Creature Comfort #24

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Growing up in the 70s and 60s, there were no ticks in the area. You have houses that are in the 2 acre to 8 acre wood lots where the white tailed deer are. And it's not that they've moved in, we've moved out to them.

Kristen Smith:

Just having a better sense of how dogs learn and how dogs learn how to interact with humans. All dogs are teachable and trainable. A lot of it is the consistency and I think sometimes people who are busy or people who are stressed aren't always able to focus on what that consistent message to the dog is.

John Locke:

People actually told me you should have this dog as a therapy dog. So I did some research and many months later Jake became a therapy dog. I was truly led to being a therapy dog handler by my dog.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This show's topic, Creature Comfort, will include conversations with Dr. Doug Andrews of the Falmouth Veterinary Clinic, Kristen Smith of Planet Dog, and John Locke, the therapy dog owner of Jake and Gypsy who works at the Maine Medical Center. Across the microphone from me today we have Genevieve Morgan, my co host. Hi Genevieve.

Genevieve Morgan:

Hi Lisa. I have one question for you. Did you ever have a dog?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, actually I did. In fact I had. Well, currently Lightning is still alive. He lives with his with my kids and their father across town from me now. But yes, Lightning's a good old dog. He's been around quite a long time. We also had Daisy who was a little beagle and unfortunately, she had an untimely demise. Beagles, they follow their noses and they sometimes get themselves into trouble. But also we had Blackie and that was the first dog I remember that could go on and on. We've had lots of dogs.

Genevieve Morgan:

So you've always had dogs or a pet in your house?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Oh, and yes, cats ad nauseam. We've. Yes, we. Yes, we have. How about you?

Genevieve Morgan:

I have as well. And I, I had. My first cat was Jane and we. I lived in Manhattan and we still had pets my entire. Actually, I think I had a turtle before I had Jane, but we had dogs even in an apartment. So I grew up with animals. You grew up with animals. And I think that that's one of the reasons why we find this so.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's one of the reasons that we find this so interesting. And also this sense that. Which we've said before, that you may be a creature walking on two legs, you may be a creature walking on four legs, or perhaps you're a swimming or a flying creature. But there's a lot of genetic consistency. In fact, we're closer to our fellow creatures than we are far apart. Well, one of the reasons I became interested in this topic pretty early on, in addition to having my own pets, was that when I was a resident at the Maine Medical center and then a fellow at the University of Massachusetts in the preventive medicine program, there were very active animal communities, therapies that were going on within these institutions. And there was the acknowledgement that indeed animals could be helpful to hospitalized patients. And. And we also had Sarah Armentrout come in and talk about equest and the Carlisle Riding Academy and talked about horses and how they were helpful. And I think this is going to be probably the first show of many in which we will kind of go back and forth between creature health.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, and I think companion animals in particular add so much to our emotional enjoyment. They get us out in society and out in the environment. With dogs, you have to walk them. But also there's just nothing better than coming home to a. A dog that's waiting to see. You can make your day if you're living alone or if you've recently lost someone. So I'm glad we're showing some appreciation.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I think it's important, especially given that we know that we're very connected via Facebook and email and we have all this electronic connection with the people in our lives sometimes that causes us to lose the physical, emotional, social connection with the people in our lives. So it's, you know, we can be as connected as we've ever been to Aunt Joan in California, and yet we haven't hugged her in months. I think pets are filling that interesting void, you know, and really helping deal with some of that loneliness that we're feeling, that disconnection that we're feeling from our fellow humans.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, we are pack animals. Correct.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Homo sapiens are pack animals. We are meant to be with other animals. And I'm hoping that. I'm hoping that we're going to kind of come back around everything. If you look at history, it always goes too far in one direction, and then it kind of boomerangs back to the other direction. I'm hoping that all of the social media and the connectivity from an electronic standpoint, a digital standpoint, is going to. We're going to realize that we really do need to be with other people, and we're going to come back and be with other people. In the meantime, we've got our pets.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, I will say one thing to the connectivity piece that maybe we should address. I noticed when I go to pick up my children, I'm surprised how many people, and myself included, up to a certain point when I started to notice this, were talking on their cell phones and their children would come out of the school door and they won't put down their cell phone. And here's a moment where your child's coming out of a day with all this energy and you don't know what's happened. Could be good, could be bad. And it's the perfect moment to kind of embrace them and hold them and hear their day. And yet you're having a relationship with the person on the cell phone, not the relationship with your kid. So I've been trying in the past couple months to just put the cell phone away when I pick my children up at school and be present with them. And I mean, same goes for my dog.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, that being present piece is just supremely important. I mean, that is what we need to keep doing with the individuals in our lives who are the most important. And it is probably getting rid of our electronic tethers. It is being able to sit across from somebody and have a conversation. It is being able to even just sit with them, not saying anything at all, but just being physically present. And in the meantime, we can use our dogs and our cats to sort of train us to go back to this because they're not judgmental, they're not going to give us negative feedback.

Genevieve Morgan:

Typically, they can't use a BlackBerry. They don't have opposable thumbs.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

They're not tethered. So this is why animals can be very valuable. And we are going to talk with Doug Andrews and Kristen Smith and John Locke about how animals can be helpful from a human standpoint, a socialization standpoint. We're also going to talk about how there is an intersection between animal and human health. So that'll be an interesting conversation as well. And a little bit about sort of the impact on animals and the pets, the pet owners that the financial, the current financial situation in this country is causing. So it'll be a broad ranging conversation, but we think that people will enjoy it.

Genevieve Morgan:

I'm looking forward to it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is pleased to be sponsored by the University of New England. Each week we feature a wellness innovation as part of this affiliation with University of New England. And this week's innovation comes from ABC News. According to ABC News, fun and play are key to survival for bears, dogs, humans, birds and maybe even ants. It sounds like a paradox. How could play, defined as apparently purposeless activity that's fun to do and pleasurable, and be vital for grim survival in such an often random and dangerous world? And not just play in childhood, but throughout life and throughout life, not only in humans, but in all sorts of animals, including hungry polar bears, chained sled dogs, rats, cats, otters, migratory birds, and yes, maybe yes, ants. Play is one of the brain's best forms of exercise. The exploratory and risk taking nature of play, including the healthy rough and tumble play that sometimes frightens protective parents, opens the brain to new ideas. Play gives a brain the experience and thus the courage to search outside the box to try out new ways of doing things. In an unpredictable world that constantly keeps presenting new kinds of menacing problems and obstacles to survival, a growing number of scientists and other professional researchers are amassing evidence that in all kinds of creatures, an innate impulse and ability to play has been favored by evolution down through the eons.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today's show is called Creature Comfort and appropriately enough, we have Dr. Doug Andrews of the Falmouth Veterinary Clinic in to speak with us about creatures and their comfort and humans and Their comfort and the interaction between the two. Hi, Dr. Andrews.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Hi, Lisa. How are you today?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm doing well and I have next to me Genevieve Morgan.

Genevieve Morgan:

Hi, Dr. Andrews.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Hi, Genevieve.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Dr. Andrews, you have been doing this veterinary medicine for a really long time.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

I'm growing roots right now. I've been doing this since I graduated May of 1979. And I started off in a mixed animal practice for three and a half years, and it was the All Creatures Great and Small kind of lifestyle and decided to move from there to primarily companion animal practice due to the fact that the demographics of Portland area were changing and there's just such an information explosion. It was very difficult to be very good at multiple species. It was quite frustrating. So I've been at companion animal practice since February of 1983. I don't want to count the years. I know it's 30 plus at this point.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, 1983 was a few years back now.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

It was scary. A lot of my staff wasn't even born then and.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I was born then, so.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Oh, it was.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, that's right. So I'm not.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

I'm feeling old.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

No. Okay. So I'm interested because. Well, you and I met and we talked in the fall, and you were describing Falmouth and Portland as being a very different place than it is today. Even the Corridor in Route 1, I think you were talking about farmland. You were talking about open fields. There were large animals back then, even in the space.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Sure. There were dairy farms off of Wind Road in Falmouth, those that have been around. Remember Pete Zacharias? He still has some dairy cattle, I believe. I haven't been out to his farm for ages. There's horse stables on Blackstrap Road that were Norton's stables, I believe. And there's another. I think it was a Guernsey farm off of one of the roads that connects Route 26 to Blackstrap. And you get the further away from Portland that you went up to, Gray. There's a lot of beef cattle, sheep farms, you name it, and they're still around. There's just fewer than there were. Certainly back 25, 30 years ago.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, and that was going to be. My question is, how has the sort of animal landscape changed from what you can see in the greater Portland?

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Well, it's the urban sprawl, certainly a lot of the Zacharias land went to. And areas that were large ranges or large expanses of land have had houses placed in the areas that were grazed land for the cattle and the horses. This is just mushroomed out in the greater Portland area, going out Route 26, past Falmouth, Hadlock Road, there's some stables out there. There was very few houses at that point. And they have all filled in in the last 20 years, especially during the growth of the mid-80s and the growth of the mid-90s.

Genevieve Morgan:

So the animals have gotten smaller, the

Dr. Doug Andrews:

large animals have gotten smaller and there was a large amount, the majority of cats were outdoor cats at that time. We did not have any vaccination for leukemia virus until I think 84, 85 when it came out. And we would see a lot of experience, a lot more infectious diseases, especially in the feline world. I would say one cat a week or more would come in with that virus, which is essentially a devastating immunosuppressive disease. So they would. You'd be seeing clinical illness of any kind due to the virus that they were fighting off.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So the sort of urbanization and suburbanization of this area has actually caused crowding amongst the animal kingdom and has caused disease.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Well, yeah, and crowding amongst the human kingdom. They're finding that a. A lot of the emerging diseases are not occurring because of pets going from outdoors, especially dogs, where they're in doghouses, into the bedrooms and living rooms and having a closer relationship. But they're finding a lot of these diseases that are coming are at the encroachment upon the urban, rural or I think there's a peri. Suburban area, the transition zone. And we're flushing a lot of these diseases out ourselves because of the growth of, well, the previous growth up until 2006 of the Greater Portland area. And that's really true all across the country. Certainly that's a prime example. Are ticks growing up. In the 70s and 60s there were no ticks in the area. But the white tailed deer population has exploded and they're directly correlated with a number of ticks. But you have houses that are in the 2 acre to 8 acre wood lots where the white tailed deer are. And it's not that they've moved in, we've moved out to them.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that was actually my next question, which is talk a little bit about the interaction between human and animal health. So you have, you talked about feline leukemia virus and that is animal, that's not an animal. Human crossover.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Correct.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you've talked about ticks and actually there is a crossover. I mean, you don't get Lyme disease from your dog.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Correct.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Dogs get Lyme disease, cats get Lyme disease, cats.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

There haven't been. If you talk to the parasitologist they have stated there haven't been any documented Lyme disease cases in cats. But if you talk to feline practitioners, they feel they have seen them. So that's a little controversial. But these are all vector borne diseases. Therefore you can't say they're strictly zoonotic, where they go from animal directly to pet, but they're going from tick to human, tick to dog.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me, what's a vector?

Dr. Doug Andrews:

For those of you, a vector is, let's say it's like a Trojan horse. It's a disease, infectious agent, parasite that is transmitted via another host. Whether that's the flea, whether that's the tick. A mosquito would be a vector for transmitting equine encephalitis. Those are what, that's my definition of vectors. And I'm not a parasitologist and that was 35 years ago. But that's the best shot I can make.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That's a good shot because I'm sure people listening, most people are not parasitologists either. So good job with that.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

I'm happy about that.

Genevieve Morgan:

And some of the change that's come is people's relationships with their animals. Because in 25, 30 years ago, if you're working on a farm with animals, you work with your animals and you stable them, you don't bring them in your house. But now our companion animals are almost like our children.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

That's definitely a transition that we've all seen over the last 20 years. Again, in a feline world. The majority of cats are now indoors. I have declawed many cats and I still declaw. But that's a very controversial subject. But you go to other areas of the country and it really depends on the culture of the area. There's declaw is done quite frequently. It's presented as an option. I'm neither for nor against. But you can't say that procedure is never warranted because you have elderly people that have thin skin and things don't work when the cat uses them as a trampoline. And there's just as situation specific. That doesn't answer your question though.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, are there risks associated with this new closeness between animals and humans?

Dr. Doug Andrews:

I think there's increased risk, but you have to take them in proportion to the statistical probability and the incidence for small children and immunosuppressed adults, where the Companion Animal Parasite Council or CAPC, we get about 10. We documented 10,000 cases of larval ascarid migration exposure in the United States, which isn't a huge incidents considering we're 300 million plus people.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So wait, what did you just say? Larvae?

Dr. Doug Andrews:

They're ascarids. Ascarids are what we call roundworms that are passed in the feline world, canine and also raccoons. And their eggs are pretty sturdy. They can probably survive a nuclear holocaust. And they're something that everyone gets exposed to outside at some point. And with that risk, we have gone, especially with small children. And like I told you elderly people, it's best to have your pet on a product that will control these parasites, intestinal worms, not only in the warm summer months, but we'd recommend it throughout the year. They're inexpensive, they're very safe, and you want to protect for that segment of the population that is susceptible. However, there's an on the other side, if you look at all these infectious diseases back 30, 40 years ago, we're outside playing in the mud puddles. We didn't have these little Clorox wipets that you want to disinfect your house with. It's not good that our immune systems as young children and young adults are not getting these exposures. These exposures from 0 to 5 years of age shape your life as an adult, create all the lymphoid immune tissue to prevent diseases. So there's a real fine line between getting very paranoid about everything and going through your early childhood never exposed to anything, living in a bubble. That is not good.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How do you feel about pet insurance?

Dr. Doug Andrews:

I think pet insurance is a great product. There's several products out there. It's not one shoe fits all, but there's all sorts of premiums. Depends on your level of risk. There's one company that provides a $10, $15 a month premium that's essentially a catastrophic policy for events such as a chair falling on your pet, even inside breaking a leg. So it's not going to cover you for wellness and routine annual vaccinations. But it's for those disasters that you absolutely do not have the $502,000 fee to help with the repair of the pet. There's certainly that's another area. Veterinary medicine has changed as we've gone from the general practitioner where we rely primarily on history and physicals, probably similar to physicians back in the mid-1900s, 50s and 60s where we were relying more and more on technology. But this is all consumer demand. You can have ultrasound imaging and CAT scan imaging. CAT scans are now almost becoming as routine as ultrasounds and X rays as these machines and technology become less and less expensive, similar to the personal computer. And it's been really a demand of our clientele. It's taught 100% of the clientele, but the demand has been there. So we've gone to that extra step to provide those services.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, clearly people love their pets, which is why they want these high end services. We've talked about some of the risks that can be alleviated through basic veterinary care. So what are the benefits of having companion animals close to you in your house?

Dr. Doug Andrews:

Well, the benefits of having indoor cats certainly, I think is one a meditative benefit. There's nothing like having a cat on your lap purring while you're sitting down watching the television or reading a book. I think that helps entrain your brain and you become more relaxed. On the other hand, if you look into the dog world, dogs have to go outside. I know that I don't have a dog right now because I'm in the process of hopefully moving and I'm in transition. But I was out far more often in the winter because I've become less tolerant of cold as I progress. In my years I used to ski and do all these outdoor things, but I was out all the time with this dog running on the trails, on the Portland trails. And without a dog, I'm not doing that. So there's no question there's a health benefit for exercise and getting people out. Not even counting the psychological benefit of having coming home dog or cat's always happy to see you. Unlike some of the our children or spouses, there's always other issues, but there's unconditional rewards that they'll always give you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we've been speaking with Dr. Doug Andrews of the Falmouth Veterinary Clinic. We appreciate your coming in and talking to us about creature comfort.

Dr. Doug Andrews:

My pleasure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

One of my creature comforts is writing on my Bountiful blog, a somewhat regular basis@bountifulpath.com this blog post is from January 2, 2012 and it is called oh Possum. New Year's Eve was a raucous adventure at my house. There was banging and slamming, bodies throwing themselves against doors, and there was slumber. I engaged in the latter following a long run that morning, myriad errands and multiple rides given to my progeny, their social lives more active than mine. This particular evening I had retired early with a container of shrimp pad Thai and a stack of redbox videos. My 11 year old. Eventually, back in the house, we locked up and readied ourselves to greet 2012 from supine positions. Then the banging began. Having two teenagers, I thought little of the strange noises emanating from our first floor. I assumed that the kids have returned for a forgotten item, neglecting to greet me in their haste. Soft bumps and muffled crashes ensued, somewhat masked by the sound effects of the DVD I was watching. I asked myself whether it might be worth moving from my upstairs lair to investigate. Hearing no screams or human cries, I surmised the sounds might be instead coming from an especially vigorous dryer load. Unconcerned, I slumbered, New Year's Day rose bright and fine. I thought nothing further of the prior evening's audio disturbances until I noticed that our porch door, normally propped open for the cat's ease of entry, was strangely shut and a very cat like mound of fur rose out of the large Tupperware container containing our Peeline's food. Except this fur was striped gray and our cat is black. I realized that a possum friend had come to call and, finding a place of warmth and sustenance, had welcomed herself in, the porch door shut behind her, Ms. Possum, curled up in the kitty chow for a long winter's nap. I propped the porch door open and pushed the food container on its side, wishing for all the world that I had a man in my house to help me with this ever so revolting task. Call me sexist, I don't care. And not one but two possums waddled straight out the door, blinking lazily in the winter sun. I wondered what message the universe might be sending me, what hidden meaning there might be in my crittersome New Year's adventure. Something about ignoring even the most obvious of disturbances and getting an unpleasant surprise in return. Something about taking advantage of warmth and food when offered. Maybe something about hiring a man to live in my basement to take care of noxious tasks that hold no interest for this single lady. Or perhaps simply that I can no longer keep my porch door open despite El Gato's pleas. Hard to say, but I was glad that someone, something had a raucous time this past New Year's Eve. I wasn't the only one to ring in the new year with a belly full of food and a comfy place to sleep. Read this blog post and others like it at bountifulpath.com. Genevieve we just finished speaking with Dr. Doug Andrews of the Falmouth Veterinary Clinic and he referenced an organization called One Health Commission, which speaks to the idea that there really isn't any line between creatures of different sorts, be they human or animal. And you have somebody in to speak with us today who's going to maybe talk a little bit about that.

Genevieve Morgan:

I do. Lisa, thanks so much. Today on the Maine Magazine minutes, we have Kristen Smith, who is the brand ambassador for Planet Dog. Now, Planet Dog, they have a mission to amuse, explore, support, innovate, create, educate, celebrate and philanthropy, all in the name of dog. Welcome, Kristen.

Kristen Smith:

Thank you very much for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And part of your philanthropy is, I think it said think globally, act doggedly. Is that what I'm reading? That's right.

Kristen Smith:

That's actually a motto for Planet Dog overall, that, you know, we are interested in things at the local level, but also globally to enhance the lifestyle that people share with their pets.

Genevieve Morgan:

And how does that benefit our well being?

Kristen Smith:

Well, there's study after study that will show that people who have a pet have lower their blood pressure, lower their anxiety levels are lower. There are studies that show that the social interaction of taking a dog for a walk, in addition to the health benefits that come from taking regular walks, there's also a social component there that gets people talking to each other. So it can help to alleviate loneliness and obviously to enhance the joy that people experience every day when they have a nice little friend to share it with.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, one of the things that Planet Dog does is to make that life with your dog more fun and easier. I know from just being in the store, you've got great items and toys and great food and it all seems to be just about ratcheting it up a notch.

Kristen Smith:

Absolutely. I mean, I think what we really want to do, again is to enhance that lifestyle that people have with their dogs. And when people want to be healthy themselves and provide the healthiest options for their family, they want to do the same for their pets. And so we really do carry a very high level of food. For example, at the store, you know, we don't have any. All the foods that we carry have incredibly strong ingredients. There's no fillers and byproducts and things that you might find in some of the other pet foods out there. We promote a very healthy diet for pets. We have raw food there for people who want to try that for their dogs and bridges in between the raw food and fully packaged foods, we have a very knowledgeable segment that can help people figure out the healthiest way for their pets to eat. But then in addition, all sorts of great games and toys and ways to interact with your pet that keep your pet healthy and fit.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So I'm hearing that you have organic dog food, you have healthy dog food, you have raw dog food and it's all very holistic. Do you have other products that are equally holistic for animals and their owners?

Kristen Smith:

We do. We actually carry quite a broad range of holistic supplements, vitamins for dogs, additives to the food, salmon oils and all sorts of great things that can help promote dog's health. We have a couple of different main based companies that provide that pull together herbal supplement recipes to address to help, for example, to help dogs naturally fend off ticks as sort of a natural way to help avoid Lyme disease as well as some treatment options for arthritis and for joint problems. Supplements that can help boost a dog's immune system without having to rely necessarily on pharmaceuticals all the time. So again, different ways to supplement the dog's diet to really have a holistic approach to their health. We offer sometimes some training programs at the store as well. We'll have speakers come in and talk about comprehensive dog nutrition and how to cook for your dog and make sure that you're meeting all of the nutritional requirements, what some of these different supplements are and how they can help boost for specific problems. There's a lot of dogs that have food allergies and you'll see a dog that's really itchy and people don't necessarily know why. And so we have all of these range of products that can help address a whole range of just like people, dogs have a whole range of sensitivities to different foods and different health issues, different problems with coat and skin and all that kind of thing. And a holistic healthy approach to that is what we really strive for through the store.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, there's nothing better than a happy dog.

Kristen Smith:

No, there really isn't. And a happy dog makes a happy person and a happy person makes a happy dog.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It's a.

Kristen Smith:

They all go together so well.

Genevieve Morgan:

How did Planet Dog get started?

Kristen Smith:

Well, our founder, Alex Fisher is his name. He In 1996 or seven was very interested in some of these other lifestyle companies that, for example, Ben and Jerry's and Patagonia, companies that really had a mission behind what they were doing, had a real philosophy about the the company and what it was promoting in addition to just the products. And he realized that there wasn't such a company out there doing this for dog products. And he was so in love with his dogs and really wanted to find a great way to incorporate the values based companies that he was so fond of and so impressed by back then.

Genevieve Morgan:

Is Maine a good place to have a dog?

Kristen Smith:

Oh, it's one of the most dog friendly states out there. Portland. You know, there's a dog on every corner. Everywhere you go you see people with their dogs. And we have so much wonderful outdoor space to explore and enjoy with the dogs year round. It's really great.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What are some of the organizations that you support philanthropically?

Kristen Smith:

Well, we have Planet Dog has always been giving back. It's part of the central values of the company. So we have a nonprofit foundation, the Planet Dog foundation, and a percentage of every sale of every Planet Dog toy that is sold anywhere, include here at our store, on our website or at any of the thousands of retailers that carry our products online. We take those funds and give them to organizations that work with dogs to help people in need. So again, it's sort of an extension of the way that dogs and people really have such a symbiotic relationship and how dogs can be such a great complement to a lifestyle. So we support therapy dog programs where dogs might visit people in the hospital or or reading programs where dogs might help children who are struggling with literacy, service dogs and assistance dogs for people with disabilities. They might have a dog that helps them with mobility or independence. There's diabetic alert dogs that we funded programs where the dogs are able to actually sense a drop in a person's blood sugar and can alert the person before it turns into a life threatening situation. We also support canine search and rescue programs to help find lost hikers or maybe you know, someone, an elder who has wandered off and can't be found. Police and fire dogs that help, you know, our armed services and the military, all these different. There's just scores of programs out there where dogs are helping people in need and we support all of them.

Genevieve Morgan:

help people navigate dog ownership as well? Because obviously when dogs and people overlap, there are great things that can happen. And then there are also things where people get annoyed with dog owners living next door. I mean, Maine's a great place to have a dog, but there are also a lot of places that don't like dogs.

Kristen Smith:

Right.

Genevieve Morgan:

So do you guys help out?

Kristen Smith:

We do a lot of that through our company store. You know, we provide training classes at our company store. We have a puppy playgroup at the store where when people get a new dog, they can come in and learn how to socialize the dogs together. We have some trainers that come in every Saturday and Sunday morning, and it's a free service. People can just come in and let their dogs play and learn a lot about canine behavior, canine interaction. And that really early interaction really sets the stage for the dog's life. If they're well socialized early on, they're going to be easier to train for the rest of their lives and have a more successful.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, they do say there are no bad dogs, just bad owners, right?

Kristen Smith:

That's right. A lot of it is about management and training, you know, and we really do support a very positive training methodology at the store, and we have trainers that we can help pair people up with to help address problem behaviors. And again, a lot of it is about getting an early start with a dog and making sure that, you know, that you understand how to work with the dog's natural behaviors instead of trying to control them.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you think that sometimes a person's relationship with their animal might be kind of a manifestation of underlying problems in their lives? Do you think that there are patterns that sometimes will get established in an individual that then kind of shows when they try to train an animal?

Kristen Smith:

Well, yeah, sure. I mean, I think that the personality of the person can really have an impact on the way the dog behaves, and the inconsistencies are what can cause behavior problems with dogs. If you're trying to train one behavior, but then you are, without even maybe realizing it, actually reinforcing a different behavior, just having a better sense of how dogs learn and how dogs learn how to interact with humans. All dogs are teachable and trainable. A lot of it is the consistency And I think sometimes people who are busy or people who are stressed aren't always able to focus on what that consistent message to the dog is. And it's an important thing to know so that you are consistently helping the dog to be the best dog that you want.

Genevieve Morgan:

Kristen, do you have a dog?

Kristen Smith:

I do.

Genevieve Morgan:

What kind of dog?

Kristen Smith:

I have a little rescue dog. She's a little terrier mix. She's about 20 pounds. Her name is Roxy and she's got more personality than any other dog I've ever had before in a tiny, tiny little body.

Genevieve Morgan:

Does she get to go to work with you?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Sometimes she does.

Kristen Smith:

Planet Dog is obviously a dog friendly work environment. So we have, on any given day at the office, I'd say we have about seven dogs there. And then of course at the store, our store staff brings their dogs in as well as our customers. So there's dogs everywhere on Planet Dog

Genevieve Morgan:

World enhance your enjoyment of going to work?

Kristen Smith:

It does. I think it enhances everything about Planet Dog. You know, we really are trying to develop products and come up with innovative ways to enhance this lifestyle. So having the dogs around gives us inspiration. We get to see what things they're attracted to. They're our best product testers as we're trying to develop new toys and new interactive things for the dogs to do. We have this amazing product development posse with us at the office every day. And it gets you away from your desk. You get up, you get outside, you take that walk.

Genevieve Morgan:

Fun meetings too.

Kristen Smith:

Fun meetings. You know, we've been through a couple of different UPS delivery drivers who, some who don't love dogs as much as others. And it can get a little barky sometimes. Sometimes the phone conversation can be challenging. But again, it's all part of the training process and we're all learning how to curb that behavior too.

Genevieve Morgan:

Now Planet Dog has grown to be quite a company here. Locally based, right here in Portland. So what's the trajectory?

Kristen Smith:

Well, you know, we were founded again in 1997. So actually this year we're celebrating our 15th anniversary. We started out with about 30 different SKUs, 30 different products and a tiny little trade show booth and a very small little mailing list. And we now have over 400 products. We have about 4,000 retailers here in the United States that carry our products. And in addition to global distribution, we have distributors throughout the uk, throughout the European Union. We've got distribution in Australia, New Zealand, South America now. So we really have become a global brand, which is very exciting for us. And our customer base just keeps Growing and growing. We've won some really amazing industry awards, which I think is really special recognition for us. We've been an award winning company since the beginning because our innovation and the product design that we bring to the table is really phenomenal. But those awards just keep coming in, so it's nice to get the recognition from the industry as well.

Genevieve Morgan:

Terrific. Love to hear that about our homegrown company.

Kristen Smith:

Yes, it's nice to be Maine based and the majority of our products are made in the United States States. We've had manufacturers in Maine and Massachusetts, good New England routes and, you know, able to employ a really great group of people right here in Maine as well.

Genevieve Morgan:

Kristin, can you give us the retail location of the Planet Dog store and the website?

Kristen Smith:

Yeah. Our company store is located at 211 Marginal Way in Portland. It's right off of exit 7 on 295. So it's easy on, easy off for people coming through town. And we have a great parking lot there, so it's easy to park, easy to get in and out. And our website is www.planetdog.com. from there you can link to our company Store page and learn more about the training events and some of the other events that we have regularly at the store, as well as to the Planet Dog foundation site where you can learn a lot more about the philanthropy, the grants that we give away and the type of work that we support that way.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And we'll be sure to link through to your website on our website so people can find it very easily after they've listened to your interview.

Kristen Smith:

Thank you. That would be fantastic. We'd love to have people learn more about the company and how to improve your lifestyle with your dogs and give a little something back at the same time.

Genevieve Morgan:

Well, it's been so fun to talk to you, Kristen, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the dog park.

Kristen Smith:

All right. Thank you so much for having me and it's been a pleasure.

Genevieve Morgan:

Planet Dog is one of the many entrepreneurial companies based in Maine that is profiled every month in Maine Magazine. To subscribe or read articles online, go to themainmag.com or pick up an issue at a local newsstand near you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Thus far today, we've had a chance to speak with Dr. Doug Andrews, who is a local veterinarian and also Kristen from Planet Dog. Now we have a different dog owner in the house. And this would be John Locke, owner of two. I don't even know if you call him owner, but companion to two therapy dogs. Nice to have you, John.

John Locke:

Thank you. Nice to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And your dog's names are?

John Locke:

Jake is a 9 year old Labradoodle and Gypsy is a rescue. She's approximately four years old. She's a goldendoodle.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you work with Therapy Dogs Incorporated out of Cheyenne, Wyoming?

John Locke:

That's correct. That's where I'm certified with them. But I work primarily at May Medical center with the volunteer services of therapy dog at the hospital.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And There are about 50 therapy dogs from what you've told me at Maine Medical Center.

John Locke:

Yeah, we've, since I came aboard the last few years, we have really increased our number of volunteers and therapy dog teams. Yeah, we're up to 50 teams at this time, working seven days a week in most areas of the hospital.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

How did you come to be interested in having therapy dogs?

John Locke:

You know, that's a great question. My current dog Jake led me to it. He started coming to work with me on a daily basis and I saw the interaction that he was having with people and children and people of all kinds and what a positive effect he was having on my business and just in people in general. And people actually told me, you should have this dog as a therapy dog. So I did some research and many months later, Jake became a therapy dog by recommendations to me. And now I've been very active in it. I've now completed training and now have my second dog working. And I was truly led to being a therapy dog handler by my dog.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you've been doing this for five years?

John Locke:

Yes, approximately five years.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Now you show me the pictures from Maine Medical center of your dogs. Everybody gets scanned in, you said, yes, you get scanned in, your dogs get scanned in. And from what I understand, the dogs and the pets that work through this therapy program at Maine Medical center also leave calling cards.

John Locke:

Yeah. What we do is we get scheduled on rotation. It changes weekly. We get different floors. So for instance, last week I worked at Barbara Bush with the children. We scan in when we get to the hospital, both myself and their dog. So the hospital knows that we're there and they record and track our hours and they know who's in the building at any time. We take the canines through the hospital, you know, hospitals, ambassadors walk through the hospitals, we go up to the floor, we announce ourselves, and we have a liaison at Barbara Bush Ward that walks with us from room to room, introduces us to the children that are in the room at requests. If they like a visit from us, I'm happy to say that we are usually always welcomed in the rooms and we spend anywhere as much as the children want us to spend with them. And it conjures times for the children to kind of get their minds off what's maybe going on at that time in their life, as well as their families and their other siblings. And we talk about their dogs and we talk about why they like dogs. And usually the children share a lot of nice stories with us about their dogs. And you can just see the amount of just relief and enjoyment that the canines bring to the children. And it gives them that little, whether it's a five minute or ten or more minutes amount of time that we spend with them. You can just see how exciting. And then we get to kind of cap it off with leaving behind an actual real life photograph of the canine with all of their little snippets of what those canines enjoy from their brothers or sister canines or foods that they like or things they like to do. And so we leave that behind. So the kind of the visit keeps going on after we leave. And a lot of the children and a lot of patients that maybe come to the hospital on a more frequent basis, unfortunately get to collect the cards.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it's like a baseball card.

John Locke:

Yeah.

Genevieve Morgan:

Is it hard to train a therapy dog?

John Locke:

We get asked that a lot. We have the website that you can go to and get the information. Certainly you can talk to May Medical center volunteer services. It's not really that hard. It's some things that you have to download and you can read on the website TherapyDogs.com and you can download the information. You can review it pretty simply what the certifier. After you feel you're prepared, you would actually meet with a certified person from Therapy Dogs that would usually in most cases do several visits with you in the environment that you want to work in. So if you wanted to work at May Medical center, you might have three visits in May Medical center. And that observer is going to be looking for things like no tension in the lead, the. The canine not jumping up on people Just being a good citizen and being comfortable in the environment. And what's equally important is they want to make sure the handler is comfortable in the environment. They don't want the canine to be under any stress whatsoever in the environment that they're working in. And you'll find with therapy dogs, as well as Maine Medical center, as well as all the handlers, we're very proactive for the canines. We want to make sure they're enjoying it, they're having fun, they're safe, and most importantly, that the patient is safe. And those are the things that the observers are going to be checking into.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I understand there's another dog business in the family that's not therapy dog, but it's kind of an interesting sidebar here.

John Locke:

Yes, I do have specially trained canines for the ascent detection. And I know it's always going to be a little bit. People are going to be a little bit freaked out about it, but it's a great service and it's a great way for a K9 to find a job that they truly love. And so they're working hard and they're providing a great service. And the scent service is bed bugs. They have the ability up to a 97% accuracy to scent live bed bug or viable egg bedbug infestation in hotels or anywhere else you may think bedbugs could be.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And unfortunately, I think this is a growing necessity, the ability to have animals sending out bed bugs.

John Locke:

Yeah, yeah. And it is. We're busy seven days a week. And the fun thing is our dogs come out of Florida. They receive 800 hours of training in the academies that they go to. The dog of preference from a lot of handlers are beagles, but any dog is. Could be trained. I'm sure we use beagles, preferably rescued beagles. Beagles that have found their ways away from their current owner and into whatever rescue operation that you can rescue them from. And those are the dogs that are most desired because they are probably rescues for a reason. For whatever reason, they have been a little frustrated in their environment. And when they get a job like scenting bed bugs, because we train two to three hours a day most days and they are food generated, training positive. And the only way they eat is to find scent. So they're every time they eat and believe me, they're fed well, but they have to earn that. It's a food reward system. So they're working seven days a week and they find a job and they love it. So they love doing it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it sounds like all the creatures in your family are working hard these days. Your scent dogs, your therapy dogs. Do you ever sleep?

John Locke:

Actually I sleep very well. I sleep with all my dogs as close to me as I can and I'm sleeping well and they are too because they've been working.

Genevieve Morgan:

That's a good insight that a happy dog is a busy dog.

John Locke:

Well, that's my opinion. I like to keep them busy and it makes for a great pet.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me how people can learn more about being a therapy dog or even your services with the bedbugs.

John Locke:

If anybody is interested in a therapy dog, what I always recommend for people is go to a local nursing home or you know, or something like that and ask permission. Make sure your dogs are. They have all their vaccinations and you feel that they're safe. I think if you present yourself at most nursing homes, they're going to welcome you with open arms and go in and see if you like visiting and spending time with people. You know, people are lonely and especially at nursing homes, you know, they don't get a lot of visitors. So you being able to come in with a therapy dog and come in and spend some time. I can speak from experience. I think I'm getting more out of it than the patient is. So it's a wonderful thing to do and I can't encourage people enough to really look into it. And your dogs I think will absolutely love doing it and have so much fun doing it. So you can go to TherapyDogs.com and visit the website if you desire to work at May Medical center or Mercy or any other hospital here in the greater Portland area. You know, talk to volunteer services, find out what their protocol is and it's all consumer or user friendly stuff. It's nothing to be intimidated about. If you're a dog lover and you've got a well behaved, good citizen type canine people are going to welcome you

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

with open arms and your bedbug sniffing website.

John Locke:

Yeah, bedbug, that's a little bit more of a commitment. I would caution people to, to with that. If anyone had any interest, certainly contact me. Our website's northeastk9detives.com that's a big major commitment. We do have some outside certification protocol that we follow, insurance and a lot of things that we do. That's a very full time position. But if anyone has any interest in it, it's a growing industry and you can travel, you can work it in all 50, but you can call and get.

Genevieve Morgan:

If you think you might have bed bugs, you can call and get your services there too.

John Locke:

Oh, absolutely. You can always call us and do a search. We're glad to do a search. It's very affordable. Great peace of mind. And that's something we'd be all too happy to help you with.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, we've been speaking with John Locke about his therapy dog experience and about his therapy dogs, Gypsy and Jake. Thank you for coming in and talking to us today, John.

John Locke:

My pleasure. Thank you.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 24, airing for the first time on Sunday, February 26, 2012. Our show, Creature Comfort, included visits with Dr. Doug Andrews of Falmouth Veterinary Clinic, Kristen Smith of Planet Dog, and John Locke, a therapy dog owner who works at the Maine Medical Center. This week's show was all about how our creatures give us comfort and how in turn we can give them comfort. We also delved into some of the associations between health in animals and health in human beings and the social benefits of of having animals in our lives. And as John Locke pointed out, there are health benefits as well. We hope that you are inspired to give comfort to the creatures in your lives, and we hope that you will listen to next week's show, Oceans and Islands. Thank you so much for being a part of our world. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. May you have a bountiful life.