Sodapup launches S1 E2 of the Enrichment Lab Podcast Featuring Meghan Wolfgram from Swift Paws

Summary

In this episode of the Soda Pup Enrichment Lab podcast, host Chris Chandler speaks with Meghan Wolfgram, founder and CEO of SwiftPaws, about the importance of pet enrichment. They discuss various methods of enrichment, including food-based techniques and the concept of layering activities to enhance a pet's daily experience. Megan shares her journey into the world of pet enrichment, her experiences with her own dogs, and the significance of understanding the predatory cycle in engaging pets effectively. The conversation emphasizes the need for mental and physical stimulation in pets' lives and offers practical tips for pet owners. In this conversation, Chris and Meghan delve into the importance of enrichment for pets, discussing various tools and methods to enhance a dog's life. Meghan shares her journey in creating SwiftPaws and the development of lure coursing as a sport accessible to all breeds. The discussion emphasizes the joy of discovering new activities with pets and the significance of understanding individual dog needs, especially for anxious dogs. The conversation wraps up with personal reflections on dog breeds and the happiness that comes from enriching a pet's life.

Takeaways

Enrichment is essential for a pet's mental and physical well-being.

Food-based enrichment can take many forms and should be tailored to individual pets.

Layering activities can help pets engage in a more fulfilling way.

Anticipation and novelty can enhance a pet's experience.

Understanding the predatory cycle can inform enrichment strategies.

Routine feeding can be enhanced with training and enrichment activities.

Chewing is a natural behavior that can help dogs relax.

Different pets have different preferences for enrichment activities.

Engaging pets in play can lead to a more satisfying life.

Pet owners should explore various enrichment tools and techniques.  Enrichment is essential for a pet's happiness.

DIY activities can be just as effective as products.

Understanding your dog's preferences is key.

Lure coursing can be adapted for all breeds.

Start small when introducing new activities.

Different dogs require different approaches to enrichment.

Food-based enrichment can be simple and homemade.

Engaging dogs in play can convert prey drive to play drive.

Observation of your pet's behavior is crucial.

Creating joyful experiences strengthens the bond with your pet.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to the Soda Pup Enrichment Lab Podcast

01:01 Introducing Megan Wolfgram and SwiftPaws

04:42 Understanding Pet Enrichment

06:51 Meghan's Journey into Enrichment

08:50 Food-Based Enrichment Techniques

15:21 The Concept of Layering in Enrichment

19:19 Engaging Pets in the Predatory Cycle

22:23 Understanding Enrichment Tools for Pets

28:13 The Journey of SwiftPaws and Lure Coursing

35:03 Creating Joyful Experiences for Dogs

38:10 Personal Reflections on Dog Breeds

Study--pets and animals prefer earned rewards: 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24096703/

Predatory cycle:

Here’s a good one that discusses predatory behavior and feeding cats:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7415653/ 

And here's a very recent one about predatory sequence in dogs that also references a bunch of earlier research: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124002508

Sodapup products in SwiftPaws store including products mentioned on podcast: https://swiftpaws.com/collections/chew

Contact Meghan Wolfgram, SwiftPaws

Facebook (Business Page): @SwiftPaws

Facebook (Meghan's Entrepreneur Page): @MeghanWolfgramCEO

LinkedIn: SwiftPaws

Instagram: @swiftpaws_offcial

Pinterest: @swiftpaws_official

TikTok: @swiftpaws

Twitter: @_swiftpaws

Youtube: @swiftpaws

Keywords

pet enrichment, SwiftPaws, dog training, food-based enrichment, mental stimulation, layering activities, predatory cycle, dog sports, pet wellness, enrichment products, pet enrichment, dog training, SwiftPaws, lure coursing, DIY pet activities, dog treats, pet care, dog behavior, pet products, canine enrichment, Sodapup

Transcript:

Chris Chandler (00:03.005)
Hello and welcome to the Sodapup Enrichment Lab podcast where we mix a little kibble with curiosity and sprinkle in some fun. I'm your host, Chris Chandler, and each week we will be taking people, sorry, talking to people from around the globe who are transforming pet meal time into an enriching adventure. Join us as we explore food enrichment.

how people are using it with their pets, and simple tips on how you can join in on the fun. So I wanna welcome our first guest. This is Meghan Wolfgram, and she is the founder and CEO of SwiftPaws. And we are going to talk to her about her experience with enrichment, and then we're also going to talk with her specifically about SwiftPaws and what she is doing with her business.

So Meghan, welcome and thank you so much for being here.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (01:01.688)
Thank you, Chris. I was so excited when you invited me on as a guest and I'm looking forward to our conversation today.

Chris Chandler (01:08.603)
Me too. So Meghan and I met in person. We met at the Super Zoo trade show in Las Vegas in last August, and we had a really interesting conversation. And even though I was the one being interviewed, I think I may have learned more than Meghan did. And so that's one of the reasons that we wanted to have her on today. So just maybe a little bit to start out with, just tell us a little bit about yourself.

where you live, maybe about your pets, your dogs and other pets. And then we'll take it from there.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (01:45.496)
Sounds good. So I actually currently live in what was already my hometown. I was born and raised on the East Coast of Florida and in Brevard County. So this has always been home. I've had the great pleasure of being able to travel and I went away for school, but it's always been home base. And so when I ended up buying home and it will always be home for me, I think I do love it here, although we have been dodging a few hurricanes this year.

Chris Chandler (02:11.891)
I'm familiar with that because as I let Meghan know, we've got kids in central Florida, in college. so that's been definitely caused some anxiety over the last couple of years.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (02:24.088)
Yes, and probably harder when you're not the one there, because you have to worry for them.

Chris Chandler (02:30.033)
Yeah, they've gotten good at it.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (02:31.106)
And so because this is my hometown, one of the primary missions for my company is to do as much as I can in my own backyard as possible. And I love my community. We've got a great community here. We've got a lot of talent here. You know, we're on an area that's called the Space Coast. So we're shoulder to shoulder with the likes of SpaceX and so many brilliant engineering minds. And then we make dog toys. So, so SwiftPaws

like to say that we're an American manufacturer of pet enrichment products. Ours is not entirely food based enrichment, but I'm sure we'll dive into all of that. And a pet enrichment has just been like my obsession for a very, very long time. I used to think of it as like, and I've got my sign above me and like, how do you play well with your pet? Because we know that play is super important. But it's like, how do you actually play

Chris Chandler (03:09.693)
Yeah, definitely.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (03:27.31)
play in a way that you know is going to give them the most fulfilled, satisfying life and experience possible. And I'll leave you with this. I'm at my happiest. So I have two dogs currently and one is young and therefore a little bit more energetic. And if we're going to put like human labels onto things, although I now these days, I feel like that's just us doing it, but more naughty, if you will, a very energetic puppy that likes to get into things. And then my eight year old,

Chris Chandler (03:55.795)
And what kind of dog, what kind of breed?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (03:59.022)
Yeah, so both rescues, both of them are pointer mixes, but it turns out the puppy is also Dalmatian, Aussie, and a lot of things that have a lot of energy. And then I have my eight-year-old here with me in the office. I'll try to pan over there. She's on the couch sleeping. That's Piper. And she, yeah, she's having a good nap. And our biggest claim to fame is that we were...

Chris Chandler (04:15.186)
Yeah.

Aww. Hi, Piper.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (04:25.774)
myself and the brand were on Shark Tank in 2022 and Piper was on Shark Tank with me. So that was super special. Well, she's the real celebrity. I'm just her assistant. That's.

Chris Chandler (04:30.432)
wow.

All right, so we've got two celebrities with us today.

Chris Chandler (04:41.299)
So that's just a great segue into what I wanted to ask you next is, can you just talk to us and particularly for people who may be new to learning about enrichment and using it with their pets, can you just talk a little bit about your definition of enrichment and what's the point of doing it?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (05:12.558)
We have a game that we play with me, my employees, my team, and we try to find something that isn't enrichment, right? You see a video of a dog doing, you see a video of a dog on a beach and it's digging a hole. Like, yeah, that's enrichment. You see a video of somebody coming into their room and the dog has de-stuffed a pillow. Well, that's enrichment. It might not be the kind of, so I, I.

Chris Chandler (05:36.339)
be what you want but it's

Meghan - SwiftPaws (05:39.02)
And so really, think like, when we look back to the root of the word and this enrichment term came from originally like the zoo and zoological space. And it's this idea of really how do we add value to what our other core needs that an animal has, right? Core needs like nutrition, like safety, like health. And when we're looking at these pillars of what I would consider to be welfare or wellness.

I think enrichment, mental and physical stimulation. So if I had to define it, would say enrichment is anything that provides,

Chris Chandler (06:14.595)
Hey, I'm sorry. So I just kind of lost you for a second. So maybe if you'll just back up a few and yeah. Okay.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (06:18.592)
no!

Yeah, that's fine. I'll start here. I'll go back to where I said if I was going to define enrichment, I would define it as anything that is going to add either mental or physical stimulation to a pet's day to day.

Chris Chandler (06:40.647)
Yeah. So how did you get into enrichment and what led you to start learning more about it?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (06:51.278)
Yeah, I graduated college in 2011 and I ultimately decided to take summer off and I was doing dog agility, just recreationally, not super competitive. And I wanted to try, I wanted to do more with my dog. The dog I had at the time was a miniature pincher named Pretzel and Pretzel wasn't the easiest dog. He was very stubborn and he didn't really like other dogs. He wasn't a big fan of playing with toys.

And he did the agility for me and for the treats at the end. He was very food motivated. And so I was talking with my agility trainer, like, well, what are some other things that we could try together? And she started bringing up other sports, barn hunt and, know, frisbee. And she said, well, the most fun I've ever had is lure coursing, which is this chasing sport. And so I got down and went down the rabbit hole into dog sports.

And over the years, right, of course, my company, Swift Paws, which really relies on that niche of this chasing sport called lure coursing. But that opened up a whole new world for me because really enrichment and I know everything that you guys are about is food based enrichment and enrichment these days in the pet world and the dog world, especially is almost synonymous with food based enrichment. And I think that once you just peel back the corner,

It's hard not to have all the layers start to expose. So I really got introduced to the concept of enrichment through a very like active physical stimulation side of it and then just went in from there.

Chris Chandler (08:20.113)
Right.

Chris Chandler (08:29.735)
Just expanded it. Yeah. So, in terms of doing food-based enrichment, can you just tell us sort of what you do, how you do it, if you have favorite foods that you use, just what you like to do?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (08:50.094)
So many things. There's so many different things I've tried over the years because no matter what, it all comes down to the individual pet. And so what works amazing for one pet might not work well for another. Pretzel, he was little, he was only about 14 pounds. But if it was this big, right, if it was a couple inches or smaller, he tried to swallow something whole. So, you you start out when you think about things like,

Chris Chandler (09:04.091)
Right. Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (09:20.256)
I need to occupy my dog for 30 minutes. Maybe I'll give them a long lasting chew like a bully stick or a yak chew. And you start to realize that one solution, one tool isn't going to work over and over and over again. So of course Pretzel would chew on them. Then they'd get down to about three, four inches long. Next thing you know, he's trying to swallow it whole. Meanwhile, now I've got Piper who's a 60 pound pointer. She could swallow a six inch bully stick, but she just won't.

So I can give her different things that I couldn't give to Pretzel. So looking at an individual dog, some of the things I really, really love and that I was doing kind of before they became cool were snuffle mats, snuffle mats, scatter feeding, where you literally just scatter, the food across. mean, obviously you have to make sure it's a surface that you don't mind them licking and eating off of. And then another thing that I really got into

Chris Chandler (10:03.888)
okay.

Chris Chandler (10:15.591)
Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (10:19.276)
was any type of game that was going to prolong the feeding experience. And so one of your products that I love are your sort of enrichment feeder bowls. And I was taking a dog food bowl and I was putting different objects and things in there. So a tennis ball and different things inside of the bowl to make a meal time a bit more.

Chris Chandler (10:30.235)
huh.

Chris Chandler (10:42.195)
Okay, so they will have to kind of eat or get around it, right?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (10:46.114)
have to eat around it because Pretzel would inhale his food and Piper is a slow eater but my, puppy who's a little over a year now, she eats every meal like it's her last. And so I try to extend a meal time by using things like that, a muffin tin with the kibble in it and the tennis balls on top and anything that you're creating this prolonged experience, a foraging experience I would say. The other thing I do is I always take about half their meal and I try to feed that out.

Chris Chandler (11:10.515)
Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (11:16.142)
throughout the day, whether that's a little bit of a training session that sort of blends over, We gray the, we blur the lines between training and enrichment, but I'm a big proponent of it's a missed opportunity if you're just feeding your dog twice a day. There's so much more that you could be getting out of it from a training perspective and that your dog could be getting out.

Chris Chandler (11:38.429)
Yeah, I have found, so we unfortunately only have one dog right now, but, and she's not super food motivated, but one of the things that she really loves is when we come back from a walk, I take a handful of treats out of my bait bag and I just scatter it in the yard. And so she has to do the nose work to find it. And even though she's not super food motivated, she gets very excited.

And it almost seems like it's the most exciting thing on the walk for her, because we get back and we walk into the driveway and she starts to, you know, her ears perk up and she kind of starts to dance around a little bit and she's just waiting for that scatter. And then she snuffles around in the yard. So the grass is that her snuffle mat.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (12:25.059)
I love that so much because you also said that like she gets to anticipate it and one of my favorite things is you know when we when we think of a pet's day there's parts of it that are very routine and routine is generally a good thing but there's also parts that are there's something to be said for novelty so if you bring out something new or like imagine bringing home a new toy that's gonna be their favorite toy for at least a little while until the newness wears off yeah until the newness wears off

Chris Chandler (12:50.141)
a day.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (12:53.778)
And so, but I also love this idea of something that they can look forward to because sometimes the anticipation alone is so stimulating. Like she's getting so much out of it before you've even scattered. And even though she's not food motivated, there's actually been scientific studies on the fact that pets and animals would prefer an earned reward over a free reward.

So studies where like, you know, can get a treat or press a button, get a treat, press a button, get a treat versus you're working a little bit and it's changing a bit might actually be harder, but they will prefer to actually work for that reward versus having one that's just in front of them. And I think that goes back to a parallel that I think in ourselves, right? Like things are rewarding to us that aren't always the easiest and there's a satisfaction in having done something for the reward.

Chris Chandler (13:51.101)
Well, and one of the things too that I think maybe some of that is based on is that like we know for both animals and humans that if you give a reward every single time, for instance, to the button pushing, they'll keep doing it, but you get stronger responses from the person or the animal if they...

if it's intermittent and they don't quite know when it's coming. I mean, they know it's going to eventually, but it could be three button pushes and then you get it. And then it could be five. So it's called an intermittent reward schedule. And that reward schedule actually builds a stronger response than the consistent reward schedule. yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (14:34.966)
It does. It does. And I always like to think about things from my own point of view. And I'm like, you know, when I was a, when I was a kid, if every time I did something, my parents went, yay, good job. Like the same, the same input, the same output, the same input. You, that kind of gets a little boring, doesn't it? And for our pets, right. And especially like if I'm training young puppy, of course, when they're still in the learning phase, I'm going to reward every time, like mark the behavior. But then once they've got it, it's great. If you, they, if you say sit and they sit and you say, job.

Chris Chandler (14:50.705)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Chandler (14:59.453)
Sure. Yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (15:04.398)
And then the next time you give a treat, right? So it's so impactful to do tiny things like that. And I love that what you guys are doing is you guys are adding layers to people's ability to vary their pet's day-to-day existence. And that's so.

Chris Chandler (15:04.615)
Right. Right.

Chris Chandler (15:21.361)
Now, so that's this idea of layering is one of the things that you mentioned when we talked in August at Super Zoo. And it was a concept that I wasn't familiar with and I found it really interesting. So I was wondering if you could talk more about that idea of layering and enrichment.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (15:40.344)
Yeah, I recently, so over the past year, because I adopted a puppy out of a rural shelter in Texas, and I went through the whole thing again, right? Like I'm not an inexperienced dog owner, but I was like, wow, it's been a while since I raised a puppy.

Chris Chandler (15:57.475)
It's always shocking when I get a puppy. As many as we've had, I just always think, I did not remember.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (16:04.898)
Yes, and this one, she has a little bit of social anxiety. She has a little bit of resource guarding and so she was very emaciated. A few litter mates didn't end up making it. So I knew that I wasn't getting a puppy that had the best start in life, but I was like, okay, let's throw everything I can at it and try to give her the best life I can. And so that's really how I went down the rabbit hole and started thinking about layering activities. And I say you shouldn't have more than one.

You should have more than one tool in your enrichment toolbox. And this idea of layering really relates to first watching your pet, observe them. What do they like to do best? So if you've got a cat and it loves staring out the window and locking in on birds and then it's kind of going into a little stalking mode. And when we look at dogs, right, do they go out into the yard and immediately look for a rabbit or a squirrel, or are they nose to the ground using their nose to scent and to track?

And that all relates back to the predatory cycle, right? So this cycle, I mean, it's cats and dogs alike, there are very set steps and there's an order, right? You can't stalk something until you've located it. And so there's this like, there's these different stages of the predatory cycle and they do come one after the other and not every pet is going to like every step or stage. And some people say like, the flirt pole, which is a...

Chris Chandler (17:17.139)
Mm.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (17:27.842)
like a fishing pole with a rope and a toy on the end or a wand teaser for a cat. Some people say, my cat or my dog doesn't like that activity. Well, they might not be into that stage of the predatory cycle, but maybe they love a different stage. So what I, yeah.

Chris Chandler (17:30.812)
Right.

Chris Chandler (17:41.299)
So can you take us through the stages and then talk about how you might engage your animal in those?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (17:49.324)
Yeah, so I would like to, there's, there, this could be broken down, I think, into many, many more steps, but it could also be condensed into just a very short series of steps as well. so don't, what I'm trying to say is do as much additional research as you'd like to do. But for me, this is kind of how I like to think of it. So,

when you see any kind of pet, cat or a dog and they're out there. And the first thing they're doing is they're orienting, searching. This is like the search phase. So they're looking around, you that might be looking for a bird in a tree or a rabbit on the ground. And then they have this moment where they lock in. They see that prey item and they're locked in. Then they'll go into like a stalking phase and not every pet will, but that stalking is going to then lead into a chase. And then we have sort of like the catch grab.

Chris Chandler (18:42.227)
Mm-hmm.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (18:45.312)
we have the kill bite or shake that that leads into dissection. So if you have a dog that loves shredding paper, that leads into dissection. And then the natural conclusion is consumption. And to me, that's really the whole cycle from I'm looking for something in the yard to I've eaten a meal.

Chris Chandler (18:48.819)
So.

Chris Chandler (19:07.815)
Right. And so are there different ways that then you help your animals engage in those different portions of that?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (19:19.886)
Yeah, so if I have, for example, like if we had scheduled this call a year ago, my puppy would have been like, I know, only a couple of months old and she would have been trying to crawl onto my lap. if I knew I needed like a 30 minute rest period, I'd have to look at her and go, okay, you're bouncing off the walls. I cannot go straight to consumption. would be counterproductive to try to settle her down with a longer lasting chew that she can consume because she's

just not in that space of the cycle. She's too energetic.

Chris Chandler (19:53.395)
because she's too early, she's early in the cycle.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (19:56.172)
Yes, she's wanting to run around, locate, chase, catch, shake. And this is a puppy who every time she grabbed a toy, she would shake it. So she really loved doing the kill shake, right? That was like super fun for her. So if I knew I had a call at like 1 p.m., let's say, I would try to layer a couple of activities that followed the cycle so that by the time the call came, she was ready to do what comes after the cycle, which is take a nap. And so I would probably take her outside, throw the ball.

or play with the flirt pole so she can locate, she can chase, she can shake. Then I would bring her back inside and that could be a couple of minutes. Could be two, three minutes. It doesn't have to be very long. I'd bring her inside. We'd probably then go into a game that's more like dissecting or one that takes a little bit longer. That could be a Lick Mat. That could be something like a wrapped up. Like maybe I would take that longer lasting chew and wrap it up in a piece of paper. She can shred the outside of the paper and then get to the chew.

Chris Chandler (20:52.296)
right, right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (20:55.354)
That could even be, and I have it with me, I brought it with me, could even be my favorite. My favorite.

Chris Chandler (21:00.765)
Yay. So just for the people who are listening, right now Meghan is holding up our wave bowl, which is a, it's one of our deeper slow feeder bowls that has compartments so that it takes the dog a while to get the food out.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (21:17.09)
Yes.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (21:22.286)
And it takes a while and my puppy is large dog, but she has a pointy nose. So for her, this is not too frustrating, even though it has really deep grooves and she can get her tongue in there. And so I would move on to something that is a mentally stimulating, but we're not just eating a whole meal, something that's going to take her a little bit of time to work through. So think about it, if they're consuming an animal, there's going to be a lot of different things in there that they have to get through. And then.

Chris Chandler (21:30.716)
Right.

Right.

Chris Chandler (21:42.952)
Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (21:50.262)
I really love chewing because chewing, know that chewing releases endorphins and it's a, it's a great natural way for dogs to settle. So then I would bring out the longer lasting chew that could be the yak bone or whatever. And then she's ready to settle and chew. Whereas if I had just given her that chew right away, she'd chew on it for two seconds and then be ready to bounce off the walls again. And it was really that problem. Like how do I, gosh, I've coughed or call, how do I get this puppy?

to be in the right mental state when I need her to be instead of like, I'm sorry, she's barking and whining in the background, forgive me.

Chris Chandler (22:23.901)
Right.

Chris Chandler (22:28.669)
Right. Yeah. Well, that's a really helpful concept and not one that I have encountered in the other just reading I've done about enrichment. So I really appreciate that. think that'll, I know it'll be helpful to me and I know it'll be helpful to our listeners. Do you have certain foods and or tools that you like to use for enrichment and really of like of any sort?

in the cycle.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (22:59.276)
I do the ones that are my go-to's and I've got my own products, right? We're best known for our lure coursing kit, which is basically a game of chase. It's a motorized fake squirrel that you get to run around your backyard and they get to chase it. that's absolutely, we'll talk about it. But the chasing, right? Again, it's only one phase. So I go back to saying you should have more than one tool. So something to get the energy out. And I'm also a huge believer in you don't have to spend a dime.

Chris Chandler (23:13.073)
Yeah, and I definitely want you to tell us more about that. Yeah, for sure.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (23:29.422)
Right? We both make products, we both sell products, but I don't believe any pet parent should feel like they're a bad pet parent because they can't afford to buy a product. There's plenty of DIY ways to add any different stage of the cycle or whatever that might be to your pet's daily life. So your pet loves to chase, throw a ball, right? Throw a stick. There's so many ways to engage, even if you're not buying products. I always like to say that because I feel like we get really

Chris Chandler (23:48.347)
Right. Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (23:55.566)
caught up in consumerism sometimes. you need this specific tool. When it comes to tools, one of my absolute favorites is the flirt pole. The flirt pole is an amazing way to do a chase game. But when it comes to food-based enrichment, I'm a big believer in rolling kibble up in a towel. And then they get to, and of course you've got to have the dog that doesn't consume the towel. And that's where, let's say that you're,

Chris Chandler (24:18.161)
Right, right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (24:22.348)
discovering your, like you got a puppy, right? You're discovering their likes and dislikes and boy does everything go inside, right? They're chewing off pieces of toys and consuming them. You know what? That's where buying certain tools would come in really handy. Like you guys have these really awesome natural rubber toys that have compartments for Kibble and for food. So far less likely that they're going to chew a piece off than a towel. But I love those types of tools and

Chris Chandler (24:41.395)
Right? Yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (24:50.806)
and products to use. And then another one that I find myself going back to over and over again are just puzzles, any kind of puzzle. A puzzle could be as simple as a cardboard box with crumpled up paper in it. And then you scatter some treats in there. But there's also a ton of puzzle toys on the market. And we just started collaborating with Pawzler which is a European puzzle toy brand. They're like Legos. So they're reconfigurable. You can make the puzzle. Yes. So each each puzzle can be reconfigured on the base. You can make it brand new every time, which is super cool.

Chris Chandler (25:13.457)
interesting.

Chris Chandler (25:19.699)
Right. I don't know. Yeah. Cool. And then are there certain food products that stand out for you? Either, I mean, commercial products or just things that you use like eggs or I don't know, people use all kinds of interesting stuff.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (25:32.878)
Yes. Yeah, so this goes back to agility and having a dog who was very food motivated but was only 14 pounds, made a very tiny stomach. And once he wasn't hungry anymore, he was like, well, I'm off the clock. I don't need to work anymore. So I am also a big believer in having different value treats. For me, a high value treat would be something like a freeze dried beef liver or something that is gonna be extremely good smelling.

something that you're going to give them in small quantities. But additionally, I have also gone down the rabbit hole of like cooking and making treats. It's super easy to just take a can of you want to make sure it's like water based and not oil based and no additives but like a can of salmon like canned salmon. Super easy to do that with an egg and basically don't need to do anything else but if you want it to be a little bit more

like less pate-like and more formed. You can also take some graham cracker and crunch it up. You mix that together and you bake it. You can bake it on like a cookie sheet. And then they're like toothsome. They're a bit chewy. So they don't go super hard unless you really, really bake them. But you can bake them to the consistency you like. And then you can cut them up into little pieces or break them off. because he was so tiny, I had to have tiny, tiny training pieces.

Chris Chandler (26:49.18)
Mm-hmm.

Chris Chandler (26:56.135)
Right? Wow.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (26:57.506)
easy to do. You can do it with chicken, tuna, salmon, any of the canned. And I like that because you know exactly what's going into it. I will do the same thing and some people don't like to feed raw eggs. I have chickens. I don't mind feeding my dogs a raw chicken egg for my own chickens, but that's to everybody's own, you know, if they want to. But I will do the same thing and spread it on the Lick Mat. And I was doing that on just a, I had silicone

Chris Chandler (27:05.383)
Yeah, yeah.

Chris Chandler (27:13.467)
Okay. Yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (27:27.306)
ice cube tray that I was using as a Lick Mat before Lick Mats really even came about. Yeah.

Chris Chandler (27:32.115)
wow, good for you. You're a, well, you were, I was gonna say an early adopter, but I think you early inventor.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (27:38.126)
Definitely early adopter because there was already talk out there about what are you doing and how are you doing it? But it was very cool to see it then start to become so commercialized where now there's so many amazing options. You don't have to try to rig it up yourself.

Chris Chandler (27:43.208)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Chris Chandler (27:51.878)
Yeah. Right, right. Yeah. So I definitely want to give you a little bit of time to talk specifically about SwiftPause and about your luring. I don't know if you refer to it as a toy or, but yeah, I feel I want you to tell us about that and how you came to develop that.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (28:13.794)
Yeah, I'll try to give you the short version, but with Pretzel, I discovered the sport. At the time, however, the sport of lure coursing was only open to sighthounds. So if you didn't have a greyhound or a whippet or one of this list of breeds, if they weren't a purebred sighthound, they actually could not compete. And this is like AKC Lure Coursing or ASFA, which is the organization that runs sighthound coursing. And so when I discovered the sport, I really couldn't try it. There was no...

Chris Chandler (28:26.621)
So.

Chris Chandler (28:42.525)
Bye.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (28:42.926)
There was no way for me to, and you know, this little dog, like he liked food and he liked chasing things. He loved chasing squirrels and lizards. So I thought, I think he would like it, but there's nowhere to try it. So then I was like, okay, well, what if I just bought a machine? And at the time again, they were all very commercialized. was like heavy duty equipment to run sight hounds. And so it was, yeah.

Chris Chandler (29:03.857)
And so can you explain, so I've like seen, watched some of your videos, but for people who don't know what lure coursing is, just maybe explain it a little bit so they can kind of have a visual.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (29:13.486)
Yeah, so if you're listening, what lure coursing is, is a mechanical rabbit or squirrel. What you think of it as is like a clothesline pulley system. So what you do is you have a line or a string. And instead of being up in the air on a clothesline, it's down on the ground on the grass. And you take the string and you string it around a series of pulleys. And everywhere where you want to make a turn, you put a pulley. And then one of those pulleys has a motor on it.

Chris Chandler (29:38.428)
Okay.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (29:42.496)
motorized pulley will run the entire string around the course and then you control it. So you have a controller, you tie a fake rabbit or a fake squirrel which is really just a bag, you tie it to the string and then you control the speed and direction as it goes zipping around the course. It's a little... good question. No, so the bags that we offer in our kits they're actually just made out of maize flour or like corn because the

Chris Chandler (30:00.443)
Is there something in the bag or?

Chris Chandler (30:11.155)
so they're safe if they ingest them?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (30:13.312)
Yes, I would not recommend feeding it to your dog because it is corn. But at least they used to be plastic poop bags. one of my very first customers said, hey, my dog's been eating them. Like, is that OK? And I had a light bulb moment where I went, my god, my dog's never ate them. But now you're getting it out there into the hands of people. And yeah, there are dogs out there who are going to consume it. And so I thought, OK, I've got to fix this. And so the next time that we had them made, we switched over to

Chris Chandler (30:34.344)
Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (30:42.562)
definitely a product that is at least digestible. So that, you know, they're not scented. You're not supposed to feed it to your dog. It is a visual game. So when we think about the predatory cycle, it's that chase instinct. So really the dog is locking in on it and then they're chasing it by sight, which is also super interesting because oftentimes once they catch it, if you kind of let them have their way with it, they get bored after a minute because they're like,

Chris Chandler (30:46.599)
Got it.

Chris Chandler (31:08.251)
Okay, they're, okay, yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (31:10.35)
Yeah, because it's not, you it doesn't smell good, doesn't really taste good. Some of them will rip it up and shred it because they like to do that, but then they're like, yeah, okay, what's next?

Chris Chandler (31:16.561)
Right, right, great. Okay, so I sort of distracted you from, so you were looking for a way to do this with Pretzel.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (31:22.136)
You're totally fine.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (31:27.758)
I just wanted him to try it because I was like, he lives to chase things. And like barn hunt, right? Where you're looking for rats. That sport was totally up his alley. He loved that sport. So I thought, man, he's really gonna like this. And so ultimately I thought I'd buy a machine and they cost like $4,000 because they were very heavy duty equipment. Like that wasn't gonna happen. So I made a machine with my dad. We made it in our living room and it was...

Chris Chandler (31:54.177)
Meghan - SwiftPaws (31:55.022)
Yeah, we did. It was crude, but it worked. And then I invited my agility friends out just for a fun day because Pretzel, it was like he found us calling. Like he saw that that white bag zip across the ground and he went, Tally-ho, like he was on it. And I'd never seen him enjoy something. And then he catches it and he goes, it's just a plastic bag. And then he went, it's a game. And this dog who wouldn't play with toys.

Chris Chandler (32:22.301)
Mm.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (32:24.728)
who wouldn't, he understood it was a game and not real prey, and he loved it anyways. The first time I saw this dog engage with a toy, and it was so cool. It was so cool. And so I like to say that we kind of are taking prey drive and we're converting it into play drive. And some dogs will do that with a frisbee, some will do it with a ball. Pretzel would go and look at the ball and be like, you bring it back.

Chris Chandler (32:48.327)
I'm not gonna do that!

Meghan - SwiftPaws (32:49.986)
But this tapped into his desire to chase and then he was like, but I could do this over and over again and it's fun. So it was super special. So then I, you know, a friend had a horse farm. She let me use her front pasture and I invited all my agility friends out and we all had a day of it. And that snowballed into what became SwiftPaws, which was making that equipment at first for other professionals, dog trainers, doggy daycares, clubs.

Because we had good timing at the same year that I founded SwiftPaws, unbeknownst to me, the American Kennel Club opened up a version of the sport to all breeds. So all of sudden, every shape and size and breed of dog could try it and compete. And I happened to have made a piece of equipment really well suited to running all breeds. It was such a cool journey and good timing too. They say a lot of life is being in the right place at the right time. And especially right then in that moment, we really were.

Chris Chandler (33:35.763)
That's so exciting.

Chris Chandler (33:40.008)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, and now you have different levels, right? In terms of that you have some products that are suitable and affordable for somebody just to do it in their yard with their dog. Yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (33:51.69)
Yes.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (33:55.608)
We do. Correct. So we have, we still make the professional grade equipment that clubs will use and stuff, but we now have three different versions of backyard equipment, starting with Chase which is $299. And then it works its way up from there. It's like the machines get more powerful and they go faster. And next year we are really hoping to launch.

Chris Chandler (34:06.453)
cool.

Chris Chandler (34:10.941)
Great. Yeah. Yeah.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (34:18.432)
You know, I hate to give promises, but I'd love to have it out sometime next year as a version that you can actually stick. So Chase, you can run indoors or outdoors, but it's still a robust little unit. It'll do up to 20 miles an hour and it runs up to a hundred feet long, which is a bit overkill for your living room. So we're hoping to next year have a version for really for cats that people could set up and play with indoors. Yeah.

Chris Chandler (34:43.347)
Interesting.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (34:43.96)
And our goal for that is to retail it for like $99 or less. So it's definitely, hopefully more affordable. Yeah.

Chris Chandler (34:49.907)
Great, we'll look forward to that. So as we wrap up here, is there anything like that I haven't asked you that you would just like for people to know about enrichment or?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (35:03.202)
Yeah, think my biggest message would be like, I am at my happiest when my dogs are happy. Like it's just, it brings me so much joy to see them like discovering a new puzzle for the first time or diving into one of their slow feeders that I've just, know, ooh, I'm gonna put this here and I wonder if they'll be able to get this piece out of this corner. And it becomes an extension of an activity that you can do that's really more bonding.

Chris Chandler (35:25.938)
Right.

Chris Chandler (35:31.1)
Right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (35:31.718)
And my best suggestion would be start small. If you're like, I'm in these groups, because there's these amazing groups out there and you see these people doing these elaborate things and it's beautiful, but not everybody has, not everybody has hours a day to do that. So like, if I could give anybody one suggestion is if you take a walk with your dog and you, let's say you go out your front door and you turn to the right and you go around the block, the next time you do it, go out your front door, turn to the left.

Chris Chandler (35:41.021)
right, can feel overwhelming.

Yeah. Yeah.

Chris Chandler (36:00.871)
Yeah, just spice it up a tiny bit.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (36:02.03)
Just do the same walk but backwards and I think you'll be surprised at how much different that is for your pet and watch them. Watch them enjoy it.

Chris Chandler (36:13.619)
think the other thing too, I mean, at least I know from my experience with the dog that we have now is that it is good for her to have new experiences, but she's also a bit of an anxious dog. And so if you offer her something that's too new, then she won't go for it. for me as a busy dog owner, Baby Steps is a good...

a good policy, but also for certain dogs, they need baby steps too. Otherwise it's just too much. And then there are some dogs that you can throw whatever new at them and they'll just go for it.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (36:50.254)
You're so right.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (36:55.212)
You're so right and that's I'm living in the juxtaposition. I've got Piper who's sleeping on the couch, but Melanie, the puppy, she is a naturally nervous, more anxious dog. So if I brought her into the office, and I was bringing her into the office, and I realized it's overwhelming for her. This is a co-working space. There's people walking by and she would be under my desk with her tail tucked. And so that just goes back to watch your pet first.

and observe them. So to better, to do better for them, we need to better understand them. And that's, it starts there. But even with a nervous pet, like you were saying, even with one that I think we bonded a bit talking about our anxious dogs, because I'd love for her to be the type of dog that wants to go places. And you know what, that's just not for her. And so I have to adjust and adapt and give her experiences that are well suited. And she loves nothing more than for me to bring a new thing.

Chris Chandler (37:49.619)
for sure.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (37:52.51)
into the home. She's most comfortable there. She's so much more outgoing inside the home. So I can bring something new to her versus trying to bring her out to something.

Chris Chandler (38:02.567)
Okay, last question for you. This is just a fun one. If you were a dog, what breed of dog would you be?

Meghan - SwiftPaws (38:10.412)
I tell you what breed of dog I'd like to be. And I could tell you what breed of dog I probably would be. I think I'd really like to be Piper, right? She's a laid back pointer. She has a lot of energy, but she kind of channels it and she loves everybody, has never met a stranger, super easygoing. I think I am actually more like an Australian shepherd.

Chris Chandler (38:13.043)
Okay, that works.

Okay.

Chris Chandler (38:34.609)
little obsessive, some strange behaviors.

Meghan - SwiftPaws (38:40.716)
Yes!

Exactly.

Chris Chandler (38:45.213)
Well, Meghan, I want to thank you so much for being here with us today. It's been a really enjoyable conversation.

I know I learned a lot and I know I listeners will. Just want to say to our listeners that I hope this has left you inspired to jazz up your furry friends day and with a sprinkle of creativity and a dash of deliciousness for them. And just remember that an enriched pet is a happy pet. I want to wish you happy feeding. You can find the Enrichment Lab podcast anywhere that you get podcasts and then you can also watch

the video version on Soda Pup's YouTube channel. And if you enjoyed the episode, I hope that you will subscribe, share the joy with your fellow pet enthusiasts, and please leave us a review. So thank you.