Episode Guide
Episode #127 with the Globe Theatre
Episode #126 with Lore Ruschiensky from Cecilian Chamber Series
Episode #125 with Kay Peacy from Slick Business
Episode #124 with Marc Toews from Gateway Web AR
Episode #123 with Sherry Pratt from Sherry Pratt Health Coaching
Episode #122 with Aaron Strauss from Cache Tactical Supply
Episode #121 with Cedric Delavaud from Ludoland Regina
Episode #120 with Jasmine Patterson from BDC
Episode #119 with Jeff Harmel from Realty Executives Diversified Realty
Episode #118 with Shahzad Khoja from IBITS
Episode #117 with Kathy Sabo from QC Gifts
Episode #116 with Andrea Lo from the Toronto Dating Hub
Episode #115 with Karey Kapell from Next Level Coaching
Episode #114 with Joel Sopp from Socially Acceptable Marketing
Episode #113 with Annabel Townsend from The Penny University
Episode #112 with Cathlyn Melvin about her Tedx Coaching
Episode #111 with Corey Liebrecht from Zippity Zip Courier
Episode #110 with Quinn Nikulak from Kustom Kitties Canada
Episode #109 with Tess Boehm from Totally Tess Tradeshows
Episode #108 with Shane Chapman from the Ultimate Deck Shop
Episode #107 with Dan Celis from Tommy's Speakeatery
Episode #106 with Ann Corcoran
Episode #105 with Louise Yates & Jennifer Berg
Episode #104 with Jule Gilchrist from Cuppa'T Teas
Episode #103 with Annika Mang from TrailCollectiv
Episode #102 with Ronley Arnold from OSI-CAN Sask
Episode #101 with Susan Robertson from Susan Robertson Pottery
Episode #100 with Victor Roman from the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation
Episode #99 with Faith Alyssa Peter from Stressed Out Mamas
Episode #98 with Leah Mazur from Carousel Creative
Episode #97 with Carmen Johanson and Kimberley Baldwin from PayTrail
Episode #96 with Meg Casebolt from Love at First Search
Episode #95 with Karen Kobussen from CanBall Games
Episode #94 with Wilson Acton
Episode #93 with Carla Browne from Real Property Management Canada
Episode #92 with Donna Ziegler from South Sask Community Foundation
Episode #91 with Scott Love from Store to Door Canada
Episode #90 with Mark Heise from Rebellion Brewing
Episode #89 with Brendan McGuire from Affinity Credit Union
Episode #88 with Tyler Clark form Prairie Benefits Solutions
Episode #87 with Craig Reed from Virtus Group
Episode #86 with Daria Malin from Boost Strategic Coaching
Episode #85 with Bill Thorn form Regina Humane Society
Episode #84 with John Vuong from Local SEO Search
Episode #83 with Linda Boryski from Saskatoon PhysioYoga
Episode #82 with Tracey Poffenroth Prato from RAD Talk with Tracey
Episode #81 with Janet Kotylak, YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode #80 Your Ultimate Guide to Get Found with Local SEO
Episode #79 with Jennifer Fox from Auto Electric Service
Episode #78 with Janet Akre and Susan Robertson from River & Rail ArtVenture
Episode #77 with Karen Smith from Better Business Bureau of Saskatchewan
Episode #76 with Julie Naismith from SubThreshold Training
Episode #75 with Josh Haugerud from Regina Folk Festival
Episode #74 with Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote from Black Fox Farm and Distillery
Episode #73 with Cory Furman from Furman IP
Episode #72 with Tracy Archer from Knight Archer Insurance
Episode #71 with Tim Nickel from Fifth Business Consulting
Episode #70 with Taylor Weisgerber from Spartan Mechanical
Episode #69 with Lisa McIntyre from The Optical Shoppe
Episode #68 with Santa Claus
Episode #67 with Kait Waugh from Fat Plant Farm
Episode #66 with Natasha Vandenhurk from Three Farmers Foods
Episode #65 with Dianne Beauchamp from PuroClean Regina
Episode #64 with Adele Buettner from AgriBiz Communications
Episode #63 with Mary Weimer from Conexus Credit Union
Episode #62 with Winter Fedyk from Silo Strategy
Episode #61 with Heather Day from C.S. Day Transport & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #60 with Amber Goodwyn from Regina Folk Festival & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #59 with Cari Bode from South Country Equipment & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #58 with Donna-Rae Crooks from Brain Snacks Co & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #57 with Michelle Grodecki from Deaf Crows Collective & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #56 with Sarah Tkachuk from KPMG & YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #55 with Dr. Sharon Leibel, YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #54 with Doug Yaremko from Paddock Wood Brewery
Episode #53 with Madhu Kumar, YWCA Women of Distinction Nominee
Episode #52 with Eric Oelson from Mortise & Tenon Store
Episode #51 with Kim Korven from The Gentle Way Divorce
Episode #50 with Erin Vaughan from Kinetic Auto Service
Episode #49 with Lisa Brice from Brice Photography
Episode #48 with Colleen Strauch from Luther College at U of R
Episode #47 with Doug Pattison from Pattison Health
Episode #46 with Erika Gayle from Erika Gayle Photography
Episode #45 with Carly Patryluk from House of Paws Pet Boutique
Episode #44 with Erin Caleval from Erin & Associates Insurance
Episode #43 Part #2 with Nikki Jacquin from Nikki's Portraits of Childhood
Episode #43 Part #1 with Jess Tiefenbach from Stay n Play Parenting
Episode #42 with Nadene Joy from Nadene Joy
Episode #41 with Richard Arockiasamy and Sanjana Kumta from GreenMache
Episode #40 with Jodi Barrett, CEO of Kettlebell Kickboxing Canada
Episode #39 with Erin Kinder from Kinder Surprises Antiques
Episode #38 with Tanner Goetz from Munz Media
Episode #37 with Jessica McNaughton from memoryKPR
Episode #36 with Wendy Turner-Larsen from Turner Larsen Consulting
Episode #35 with Jill Poulton from Transformational Leadership
Episode #34 with Janci Templeman from Walker Wakefield
Episode #33 with Denise Anderson, Author, Divorce in a Small Town
Episode #32 with Anne Gibbons from Gibbons Travel Consulting
Episode #31 with Charlene SanJenko from PowHERhouse Media
Episode #30 with Dr. Vianne Timmons from the University of Regina
Episode #29 with Margaret Kisikaw-Piyesis, from All Nations Hope Network & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 28 with Dr. Renatta Varma, Vitreo-Retinal Surgeon & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 27 with Jo-Anne Dusel from PATHS & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 26 with Dr. Emily Bamforth from Royal Saskatchewan Museum & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 25 with Nigora Yulyakshieva from City of Regina & YWCA Woman of Distinction
Episode 24 with Pam Klein from Phoenix Group & Miriam Johnson from Saskatchewan Roughriders
Episode 23 with Gr. 5 & 6 Students from Argyle School
Episode 22 with Tiffany Wolf from Helium Communications
Episode 21 with Jeff Kinash from Peregrine Farm
Episode 20 with Charlene Oancia from Springer & Oake
Episode 19 with Dan Benesh from BarterPay Regina
Episode 18 with Prabha Mitchell from WESK
Episode 17 with Terrie Dunand from REMAX Crown Real Estate
Episode 16 with Kim Zacaruk from Stone’s Throw Coffee Collective
Episode 15 with Luke Rossmo from Luke Rossmo Music and Gareth Bawden from Bawdenmedia.com
Episode 14 with Kristen Hill from Kristen’s Cultures
Episode 13 with Cyndie Knorr from Cynergy Coaching
Episode 12 with Paul Burch from EchoLotto Inc.
Episode 11 with Rea Faber from Amaranth Designs
Episode 10 with Brandi Good from BLG Business Solutions
Episode 9 with Dr. Gina Grandy from Hill | Levene Schools of Business
Episode 8 with Candyce Fiessel from The Style Academy and Shear Escape Salon and Spa
Episode 7 with Michelle Strawford from Bella Chic Fashion & Decor and What Women Want
Episode 6 with Jordan McFarlen from Conexus Business Incubator
Episode 5 with Cheryl Giambattista from Health Coach Cheryl
Episode 4 with Joanne Frederick from Prairie Centre for Mindfulness
Episode 3 with John Hopkins and Amanda Baker, Regina Chamber of Commerce
Episode 2 with Christina Carlson from Queen City Collective
Episode 1 with Sherry Knight from Dimension 11
As much as I love talking to local business owners, there is ONE thing I love even more! And that’s talking to a local business owner about my dog! We are self-proclaimed pet parents and today’s guest is going to set me straight on a few things!
Carly Patryluk is the owner of House of Paws Pet Boutique. Not just another pet store, Carly knows more about dog nutrition than most vets. If you want your pet to enjoy a longer, higher quality life, tune in for this episode!
If you are a local business owner, and would like to be profiled on the show, please contact us. This is not an exclusive, by invite-only show; we rely on local business owners who are willing to share their story.
Let’s get our bark on!
—
Connect with Carly @ House of Paws Pet Boutique
Transcript
Barb McGrath 0:03
In today’s show, we’re going to talk cats, dogs, raining cats and dogs. And we’ll probably even get into a little bit of a pot conversation. So on that note, let’s welcome our guest today, Carly Patryluck, she’s the owner of the House of Paws pet boutique here in Regina, out in the greens. And you know, I hadn’t been to her location before. But just in the last week or 10 days, I’ve actually turned to her with a few different questions that she’s been able to help me with. So while her doors are closed right now, she’s doing everything she can to pull local business together and support folks. Carly, welcome.
Carly Patryluck 0:40
Thank you.
Barb McGrath 0:42
It’s great to have you here today. So let’s start off talking about your store. And that conversation is going to flow into talking about another initiative that you started here.
Carly Patryluck 0:52
Perfect, perfect. Well, so how paws pet boutique opened the middle of October 2019. So we’ve only been open for five months. But we have so we’re pretty new. But we were very, very focused our model is that we are extending the lives of pets through nutrition. So we are very focused on healthy food and healthy treats. And I can I guarantee everybody, I assure them that as a pet parent, when you get out there into the internet and you start looking up, what should I feed my pet, what’s good, what’s bad, you’re going to be pulled in 1000 different directions. So in order to save pet parents time, I assure them all the time, we have done all the research on all the food and all the treats that we carry, and we know that they’re healthy. So you don’t have to spend your time investigating and researching what’s healthy and what’s not. Because we’ve already done the research for you. So then it’s just a matter of finding your pets favorite food. And we get them happy and healthy and extend their lives with healthy food in their tummies.
Barb McGrath 2:01
You know, and that’s so important. We have a dog, and prior to Manny who is now 11, our last dog live to be 18 and a half years old. Nice. So he was definitely a senior and we we had to put them down because he wasn’t comfortable anymore. But I do credit the nutrition that we gave him throughout his life to a huge chunk of that at no point in time. Was he medicated? He actually had cancer a couple times and had surgeries. But nutritionally we always fed him well. And you know, he yaquis absolutely loved to this poor ripe old age where the stairs in our two story. We’re like, Are you kidding me? I have to be there. Right? So he got carried and stuff. But
Carly Patryluck 2:54
And you know, when you say that Barb, because if we do know that nutrition can extend their lives. But we I, of course, I’ve talked to lots of people that says, Oh, my dog eats that cheapest kibble from the grocery store. And they live to be you know, 16 years old. And my response to that is always bothers your you’re going to find a couple 96 year old smokers out there who binge drink too. They got lucky. And that’s unfortunate, right? But we know that nutrition is key, if we can keep their gut healthy, and it’s called the gut microbiome. Delve has confused everybody in the world by talking about microbiome of the skin. But we’re talking about the pet’s gut microbiome. As long as we can keep that healthy, then we know that we can get them healthy on the inside, and then they stay healthy on the outside.
Barb McGrath 3:43
Yes. And you know, to that 16 year old dog, well, maybe he would have lived to 18 with a little bit better nutrition, or maybe he would have had better quality of life. Yeah, it’s just one thing to be a live breathing. But it’s another thing to have quality of life and still be able to go for a walk or chase a ball.
Carly Patryluck 4:02
And they call like nutrition allows good nutrition allows our animals to thrive versus survive. and thrive is exactly what you said they’re breathing. And they’re here, but they’re not thriving and it’s so I call them tales of transformation. And I mean, like, you know, like a tale that a kitty or a puppy has tale of transformation and I love hearing about our customers who they’ve taken our advice they’ve taken the recommendations that we’ve given, they’ve implemented it with their own pets, and they’re coming back when holy cow I can’t believe he’s acting like a puppy again, like he’s full of life or my kitty like never wanted to play before and now she wants to play all the time. So it’s we know that nutrition is key. So that’s why we are so so focused. We have all the other accessories and toys and and bed clothes and leashes and all the things that all the puppies or kitties out there would want too, but our focus is on nutrition and we do a lot of I don’t want to say consultation, but a lot of consultation in order. Our whole thing is we want to create transparency in the pet food industry, and eel if you follow any thing that we do on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll see that I often refer to the big pet food manufacturers as marketing wizards, because they are fantastic in pet parents like us in believing that their subpar nutrition is the best thing out there for your pet. So many myths about pet food. And I’m gonna say pet nutrition with air quotes are so many myths that we lost in a heartbeat. And I’ll just give you a very quick example. Everybody has believed for their entire lives, that you should feed kibble a dry food in order to help clean your dog’s teeth.
Barb McGrath 6:02
Okay,
Carly Patryluck 6:03
This is equivalent to me saying to you, you can eat Doritos your whole life because they’re crunchy, and you never have to brush your teeth. So it’s a total myth. First of all, their mouths aren’t made to chew their food they’re made to rip and swallow. And when we’re giving them dry kibble which is already ripped, all they have to do is swallow so they’re not doing it anyways. The other side of that is kibble requires starch to be held into this little kibble form, which starch turns into sugar, and sugar sticks to their teeth. Yeah, kibble doesn’t clean their teeth, raw food would actually clean their teeth better, because they do have to do a little bit more of the ripping and the enzymes and the ragi actually break down the plaque and debris on the teeth and keep the mouth clean. So I could go on for days, and I’m telling you, I normally do. But there are certain myths out there. And we just want we want pet parents to have all of the right information to make the educated decisions and know exactly what’s going on in their pet bowl. They’re patentable. And we don’t want them to get you know, duped by the big pet food marketing Wizards of the world that are very, very good at what they do, as an industry is one of the most lucrative industries in the world. But it is also the most deceptive industry in the world. So our mission is to draw back that curtain and create that transparency. So they know exactly what they’re putting in their bowl.
Barb McGrath 7:42
You know, isn’t that interesting, because I can’t help but parlay the difference between you know, a food manufacturer for a human and the food manufacturer for a dog or a cat. And food manufacturers for humans are equally brilliant at you know, convincing us that we need to try the new branded doritos are the new flavor of coke. And there’s absolutely no nutritional value to that stuff. No, but fact, you know, when my kids were little, even though we didn’t eat that stuff, they were convinced that there was a reason they needed to. Yeah. So I mean, I can’t help but compare those two, because the better we eat just as humans, the healthier we are. So it makes perfect sense that from an animal standpoint, the higher quality food you can provide an absolutely everybody has a budget. But if you provide the highest quality that your budget allows, absolutely. are animals going to be healthier, happier, more active, you know, want to play? So it makes perfect sense to me.
Carly Patryluck 8:43
Yes. Yeah. And I mean, that’s something that we often are always telling our pet parents is that we want to find the absolute best option for your pet that fits your budget. We don’t want anybody to break the bank, trying to get healthy. And we’ve got tons of different ways, tons of different suggestions that we can provide to pet parents in order to ensure that their pet is getting the absolute best nutrition that we can without breaking the bank. And I just when you were talking about like with food, nutrition labels, this difference between pet food and people food in Canada, okay. Fortunately, it’s like the Wild West here in Canada. There are no regulations for pet food in Canada. Most Canadian manufacturers do try to adhere to the ASCO regulations, which is the American feed control authority. So that’s feed not food, but that pet food falls under especially when we’re looking at dry kibbles that falls into the feed category and I’ll just give you another homily about why that is when they walk into a grocery store. Do you ever see our food down the aisle where your laundry soap and bleaches are? No, we never do because our food is actually considered food. You will see pet food. Again, I’m saying that with air quotes. Well, it’s feed, you will see it down the laundry soap aisle because it’s not considered food. But again, when we look at what is allowed to be said on the bag, or what rules do they have about what they talk about? on what’s actually in that bag? Yeah, doesn’t have any rules. And
Barb McGrath 10:45
So let me understand that. Let’s just say for example, the brand of dog food that we feed our dog and I won’t say the brand. Yeah, let’s say that it’s chicken. Okay, so what you’re telling me is they can say it’s chicken, even though there’s not even a hint of chicken in there.
Carly Patryluck 11:02
Yes. It’s, um, it’s, it’s so scary BB. Like, when you look at the front of the bag, and this is what they want you to focus on, they don’t want you to look at the back of the bag. And there’s rules about what they’re allowed to. So aapko, again, the governing body in the United States, they have 169 page manual on what pet food manufacturers are allowed to do. This part about that is in the hundred and 69. Page manual. 15, as in one 515 pages are dedicated to nutrition is all how they market what words they’re allowed to use, what colors what fonts, what pictures. What what it means to us, if we looked at a menu, and it said, there’s 25% chicken meat in this food, okay, and we know that there’s 25% chicken meat in that food.
Barb McGrath 12:08
Definitely. We have some confidence.
Carly Patryluck 12:10
Yes. When you look at a pet food bag, and it says beef flavor. That’s just label, that’s all. Yeah, there’s no beef. When it calls it a dinner. Like a you know, I won’t use brand names. But let’s just say that it’s a prancy beast dinner of some sort. Dinner means that there is only 25% up to 25% meat in that food. So at the end of the day, our little guys are meat eaters. And we need to feed them meat. So we watch if we’re feeding a dry food because a lot of pet parents are in fact the statistics are scary. 90% of pet parents today are still buying their food from the grocery store. Yeah. And what’s scary about that is even the dry food that we’re buying in the grocery store, the marketers again, they’ve done a fantastic job of making us believe that this is the best thing I can put in my pets bull. What I’ve asked you When was the last time you saw wolf dragging off a bag of kibble to his den. Right? They don’t eat kibble. And so of course, when I certified which I did before I opened my store. Okay. I knew that I had to know my stuff. And I had to know it well, because otherwise, every pet food sales guy in the world is going to come through my doors and tell me that they’ve got the best food under the sun. And I wouldn’t know the difference. Exactly. I certified in pet nutrition, and I certified in raw nutrition. And I was learning all of these things. And my mouth was hitting the floor. I felt so awful for my big dogs that I used to have. Because I thought I was doing all the right things as a pet parent. And when I became certified, I realized, oh my goodness, if I could have done it wrong, I did it wrong. And I didn’t even know I was so that we want to help pet parents. Every pet parent out there wants to do the absolute best for their furry family, we know. But we get duped very easily because of the marketing wizards. They’re so good at what they do. We believe we’re doing the right things. And we’re actually for me when you break it all down. Like I said, we don’t see wolves dragging off a bag of kibble to their den. right you know. And so if we if we even I started thinking when I when I started certifying. Why was I on the hunt for the best kibble. Why did I think kibble was what they ate. And I did a little bit of research and I learned that the war in the 40s They put a ration on meat, and they put a ration on metals. They put a ration on meat for the soldiers and a ration on metal for bullets. And manufacturers of the day. Who if all that food at that time used to be wet meat of some sort. Okay. Holy crap, how do we get wet food in a bag? Well, you don’t. And that was warm. And so for 80 plus years for your entire lifetime in mind. And parents out there, we believe that kibble was the way because in the 40s, that was it was it was a man made problem that that became an animal problem, because we started dry food.
Barb McGrath 15:44
And that’s where the marketing wizardry came from, because now they needed to convince the consumer that this dry food was just as good, if not better, way more convenient than any of the wet food would have been. It’s It’s so interesting what you said, of course, they’re they’re meant to be a meat eater. And our pup, if we pull a cucumber out of the fridge, he’s like, at your feet instantly, not right? Gotta have some of that cucumber. If you’re eating an apple, he’s at your side, just waiting you out for the apple. And I’m sure you’re going to tell me the hell This is terrible. So please do Oh, but anything we eat an apple. Like I said, He’s at your site. And of course, I’m like, well, it’s a fruit and vegetable. It can’t hurt them. But what’s so interesting is, you know, if you give him a carrot, if you give him a cucumber, he puts it in his mouth, chews it a couple times swallows done. When you give them an apple, whatever bits are left, he slowly and carefully eats it with his front teeth. apart, and the only thing he’s behind is the stamp. He won’t need this down, but everything else Cornell like it’s going
Carly Patryluck 16:56
Well that you know what, so I’m not going to tell you not to feed them fruits and veggies. Here’s the whole thing. When we look at our little carnivorous friends, our cats and dogs, cats are obligate carnivores that means that they are not going to be content to sit down and Chow on a carrot for a while. But dogs are are they are facultative carner carnivores right where there. They are more scavengers than cats. And so even in the wild, they will they come upon berries or shrubs or vegetables. They’ll eat it because they’re opportunistic, right. And then they don’t know when the next meal is coming. So they will eat it. But then of course, they also get some vegetation or carbohydrates in their diet because of the prey that they hunt, because they’re hunting herbivores. So they will get some of that. But now in the in the wild, they’re eating about four to 6% of their diet would be carbohydrates or vegetation.
Barb McGrath 18:07
Okay,
Carly Patryluck 18:07
When we feed them a traditional kibble there that carb intake goes to about 50 to 70%.
Barb McGrath 18:17
Yeah, exactly.
Carly Patryluck 18:18
And carbs, again, turn into sugar. Sugar is what feeds disease. At the very end of the day, what we want to do is we want to reduce or eliminate carbs entirely from their diet. Yeah. Now healthy carbs, fruits, vegetables. When we’re looking at veggies, we really want to look at the cruciferous vegetables, the the broccolis, the Cali flowers, the kale, cabbage, the brussel sprouts. If we’re feeding a dry diet, the dry kibble and then there there’s an important reason here when we’re feeding that dry diet, and it’s got that high carb intake, the 50 to 70% carbs. When they eat that their blood sugar spikes out about 60 points just by eating that food. Okay, so if we’re, if we’re feeding a dry diet, we want to make sure that we’re feeding a low carb healthy dry diet. That’s all we stock. We don’t have a lot of kibble in the store and we don’t because it is the most processed food that we can feed them. It’s kind of you and I eating fast food every day of our lives. We want to improve that right so if we get a healthy, low carb dry food, and we level up the bowl, that’s what we like to call it. Okay by adding you know, bone broth or goat milk or fresh veggies or sauteed veggies or steamed veggies, we can improve their nutrition or even if we buy, you know some freeze dried raw food or air dried raw food or dehydrated food, and we add that to their bowl, even if we do that once, twice, three times. A week it’s beneficial for their health. The veggies The reason I was going there is when we feed them that dry kibble and we spike their blood sugar by 60 points, just by adding a 25% of what there is in their bowl as cruciferous vegetables. We get loose that blood sugar spike by 20 points. Yeah, so veggies and fruit are good. I will say don’t let Manny eat the apple seeds though because apple seeds are poisonous for them. So all the white and he can eat all the you know, the red and green whatever color Apple you’re feeding. But we just want to feed them Appleseed because those are poisonous for them.
Barb McGrath 20:41
Ah, good. Well, that’s good to know. Because yes, right now he’s doing seeds at all, like, those seeds. Don’t left. Done. Like he cleans that thing up. It’s Yeah, it’s actually quite amazing how, like I say he just he slowly nibbles away at it. And he’s gone for that. Yeah, no, it’s quite funny to watch. Okay, so currently, we’ve talked lots about the pet store. And just in the last week, or 10 days, you undertook an initiative to build a Facebook group to support local business while we’re going through this pandemic. So tell me about what inspired you to start this group, and then talk about the crazy growth that has happened because that group has
Carly Patryluck 21:26
Absolutely bold it has. So Ah, what inspired me I guess was I, I want to I wanted people, so I’m guilty of it myself, okay. And I’m gonna admit this to everybody. I say I port local, but then it’s like, oh, it’s just easier to go on Amazon than scour the city for this odd thing that I’m looking for. Or it’s easier to go to the big box store, because it’s cheaper.
Barb McGrath 21:59
So why are more convenient, because we all got this huge to do list up until very recently. And to go to six places, you get stuff that you need, versus Okay, and go to one place, that will become a convenience factor. So,
Carly Patryluck 22:16
For interrupting our that’s exactly what cable is. It’s convenient, but it’s not. It’s so I know, I’m always going to go to pet nutrition. Sorry. Um, but yeah, so I’m guilty of it myself. And I was sitting there, and I was thinking, you know, we all say we support local, and all that there’s a few folks that really do support local, and I would they come to our store. And so I thought, let’s give people an opportunity to not only say it, but to show it. And that was my initial intention with the group is that this would allow folks to say, Hey, I support local, and here I am checking into a local business. And here’s what I bought, this is what I love about them. And then they, through their experiences, could kind of let the rest of us learn about these other local businesses. And, and so yes, as you said, it grew quite quickly, we are just shy of 3600 people. And the group. It started two weeks ago yesterday. So 15 days group has been in existence. And we’re just shy of 3600 people. And so we are seeing our customers saying, I support local, here’s where I bought, where can I get this. And businesses are also allowed to, they’re in there, too. So we’ve got businesses, and we’ve got customers of those businesses. And these businesses can educate the rest of us, it’s kind of become a little bit of a support group for business owners who are all going through the same thing. Totally. Yep. And I’ve been trying to kind of work with other experts in the group like all of our experts, where we have these commonalities as business owners, that we’re all going through. So maybe one of our experts in the group can give us some guidance on, here’s how we can do the different things that we all have to do together.
I was very, I certainly didn’t want anybody to think that this that this, this group is a group of fish that they could come into, and they could just, that’s their direct selling platform. So we’ve been very clear in our rules. In fact, we have nine rules in the group, three of them, or 33% of our rules are about this is not a direct sales platform. You don’t come in here and sell all your stuff, because nobody wants that. Everybody’s just trying to get through this the best way possible. More learn about businesses and yes, we want to understand about your products and your services. But then Wouldn’t want the customer to choose you, right? No, I did not make this up. So but our folks, our folks have been very good, you know, for, for the 3600 people that we have in there, I think, myself and the moderators, I’ve got a team working with me on this group, because it’s begun, it’s easier, more hands than none? Nope. Well, I think we’ve only had to remove like less than half a dozen posts, you know, either because they’ve broken the rules, either they’re selling directly into the group, or they’re not being respectful of other members in the group. And, and that role we’re asking is for, you know, we know everybody’s emotions are running high. And this is a very emotional situation that we’re all in, but we are all in it. So yeah, you know,
Barb McGrath 25:51
When I think that’s something to remember is, we’re all in this together, not a single business is, is doing this alone, right. And so you need more information about a government program, whether you need more information about what businesses are allowed to open and what isn’t. Right, we are all in this together. And the more we support each other now, in fact, the better we will all come out of this, because I know for some businesses, this has absolutely obliterated them. Right? I have talked to owners, that, you know, they, they’re honest, and they’re like, I don’t even know that I’m going to be able to open my doors between now and then. And there’s some great government programs out there. But when you get into the I’ll say the details, there’s a lot of loopholes in those programs. And I think there’s actually up a fairly big chunk of businesses, that they don’t qualify for this. And they fall through this loophole, and they don’t qualify here. They’re out there on their own. And whether it’s, you know, rent that’s due tomorrow, or, you know, whatever it is, they’ve still got to make payroll for the end of March, because they had employees up until the 15th of March or something like that. Like there’s, it’s, it’s gonna get tough if this goes on for an extended period. Which is why every time somebody talks about doing something on my own personal Facebook page, unlike state, the F home, like set off, because the more you go out, I don’t care if you’re just going out to you know, get groceries, yes, we all absolutely need food. But, you know, get them delivered, call local business, there’s so many that are giving us options on how to stuff and see people talking about, Oh, I wish I bought this and oh, I wouldn’t do this to me. I’m like, What are you doing stay home, the only way to stop and the social distancing and the you know, stay at home. And I know everybody puts their own spin on it. And my spin is like, stay
Carly Patryluck 28:08
With house a pause. And I was always expecting that we would be considered an essential service. And as it turns out, the government has now announced that, but the reason that I expected us to be considered an essential service anyways, is pets have to eat just like we do. And you cannot force somebody to buy a low grade quality grocery store pet food, especially when they’re animals have dietary restrictions, and they’re eating a specialty food for their own health. And independent pet stores are the only pet stores that actually sell specialty, specific to health. So I totally I mean, this is why we are absolutely delivering all of our products. We are also doing curbside pickup. And we also offer to pick up prescriptions for you know, folks that need prescriptions and can’t leave the house or don’t want to leave the house or shouldn’t leave the house. And we’re also doing food hampers for people because we agree.
We think as many people should be staying home as absolutely possible. I thought there a way I can run the house apart from my basement when I can’t I can’t bring everything here. So I go to work and I come home and that’s the thing and we’re close to the public but we’re still making sure all the furry guys get everything that they need.
Barb McGrath 29:36
Exactly. Nope, that sounds awesome. Believe it or not. We are out of time. We got carried away in our conversation now. So just quickly tell everyone a how to find the group and be how to find the store or find the store online and get delivery at this point in time.
Carly Patryluck 29:53
Yeah, so of course, how suppose is very active on both Facebook and Instagram. You can find this the at symbol House of Paws boutique. We’re on Facebook, we’re on Instagram, we are on YouTube as well. And our website is www dot House of Paws boutique.com you can always call us 306-537-7297. That’s 537 paws by the way p Ws and our group, the group for I support business local business, Regina is just that that’s the name. So if you went into groups and you searched, I support local business, Regina, you’re gonna find us there and you will see them as our logo on the front of the group. Okay,
Barb McGrath 30:43
That sounds awesome. Thank you so much, Carly. We are at a time for today. So I’d like to thank everyone for joining us. If you’d like to be a guest on the show. You can email me at Barb at Google girl dot t or reach out on Facebook and Instagram at Above the Fold dot Above the Fold. ca. Just a reminder, you can even submit questions in advance of the live show, which we’re usually live but we’re not Today on our Facebook page. I’m your host Barb McGrath, local business owner and Google growth. Remember you worked hard for your success. Don’t keep it a secret. Bye for now.