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If you're like most pet parents, you're always on the lookout for new pet products that'll make your life easier and make your pets life better.
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So if this is you, stay tuned because we're going to share our top 20 favorite pet products on today's episode of Starlight Pet Talk.
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You're listening to Starlight Pet Talk, a podcast for pet parents who want the best pet care advice from cat experts, dog trainers, veterinarians and other top pet professionals who will help you live your very best life with your pets.
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We also share inspiring rescue and adoption stories from people who've taken their love of pets to the next level by getting involved in animal welfare.
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My name is Amy Castro, and I'm the founder and president of Starlight Outreach and Rescue and a columnist for Pet Age Magazine.
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I've rescued thousands of animals and help people just like you find the right pet for their family.
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My mission is to help pet parents learn all the ways that they can care for, live with and even have fun with their pets, so they can live their very best lives and their pets can, too.
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Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk.
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I'm your host, amy Castro, and, as many of you probably know if you've listened to the podcast for a while, I run an animal rescue along with my daughter, kelsey, and a lot of fantastic volunteers, and, as you can imagine, we use a large variety of different pet products.
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So what we wanted to do was to share our top 20 favorite products that we use time and again here at the rescue that make our lives easier, make our pets' lives better and our quality and long lasting.
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And, just as a note, when we say top 20, these are not in any particular order.
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It really is our top 20 go-to products in a wide range of categories, which you'll see as we get into it.
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So let's go.
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Product number one is a product called Odoban, and Odoban is our go-to cleaner for pretty much everything that we do at the rescue.
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It is a great general purpose cleaner for disinfecting and killing germs.
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It comes in a concentrate bottle in a gallon size here that we use at various concentrations depending upon the job.
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The other thing that we really like about Odoban is that it is a great laundry additive If you have stinky water or if your laundry has a tendency to have a mildewy smell.
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For us, because we live in the country and we're on well water, our water is not chlorinated or treated in any way, so sometimes the laundry is not as fresh smelling as it could be and Odoban helps us keep it that way and kill the germs of all the animal laundry that we do, which is a pretty significant amount of laundry.
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So if you're looking for a good, general purpose cleaner to have around the house that is cost-effective, comes in a concentrate, Odoban is your product to go to and in fact, if you love it, like we love it so much, you can actually join the Facebook group for people that they call themselves Odobandits they like it so much.
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Product number two is Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Plus.
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This is a great cleanup product specifically for cat urine that not only has enzymes in it that break down the urine so that the smell is gone long term, but also really helps with the immediate smell issues that you're dealing with.
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What we like about this product is it can be used on a variety of surfaces.
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We have issues sometimes with animals going on furniture or soft products that normally would have to be thrown away, but we find that this product really gets in there, takes care of the smell long term, and the enzyme not only helps break down the urine from a smell standpoint for us as humans, but seems to have a positive impact on animals, not necessarily going back to that spot over and over again.
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This is another product that comes in a gallon refill, if you need it.
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You may not need that much.
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You can get it just in the spray bottle, like I'm showing here, if you're looking on the video.
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And the other thing that's nice about it is they provide a guarantee.
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So for some reason you decide that you don't like it.
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Can't imagine you wouldn't, but if you decide you don't like it, then you can take advantage of that guarantee.
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Product number three is a product by Purina called Fortiflora.
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We use that at the rescue and have used it for years specifically for cats, but they do have a version for dogs as well, so we do use it for dogs as well.
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This is a probiotic formula that is great for a wide variety of tummy troubles.
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Sometimes we get animals that come in and they've not had good nutrition, or we've got kittens that have been overfed and so they've got diarrhea and things like that, and this really seems to help get their gut flora back in shape.
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What we find it to be especially helpful for is the fact that it is safe for quite a wide range of ages, from down to our younger kittens to seniors, the pets for whatever reason, I'm not sure what it is about it If it just smells great or tastes great, but whenever we sprinkle Fortiflora on their food, everybody is chowing down on that food, so it's very easy to get the animal to eat it, which is a challenge a lot of times with supplements that we might be using.
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You can buy a lot of different types of probiotic products, but one of the reasons that we come back to this one over and over again is it comes in small little sachets, little packets, whatever you want to call them that really keep the product fresh.
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It allows us to be able to use a sachet for morning and night, and then you're done with it and you move on and you get a fresh one the next day.
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If you don't use a lot of it or you've only got one pet, then a sachet may last you for a couple of days.
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This is a really great product that we rely on pretty regularly.
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Another point about it is that they actually have also come out with a new product that has a calming effect as well, so definitely something to check out.
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Product number four is Van Ness litter boxes.
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Now the one if you're watching on video on YouTube the one that I'm showing on my screen here is the giant high-sided litter pan.
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It's about a little over 21 inches by about 17.5 by 9 high, so it's a good size.
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It is great.
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The high sides help keep a lot of litter in if you've got an aggressive kicker for your cat box.
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But what we like most of all here at the rescue about the Van Ness litter boxes is they come in a lot of different sizes, from high sides down to just the low regular sizes.
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So we use these big ones when we've got animals that are out in the open.
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If we have an animal that maybe needs to be confined to a cage because it's sick or injured, then they have small ones that are really nice.
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They fit underneath a raised bed and they don't take up a lot of space.
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So the smaller ones are great if you're stashing a litter box in a bathroom or something like that, and especially good if you do have cats that don't like a cover over their litter box or don't like to jump in from the top.
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Just a good option and bottom line.
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One of the best things about this litter box is that it's inexpensive.
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It's probably one of the least expensive litter boxes you're going to find on the market.
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It is well made and as it gets worn as all plastic litter boxes will, we have stainless steel ones as well, but as it gets worn, then it's not a thing that's going to break the bank when you have to replace it.
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Product number five is the PetMate two-door dog or cat kennel, depending upon what the size is.
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We use a lot of the smaller ones of this product here at the rescue for transporting cats and small dogs.
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What we love in particular?
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Well, first of all I will say we love most PetMate products that we have.
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As a matter of fact, times where I've dug through and said, oh, this is one of my favorite bowls, guess what?
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It is?
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A PetMate plastic two-feeder bowl, that kind of thing.
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We have a lot of PetMate products around the rescue.
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What is particularly great about this carrier is number one it is super sturdy.
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We have a lot of carriers that look nice but you drop them once.
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Not with an animal in it, of course, but you drop it, it gets knocked over on the concrete and the next thing you know it's cracked and unusable.
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This product is very well made.
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It's very sturdy.
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I like the way that it is assembled, with the little screws around the top and bottom clamshell which are, once you put them on, snugly.
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They're going to stay snug.
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They're not going to fall apart.
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But you can take them apart easily when you want to.
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If you want to store it, it can kind of sit in on itself, the two clamshells and take up a little bit less space.
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It's easy to assemble, easy to disassemble, but once you assemble it well, it's going to stay together.
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It's going to last for a long time.
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We love the two doors for two reasons.
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Number one sometimes you've got animals that will willingly go through the front door and willingly come out the front door.
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A lot of times we don't and they've got to be put in from the top and removed from the top.
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So it is easy for getting animals in and out of and, because of how well it is made, the top lid you don't have to worry about coming open.
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We had an incident one time with a different type of top loader, two door cat carrier and almost lost an animal coming out of it because as we were walking along the latch came undone and the top started to open.
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So this has never happened with any of our pet mate two door kennels.
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So this is something.
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If you've got an animal that you transport or just want something good to have around the house, definitely look into these two door kennels.
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They're awesome.
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Step number six is made by a company called Shiny Pet and it says it right on the scissors Pet nail clippers for small animals.
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These are inexpensive, which is awesome, but what we really like about them the most because we have a lot of different little clippers for small dogs and for cats is that these are nice and sharp and they stay sharp.
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So what that means is you're going to get a clean cut across uses with these clippers.
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You're not going to get nails that are crushed or that split in the process of trying to clip them.
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So it makes the process of clipping the animals nails obviously less painful for the animal, quicker for you to get the job done.
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They're sturdy, they're well made and they're super inexpensive in the grand scheme of clippers.
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So you could have one of these to maybe replacing another set three or four times and these will still be going.
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So definitely recommend these little clippers.
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Product number seven is the Gorilla Grip Stainless Steel Dog Bulls Now in a rescue situation.
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We always want to have stainless steel bowls available.
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They are the easiest to sanitize.
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You don't have to worry about what you would with plastic, for example, about germs getting in little scratches and things like that.
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But we like these in particular because they have this no slip or no push rubber bottom that really holds up.
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It holds up well over multitudes of washings and still maintains its integrity as far as the base and the steel.
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No rusting things like that.
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We have had other grip type stainless bowls that have rubber on the bottom and it either will disintegrate or sometimes it's just a rubber ring on the bottom that then falls out and now it's just a slipping, sliding stainless steel bowl.
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So if you want to invest in a good set of stainless steel bowls, I would recommend these.
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They come in a variety of sizes, which is awesome, and colors.
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We don't really care about color coordinating here at the rescue, but if you do, you'll have some color options to choose from with these bowls as well.
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Product number eight is another bowl that we use specifically in a cage type setting.
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So if we have animals that are being transported and they need access to food and or water during that transport because it's an extended period of time.
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Or we've got animals that are being shown at the Pet Supplies Plus Store in our local town here nearby, called Friendswood, texas.
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So they don't want to put bowls on the floor because they get knocked around, they get spilled and it turns into a big mess.
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So these Lixit Quicklock stainless steel bowls are our go-to bowls.
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Now these bowls come in a variety of sizes which are kind of nice.
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They easily attach to crates with the latch mechanism that they have.
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They come in stainless or plastic, depending upon what you need.
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And what we like about them is they're easy to get on and off with the way that the mechanism goes into the base and at least as we have discovered so far, the locking mechanism is the same on different sized bowls.
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So you can use the same base that is already attached to your kennel or to a cage and just drop a new different type of bowl into it and it's going to work just fine.
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And we've had these that we've had for years and they last a really long time.
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They're super sturdy, super well made and definitely great for travel and transport.
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Product number nine is my personal favorite dog coat, the Ruffwear dog coats Now they come in of different varieties depending upon what you need them for, but I first purchased a Ruffwear coat probably 15 years or so ago actually purchased two of them, one for my Doberman Pinscher, the other one for my miniature Pinscher and what I was looking for was a coat that was well made, that was going to keep my dogs warm, that was not going to have a bunch of frill, fluff and silliness that may look cute for photos but is not great for hooping it through the woods on a hike when you've got a hood that's catching on brush and brambles and things like that.
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So these coats will last you a super long time they're, assuming you measure properly, they're going to fit your animal just right.
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They're easy to toss into the washing machine and the other thing that I like about them is they don't have a lot of complicated fasteners.
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So if they're easy to get on and off and there's not a lot of things for your animal to slip out of or to get caught up on and they're just all around, really Ruffwear is just really great gear all of their products but you're looking for a coat that is stylish but not fruffoo, and something that is going to be great for an active lifestyle, then definitely check out these Ruffwear dog coats.
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And again, they come in various varieties, from waterproof to other materials, depending upon how you're going to use them and where you're going to be with your dog.
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Product number 10 is the PetSafe Martin Gale Collar.
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Now, before I get into PetSafe, which is one of my favorite product companies, what I want to say about Martin Gale Collars is they can be an absolute lifesaver, especially if you have a dog whose neck is bigger than its head.
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Many times in my travels around with pets I have seen pet owners lose their pets because the pet stops moving and the pet owner is still moving and the collar comes right off the dog's head.
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Now one could say they didn't have that collar tight enough.
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But there are some dogs, because of their anatomy, that their neck is so much wider than their head that you can't really get that without choking them.
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Obviously you don't want to do that.
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You can't get that collar tight enough to not slip over their heads because their heads are smaller than their necks.
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So because of the way that a Martin Gale Collar is made, it can be adjusted to fit like a normal collar would, but it has this little extra loop that when pressure is put on the leash it tightens the collar, and so it'll be perfectly comfortable for your dog when they're wearing it around on a daily basis.
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But when you need that collar to stay on and not slip over their head, you've got that Martin Gale loop that will engage when you have him or her on a leash.
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It's also a great handle, a great place to go ahead and grab hold of the dog if you need it to.
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So the reason I like the PetSafe product is that, number one, they're cost effective, and I put that on the bottom of my list here, but they're definitely cost effective.
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They come in a wide variety of colors that are adjustable or not adjustable buckles, not buckles so they've got different styles and types depending upon your needs, and they're strong and sturdy and you can when you're ready, you can just throw them in the washing machine to clean them up, and they clean up really well.
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I also like the fact that the metal parts are very well made.
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They don't rust, they hold up and, like I said, cost effective is probably number one thing.
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When we're buying lots and lots of collars at the rescue, this is a collar that we can trust and one that's not going to break the bank.
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Pet product number 11 is also a collar.
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It's another type of collar that we use here, called the Tough Pupper Classic Heavy Duty Dog Collar, and what we like about these and we use these specifically for when we know an animal's going to get wet or wet a lot, maybe need a lot of bathing.
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And if you've got a dog, like I have one in particular, I won't name her name, she's just stinky.
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She's just a stinky dog.
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No matter how much you bathe her, she gets a nylon collar on and that collar is going to stink and even if you wash the collar well, it's going to hold the smell.
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She just puts off an odor that is particularly strong and gets embedded in things.
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And what I like about these Tough Pupper collars is that they are strong and sturdy, they are waterproof and they are odor proof, so you're not going to have that issue with odor getting embedded in your collar.
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They've got great hardware on them that doesn't rust and stays looking nice, and they also come in a wide variety of colors and sizes depending upon your dog's needs.
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So we have several of these in pink, because pink is one of our colors at Starlight Outreach and Rescue and we have them in a bunch of different sizes for the various dogs that come through the Rescue and that's what they wear until they get adopted and they go home with their permanent collar.
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So definitely check these out if you spend a lot of time in the water with your dog or if you get a stinky one, like I do.
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Pet products number 12 and 13,.
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I am lumping together because what I wanted to talk about here for a little bit is leashes dog leashes.
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So there's a couple of different types that are our go-to leashes here at, or, I would say more, my go-to leashes at the Rescue.
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One of them is a dog leash made by a company called Somide.
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It is the tie out cable leash, and so, if you're not familiar with what a tie out is, it's generally a tie out is going to be a long metal leash with a rubber coating, like a metal cable with a rubber coating.
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It's going to have a clip on either end and people use them to clip one end to the dog and the other end to either a dog run or a tie out in the yard.
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But that's not what we use it here for.
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At the Rescue.
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We use this version, which has a clip on one end and has a handle on the other end.
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And what's nice about this leash is number one.
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It's great if you've got an animal that choose leashes.
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We had a situation fairly recently where we were at an adoption event and I had a dog on a normal nylon kind of nylon-y, cottony leash and it wasn't super thick and before I knew it he had been gnawing on it.
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I didn't notice he was doing that.
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And next thing, you know, the leash is chewed through and that's the end of the leash and could have been the end of the dog running away if he wasn't just preoccupied by his chewing and I noticed it quickly enough.
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So this is a type of leash that cannot be chewed, although I will say if you let them get at the foam handle, they can chew that part, but they're not going to get away and chew through this leash.
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The other thing that I like about it is it's great for using when you're acclimating a dog indoors.
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So what I do with this leash a lot is I will put the handle underneath the coffee table leg, underneath a chair leg.
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It's a six foot leash.
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So if I've got a dog I want to keep an eye on.
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I'm not ready to let them free roam in my house.
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Maybe they're a leg lifter and they're not used to being in the house, or they haven't been neutered yet, and so it keeps the dog close by.
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But doesn't you know, I don't have to confine him in a crate and I don't have to worry that while I'm watching my favorite movie, that he's chewed through the leash and has now disappeared into my dining room, lifting his legs on my furniture.
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So it's just a handy leash, it's inexpensive and so my it seems to be the only company that I have found that has the type of tie out cable that is actually a leash with a handle on one end.
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Another leash that I really love so much that I kind of hide it so nobody accidentally takes it or loses it is Leash called the bungee puppy by Sparky Pet Company, and this is basically a Leash that is made out of about four small skinny bungee type cords that are twisted together.
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It's got a great rubbery cover where the ends are folded over so that nothing frays and nobody can chew on the ends of the leash, and what I like about this is, if you've got a dog that is Maybe a little bit more of a puller or something that maybe doesn't normally pull but might pull if they see something.
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It just has enough little give that you're not gonna get kind of yanked off your feet or something like that, because it it does have that little bit of spring to it.
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So I like it for that purpose and obviously that's a training issue and that's something that you need to work on, probably with another type of leash.
00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.684
But it's just a handy leash for me.
00:21:08.684 --> 00:21:12.535
I also like the clip mechanism that clips onto the collar.
00:21:12.535 --> 00:21:16.599
It's just an easy clip to operate, to snap that on and holds really well.
00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:18.444
So definitely something to look into.
00:21:18.444 --> 00:21:19.448
That bungee puppy.
00:21:20.049 --> 00:21:23.539
And then I don't have a favorite slip lead to share.
00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:24.597
I'm still working on it.
00:21:24.597 --> 00:21:27.106
I'm still experimenting with a couple of different types.
00:21:27.106 --> 00:21:32.859
But I wanted to bring up slip leads because I think it's something that every dog owner should at least have one of.
00:21:32.859 --> 00:21:46.193
And what it basically is is it's a one-size-fits-all lead, leash and collar kind of rolled into one and it will adjust based on the size of the dog's neck as you slide it down.
00:21:46.193 --> 00:21:55.191
The reason I'm still experimenting for my favorite types because I've got skinny ones, I've got long ones, I've got thicker ones is the locking mechanism.
00:21:55.672 --> 00:21:58.220
The challenge with slip leashes they're great for training.
00:21:58.220 --> 00:21:59.269
They're awesome for training.
00:21:59.269 --> 00:22:00.240
We use them a lot for training.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:12.526
But if you actually wanted to go out in public with this leash, you really need one that has a good sliding lock mechanism so that the leash doesn't open up so much that the dog can just slip Out of the slip lead.
00:22:12.526 --> 00:22:18.359
So definitely want to look at something that has a fairly significant slide down locking mechanism.
00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:33.928
Usually they're gonna be rubber, oftentimes they're leather, like a little leather tab that you slide down the leash and you want something that's gonna be big enough that it's not gonna slip through the clip, and you also want something that's snug enough that it's gonna stay in place and not Just slide all over the place.
00:22:33.928 --> 00:22:35.660
Otherwise there's no point in even having one.
00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:40.291
So once I figure out what I think is a great one, I will come back and share that with you.
00:22:43.143 --> 00:22:47.569
Item number 14 is the snuggle, safe pet bed.
00:22:47.569 --> 00:22:49.198
Microwave heating pad.
00:22:49.198 --> 00:23:01.892
Now, I don't think you probably have infant kittens at your house on a regular basis, but I do, and what we use these microwave heating pads for is to put in the microwave for about four minutes.
00:23:01.892 --> 00:23:10.611
We put it underneath the bedding for little baby kittens who cannot regulate their body temperatures, and it will keep them warm for up to 10 hours.
00:23:10.611 --> 00:23:16.222
Obviously, it's the hottest when you first microwave it and after 10 hours it's gonna be cooled off.
00:23:16.222 --> 00:23:21.834
And what's great about this for us is that the kittens will adjust their position, even tiny, tiny infants.
00:23:21.834 --> 00:23:23.830
If it's too warm, they'll move over.
00:23:23.830 --> 00:23:26.983
If it starts to get a little cool, they'll move back onto the disc.
00:23:26.983 --> 00:23:35.480
So it gives them the option to get away from the heat, whereas if we were to put a full-blown heating pad in their kennel, that took up the entire space.
00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:36.722
You've got one temperature.
00:23:36.722 --> 00:23:39.932
It's gonna stay the same the whole time and maybe that's not the best temperature.
00:23:39.932 --> 00:23:54.200
The other thing for those of you who don't have infant kittens, but maybe you put a heating pad out for your pet to keep them warm in the winter, because you've got an older pet who's maybe got a little arthritis and you're trying to keep them comfortable I'm always concerned about those things catching fire.
00:23:54.502 --> 00:23:56.460
What if there's a fault in the wiring?
00:23:56.460 --> 00:24:02.683
I actually plugged something in the other day that had been stored in my attic for a while and it literally Sparked, smoked in it.
00:24:02.683 --> 00:24:04.971
I could see fire inside of it Not safe.
00:24:04.971 --> 00:24:09.333
So I don't have to worry about plugs, cords, anything like that.
00:24:09.333 --> 00:24:10.877
I don't have to worry about fires.
00:24:10.877 --> 00:24:30.808
Starting with this, I don't have to worry about my pet getting electrocuted or shock probably not electrocuted but shocked if they bite the electric cord, because there is no electric cord and you can pop this in the microwave before you go to work, put it in your pet's bedding and know that they're gonna be safe and Warm for the day while you are gone or overnight same thing.
00:24:30.808 --> 00:24:33.314
Pop it in the microwave again and off you go.
00:24:33.314 --> 00:24:39.353
The other thing that's super nice about these is that they are very well made and they last a long time and it's perfect.
00:24:39.353 --> 00:24:40.779
I don't even think I've had one go bad.
00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:47.208
We've just lost them because they get sent to a foster and then they never make their way back, but they don't need any maintenance there.
00:24:47.208 --> 00:24:56.799
You know they're easy to clean, if you even need to clean them, and they're just a great way to keep pets toasty, warm and, as you can see if you're looking at the video, wide variety of pets.
00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.805
They even have a bunny warming up on one.
00:24:58.805 --> 00:25:03.203
So definitely check out the snuggle, safe pet bed, microwave heating pad.
00:25:04.380 --> 00:25:12.038
Product number 15, speaking of beds and bedding, is the Midwest homes for pets bolster dog bed.
00:25:12.038 --> 00:25:20.319
Now you may know Midwest as a wire crate company and another other pet product company and we do use their wire crates a lot.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:24.539
I should have put wire crates on here but I only had room for 20 products.
00:25:24.539 --> 00:25:28.530
It was quite a challenging decision to figure out what was gonna end up on this list.
00:25:28.530 --> 00:25:31.586
But what I like about these beds are a couple of things.
00:25:31.586 --> 00:25:34.012
Number one they do come sized for crates.
00:25:34.012 --> 00:25:44.460
So if you do Travel with your pet a lot or your pet sleeps in a crate at night, you're gonna find a bed that is the right size for the crate and not have leftover space in there.
00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:45.384
So that's kind of nice.
00:25:45.384 --> 00:25:48.259
The other thing is it is easy to wash in the machine.
00:25:48.259 --> 00:25:49.607
It's not a bulky bed.
00:25:49.607 --> 00:25:51.680
Even the bigger ones are not super bulky.
00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:58.059
The most of the bedding is, or the bulk is, in the bolster, the little trim and the bottom is nicely padded.
00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:02.511
So it's comfortable for the pet but it doesn't take up again a ton of room in the wash machine.
00:26:02.511 --> 00:26:12.155
It also seems to be one of those beds that pets don't seem to try to destroy, at least in my experience, because I think there's just not a lot of stuffing for them to want to get in there and tear at.
00:26:12.155 --> 00:26:13.400
And they hold up.
00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:19.093
They definitely hold up over multiple, multiple washings, at least around here, and they're cost effective.
00:26:19.093 --> 00:26:20.400
They're not super expensive at all.
00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:26.614
So definitely check these out if you're looking for something that is easy to wash or something that fits your crate, if you've got a crate.
00:26:28.181 --> 00:26:31.180
Product number 16 is also a pet bed.
00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:37.085
It's a new one that we've recently started using and that's the Western Home Store pet bed that looks like.
00:26:37.085 --> 00:26:40.480
I don't know what they call these things, I call it like a nest bed, a donut bed.
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:46.785
It looks like a almost like a beanbag chair back in the day for those of you her older, but it's.
00:26:46.785 --> 00:26:48.619
But it's nicely round, roundly shaped.
00:26:48.619 --> 00:27:10.099
It's usually very fluffy and has fur on it, and what we like about the ones that we have is it's great for pets who like to snuggle down in the bed and stay warm and cozy Comes in a variety of sizes and even though it's bulkier than the Midwest bed, it's just it's for a different use for us, but it is still relatively easy to wash, at least in the small to medium medium sizes.
