The Inspiring Journey of Smiley the Blind Therapy Dog and the Healing Power of CBD

Curious about how a blind golden retriever can change lives? Join us me, Julie Marty-Pearson, as I talk with Joanne George, who shares her incredible journey from being a veterinary technician to a passionate animal advocate and dog trainer. Discover the heartwarming story of Smiley, a golden retriever born without eyes, and how he overcame his challenges to become an inspirational therapy dog. Joanne recounts the early days of animal rescue before social media brought widespread awareness and sheds light on how attitudes towards disabled pets have shifted over time.

But the journey doesn't stop there. We'll also dive into the transformative benefits of CBD for both pets and humans. Joanne discusses her experiences with CBD, highlighting its impact on anxiety, stress, and overall well-being. From helping a blind dog named Sunny manage severe anxiety to improving the quality of life for an older dog suffering from dementia and arthritis, CBD has proven to be a game-changer. Tune in to learn more about the importance of quality in CBD products and hear inspiring success stories that demonstrate the power of compassionate care and innovative solutions.
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Topic we will be discussing in this episode include:
-Therapy dogs and their impact.
-Rewards of rescuing and adopting differently abled pets.
-The role of CBD in helping pet and human anxiety.
-How CBD can help your aging pets.
-CBD success stories and how it can enhance life for humans and pets.

To learn more about my guest, Joanne and her fur family, follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

Click here to shop Nuvita, CBD for pets and humans. Use code JULIE10 for 10% off your order now and any future orders. This is an affiliate link and a portion of your purchase supports this podcast and our efforts to educate and advocate for animal rescue, fostering, and adoption.

Chapters

• 0:08 Inspiring Pet Stories and Animal Advocacy
• 13:49 Smiley's Impact on Children
• 27:07 CBD Benefits for Stress and Anxiety
• 38:23 CBD Benefits for Aging Pets
• 45:53 Benefits of NuVita CBD Products

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers, welcome to a brand new episode of the Story of my Pet podcast. I am your host, julie Marty Pearson. As always, proud fur mom and all around animal advocate. I'm so happy to have you here for another inspiring pet story. I can't wait for you to meet my guest, joanne, and hear all about her amazing fur family and all of the experience she has had from being a vet tech to a dog trainer, to a proud fur mom and helping animals in need wherever she can. I hope you enjoy the stories we are about to tell. Thank you again for being here. Much love to. I am so excited you have no idea to welcome a new guest to the story of my pet I have with me today, joanne George. Joanne, thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2: 1:20

Thank you for inviting me, but I know it's not just, it's not me that you're excited about, it's this guy. You know. Take it Well.

Speaker 1: 1:29

I mean I can say, oh Buck, Hi Buck, oh, my God, everybody loves Buck. Yes, everybody loves him, such a good boy. That's why, oh, I have been following Joanne I don't even know how long for years and years, way back to when the focus of your social was your dog Smiley and everything you did with him.

Speaker 2: 1:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:55

Well, let's go backwards a little bit and have you. You can tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're coming from, for sure, and when you started being on social and sharing your pets with everyone.

Speaker 2: 2:08

Okay, so I'm in Ontario, canada, and way back when I was a veterinary technician and ask any veterinary technician we end up taking home a lot of pets and finding homes for animals that are basically being dumped or something wrong with them. So we always end up taking something home that's injured or lost, orphaned, abandoned, all those things. And keep in mind this is way back in the day, before this makes me sound really old but before the internet, really Smiley came to me. Before we didn't have internet, we didn't have any social medias, there was no Instagram, no, nothing. Anyway, we got wind of this dog that was a golden retriever, that was born without eyes. And so I say that there was no internet because that's very important, because we heard this and we had never heard of a dog being born without eyes.

Speaker 2: 3:05

But back then if it wasn't your neighbor or a friend, you didn't hear about it unless it was in the newspaper or something like that. So we had never heard about a dog being born without eyes. And also, back then that was in the days where vets would euthanize a dog with that kind of disability, so that didn't happen. You know what I mean. There weren't dogs like there is now, like dogs with wheelchairs and all these disabilities that people are realizing. Dogs can live like that. So there just really wasn't. We had never heard of something like this. Because, as a puppy, if a breeder or whoever it was, wow, this puppy doesn't have eyes and it's now six weeks, then that would say you put it down, and people would. That's not the case now, thankfully, because we're hearing more, we're able to investigate things, we're able to explore other people with the same issue. So anyway.

Speaker 1: 4:03

No, I think that is so important because it's so funny, as you were saying that I'm thinking of multiple animal accounts I follow now, blind, deaf, no eyes. I have no legs, no arms. I follow one farm that just took on a calf that was born with no eyes. Yeah, like it's very common. Yes, learning about this, I'll call it a birth defect because it is was born with no eyes.

Speaker 2: 4:24

Yeah, Like it's very common. Yes, Learning about this, I'll call it a birth defect because it is. They called it severe micro-ophthalmia, so severe because really there was no eyes, but micro meaning eye, or ophthalmia. Micro meaning small, sorry, micro-ophthalmia, so really small eyes. So there's different degrees. But Smiley had no eyeballs at all. But I recall when I was in school there was a girl that had very small eyes, Her eyeballs were very small and she was technically blind. But anyway, so it happens in people as well and in all animals. Now I've seen it's microcephalmia in, I think, every species of animal.

Speaker 2: 5:04

So, and actually in Smiley the reason we've heard about him is because they were asking us to come to this puppy mill to put him down and the STCA had gone into this puppy mill, found out about it and there was a lot of neglect and it was basically like it was a puppy mill, which means they are unable to care for the dogs that they have. At one point it was a top breeder of golden retrievers, but then it got away from her. I'm gonna keep this one. This one didn't sell might want to breed. That one fell in love with that one and next thing there's 100 breeding dogs and about 50 puppies on the ground.

Speaker 2: 5:41

So anyway, the long, the short part of the story is that we were as a veterinary technician. We were going to go there and euthanize. There was about 20 goldens that the SPCA deemed needed veterinary care and her, the owner, as the owner of these dogs, because dogs are property, she decided that she was just going to euthanize this list of 20 dogs and because dogs are property, she has every right to do that. But I was like I'm not going. I'm not coming to hold down 20 dogs and watch them be euthanized. I said I'm not going and then we all decided what if we went? What if we put smiles on our faces and asked her for these dogs? Would she give us these dogs Instead of we go there? Do you know what I mean? Try to keep a calm level and ask her.

Speaker 1: 6:34

It makes a difference. I've done it myself. The way you ask people, you want to be angry with them.

Speaker 2: 6:40

Yeah, exactly yeah, it's not going to help. So we just thought, let's try it, and we prepared, and we brought trucks, we borrowed trucks and crates, and and she agreed, and so we took, and smiley was one of them, and the sbc even deemed him no quality of life and suffering. So basically, so basically, smiley would have been born in 2005.

Speaker 1: 7:07

Okay, okay so probably 15, 20 years ago.

Speaker 2: 7:10

Yeah, exactly. So it's just amazing that back then, only 10, 15 years ago, they weren't even recognizing that, hey, dogs can live, even though there's people blind. They hadn't recognized that dogs could live a good quality of life, even though they were born without eyes. And anyway, we were dividing the dogs up between a couple of the girls that went, the other technicians, and they were all saying, joanne, you have to take the blind dog. And I was like I've got a crazy great dane at home. He was a rescue also that was going to be put to sleep.

Speaker 2: 7:43

He, he was an albino Great Dane. He was deaf in one ear and dogs did not like him. He was scary to look at. He was drooling in eyes down to here and big and white, and you know these blue, red eyes. So I was like he's going to be freaked out if he comes to my house. He can't come. And they were like you must take him. You're the one into dog behavior, you take him. And I was like, okay, and I took him and that was my first lesson on this. Is that finally? This is what I came to realize that a blind dog does. They don't judge. All the dogs in my neighborhood judged this great Dane and went scary ugly I don't know. They did not like him.

Speaker 2: 8:29

And this was my Great Dane. His name was Tyler. This was his first friend. Smiley was his first friend because no dogs and people even saw him and crossed the road. So that was my first little lesson.

Speaker 2: 8:40

Wow, he sees with his heart and Tyler was a very friendly dog and Smiley knew that because he sensed that even though it was really excitable, that was, it was harmless and it was friendly and excitable and anyway they were like the best of friends and and I wasn't going to keep him, I was just trying to find him a home. And that's the other thing is, everybody came to see him. He even went out on a trial and everybody was just like it was too hard. No, I couldn't have a blind dog. We go camping.

Speaker 2: 9:13

I'm like, okay, oh, and this person, they have a cottage so they wouldn't be able to have a blind dog there. We like to do all these activities, we want to have children, so I could never have a blind dog and I'm like you can't have a blind dog with all these things. So I was actually listening to all this and really by default, is why he stayed with me because nobody would take him and I had people coming in. I found homes for all these other golden retrievers. No issues, it's a golden retriever, everybody loves them and I had one right up.

Speaker 2: 9:44

They're the best dogs the best dogs, exactly like you can't go wrong. And really just listening to everybody about blind dogs, I was thinking, wow, I didn't realize it was going to be so difficult and right. So then he ended up staying and he taught me everything how I train dogs. Now I learned from Smiley because he first of all, he was in the puppy mill for the first two years of his life, just with a ton of other dogs loose. But he was very natural. He used his nose, he used his ears and he didn't judge with his eyes. Eyes get us into trouble, Even us. We judge the stereotyping, that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 10:26

And Smiley didn't do that. That's amazing. I love that so much. Yeah, because when I have volunteered to work in the shelter with rescues, people judge right away by looking at a dog. I don't know how many times I've had to say to people it's not the breed, it's the individual dog. Every dog's temperament is different. Every about the dog, yeah, and it's the breed specific stuff.

Speaker 2: 10:52

Yes, there are characteristics that are most common but that, just like people, it doesn't define who they are before they've even started exactly so, like I said, you know what, I just learned so much from him because he was a real dog and I realized all the years that I was doing training, that I was really trying too hard. I didn't need to try that hard. Do you know what I mean? Because these dogs are amazing. They're animals, they go on, their instincts are correct. I was thinking like I trust Buck. You know what I mean. He's because he's an animal.

Speaker 1: 11:31

He knows, do you know what I mean? So I'd listen to him instead of always making him listen to me. Yes, so when I started following you and Smiley, you were you. He had become a therapy dog and taking him different places. What was that experience like?

Speaker 2: 11:41

Oh well, I'll tell you. So I started learning after having him. For a while, I'd be walking him around town and people would see him walking and they'd look at him and go, oh, it would finally get to. Oh, what's wrong with his eyes? And I'd say he wasn't, he was born without them. He doesn't have eyes, and they would just be like, first of all, they'd say these are grown adults, by the way. Well, how does he see? These are grown adults, by the way? Well, how does he see? And I'd be like well, he doesn't. He actually doesn't, because he doesn't have any eyes. And but they would just be like how is he doing this? Like they were so confused and so they'd hear this little story, but then they would just leave and they'd see him go yes, smile in his face.

Speaker 2: 12:23

Yeah, he was just so great in that way. And then they would just go down to their knees. What's trying to tell you? I wanted to come in right. My mom seems very upset, so people would drop to their knees and just be like, wow, like he's so loving even though he has no eyes. Or he knows where I am, even though, or eddie would say, well, why is he looking up to your even though he has no eyes? Or he knows where I am, even though, or Dean would say, well, why is he looking up to your face if he has no eyes? I'm like that's where the noise is coming from. You know what I mean. And people started just really saying things like wow, I was having a really bad day today and this has fixed that. Or then I'd see people later and they'd go.

Speaker 2: 13:06

I haven't been able to stop thinking about Smiley and just how good he does. And even though he was born without eyes and he had that horrible start, he's still so happy and he's so trusting with other dogs. When I thought Smiley, he had scars on his face, tears in his ears from all these other dogs. They were all intact and he was intact. So there was dog fights and there wasn't enough food and there was females in heat. So there was a lot of fighting going on and a lot of those dogs that we were supposed to put to sleep were terrible injuries from fights that just didn't get treated. So, even though these scars showed what kind of life he must have endured, that didn't stop him from being a lovely golden retriever. And so I really just started thinking, wow, when I started hearing these things from people. I need to share this dog. This dog is inspiring because, as people, if we have a crappy life, we have a bad childhood or something bad happens, we dwell on it, we use it as an excuse sometimes to do what we do. And you know what? They're smiling with every reason to be shut down and sad and depressed and angry. And he was just the happiest dog.

Speaker 2: 14:21

So I looked into therapy work and that was just a thing that was starting as well. It wasn't so common as it is now, anyway. So we went through the testing and he passed with flying colors. The examiner was in tears because she just couldn't believe how good he was, and she said she knew right away that he was just going to be an exceptional therapy dog. So the first place that they put us was at a home and it was a residential home for adults with severe mental and physical disabilities, a lot of disfigurement, and they had tried to have therapy dogs in there before and they failed.

Speaker 2: 15:02

These therapy dogs are amazing, but even they have their limits. And these therapy dogs are amazing, but even they have their limits and the therapy dogs couldn't deal with it. Most of the residents don't have a language. I mean, they aren't able to speak. There's a lot of noises. There's a lot of loud noises coming from them. They look, they appear very different and a lot of strange hand movement movements. They're there for a reason and Smiley didn't see that and that is just right.

Speaker 2: 15:31

Like I said, that was their first therapy dog that worked out and because he was blind, he did not judge those people. Yeah, he didn't react and it was so beautiful. It was just amazing. And it was so beautiful. It was just amazing. And what I would?

Speaker 2: 15:46

Because I would watch their reactions when Smiley would lick them, even if it's just on their hand, lick on their hands, and sometimes they'd get a little lick on their face from him if he could reach there and to see that joy and that glee and that red face like they would actually get a little like blushy red face and could see the emotion on their face and what I realized is that most of these people they were with their mom and dad and then they went from their mom and dad to this home so, other than their love of their parents and their moms, they'd never had a relationship. They'd never had a first kiss and when smiley licked them I saw that it was. They felt love from this animal and like we all know what that does to us, but seeing it with ram, it was magical.

Speaker 1: 16:39

It was life-changing. Yeah, I mean, to see someone connect with an animal is so powerful, but in a situation like that, where they probably don't connect with anyone human, no, getting that, just that little touch, I'm sure was huge for them.

Speaker 2: 16:57

It was a it's. They felt the love and like it was just amazing. So, you know, I and and face. Then Facebook came along and I got a Facebook page just for myself. And I remember hearing people people would say to me because I was posting pictures of Smiley and just my friends, and I remember somebody saying you should get a Facebook page for Smiley and I was like no, I'm not, I'm not one of those people you're gonna face the face of my dog.

Speaker 2: 17:24

But then he started to gain some following and I remember we were asked to go somewhere and I thought it was for our first time to New York City and they asked Smiley to come and I remember thinking you know what, maybe I will open it just so I don't torture my friends anymore With Smiley in New York City that nobody really cares about, even though I find out he absolutely loved it, like everybody else. But that's when I got smiling a Facebook page and he had become out there. So it was Smiley the blind therapy dog and it just went from there, like I said, because people hadn't ever heard of this. They were really like what. I remember feeling that way too and I don't know exactly when, but I remember without eyes.

Speaker 1: 18:03

I remember feeling that way too. And I don't remember exactly when, but I remember telling my mom about it. I'm like you don't understand. It's a golden retriever with no eyes and he's amazing and all of these things. But I think that is the power of social media and the good part of it is on the last 15 years we've connected with people that we would have never met any way else, and we get to see a piece of their life and connect with them. And you just see Smiley's face and it makes you happy.

Speaker 2: 18:33

So you want to come back and learn more and see how he does things and how he manages life. And the other thing is especially with the kids. If you remember back, if you were out with your mom and you saw somebody that was different, as kids we would want to look and ask questions, but it was don't look, don't ask questions, don't point out. So kids need answers and they have questions and that's valid. And with Smiley meeting kids, they were able to ask questions and see and touch it and go wow, what do you mean? Born without eyeballs? So it was really amazing and I used to when I would go to the therapy sessions at this home. My son was only probably one or two to three, basically before he went to school, and so he would come with me most of the time and what a great experience for him because he sees all those people and he never added an eyelash and he doesn't now when he sees somebody that's different, differently abled. So it was great for him as well.

Speaker 1: 19:44

That's important because as a child I was in an assisted living a lot. We had a family member who was in one that we helped, and so to me that's not abnormal, because I was six or seven and they would walk by and say hi, or they'd come by in their wheelchair, whatever. But when people don't experience that, then it's oh, why are they different?

Speaker 2: 20:06

Yeah, and so exactly. And it's okay that kids look twice, want to stare. You know what I mean. They're learning, they're seeing everything. So it was great for kids as well. And that's when we started getting into going to the schools and going to classrooms and talking about Smiley. Because then Smiley, after a couple of years, we did the extended testing to make him certified child therapy dog, which they make very difficult obviously for obvious reasons. So he passed that, also with blind colors, so we were able to go into schools and classrooms and anywhere where there are kids. And we did that when we started doing the reading program at the library with the kids. But going and talking to the classrooms was probably one of my favorites because we could talk everything from.

Speaker 2: 20:57

We really used Smiley to talk about the anti-bullying campaign because Smiley was different and at that puppy mill those other dogs were mean to him. They bit him in the face, they didn't help him find the food, they didn't play with him. But we use these little stories to make the kids understand that, hey, they could have helped smiley find the food or be nice to him, but they weren't. They kicked on him, they'd bit him in the face, they wouldn't play with him and the kids are just like, and I said, is that fair? Is it smiley's fault that he was born this way, that he should be picked on, you know? So, everywhere, from the anti-bullying and just being born different, because I believe that all children at some point they realize they are different from all the other kids, whether it be hair color, height, learning, color whatever height, yeah.

Speaker 1: 21:45

Learning Color.

Speaker 2: 21:45

Whatever Me I was like that I was always the tallest one, yeah so, like you realize, oh wow, he can do everything that another dog can do. He just can't see when being born. Different overcoming adversity, which we all need to learn how to do, and different learning too. We would talk about who's good in math. Some people find it easy, some people find it very hard. You might this student may have to work a little harder, but they're both going to be at the same place and the same thing, with smiling walking upstairs, learning to do stairs was very difficult for him and he went very slowly up the stairs, but he still got to the top and it was hard for him. He was scared.

Speaker 2: 22:29

So it's amazing just what ways kids could connect with. Smiley was quite amazing. And I know the kids, kids, I saw it in their faces, those kids that listened to my presentation. I know that they were never going to bully somebody. They right, I could see it in their face. They were like hearing smiley's story and they got it. You know what I mean. I made sure that they made the connection. I'm proud of that. You know what I mean yeah that's.

Speaker 2: 22:55

That is one of the I think that's one of the biggest tragedies going is children want to end their life because of bullying and so even adults too, and we exactly every day on social and it's like, why can't we just be like smiley?

Speaker 1: 23:11

yeah, exactly well, smiley is what brought me to your socials, but you have had, and do have, many other amazing animals, one who I am actually acknowledging, which is Pippi. I have a nice Smiley Excuse, sure.

Speaker 2: 23:32

That is amazing, yeah, wasn't she and she, what an amazing dog. And she was with Smiley for so many dog and she was with Smiley for so many years and she was his guide dog, she was his protector and best friend, and it was. She was such a great girl, such a motherly dog and she.

Speaker 1: 23:50

She always seemed like such a amazing dog. But also just her face. You're like, oh Pippi, yeah, make me happy looking at you yeah, yeah, yeah, and we just recently lost her.

Speaker 2: 24:02

She was 16. Same thing with Smiley. Smiley was almost 16 years old when we lost him, so can't be sad of that. And what a life he had.

Speaker 1: 24:10

And same thing with Pippi and so Pippi was a prime example of you using a dog to help your other pets. I remember seeing when you first got buck, who is been popping in with us. Hippie did a lot of mothering for him too, and absolutely so. You've really managed to, and I know you have been a dog trainer and done all of that. I love how, on your social, you show everybody the reality of dogs interacting and when to step in and not train dogs. And for me, having seen so many people give up on dogs when they don't get along with another dog, is you really work so hard to make your pack get along and understand and all of that?

Speaker 2: 24:55

and that is just like what I was saying with buck. I trust him and dogs have a pack mentality and, like I said, things that I learned from smiling is just letting the dog's natural instincts come out, and dogs want to be in a pack. Dogs want to have a leader. They're, of course, they're going to be a leader in the pack and using each other and not interfering all the time, not micromanaging everybody, and you see here too, that you're also watching the interactions between other species like horses and ducks, and geese.

Speaker 1: 25:28

Yes, first of all, I have a little crush on pedro the donkey. He seems like such a sweet boy, like just a big dog.

Speaker 2: 25:37

Yeah, he is like a big, large puppy, and you see all these videos about donkeys and them cuddling up. They're like that. My horse, which I've had for 20 years, he'd be like you got anything? Okay, never mind, pedro, it doesn't matter if you have food or not. He wants to be on your lap, he wants affection. They're so sweet.

Speaker 1: 25:58

I'm so glad we have him. Well, one of the things I've always loved about following you you're always educating on behavior and all of that, but also on caring for your pets and helping pets when they have medical issues or when they're older, Like with Pippi. You talk so much about that, which I'm sure has helped so many people with their pets, and one of the things you talk about is using CBDs with your pets. Can you talk about what made you first decide to try CBD to help with something with a pet?

Speaker 2: 26:39

I'll tell you, back in the day, when Smiley was near his end and he had liver, he had a mass on his liver and he had a mass on his stomach and so it was really just managing him palliative care, basically because there was nothing we could do about it. I remember people were sending me messages going cbd, get him on cbd. I was just like, are you kidding me? Right him cbd. But I didn't know what that was. I just thought of canadas and I was like I was just stop telling me that, like I had so many people saying get him on cbd and I was just like you're crazy. You're crazy, I would never.

Speaker 2: 27:07

And then I, years later, I find this. Actually I didn't just randomly find it. I followed this real health and wellness woman and she would talk about CBD, but still it didn't tweak me or anything like that. But I was starting to slowly learn about it and the benefits of it, and I was never one of these people, even as a teenager, that dabbled in cannabis. I did not do that, so I didn't know the benefits of it.

Speaker 1: 27:33

Have any experience with it. But I also totally get it know. Early on with cbd, when it became more mainstream, most people didn't know the difference between that and actual thc, which is, yeah, the actual drug. You hear and think, oh my god, you're giving somebody drugs.

Speaker 2: 27:51

Well, yeah, exactly yeah, so like I was just slowly learning about it. But then this health and wellness woman. She decided that most of the CBD that's on the market is garbage it is. It's full of glyphosates, it's full of mold, heavy metals. It doesn't work. You know what I mean. It should work really well. This is just a plant. And so she decided that she was going to do her own CBD line, and so I was there with her basically watching her start this and how she did it and hearing the benefits of it. And that was in 2020, the spring of 2020.

Speaker 2: 28:28

And Sonny so, after Smiley died, we rescued little Sonny, who was born with the same tradition as Smiley. He was found in Mexico on the streets, also born without eyes, and so, anyway, we went and we adopted him. But when we would bring him up to the cottage and he's a terrier type of mixed dog when we bring him up north here, the smells of the wild animals, especially in the spring, probably most likely was bears. You know what I mean. That he was smelling every morning because they would be out there. He was so stressed out, he wanted to flee and he was good, it wasn't always like that, but the smells of these animals. He couldn't cope. He couldn't go outside. He was so scared and that's all it was. It was just the sc, the sense. So I decided to give it a try with sunny and I ordered this new vita and within two days he was over it. He was like he could put it, quiets the brain, like his brain was must be going. Oh my god, is it right here? Is it gonna kill me where?

Speaker 1: 29:36

is it?

Speaker 2: 29:36

hey, here is, is it? You know what I mean going, that's what I pictured when poor sunny's little brain because he did she could smell it and he didn't know what that bear was there.

Speaker 1: 29:45

You know what I mean. Yeah, I mean I'm imagining myself in a room that's completely dark. I have covering on my eye and then I can hear smell a bear. I would be so scared. I would have no idea if it's real or a speaker making that. So you can just imagine the anxiety and the uncertainty he would go through.

Speaker 2: 30:05

And he, coming from the streets of Mexico and many generations of street dog, he was very much about survival, like you can really see it in any of these dogs that come over from, is it or not years and years of domestic? I'm not saying he was feral. Of these dogs that come over from, is there not years and years of domestic? I'm not saying he was feral or something like that, but it is surviving. Yeah, it's a different light and that's ingrained in them, and so he wasn't used to just the good life. You know what I mean. So, like I said, within two days, he was better and, like I said, this was during the 2020 spring and I also was so stressed out we didn't remember that.

Speaker 2: 30:43

We can all remember how horrible that was. I was scared and I was just very stressed. I remember losing, losing my patience and I was just so upset. Anyway, I thought and, like I said, it was the pet cbd and I thought, if it did that for Sunny, I gave it to Sunny. I thought I'm taking this. So I took it and same thing Within two days. I was just not saying like I was in low land going, you know, I was just like I'm not snapping on anybody. I'm not. I'm able to sleep, I'm. My mind isn't going a mile a minute thinking about what the world is coming to right now, like it instantly calmed me down, and I was also just starting going into menopause at that time, and so that also probably didn't tell my anxiety about the hot flashes my anxiety has been as bad as since I had a hysterectomy.

Speaker 1: 31:38

It's just I'll be like why am I? Why is that happening?

Speaker 2: 31:42

yeah, and now I'm learning too is menopause. This is what happens to women. It's the anxiety also arthritis, pain that all of a sudden comes. There's whole inflammation, all of a bunch of stuff that comes with that.

Speaker 2: 31:54

Yeah, so my hot flashes all of a sudden, when I had never heard anything about menopause and CBD. All I knew was I felt better and I wasn't on edge, I wasn't snapping at my family. Sometimes when I think about back then it just brings me to tears because it was such a stressful time, anyway. So then I thought if the pet CBD works that good, anyway? So then I thought if the pet CBD works that good, how can I feel if I get the human formula? And that's when I started on that and I never used this phrase before in my life.

Speaker 2: 32:31

But all I could come up with and now everybody says it, they say life-changing and that's the only way I could describe it because everything changed once I started sunny CBD, like, yeah, my daily life just changed, my parenting changed. I think my son was probably 10 then and just being a mom is hard, no matter what. But he was home there's no school and I was in, they said. Ever since then I've been a better mother. I've been a better mother. I've been a better dog trainer, a better wife, a better friend. I slept better, like I.

Speaker 2: 33:00

Just I couldn't believe that this was near me. And now it's been four and a half years. I have not missed a day of taking this and I've used it on all my dogs for different reasons, and Sonny I didn't have to continue giving it. I got him through a stressful time in his life and then he's fine, and every once in a while something might pop up and I have to get himself I think that's important because even for yourself, like I find, if you're having a really stressful day, it's okay to take a little more or extra gummy.

Speaker 1: 33:34

Need that, so you use it as well. Do you know, I do. I use CBD in different forms, probably for the last 10 or 15 years. I've had autoimmune issues since I was in my 20s A lot of pain, inflammation, fatigue.

Speaker 1: 33:48

I've had issues with my mouth, I had a lot of pain there and stuff, and it just I don't. It's like in a way like a cloud, like you don't. It's like in a way like a cloud, like you don't feel all the tension and stress in your body, but also in your mind, like you said it just you're not out of it. Yeah, yeah, why it's all the? Why am I not doing this? I need to do that. I didn't do this, I missed that. Why? It just puts that away so you can focus. And that's been really important for me because definitely, my anxiety has been worse since 2020 with COVID so many of us but as a and one of the biggest things for me besides the anxiety has been sleep, because sleep is hard. If I get too tired, I can't sleep. If I'm in anywhere, I can't sleep. If I'm anxious, I can't sleep, and so I use Navita's, the CBN gummies, now at night, and it helped me so much to get to sleep because that was always my biggest issue to get and see.

Speaker 2: 35:03

It just quiets your mind so you can fall asleep instead of going off in your yeah like kids, just start coming to you as soon as your head hits the pillow and I hear that from so many women say the same thing and and that's what I also then look at these dogs. So all these years I've been trying to help families with their dogs. I've been doing private dog training for 15 years, but before that I was teaching classes constantly, but so I've always been trying to help people with their dogs. I'm obviously an advocate for rescue and adoption and the thing is, if I can help a family with their dog, that's going to keep them from being such a cow they're giving up. So this just was just so in line. If you're not a dog trainer or a behaviorist, there's a lot of dog issues that people really struggle with, and dogs are struggling and your typical person can't deal with that.

Speaker 1: 36:04

I can say for me, having worked and volunteered in the shelter for a little while, one of the biggest issues we saw in the shelter dogs not only getting adopted but getting returned was the separation anxiety exactly they'd be in a new environment, a new home. They weren't used to the schedule or what was happening. The people would leave and they would just be like I'm alone again yeah, and then they'd be like, oh, I can't deal with this dog.

Speaker 2: 36:31

They didn't even give the dog a chance, but that must be so stressful, you know starting a new life and who knows what their life was before the shelter.

Speaker 1: 36:40

Like you said, like sunny, we had dogs on the street. People dump them on the street out in the middle of orchards here. The overpopulation crisis where I live in california is awful and dogs we had two shelters where I lived that unfortunately euthanize every week, sometimes every day, because our breeding laws aren't great and so many other issues. It's a snowball at this point over the last few years. But being in there and seeing amazing dogs get adopted and then returned because, well, they tore up a blanket or they pulled down my blinds or they didn't get along, I'm like vines or they didn't get along.

Speaker 2: 37:21

I'm like it's been two days. Of course they didn't, would you exactly exactly? And so people want to see something quickly and I'll say I really push, push people, but I'm always suggesting going. If you are trying to introduce a new dog into your house, please try this. It's going to make it a lot easier on the dog and a lot easier on you, and even giving it to an existing dog in the house if you're trying to bring another dog or a cat in, there's so many reasons to use it. That's why I suggest to people I'm like, if you have a pet, get a bottle. There's a little tiny bottle here. This might be like I think this is about $20.

Speaker 2: 37:59

Yeah, to have it in your toolkit, in your medicine kit for your dog, because if all of a sudden you have contractors in your house drilling up a floor or something that's going to be stressful for your dog, boom, you have this for them. Right? And injury I'm always thinking of that too. If your dog has a major injury and you've got to do baby changes or clean out ears, this is going to make this a lot smoother for both of you. Vet visits so working in a vet hospital for 30 years. Oh, my goodness, I used to hate seeing these dogs come in petrified, shaking like a leaf so stressed, just for a simple vet visit.

Speaker 1: 38:37

My cats all get so terrified. I just took Charlie to the vet. He pees in the carrier. His eyes are like this big they're drooling.

Speaker 2: 38:48

They're panting. Cats especially. They are so sensitive to any type of change and stress and it can really throw them off. A cat can get sick from just a little bit of anxiety because they stop eating. Cats cannot stop eating. Their body starts feeding on their own liver. So cats can't go off food. Dogs are people. We can go, we can, we can. We'll just get skinny after a week. You know what I mean. Really, like cats cannot go without eating. So and cats cannot go without eating. And cats are so sensitive to the benefits. We've used it on Rusty a few times and I was amazed how little it took. It just made a happy cat.

Speaker 1: 39:28

And there's nothing better If you need to clip their nails or take them somewhere. I mean like moving. I remember when we moved in our house it was so stressful. They hid in the closet for two days. That's horrible, I need a game to that.

Speaker 1: 39:42

Yeah, so, beyond anxiety and things like that, you have talked about a lot about how you use it with pets when they have medical issues or when they get older, like with Pippi. So how have you used the pet CBD in that way? So how have you used the pet CBD in that way? So Pippi.

Speaker 2: 39:57

She ended up with a heart condition, probably when she was, I guess, 14, 13, 14. And so and she was on right around that time we started noticing she was doing some things. So at nighttime she was up pacing. We could hear her late Throughout the night. We'd be like she was up pacing and then randomly there'd be these weird barks from her. She was pooping on the floor in the night and what we realized is this is basically doggy Alzheimer's. It usually comes up at nighttime. They're confused, that's so they get the pacing. So then they don't sleep at night and then their days are crappy, just like us. You know what I? So then they don't sleep at night and then their days are crappy, just like us. You know what I mean. You don't sleep, well, you're gonna have a crappy day, and so we. So that was the first reason I started giving. I used it in pippi for stressful things vet visits, grooming, whatever. But then I decided I'm gonna give it to her on a daily, twice a day, and within the first dose that I gave that night she slept soundly, and this I hear from so many people. Now they're using it for this.

Speaker 2: 41:03

If your dog lives to a good age they are probably going to show signs of this dementia doggy dementia and it usually comes out as in the night it's usually things and then they start to not recognize you, there's things like that. But the first night I gave it to Pippi she slept soundly, and then the next day she obviously looked so great because she had a good sleep. So that just solved that right away and so I just kept giving it to her at nighttime. But then she started showing signs of arthritis. I mean, she's been a very active dog and she would be limping different times, or she would just jump up into the back of the truck and then she'd be limping just from a jump and slow to get up.

Speaker 2: 41:45

And so we ended up getting her on MediCam from the vet. But then I so then I was giving it to her every day for her doggy dementia and I would only give the Mediam if I saw her. I tried not to give it every day because I didn't want her to have this every day. It's very hard on the liver and so I would watch to see what's usually was maybe every three days, depending on what she did and so I started realizing that I wasn't needing to give her the medicam Days, would go by and be like she not working, she's not living, and again you can read all you want, but until you start seeing it for yourself, and then I would actually read up and go, and then it was like it's, it works as an inflammatory right yeah.

Speaker 2: 42:27

And now I was like, is this really happening? Like usually if a dog goes on medicam they do not come off, they just end up getting it more and more. So I realized that she wasn't needing the Medicam at all. Sometimes I would just go okay, this is so weird, I haven't given it to her in a week, so I would just give it to her, thinking she must need it. And then finally it was. She never got it, ever again. I remember half a bottle of Medicam that sat in her little medicine box for two years and I'd look at this and go, I didn't show people the date, I was showing people that this bottle was two years old. I don't use it anymore. She's getting everything she needs from the medicam. And then she ended up with a stroke episode and she couldn't stand up. She was did you watch all that?

Speaker 2: 43:17

Yeah like she was in a harness. We had to hold her up, we thought this is the end of her and then with that it's almost like a vertigo. It was very odd, and then they didn't want to eat Anyway. So then I started getting it to her in the morning, during the day, because before I was just only giving it at night. And this heart condition that she had, they say usually they will live like four to six months with it on medication and we had put her on the heart meds and two and a half years I think she made it and I truly believe it was from the CBD, the Nuvega, which is, if you read about CBD and heart conditions, it strengthens the heart. It lowers blood pressure naturally. Naturally that's one of the only they will talk about like a side effect of it is, yes, it lowers blood pressure. You know what I mean. That's right. That's why you don't feel like you're gonna rip somebody's head off.

Speaker 2: 44:11

Yeah, exactly so with all that, her heart just kept going and until just no more sorry, and I know it kept her happy, because I'm sure it's very weird for a dog to start feeling different right, so it just benefited, benefited her in so many ways. It kept her. A lot of dogs we lose dogs because they go. They lose their appetite, right, for whatever reasons. And this cbd, what they say is, it creates a homeostasis in the body, whether it's me or your dog, which is balanced. So homeostasis, balance, and that's why it affects each dog differently and every person differently. It knows whether you need to increase your appetite, right, because some people it curbs the appetite. Right, because some people it curbs the appetite Right and some people it increases the appetite. They use it. There's all kinds of examples of using it in cancer patients to keep their appetite up.

Speaker 1: 45:08

Great, because there was always that thing years ago. Well, smoke a little weed and it'll help your appetite. Well, you don't have to do that. There's actually CBD you can use and, instead of being one, a little thc. You can get those too. And that's what's great. Because of following you and taking it myself, I've become an affiliate for new vita, just like you have nice. So what made you decide that you wanted to become an affiliate?

Speaker 2: 45:37

because I was going to be. I was sharing this anyway, you know what I mean. I wanted to tell the world about this for people, for themselves and for their pets, because a lot of the products on the market really have gotten a bad name because it's so bad, it's such garbage. Especially in the US, I see that they sell it on every counter, like they sell on gas stations, like it's everywhere you can get it in all sorts of places.

Speaker 2: 46:03

It's the dollar store. That's what I hear. Like you can get it at the dollar store. So would I buy my vitamins from a dollar store? No, never. Where it's come from is very questionable, and they sell it to every other company you know what I mean Like a lot of the cbd companies that are out there you'll see, it'll be like we're all these cbd, it's not.

Speaker 1: 46:27

They don't. They just slap a label on it. You know what I mean? They don't know where it's come from. I've taken other brands and versions and they don't all work like nubita does.

Speaker 1: 46:31

For sure you can tell that it's quality and they know what they're doing. And what I love now is they're offering different detox products, which is actually that's what got me to sign up as an affiliate, because I use those detox, especially the digestive one. I've had I had an ulcer at five years old. I've always had issues. I've been labeled irritable bowel syndrome, all that stuff, and I have to say I was so regular and not having points where I'm like, oh my God, I got to get to a bathroom Watching you take it and hearing the benefits you and other people in your family have had. I tried it and it really worked. So I became an affiliate for the podcast so that all of the listeners can get it to themselves and their pets. And one thing I wanted to say about pets formula specifically before we end our conversation. I'm sure we could talk for another couple hours about it. I'll have to come back.

Speaker 2: 47:32

I'll have to come back.

Speaker 1: 47:32

We're gonna come, but maybe we have you come back and do a q a and we'll have everybody questions. I did want to tell the people who have other pets. Let them know that you've used it on all different types of animals. I remember you using it on your duck to help his. You can talk briefly a little bit how you've used it with animals outside of dogs.

Speaker 2: 47:52

Yeah, I will say all animals have an endocannabinoid system in their body. We have receptors waiting for this, we have them in our skin, we have them in our stomach and we have them in our brain. And that's where you get all these benefits, whether it's gut issues, mental and also topical. So I use it on and I don't. Do you remember when Buck his whole oh yeah, loft off? He had some reaction to something, his whole entire muzzle sloughed off into a scab, his ear tips, his scrotum. It was horrible.

Speaker 2: 48:28

Well, you can't put cream on a dog's face, some kind of cream, because they're going to lick it off. You know what I mean, yeah, so I love that. You know what I mean. So they can take it in both ways. So I could put it close to his eyes, all down his lips, and I, because I remember thinking going, wow, he was so handsome, if you remember when he was a puppy, and this was before he was a year and then all of a sudden his whole face went into a scab that looked like acid had been put on him, and I remember thinking, well, he was the most handsome dog I'd ever seen. And he's not that hair. There's no way his hair is going to grow back. Anyway, you know like it all grew back and I believe it's from that. So I use it on any kind of skin irritation and wound on myself and the dogs, because dogs are always going to lick it up, so it's safe. But this duck that we rescued he had a hole like this big under his wing. It was a hole.

Speaker 1: 49:29

I could have put my fist in it. It was pretty. You could tell even on video and photo. It was so deep. It was like someone took a chunk out of him.

Speaker 2: 49:32

I have no idea still what that was from, I have no idea, and how he just got found on the side of a road and somebody just picked him up and then ended up here. But same thing, ducks preying themselves and anyway. So, using it topically and, like I said, it was a gaping hole. What do you put in that? So I was just putting the CBD on it every single day and I still thought he's not gonna. He may not make it like this is this is bad? Like how is this?

Speaker 1: 50:09

you can see right there, you wouldn't even know anything exactly wrong, so I cannot believe he made it and healed perfectly.

Speaker 2: 50:20

Can issue my son on Lima.

Speaker 1: 50:23

I have the. I just got this, the roller, and, oh my gosh, I use it. I literally keep it in my office because I start getting that in my neck from being like this and I start feeling it. I'm like get the roller. Is it not the best smell ever? It's so easy, because then you're getting messy and you can rub it wherever you need it to go. Even. Is it not like magic? It's magic.

Speaker 2: 50:51

I don't tell people how good it works, but then I will always get a message going are you kidding me? Right? And I did it. Yeah, like it's instant. And that to show you, we have receptors taking this in right and it works like it's right. But everybody's holy god. That's math, that's the magic, what?

Speaker 1: 51:14

and I was thinking I know why people question it. Because you have all this amazing stuff that could happen. It's for you, it's going to do this for you. Then they get it and it's great. It is magic, it is.

Speaker 2: 51:27

And this is where you become an affiliate, because it's something that you can stand behind. Right, I don't get messages where it didn't work for me. You know what I mean. I don't want to deal with that because you get messages that say, yeah, I wish I'd listen to you sooner. Oh my gosh, did you see that? I actually shared that because they were like, oh, it's so funny and that's all like, that's why I keep talking about it.

Speaker 1: 51:50

So I will be putting all this info, the link to new vita and you can use my code julie 10 for 10 off. And it's not your first order, or so much. You have to pay any amount every order. Keep getting it.

Speaker 2: 52:03

Trust me, once you start, you won't stop the point of an affiliate to you is that they have you to come to to ask a question and even if you don't know the answer, you can go to Nubida. You can come to me and you can find the answer for them.

Speaker 1: 52:19

And I love that NuVita has. Every week they have like a training session for affiliates. Learn about products, you can ask questions and I've learned so much from you, not only to take it, but you're always sharing what you're learning and what people are saying, and it helps.

Speaker 2: 52:35

I always share the reviews of when people send me a message. I love that there's like I said, that's my thing, like I loved. Usually I'm just helping families with their pets, but, oh my gosh, I'm one of those women helping other women and I love seeing. I just I'm a helper.

Speaker 1: 52:52

I don't think I'm also going to have you on my other podcast, which is all about empowering women to tell their stories other podcast which is all about empowering women to tell their stories, and so I would love for us to talk on that podcast about our personal experience with cbd and how it tells us, especially as women in our 40s and 50s. Yeah, because we don't talk about it and we need that support. Yeah, but wives are stressful right now. Life is stressful right now. Not stopping. It's always something.

Speaker 2: 53:19

Yeah, and you know what, and what a lot of people say too, is that, instead of going to a bottle of wine that's what I love too you know what? Instead of going to a bottle of wine, have a CBD drink.

Speaker 1: 53:31

And I started using the Chill Berry, which is the CBD, with a little, just a little bit, of tea, and I don't really drink my husband's's sober, so we don't drink, and I would say at night it does. Oh, it's that nice, but what I love, which is that I don't feel hung over the next morning I always did with alcohol and so it's there's no harm to your body, it's good for you, it's all plant-based and you're gonna feel good the next day, which is like what we all need absolutely I'm so glad that, like I said when we first got on here, I've been following you for so long.

Speaker 1: 54:09

I feel like I know you, like you live next door, but I've never met you live thousands of miles away, yeah, but I love watching you and your family and I just I feel like I can't wait to visit Sunny Acres one day and meet all the horses and all the ducks and everybody, and the dogs especially. But if he's here, I want him to know he's the most important and for sure we will be doing a live or coming back here recording another episode. Anybody has questions about what we've talked about in terms of the CBD and helping your pets or helping yourself. Please feel free to comment on social or email me or whatever works for you, because I would love to come back and talk more about it and answer the people's questions. So just thank you for being here. I'm so enjoy getting to talk to you face to face and thank you for introducing me to nubita. I'm super excited to be involved with that now and I can't wait for us to just keep sharing and helping other people. Absolutely. Thank you, my friend and fellow animal, for being here with us today and listening to this episode. I really hope you enjoyed my conversation with Joanne and that you enjoyed all the stories about her amazing animals and her fur family and also learning about the benefits of using CBD with your pets and yourself.

Speaker 1: 55:39

You can go to the link in the show notes of this episode to shop at NuVita right now. Use my code JULIE10 for 10% off your order. No minimum purchase. You can use the code every single time you shop, even if you're setting up a monthly subscription. So go now, get it for your pets, get it for yourself. Let me know how it helps and we'll be doing another episode soon to talk about all of your questions and other examples that we have of people who have started NuVita with themselves and their pets and how it has helped them. Thank you so much for supporting the Story of my Pet podcast. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button wherever you are listening now, and you can also see full video episodes now on my YouTube channel link in the show notes. I can't wait to bring you more pet stories in episodes to come. Thank you for listening and much love to you and your pets.