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July 4th Anxiety for Pets - It's Real!

June 15, 2020

By pawTree Home Office

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Did you know that 1 in 3 dogs and cats suffer from anxiety? Learn what triggers pet anxiety, and how to help your pets during stressful situations. There are lots of remedies out there -- what actually works? Learn how to keep them calm during stressful times!



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Brooke_and_Roger_Pet_Anxiety_Lunch&Learn


Roger Morgan (00:01):

Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Roger Morgan. I'm the founder and CEO of pawTree. And I'm here today with Ms. Brooke Sloate. Hello, Brooke.


Brooke Sloate (00:13):

Hi, Roger. Hi everybody.


Roger Morgan (00:15):

As some of you are coming to know, if you've watched our lunch and learn in the past, Brooke is fabulous. She's our director of product development. And I tell you what, there is a lot to learn from Brooke. So, we all, sup from the cup, so to speak at lunch and we get to learn at the feet of Brooke. And today is a great topic.


Roger Morgan (00:37):

I will tell you something. If you have a pet, you've probably dealt with some form of pet anxiety. You may not even have known that's what it is. Sometimes we're oblivious to why our pets are behaving a certain way. But today we're going to talk about pet anxiety. Brooke's got some great tips for us. And I think the timing is excellent because with July 4th around the corner, that actually is a time that creates a lot of anxiety in certainly a lot of pets, not all pets. But Brooke will help us identify which ones and what we can do about it, whether it's for July 4th or any time a pet is experiencing anxiety. Brooke's got some great tips. So, with that, Brooke kick us off.


Brooke Sloate (01:27):

Okay. All right. So, this is perfect timing. And for those of you who aren't aware, anxiety truly is a thing for pets. Statistically, one in three dogs and cats suffer with feeling anxious during their lifetime. So, you may have several pets, and some may suffer from anxiety and some may not. Some may suffer from certain anxieties and others, they're fine. But we're going to talk about all of them.


Brooke Sloate (01:57):

So, when they do have this anxiety, you'll see them pace and they'll pant and they'll shake uncontrollably and they'll drool and they'll try to hide and get away, often under the bed. They just want to get away is what's going on right there.


Roger Morgan (02:14):

Interesting. So those are some of the symptoms. Shall we start with maybe identifying some of the triggers? I throw out there July 4th, there's a lot of reasons for that. You'll probably talk about that.


Brooke Sloate (02:25):

Yeah.


Roger Morgan (02:26):

Just help us understand kind of the breadth of, what are the triggers that can cause anxiety for our pets?


Brooke Sloate (02:34):

Okay. So, there are a number of them. Okay. But the most common things that cause anxiety for our pets are things like noise, loud noises. Thunderstorms are a really big one. The noise from the thunder, as well as the change in barometric pressure that some pets actually feel before the storm arrives. So, the sky might be clear or a little overcast and your dog will start pacing. I have a dog that does this. Your dog will start pacing and panting. And that's your trigger. That's when you know that there's a problem if there's a storm coming.


Brooke Sloate (03:10):

Another one under noise is fireworks. Fireworks is actually really huge, you guys. And this is why we're talking about this topic now. Because many pet parents don't realize how scary fireworks are for their BFFs. So, we like fireworks, right? They're festive. They're fun. But unfortunately, not so much for our four-legged friends. The loud pop, pop, pop of fireworks can be terrifying for some of our pets. Okay. So, noise is a big one. Let's talk about something else called separation anxiety. [crosstalk 00:03:45]


Roger Morgan (03:44):

Okay. So, the triggers that cause anxiety, right?


Brooke Sloate (03:50):

Yes.


Roger Morgan (03:51):

So, you said loud noises and now you said separation anxiety.


Brooke Sloate (03:53):

Separation anxiety is another. We talked about noise; separation anxiety is another trigger. And what that is, is when you leave them to go out. So, you leave them to go to work or you leave them to go out for a while to run errands or to go to dinner or something like that. Your pets may become destructive. And they tear up furniture and they tear up pillows or scratch at walls or doors. They're not doing this to misbehave. They're anxious about you leaving, their pack leader, leaving. They're just trying to get to you to protect you. That's what's happening.


Brooke Sloate (04:28):

So, a lot of times they'll try and get to the door in which they last saw you. And you'll see them, that there's a lot of scratch marks at the door. That's what they're trying to do is find you. So, separation anxiety is another one.


Roger Morgan (04:44):

Okay.


Brooke Sloate (04:46):

The next one we'll talk about is travel. What I mean by travel is when you take them for rides in the car, they go for rides to the vet or to the groomer or to the dog park. Or there could be multiple places where you drive them. Boarding them, when you go out of town, I put that under travel, but boarding them-


Roger Morgan (05:08):

Sure.


Brooke Sloate (05:08):

Motion sickness in general, whether it's in a car, whether it's in plane, motion sickness is a big one too. Okay?


Roger Morgan (05:16):

Okay. And that's an interesting one. This travel one, I don't really think of it as pet anxiety, but as you say that, we don't take our dogs on long trips, but just even taking them to the park or something where I know they love to go to the park. But JoJo in particular, one of our two dogs, we get her in the car. She wants to go, she's excited to go. But then I can tell she's very anxious. She barks kind of at that high pitched like kind of nervous bark and is very anxious. And once we get there, she'll settle down. That's interesting. Okay. I'm tracking with you. So, travel was another kind of-


Brooke Sloate (05:54):

I'm going to give you a hint about travel. Okay? I'm not going to say that this is actually anxiety. But when a pet has anxiety, one of the things is they get nauseous. What I found with small dogs; I have small dogs. And what I have learned over the years is that a lot of times small dogs will get sick in the car. And why they're getting sick or what can stop the sickness, what's happening is there's motion in the car. They know they're moving, but they can't see that they're moving. So, it's kind of a weird feeling for them.


Brooke Sloate (06:30):

The thing that will fix that is a car seat. You elevate them so they can see out the window. And the sickness stops.


Roger Morgan (06:39):

Nice.


Brooke Sloate (06:40):

That's for small dogs who cannot see outside. They're getting motion sickness because they're feeling the movement of the car, but they don't understand what's exactly happening.


Roger Morgan (06:50):

Okay. Excellent. Good tip. So, we've had more join us if you've just joined us, we're talking about anxiety for pets. We're kind of talking right now about the different triggers. We've talked about loud noises, barometric pressure, separation anxiety. Now we've been talking about travel. Are there any other triggers Brooke that create that kind of anxiousness in pets?


Brooke Sloate (07:10):

There's a couple more that we'll talk about today, one of which is stranger anxiety. So, what does that mean? So it's people, visitors in your home, an electrician, a plumber, or someone who comes over, friends who come over that your pets are just not used to, workers that come in or around your home, like a gardener outside, parties that you might have lots of people they're in your pet's home. And your pet may be uncomfortable or anxious about all of these people around. Right? So, that's what we would call stranger anxiety.


Roger Morgan (07:49):

Okay.


Brooke Sloate (07:51):

And then I'll talk about one more, which, I mean, it's a thing, nail trims and baths. Even nail trims and baths can be a source for anxiety for pets and actually for pet parents too. So, but it is a thing. If you ever tried to do either of these things with your pets, it can be an anxious moment.


Roger Morgan (08:18):

Well, it's really interesting. I mean, I personally, just with my own pet family can relate to almost all of those. So, you're definitely striking a chord with me and my personal experience. So now we understand the different triggers. Let's start to talk about solutions. What can we do as pet parents to help our pets?


Brooke Sloate (08:42):

Okay. So, this is a known thing. So, there are different things out there that people use to help their pets during these stressful times. So, some people use what I'm calling tight clothing, clothing that applies pressure around their body, much like when you swaddle an infant, same type of feeling or thought. There are also diffusers with essential oils or pheromones. And of course, there are medications that you can give to your pets. So those are the main things I would say.


Roger Morgan (09:16):

And do those, I mean, in your experience, do those things work?


Brooke Sloate (09:22):

Some of these things work. But they also have their drawbacks. So, medication often has side effects. And many pet parents don't always want to give their pets chemical drugs all the time. What if you're away from home at work and a storm, there's a storm that happens, right? You're not even there to medicate them.


Brooke Sloate (09:41):

And once they get into that mode of pacing and panting and drooling and shaking, you really can't pill them at that point. It's game over. Okay. So, the oils and the pheromones are only good if the pet stays in the room with the diffuser. Now, certainly pets need to get away also, to go into other rooms, et cetera. But I'm just saying that those things work when the pet is present near them. And how many hours do you want to keep tight clothing on your frightened pet? I mean, can you even put the clothing on them once they're already frightened?


Roger Morgan (10:20):

I do have trouble with that with our dog who gets anxious. It's true. So, I hear you. It sounds like, and this is a topic, obviously it's very prevalent out among pet owners. So, there are a lot of different solutions. And the ones that you've suggested, they all have pros. They all particularly have some cons. But they do work. It just kind of depends on what maybe your parameters are and what your tradeoffs you're willing to make. Right. There are pros, but there's cons. What about anything else, in terms of like a natural solution. Obviously, we have a solution that we would consider natural to address this.


Brooke Sloate (11:04):

Yes. And what you're talking about, Roger, are supplements. And of course, natural supplements are also an option and really a good option. So, the thing that you really want to look for is something natural with ingredients that help with the following. So relieving anxiety and stress, obviously, that's the key. Alleviating nausea often, so we talked about that in the car, but often when your pet gets anxious or stressed, they become nauseous. So, you want to alleviate the nausea.


Brooke Sloate (11:37):

It's great to get something that calms their mind, something that could even increase the levels of serotonin in their brain, that would be fabulous to do and make them feel better, and something that promotes relaxation and maybe even ultimately sleep because isn't that the ultimate relaxation is sleep?


Roger Morgan (11:57):

Very true. When I'm asleep, I'm relaxed. I can tell you that.


Brooke Sloate (12:01):

I can tell you that too.


Roger Morgan (12:05):

That's helpful. So, pawTree we've got a natural supplement called Chillax. I actually give it to JoJo almost every day, because as I mentioned, we actually have multiple of these issues. So even if we're not traveling every day, and even if there's not a thunderstorm every day, there may be, strangers coming into the home or even out on walks, it calms her down more on walks to not be so aggressive, et cetera.


Roger Morgan (12:31):

So, tell us a little bit about this Chillax. And I don't know if you have a bottle to show, but if you do, if you don't-


Brooke Sloate (12:40):

I don't know that I actually do this time.


Roger Morgan (12:42):

Okay.


Brooke Sloate (12:44):

Because I had to Chillax my girls. I do that for these lunch and learns so you don't hear them barking.


Roger Morgan (12:49):

So, we don't hear them all barking.


Brooke Sloate (12:50):

Do you hear them barking? Yeah.


Roger Morgan (12:51):

Got it. Well tell us a little bit about Chillax. We know it's a natural supplement. What else can you tell us about that?


Brooke Sloate (13:01):

So, as you said, it's a natural supplement. And it does all of the things that I just mentioned with no side effects. And it works for both dogs and cats. So, it's really a versatile product. It's perfect for those event-based issues that cause your four leggeds to be stressed. So, Chillax contains some really effective ingredients that work synergistically to keep pets calm. Some of these ingredients are the active ingredients that I'm going to talk about are hemp seed oil and hemp seed powder. Those are great ingredients because they reduce anxiety and discomfort for your pet. We also have passionflower, which also relieves anxiety, stress, and tension. And it also promotes relaxation. We also include chamomile and ginger, those two alleviate nausea. So, we're hitting everything, right? All of the facets of anxiety.


Roger Morgan (13:58):

Right.


Brooke Sloate (13:59):

Al tryptophan increases the level of serotonin in their brain and helps to promote relaxation. We also have valerian that also reduces anxiety and promotes sleep. Thymine and magnesium, which calm the mind, and melatonin, which promote relaxation and sleep as well just like the valerian. And, Roger, we have been getting really terrific results with Chillax. You don't hear the dogs, right? You don't hear them. Six of them, you don't hear one. Pet parents have written many testimonials about how they finally found something to help their pets, that they can count on, that they can trust, et cetera. This has actually been a really phenomenal product and the ingredients are just really magnificent because they work on so many different levels.


Roger Morgan (14:49):

Well, you're getting lots of love on Facebook. I don't know if you're looking at these comments, but there are a lot of people who I think have already, and I'm sure a couple of these quotes here that I'm looking at, these experiences. Because there are a lot of people who I know are backing up your words with their experience in [crosstalk 00:15:11].


Brooke Sloate (15:09):

I'm seeing that, yeah.


Roger Morgan (15:11):

Pet household. It really does work for a whole variety of reasons. And one of the things that I think is interesting, I've heard our veterinarians when they talk about this product, and so many of our pawTree products, they talk about a multimodal approach. And it's interesting when you talked about all those ingredients that, I was thinking about those and you were saying, okay, we've got, I think it was camomile and ginger the nausea.


Roger Morgan (15:39):

And you've got valerian that reduces anxiety and promotes sleep. And I can't remember what the ingredients were that calm the mind. And melatonin that promotes relaxation and sleep, it's all these different things. And I think that the scientific phrase for that, because I've heard the veterinary talk about this as multimodal. And that's the reason why all of these ingredients are in the product.


Roger Morgan (16:06):

Obviously, we could make a product with one or two ingredients and address most of the issues or some of the issues or for some of the pets. But what we've really tried to do with this product and I'm just backing up what you said, Brooke, it really is a go to product that can address all of these issues in a combined way.


Roger Morgan (16:26):

There's so many of these issues that are interrelated, right? The nauseous that comes from traveling and from being kind of an anxious stomach, the anxiety that we can address when we're just more calm and maybe sleeping, or more relaxed and not as worked up. And they all work together in this multi-modal way that really is why we see so many of these great testimonials here that it is a product that's just a great product to have on hand for any pet household. It can-


Brooke Sloate (17:02):

If we only addressed some of the issues, that's not how pawTree rolls. I mean, that's not how we do things. We try and address as many issues, so the problem is solved and you don't have to have many different things that you give your pet for anxiety or for anything.


Roger Morgan (17:23):

Yeah. I see a question here. This could be great, from Tina. She says, "I use it for my dog and do not see a difference. Is it safe to give them more than what it says on the canister?" So, can you help us with that question, if you're taking the amount and you're not seeing the impact?


Brooke Sloate (17:43):

We give the guidelines as guidelines, as direction. The product is very, very safe. Probably it's okay to give a little bit more. I'd love to know a little bit more about your pet, how much they weigh, is it an older senior dog? How old? Things like that, type of pet, but yes, you could probably give a little bit more and try and see how that works.


Brooke Sloate (18:12):

And the other thing I would say is, give it earlier. So, we say on the jar to give it 30 minutes in advance. I will tell you that it would not be a wrong thing to give it an hour to two hours in advance just to get them calm. So that might be the first thing I would do is give it to them earlier. And certainly, you can give a little bit more.


Roger Morgan (18:35):

Wonderful.


Brooke Sloate (18:37):

You can give it a couple of times a day. There's an amount that you can give in every 12 hours.


Roger Morgan (18:42):

Wonderful. It is one of the benefits of having an all-natural product. It gives some flexibility. Obviously, the guidelines are there for reasons in terms of weight and the amounts of ingredients that are in them. But very different from a medication that might have other interactions, so appreciate those who are also answering that question for-


Brooke Sloate (19:05):

It's what's been tested and proven. Those are what those amounts are. Some pets do need a little bit more. Some of my pets need a little bit more different things. So, I will do that, but you just want to be careful.


Roger Morgan (19:20):

Yeah. That makes sense. Use good judgment. Well, this is wonderful. One of the things that, again, as I think about this idea of, we kind of teed this up about 4th of July anxiety. Obviously, anxiety is a year-round issue for pets, but there is kind of a seasonal driver, kind of a seasonal trigger for anxiety that's coming up. And so, we wanted to take the opportunity to share at lunch today some tips, some information that can help everybody be a little bit more aware on some of the triggers that may cause anxiety for your pet.


Roger Morgan (20:01):

Some of the various solutions that are out there, not just pawTree solutions but other solutions. But of course, I'll also share with you something that we feel very strongly about an all-natural supplement called Chillax that really addresses in this multimodal way, the various issues that surround anxiety with dogs and cats. And this is one product that can be used for all dogs, all cats, for the variety of anxiety issues that they're dealing with.


Roger Morgan (20:33):

And we've had wonderful success with this. And I will say the last thing that I'll share as the founder and CEO of the company is we have a 100% money back guarantee on all of our products, including the Chillax product. So, the thing that I would encourage you, if you've watched this and you're thinking to yourself, "Wow, I have noticed some anxiety in my dog or cat and some of these topics that we've discussed," Try it! Get with the person who invited you, go to their website and try it. Try the Chillax and just see for yourself.


Roger Morgan (21:09):

And I have no doubt you'll have experiences like many on this feed here who have shared their experiences, that really this product has been a game changer for them and their pet families. And if for any reason, that's not the case for you, we will just give you your money back. It's that simple. So, there's really nothing to lose. Brooke, anything else that you'd like to say in wrapping it up?


Brooke Sloate (21:31):

Of course. I saw a question. Is it safe to use every day? Absolutely completely safe to use every day. And it's funny. Some people may really have gotten more out of this lunch and learn because they may not have realized that some of the things that they're seeing from their pets is actually anxiety, right? So I'm hoping that maybe we open some eyes or let you be more aware of what your pet is actually showing you. And that you guys can, whatever you need to do, but get prepared because July 4th is coming and you can help your BFF, easily. There are things out there to use. And if you try the Chillax, you really have nothing to lose.


Roger Morgan (22:17):

Wonderful. There's one last question here, let's just briefly address if you can, Brooke, from Becky, "Is it safe for pregnant and nursing moms?"


Brooke Sloate (22:27):

I wish I had the jar in front of me, but I believe what we say on the jar is that that has not been proven. So, use caution. But you can always ask, if you want to your veterinarian about these particular active, you want to look at the active ingredients. You don't really need to worry about the inactive ingredients. The inactive ingredients are really what I would term as like the cookie dough that holds it together. That's the chew, but it's the active ingredients. So, you could ask and say, "Hey, is hemp seed oil or hemp seed powder? Is that an issue?"


Brooke Sloate (23:01):

And I do want to make sure you guys understand that hemp seed oil and hemp seed powder, because your vet or someone might misunderstand, that is nothing to do with CBD. Okay? But there's so many terms for CBD that a vet might say, "Oh, that's CBD. You can't use it." It's not CBD. There's no THC, which is the active ingredient. There's nothing in there that could possibly hurt your pet.


Roger Morgan (23:28):

Wonderful.


Brooke Sloate (23:29):

Not the CBD would either, but I'm just saying in case the vet had an issue.


Roger Morgan (23:33):

Well, this is very valuable. I'm getting lots of comments where I see that this has been a helpful lunch and learn. I'm going to finish it up with one testimonial there from Jennifer Bench. I think this is a great one, Jennifer. "I have several grooming customers that have their pet, have anxiety coming to get groomed. And now they use the Chillax and are very calm coming in now." And it's wonderful. I mean, it not only is helping the pet obviously to feel more calm and have a better experience. It's also helping the pet parent. It's also helping the groomer.


Brooke Sloate (24:05):

Groomer.


Roger Morgan (24:08):

When we take a notice of these issues that our pets have and respond with wonderful, healthy, natural, safe solutions, it really can be a game changer for the pet and the others in the pet lives, in particular, the pet parents and pet care providers. So very wonderful. Thank you, Brooke, for taking time at lunch to impart your wisdom.


Roger Morgan (24:34):

We look forward to next week. I think next week we're going to be on Instagram. So, we're going to try Instagram. And then not everybody's on Facebook and not everybody's on Instagram. So, we're going to go back and forth a little bit. So pop over, see us on Instagram next Friday for a lunch and learn. Thanks for joining us, Brooke. Thanks everybody for tuning in at lunch. And have a wonderful weekend.