Something You Should Know - Time Cleansing: How to Make Time Work For You & The Ultimate RX For Your Pet's Health and Happiness

Episode Date: April 4, 2019

Sometimes you have to ask a stranger for a favor. Perhaps you need to borrow their phone or help you carry something. And there is one proven way that will greatly increase the chances they will grant you that favor. I begin this episode by telling you what it is. http://www.medicaldaily.com/likeability-trustworthy-how-be-popular-377296 Time is precious. So how you mange, control and perceive the time you have is critical. Time, performance and productivity expert Steven Griffith, author of the book The Time Cleanse (https://amzn.to/2HMoHhU) has a really interesting take on controlling your time so it works for you rather than feel that you don’t have enough time to do what is really important to you.   It would seem that online dating sites would be good at matching people based on the data profile. But there is one big flaw in that data. Listen as I tell you what it is and why dating sites can actually make it more difficult to find love. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/grading-the-online dating-industry.html People often treat their pets as a member of the family. That can be trouble. Dogs and cats are not people and really shouldn’t be treated – or fed – like a person. Veterinarian Dr. Karen Halligan author of the book, Doc Halligan’s What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs (https://amzn.to/2WtrAaI) joins me to offer sound advice that will help your pet live a long and healthy life. She also has some warnings on things not to do that could put your pet in danger.   This Week's Sponsors -Skillshare. For 2 months free access to over 25,000 classes go to www.Skillshare.com/something -ADT. For more information on smart home security go to www.ADT.com -Capital One. Visit www.CapitalOne.com What's in your wallet? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Something You Should Know, want to get a stranger to do you a favor? I've got a great trick that really works. Then a fascinating look at how we manage, spend, and perceive time. There's one research study about two groups of college students doing a math test. They both had adequate time. They both were at the same level for the math. One group was told they didn't have enough time and that group underperformed about 15% on that result just by feeling they didn't have enough time plus the one big flaw of online dating sites you need to know and what you must do to help your dog or cat live a long and healthy life starting with with their weight. Forty percent of pets are overweight or obese, and that will definitely shorten your lifespan.

The statistics are that pets that are lean live 15 percent longer than pets that are overweight. All this today on Something You Should Know. As a listener to Something You Should Know, I can only assume that you are someone who likes to learn about new and interesting things and bring more knowledge to work for you in your everyday life. I mean, that's kind of what Something You Should Know was all about. And so I want to invite you to listen to another podcast called TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about TED Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done TED Talks Daily. Now, you know about Ted Talks, right? Many of the guests on Something You Should Know have done Ted Talks.

Well, you see, Ted Talks Daily is a podcast that brings you a new Ted Talk every weekday in less than 15 minutes. Join host Elise Hu. She goes beyond the headlines so you can hear about the big ideas shaping our future. Learn about things like sustainable fashion, embracing your entrepreneurial spirit, the future of robotics, and so much more. Like I said, if you like this podcast, Something You Should Know,

I'm pretty sure you're going to like TED Talks Daily. And you get TED Talks Daily wherever you get your podcasts. Something You should know. Fascinating intel. The world's top experts. And practical advice you can use in your life. Today, Something You Should Know with Mike Carruthers. You know, people who love this podcast, and there are many of them, maybe you're one of them,

people often ask me, well, how can I show my support for something you should know? And my answer is always the same. Share it with someone. And I'll ask you to do the same thing. We're constantly trying to grow our audience. And the conventional wisdom is that word of mouth is best. People who listen and like the podcast and who then share it with someone they know is the best way to get more listeners. And every podcast platform I know has a share button right there on the player or somewhere on the webpage. It's easy to do. So please, share this podcast and help it grow. First up today, if you want people to like and trust you quicker,

there's a simple way to do it. Apologize. In a test, researchers from Harvard Business School approached strangers on the street during a rainy day and asked to borrow their cell phones. Half the time, the researchers said, I'm sorry about the rain. In the other half, they didn't mention the weather at all.

Without that one line, that one line of sorry about the rain, the researchers successfully borrowed a phone only 9% of the time. When they did say they were sorry about the rain, the team's success rate rose to an incredible 47%. The conclusion is that when researchers apologized for something outside of their control, in this case the weather, they seemed more trustworthy and caring. So next time you need to present yourself as trustworthy or caring, or you just really want to borrow a phone from a random person, own up to something that's not your fault.

And that is something you should know. When you think about time, it boggles the mind. I mean, what is time? Einstein said time and space are part of the same thing. Well, that's pretty amazing. And I remember hearing that in the discussion of time, science has no way of defining now, that there is nothing scientifically significant about now.

But what's more important than now? We have books and TV shows and movies about time travel. We have sayings like, all you have is time. And in a way, that's really true. And what you do during the time you have pretty much defines who you are. And what you don't do also defines who you are. And isn't it interesting how we decide

how to use our time? You may tell your child, who wants you to play with him or her, I don't have time. But if your child hurts him or herself and has to go to the hospital, well, suddenly you've got all the time in the world for your child. Stephen Griffith is an expert on time, productivity, and performance,

and he's the author of a book called Time Cleanse, and he's here to talk about how you use your time. Hi, Stephen. Welcome. Hey, it's great to be here, Mike. So when you look at how people use their time, are you impressed? Are we pretty good stewards of our time? Absolutely not. Most people have an adversarial relationship with time. That means they're fighting with it. Many people will say to me, if my schedule allows, if time allows, and I simply ask, which I asked myself many years ago, who's time? And the answer is we are time, but we've been conditioned to believe that time is something outside of us that we're fighting,

that we're working against. And in my philosophy, Mike, it's really simple. I use something called timefulness, where many of us are aware of mindfulness, which is being present in the moment. But timefulness is a form of mindfulness around time where we're present, aware, and intentional with our time, creating a positive relationship with it, where we're focused, we're in charge, we're in control. But ultimately, we can increase the quality, the experience, and the performance with it. When I hear that, though, sometimes I think, well, wait a minute. I don't think I want to be that on all the time. Sometimes I want to use my time to do absolutely nothing. That is awesome. And that's what's called being intentional with your time. And so resting,

recovering is part of life. We're not going to be, your point is well taken. We're not going to be performing all the time, but being conscious, it's time to rest, not rest and work, not be with our kids and work, not multitasking, but being intentional. And you're right. We want to have a balanced and focused life. So when we're intentional with resting, but being intentional. And you're right. We want to have a balanced and focused life. So when we're intentional with resting, we're resting. So you're absolutely right. But I think a lot of the mindset of time management is get more done in less time. So then you can get more done in less time. So you can get more done in less time. And it's a hamster wheel that never stops. And I don't want to get on it.

Yeah, you're right on it. And you shouldn't. The old time management theory is you've got an hour, time is scarce. You've got to shove as much time in there as you can. And it creates pressure. And we know from research, pressure, time pressure reduces everything, our performance, our satisfaction. So we want to be balanced in how we use our time and what we want in our life and being clear what matters and resting matters. But you do also want to get things done in a timely fashion that need to get done. So how do you put this all together? Give me a sense of how this all works. Sure. It's really simple. What we start with is just committing to what's important. And that can be up to two or three things, a personal or professional thing.

And then looking at our lives and doing an inventory where we're spending our time. And once we write all that down, we ask the magical question, is this contributing or contaminating to my happiness and success? Once we've identified which is which, the contaminants, this is how we reclaim our time. We look at the contaminants and say, okay, do I want to keep it? So do I want to be on Facebook for four hours a day? Maybe some people do. No problem. Or do we reject it or change it?

And that's saying, hey, four hours on Facebook is too long. Let me just do an hour a day or change it. And that's saying, hey, four hours on Facebook is too long. Let me just do an hour a day or 30 minutes. Or we just remove it completely. And once we do that, then we reclaim the time. And what we've seen is a minimum of 10 hours. Most people get 20 or more. But once we get it back, Mike, and here's the important part, then we invest it in what matters most. When I say invest it, we calendar the activities that are focused on what we're committed to. And by doing that, we start getting back in charge of our time. And when you say 10 hours, you mean per week?

Per week, yes. The minimum is 10 hours a week. I mean, just in one cleanse activity, the time cleansing of the phone, this is one of my favorite things to help people with. The research shows that we are on our phone about four hours a day and one piece of research showed that we're interacting, tapping, swiping, touching 2,600 times a day on our phone. And so first thing you do is you grayscale the phone. You turn the phone to black and white. All the phones have this feature that stops us from being so charmed and focused by it. The second thing is we turn all the notifications off. Those notifications, the dings, the clings, the flashes are taken away and stealing our time and being present.

And then last, move the apps to the second screen. So when you go to your phone, you're just going to see the home screen, whatever it's an ocean, a mountain, whatever you have it set. And by doing this, it puts us in charge of our phone and using for what we want, not having the phone be used for what it wants of us. That's great advice. One of the things that I have noticed is that, for example, if someone asks me to do something and says, you know, could you do this? It'll only take 15 minutes. And of course, first of all, nothing ever takes 15 minutes, but it isn't so

much the 15 minutes. It's that I have to disengage from what I'm doing. And then when I come back, I have to re-engage. And that's the big time suck because to get back to where I was when I stopped takes a lot of effort where I would never have to have done it if I didn't stop and do that thing for 15 minutes. Mike, that's great insight. Right here, close to my home here is University of California, Irvine. They did a research study a couple of years ago that said when we're multitasking and we switch a task, it can take up to 20 minutes to fully re-engage where we left it off. Yeah, that sounds about right. And I notice it like, cause I work at home and you know, my son will come in and he'll say, can you get me a snack? And I'm happy to get him a snack. But I

notice that it takes me a while to get back to where I was when he walked in and said, can you get me a snack? And that happens to everybody. My son doesn't ask everybody for a snack, but they have their own version of that that really sucks away a lot of getting stuff done. Well, Mike, we've got to protect our time. I mean, this is the whole thing. And so when I work with people setting up their day to perform, one of the chapters in the book is how to set up your day to perform. Here's the thing. We've got to focus what I call work rest intervals. Pick periods of time during the day where you're completely focused.

You shut off all your notifications. Anything that's going to distract you. Close the door if you're working at home. And for that 55 minutes, I like a 55 minute interval. All it is, is complete focus work. And then you rest seven to 10 minutes and repeat. You can do those intervals in shorter versions, but by doing that, we can 2X, 3X, 5X our productivity during that time. And then in the downtime we're resting. So after we do a couple of intervals, then we can take 30 minutes or an hour off. But it's really important today to be hyper-focused for periods of time so we don't allow that massive distraction. Yeah. Well, that's great advice if you can do it. I often, though, find that if I go that long

with no contact with the outside world, I start to wonder, you know, what am I missing? Who's trying to get ahold of me? And, and I, and I will cheat and go look and see if there are any new emails or if anyone's texted me because I start to worry, like, you know, maybe my son's sick at school or so, so, so it's hard to do. I mean, it's easy to say it's hard to do. Well, the other thing is you can do shorter intervals. You can do 25 minutes, 20 minutes. But just the most important part is this, is training yourself to be fully present for periods of time

where you can get the most work done. It's your highest level where you can feel more connected to it. Stephen Griffith is my guest. He is an expert on time, productivity, and performance, and he's author of a book called The Time Cleanse. Since I host a podcast, it's pretty common for me to be asked to recommend a podcast. And I tell people, if you like something you should know, you're going to like The Jordan Harbinger Show. Every episode is a conversation with a fascinating guest. Of course, a lot of podcasts are conversations with guests, but Jordan does it better than most. Recently, he had a

fascinating conversation with a British woman who was recruited and radicalized by ISIS and went to prison for three years. She now works to raise awareness on this issue. It's a great conversation. And he spoke with Dr. Sarah Hill about how taking birth control not only prevents pregnancy, it can influence a woman's partner preferences, career choices, and overall behavior due to the hormonal changes it causes. Apple named The Jordan Harbinger Show one of the best podcasts a few years back, and in a nutshell, the show is aimed at making you a better, more informed critical thinker. Check out The Jordan Harbinger Show. There's so much for you in this podcast. The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

People who listen to Something You Should Know are curious about the world, looking to hear new ideas and perspectives. So I want to tell you about a podcast that is full of new ideas and perspectives, and one I've started listening to called Intelligence Squared. It's the podcast where great minds meet. Listen in for some great talks on science, tech, politics, creativity, wellness, and a lot more. A couple of recent examples, Mustafa Suleiman, the CEO of Microsoft AI, discussing the future of technology. That's pretty cool. And writer, podcaster, and filmmaker John Ronson, discussing the rise of conspiracies and culture wars.

Intelligence Squared is the kind of podcast that gets you thinking a little more openly about the important conversations going on today. Being curious, you're probably just the type of person Intelligence Squared is meant for. Check out Intelligence Squared wherever you get your podcasts. So, Stephen, I know there are a lot of people, and I'm among them, so I'll be spokesperson for them for this question. And that is that it's very hard for me to structure my day very far in advance because every day is different.

Monday is not like Tuesday, is not like Wednesday. Some days I work on the podcast and I'm doing lots of interviews, other days I'm not but it'll change the next week so it's hard to structure the day and so what often happens is the day just happens by itself there's an old saying that structure creates spontaneity no structure creates chaos now those are two extremes so we want to use what works in our personality. If there's a style of open freedom and that works best, you keep doing that. Some people have no structure that need it. So, it's understanding and knowing how you personally work and just

adapting some of these tools for that. What else do we know about time from the research? You seem to have dialed into different parts of the research about time. What else might people be kind of surprised to hear that might help give them some insight? Well, a couple of things. One of the things I talked about is pressure. Okay. There's one research study about two groups of college students doing a math test. They both had adequate time. They both were at the same level for the math. One group, one group was told they didn't have enough time. And that group underperformed about 15% on their result just by feeling they didn't have enough time. Another piece of research that I love is this, that buying time back increases happiness. And let me explain

what that means is that things that are lower return on time activities. So we have our high return on time activities, the things that bring us the most joy, happiness, or financial gain, depending if it's personal, professional, And then we have the lower activities. And the research showed that people that bought back time, had somebody clean their house or mow their lawn or wash their cars, were happier. And for some people that can't maybe buy it back, you can trade services. Oh, I think that's so right. Because anytime, it's for me anyway, that when you hire somebody to do something and you know, okay, now I don't have to mow the lawn because somebody else is going to do it. It's such a freeing feeling. But I want to go back to the two groups that took the math test that you were talking about. Make sure I understand it. The only difference was that one group was simply told that they won't have enough time. That's correct. And it was the feeling, the perceived time pressure that changed their performance. Isn't that interesting that people

would be so influenced and so swayed by just being told you don't have enough time, you then don't have enough time. That just, that's amazing. And it implies that if in fact, other people can simply tell you, you won't have enough time. And so you don't do well, that you could probably tell yourself you don't have enough time and not do well. You know, time excuses are the biggest reason people are not doing, being, or having today. And as I said earlier, you know, if time allows, I don't have enough time. That's all an illusion. Time comes from us.

And one of the biggest parts of this, Mike, is saying no. I mean, this is one of the things that people forget they can say no. And I suggest people saying no frequently to outside demands and requests of time because your no to the outside world is a yes to your hopes, dreams, and your goals, what you want. Well, that's certainly true. And I've always thought it was interesting when people say, you know, if I have enough time or if time allows or I don't have time to do that. What it really means is I don't have time to do that because something else is more important to me. Exactly. I tell a story in the

book of an executive working at home. Son comes in and says, will you come play catch with me? And the executive says, no, no, no, I can't. I've got my work to do right here. Ten minutes later, son comes in, bursts into the office. His foot is cut. It's bleeding. Executive jumps up, grabs his son, takes him to the hospital, gets stitched up. Everything's fine. Question is this. Was it ever about time?

It was never about time. Exactly. And your point that you're speaking to here is exactly on it. And this is the illusion. It's an illusion. And here's the thing. Most people have bought into it. So they're accepting that excuse in their professional relationships or personal relationships. And it's hijacking lives. Well, it's so true because if I'm working and I tell my son, I don't have time to play ball with him because I've got to get this work done. But if he came in and he blood was gushing from his head, I would have the time to take him to the hospital because that now becomes more important than the work I people to do is just to own their time. And there's no shame in saying no, or being clear that you're in charge of it. But one of the things I suggest people that are struggling with this, Mike, is to have them go on a time excuse diet. By doing that for a week,

just for one week, go through your life without making an excuse of time and just make a commitment of doing something or not doing it and see what happens. Because it puts you back in charge and not a victim of time. What about procrastination and time pressure that I think a lot of people use and I've used it where somehow in some cases, seems as if if your back's against the wall if you wait to the last minute that maybe you'll do a better job or or maybe it's just exciting to wait to the last minute but what are your thoughts i think there's a balance of that i'm not in complete disagreement with i think there's a balance but i think a lot of people overestimate their ability with time. And we'll get into a situation where there's too much pressure, right? Like it's being in the flow state where there's

just enough pressure to motivate you to get you going. But but not too much. And so a lot of people will wait to the very last minute, there's a couple things that happen, there's excitement, there's adrenaline, there's cortisol, so there's a feeling of aliveness. But if we allow that to be too tight of a timetable, then our work product, then our end result is going to be affected. And one of the things that I quote in the book that I love, it's from Mel Robbins, it's her technique of the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. So there's something you need to do and you're kind of delaying. She says, count back from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And by the time you get to one, start doing it. It's a cool little technique that actually works. Wait, say it again. What?

So, yeah. So her technique is this. So there's something that you need to do, right? You're going to go take the trash out or you need to get out of bed is to train yourself to just use your internal time, your, your countdown. And her technique is just counting down from five, five, four, three, two, one. And by doing that and training yourself to get in that, that process, it helps you, you know, start doing things now. It's, it's, it's one of those techniques. When I heard it, I was like, wow, that's not going to work. I started doing it. I started coaching people on it.

It works. One technique I heard someone recommend that I try to do, because I really like this idea, is that if you have something to do that's going to take less than two minutes, just do it. Just do it now, rather than put it on your list and carry that weight around of knowing you have this one little thing to do. Just get it done and get it over with and do it now. I love that. I love that technique and suggestion. I agree with you as long as you don't have five of those or 10 of those in a row. But one of the things that fascinates me, and it just happened yesterday, that so I had to get my tax stuff ready for the tax guy.

And I hate doing that. And so I've been thinking about it for weeks. And then I finished it yesterday. And it feels so great. Why didn't I do it two weeks ago and not have to dread it for two weeks? But I guess it's just human, or maybe it's just me. But I suspect a lot of people are like that. That they drag around this stuff that they have to do rather than get to it.

Well, we're seeking safety and comfort. And that's our default mechanism. And if we understand that, wow, if I can be uncomfortable, and I can be uncomfortable frequently, I'm going to really accelerate my performance and the things that I want in my life. So it's just really understanding that that's what we're seeking. We're seeking safety and comfort. But how is not doing my taxes giving me safety or comfort? It is in the moment. You're saying, oh man, that sucks. I got to do it. I'm going to put it off. And so when you put it off, that's giving you more comfort right now that you don't

have to do it. I see. But why can't I remember how good it felt last year when I got it done? Because it's because it goes back to the default of the brain. And so you got to practice being more uncomfortable. Well, it's a topic I spend a lot of time thinking about. Time. How much time I've got.'s a topic I spend a lot of time thinking about. Time, how much time I've got, how much time I spend doing what, how much time I leave for other things.

And it's interesting to hear your take on time. Well, I think the last thing I'll finish up with is to realize time comes from you. You're in charge of it, own it, and it's your time to make your move. There's never a better time than right now to go for what you want. As far as your listeners, I have a couple offers for them. One is a free download of my 10 top tips on performance and getting your time back. And that's at stephengriffith.com forward slash something connected to you. And then people that order my book, The Time Cleanse, really something special is a free masterclass. You get a free masterclass, eight videos that take you step by step through the time cleanse process. And you get that if you order the book. And that link that he just gave

is also in the show notes. Stephen Griffith has been my guest. Again, the book is called Time Cleanse. Thanks for being here, Stephen. Mike, it was my pleasure. Hey, everyone. Join me, Megan Rinks. And me, Melissa Demonts, for Don't Blame Me, But Am I Wrong? Each week, we deliver four fun-filled shows. In Don't Blame Me, we tackle our listeners' dilemmas with hilariously honest advice. Then we have But Am I Wrong?, which is for the listeners that didn't take our advice.

Plus, we share our hot takes on current events. Then tune in to see you next Tuesday for our Lister poll results from But Am I Wrong. And finally, wrap up your week with Fisting Friday, where we catch up and talk all things pop culture. Listen to Don't Blame Me, But Am I Wrong on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Do you love Disney? Then you are going to love our hit podcast, Disney Countdown. I'm Megan, the Magical Millennial. And I'm the Dapper Danielle.

On every episode of our fun and family-friendly show, we count down our top 10 lists of all things Disney. There is nothing we don't cover. We are famous for rabbit holes, Disney themed games, and fun facts you didn't know you needed, but you definitely need in your life. So if you're looking for a healthy dose of Disney magic, check out Disney Countdown wherever you get your podcasts. Well over 60% of households in the U.S. have at least one dog or cat. And while we love our pets, we don't always do right by them.

Maybe because we just can't resist spoiling our pets, or maybe it's because we think we're doing the right thing when in fact we're not. The unintended consequences of this are higher vet bills and a potentially shorter lifespan for our pets. Veterinarian Dr. Karen Halligan is author of the book, Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know, Prescriptions for Happy Healthy Cats and Dogs. And she joins me to share some of her expert advice based on what she knows and what she sees in her practice. Hi, Doctor. So what are some of the big things that we pet owners do that you as a veterinarian wish we wouldn't?

One of the big things they're doing is they're feeding human food to their cats and dogs. And that's very bad for cats and dogs because their systems are different than ours. Some of the big ones I say, no on bones, no on cheese, chocolate is bad, grapes and raisins cause kidney failure. Believe it or not, people will try to give their pet coffee and alcohol. And I've had to tell people it's not good for your pet. So I think that the trend to humanize our pets sometimes is hurting them. We try to love them with food, and that's bad for them. I've also heard that because people tend to like variety in the food

they eat, we think that our pets will like variety in their food, but that's not only not true, but also not a good idea. Right. Pets have, dogs have 1,700 taste buds, cats have about 450, humans have 9,000 taste buds. Food should be used just to maintain their normal body weight and to get adequate nutrition. Again, not to love them. And sometimes we do it because we feel guilty we're not spending enough time with them, but that actually can hurt the pets. My cats have eaten the same diet for seven years. They run to their bowl every morning and they've had no health problems. And I imagine if you start giving your pet a lot of variety, they'll start wanting a lot of variety.

My cats, I mean, they literally run to the bowl. They're starving. Put the food down, they eat it up, and we're done. And then we go on to playing and having fun. And we don't make food a big focus of their day. How often do you think you should feed your dog? I've heard people say, you know, oh, I only feed my dog once a day, but I've heard that that's more for the owner's convenience than anything that's good for the dog.

You should feed them twice a day, because if you feed them only once a day, then they can have stomach acid build up as the day goes on. I definitely believe in a twice a day feeding and measured amounts. It's controlled feeding. You need to know exactly how much your cat and dog is eating. I know you're a big believer in spaying and neutering because of the pet overpopulation problem, but do you still find that pet owners are reluctant to spay or neuter their animal? Yes. A lot of male pet owners cringe when I tell them that, and I've had pet owners say, well, I wouldn't neuter my son.

Why should I neuter my dog? And the fact of the matter is, as much as we want to think of them as humans with four legs and fur, they're not. And since we've domesticated them, the safest and healthiest thing for them is to spay and neuter. 90% of all dogs and cats hit by cars are unneutered boys trying to, you know, chase the female they can smell that's in heat two miles away. So it's really, really important from a health standpoint

or behavioral standpoint to neuter your pets. And they actually, I had a chocolate lab for 13 years. I had a pacemaker put in when he was 12, and I neutered him, and I noticed he just calmed down. He didn't think about, you know, trying to find a female, and he was happier. Overall, much, much happier once I neutered him. Sure.

Well, that makes sense because that drive to mate is a pretty strong drive. It gets them into a lot of trouble. And dogs that are unneutered have a shortened lifespan. We've done statistics to prove that. One thing I've always wondered about is dental health. I mean, animals, dogs in the wild don't brush their teeth, but it seems like maybe it would be a good idea just because, you know, dogs often have really bad breath and you look at their teeth and they don't look so great. So what's the deal on canine and feline dental health?

Well, you know, oral disease is the number one health problem diagnosed in cats and dogs. And statistically, the American Veterinary Dental Society revealed that 80% of dogs and 70% of cats have some form of gum disease by the time they're three. And the reason that is, is they have teeth just like ours, baby teeth, fallout, permanent adult set of teeth. If you don't take care of their teeth, it will absolutely shorten their lifespan. It's just like when you don't brush your teeth for a couple of days, if you're camping, your teeth feel awful. Imagine years of not brushing your teeth. Well, what about hard, dry food and rawhide bones and those kind of things? I've been led to believe that that's how a dog cleans its teeth. It doesn't do the job.

It helps, but you need to brush their teeth at least every other day to make a difference. And it's a lot easier than people think. I know people look at me like I'm crazy, but it's really not that difficult once you get them into the routine. So the top things people should do if they want to keep their pet healthy and save on their vet bills are what? Well, the top thing, the top five, no table scraps, don't let your pet get fat, take care of their teeth, do an at-home physical exam once a week, and stay and neuter your pet. Those are like the top five. What do you think of those, what are they, microchips that they inject, you know, to keep track of your dog or cat if it gets lost? What do you think of those?

Oh, I'm a big proponent of microchipping. I was in New Orleans rescuing dogs, and none of the dogs or cats were chipped. And most of them did not have a collar that had a legible form of ID. So the chance of us reuniting that pet with its owner was very slim. The microchipping, it's just like a shot. It takes two seconds. I did my cats immediately, and it's a great form of permanent ID so that if your pet gets out or gets lost, we can scan them.

A number comes up that's registered to you in a database, and we can call you and get your pet back to you immediately. I know that a lot of dog owners, and I suspect cat owners also, wrestle with the idea of, you know, they're going to take a trip, go on vacation. Should they bring their dog or cat? Or is that experience of flying on the plane just too traumatic and not worth it? What do you think? Well, every year, dogs and cats die from traveling in cargo.

Yeah, so even though it's the fastest way to travel your pet, it is also the most dangerous. So, yeah, I recommend if you can't drive with them and take them, I think it's safer for them to stay at home. What about pet life expectancy? Has that changed? Is it going up? Yes, that's the thing. Pets are living longer.

Why? Because anything you can have done to yourself, you can have done on a pet nap. You can have open heart surgery, kidney transplants, orthopedic surgery, knee replacements. But the problem with that is that costs can be astronomical, sometimes in the tens of thousands. And so because the pets are living longer and we can offer better medicine, what's happening, sometimes it becomes cost prohibitive. And so it's definitely worth looking into health insurance for your pet. If you have a type of pet owner that would spend any amount of money to save their life,

definitely look into getting pet insurance. Yeah, it is amazing on one hand how much money some people are willing to spend on an older pet to prolong their life for probably not a whole long time. And yet, on the other hand, it is kind of sad when even younger pets have to be put to sleep because the owner cannot afford or doesn't want to pay for the care. Financial euthanasia, which is what you're talking about, happens all over the country every single day.

I see it, the typical thing I'm seeing is pet owner will get a puppy, won't vaccinate it, it will get parvoenteritis, which is a very serious, often fatal disease in puppies. Completely preventable with vaccine.

They'll come in, the bill is $5,000, and we'll euthanize the pet. And that's what's really tragic because it was preventable. And I think sometimes people don't understand how important simple things are like vaccines. You mentioned something about doing a weekly inspection, a weekly check of your pet for trouble. Why do you think that's so important? Sometimes people bring the pet in and it's too far gone and we can't save it. If they had come in like a week earlier, we could have saved it. So it's really important because animals in the wild, they would mask signs of illness, right? Because, you know, fittest of this survival of the fittest. And so if you get to know your

pet and what's normal by doing a little quickie exam once a week, and you pick up something early, you're going to save money on your vet bills, and chances are we're going to be able to save your pet. So what are you looking for? Because even people who would be willing to do that wouldn't, I don't think, really know, what am I looking out looking out for here well you've got to do it systematically and you start at the head work your way to the tail and you just first you've got to look and see what your pets eyes normally look like what are the ears smelling look like is there bad breath any lumps or bumps the big thing is you know the lymph nodes in your throat when the doctor

goes and they touch underneath your chin if you're sick? Dogs and cats have those, and that's the first sign of cancer in a dog, their lymph nodes will get big. And by just feeling that and noticing, oh my gosh, there's a little bump there. You take them into the vet and we can save a lot of animals with cancer now if we catch it early. What about advances in veterinary medicine? You don't hear a lot about that, but I imagine since there are always advances in human medicine, there must be advances in animal medicine as well. Huge advances, especially with medication, too, because we have a lot more medication that's available to us to use on cats and dogs than we've ever had.

And I think it's just going to continue to improve. But I can honestly say MRIs and CAT scans are routine. You mentioned one of your tips for people is to not let their dog or cat get overweight, but I've heard that that's a real problem, that people do allow their pets to get overweight. 40% of pets are overweight or obese, and that will definitely shorten your lifespan. The statistics are that pets that are lean live 15% longer than pets that are overweight. And that's 100% in your control, unless, of course, they can open the refrigerator, right, and make themselves a ham sandwich, which hopefully they can't.

You can control their weight. It's just called tough love, being disciplined with your pet. Well, there's the advice, and it's pretty plain and simple if people want to follow it. Veterinarian Dr. Karen Halligan has been my guest. She's author of the book, Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know, Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs. There is a link to her book in the show notes. You would think that online dating would be a pretty good way to meet people because those online dating sites rely on a lot of personal data to find your compatible partner. But research suggests it might actually make it harder to find your soulmate. A team of scientists analyzed the formulas that are used in pairing up profiles and found a lot of flaws.

They say the algorithms are missing the key component of chemistry that is virtually impossible to detect until you're face-to-face. Characteristics that singles seek out online are often very different than what creates a real connection in person. The study also found that bigger dating pools could actually decrease the odds you'll find a match. It can quickly become so overwhelming to review all your potential mates that it takes on more of a shopping vibe. Online dating can be a great way to meet new people, but your best bet is to take it offline as soon as possible and move on if it's not a match. And that is something you should know. Someone asked me recently, why do you and other podcasters always seem to ask over and over again for people to leave ratings and reviews? Why? Why do you do that? And it's not just an ego-driven request,

although it is fun to read the reviews, but it actually helps the podcast. It figures into the algorithms that Apple Podcasts and the other podcast platforms use to chart the podcast and makes us more visible. So it really helps to support the podcast if you would leave a rating and review. I'm Mike Carruthers. Thanks for listening today to Something You Should Know. Welcome to the small town of Chinook, where faith runs deep and secrets run deeper.

In this new thriller, religion and crime collide when a gruesome murder rocks the isolated Montana community. Everyone is quick to point their fingers at a drug-addicted teenager, but local deputy Ruth Vogel isn't convinced. She suspects connections to a powerful religious group. Enter federal agent V.B. Loro, who has been investigating a local church for possible criminal activity. The pair form an unlikely partnership to catch the killer, unearthing secrets that leave Ruth torn between her duty to the law, her religious convictions, and her very own family. But something more sinister than murder is afoot, and someone is watching Ruth.

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