Latest / Every Pawprint! Every Story! / When Your Dog Needs A Passport More Than You Do

Transcript

When Your Dog Needs A Passport More Than You Do · Every Pawprint! Every Story!

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Every Paw Print, Every Story.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Dan Popovic.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: For new listeners to the show, uh just to share with you a little bit about what this podcast is about.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it is a weekly conversation space where people honor pets they've lost, celebrate the joy pets bring, and support one another through pet grief.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode centers on a guest memories, the rituals that keep those pets present in daily life, and the lessons of love and loss that pets teach us.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Really, the goal with this podcast is to inspire, guide, and support each other.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, listeners, you guys are gonna be excited for this show today.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I want to welcome to the show Marissa from Marissa from Portugal, but you're not in Portugal today, right?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh no, I am in Portugal.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, see?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you are in Portugal.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh Pause Pet Paws Abroad is is the company.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and we'll get into that.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, but I just wanted again welcome to the show.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Excited to have you on it.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, let's jump right into it.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: How many, let's talk about the fur kids.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: How many fur kids do we have uh as a part of the family today?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, I have two dogs um that I adopted in Hong Kong in 2018, and uh they were best friends at the animal shelter.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I went to get one dog and I ended up adopting them both.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And um, my dogs have now inspired two companies.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: I had a pet food company that I sold in Canada, and uh, after healing one of my dog's health through whole foods, and now um inspired our second company, uh, which is Pause Abroad, which helps with the paperwork and logistics for international pet travel.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we're building kind of the infrastructure for international pet travel.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: And they also have their own uh book series, The Adventure of Harley and Calinda.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: So the first one was Harley and Clinda go to Thailand about they are inspired by their real life journey to Thailand.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: So all that to say, uh, my two dogs have uh been a big source of inspiration in my life, as you can tell.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, no, this is awesome.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't realize that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I knew about the the pause abroad.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So oh wow.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now uh the what were the name what are the names?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Harley and Calinda.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you did say that.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So there you go.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I missed that.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Harley and Calinda.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And now, obviously, you inherited those names, or were you able to name them?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so Kalinda was named at the rescue.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Harley's original name was Betty, but I thought she was, you know, more of a rebel.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I changed it to Harley.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: But she's a little shy, actually.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe Betty would have been more fitting in hindsight.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then I might have missed this too.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: That uh, what's the breed?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so Kalinda, the one um whose health I healed through Whole Foods, she was um a breeder dog at a puppy mill.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: She's a miniature schnauzer, and Harley was a puppy when I adopted her.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: She's a mixed breed dog, uh local Hong Kong dog.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I think she's part Shiba Yinu, part Chow Chow.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So Hong, so interesting.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So story there, Hong Kong.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: Was this a travel?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Were you traveling to Hong Kong?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: How did how did this unfold?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I was living there for four years.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so my my background was in before starting my first company.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I've been in the pet space now for about um eight years.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and my background was in technology strategy and private schools.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I was bringing in disruptive technologies like 3D printing and coding programs um and doing design thinking stuff.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I knew I wanted to start my own business and I wasn't sure in what.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh my whole life changed when I adopted these two dogs.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: And Kalinda was very sickly.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she was uh so overweight she could barely walk from being a breeder dog.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: She'd lived in a cage the first six years of her life, and three different vets told me she needed a$5,000 knee surgery or she'd never be able to walk long term.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I went down this mission to heal her health, and uh I became very convinced that it was her diet because I was being recommended all these premium brands of kibble that did nothing for her, and you know, made the connection, you know, if we ate processed food every day, we probably wouldn't be that healthy.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And decided to move back to Canada with them and uh found a holistic vet who taught me how to um feed my dogs a whole food diet.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it was crazy.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So after about eight months of frustration uh trying to heal her health, um, a few months after switching her to a whole foods diet, she lost half her body weight, never needed knee surgery, and started running and jumping like a puppy.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: So this is um, oh my gosh, seven years ago now.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And uh she's still here in Portugal.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: She's 14, so a testament to Whole Foods.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I became a canine nutritionist in the process and started my first company, which was called Puppy Gang Fresh Foods, uh, which was a direct-to-consumer human-grade dog food company.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we won awards for the most nutritious pet food in Canada, and um sold that company in 2022 and was working with uh the group that acquired us for two years and then decided to move abroad again, which is how I um my second move, you know, was reminded of how awful the pet uh pet travel experience is, and it hadn't changed in seven years.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh I uh started Pause Abroad with my brother.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: We realized, you know, the regulations were really confusing from country to country and um and airline to airline.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: There was no central source of truth for information, um, very high stress.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: And my first move back in 2018 was extremely stressful.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so my brother is my co-founder with Pause Abroad, um, and he's a software engineer.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so we set out to create the first um pet travel platform.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got digital pause ports where you can store all your pet's information, um, very personalized travel plans.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: We just launched a flight marketplace where you can enter your pet's information and um get personalized flight recommendations based on your pet and route.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And we offer varying levels of support.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we have our digital platform that has all of our planning, um, our planning tools, and then we also offer personalized support as well on top of that.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's fascinating.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: I got a whole bunch of questions, and I'm trying to figure out how to, yeah, because you're all right.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: We went, we went from food to help support uh Calinda.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um she's 14, so that's phenomenal.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Healthy, kick kick, kicking butt.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that's fun.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: How now how old is Harley?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Harley is eight, so she was 10 weeks old when I adopted her.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: They had kind of a mommy baby bond at the rescue.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then you sound so it sounds like you did a lot of traveling back and forth with them or different countries, which then led you to create pause abroad.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um what's the website as listeners can kind of listen to that they need to kind of go to to kind of check this out?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and I'm and I'm curious too.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, is it like, you know, I'm in I'm in Atlanta, right?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Could I use it like if I was gonna go on a Delta flight?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, talk talk a little bit about that as well.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because we the my wife and I vacation a lot, but what typically when we vacation though, we're trying to find pet friendly like homes, right?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: We used to do VRBO, not so much that anymore.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it yeah, talk, talk about that experience, and then we'll definitely circle back with the the memories on the fur kids because uh the the platform is fascinating.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, thank you.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yes.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: So to answer your question, um basically how how are you, yes, you can to answer your question, you can search for domestic flights as well.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: So how our platform works now is we um allow you to enter information that's about your pet and you get um personalized flight recommendations.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, and this varies depending on your breed, um, because we're pulling in the data about your pet and the airline policies and so the size of your pet and whatnot.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there, um, you can, once you pick your flight, you can choose different levels of service.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we have um our full stack travel platform.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: So as I mentioned, we've got a digital um digital pause port, we call it, uh, which is their your pet passport that stores all of your travels, all of your vaccination records, um, anything you would need to travel.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then from there, we do um personalized journey guides.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So these are very personalized travel plans.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it pulls in all the forms you need, um, all of the detailed timelines based on your pet and route anything you would need to travel with your pet.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And we have a really cool in our platform uh Mat View with vetted resources.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're planning a trip, say to Mexico, you can scroll on our MatView and actually um see vetted resources and you can connect to other users and send them a message via forum or DM.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then we also, because uh so we have our full stack digital platform, which is um we're building as a community space and DIY travel plan services, but then people can also upgrade for our concierge services, which is more personalized support with travel planning as well.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: And is it so it's right now it's all specific to airfare, air travel?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you could technically use our platform for you know going on a domestic trip and and looking at our our MapView embedded resources, but we're predominantly focusing on airline travel right now because that's where people have a lot of fears and questions about getting something wrong.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then as you're and we mentioned the itinerary and personalization, does it also involve, like you said, if I if uh if we were taking a trip to Mexico and now, hey, I I'm I'm bringing Carly Marshall with me, and and uh now I've also got here, these are all the locations I could take them with me because not every place is going to be pet friendly.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so we've got um all of that in there, and you're looking for a vet, or where should I go?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: What restaurants should I go to that are pet friendly?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can actually see that all on our map view.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: So our goal um or ambition with building this is to kind of be that one-stop shop for uh global pet travel.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so Calinda's the the inspiration behind the food brand.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Who who are we who are we awarding the inspiration behind this this travel concierge service, or are we giving both the fur kids credit?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, both of them are getting credit, and it's kind of a funny full circle moment because as I mentioned, I had my first international move back in 2018, and it was a freaking nightmare.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I, you know, didn't even consider doing it myself.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I paid a company thousands of dollars to help me.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a very impersonal experience.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like I didn't feel like I felt like I was in the dark, like it was so confusing.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't really kind of keep me in the loop with the process or didn't advise me on, you know, crate training.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember it was so stressful.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: In all honesty, back in 2018, I told myself, oh my gosh, I'm never traveling abroad again with the dogs, if I'm being honest, because it was so stressful.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then when I was daydreaming about moving abroad again after I stood out of my company, I thought, you know what?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: I um, you know, it's been seven years since uh since I've traveled.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Surely the industry has changed.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then I found out it had not.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, again reached out to a transportation company to help me because I didn't even consider doing this myself.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um, their quote unquote, I was relocating to Thailand at the time.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Thailand relocation expert gave me the wrong information.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I got a quote for$1,300 to work with them for consulting.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, oh my gosh, the hell with this.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna figure this out myself.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and that's when I realized what a logistical minefield uh global pet travel was.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, as I mentioned, the problem is so you know, the regulations vary from breed to breed, from country to country, from airline to airline.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and uh if you're in, you know, one country and then you're going uh like doing a layover in another, those are, you know, there's all kinds of edge cases with global pet travel.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: And there was no centralized platform that was, you know, consolidating this information and giving actual personalized information for the what do I do so I don't get it wrong for for your pet.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's the problem that we've set out to solve.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's phenomenal.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I I've got a you're just making me think of a friend.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's in Peru right now, um, and he's doing a lot of world, world traveling, you know, meeting meeting with a lot of the different cultures, just kind of understanding how they uh raise, you know, families and you know children.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll have to put them on to you and make sure he knows about your service if he doesn't already.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um he takes his little fur kid with him everywhere.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so and you mentioned though Harley, and and I I I might have missed this or messed this up.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, did she have some health issues in the beginning when you got her?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, okay.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Just just Calinda had a little bit of the the weight issues and in Harley, and obviously both of them get along really well.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, they were best friends.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, Calinda was extremely sickly because as I mentioned, she lived uh in a cage the first six years of her life.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: She was really mistreated.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: She had to have all her teeth removed before I adopted her, but she's uh living her best life now.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: She is, like I said, she's 14 and healthy and happy, and just uh seeing um her thrive after you know that backstory has just been you know one of the most personally rewarding things that I've ever seen.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: So do you have or do you I'm curious, do you have any like fun, funny stories or funny routines that they they do differently or or to kind of together?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, any like, you know, um like with with me, Marley, you know, we would feed her kind of bananas every single day.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: She's crazy with about bananas, the sound of the peeling banana.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, she danced with me at a at a winery concert.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Any fun moments and memories like that with these fur kids?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, of course.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, we've traveled all over the world together, so uh lots of very interesting moments.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, um, Kalinda, my little schnauzer, she is food obsessed.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So she is constantly looking for.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I always joke with my first company because you know, they were our chief taste testing officers.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And in all seriousness, she wasn't a great example because she would eat anything.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: But uh yeah, no, I um so many good memories.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, one of the things um, you know, I love seeing in terms of one of the things I've noticed as someone that's traveled with my dogs is how dogs are such a great um, you know, cultural equalizer.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess similar to people having people having kids, you know, you meet so many people when you have dogs, people just seem to be so welcoming and friendly.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: You see, like the little shop owners like giving you treats for your dogs and stuff like that.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I've just always found um, you know, dogs can be a really driver, uh a big driver of community in my experience.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, that yeah, that's a good point.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've you know, as I've met a lot of folks.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's funny you mentioned that too, as I've you know, did this book, launch this podcast, I've reunited with folks like you know, one of my first jobs out of college.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just funny how it re you know, how pets reunite you.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but then like you said, the stories of you're out walking with your fur kids and how you meet neighbors or somebody that you just didn't know.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um any any now, do you have any like just fun, common vacation spots that you take them to, or you guys are just kind of I mean, yeah, I'm I'm envious of the amount of traveling it sounds like you've done, but is there like a common vacation spot you go to with them?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, not really vacation spot more.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm a big outdoorsy person and I love being by the water.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, when we're in Canada, we do a lot of forest walks.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, in in Thailand or other places might go on a um spend a lot of time at the beach.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I love spending a lot of quality time outdoors with my dogs, I guess is the best best thing to well.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned water.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: How do they do around water?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do they like getting in the water?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're good.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: They have little life jackets, they've gone paddleboarding with me before.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, cool, okay.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Had them both on the paddleboard at the same time.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that was fun at a cottage in Canada.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: So not afraid of the water.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, they're good, they're honestly such wonderful dogs.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Even just um, when I was living in Canada, I just used to do when my parents are in Ottawa and I would drive from Toronto quite frequently, you know, they're so good in the car.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're great little um co-pilots for road trips as well.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I would say I just love spending time with my dogs and wherever that is.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's, you know, our big um mission with Paws Abroad is enabling people to just spend more time with uh with their pets because you know, that's the extra time with your pets.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's been really my mission ever since starting my first company, first through extending their life through Whole Foods, and now with Pause Abroad in a nutshell, you know, that mission at the core is you know, your time with your pets is so precious that how can we um enable people to spend more time with them, whether that be through higher quality food and extending their life, or um empowering pet parents to have more experiences with their pets.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's awesome.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: And are they both cuddle bugs or they both just cuddle up with the okay?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So they're kind of kind of Velcro, they're both on the end, they don't get into you, so they they're not fighting for your time separately.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean we have a codependent relationship in all honesty.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it sounds like you take them everywhere with you.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: I do.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, honestly, there's nothing that gives me more joy than just like strolling around having a coffee, hanging out with my dogs.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's awesome.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the fact that, like you said, they've inspired wow, inspired so much with you two companies.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you mentioned the the pet series.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so is this is this live that folks can go purchase the books?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the well, the our first book is um was Harley and Clinda Go to Thailand because that was our trip that kind of inspired the launch of Pause Abroad.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So uh started with that one.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that is available at um Amazon.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so please go and if you have any, uh it's a children's book and we're donating part of the sales to rescues as well.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, so please go and check us out and leave us a review on Amazon if you do purchase.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I'll share the link with you, Dan, so you can put it in the in the show notes.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely share the link.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get them in the show notes for the listeners.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely we'll get the link for Pause Abroad too, so folks can kind of go check out that service and do some traveling.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um curious, hopefully, the the craziness with everything going on right now with with oil and gas prices, that that's not impacting you guys too much.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully not, right?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're not seeing too much, or or are you seeing an impact?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, we've seen an impact in the sense uh we've we've seen more inquiries from from Dubai currently, actually, people looking to relocate with their pets and some looking for support with um with relocating from Dubai.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I think depending on what's going on in the world, um you know, we're you do see, I think there's always going to be a need for support with pet travel.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's just and in situations like this, it highlights um needs for regulatory changes uh because you know, your pets are a family member, and you can if if there's a you're in a situation where there is a global conflict, for example, you could generally easily, you know, hop on a plane or whatnot.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: And the same is not true for your pet.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're having to go through these um logistical processes like getting your health certificate and whatnot.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think you know that's kind of speaks to a larger, a larger um question about how do we acknowledge pets as the family members they are.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I love it.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then I know we're bouncing around a little over here too.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that you you as I was listening to you, thought I thought of a question with the the children's book series.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously the again, the fur kids being the inspiration behind the books, and it's really it is it a little sneak peek for the listeners of this show.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is it kind of the the travels, just kind of the the areas that you go with with them and just kind of sharing that?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is that kind of what the book is how the book is laid out?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so this book is um it's the perspective because you know, we of of uh of Harley going in cargo and Calinda going in cabin and waking up in a new place and what that's like from the eyes of a dog.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say if you have um a family with kids and you've ever moved, uh I think it will really resonate with um with families and that idea that uh you know, home is wherever your people or your pets are.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: What's next for you?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, right?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh what what what what else are we inspiring to look at doing?
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, um, you know, we want to see Pause Abroad become the global success that we believe it can and should be.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I really hope the Harley and Clinda's book series pops off and then can uh, you know, there they have so many amazing stories.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they've been on TV with their first company.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: They, you know, all started in Hong Kong and just to see um Clinda's health transform.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I I hope that uh, you know, the series becomes popular and uh yeah, well, the first book becomes popular rather and can extend that into a series is also the other goal.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I'll definitely go get a copy of the book, read up on it, get you back on the show and ask some questions around that book.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because now I'm thinking, man, is there what being a children's book?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a you know, is there an animation series?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: That can kind of come out of this right on TV.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's um that that's phenomenal.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um so, and I'm gonna, you know, ask ask the rough question since I are doing all of these episodes.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it feels like it sounds like these are the your first two fur kids.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is that a fair statement or am I wrong?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it is my two fur kids, but um I had my uh my first childhood dog, uh, which was Shadow.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so my brother, as I mentioned, is my co-founder.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: We have he's we're, you know, I have a very close family, but my brother's seven years younger than me.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I was obsessed with dogs as a kid.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: So um my parents initially resigned themselves to, okay, they're trying to have another kid, they couldn't.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Marissa's gonna be a lonely, only child.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll get her a dog.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: So Shadow was my, you know, kind of my first sibling when I was six years old.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then they had my brother, I say by mistake, a year later.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I grew up with this really gorgeous um miniature schnauzer.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And and it said Shadow died of cancer when I was 18, and it was devastating.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, it was really interesting because we just didn't know any better about feeding whole foods.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that really changed how I approached having my own dogs.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: And interestingly, when I started looking into getting a dog, uh, Calinda, I joked, who was the reader dog, she I joked she catfished me uh because she was, you couldn't see in her photos that she was so overweight.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: So she had kind of a side cute profile.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember sending the photo to my mom and saying, Oh my, because she's also a miniature snauser.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, doesn't this dog look like Shadow?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: So uh there was kind of a full circle moment of um adopting my dogs, uh being inspired by my childhood dog for sure.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm I'm curious, did Shadow have, you know, we talked a little bit about pet that pet loss, that pet, that pet grief.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of impact did did the the loss of shadow have on you?
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think I, as a, in all honesty, I had a lot of regrets because I feel like I didn't, you know, when you're you know a self-absorbed teenager, you're not spending as much time as, you know, you you could have kind of, I guess I've regretted, um, you know, I should have taken him more on more walks than that.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I knew what I knew about Whole Foods.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say just that experience just changed how um I would say, you know, God, I I really think about this constantly because Calinda's 14 and I'm gonna be, you know, beyond devastated.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing I can, you know, hang my hat on with my two dogs is I definitely won't have any regrets in terms of like the lifestyle that they have.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're you're leading right into like one of the last questions I I always ask, but I'll I'll come back to that.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: But and so you mentioned so shadow.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um she passed from cancer, you said?
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he passed away from uh from cancer.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: How old was he again?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: He was um younger than Kalinda is now, which is so interesting because of her, which shows the whole difference whole food can make.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he was around 12 when he passed away.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: What what's kind of curious the lifespan with miniature um schnauzers?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, Calinda's 14.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh she's still she's got a bit of chronic bronchitis, but overall she's still healthy and happy.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: They can live up to 18.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm um I'm praying that uh get a few more good years with her.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no, that makes sense.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, uh on that note too, with all the inspiration, yeah, the experience you had with Shadow going into this with, you know, with Clinda and Harley, any any um gosh, like wise words for pet parents today, you know, on um caring for their fur kids, um, you know, maybe that haven't uh dealt with the loss of a fur kid, any anything that you can share, you know, to to inspire to support folks?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um a hundred percent.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, firstly, I think don't like one of the biggest things, you know, with my, as I mentioned, I'm a canine nutritionist, I'm big on whole foods nutrition.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I think just the fact that Clinda is still healthy and happy is the big test, despite her background, is a big testament to what, you know, exercise and nutrition can do.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I if you think your pet is fine as different than thriving, I would just say like nutrition is um prevented, it should be preventative rather than curative, just like with humans, right?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so um I would say uh, you know, different people have different budgets and price points, but even just adding whole foods to your dog's diet, like whole proteins and green leafy vegetables, can make a huge difference on their health.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Even as a topper, feeding as a full meal is not affordable to you, you know, particularly if someone has a large dog.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: So looking at how you can um feed them whole foods whenever possible, and um spent getting a lot taking them on a lot of exercise and also just, you know, really thinking about, you know, never compromising on the quality time you're spending with your pets because you don't want to have regret.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and you know, the more that you don't know how long, like they could only have 12 years.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so the more, just like humans, like you know, they thrive on diverse experiences.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and and it's good for your mental health as well to go out and do things with your dogs.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the big thing is that you know, take them with you whenever you can.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what Pause Abroad is here for to help you do that.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: So awesome.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, I yeah, shoot, I couldn't have said it any better, better myself.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for that.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I wanted to thank you for sharing, you know, this this moment, this space with us, your your your memories, your passion.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: You've certainly inspired me to do more.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I'm I'm right there with you.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my Marley, who's in the book that I wrote, inspired me.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've got more things that I'm working on as well, so that's exciting.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but for the listeners of this show, um, if this episode resonated, you know, please subscribe, leave a review, share the show with someone who might find comfort here.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we will definitely add in the show notes how to find Marissa, how to find Pause Abroad, how to find more about the the the books, the children book series.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: I Marissa, I will definitely go order some copies myself and get you back on the show and kind of talk more about that too.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, but I just um, you know, deep hearted, wholehearted, just wanted to thank you for being on the show today.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me, Dan.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed the conversation.