
which will lead to an infection. So we wanted to
make sure that we were bringing products that again could
be trusted by the pet parent and could develop this
sense of nurturing for the pet. We want them to
feel comfortable and we want to really make it like
a spot experience, just like we would for a human.
Speaker 2: Thank you for that information. I'm glad you mentioned your
tick toll because ticks are so crucial for pet parents
to watch out for. Ticks. Not only are they bad
for your pet, they can transport, you know, all kinds
of illnesses to people. And contrary to what some people believe,
they don't just exist in you know, the forest or
you know, hiking in the woods or something like that.
My dog had picked up ticks just around my neighborhood
and it's crucial, You're right, so crucial to have the
right tool to remove that. Tis if you leave half
of that ticks in your dog and it burrows, you're
talking a lot of discomfort for your fur babe and
a huge vet bill.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and we always talk about prevention when it comes
to ticks, but there are circumstances in which you cannot prevent,
and we wanted to make sure that we had a
tick tweezer that was specifically designed for those moments and
that will allow any pet parent to remove that tick
in a way that is safe for their pet and
easy to use, but also stands behind the same Tweezerman
standard that we follow for human grooming tweezers. So that
was something that we were very cautious with in terms
of how we engineered it, as well as how we
incorporated all of the groomer and vet feedback into From
a safety perspective.
Speaker 2: What has been your feedback on using quality tools when
talking to veternarians or professional groomers.
Speaker 5: We have learned so much from our partners on the
that side as well as the groomer side, so we
wanted to get both perspectives. They're both important and from
the groomer's side, they're really doing these routines day in
and day out, and they have so much exposure into
different coats and nail sizes, and they have used so
many products in the market, and we wanted to understand
from them, what are the challenges that they were facing.
How could we bring something that would be of the
best quality that they could trust so they wouldn't have
to replace it so frequently, because a lot of them
were telling us we're replacing our tools every six months.
How do we get something that we can either send
in for sharpening or that we can just trust over
a long period of time. And that's what Tweetament is.
So that was our main goal. And then from the
vet side, we were learning, listen here to the mistakes
I see pet parents making when they're grooming their pets.
Here are some of the scenarirators that we have experience
that have led to treatment or infection, and here's how
you prevent them. So I was talking about a slicker
brush before and the safety tips that were built into
them to prevent the skin scratching. It is so easy
to scratch your pet not even realize it because all
of that is underneath the cop and the fur, and
one of us want to harm our pets and they
might not be able to express that discomfort. So when
we were building those specifically, we tested them with different
tips and different finishes to ensure we were delivering a
brush that was going to make that pet feel like
they were going to the spall, like they were getting
a massage, and they were getting to just relax and
spend time with their owner. But so many other things
are important, for example, how heavy the product is, because
we don't want to fatigue the human who's using it.
How noisy it is. If it's too noisy, it's going
to essentially scare the pet into running away from their routine.
So it was all about learning about what makes the
product function its best, but also what makes it safe
for the pet to learn that chroming is not a
negative experience. It can be a bonding ritual with your
pet parent.
Speaker 2: So Maria, being you know a human, I've used your Tweezers,
which I shouted about at the beginning of the show,
I've used your tweezers for years, and even though I'll
sometimes acquire a new one, I love the fact that
you guys were sustainable before that was a thing, because
you sharpened the tweezers for the life that you have
the Tweezers. I believe there's no charge, there's just a
minimal fee for postage. So I think one of my
tweezers is twenty years old thanks to being we sharpened
a few times. So is this benefit also available for
Tweezerman pet tools.
Speaker 5: Yes. Absolutely. When we said we want to make sure
that the pet collection follows the brand values over a
human collection, we made sure that sharpening was included. So
you can send in any of your pet collection shears,
scissors and the tick tweezer in for sharpening, say an
exact process that you just mentioned for our Tweezers. You
basically go on our site, fill out a form, shippen
in will gladly sharpen it for you. It does extend
the lifetime off the tools, and we're happy to do
that because, like you said, we have so many people
who write into us and say, I've had my tweezers
for over forty years. It was passed down to me
from my mother, my grandmother. It holds a special sentimental
value for me and I want to keep it and
that's why I'm loyal to your brands. So we know
that makes a big difference, and we wanted to make
sure that was part of the pet collection as.
Speaker 2: Well, and that's very cost effective as well.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, yes, it definitely ensures that you have a tool
that will stay with you for the long term.
Speaker 2: Exactly, we're going to take a short break while we write.
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Speaker 3: Let's talk past, Let's done, Pets talk about radio headline Radio.
Speaker 4: Pet Live radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. We're talking to Maria Fernandez. She is
the senior director of Brand and Product Development at Tweezerman
and we're talking about their line of Tweezermen pet grooming tools.
So we're going to talk a little bit more about
beauty in this section of the show. But I have
to ask what is the one grooming tool that every
pet parent should have.
Speaker 5: I would absolutely say every pet parent needs a nail clipper.
Nail clipping is a grooming routine that can be a
little bit scary for parents, but with the right tool
and the right education on how to clip the nail,
it is so essential to your pets health. We know
that if you don't cut the nails, they can long
way past the comfort level that your pets need, but
in some breeds could actually lead to other potential health issues.
So getting comfortable with just clipping your pet at home
every four weeks every six weeks is crucial to their
routine and something that every pet parent should have in
their home. As I mentioned earlier, we ensured that our
clippers were very sharp, so that when you cut that nail,
it's doing it in one motion and clipping off what
you're intended to do without requiring much force from the
pet parent. And we also have a safety feature build
in so that the clipper has a self closing mechanism
so when you're leaving it around, it's not going to
lead to any harm for your humans or babies or pets.
Speaker 2: And I agree with you it is essential to have
a nail clipper on him. And I mean I have
cats now just my dogs are in doggy rainbow Bridge
or the special place they go besides my heart. So
I have cats and cats normally will you know, use
a scratcher, but I have a glazy one, so I
check his nails every so often and he's chill, which
I'm grateful for. And I use the Tweezermen nail clippers,
even though are they good for cats as well as dogs?
Speaker 5: Absolutely, Our small clipper is designed for both dogs and cats.
In fact, the entire collection is to sign for dogs
and cats. There are so many cats that need clipping,
to your point, and they tend to sometimes scratch things
around the house, so you want to make sure those
nails are nice and smooth. So on top of the
small clipper being great for cats, we also do have
a nail file that we tend to give away free
with the purchases on twizemipet dot com. So that's also
a really great tip for anyone who has a cat
that might be scratching on a one day if you're
an inture.
Speaker 2: Well, what I thought was great is that see Dennis
is lazy and being an older cat, his nails can
split and his dew claw nail gets it grows overnight.
I mean I always watch his duke claw nail because
that grows too long that can cause serious problems. And
the Tweezermen clippers were fantastic, and sure they were for
docs or cats. I just used it and it was
fantastic because I have you clippers before, and especially on
nails that could be a little bit softer on an
older cat, they don't clip clean, so you end up
doing part of the nail and its shreds a little bit.
I don't know, maybe my cat is just cooky and
that's what happens. But it's better for so much better
for their health and so much easier. And the fact
that it's easier on cats is a huge plus because
we know how hard it is to cut cats nails.
Speaker 5: You bring up a really great point and something that
we learned during the development process, and that's exactly what
you said. If you're not using the right clipper, if
you're putting too much force, you will end up crushing
the nail, and that will cost splitting over time, and
that splitting can go all the way up to the
vein of the nail and cost a lot of discomfort
for the pets. So that's another great reason why a
quality clipper is so important for everyone to have home
at old times. But also I also had a puppy
that had issues with her nails and would go outside
and accidentally split it, and I had to have something
handy at my home, just like so many people do,
to be able to take away anything that shouldn't have
been there, and hopefully that didn't need to a trip
to the vet. But absolutely the nails are definitely a
health concern and I would highly recommend everybody to have
a cliver on hand.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Let's talk about pet grooming. So there's been
a huge shift in people doing a lot of self
care beauty for pets. Is this a social media thing
or do you think it's because we think of pets
as our kids. We call them for babies, you know,
our children. What's driving this? You know, need to beautify
our pets.
Speaker 5: There's definitely been a shift. I agree with you, and
I believe it started with COVID. People we had the
ability to learn more. There's so much more information on
social media, on AI apps, on any research that you do,
really on the health of your pet. They're so similar
to humans, and they do need that self ritual connection.
They get stressed like us, they feel like us. They
need to be able to have a pampering session. And
people got more comfortable during COVID during those things at home,
and it became a momentum, a movement, really, and I
think it's here to stay. But I don't think it
is limited to social media. I think it is actually
something that humans are doing with their pets. I mean,
I could speak to my own routines with my pets
and what I'm doing with them. But I also speak
to my friends and what they're experiencing at home, and
they're treating them like babies. There are one hundred percent
their babies, and I don't think that's going away. I
think people really want to treat their pets like a
member of the family because they are. They're part of
our household.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so true. So Maria, why do you think pet
parents are even more willing than they used to be
to invest and premium grooming products.
Speaker 5: I think it all ties back to that importance of
health and the abundance of information that we have. Now
we know that a pets body, whether it's a dog
or a cat, they're in a different form than a human,
but in a lot of ways we're similar. So if
we do something for ourselves and for putting better food
in our bodies, and we're using the best possible products
for ourselves, we extend that onto our fur babies, right,
And that's what you want at the end of the day.
You want to purchase for them what is going to
be be best for them, be healthiest for them, And
all that research that you're conducting online is going to
lead you to the products that are going to be
best for your lifestyle, but also best to ensure that
you're giving them the most comfortable and stress free grooming
routine that you can. Grooming can be stressful, so we
want to minimize them. We want to make sure that
the tools that they're being groomed with and pampered with
are actually allowing them to enjoy the moment, the bonding
moment with their parent, which in the end becomes that
little spa feel that we were talking about, that self
ritual of self care and general wellness that is needed,
you know, for your pets just as much as you're
human exactly.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about looks. How would you say the
Tweezerman pet grooming products balance esthetics and style with functionality
and safety. So basically what pet parents probably want our
thinking about is Okay, it works well, but how does
it look? And to me, I want to say, you
guys have not bought Tweezerman Tweezers. They look great, but
how do the pet product line look?
Speaker 5: We wanted to make sure we were building a collection
that was durable over time, so we were selecting the
highest possible quality materials that we could find, and we
designed them in such a way that they are very neutral,
so they can really fit into anyone's design style or
aesthetic right. We wanted to make sure they were esthetically pleasing,
conveyed that they were a product of premium quality, and
ultimately built for the comfort of the human and the pet.
There are a lot of products out there and various
different colors and different materials, but we know over time
those materials tend to get gummy. You have to end
up disposing them every six months. And at the end
of the day, was that if you're buying a twigemine product,
you should be able to keep that for a lifetime,
for the lifetime of your pet. And that's how we
ended up with the design that we have now, which
is built to be premium to stay with you long term,
and it won't get the gummy over time. You won't
have to dispose of it every six months, and as
we said earlier, you can sharpen some of the items
to extend that longevity. So that was the primary focus
for us in delivering a collection that is visually appealing
and most important importantly effective and safe.
Speaker 2: So if you had to build the perfect Tweezemin pet
essential pamper kit or just a gift kit. What would
you say it should include?
Speaker 5: I one hundred percent would gift a slicker brush. I
have seen firsthand pets who have in the past been
scared of a brush, and we have introduced them to
the to our slickerbrush, the Tweeman slicker brush, and I've
visually seen the pet melt away into the brush and routine,
which I just love telling that story. We experienced it
during one of our photoshoots, and I also experienced it
in my personal life, and I love seeing the pet
enjoy the product. I think it's a really good basic
to have. So I would say a slicker brush, a clipper,
and a bathing brush because it makes the things so
much easier. With their two in one shampoo brush, it's
one hand you put in the shampoo and you can
pump and lather at the same time. So I highly
recommend those three items as a gifting basket.
Speaker 2: Great choices. So we have lots and lots of pet
parents listening what is one grooming tip? As a pet
parent and as someone who's done a lot of research,
So what is the one grooming tip every pet parent
should know about, but usually overlooks.
Speaker 5: I think shedding is a big one. Oh yeah, there's
so much research out there about shedding, and it's seasonal
sometimes and sometimes it's not. Sometimes certain pet breeds just
shut year round. And one of the things that we learned,
and I've been applying recently since I just got a
puppy that SuDS a lot more than I've been used to,
is constant brushing really helps with minimizing the shedding and
also bathing super important. You have the consult with your
vet to see what is recommended for the specific breeds
that you have. Sometimes it's every two weeks and sometimes
it's once a month. But keeping up with the baiting
really really reduces the shedding and it keeps your pet safe.
So I think that's one huge takeaway for me that
I would share with everyone because I know shedding can
be very challenging to manage.
Speaker 2: Yes, it can, and I've had seasonal and year round shutters.
I think I have year round now. But with the cats,
they don't discriminate. Every month is good for them to
shed a little bit. So I want to thank you
so much for coming on Best Bets for Pets and
telling us about the tweezerman at grooming tool. Where can
our listeners buy it and find out more about the line.
Speaker 5: So I highly recommend looking at our website, tweezermanpet dot com.
We also just recently launched a blog and we're using
that as an opportunity to partner with different experts in
the field to bring additional education to pet parents and
really make people aware of things that you could do
to keep your pets.
Speaker 2: Safe and where can people buy it?
Speaker 5: So it's available on twisihmanpet dot com as well as
Amazon and Chewy dot com and coming to other retailers soon.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for coming on Best Bets for
Pets and telling us all about tweesmen pet grooming tools.
Speaker 5: Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2: I hope everyone enjoyed this show. I am such a
big bran of Tweezeman products and their pet grooming tools
are fantastic. I did try them out on my nephew
dog and also on my cat crew, so Dennis, Charlotte
and Molly or my cat crew. I tried it out
on Dennis because I'd like my arms, so I wasn't
gonna try Mollie and Charlotte is a scaredy cat, but
Dennis is the laziest at using a scratcher and I
always have to do his nails and I was so impressed.
So thank you Tweezerman again. Thank you Tweezerman for coming
on the show. Thank you Maria. I so appreciate your time.
I want to thank everyone that's listening to Best Bets
for Pets. Wow, it's sixteen years this year. Wow a
lot of shows, So thank you so much for your listenership.
I appreciate it. Thanks to my cat crew, Dennis, Charlotte, Molly,
especially Dennis who not too willingly lent me his paw,
but was very patient and he was happy. It took
so much less time with the Tweezerman now covers, and
of course the show would not be the same without
the magic of my producer. Thank you Mark Winter for
the magic you do on all of our shows. We
appreciate it. And hey, cheap listening. You never know what
we'll have next on Best Bets for Pets.
Speaker 4: Let's Talk pets every week on demand only on petlight
Radio dot com.
Speaker 2: The Mists, alessand