Are Dog Parks Safe? A Lifelong Owner Raised by a Vet Tech Weighs In

Chris NobleHi, Emily.

EmilyHi.

Chris NobleThank you for joining us today.

EmilyOf course.

Chris NobleSo I would love if you introduced yourself and told us a little bit about who you are.

EmilyOkay. My name is Emily. I am a graphic designer by day, also dog mom, dog lover. And yeah, I'm really happy to be here. Thanks for having me. I'm excited.

Chris NobleYou're welcome. You're a dog lover. You grew up around dogs your whole life.

EmilyYeah, I did. I've always had animals, not just dogs, but animals in general. Having a mom who is an animal lover as well, also a vet tech. Growing up, I've seen everything. I've had birds, fish, cat, dogs. Turtles, tortoises. We even had geckos, tarantulas. You name it, we've had it. So I'm an animal lover. And yeah, I'm very comfortable with dogs. Always had dogs. I used to show dogs growing up as well. I showed my German Shepherd. So that was fun. I've always been a fan of dogs. And now I have two of my own. And I will never not have a dog in my life.

Cameron MainHow did you get into showing dogs?

EmilyGood question. My mom kind of influenced me to do it. I mean, we always had like AKC registered German Shepherds and I think it was just something fun to do. I loved it. My brother did it for a little bit too. And so, yeah, I just, I stuck with it. It was really fun. It was like a bonding thing for me and the dog. So.

Cameron MainIt's a good way to train them. I used to show my retriever band as well, and it's definitely a good way that... I guess it's a form of training. It's not always practical, but it's a good way to really have that bond one-on-one.

EmilyYeah, exactly. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. We did have a ferret. Oh, and we did have... A wallaby. We didn't have her, but we babysat her for a month, maybe a month. She was super cute. We had to bottle feed her, but she was so strong. Literally a mini kangaroo. And she was, her name was Posey and she was so strong. She'd kick the shit out of you. I don't know if I can say that on here, but she would, she would kick the shit out of you. And she had these teeth that were like, like she could take your finger off. It was crazy.

Cameron MainEmily, what drew you originally to VitaDog?

EmilyYou guys just happened to have a supplement company that we were super interested in. And you guys are really knowledgeable about health when it comes to dogs. And that's something that we really appreciate. And, I mean, we love our dogs. They're our family. So we were really excited to hear about the product that you made because you can't find something like this in the U.S.

Cameron MainDo you know what? Actually, I'll tell you this. We were very excited to meet you guys as well because you guys got it straight away. And obviously with your mom being a vet tech and you guys have dogs all day, every day, like that is your life. Yeah. Actually, when we saw your guys order come in, we were like, this one's actually like a pretty special one. And it was really cool when you connected with us after. Yeah. Okay. We really actually did love it.

EmilyYeah, no, for sure. And I just feel like we connected, like you said, and we love the story behind it. I mean, we give it to our dogs now and they love it.

Chris NobleYou said you can't really find anything like this in America. Have you been through the trials of trying to find a supplement?

EmilyWell, yeah. And not only that, but there's not like an all in one for them. Like I've before you, I've given my dogs supplements, but it's always multiple. Like, you know, I have to buy, I don't want to say any brands on here, but you know, I'd have to buy multiple products to fulfill the entire list that you have in your one. So it's just, it's also convenient to have the all in one here. So it's not only a great product, it's convenient as well.

Cameron MainAnd you're probably paying like way over the odds as well.

EmilyTotally, totally. Way, way more because like I said, you have to buy multiple. So yeah, you're exactly right.

Chris NobleWhy do you supplement your dogs?

EmilyWell, it's pretty well known now that kibble doesn't do everything that you need it to do for dogs. So for that reason, and we want our dogs to live as long as possible. So supplement, I mean, just like how you would take supplements yourself, you want to give your dog supplements.

Cameron MainYeah, that was really at the forefront of our mind. I mean, we, you know, Chris and I, we try to be healthy. We take green supplements, we take whatever we think we got to do just to get that, like the best out of our health, the most longevity possible. And we couldn't really believe what was out there on the market. And I guess what was in there as well as not in there. And so for us, it was like, it was a bit of a calling. We had to do this and we had to do it pretty fast.

EmilyYeah. Well, thank you for doing it. I think you're going to help a lot of dogs with this stuff. So

Cameron MainWe started seeing it already. And I mean, there's been a big uptake and specifically with people who work in the industry, who work with dogs, who train dogs, who I guess are familiar with the products on the shelf, not just fancy marketing things. It's something that people seem to be very passionate about very quickly.

EmilyAbsolutely. I mean, dogs are family, so we want the best for them. You know, we want our dogs to eat healthy and live long lives and have energy as well. This gives them energy. It keeps them energized throughout the whole day.

Cameron MainHow does it fit like into your busy schedule? Cause you work.

EmilyIt's super convenient. I mean, I give it to them in the morning with their food and it's easy. You know, you just do scoop a couple drops and then shake it up and give it to your dog. Simple.

Chris NobleTell us more about growing up with a mother who worked in the vet world and being surrounded by animals.

EmilyIt was so much fun. It's fun with my friends, too. They knew I was the girl with all the animals. I'm not joking. We had 10 cats at one time. Growing up, I loved it. But my friends thought it was the craziest thing ever. Because some people don't allow their kids to have pets. But my mom was always giving us puppies. We always were having kittens. It was so much fun. So I loved it. I will probably do that with my kids. Let them have pets. I'll always have pets. Yeah, that was great.

Cameron MainFor sure.

EmilyI loved going to work. Sorry, not to cut you off. But I also loved going to work with my mom, too, every day. Like, going to the vet hospital was so much fun. She would always have kittens to play with or dogs to look at. And At one point, she had, like, baby lions. Didn't you have lions at your vet hospital at one point? They were patients. Well, right. As a patient, she was taking care of lions. She's so, like, casual about it, but it was wild.

Cameron MainYeah, that's not...

EmilyThat's not normal.

Cameron MainThat's not an everyday...

EmilyIt's not normal, but as a kid to see a cub was, like, the coolest thing in the world. It was, like, amazing. It was, like, at a zoo, but... My mom works here. How cool is that?

Chris NobleTell us about your dogs.

EmilyOh, my dogs. My dogs are crazy. I've got two cockapoos, Cocker Spaniel Poodles. They're brothers. They're from the same litter. And I love them dearly. They're two years old now. Their names are Chip and Rocky, and I love them so much. I was actually gifted them as a surprise. Yes, my boyfriend surprised me with two puppies. He went on a family trip to Idaho and came back with not one, but two puppies. And I understand his thinking. He thought, oh, one for him and one for me, but never thought maybe if we ever live together, then we are going to have two dogs at the same time. And I know there's a lot of stigma about getting two puppies at the same time because then you get like litter syndrome, but I don't have any issue with that. My dogs love each other. They love other dogs. They love people. They're great.

Cameron MainWhat is litter syndrome?

EmilyLitter syndrome is where the dogs, if you get two puppies together, sometimes they bond with each other and not you. So it could just be an issue.

Cameron MainDid you ever see that dynamic when you had maybe one dog and then a second one came into the household and then it definitely changes a little bit?

EmilyUm, it definitely changes the dynamic of the household. I've never experienced it, but I do know some people who have experienced it and it could shake things up in the house because it's a pack, right? I mean, you're part of the pack as well. So if you bring another dog in, it's going to shake things up and they have to just find their position as a pack again and kind of adapt. And sometimes it doesn't go well. Sometimes it doesn't work. And you just have to adjust or make some other things happen. But for the most part, I think they're adaptive creatures and so are we. So we just become family.

Cameron MainI think if you take them in in the right way, it's pretty much about that.

EmilyYeah, absolutely.

Cameron MainTell us about your routine with your dogs.

EmilyOh, okay. So my dogs are not morning people. They're just like me. We're night people. So we like a slow morning. We wake up. We get our coffee. We relax on the couch. We ease into the day. And then we take our vitamins and our supplements, which is where they get their VitaDog. And then we go on a hike. We like to walk. My dogs are super active. So I'll usually take them to the park down the road from my house. There's a really beautiful mountain with beautiful views that we like to hike. So we'll probably do that. And yeah, just enjoy our day outside. I try to keep them outside as long as possible to get their energy out because they're crazy. They're Aries, by the way, fire signs. Yeah. So they're crazy dogs. So they need to get rid of as much energy as possible. And yeah, and then we go home and relax more because I'm not an Aries. I'm calm.

Cameron MainAnd you get to work from home as well, right? So you can spend time with them.

EmilyYeah, it's a blessing. I work from home so I can make my own schedule. So it's really nice to be able to be there for them all day. It's great. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Chris NobleYou live in Las Vegas.

EmilyI do.

Chris NobleI feel like many people around the world don't know much about Vegas beyond the strip. Tell us more about what it's like having dogs in Vegas, what the community is like and where you take them.

EmilyYeah, I mean, it's definitely a conversation starter. When I tell people I grew up in Vegas, they always think, oh, did you grow up in a casino? Or do you live on the Strip? And to be honest, I don't ever go to the Strip, ever. Of course, one of my first jobs was on the Strip, just because there is a lot of jobs to get on the Strip, but... If I can avoid the strip at all costs, I do. It's crazy over there.

Cameron MainHow much people like that in Vegas?

EmilyProbably, I would say, locals. Yeah, I mean, it's just a lot. It's a lot. Parking, the tourists. It's great if you ever want to have a fun night. There's a lot to do there. I mean, it's Vegas. It's just too much. It's too much. I'm a suburbs girl, so I stay in the suburbs, my little side of town. And I mean, the dog community here is huge. People love their dogs here, and there's always stuff to do with dogs. Yeah, I mean, the summers can be brutal. It gets, you know, over 100 degrees. So sometimes I have to wait until the sun goes down to walk my dogs in the summertime just because it's just too hot. It's too hot during the day.

Cameron MainIs Vegas dog-friendly?

EmilyVegas is very dog friendly. There's a ton of dog parks. I don't typically go to dog parks. My mom likes to call it Dog Fight Club. You can cut that. But my mom, she calls it Dog Fight Club because there's just no regulating a ton of dogs that don't know each other in one small area. It's kind of crazy. But no, I mean, there's a lot of stuff to do. Like I said, there's hiking. I mean, we've got Red Rock Canyon that you can go and walk your dogs. There's a ton of parks. There's a lot of places in Vegas that are dog friendly as well, like restaurants and just stores and shops. So yeah, I would say we're really dog friendly. Yeah.

Chris NobleAwesome.

EmilyAwesome.

Chris NobleAre you making fun of me?

EmilyNo, but that was just funny. Awesome.

Cameron MainCan we do an ASMR?

Transcript edited lightly for readability. Timestamps and captions will follow with the video release.