Ep 14 | Pets As Family: Understanding the Deep Bonds We Share| What Do You Have to Say? - video Dailymotion

WDYH2S

Why do our pets feel like family? In this heartfelt episode of "What Do You Have to Say?", Phillip and Uriah explore the deep bonds we share with our animal companions.   They delve into the powerful emotional support and unconditional love that define the human-animal connection, sharing personal stories about the pets who've left lasting paw prints on their hearts.  Discover how pets significantly impact our mental health—even lowering blood pressure—and reflect on the profound life lessons they teach us about presence, joy, and navigating grief.   With nearly 70% of US homes having pets, this chat celebrates why they are often considered cherished family members. Tune in for a touching conversation about more than just companions.   #PetsAsFamily #DeepBond #HumanAnimalBond #EmotionalSupport #UnconditionalLove #WDYH2S

Transcript

00:00Welcome to the What Do You Have to Say podcast. I'm Phil. This is Uriah. We're your host.

00:06Two cousins, two perspectives, one mission. We dive into conversations like lifestyle,

00:15personal growth, and current events, and even those difficult conversations.

00:21We talk about it all. Today, we're asking, what do you have to say about pets?

00:30We want to know, what do you have to say? Oh, what do you have to say? Oh, there's no time to wait.

00:38What do you have to say? Together, we lift our voices and let them ring. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:46Talking about life, we got stories to reveal.

00:50Wow. It is so good to be here. How you doing, Uriah?

00:53I am doing, it's been a busy morning, busy afternoon. But other than that, I am doing good.

01:01That's good. I can't complain. The sun is shining. We finally have an afternoon that doesn't have

01:06rain. And I'm not going to say that too loud because I need to cut some grass today. And

01:12hopefully, I'll be able to do that. And maybe some of you that are listening, you're going

01:17through the same thing with the winter storms, really, with the summer storms. They're all

01:24across. I think we're about to have a heat wave going through somewhere down south. So

01:30I just stay hydrated, stay in and protect yourself. Please, please. Yeah, yeah. You said

01:37cutting grass. Yes. Do mosquitoes get you? I always remember when I was growing up and I

01:42had to cut. If we went out early, those mosquitoes would eat me up. Oh, yes, yes. That's why I'm

01:49sprayed down with all of that off and cutter, whatever that I have. And they still try to get

01:56through. And with it being as humid as it is here, they just thrive, mosquitoes.

02:05You know, I was watching YouTube and this YouTuber that does a lot of hiking, they talked about

02:12this product that they use. I forget what the name of it is. And I bought some. I sprayed

02:20on there no mosquitoes when I'm walking. Wow. Wow. That's good. I'll share it with you. I can't

02:26I, the only thing, I like the repellent, but it's that smell. And it's, you know, I think that

02:34active, the active ingredient is DEET. D-E-E-T is in there. It seems like they could just,

02:43maybe they do it, they put that perfume on there or those, that fragrance on there to

02:49let us know, I guess. I'm not sure. Yeah, because that DEET has got a powerful smell.

02:55No, this other thing, maybe I'll put it on the screen here. It has that DEET, but it's

03:03an undercurrent. But let me tell you, the spray is too greasy, but I got the lotion coming.

03:10I'll tell you. I got you. Wow. That's good to know. Wow. Well, man, you know, today we're

03:16talking about, you know, what do you have to say about pets? And I know a lot of our audience,

03:23they have pets, you know, and we're not just talking about dogs and cats. We're talking about

03:28fishes, horses, iguanas. Snakes. Yeah, we're not. Snakes and hamsters, gerbils, all of those things that

03:40we call our pets, you know. And I was thinking, I needed to know how many households have pets.

03:49And in the United States, can you give me, what kind of figure, percentage do you think

03:54of households that have pets?

03:58Like percentage-wise? Yes, percentage-wise. I'll just do percentage-wise.

04:00Yes, yeah. I'm sort of telling all the people that I talk to now, how many have pets?

04:05I think it's quite high. I'm going to go for like 70%. Wow. You are right on the head. It is 69%

04:17of households have pets. Can you believe that there are, there's a lot of people have children,

04:24you know, and then, but a lot of households have pets. And it just amazes me. I guess that's why

04:31the pet industry is so lucrative that they're selling everything from, you know, definitely

04:37food and everything. But imagine 69% of households have pets, you know, and it's crazy.

04:46That's a lot of folks. That's a lot of people that have pets in their house. And it makes me

04:51think about my first pet and growing up in a house with pets. And I think about my first pet,

05:00Pee-wee. Pee-wee was, he was this black dog, this terrier mix. And, um, I had to be in at least

05:09third grade when he came to live with us. And, uh, I mean, everybody loved Pee-wee, but it seems

05:14like all the responsibility kind of fell in my lap, you know, being the boy at that time, he became

05:20my dog and Pee-wee. Okay. We, oh man, we, we went everywhere together in the neighborhood.

05:27Everybody loved Pee-wee. And, uh,

05:30what kind of dog was Pee-wee? Pee-wee was like this, like this, um, uh, terrier mix with,

05:37he had, was had long hair. He wasn't an Irish, um, uh, there's a terrier that's Irish. He wasn't

05:44a Jack Russell. He wasn't, he, he was just, um, like a terrier mix. I, I'm not sure what he was,

05:50but, uh, he was a lovable dog and, um, he spent a lot of time together. That was my first dog.

05:57Uh, do you remember your first pet? Um, if, if you had a pet, I can remember a few.

06:04The first pet, the first pet that I remember was like ours. What, what came first? We had a,

06:14we had a, a black cockapoo named Afro, right? Afro. Yes. That's. We were young. Um, I might've been

06:26seven or eight. So we were young and a lot, you know, a lot of responsibility and,

06:33and a lot was going on and we didn't get to keep Afro for that long, but Afro made an impact on us.

06:41It doesn't take long. You know, we build those, um, attachments with, with our pets really fast.

06:48In fact, it happens fast for me. Uh, you know, but just because, and, um, I really liked a dog,

06:56but we also had a cat in our, in our mix. Uh, and we had a cat named kitty girl and don't ask me how

07:04she got that name. I think maybe one of my sisters named kitty girl. Uh, but she was like this

07:10cat, but did everybody, I'm sorry, but did everybody in your house like cats? Cause some

07:16people don't. As far as I can remember, everybody kind of liked, but both of them, um, kitty girl

07:25and peewee. And, um, and it is true what they say when they met, um, peewee was there first

07:32and then kitty girl came and it was a clash, but over time, it just kind of like, they just, it was

07:41like, well, I'm not leaving and neither are you. And they just got along very, very well. And, um,

07:50those were my first. And, um, I'm sure if you remember your first cat or dog or your first pet,

07:56put it in the comments and let us know, uh, we'd love to know what their names, their names and,

08:02um, how, how do you get, how they came to be a part of your family, you know? And, you know,

08:09what, what I like about having pets, um, in that first clip that we're going to show about how we

08:16really get attached to our pets and, um, why do we like them so much? I don't, that's a question

08:24I haven't answered really, but why do we like them so much? But maybe this clip will help us

08:30kind of further the conversation. Okay. The attachments we form with our pets is reminiscent

08:38of the attachments formed between parents and their children. Pet owners will for instance speak

08:44with their pets in motherese or baby talk, and they often enjoy cuddling with them. That's a cute

08:50cat. In this way, the pet owner will treat their pet in a way that is reminiscent of the way in which

08:56a parent treats their child. Oh. Pets are also sometimes looked to as a source of emotional

09:02support. Pet owners may feel less anxious and they may feel a sense of safety and security

09:09when they are around their pets. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Man, he said several

09:16things and that, um, especially how, you know, we are attached to our, to our pets, maybe in that

09:25mother child kind of, um, maybe not extreme, but I can kind of agree with that. How do you feel about

09:32that? You know, I think it, it looks different for all of us, whatever that attachment is. I know

09:42I have had, uh, uh, I have myself a couple of dogs and one that passed away a couple of years ago.

09:51I had him for, uh, 12 years and I rescued him and I was, I was, I became very attached to him, which

10:01I hadn't previously with the other dog that we grew up with. I mean, he was a part of my family

10:08and, but Peewee was like, he's over there doing this thing. But my dog, uh, Leo, I became really

10:17attached to him. Right. Wow. 12 years. That's a long time. And he was a rescue. That is, he was a

10:24rescue. Yeah. That is my, um, kind of like a goal of mine. If when I become the millionaire that I'm

10:32going to be, um, my goal is to just have as many shelter and rescue animals as I can, um, and a space

10:41provided for them. But anyway, um, another thing that that video brought out, it was, do you, how do

10:48you talk to your dog now? Uh, Gio, uh, do you use that mother E mother E's is as he was saying, and,

10:57uh, that kind of baby talk kind of thing. That's a good baby. You know, I always find, I sort of do

11:04like when I'm walking through the door, because you know, dogs, when you walk through the door and you've

11:09been away, they are excited to see. And I can always, I can see myself like, what are you doing?

11:17Oh, come here. Okay. Are you okay? I'm here. That's a good boy. That's daddy. That's, that's a good

11:24one. Yes. Yes. It's a, are you hungry? You want me to get something to eat? Okay. That mother, I think

11:31that if we went down the road, I think everybody kind of talks to their pets like that. And, um,

11:38wow. I, I think because they, they are, they are a part of us and, you know, we, they provide,

11:48you know, how much support, emotional support that video brought out emotional support for us and,

11:55um, how we become attached, even, you know, like you say, they are wagging their tails,

12:03waiting for you to come home. I don't care what kind of day that you have had. They just want to be

12:10with you. And I know that some of our listeners, they, they have, uh, they've experienced that too.

12:16Just sitting at the door waiting for him. And, you know, there's this, this one story I want to share

12:22about, um, my, my dog, Jack, Jack and sunshine. Um, they would know when my dad was alive and he

12:31was, look, my dad was living with me. Um, I would have to go to work of course, and he would be at

12:37home with Jack and sunshine. And so he said the whole day they were in his room, just, you know,

12:45interacting with him. But then around three 30 or so, when they knew that I would be coming home,

12:52they would leave his room and go and sit at the door and wait for me to come home. It is amazing

12:59that they kind of know what time it is when you should be coming home. He said, my dad,

13:06the always used to say, I know when you, when you were coming home, because they would leave me

13:11and because you were the second human, I was, it was time. First one, but you, you, you gave

13:20your dogs a smartwatch. It is, it's just amazing. Go ahead. You just brought up a memory for me

13:29with my previous dog, Leo. Um, when I, I got him, I was working long hours. I was working and then I

13:38had, was doing a training and I would be gone from like sometimes six o'clock to nine. And he was

13:46great. He, he never peed or pooped his mouth. And when I was, uh, I parked on the street and I was

13:54walking up, he would be in the window waiting for me. He could be like, he's coming, he's coming.

14:00And it's just that, you know, they provide so much, uh, for us and, you know, and that,

14:08that emotional support that we may need. And during whatever time, you know, they're, they're

14:13there with unconditionally, they're there, you know, and that second clip that we're going to watch,

14:19it gives kind of like an explanation about, um, how they help us even physically. Some of it,

14:27uh, we'll talk about it. We'll see, see it on the other side. For instance, research shows that pet

14:33owners show significantly reduced risks for cardiovascular disease. They also show less

14:39intense reactions to stress. And by interacting with your pet, like by petting it, pet owners

14:44show reduced heart rate and blood pressure, which are indicators of the effects. For these reasons,

14:51it could be argued that pet keeping evolved because it is evolutionary. Beautiful eyes contributes to

14:57an individual's wellbeing by ameliorating stress. I believe that I, I just, um, can you believe that

15:06it lowers blood pressure or, you know, they reduce, um, cardiovascular disease or however it incidents.

15:14I, I have to agree with that because when you're with your pet, you're in your calm place, they're calm

15:22and it just, you know, um, and it brings to mind, I, I'm a school teacher. And so we used to have

15:32an emotional support dog that would come to the school and her name was Maya and she was a big golden

15:40doodle. I mean, big, fluffy, tall. And, um, she would come and the students, if they had good

15:49behavior, reused it as a behavior incentive and they could read with Maya. If your behavior, you know,

15:57she would come by once a month and, um, you could recommend students to read with her. And when I say

16:05those students, they worked for that opportunity just to stay, share with her. And, uh, we had several

16:12support dogs. Some students had an emotional support dog that would, that, um, shadowed them during the

16:19day and it just remained, they remained in their calm place. And they, um, you know, those stressors

16:28that may come along with being a student in class, they were just, just calm. And, um, it was really

16:36a benefit to have, have those emotional support in, in the classroom. And, um, I'm not sure, do you have

16:44any experience with, um, support dogs or using them, uh, maybe, you know, in certain situations that,

16:53that, um, would be beneficial to, to the people that you, I don't. Okay. But I have a question

17:00about the, the children. So after they, whoever had gained the ability to, uh, be with the dog and

17:09read to them, did you see a change in the, the students when they got back into class? And generally

17:17speaking, was it, didn't most of your students win that ability or? Right, right. Um,

17:23there were a person, um, we call this positive, it's PBIS, positive behavior, instructional supports,

17:32intervention supports. So it was people that had a behavior plan that maybe had some, um, issues with

17:39regulating their behavior. They were on a plan. And part of that incentive was a part of that plan

17:46was to work with, with, um, Maya. And so not every, um, student, if you were not, it wasn't open to

17:56every student. She would do assemblies with everyone. But as far as behavior intervention

18:02supports, it was just for those students that were on that behavior plan. And if I heard you

18:08correctly, there was a positive benefit. Oh, most definitely. Most definitely. It was a great,

18:15great thing. Now. Yeah. Now to answer your question. Yeah. The only thing that I know about,

18:20um, emotional support dogs is all the people that, uh, uh, go on the internet and get those letters so

18:31that they can take their dog on the airplane. So, right. So most of those people, it's, they just

18:38want to get a reduced fee or their dog to travel free. And it's not emotional. It's a lot, but none

18:47of our listeners have anything to do with that. They were, they would never do that. No. And, and I

18:55wouldn't have, I wouldn't have gone on the internet to get one of those things for my dog so that I

19:01could get some, uh, so they could be with me dollars off of my lease. Yeah. And so I, no, I

19:09wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't have done that. I'm going to own up to it. If I could have had

19:15Jack or Sunshine with me during my work day, every day as an emotional support dog, I would have. Yeah.

19:23My students would have gone crazy. They would have loved that. It is just something about owning

19:30pets, you know, because, you know, man, pets teach us a lot. Owning them. Uh, well, no, sometimes it

19:39feels like we're owning them, but they're truly a part of us and they teach us a lot, you know, and,

19:46um, we're going to, um, watch, uh, what do our pets teach us, uh, in clip three and we'll talk about it.

19:53with, uh, okay. Oh no. Oh man. Look at that cutie. Unconditional. Right. That grooming right there.

20:16Yeah. And in return, they help remind us of a side of ourselves that we want so deeply to

20:23living. That's Gio. That's Gio. Oh, that's it. Simplicity. Yeah.

20:33Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We, we do. Yeah. Absolutely. I, um, that resonates with me wholeheartedly because,

21:03they teach us to be just live in the moment. They teach us that life is really simple and that it

21:13can be complicated sometimes. Let me not make that generalization. It can be, um, it can be

21:18complicated, but it's simple. Well, they try to, they try to teach us, you know, and they teach some

21:24of us. I'll see what to learn. And that, that one thing about holding grudges. Exactly what is on my

21:34mind. Oh, you know, they just teach us, Hey, let that go. I mean, uh, yeah, just let that go. What,

21:41what do you have to add to that, man? Well, well, well, with the grudges, I mean, like when,

21:45maybe when you're like, you're not happy with them and you speak to them, you shouldn't do that

21:53or point the finger a little harsh. It's all, when you come back up to them, like, come over here

21:58and then just pick them up. They're good with you. Right. They don't hold a grudge, but we as humans

22:04can be really good at holding on. We don't let it go. You know, it says, I'll forgive you, but I won't

22:13forget. That is, that's, yeah. Ah, yeah. We, if we could be more like dogs. If we could, if we could,

22:23this would be like, we could, we could, what, move through things a little bit easier or move past

22:29to them. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I, but we're not, we're humans. We're not, we're humans. And

22:35yeah, we hold this, but pets, that's where they're, they're trying all pets. I'm sure they're just

22:40trying to teach us about that. But, um, and you know, we have to laugh a little bit today, man.

22:48There is this content creator named Rockstar and, um, he, he does voiceovers on, I don't know,

22:59if, if our audience, if you have seen these, but I tell you, take some time. If you need to just a

23:05little laugh today, um, I'm not going to say anything, just, just play this. And if you're

23:11not laughing and smile it, uh, check your pulse.

23:29That's cute. That's cute. Rockstar's crazy. I love him. I just, oh man, there were so many

23:37when I was trying to decide, I was like, this is good. This is good. This is good. But that was

23:43high. I don't know how he finds him, but he, um, he is onto something and I'm so happy that he puts

23:54that content out in the universe. And like I say, if you haven't watched it, yes. Can we watch just

24:01one more, just one more of his, um, yes. You know, I think it's, I think it's, it's great. Like when

24:09they talk about what pets do for us, even the, the content like Rockstar or the Dodo or whatever

24:17that, uh, there, there was one I was watching on the Dodo about, uh, I don't know if it was a,

24:24a tiny horse, but the horse and the horse is running around and kicking and it's just relaxing

24:31just to even watch some content about animals. It truly is. And, uh, and all the noise that we

24:39have going on in our world, it is nice to, uh, to, uh, just, which one did you want to look at?

24:45Um, what is that second one? I can't remember. I know where we're going or he knows where we're

24:51going or something or something like that. If this has happened to you, you'll know, you'll

24:56stop. He said, my friends are here. Open the door. You know, Ryan, um, when Jack, when Jack

25:25specifically was with me, he could smell if we are pulling around the corner from the dog park

25:33or from, if we were going, cause there were several places that we would go together and he would go

25:40crazy. It would be just like that park. And if I drove by the park, one of the parks, he would just

25:49look at me like, really, we're not going in today. You're not going to stop. And I can't, we're not

25:56stopping. I was like, Jack, no, we don't have time. He would get his tail would be, you know, that dog.

26:05Anyway, I just, uh, go ahead. You know, you mentioned he could smell the park. Yes.

26:11I mean, their senses are so keen. And I can remember watching Cesar Milan was talking about

26:17training of dogs and sometimes how we don't allow dogs to be dogs. Right. Right. Right. And he said it

26:25was important to let them, uh, really gain that primitive, uh, nose. And so it's really important.

26:34And I take, and he said, that's going to different places. So I take my, my dog, Gio. We go all over

26:42different neighborhoods, different parks so we can sniff. So he could sniff and they're so happy

26:49when they get new smells. Of course, they're going to mark their spot.

26:53Oh, that makes me think of how much Jack was marking his spot. I don't care if just a two drops of

27:01pee was coming out. He was, he wouldn't go behind and lift his leg and, and mark his spot. I,

27:09I tell you, you know, man, I, um, owning pets, you know, there, there eventually comes a time

27:17when you have to say goodbye. And, um, you know, I, I had my Jack Russell Jack for 16 years, man.

27:26Uh, from six weeks, you're old to, to, for 16 years. So, you know, he was with me every,

27:35everywhere, you know, every day. And, um, I was just extremely sad, um, as anyone would be,

27:43you know, but it was time he, he was 16 years old and for a Jack, a short leg, Jack Russell

27:50to live, to live that long. I mean, it's, it's hard. Yes. And, um, you know, I have people telling

27:59me, you know, he lived that long because you'd loved. Cause you loved him that long. And so,

28:10wow. I'm sorry. That's well, I know I can see it's that emotional piece. And I, I understand. And I

28:18empathize it because I lost the dog Leo that I had for 12 years. And, and when you said it's time,

28:26you just sort of know it's time and his behavior changed. It's, it's, it, it was harder on me than

28:37I ever imagined. I never, but that meant that as you were talking about a little bit earlier,

28:42our connection. Right. Right. With our pets, our pets can be very tight. Yes. Then that, um,

28:48and then my dog sunshine, I had her, um, I had her for at least seven or eight years and she was

28:56a little older than Jack. So she had to be 19, almost 20 years old. And, um, it was time for her

29:04something. She changed, you know, and I knew that it was she, that old girl, she was something

29:12else. And, uh, just mild manner. It's just so sweet and saying goodbye to them. But, um, I go ahead.

29:21You know, I'm thinking right now, cause we've talked about this before is like,

29:24I could imagine we, when there's 70% or 69% of families or people have pets, you know,

29:34a lot of those people also experienced loss. I have a, um, uh, uh, uh, acquaintance now that

29:42is talking about a dog that isn't going to last much longer. And they're beginning to process that

29:49now. So, you know, all of you all out there and YouTube land, um, that are watching, you know,

29:55I'd love for you to share with us and other listeners like your story, you know, allow,

30:02you know, hopefully we can comment and, and, and help one another because grief is real for humans

30:08and humans to their right. Right. And, uh, you know, I created a video. We're going to watch it

30:16just a little bit later and, um, just to kind of memorialize, uh, Jack and Sunshine, but man,

30:24um, um, I really haven't watched this, uh, for a while since, since I created it, but, um,

30:33well, let's watch it now and, um, we'll concur.

30:46They love that. Oh, I'll tell you.

30:59Oh man. They just,

31:03that's one of those times at the park. Yeah. They were so happy, you know?

31:16Man, I'll tell you.

31:23You know, that was in arc city.

31:26Yeah. That's the house in arc city. Yes.

31:32Mother was like, you brought Jack. I was like, of course I did.

31:38That was just so nice. Thanks man.

31:45For playing that. That's just really, really great.

31:49That was sweet.

31:49When I say that I have truly enjoyed today's episode, um, it's just there.

31:56I could talk about, oh, well, yeah, I could talk about pets.

31:59Oh, you know, and, um, I really, I really appreciate you bringing up the pets and,

32:05you know, sharing with us. I know that that was probably.

32:08It really was, but I'm glad. I'm glad. Thanks, man. Thanks.

32:13That's it. Well, everybody out there, all you listeners, we love that you're here and we,

32:19we thank you for joining us today. And if this episode made you smile, or maybe there was a team

32:25reminded you of your own story, please share our podcast, please. And we would like to keep

32:33the conversation going. And, and if you'd like to catch a new, a new episode, hit the subscribe button

32:39right now, because we appreciate all the insights and the feedback from you, our listeners, because

32:46every like and every comment, it really makes a huge difference in helping our community and one that

32:53we hope that you'll belong to grow, right? Yes. Yes. So until we meet again, may you discover the

33:01inspiration that empowers you to let your voice be. Absolutely. All right, Bill. We're out.

Ep 14 | Pets As Family: Understanding the Deep Bonds We Share| What Do You Have to Say?

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended