In this feel-good episode of Discussing Dogs in the D, Christine is joined by her longtime friend Gail—proof that dogs truly bring people together. The two reflect on their eight-year friendship that started at a local pet photo event and quickly turned into a bond built on their shared love of animals. Gail introduces her beloved miniature schnauzers, Kipper and Bosco, whose sweet, hilarious, and heartwarming dynamic perfectly captures the joy dogs bring into our lives. From “Kipper-motivated” puppy training to emotional support snuggles, their stories will make you smile. The conversation then turns to something new and exciting in the pet world: a social media app designed just for animal lovers. Christine and Gail share their first impressions of Fureelz, a platform focused entirely on positive, pet-centered content—no negativity, no doom scrolling, just pure joy. They dive into what makes it different, from its safety features for kids to its ability to turn scrolling into something uplifting (and maybe even therapeutic). Along the way, they talk about the impact social media has on our mental health, the importance of protecting our peace, and how something as simple as watching happy animal videos can create a ripple effect of positivity in our daily lives. This episode marks the beginning of a new monthly series with Gail—focused on fun, laughter, and all the good things dogs (and animals) bring into the world. Because sometimes… we all need a little more joy. 🐾
Follow Kipper and Bosco's adventures on Instagram: @breakfastschnauzers
https://www.instagram.com/breakfastschnauzers/
Find Fureelz on the web:
https://fureelz.com/
Effects of digital and non-digital parental distraction on parent-child interaction and communication
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11748799/
How parents’ smartphone use affects their kids
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-parents-smartphone-use-affects-their-kids
Plugged-In Parenting: How Parental Smartphone Use May Affect Kids
https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/plugged-parenting-how-parental-smartphone-use-may-affect-kids
Hey friends, welcome to Discussing Dogs in the D podcast where Detroit's dog lovers come together. Hi, I'm Christine and whether you're a rescue volunteer, a pet parent, a shelter supporter, or just someone who can't pass a dog on the street without saying hi, you're in the right place. Let's talk about all things dogs and how they change our lives and how we can possibly change theirs.
00:00:21 Speaker: Another episode of Discussing Dogs in the D here. And today I have someone very special to me and probably to a lot of people. If you see us out and about with her two schnauzers. But I have my friend Gail, and we were just off air talking about the fact that we've known each other for eight years, and it was dogs that brought us together. It was. Yeah. So. Well, one, tell me about your current dogs. I have Kipper and Bosco. They are two miniature Schnauzers minis. Yes, yes. Kipper is ten and a half. Bosco just turned nine in March. they are everything to my husband and myself, and they're inseparable, too. And they are inseparable. They need each other. Yes, yes, we are so lucky. They absolutely love each other. When Bosco was a puppy, we were trying to figure out if he was treat motivated or if he was toy motivated and we figured out he was Kipper motivated. Kipper motivated. Bosko. So wherever Kipper goes, Bosko goes too. Yep, yep. And it was so easy to raise Bosko because Kipper just took over and he says, nope, this is like, this is what we do. This is where we go outside to take care of our business. And yeah, he just took care of everything. Kipper would really get upset if Chris and I were trying to reprimand Bosko when he was a puppy. And you know, you're trying to to get all of those puppy behaviors, you know, just right. And and Kipper would be like, no, no, take take it easy on him. He's a puppy. And you could just tell in his demeanor that you know, the best big brother. Yeah. What a great big brother. And they are like Kipper is he's not as vocal as Bosko, but he's definitely that watchful and just likes to observe and make sure everyone's happy. I mean, even when I've been sad, you know, Kipper comes up and will be like Miss Christine and then lick, lick, lick and snuggle me. Snuggle me, turns his butt to me and he's like, scratch my butt. This will make you happier. Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. He is so cute. Yeah, he is definitely the observer of the two. He is. Bosco is an observer in his own right. Like he's at the street. Street smarts. But, Kipper is the the empathetic. Yeah. He definitely. You are his person. Like he he knows he he watches you. He's my favorite. Yeah. Yeah. And we we were just discussing this. We met because. And it was the first. I had already done the previous year. I had done Santa photos at Premier Pet Supply. I don't know if you came for Santa photos, but we met because of the Easter photos they had at the Beverly Hills store, a premier pet supply, and we were trying something new. We didn't have an Easter Bunny that year, right? But the boys put Easter ears on. I'm gonna have to find that photo and share it in the show notes for just the fact that they were, it was a yellow backdrop. I even remember it vividly. And we had this cute little spring backdrop and, you know, they had fun with it. They were. And I think they were like the only ones that really wanted to do the ears. And, you know, they were like, dress us up, lady. Yes, let's do this. You know, that started it all that started eight years ago when I met them. And then, you know, we've been friends. Gosh, we've been friends fast. Friends. Gail. I know, and it seems longer. I mean, I know eight years is a long time, but it actually seems a lot longer. We've known maybe we know each other in a different life. And we were just meant to come because dogs, I, I love this every time I'm talking to someone and you know, like even with like, what's going on in the world and all the stress and all these things, dogs bring us together. They do. There's this common shared like we love them. We want to save them. We want to help them. We want them to live forever. And you can't argue with the fact that of our love for our animals. You know, dogs or cats or any pet for that matter. Yeah. But that that brings we find the best people because of animals. Yeah, absolutely. It's so cool. Yes. But it's for for podcast. I know we've been talking about it and now you're finally here. I, Gail and I are probably going to meet, I'm hoping once a month. I hope you have time for this. Absolutely. Once a month to we want to talk all things fun. We want to spread positivity in the episodes with Gail because that's. Gail is my sunshine and I just feel like, yeah, we can meet. And I know that there are things in animal welfare that I'm going to talk about in other episodes that are downers. I want to have this one episode where we spread the love or share fun things that are happening. Yeah. And the reason why you're here today is because I learned about something new. And hopefully by the time this goes to publish, we'll have published the previous episode where I interviewed. Her name is Ashley, the owner, founder, one of the co-founders of this new app called Fureelz. So for reals, F u r e e l z is the name of the app. And what's great is Gail has Android based phone and I have an iPhone and we both have downloaded the app and we both actually you've you're better beta tester than me. It sounds like you did way more through the app than the last couple of days than I have. I was having fun with it. Okay. That's good. So we wanted to share like what we like don't like. We want to share all things. Furleelz For reals. To be honest, the name alone, it's great. When when I met them. So I met this whole group at the Global Pet Expo in Orlando. And one she, the, the woman that actually that had founded this app. Really cool to find out that she was born in Grosse Pointe. Really? She's from Michigan. She didn't live there very long, but I feel like she got her roots here in Michigan. So let's talk, you know, and the fact that she's this app designer and, created something. And in that previous episode, you know, we talked about why she did it and like the doom scrolling and all of that stuff. So I think you're on multiple apps where you can scroll. Yes. Okay. So when you and even recently there's that case out, I believe it's California. It is where the young lady won her case against meta and I believe it was YouTube that, she was saying that it led to a deeper depression or it led her to being addicted. Right. And I could see that I could see even as an older adult and we didn't grow up with the internet, you know, we, we had email maybe when we were early college or, you know, but we didn't have apps like this. So when you go to apps like that, I'm going to ask you a personal question. Whatever. Feel free to share what you feel appropriate for the public. Yes. When you TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, do you feel a sense of joy when you're scrolling or do you feel like you're being targeted. Tell me what you feel. I do feel like I am being targeted sometimes with ads. With ads to buy things. Yes. Okay. sometimes I don't mind it because especially on Facebook or Instagram, they, I have done enough looking at things that now they know, okay, this woman is a crazy dog mom. So we're going to show her crazy dog mom products. Buy this dog sweater. Buy this bandana. Okay. And you're like, oh, that's exactly what I would buy. Okay. Yep. And then I know it's targeted, right? Right. And so then you still have to decide, is this a legitimate product or do I feel comfortable buying this from this site? So, so then, you know, there's still a little bit of research that you have to do, but I don't mind always being targeted because those products do make me feel happy. you're just a happy person though. I feel like in general, you just exude positivity and happiness, which makes it appropriate that you are going to be my happy. my happy podcast co-host. Okay, so all things happy, but I feel like they're targeting you because you. But I think if you were someone that was constantly looking at cars or like my husband, car parts, mechanics, whatever. Yes, that's what's going to keep like tools. They're going to keep popping up. So yes, you get what you give. And I think that it's going to be these dog things, right? Yep, yep. But I do scroll through a lot of things that I don't want to see. I think there's a lot of negativity that you can see on socials. I mean, true, I think that, you know, maybe, maybe there's a sense of awe there. You have to get to a certain maturity level to know what to just ignore. Because for your own peace of mind, for your own happiness, you just, you just have to like, learn enough through life to know what things to ignore and what things. Yes, I agree, I agree. And you like scroll them faster. you're like nope. Moving on. Moving on, moving on. Right. And then the ones that you stop at, the algorithms and again, the algorithm that changes, I think every hour. as a business owner, you're trying to get ahead of stuff, but they're telling, you know, this algorithm has changed again, but they target you. But at the same time, that algorithm is learning that you are scrolling past this stuff. So they're not maybe, maybe not going to show you, but then there are paid ads where they're going to show those anyway. You know, where someone wants you to see, especially for politicians that are running for office right now. anything that's related to and they're going to target you because you dog all things dogs, right? All things pets. I still see for me personally volunteering in animal welfare, my feeds are full of yes dog things, but I see a lot of the we need money. and in some cases the social media covers up the photo and they warn you that this picture is not safe or it's not. May cause discomfort or, you know, they give you the warning, right? But then I clicked to want to see it anyway, because I want to see what happened to this dog or this cat. And mostly coming from Detroit or Pontiac, you know, where it's these cases are, animal cruelty, neglect or something. Dog was hit by a car and this is devastating. But when my feed is filled with that every day, it is so I know it's there. I know it's happening, but sometimes I don't want to see that. I don't want to go there. I do want to catch up on friends and what they're doing right, but like to have a feed that's full of this. It's so just disheartening, you know? Yep. It takes all the wind out of your sails and yeah, you want that positivity, but then there's this and then there's this positivity and then, oh, another case, another case, another case, you know, another rescue is spent twenty thousand dollars on a dog that, you know, needed all this care and was totally worth it. But at the same time, you don't like seeing what you know, but it happens, right? So anyway, I digress. So we found out about Fureelz and I shared it immediately shared it with you This is crazy. You, you immediately downloaded the app. You're like, I got to see this. Okay, so what was your initial impression of the app? I to have an app just for animal videos, I'm on board one hundred percent. That's what I told Ashley. I was like, oh my gosh, sign me up for this. Yes, yes. it's very easy to use. as long as you're familiar with all other social platforms, which almost everybody is now, I would say that it's very intuitive. I think, I would, I don't, I don't know, I'm waiting to see, I would love to see more variety maybe. And I don't know what I mean by that. Exactly. We don't know yet. I feel like let's, let's open this up to everybody and just see like, what else is out there. But I did find a schnauzer dad right away. He's posted a lot of pictures of his schnauzer. his schnauzers name is Duke and he dresses Duke up and all these very cute clothes. And he talks to Duke and explains why he was out late. Duke is giving him this look like, okay, but you need to to come here and feed me. I love that. So opening the app here, let me see if we can get to it. But and we even said the interface on yours is a little bit different than mine because you went to Google the Google store. Is that where you got it? I did yes. So you went to the Google store and I got mine Apple app store. Immediately look at that face. Yes, exactly. So in the morning when you, if you just wake up and decide you want to go see a cute little face, there you go. You have a cat, you're a cat person, but well, I, I love all animals. Okay. Yeah, I just don't own cats, but I love all animals. But yeah, you can see chickens. The first video that I think I saw on this was a video of chickens just pecking away at their feet. And that was great. I love that. I told you that I learned something right away from a video. Oh, yeah. Tell me about that. And this wasn't even a dog or a cat. No, this was Mimi, the the parrot. Okay. Mimi the parrot. Yes. Mimi is thirty years old and I didn't realize this, but Apparently people cannot tell the gender of a parrot just by looking at it or by any other physical, physical characteristics, right? So they ran a DNA test on Mimi and everybody had little cupcakes. They ate the Or they took a bite of the cupcake and it had blue filling in the middle. So gender reveal they did a gender reveal party. They did a gender reveal. And Mimi turned out to be a boy. Thirty year old Mimi was a boy. Okay. Are they going to rename Mimi? I don't think so. It doesn't sound like it. So it does Mimi talk or. No, I don't know. That's a good question. We'll find out. He did not in the video, but he did get to taste his own cupcake. I guess he had his own little blueberry cupcake and he was eating it. Oh, that's so fun. Yeah. So that's news to me. And I'm even in my head thinking, how do you do a blood test on a bird? That's got to be so difficult to, find. They're so tiny and so like, I just crunchy, right? I'm thinking about is they're not as fluffy and pliable as. You know, dogs and cats. I'm like, I can't even imagine. Okay, maybe that's coming in a new. In another episode. There you go. Yeah. But so yeah, when you were telling me about this, I'm like, gender reveal for a bird. Yeah, that's fantastic because you can't see, right? You don't know until they, you know, they're well, unless they're laying eggs and doing all the things right. But yeah. Wow. That's wild. Yeah. So are you following Mimi now? I should, I don't think I am actually, but I should you got to get on that. Well we're following each other. Yes. So last night when I was still doing some research, I was oh, look at Gail. She's already got two videos uploaded and the one of them going under. That was so cute. The chipmunk hunters. Yes. Last summer they decided that they had to go find the chipmunk that always chirps at us outside. Okay, so yeah, they decided to go on a little chipmunk hunt. They did not find the chipmunk, luckily, so I need to do some videos of Joshua because he is so prey driven that he. But I think that he would do really super well at. Like the barn hunting. The rat sniffing kind of stuff. Because he does where he'll stop and listen and then tweak his head. Oh yes. And you know that he's listening. I don't think his vision is as great. And I think his hearing is so much better. Like, if I got some of those videos, I'm thinking, oh, those will be fun. yep, another day where Joshua doesn't get the chipmunk, right. Anyway, but you got one of Joshua giving you tons of kisses. Oh, you upload the first video, my first video on Fureelz Yes. And you get to see if I become viral. But. And then you have to get one of Molly. Will Molly give you kisses, too? She's not as giving. She also doesn't like me as much. She'll give Tom kisses. Oh, so I gotta get one of those. I gotta get one of those. Well, we'll see if Tom gives me permission, so I always. I always say you. I want permission for. You know, I don't I'm not one of those people that's in public. And I'm going to record you no matter what. I always want people to. You know, and Tom is kind of a private guy. So we'll see, we'll see. We'll see if we can put his face out and, um. Well, it doesn't even have to be there. It could just be Molly. Just, like, covering him with kisses so you don't even really see. We could do that. Actually, speaking of that, when I talked with the developer. Ashley, There are strict rules. So did you notice when you logged in that it warns you read our guidelines, read our guidelines. When you post your first video. There's all of these rules. She was explaining that they are almost too strict right now. I mean, that's kind of the vibe I got from her, that they want this to be such a safe place without parental controls in it, that any child can come and just watch animal content. So and I was like, okay, a little bit cumbersome, like, because it's kind of like you're constantly being notified. I'm hoping that at a certain point when you've been using it, that you won't get those notifications anymore because you've done it so much, but or maybe because it's so new, I don't know. But they definitely warn you. Yep. Please read our guidelines. Please understand our guidelines. And she was explaining that even a video with graffiti in the background with swear words they had to take down because their current guidelines don't allow for profanity, even even written, right? So they're being super strict, but they're still trying to vet out, how they're going to manage that. I mean, so it's a very, very new app and it's very, very different from like other social medias where it's kind of like we throw it out there and see what, see what we get, and then the lawsuits come, right? Yep. And I saw that I was reading the frequently asked questions and I saw that anybody can long tap on the video if they think that it does have anything that shouldn't be there. And I didn't know this. Okay. Yes, I think they said within twenty four hours they will review it and then, you know, take it down if they need to. Yeah. so it's very easy for anybody to report something that they think is not applicable for the app. then there's the whole aspect of, I think at some point it'll be easier for people to donate to different charities. So you've got, you said you donated. Okay, so what was that like? So how did you how did you find it? How did you go about doing it? There are certain videos that have a little tab on. for me it was the top left corner, but it's very prominent. So it'll, it'll pop out at you. And if you press that tab, it says donate now and you can donate any amount that you want. They suggest different donation amounts, I just did five dollars because I wanted to see how it would work. Yep. you can do it right through. so it was very it was easy, you know, within two seconds you can get it all done. But I know that they said that they are not taking any cut of the money. It's all going to the charities, right. It's the one that that gives it right to the, the donation. I don't remember what they use, but basically it transfers the money right? To the donor, to the charity. So, so you went in and made a donation and it's going it's going directly to them. Okay. let's back up. you made a donation and it did it give you like a receipt or like, oh, thank you for your donation or was it? I think it did actually, it did not give me a receipt. That's a good question. Yeah. Because it is a five hundred one C. I do understand that it has to be a five hundred one C three. That and they haven't paired up with a lot of organizations yet. Yes. I wonder if you know me with like if you're donating and then it's a five hundred one C three, right? It's a tax deductible, right? Even even if it is five dollars, right? Exactly. I wonder if I got an email from it. We'll follow up on that. I don't think I know, I don't think I did. Interesting. Okay, so that is interesting. Oh, I've got it now. Okay. I was waiting for one. Yes. Okay, so mine is up on the left hand corner. It says give. Okay. Okay. So twenty five, fifty, seventy five and this was going to best Friends Animal Society. I can donate with my Apple Pay. Okay. Yes. So I'll get the receipt through Apple Pay. If I donate. Okay. That's interesting. So I'm sure that there is some way through link that I could probably find my receipt as well. Okay. Interesting though. I love the colors I love, so the only thing I was kind of went to go sign up and it auto loads usernames for you. So you can't, you can't choose like I probably would have done ruff life or something related to ruff life, but instead it auto loaded and it gave me a cat avatar, right? I'm the polite zebra. Yes. And what are you? I am the alert fox. So you didn't get to choose at all because there was a drop down? There was a drop. There was a drop. Me too. But it only had, like ten, right? I went maybe less than that. It had just a handful of names and I was like, well, which one describes me? And I was like, I think I'm polite. Yep. And I'm, I don't know, I'm black and white. I was like, let's do zebra. Let's do zebra. I know you've already changed your picture. Your profile picture. I did, yeah. But I. And is yours at the bottom here? Does it look like a cat to you or does it. Oh, yours is very different. Your interface looks different than mine. It does look a lot different, though. Oh, that's so funny. Yeah, I've got all this at the bottom. Mhm. So between Android and Apple, the app does look quite a bit different. Okay. So well, we have the same with messages and notifications. And then you've got your profile picture and then you've got okay. And then we have our names. Yes. Yeah. Okay. And you've, you've done okay. A grateful dog Mama wishes all people could be as amazing as animals. I love that, okay. Yeah. And what did you say? I said dogs and all the animals. Yes. There you go. I should say because. Dogs. Yes. Perfect. All right. So yeah, so I've done one reel. I've gotten sixteen lives. So I mean, it tells you like your stats here, yours are a little bit different. I don't see actually, I don't see my stats here. You probably have to click on your videos directly. Yeah. Oh, you've got it on the video. Oh no I've got that too. It's interesting. I think your stats on the Apple shows up quite a bit better than mine. Yeah. Because it's very it's right there. I've got the followers and following. Yeah. You've got the followers and following but I've got one reels sixteen likes yours doesn't have that. That's interesting. Okay, so that's one thing Mhm. Yours up here says two posts, I guess. I guess that would be what this would be. I've got one real. One real? Yeah, you've got two. Yep. All right. Yeah. It's interesting how it shows up differently. And then I've got. I think this bar here that you don't have. Oh, you've got two. My videos and my drafts. Oh, and I've got a paw See, that's what I would like. I feel like maybe there's a little bit more thought put into the Apple app than maybe the Android app at this point. So that would be maybe a suggestion for, for myself is put a little bit more thought into the Android app. So the Android app doesn't have or I clicked on a poor and it showed all the videos that I've liked, right? I would love that because then you could go back and if you haven't followed a particular person yet, you could go back to that video and then follow them. Yeah. You have the band though the ribbon that says you can do a collection, though I do. Yes, I haven't done a collection yet, so. Another thing I talked with Ashley about that I have here that I can't see on yours is. The packs coming soon. She did talk about this where I could potentially do a. Discussing dogs in the pack or a Detroit pack or Metro Detroit pack. So what I'll do when that goes live and that's available. It's kind of like on other where you have groups and other social media. The one book face that I shall not be named. They have you know how you have all your groups on there where you can communicate with within each other? I think that I'm hoping to create something for us here in Michigan or Metro Detroit when that comes, available. Yes. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah. I didn't know that at all based on like my app. So that's pretty cool. she did talk about creating packs and that she's going to they're working on it. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that they still have to hash out. Like even the user interface I do think is a lot. It's not a lot slower, but it is slightly slower than other, you know, reels that you scroll and other apps. But I think it's also that it's so new, right? They launched, I believe in October. they're going to do their official launch, you know, April ninth or whatever. by the time this is, they'll have done their official launch April ninth. So then you could do hashtag like I know I did hashtag schnauzer palooza for one of my videos. So you could, you could search for oh, so we can potentially put videos in for our schnauzer club. Okay. So let me go back to the home screen where we're viewing videos. Yeah. And it's easy. It's very easy to follow. I know that does look nice. I love that corner. Even the way that I follow. I just have a little plus sign where yours says follow. Yeah, I like your plus sign. Mhm. It's just a little bit more like simplistic. Yeah. And she was even talking about how we haven't done this yet, where we've communicated with each other on the app because we obviously were friends and we talk on our cell phones, but she was saying that they're going, it's kind of like on lockdown that there's going to be a very specific, especially for young kids being able to communicate, especially if. So, if there are humans out there that try to get on this app and try to do predatory stuff, so kids aren't giving out addresses and that kind of stuff. So yeah, that is very good. But overall though, there's when you get on this, okay, me personally, especially right now, if I'm going to go to another social media platform because I have to post or do something or I've got to share something, there is this kind of like, oh, I've got to go do this right now. And then I'm gonna check out, you know, and write some comments or whatever. I've only been on this a week, but when I go to open this app, I know that it's only gonna be animals. So do you feel that? Describe what it is for you. Yeah, just good positivity. it's interesting because I just read about an article or a research paper was done recently about, parents who are on social well, actually just their phones. It could be socials. It could be, actually even just reading the news, but they're on their phones for an extended amount of time looking at different things, and then when they go to, interact with their children, their young children, even though they're not on their screens anymore, they have found that the interactions with their children are limited, that they don't get that same. And I don't know how they, measured this. They said that it's because their minds are still thinking about what they were seeing on whether it's positive or negative. Right. Exactly. So, so I'm thinking about that research and thinking if they were on this app Even though it's on their phone. They see cute pictures of animals, and then they get off their phone and they interact with their children or their. Any loved one or their coworkers, even if they're still thinking about it a little bit. It's happiness. it's sort of like the, the butterfly effect where you extend happiness. Yes, yes. So you've just seen a happy, a happy video of animals and now you're feeling better about yourself. You can extend that to somebody else. You can, you know, be a better worker worker or a better friend or, you know, just be there a little bit more for somebody else because you're feeling better about life in general. That's a good point. let's back up. Preface. You're a teacher. Did you come across this paper because it was in a study with students, teachers, kids, you know. I did. Can you give me a copy of it so I can put it in the show notes? I can yes, yes, it was actually a student that I was helping yesterday. She's a psychology minor or major in college, and I was talking about this research with her. So I can definitely give you this article. tell our audience dogs brought us together. We have, but we both came from. I mean, I used to work in government. You used to be a teacher, but now you're a tutor. But explain education. Tell everybody about you. And as much as you want to share. Yes, yes. Well, yes, I did. I thought that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. And you're so brave. You are so brave. Yeah. And so I did. I was I was an elementary school teacher at Roeper and, and I did that for right out of college for four years. I think it was the second, second year that I was teaching. A parent came up to me and asked if I would be willing to work with her daughter over the summer. Help with math. Just tutor her in math just to keep up not not get behind during summer. And I said sure. And it kind of just snowballed from there. And I decided that I love tutoring because I can, especially math because everybody just like dogs, just like animals, every person is so different in how they learn. And it's, it's true for anything, but math is just such a. There's a psychology to it. There's, you have to, you have to get that confidence that a lot of times is not there. And you have to know that you are smarter than you think that you are sometimes. And I'm all about this too. And you hit the nail on the head for just in a personal way. Tom, my husband is dyslexic and he, even though he's an incredibly brilliant, smart human, that looked very different back in the eighties, when he was in school and even how they're viewing it now. Now there's more initiatives for kids that are dyslexic, but even up to speaking to that, like Mensa, you know, having been in Mensa, there is a whole community of people that, back in the sixties, seventies and eighties that children were too smart and not learning fast enough. So they were so bored that they would act out or they would. So this used to be in, they would actually target kids that they need specialized tutoring because they're just too smart. And they were, they were so bored with their, wanting to move faster than what a classroom would normally move at. And so it was important to this group of people to harness those kids and get them the, the specialized education that they need. So I think that's kind of the kids that you work with, they need. They're so smart. They are so gifted that they need that, we all learn at different rates levels, you know? So yeah, I love that. And kind of like ropes back into this app is I feel like she's gearing it not she's not targeting children, she's targeting everyone, but she wants children to be safe. And that is a whole other level of comfort, even though we don't have, you know, human children, right? We do have children in our lives, and especially you with kids in school, you know, nieces and nephews that we have. it's very comforting to know that they can go to this app. However, the user interface is that I know that they're not. I can trust it. I know they're not going to be targeted. And even if there is, there are these and it sounds like just massive levels of, what do you call them? Yeah. Like the gates or. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just making sure that nothing gets through their guidelines and the people behind that are administering those guidelines are saying, no, you know. And then you're off the app or no one strike. I don't know how they're going to manage that, but it's very comforting to know that they are watching and making sure, you know. So all, all happy things, all you know, and I'm sure that you know where there's a will, there's a way there will be people that will try to infiltrate it and abuse it. But I'm hoping that they have enough safeguards in place. that we know children are safe, right. And keep knowing that children are safe, right? Like here, I'm just going to hand you this app and you can, you can scroll on this one because it's nothing violent, nothing harmful, right? Profanity, all those things. Nothing political. Yep. So we're not getting into especially right now, right, where they can just see happy squishy dogs and cats and Mimi the bird. Yes. And all his boyness. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. And it's just like handing them a children's book. But now you can just do do that on the phone. And yeah, it's wonderful. Yeah. Especially because more and more want their tablets and their phones. Yeah. You know, instead of a tactile, you know, I love books still. I do too. Yes. I still have a paper planner, but I think that kids, this is where they're going to learn and they're finding, in schools, they have tablets. every, almost every kid has a phone now. Yes. And if you can know that that one app they're going to go to there's that weight that's lifted that you're not stressed about or even having to go back. I know a lot of parents that are like, give me your phone and let me see what you what you saw, because you have that watch history. Yes. And like, why did you, why did you watch this video or why were you texting this person? Yep. You had that constant worry. Yep. Yeah. Because there are predators and there are people that, you know, trying to scam and take advantage. And I feel like this is abating all of that in one app. But also it's all the things we love animals. Yes, pets, you know, all those things. Yes. I'm really excited about that. So anything else that you want to share about the app that you were like? I just think I read the mission statement and I think that that it just was everything that I was looking for. I, I honestly tried to do that on my own Instagram and Facebook where I just only share joy. Yes. And so when you sent that to me and I saw their mission statement, I thought, okay, well, this is exactly what I've been looking for. The movement of give joy, get joy. She kept saying that when I interviewed her, the give joy, joy, give joy, joy, joy. And I'm like, we do. I know that you definitely do. But even even in the stories that I try, I'm a storyteller and I want to want to try and tell the stories of these animals that are adoptable or even animals that came from terrible situations, but are in lovely situations. Now, even some of the stuff I touch on isn't completely joyful. You know, it's hard. It's hard stuff. And, this is something that is completely. No, we want only positivity, right? And I think that, as we can build this community in a way where it's almost like you're, I don't know, your medication for. I was just thinking of that. Yes. Because you need it like you do so much with the animal community. You do. And it's going to make me cry because I can't do half the stuff that you do, but you do. And so you need this is your medication. This is your little, like, happy pill. Actually, that's a good point that, you know, when you're in that mode of like, perpetuating all that, all not perpetuating, but you're in this mode of like, oh, I've got to do this and this. And you know, I'm going to go transport another dog that needs to go get, you know, medication or gets vet treatment for, you know, having been in a car, you know, all the things that that happens with these animals. And then I need that, that dose of happy, that dose of joy. Yeah, I can just go and, you know, there you go. I even have, I don't know if your phone does this where I limit myself to social media. between four different platforms that I've entered into this and it's an iPhone thing. I don't know if it's available on other platforms, but I limit myself to one hour a day. So when I've been on multiple platforms and it's been close to an hour, it gives me a warning. You have five minutes left. Interesting. And then it'll give me like you've reached your maximum of what you set for yourself, for your limit. Yeah. And there are moments when I'm like, yep, I'm done. You know, I don't want to do any more today. And there are moments like, oh, but I just want to finish up. And then I'm just like, no, you. And they won't even let you open the app without hitting a few more buttons because you're like, you know, you, you limited yourself to an hour of this. And it really, it really does do that. I'm thinking that this is going. To be different though, and I haven't put this app in that category yet. But I'm wondering if it's going to be where. No, this is where I have unlimited. This is my unlimited freedom of scrolling because it's all it really is people, kids interacting with animals or it's just the animals sitting there existing, right? And I just love this, even just a video of a dog just sitting there smiling and you're like, oh my God, I could watch this all day. It's like meditation. Yeah, yeah. oh, I didn't think about it like that. Mhm. Meditation and medication. Yeah, exactly. We're coming up with taglines for them. Oh, we're gonna have to share this with Ashley. Okay, I appreciate you. I appreciate you doing this and I'm looking forward to do we have an idea what is our next topic going to be? What do we want to talk about next time? Do we have an idea? I do not okay. You had a lot of good ideas. What were some of yours? Well, okay, so we could talk about if we if our if our dogs could text, what were their conversations? Let's do that next time. That sounds great. So if Molly and Joshua could text me, Molly would be annoyed with her brother and Joshua would be like, where's the rest of my food? You know, where are my snacks? Cooper and Bosco, I would love to hear their conversations. Yes, I have to think about this. I'm going to have to go back and consult with them. And this will be our mommy. You're allowed to share this conversation that Kipper and Bosco Kipper and I had or whatever. Yes. So we'll do that next time. So, um, check back with my episode with Gail and we'll come up with a fun name for it, you know, good goodness. With Gail, we'll call it that. I like it. Yeah. We'll tour goodness with Gail because that's all we want to do is spread the positivity and we'll talk about our dogs next time. Yes, but thank you guys. Thank you for listening today. And we appreciate all of you for joining us here on the podcast. Yes. Thank you.
00:37:29 Speaker: I appreciate all of you for tuning in to Discussing Dogs in the podcast. And until next time, stay kind, stay curious, and give your dog a cookie for me.