Behind the Brand: Jacqueline Bogart and the Rise of the Comfy Cone

Have you ever wondered about the story behind the products your fur babies love? Let me introduce you to Jacqueline Bogart, one of the woman behind the innovative Comfy Cone. This episode features a heartrending and inspiring conversation with Jacqueline as we explore her journey of turning her love for pets into a thriving pet product company, All Four Paws. We delve into the nitty-gritty of launching a pet product to market. Jacqueline shares her experience of creating prototypes, patenting her product, and financing the production, lending valuable insights to aspiring entrepreneurs. We also discuss the tragic sudden loss of her most recent pup,  an event that left her without a dog for the first time in her life.


Useful Links:
https://allfourpaws.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Dogs make the best companions for humans. This podcast aims to help make humans better companions for their dogs. Welcome to the Baroo Podcast, a modern lifestyle podcast for dogs and their people. I'm your host, charlotte Bain. I've been caring for other people's dogs for more than 15 years and, while I've learned a lot in my career, I definitely don't know at all, so I've collected an ever-evolving roster of amazing dog people and I learn new things from them all the time. Hi you guys. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the Baroo Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:48

In today's chat, we jump behind the brand with Jacqueline Bogart, one of the creators of the Comfy Cone. The Comfy Cones are go-to cone as a substitution for that typical hard plastic cone that you get from the veterinarian when your dog has undergone either a surgery or they're dealing with skin allergies and you're trying to keep your pup from itching and scratching or chewing and making that area worse. I was on a mission to find a more comfortable cone many, many years ago. After chance, it had a small surgery and I came across the Comfy Cone at one of our local pet stores and I was thrilled with the results. And recently I ran into Jacqueline at the veterinarian, so I was thrilled that she agreed to jump on and check about her journey with building her successful company All Four Paws, which makes recovery and health products for pets such as the Comfy Cone. So just a heads up. We do briefly chat about the sudden loss of her most recent beloved pup, so that can be triggering for some folks. Alright, you guys, let's jump into the chat. How's it going?

Speaker 2: 2:06

It's going. I'm so glad this worked out. Baby is still kind of like playing around in this group.

Speaker 1: 2:11

We get to watch the baby. Oh my gosh, is it a boy?

Speaker 2: 2:15

This is Alfred oh my gosh he's just moving and grooving, isn't he?

Speaker 1: 2:20

My friend just had a perp for her first baby two days ago.

Speaker 2: 2:24

Oh, congratulations.

Speaker 1: 2:25

Yeah, meet her.

Speaker 2: 2:26

Yeah, I know she's six months, she's two and a half. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 2:34

And how many dogs do you have?

Speaker 2: 2:37

Actually my dog passed away in between. Yeah, there was a. It was really bad. It was really really bad.

Speaker 1: 2:46

The big boy. Oh my gosh, jacqueline, I'm so sorry.

Speaker 2: 2:51

It was a Greek thing that happened where he, I noticed his front right limb was really swollen. It took him to the vet the next day, which was a Saturday. They didn't really know what was going on. They saw some maybe puncture wounds, maybe not and they gave him two broad spectrum antibiotics. But by that evening when I got home he didn't have an appetite to eat anything. So I ran back to the vet, got more things.

Speaker 2: 3:23

At the same time my kids were both getting sick, unbeknownst to me, with RSV, oh my gosh. And my mother was really sick. And then the next overnight I was up with him. All night he was starting to cry, and you know, giant breeds are very stoic animals. I had one that had bone cancer that cried the night before he passed away. That was it. And he was on morphine, didn't moan, didn't do anything.

Speaker 2: 3:57

So, long story short, he was in the hospital for a while, not a while, a few days. They didn't know what. It was Kind of like a hurry up and wait situation. See what's going on. They don't know what to treat. We were hiking and he got a snake bite. You know what to treat. It ended up being.

Speaker 2: 4:14

The surgeons found an abscess by that time his skin was dying. It was just crawl. You could just see it crawling up his entire leg up to his chest, the dead skin. They found an abscess, cleaned it out, but when he went to the critical care team we tried one night now that they knew what it was different antibiotics but they called me at like one in the morning and I couldn't go with the babies. So I just told them right then and there to euthanize them. And then we always since we have giant breeds, always giant breeds I always donate their bodies to a school or teaching, because the majority of the time the doctors and nurses and doctors and techs don't get to study these giants in school and they usually get some pretty random things. I had one that had mega esophagus, which is a big to do with a giant animal with huge jowls.

Speaker 1: 5:22

How do you set the giant animal up to yeah?

Speaker 2: 5:25

Yeah, we couldn't do. What is that chair called? Anywho?

Speaker 1: 5:30

He just sat there and yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:37

So that's so. This is the first time that I can remember in my life that I do not have a dog. At one time I had four and my cat, so now I just have my cat, oh my gosh, you have a cat still. Oh yeah, max is still running around and representing.

Speaker 1: 5:56

I am. So that is horrible. I'm so sorry. So just in addition, that you had to deal with everyone being sick at the same time, it sounds like you've had a doozy a few months since you lost.

Speaker 2: 6:06

It wasn't doozy. Everyone's sick, but we're crawling out there getting to the other side.

Speaker 1: 6:15

So did he get a snake bite. We don't know, or he just somehow he got punctured.

Speaker 2: 6:20

Somehow that the abscess could have been from. They don't know how long the abscess was there for. Oh, and I didn't take him hiking or walking for two weeks prior because he had they thought it was seasonal allergies on his pads and he was looking them a lot so he had some wounds so I thought he just had one of those infected at first. But yeah, poor dude it was. I just feel bad for him. What a way to go.

Speaker 1: 6:47

Yeah, traumatizing, traumatizing. And oh well, he had a lovely time here with you.

Speaker 2: 6:53

He did.

Speaker 1: 6:55

He had a lovely time he was really cute. Well, I'm sorry, I don't know what to say. It's hey, it's super hard.

Speaker 2: 7:04

It is hard, but I've had so many animals and had to make decisions on so many of them. This one was the strangest. I've had some die in a matter of hours. I've had all the cancers, mega esophagus, all the things. This one, this one, was strange.

Speaker 1: 7:23

Yeah, that's tough.

Speaker 2: 7:25

We move on.

Speaker 1: 7:27

Well, first of all, thanks for jumping on and chatting with me.

Speaker 2: 7:31

My pleasure.

Speaker 1: 7:32

The best part is that you and I met at the vet, yep, and I remember we were both there with our dogs. I was there with a client dog and you. Somehow we got to chatting and you were like, oh something, something the comfy cone. And then you went on to tell me that you created the comfy cone and I was like we have like three comfy cones in my house, and so do all of my clients, so we're big fans, yay, yay. So I'm super excited that you want to share your story, of course, how, how the comfy cone came into being and I know you have a slew of other products now too, but I love to hear how people jump in.

Speaker 2: 8:09

Yeah, the comfy cone started with my mother who there's four of us kids. We are all kids from the 80s, my two older siblings late 70s, when they were born, and me too.

Speaker 2: 8:24

My mother I know I put my bangs back, my nature's bow tux, I don't have it down right. My mother created a lot of children's products when we were young because she says she's cheap and likely and she wanted to make life easier we're all like 18 months apart so she created things she saw in need. She ended up selling that off to Procter and Gamble and then we were older and she we have these great, pure knees, these giant, giant dogs that can range from 150 to 200 pounds and, living in Atlanta, she saw needs for different products. Her actual first idea for a pet product was our chill collar, which is a cooling collar for dogs because it's hot walking around. She's at the gym riding the bike and she put a bottle of cold water on the back of her neck and she's like I don't, there's nothing for dogs, really. But that one took the longest to produce, because getting a tube to eat to match up in a circle.

Speaker 1: 9:28

Right, it's very difficult. I was looking at that online. It's very difficult. Dising might must be hard too, yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:34

It's tricky, but the comfy cone started. We had 180 pound pure knees, called Saber, and he had some digits of his tail. Well, he had sharp teeth as a puppy. So Saber tooth, yeah, we had some. Oh, got it. He had some digits of his tail that had to be removed because he had a mass on his tail and came home with a giant plastic cone and couldn't get through a doorway, couldn't eat or drink. He would turn his head, it would scratch the wall and scare him and after five minutes you take it off, like we all do, because we don't want our animals to wear a cone. It's uncomfortable, it's frustrating for them, for you. And he got back out. His tail had to have more and more digits of the tail removed and the tail is so finicky because it will bleed for a very long time. So my mother and I, we went, bought a foam yoga mat, cut it, put some velcro on it and that was the birth of the comfy cone. It was soft, oh my God. It could get through doorways. And then we realized, with having a great pure knees that are known for being very drooly dogs, we need to line it with a shower liner because you could wring that out the feet off the floor, that was collected. That's smart. And that was the birth of the comfy cone About in 2000,.

Speaker 2: 11:01

I'm going to say three or four was when we made our own and moved out to California in the interim and the rest is history. We brought it out to market September of 07 at Super Zoo, the big Super Zoo trade show in Vegas, and it won best new pet product. We got all of our orders. All of our marketing was through trade shows that were not open to public. We're open to the retailers, veterinarians, groomers and through donations to shelters and rescues. And through the years it's just snowballed and it's been wonderful. And we listened to pros and cons and feedback from customers and be the general public or veterinarians. And we've changed the cone a little bit, adding removable plastic stays or structure for dogs with ice or do the rub on the floor and the cone can roll back. This way there's added structure where you can take it out and fold the cone back. So that's the comfy cone.

Speaker 1: 12:14

That's the comfy cone. So you guys are like problem solvers essentially.

Speaker 2: 12:18

My mother is.

Speaker 1: 12:19

Okay.

Speaker 2: 12:21

Through genetics, I will solve a problem that's my mom. She's going to eat it and she creates it. We don't reinvent the wheel, we just make it better. So we were one of the first with the soft Elizabethan collar other than the paper one. We were the first one.

Speaker 1: 12:40

I've never seen the paper one.

Speaker 2: 12:42

Oh, that's been around for a long time. It's made of paper, usually for cats and smaller dogs, and we are the first ones to come out with a soft Elizabethan collar. And now you see a ton on the market everywhere.

Speaker 1: 13:01

But I still only think of comfy cone. That's the one that I go to. I just had to use it. My dog just had surgery and he had to go with the cone for two weeks and the comfy cone saved his life. Yeah, because he does. He runs into walls and gets scared and it's super loud, and it's a day and a night and he's like, yeah, Well, I'm glad.

Speaker 2: 13:23

We say whatever works for you works for you. If it's the comfy cone, great. If it's the blow up collar, great. If it's whatever you need, as long as your pet is healing in comfort and safe and you're comfortable, do it.

Speaker 1: 13:38

Right, right, can we delve a little bit deeper into how you got the product going for those people who I know a lot of pet parents and their wheels are always turning on how they can find that product that they can bring into fruition. So the time from the day that you made the one for your giant breed dog, put together the handmade one, to actually deciding to create the product Like what did that look like?

Speaker 2: 14:10

Yeah, it took about a year, I would say. We were in California, settled, and the chill collar that was the first idea, but it just wasn't coming together. The comfy cone was what was the necessity. So what we did was we went to the fashion district downtown in Los Angeles and got some different materials. We also went to used. We tried rain jackets and different things, still used our foam little yoga mat because it worked. We ended up buying foam.

Speaker 2: 14:50

Once we found a seamstress and just like an alterations place and we asked if she could make some prototypes and showed what we wanted, got a plastic cone to show the shape, to get the pattern and got the Velcro. So we went and bought all the materials and my mother found in the yellow pages a factory in Corona, california, because that was back when the yellow pages were around and they were textiles. They are called bagmasters and they make bags. So we knew that they worked with textiles and we called them. We said can we come in and see if this is something you guys could make? They had no idea what the product was. They didn't know what Elizabethan collars were. So we got our prototypes and went for a meeting and they said, yeah, I think this is something we could do. They have a factory in China and we'd love to make it fully in the US, but things are hard, and this was right when the economy was about to crash in 07. It was September of 07.

Speaker 1: 15:59

It was 08. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:01

Everything crashed.

Speaker 1: 16:02

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:03

So we got our prototypes in our neighborhood pet store Tailwaggers. They gave us feedback and tested things. We tested with veterinarians. Once we got the fabrics correct, we found a polyurethane-coated nylon. You can hear my baby Apologize.

Speaker 1: 16:19

I can hear your baby. Let me know if you need to go check on him. He's OK, right now See if he's right, she's just chock talking.

Speaker 2: 16:27

Yeah, and you could probably hear me a little bit.

Speaker 1: 16:30

Yeah, he's like mom. What are you doing? Talking to somebody else?

Speaker 2: 16:33

Are you?

Speaker 1: 16:34

How dare you?

Speaker 2: 16:36

The nerve. So we found our materials, we decided to do a reflective outer edge and we worked with this factory, got things made, tested them with our veterinarian and our local pet store. We also found a patent attorney because we were we patent our products and that took a while and got our pet.

Speaker 1: 17:07

How long does that take, like a week?

Speaker 2: 17:09

It takes months. So they get the patent through. It depends on when you start, the type of product, the type of prior artwork that, if somebody's already created the idea you want to trademark, you want to do everything. So, all right, I will go in there now.

Speaker 1: 17:25

OK.

Speaker 2: 17:26

I'll be right back.

Speaker 1: 17:28

We edit, I can make a break. Oh, no worries.

Speaker 2: 17:35

OK, so we got our patents in line. Sorry about this.

Speaker 1: 17:44

I know it's totally. You have a brand new baby. It's totally fine.

Speaker 2: 17:50

We got everything together and we are a neighborhood pet store. Once patents came through or patent pending, sometimes that's enough to put on your product so that you have your place in line. Things are somebody can't go ahead and say, oh no, I'm going to go ahead.

Speaker 1: 18:13

I'm going to make this product, yeah.

Speaker 2: 18:16

And we our neighborhood pet store, the owner, tom. He said you guys should go to Super Zoo. Like what's Super Zoo? He's? Like it's in a few weeks, it's in Vegas Drive. There we didn't have a booth and it's very expensive because again, on me is crashing.

Speaker 2: 18:35

So we looked up companies that were showing at Super Zoo and in Southern California that were from Southern California. We called a few see if we could set up a meeting to see if we could share the booth under their name and, low and behold, there was one company, doggy Walkbags, who said sure, we're happy to. That was our first experience. We got there and they taught us everything we needed to know. They had a folding table for us because they have this huge display with bags, and they told us what to do, what we needed to expect, what we wanted to make off of the show, how to you know it was, and we did the new product showcase at the trade show under their name. So they won best new pet product. And this was all on the download, because this they were not allowed to really do this at the time. It was very kind of them and they're great people, wonderful company, and that was where Petco found us, petsmart found us, and the company of dogs, which is a big catalog. Yeah, foster and Smith was a big cat. Everything was cataloged.

Speaker 2: 19:53

Back then Wasn't a lot of online presence as of yet, and that is that. Was it that show People saying, go do it, and we were the first of its kind. So we learned of the other trade shows to go to veterinary conferences, since our product goes for both retail and vets, and we are very fortunate, lucky people, because we had a product that was needed, that people didn't know they needed and it was never seen before. And that was the birth of the comfy comb and how we got it to market. And I don't know if my mom's going to be happy, but we had to get creative of me saying this part Right. When you in the business, these first orders that, like Petco places, they get because they're such a big company 90 days to pay you for your product. You ship their order, they get 90 days for the first order.

Speaker 1: 20:56

I was going to ask you like do they pay up front? Or they like, yeah, no.

Speaker 2: 21:01

You, on the other hand, get 15 days to pay your factory for your product. Once it's shipped over and you have it, you have to pay for your product, right? Oh no, what are we going to do? Because at that time, in order to get a $50,000 loan from the bank, you had to have $200,000 in the bank. Because everything.

Speaker 2: 21:29

Yeah, september of 2007. So came up with the idea. We had excellent credit to get some 0% APR financing for your credit cards I think five of them with like $20,000 limits, and use those cards to pay for our product from our factory and paid it off well within the year. So it was kind of like a free loan. Yeah, and thank goodness we did that.

Speaker 1: 22:05

I think a lot of people probably do that. They just don't talk about it. And also how lucky you know, and lucky that you were kind of in the flow of it and you were able to just pay that right off, right.

Speaker 2: 22:15

So Well, we were fortunate that we got orders and people liked it and it worked, yeah. So, as I say, it's been 16 years, 16, 17 years and we have some customers that started with us because we're the only ones out there, and then there's so many new that have come out and we have had to sue people for infringement on our patents and do things, but some are less expensive and not as well made, and then we've had in the past like five or so years. All these customers started to come back saying, yeah, yours was the one that worked, we'd like to place orders again, and it's a really good feeling.

Speaker 1: 23:08

That's great, and I wonder if that's common. I think that is common. You'd have to go elsewhere and realize what you're missing in any thing, right? And then you're like, oh right, this is the one.

Speaker 2: 23:18

The distance makes the heart grow fonder, be it with love. Yes exactly Recovery. Callers for dogs and cats.

Speaker 1: 23:29

So then you got so wow. So you just kind of all. But your mom knew kind of how to do this stuff because she had done other products back in the day.

Speaker 2: 23:38

Yes, I know, but she's a creative Business is not for forte. So I ran the business, she did the creative and we combined with certain other business parts. We made decisions together. Our board was her and myself. She's president, I'm the vice president, one secretary one's, like it was fun. Let's take the minutes to our meeting and then. So then do you go ahead when my sister came on to my sister Alexis she is a better business brain.

Speaker 2: 24:13

She helped a lot, but we were already in business for eight years before she came on to the nice.

Speaker 1: 24:23

So it's really a family business, and then. So then is it are they in like all the petcos, or are they just they're in?

Speaker 2: 24:31

Petcos. Now it's more brick and mortar with Petcos. There was another company and I'm not one to bad mouth people, so I will not name the company who has gone bankrupt several times and reinvented themselves after copying our product several times and they had to pay us royalties. They had to do this, but one of the people in the company had a very good relationship with somebody high up in Petco, so they got our product out of these stores and just online and so they could get their product in the stores, their additional product. They had another pet recovery product that was not a cone shape and decided, oh, that's what everybody wants. So yeah, but we are the online shady, to say the least. But business I mean. They tried to sue us to invalidate our patents, which I didn't even know you could do that once you had a patent you were protected Nope.

Speaker 1: 25:31

Just because, yeah, that's so crazy. Yeah, yeah, what do you think? They just want to create their own product.

Speaker 2: 25:40

No, that's not what they like to do. They like to copy a lot of other people's products than me.

Speaker 1: 25:44

Yep, okay, I got it yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:48

That's a winner.

Speaker 1: 25:49

Anyway, you were about to say something else. What were you going to say?

Speaker 2: 25:52

You have no idea.

Speaker 1: 25:53

I'm going to interrupt you, we okay.

Speaker 2: 25:56

Yeah, we're in a bunch of, we're all over the country, actually all over the world, and we even got an image of a koala wearing comfy cone in Australia and it's so sweet at different, different streets and yeah, it's just been a wild ride with the comfy cone no-transcript and what other, so what other?

Speaker 1: 26:20

and you've got some other products out there since you created the comfy.

Speaker 2: 26:24

Yes, the chill collar, which is the cooling collar, for the chill collar, that's which is a brilliant idea.

Speaker 1: 26:29

I mean, now they have like chill, you know yeah, but this one. But the chill collar is very unique, it gets to the skin and it doesn't hang or sag.

Speaker 2: 26:37

So it gets that. It's always against the neck, so it gets that jugular circulating cold blood to the body. So it really cools down the system. When dogs and cats you know well cats don't wear the chill collar because it's ice. They have to be strong enough. So right, bulldogs and larger pugs that have the break is the phallic that overheat so easily with those flat noses.

Speaker 2: 27:00

Yep they have the muscle tone to hold up the chill collar and it's made of silicone so it's very insulating. It's water resistant, water resistant. That's the comfy cone. It's insulating, but the Even when the ice melts, it still stays cool to the touch and because it doesn't hang your sag, it's one solid piece. It will always be touching the neck and dogs like mine, who have a lot of hair, you want to wet the hair. So it's like, gets the coolness to the. It's so cool, gets that cold to the neck and then the dogs can drink the water when they're done, after it melts on hikes. Oh, really, yeah, they keep the water with them.

Speaker 2: 27:41

So we have the chill collar and then we have the wipe it and the wipe it is a drool. It basically is a towel that has elastic around the neck and around the base of it Goes over the dog's head so it's equidistant around and you wipe the drool. We have Tangerly dogs so they wear the towel. You wipe your hands off. It's just made out of terry. A Lot of groomers like it because they can cover the ears when they're bathing, or long hair Veterinarians like it because they can pull it up over the eyes when they're trimming nails or doing something, because it's calming effect. Same with the comfy cones like blingers on horse kind of calms them down sure and Dogs getting ear infection medicine.

Speaker 2: 28:26

They shake their head. It keeps it in. We've had some better was that.

Speaker 1: 28:32

Pardon was that inspired by your truly dogs? No, what? Inspired? It was one of my dogs had.

Speaker 2: 28:42

You're, yeah, actually one of my dogs had an ear infection and would constantly shake the head, so it just helped Veterinarians covering eyes because my dogs don't really care about stuff like that. They told us that One vet used it. They had a patient who was missing the lower mandible, so having the wipe it on it caught everything and Same with the chill collar has the, you know, cooling down the animal in that respect. But there was one veterinarian who had MS herself, which you want to keep your temperature at a specific degree. So we gave her two of the smallest ones and she would wear them, put them on. But yeah, when I didn't have a AC in an apartment, I lived in an LA for a few years.

Speaker 2: 29:33

I would wear that yeah it really does cool you down. So there are always other functions for our come, like our products. The comfy cone right. The chill collar, the white bit, and then we have the comfy wrap, which is like the comfy cone for the body. So if there's a wound anywhere on the body and you don't want to put a cone on, we still don't want to wear cones, even though we make the product I don't want to put a cone on. I've taken the extra small yeah, my dogs legs.

Speaker 2: 30:02

So he didn't chew his pads or if he had a hot spot there, so I didn't have to put a big cone on.

Speaker 1: 30:08

Right we're all we're all peck, so that's so. They can not, they can. They can't scratch or chew like on there. I know yeah, tummy, or whatever.

Speaker 2: 30:15

There's so many different things you could do with the products.

Speaker 1: 30:19

Yeah, that's so brilliant. Yeah, that the droolie bib thingy. I wish I had had that for one of my. I had a senior golden retriever who I cared for for Since he was six months old and he recently passed. He was 15, so he had a long good life, but towards those last few years he would eat and it would just get like he was. All of his hair would get in his food and like then it would get like it's everywhere.

Speaker 1: 30:47

Oh it's her in a different is like scare was turning a different color because it was just like full of time.

Speaker 2: 30:53

Sting, and you love them. But it's there and, and what my thought? That mega esophagus.

Speaker 1: 30:58

And he's such a drooler and you got to give them like the wet food and do it like a meatballs and it just comes out and yeah, they how did you handle the mega esophagus in a dog that that was that size, since you couldn't put him in the In that?

Speaker 2: 31:14

he was so good and would sit. And then you have to with mega esophagus for people that don't know the animal has to be in this upright position After eating for 15, 30 minutes depends on what they're eating or drinking and they have to so that gravity can get the food and liquid down and not stay there so they don't aspirate and get pneumonia because their esophagus, which used to function, is huge and has no motility and you have to have gravity help you. So he was Gigantic, had one of the biggest heads I've ever seen and Such a good boy. You just sit there, put um, we got. We would use the white bit, but my mother at times over the white bit was special and she was feeding him would take when you go to a hairdresser, the like the cape or whatever they should put that around him sometimes just to like like a poncho effect. He would just sit there and Just sit there with him and put on the news or whatever you're watching and Just sit there with the dog while he knew yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:28

So what made you guys where you? Why are you guys so attracted to the mega large breeds? Is there a reason or you just that's just your jam?

Speaker 2: 32:37

That's my jam. As a kid we our first dog was Chocolate lab named Shayna Quite a ton of medical problems and up to then my parents both had smaller dogs. I know my mom had cocoa who was like a terrier mix growing up and and after Shayna passed was when we got our first pure knees. I think my parents divorced a long time ago but at that time I think they wanted to do a Bernie's mountain dog but there's a lot of hip dysplasia in the litter. So they found great pure knees in the Tennessee mountains or Georgia Mountains because we were in Atlanta, so close by and a lot of farms and yeah, out there and Found some in a listing on the yellow pages again, how many dogs, I think they really came in handy.

Speaker 2: 33:27

The yellow pages are and yeah, oh, and then got our first pure knees, named Cody. She pulled the roof. She was about 180 pound female pure knees, which is giant.

Speaker 2: 33:40

Oh my god 32 inches tall the shoulders she was huge lived to be 12, amazing. Wow. Oh yeah, peers lived 10 to 13 years. Bruno you met is perinian, which is the same as a pure knees, just the Spanish version I like, like an amalgam between a great pure knees and a Saint Bernard, because in between and when Cody got a little older, got saber and always had two at a time or more. After that, because you have one, you have two, and then they entertain each other. Yeah, it was run away all the time and get into the chat. Who'd really be disgusting. Hop the fence, electric fence up, because they would just I mean these dogs clear a king-size bed if they wanted to. They are so strong and athletic.

Speaker 1: 34:34

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:35

Until they sleep 23 hours. But that one hour, yeah, they're on.

Speaker 1: 34:39

That one hour.

Speaker 2: 34:40

And they're.

Speaker 1: 34:41

I know when we met I was because your sweet boy that passed he was very, looked very similar to my guy, doug, that I take care of and he has. He's a great Piranis Saint Bernard mix and so he was reminding me of him and Doug does. He has that spurt of a lot of energy and then there's not much there after that. What's the life expectancy for like a mixed breed, like is it still like 10 to 12?

Speaker 2: 35:08

I think it depends on what's mixed in there. For great Piranis, okay, they they've done so much in breeding in the States where their life expectancy they're they're they're more prone to getting bone cancer and different cancers, just like all these breeds are prone to something. And we always got our peers from farms or ranches where they're cause they're guardians, they guard animals. That's what they do, so they're dogs that have puppies. The ones that don't work on the farm or ranch need a home, so we get them. That's that's how we find our peers. And what was the question? I forgot.

Speaker 1: 36:00

I don't remember what the question was. The question was uh, they have a life expectancy of uh, you were saying that 10 to 13.

Speaker 2: 36:10

Yeah, but a lot of them aren't getting sicker in the States unless you get from farms and ranches, ones that aren't really breeding them for summer, breeding them down to to make them more attractive to um people, being a smaller dog Cause when they get so big it's got so scary. But larger giant breach are usually a lot easier to manage.

Speaker 1: 36:33

Like so, so much easier Mellow.

Speaker 2: 36:34

So they um, yeah, the life expectancy I think went down a little bit for those dogs, but a true Pyrenees, 10 to 13 years can get up to 15, especially in your. The ones that are out there that are just haven't been messed with, they're just how they evolved can live a long time. They're great with kids and other animals and they make really good pillows, blankets included, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 37:03

Yeah, my, my guide dog is just a big snuffle up, I guess.

Speaker 2: 37:07

Essentially, For the best.

Speaker 1: 37:09

Well, thank you, jacqueline, do you? Is there anything, any words of wisdom or tips for people who might be interested in, you know, launching their product idea?

Speaker 2: 37:19

It's it can feel like an overwhelming and daunting task, but I think what we did was we realized the steps we needed to take, instead of thinking of doing everything all at once. What's the first thing you have to do?

Speaker 1: 37:34

I make a prototype, yeah.

Speaker 2: 37:36

The second thing you have to do how am I going to make it? Find a place, ask around, go to a trade show, contact somebody like me. I have people, have thrown people my way all the time and I'm like you know what? I have some extra badges to this show. You don't have to pay to go. Come to this trade show, walk around the floor, see if there's a product like yours out there, because why make something if it's already there? Then you're wasting your time and your money. You know there's, there's always. Just don't fear asking or even cold calling, emailing. Know a friend who knows a friend? Talk to the pet industry veterinarian, your pet store, just ask. People want to help.

Speaker 1: 38:19

Right. People do want to help. It's just it's us to get wrapped up and not wanting to bother anybody.

Speaker 2: 38:25

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 38:26

Or whatever.

Speaker 2: 38:27

I'm a proud person. That's me. I'm very proud and I learned this thing, a moment too, I need help.

Speaker 1: 38:34

You got to ask for help. I don't know how you do that.

Speaker 2: 38:38

I figure it out. It was such a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you for having me here and if you have anybody come your way that ever needs anything, we donate to any shelter or rescue. We will always donate our products. If there's any that it's our pleasure.

Speaker 1: 38:57

Well, thank you, jacqueline. I really appreciate this chat. Thanks for being here and have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Burrub podcast. That was a really fun chat with Jacqueline. You can check out all the products that she offers at all4pausecom, and I will also put a link in the show notes to their website, as always. If you enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to rate and follow the Burrub podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also follow us on Instagram at Burrubpodcast. If you have a question, a comment or a story of canine companionship that you would like to share with me, I would love to hear from you. You can email me, charlotte at theburrubcom. Alright, you guys, let's chat soon.