Speaker 1: Hello, pet lovers, Welcome to Best Best for Pets. I'm
your show host, Michelle Burn, and this is our summer
twenty twenty five show. I am a special guest with me,
and we're going to talk about some great tips for
how to keep your dog and your cat safe in
the heat. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone, and welcome to our Summer twenty twenty
five show.
Speaker 2: I have a.
Speaker 1: Special guest today. I'd like to welcome Mark Winter. He
is my producer and he is a sometimes guest on
some shows, and I'm so excited to have him on
Best Bets for Pets to talk about all things summer
to keep your pets safe and healthy during the summer.
Welcome Mark.
Speaker 4: It sure is hot here.
Speaker 1: It is very hot.
Speaker 4: Well we're in Florida. It's hot all year long, but
it's a special hot now.
Speaker 1: It seems like summer is coming earlier and earlier. And
the key thing is pet levels need to be prepared
and need to know certain things. You know of what
to do during the summer because it is hot and
a lot of times people don't keep safety roles in
mind for their pet. I mean, obviously, don't travel with
your dog during the summer unless you have to. If
it's just a local drive and you're taking your dog
for a car ride, it's too hot.
Speaker 4: It's hot, So I mean, if your dogs or your
cats can stay in the air conditioning, that's always best
for them. But I know dogs like to get out
and you know, like to be active, so you know,
if you're taking them to the dog park at the beach,
you have to be prepared definitely.
Speaker 1: And what is the rule for putting your dog in
the car. You should never leave your dog in the
car without air conditioning while you're driving. Of course, don't
leave the air conditioning on and your car on when
you're not in the car. That's another no no. And
what is the rule for heatstroke for dogs?
Speaker 4: It can get to like one hundred and thirty degrees
in like three minutes in your car. So you definitely,
ever don't want to leave your dog in a parked car,
even with the windows cracked. And if you have your
air conditioning on in the car, I mean two things
can happen. The air conditioning could shut off when you're
not there and then it's hot like an oven and there,
or your dog could decide to drive your car away.
Speaker 1: That's true. I've heard of those horrible accidents happening, So
just be really cautious. And for some reason, if you
must travel with your dog, And this happened to me
once when I was traveling years ago across country, I
had to go to the restroom and I was traveling
with my dog, and there was nothing else I could do.
I literally I parked in the shade, put the windows down.
I was literally and it wasn't that warm out and
I was in and out in one minute. I think
people thought I was crazy because I screw ran into
the restroom place. Let me is the restroom, Okay, gotta go,
gotta go. The rush, rush, rush, And this lady lock
looked at me as, what the hell's your problem? I
just said, dog in the car. She was like, oh, cool, cool.
So that's an extreme example, but you get the picture.
Don't put your dog in the car if it's hot
for you. Imagine wearing a fur coat and worse, because
dogs don't sweat like we do, and then that's what
your dog is dealing with. Nuff said. So let's talk
about how to keep your dog from getting heat stroke.
And these tips are from Lorraine Rhodes, who is the
director of health and safety for dog Topia. We're going
to be mentioning these tips throughout the show. Wonderful tips
for keeping your dog safe for the summer. So how
do you keep your dog from getting heat stroke? One,
always make sure your dog has access to fresh water
and shade to stay cool. Make sure that you keep
an eye on your dog. The signs of heat stroke
are excessive panting, rapid heartbeat, drooling, weakness, and remember your
dog can exhibit these symptoms and have heat stroken and
flash during this hot summertimes. At best, keep your dog indoors.
Speaker 4: You've got to pay attention, Like even if you're walking
your dog, you can't just like be on your phone
and you know looking around. I mean, you have to
watch your dog and see if he has any of
those signs. I remember years ago we were walking mister
Zeus and he was a black dog, and I looked
down and I saw that he was panting and he
wanted to sit down. So fortunately we had water bottles
with us, so I wet his head down and his
fur down so to cool him off. And so you
really have to pay attention.
Speaker 1: And speaking of paying attention, also this is very very important,
and this is something that even the most well educated
dog lovers forget about their paws. So here's a rule
of thumb. If the temperature is above eighty five degrees fahrenheit,
be cautious about pavement temperatures. One way to test, take
your foot and put it on the pavement, or put
the back of your hand on the pavement. If it's
too hot for you, it's too hot for your dog,
walk your dog on the grass. If your dog must
go to the dog park. Go to the dog park
early in the morning when it's the coolest, or at dusk.
Speaker 4: I know, we go to these art shows, these art
festivals and craft shows, and I see all these people
walking their dogs on hot pavement. First of all, you
shouldn't bring your dog to one of these anyway, because
they're all the way down on the floor and you
have all these giant people walking by. It might be
frightening for them, but the pavement is hot.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: I feel so bad for these dogs. But you know,
you can't confront people, as you know when you're walking around.
So I mean, anybody that goes either don't bring your
dog or walk on the.
Speaker 1: Grass, well said, I absolutely agree. So we're talking and
know about dog safety and so forth. This is one
of the products that I love to have on hand
because when you least expect it, injuries happen, cuts happen.
So this is a cheat story, mister NICKI. Once while
we were moving, and it was during the weekend, late
Saturday or Sunday, of course, when the vet's not available,
and Nicki's nail just ripped off. Now, NICKI was a
little having these dogies in doggy heaven now. But his
entire nail just ripped off and it's bleeding and bleeding,
and what do you do. You can't just put a
band aid on it. You know. The thing that you
need to have is clotted. It is a great product.
It's clo t T. It's been around for years and
what it does is if your dog is bleeding, it's
a powder that absorbs the blood and keeps the injury
from getting infected. I mean, I love it. It's also
good for any kind of a cut or scratch. Until
you can get to the vet. You can know check
and see if it looks too dangerous of a cut,
of course, go to your vet right immediately. But if
it's something that is not going to get infected, it's
just an irritation and it's bleeding, clotted is the best
way to stop the bleeding and keep the open injury,
you know, safe.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: I used that on myself one time.
Speaker 1: I got it.
Speaker 4: I cut myself and I'm thinking, how am I going
to get this to stop? Because it was like on
my finger and it was like we're really bleeding, and
I remembered we had to clott it for the dogs.
I thought, well, if it works for them, it could
work for me and I put it on. It stings
a little bit, but it worked, so it works for
all of us.
Speaker 1: Definitely, it's one of my favorites to always have on hand.
I've also heard you can use black pepper, but I
don't know under said about that. I've used it once
or twice. I like clotted and you can find it
wherever you find pet products.
Speaker 4: Mark.
Speaker 1: Do you travel if your pet a lot?
Speaker 4: We traveled with the dogs when they were alive, and
it depends. Mister Zeus was not a good traveler. He
used to sit behind the front seat and he wouldn't
even look out the window. He did not like to
be in the car. But mister Nicky was a good traveler.
He would sit on the back seat. He liked to
look out the window, and he didn't jump around. He
just enjoyed the ride. He was a good traveler, so
you could take him anywhere.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Airbnb has released a Spring Trends report, and you know
it's still spring, even though summer's technically weeks away, and
there are so many people that travel with their pets.
They don't want to leave their very plus ones behind.
And you'll never guess. The top trending and pet friendly
destinations for travel on Airbnb Brazil, Uba, Tanuba am I
saying that right, Uba Tuba, Uba, Tuba, Brazil, and that's
a great place for beach loving pups. Again, remember the
heat golf Shores, Alabama. I've heard a lot about Golf Shores,
Alabama recently. A lot of coastline that is very pet
friendly and beautiful beaches and it's kind of an untapped area.
Speaker 4: But if you're traveling with your dog in the United States,
you know going to Alabama is not too I mean
if you're close enough to drive. But the other place
is you have to fly and you have to be
willing to take your dog with you and hopefully you'll
have them on the seat next to you, so you're
going to have to buy a separate ticket for your dog.
Speaker 1: Definitely something to think about. But our folks that are
already in Brazil listening know that Ubatuba, Brazil is a
nice destination and we do have plenty of listeners in
Europe and Amsterdam, Netherlands is also a wonderful dog friendly location.
So if you're traveling, those are the top trendy places.
So let's talk about sunburn. Since we're talking about the heat.
Did you even know dogs could get sunburn?
Speaker 4: Okay, yes, I did know. Dogs can get sunburned, so
you have to be really careful, especially light colored dogs
and you know, really short haired dogs.
Speaker 1: I've heard that too. And I also know that during
the warm times of the day and the warmest temperatures
are generally between ten am and two pm, so during
those times it's best keep your dogs inside. You know,
if your dogs used to be an outside or if
your dogs in and out dog make sure if there
are outside that they have an area that is very shaded,
because dogs can get sunburned just like humans. And if
they're especially short dogs or a thin, light colored fur.
So if you have a short haired white dog or
light colored dog, those dogs are more prone to sunburn.
Then say maybe uh poodle or wall poodles are short
standard poodle or a dog with a lot of fur
like a border collie or a husky, those dogs are
less prone to getting sunburn, but dogs with a lot
of fur are more prone to heatstroke. So fine balance.
But the most important thing is you're ware that dogs
can get sunburn.
Speaker 4: Most dogs and cats, you know, they have black noses,
but some of them have pink noses and those will
sunburn also, so you know, know your pet, you know,
and keep them out of the sun.
Speaker 1: They make pets Safe sunscreen and pet safe lightweight protective
clothing for your dog.
Speaker 4: You can get them a little Dilligan hat or a bonnet.
Speaker 1: Yeah maybe maybe. All right, stay tune, We'll be right
back begging to hear more of your favorite show.
Speaker 3: All full episodes of all our shows are available on demand.
Speaker 5: Go to Petlife Radio dot com to fed our entire
lineup of possum pet podcasts.
Speaker 3: Also dig us up in iHeartRadio, dan iTunes, Let's Talk
Pats Lived only from pet Life Radio, Let's Talk past,
Let's done Pets on About Life.
Speaker 5: Radio, HETLFE Radio, pet Live Radio dot Com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back everyone. This is our Summer of twenty twenty
five show and my guest today is Mark Winter, my producer,
and wow is he knowledgeable with so many great tips?
Speaker 3: He is?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you are, he is? He is? You are. Mark.
Speaker 4: We I've heard like ten thousand podcasts.
Speaker 1: I know you produced every so you are the man
of knowledge. So let's talk about water safety tips. So
water safety is important. You should never leave your dog
unsupervised near water, be careful of rip currents at the beach,
have a life jacket on your dog. Make sure your
dog does not drink salt water or consume any beach debris,
you know, like seaweed that washes up or anything like that.
And make sure you rinse your dog off because the
salt water is very drying and it can drive their
skin and lead to irritation.
Speaker 4: That's true. And if they like to dig, you know,
they might dig up a crab. So you know, if
you see something hanging off their nose and you know
they've been digging in the.
Speaker 1: Sand, like a crab on their nose, Yeah, like a crab,
baby crab maybe, because.
Speaker 4: The crab will you know, they hide it under the sand.
And if your dog's dig and they'll grab right on.
Speaker 1: I think you also should rinse off your dog, even
if there dog swimming in your pool, because chlorine is
not good for your dog's skin either.
Speaker 4: Yeah, most dogs, I mean, if you especially if you
have like dogs that are natural swimmers, you won't need
a life jacket for them, but I mean, always keep
an eye on them. But some dogs, you know, are
not natural swimmers, and you might want to put a
little floaties on.
Speaker 1: Them, yep, and then they can have some summer cooling too.
There's also some people like to get little kiddie pools
for their dogs to splash around in for the summer.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you can always put the sprinkler on and
you know, run around on the lawn with your dog.
I'm sure they love that. Oh yeah, I know.
Speaker 1: Mister Zeus used to run around after I gave him
a bath. He hated the bap. He stood still, just
enduring it. I call it back, but it was outside
with a hose as how I washed them and he
stood still, just enduring it. And as soon as I
was done, he came alive and he would just do
the zuomies back and forth and shake and have a blast. So,
you know, dogs, I don't think they mind being wet.
Some mind compared to others. But it's a nice way
to cool them down. And speaking of dogs, four Legs
is a woman on brand that hires, trains, and educates
adults and childre in the community who are deaf, hard hearing, artistic,
and or disabled by providing them accessible and really fun
work experiences. The founder of for Legs Cynthia Murray is
a deaf entrepreneur who understands the challenges of looking for
employment and is impassionate about helping people in animals. I
love this, especially because I have people in my family
that are deaf, and so this is near and dear
to my heart. And the treat itself is unbelievable. Now,
my doggies are in doggy Heaven, but I did send
some doggy treats to my tester Chloe, and oh my goodness,
oh did she love them. And also Tilly loved them
as well. I know Mark, you were thinking of trying
some because they're given grade, but did you.
Speaker 4: No, I'm not trying men. No, they might look advertising,
but I'll leave that to the dogs.
Speaker 1: Well, this is acute of how that came about. Cynthia
and her partner founded Four Legs, all natural dog treats
in two thousand and four, and they were inspired to
do so after Cynthia adopted her hearing service dog, Odie.
And Odie had severe food allergies and Cynthia couldn't find
any treats to you know, rewards behavior without making them sick.
So she came up with four Legs, which is wonderful.
So to find out more, go to four legs dot com.
It is the digit for LGZ dot com.
Speaker 4: Okay, well, July fourth is coming up. I know it's
one of your favorite holidays.
Speaker 1: It is, it is my birthday's near there. But I love, love,
love buyer works. I don't love that they make dogs
nervous though, and sometimes cats.
Speaker 4: Okay, well, usually July fourth is barbecue time, so you
invite friends and family over and you're having a grand
old time out in the yard, cooking up all kinds
of stuff. You have to be careful about where you
throw bones and things like that that your dog. If
your dog is outside that they don't snap it up,
especially like corn on the cob. People are done with that.
And if they throw it in the garbage. You don't
want your dog digging in the garbage because that can
really get stuck in their throat and the esophagus, and
then you're going to be spending fourth of July at
the emergency vet, which is going to cost you a lot.
So you don't want to do that.
Speaker 1: And it's not fun for your dog obviously. Also, bones,
like if you're growing chicken, chicken bones, chicken wings, just
don't don't give them to your dog. Get a special
treat for your dog, or if you want, grow something
without any sauce at all and put a little bit
of that in your dog's food. Don't give your dog
too much if your dog is not used to it,
because your dog will be sick. Your dog will likely
be sick one end or the other, so just be
cautious and caution your guests to not leave things laying around,
especially if your dog is out loose. I think the
best bet is to keep your dog in a separate place.
This way, your dog isn't overwhelmed by all the guests,
and the guests are not inclined to say, oh, let
me just give some of this, and there's barbecue sauce
with garlic or I'm on it, which is not good
for your furbabes.
Speaker 4: Also, sometimes it's fun if your dog is well behaved
and they like people and they don't mind running around,
but you still have to watch them because if they
like to like jump up, you know, you don't want
them smelling, you know, a steak cooking on the grill
and they want to, you know, get a closer look,
and they put their paws up on a hot grill
and then you know, then they burn their paws. It's
like with everything, you have to watch, right.
Speaker 1: They're like kids. Yeah, they like toddlers, so you have
to always watch them.
Speaker 4: And then of course nighttime is fireworks time and your
favorite time, but not your pet's favorite time. Even if
they're inside. Cats, dogs, they don't like all that loud
noise and the firecrackers and everything that's going on in
the neighborhood. So the best thing is to try to
keep them inside for sure. Don't bring them to a
fireworks display.
Speaker 1: Never. Never. I don't think most places will not allow it.
Just keep your dogs away from the fireworks and your cats. Now,
where I live, which is in South Florida, I have
impact windows, so the noise is not quite as loud,
but you still hear it. And I know a lot
of people there's different schools of thought. A lot of
pet parents and pet levers just deplore fireworks. I love them,
I don't love that they scare my fur babes. So
I do whatever I can to make them more comfortable.
So what I'll do is have everything, of course closed,
the windows and everything closed, and I play some soothing
music so that's what they hear. Generally, the loud booms
are so muted that it doesn't bother them. But if
you can't mute it, you know, you don't have impact
windows where you are. Keep everything closed of course, and
then play some soothing music.
Speaker 4: Or if your pets are used to hearing the TV,
if they watch TV with you every night and you
can put the TV on, you can put it on
at a loud volume that I'll drown out the fireworks. I
know Molly likes to watch TV with us. You likes
The Americas is one of her favorite shows that was
on NBC. But you can put on any show that
your pets like and just crank up the volume because
they're used to hearing that.
Speaker 1: And as a special treat your cats during July fourth
or hey anytime, is Fluff and Boots portable mats. So
they are very portable. They're very fluffy. They have a
mat called needed where cats can go ahead and you know,
do their kneeding in the luscious padding. They fold up
in half, so they're very easy to travel with. And
Fluff and Boots was named after the two founders adoptees
and it's the first purpose driven cat centric lifestyle brand
and the products are super a premium. They're ethically produced
and their really goal is to optimize feline well being
and comfort, but while at the same time delivering a
gorgeous product. They come in several colors. The padding that
has the you know all the fluffy furry material is
just so cat friendly. Molly already claimed like three for herself,
so thank you Fleffing for the sample. They also flep
and Boots as a pillar of their possum mission. Fluff
and Boots products are made in countries with protections for
cats and dogs, and the company also supports women own
manufacturing partners. How did Molly like the pad?
Speaker 4: She didn't want to get off, and the other cats
wanted their turn and she would like swap them away.
She wasn't moving.
Speaker 1: That's Molly fluffinboots dot com. Now, how many of us
traveling or you know, we're out for the summer and
maybe we're home a little more or rolling around with
our pets a little more, We have a little bit
more free time, are full of hair. So fur Zapper
is always revolutionizing the pet industry and helping with products
that really deter fur from clinging to your clothes. So
one of the products that I'd love to have around
all the time, not just summer, but especially summer because
it seems like that's the time I get to spend
a little more time with my fur babes and of
course end up full of fur. I think kat for
shed's more than dog fur. But you know that's just
my opinion, and I'm constantly looking at myself going, you know,
where did that come from? I love fur Zapper. So
fur Zapper has products that make it effortless and it's reusable,
they're sustainable, and these are products that really make a
difference in minimizing to eliminating fur and dander on your clothes.
They have fur z Apper for your laundry. I love
using that. I'm finding a lot more lint and stuff
in the dryer when I use it. There's a fur
Zapper glove for furniture. I can't tell you how much
a gunk I got when I was using the fur
Zapper around the cat trees. And your favorite is the
lint Zapper.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, being a musician, I love my black
t shirts and so especially you know we have animals
and so there's like fur all over it, you know,
like one of our shows covered in pet hair and
that's me. So I'm always covered in pad here. But
you know, I use the lint sapper. And what's good
about that is that it's like a sticky paper. So like,
I mean, you can't walk around carrying a lint roller
in your pocket. I mean, you look ridiculous. So but
these they're just a flat piece of paper that you
can peel off and then you can like stick them
all over your clothes and it pulls the fur right off.
Speaker 1: You can stick on your clothes. I actually use it
and wipe my clothes to get all the fur off.
And what's great is.
Speaker 4: It take travel fun. You pake, you pat your clothes
with them, you like, yeah, right, yeah.
Speaker 1: The way you describe it, tell them I putting posties
all over you.
Speaker 4: I mean you could do that too. You might look funny,
but it might look funny.
Speaker 1: But yes, but the lint sapper is wonderful for getting
all that stuff off. And then, of course, being it summer,
not all of us are traveling, especially this year, so
a lot of us are doing staycations. And one of
the fun parts of a staycation, and I think One
of the advantages is you get to be with your
fur babes all day. So what do you want to
do with when you have your fur babes and what
do you want to do when they're on your desk
and on your keyboard is find a place for them.
Mark you have found something that's great for when Molly
wants to step over your keyboard.
Speaker 4: I love this product. It's called the Desk Nest, and
it's kind of like what you see on a cat tree.
It's like around, like it's like a bed. I don't
know what you would call it, but it's round. But
it has a clamp so you can clamp it onto
your desk and it swivels. Your cat can like sit
right next to you and curl up and take a
nap right next to you. If they'll stay there. I
know Molly will take a nap and then she'll get
up and then she's back on my desk and she's
underneath it and she wants to chew wires. But if
you train your cat to stay there, it's perfect.
Speaker 1: Right And I love the fact that yes, it rotates.
It also is good for big cats because it holds
up to twenty five pounds. You can adjust the hint.
It's super easy to assemble. Take it from me, who
assembles then reads instructions, so it was very easy. The
design is gorgeous and it's perfect not just for your staycations,
but if you work from home, if you're a gamer
and you might be gaming for four hours at a time,
five hours at a time, or you have your furbay
right next to him. It's for cats, but I think
small dogs can fit as well.
Speaker 4: And that's great. Dennis loves it because like he's lazy,
so he'll hop up, he'll curl up, and he's taking
a nap, and then I'm working and he's out for
like a couple hours. And this way I can have
him right with me and he can be with me. Mark.
Speaker 1: I think there's a ton of tips in our show,
and I think they're really going to help a lot
of our listeners. One last thing, and I've gotten some
emails on this and I didn't know was a thing,
but cicadas. People have asked if it's okay for dogs
to eat cicadas, And again this is from dog Topia,
and they're expected to be in record numbers this year
across the US.
Speaker 4: I haven't seen any in Florida, and I can't imagine
wanting to eat those things.
Speaker 1: Well you, but you know. So it's important for pet
parents to know that they're not poisonous if your dog
eats them.
Speaker 4: No, they're just disgusting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well disgusting, bud. But dogs should not consume them
in large quantities because cicadas have a hard exoskeleton and
that could cause irritation to your pet's digestive system. So
if your dog, you know, chomps on one won't be
any harm. But take care and in all things with summer,
keep an eye on your pet, be aware of the
dangers and be prepared, avoid the areas that are going
to cause potential illness or sickness or irritation or any
kind of danger to your fur babe, and have a
wonderful summer.
Speaker 4: Anything you want to add, Mark, No, just stay cool.
Speaker 1: Yes, stay cool. And thank you so much Mark for
coming on Best Bets for Pets. You're such a welcome guest.
I'd like to thank my crew, Nicky and mister Zeus
in Heaven Doggy Heaven, and then Charlotte, Molly and Dennis
and of course everyone listening to Best Bets for Pets.
Thank you for listening to our Summer twenty twenty five show,
and thank you to Mark Winter for being a guest
today and for the fabulous work he does in editing
every show. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Mark.
Speaker 4: Oh, You're welcome.
Speaker 1: Stay cool all and remember you never know what we'll
have next on Best Bets for Pets.
Speaker 3: Let's talk pets every week on demand only on petlight
radio dot com.