240: Being a Pet Detective with Arden Moore
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Summary:
Do you see yourself as an investigator? What about an educator and writer? We think you should, and Arden Moore agrees. Arden has a lifetime of not only educating but also communicating difficult topics, and encourages us to take those seriously. She shares how to ask good questions, and how the right question can save you time. She also gives tips on writing and the importance of self-editing what we create.
Topics on this episode:
Asking good questions
Think like a first responder
Your role as an educator
Getting better at writing
Main take away: As an educator, it's ok to admit when you don't know something. Research the topic and come back with a better answer.
About our guest:
Arden grew up in a Brady Bunch-like family in a town called Crown Point located near Chicago in Northwest Indiana.
During her first year in high school, she cajoled the editor of the local weekly newspaper into hiring her to be a sports writer. As a corn-fed Hoosier, she valued her Midwest roots, but knew she needed to experience other places. Her insatiable curiosity led to spending the next 20 years chasing stories as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers in Indiana and Florida. This is where Arden honed her amazing interviewing and writing skills!
From there, she entered the publishing world at the family-owned Rodale Press. At Rodale, her “day job” was senior health writer for the book division, but she also moonlighted as a writer for their new magazine called Pets: Part of the Family.
That is where Arden realized that she could tap her love of writing and interviewing to help people become healthier, and to tout the power of her other lifelong passion, pets. Pets and people — that’s what Arden is all about.
Fast forward to today, and Arden has done just that, in her trademark edu-taining style. Today, Arden happily shares her home in Dallas with her wife, Julie, and their furry Brady Bunch of three cats, three dogs and an overworked vacuum cleaner.
Links:
American kennel club: https://www.akc.org
Cat Fancier Association: https://www.cfa.org
American Vet Medical Association: https://www.avma.org
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, people, cat, dog, pet sitters, pet sitter, arden, home, talk, veterinarians, educating, writing, client, walk, first responder, words, questions, learn, magazine, called
SPEAKERS
Collin Funkhouser, Collin, Arden Moore
Collin 00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan. I'm Collin. And this is Pet Sitter confessional, and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to you by time to pet and pet perennials. You might not see yourself like this, but you want to 100% are an investigator, an educator, as a communicator. As a pet sitter, we get to ask really good questions every single time we are working with a client or even hiring somebody. We're also in the business of educating our clients on proper pet care on what it means to be a good pet parent. And we do all that through our communication, and our writing skills. Today, we're really excited to have Arden more on the show to talk about her lifetime of experience, helping people care for their pets better and doing it in an interesting way. Let's get started.
Arden Moore 01:10
Well, first of all applause up to you, Collin and Meghan and the whole team at petsitter. confessional, and I appreciate having the chance to be on your podcast. My last name is more I think that's gonna say it all during our talk. I have done many things I jokingly say I wear a lot of collars in the in the pet world. And for a lot of the folks, I have a great appreciation for professional pet sitters. I work closely with them. And I think it's very important to know when to pivot, and when to keep growing and going. What I did 20 years ago, I'm glad I have expanded or chose other paths. So I don't know how else to explain it. But people know me as America's pet health and safety coach, because I'm very passionate about teaching veterinary approved pet first aid in a fun way. And secondly, like you I'm comfortable behind the microphone. I was a reporter for daily newspapers for 20 years. And now I host a podcast called Oh behave on pet life radio. It's been on the air since oh seven Cullen thing is a long time. And we just realized the light bulb went on my producer Mark winner. Da we are the longest continuous running pet podcast on the planet. Wow. So yeah, I didn't pop a single pee. A lot of practice. Yeah. So I love to write. I love to interview people. I love to save lives for pets. I have done a lot of study and cat and dog behavior. And I am a fear free, pet Certified Professional. I'm one of their national speakers. So I guess you could say Arden more is a student and a teacher in doing what she can to do the best for pets and their people.
Collin 03:15
Absolutely love that. And I also love your kind of non traditional way you got into the pet care industry. So you started out as as a journalist actually. What What was it about you that drew you to being a journalist and writing in that way?
Arden Moore 03:31
I've always had a natural curiosity. My My dad used to say you stop saying why? Why dad? Why guess what happens? So I think being a curious kid. And in high school with a name like Arden. You don't know if I'm a man or a woman a kid. You know, you didn't know my gender on a byline by Ardmore. And I love sports. I brazenly walked into the Lake County star, which is in Crown Point, Indiana. As a I think I was 16 years old. And I convince them to hire me to be their sports writer for their weekly newspaper. So I worked at the high school paper Crownpoint High School Bulldogs who it was called the Inklings like an inkling of an idea. So I was writing, learning how to be a good writer and a reporter. I had an I had an awesome journalism teacher. Shout out to Janet Steen. She's around still she's from Elkhart, Indiana. She's my Facebook friend. She helped me get my start. And so I'm working at the high school newspaper and the weekly newspaper in the town. And when the byline would go on the sports section, it would say by Ardmore, but it would be hilarious because I'm not going to say all day, um, but I'm old, I would come to the pressbox with my little credentials, and they said no, no, no, no that that seats for art and more for the Lake County star. We're waiting for him to get here. Definitely, so, but I got to learn really well, and I love sports. And I asked a lot of questions. And I try to keep my ears open for the answers, which is another art in writing is to listen. So I started humbly as a high school sports writer. And from there I went to Purdue University, I worked full time while I went to college full time. And I had the I left home when I was a teen, fun step mom story which will not go on the air. But I just, instead of having a pity party, I said I'm going to do something. And so working full time and going to college full time I actually graduated in four years. And the day I graduated, the daily newspaper in my area, the post Tribune offered me a full time job. So I was very fortunate. And then I worked there for many years. And then I went to the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. It's a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper in South Florida. And I work there from nine years, I covered everything from Super Bowls, serial killers, space shuttles, I got to expose a lot of things. And I was an assistant sports writer editor for a while. And then I left and became a senior writer at Rodale Press, and people like love, while Rodale Press in its heyday, was known for Prevention Magazine, Men's Health, bicycling all these amazing magazines and books. And so I worked in the book division, but I moonlighted as a magazine writer for them. And I, that's when they started a magazine. It was called pets, part of the family. And I think that's where I've always grown up with pets. I grew up in a lake, backyard lake was called Hermit's Lake, and Crown Point, Indiana. We had Corky the cat crackers, the dog, Pepe the dog, and quack quack though those seasonal duck that would visit us. And I always grew up with animals, I always loved to write. And so when this magazine started, I was in. And after that, I left and became self employed on my own choice. Because back in 2000, all the all the sites were needing people to fill their content. We're talking like Johns Hopkins, I did the A to Z, Johns Hopkins medical thing, getting paid like five figures. It was crazy. And yeah, back in the day when they had money. And so I don't know what happened. But I said, I don't think I need the W two world. So ever since then, I have been 22 years now as my own boss, I guess, but it isn't your own boss, because you have more bosses. But I just evolved. And I realized I'm self disciplined. And I like to write about a lot of topics. And I do my best to find the best sources to get the best information. With apologies to Dr. Google. Sorry, he's not on my radar.
Collin 08:45
Well, that is that is a really good point as far as where to go for good information and staying on top of things. There's a lot out there. And as pet sitters and dog walkers, we have pet parents that look to us for for resources or for as information hubs. Where do you like to go for reliable information whenever you have questions that come your way?
Arden Moore 09:08
Well, I also respect the pet sitters that I see on their websites. They have very good blogs with great information, and they cite the sources. And, for example, I think I'm a big fan of some of these following sources. If you're looking for great information about cat health, about cat behavior, please go to Cat vets.com Cat vets.com is run by the American Association of feline practitioners. Xu that's our friggin mouthful, Cullen. These are board certified veterinarians in feline medicine. So you can't get any better than that. People like Dr. Elizabeth Koller and who's one of my personal mentors. She is wonderful. So for the folks that are doing blogs, the pet sitters out there At checkout cat pets.com, they encourage you to be able to use some of their information, of course, credit them put a little URL for them. Another great source, fear free, happy homes. This is the website that has pre graphics, free articles, three videos, all Veterinary and animal behavior approved. And it's run by the fear free pets. Many of you know Dr. Marty Becker is is the one that is the genius behind fear free pets. And I'm so happy because there's different modules for training tracks, and the latest one now, it's a long time coming is the one for folks that are professional pet sitters. So please check that out. get certified as a bear free pet professional in in pet sitting in your your can't go wrong. The the American Kennel Club, and the cat fancier Association, AKC and CFA. Those two are great sites two that have good solid information. And they also tell you a lot about specific breeds. So those are the some of the sites I might go to some specialty sites. But I don't go to Joe Bob Billy's we think we're event site calm. Yeah, I also the other issue is, be careful. I learned this a long time ago from great editors, that if your mother tells you she loves you, check it out. And it sounds disrespectful. But it really isn't. What it means is if an information sounds too good to be true, or it's from a friend, but the friend doesn't have credentials, do your homework, make sure that the information is solid. Whenever there's a study mentioned, find out how many pets were in the study. I'm not kidding years ago, there was a study about cat litter, dust, and immediate took it and went crazy in involved like 10 cats in one home. And the home was belong to a person whose brother was trying to create the cat litter.
12:26
Follow the money.
Arden Moore 12:27
I actually asked the right questions, and convinced my editor and we did a story that said this is not a legitimate study. And there's some you know, motivations other other than genuine involved. So pay attention to the studies, ask questions. Make sure the person may be board certified in a specialty area. If I'm going to do a story on cancer and dogs or cats, I want to talk to a Veterinary Oncologist. And I also want to talk to someone that deals with grief because of the path passes on. And I may talk to a general practice veterinarian who can share a story of maybe success with the permission of the pet parent. So you get layers. So you get the latest research, maybe from a Cornell or a TAS or approved veterinary school and oncology. But then you also bring it home to help relate oh my gosh, my dog just got diagnosed with cancer, what do I do? And you know, talk to people and then what do you do if something happens where the path passes on? And how do you deal with grief? So I think about it as layering. I don't know Does that make sense? Collin? It does.
Collin 13:49
It does different perspectives, different sources and different applications to both yourself and the reader to get a full stack of the story and to get get a lot of depth to because if you just interview the researcher, it's not gonna be easy to apply a lot of the stats and numbers. Okay, but when you start being like okay, this is where the boots hit the ground is in the grief the actual impact, you can start making more connections that way. Have you heard of time to pet player from acting critter sitters has this to say
14:19
time to pet has honestly revolutionized how we do business. My sitters can work much more independently because they have ongoing access to customer and pet information without relying on me. I save hours upon hours of administrative time on billing, processing payments and generating paychecks.
Collin 14:35
If you are looking for new pet selling software and start the new year on a new foot, give time to pet a try. Listeners of our show can save 50% off your first three months by visiting time to pet.com/confessional. One thing that I know you're really good at is asking really good questions because at the foundation of that is asking good questions because you're not an expert in all of those and we're not experts in everything. So what To you, how do you formulate those questions? How do you start picking away to start getting the information that you want? Because we ask questions, a lot of time
Arden Moore 15:07
you're in a meet and greet with a client. And they say they have two dogs and a cat. And you see three dogs and two cats. Like, oh, I say the first rule is, is to do your homework before you ask your first question. Find out a little bit about the person. If you're doing it, let's do it in two ways. Let's do a meet and greet. And an article. So in a meet and greet, you are acting like a pet detective, which is like being a journalist, you're looking you're listening. You're doing everything you can to gather clues about this home environment. You know, what's the body language you see in that dog or cat? I know you guys could write books on this, how wacky dirty or crazy things are in that house, that may may cause an injury, or an illness to a dog or a cat? Is the litter box like overflowing? I mean, so you and you have to use discretion in tact. So a technique that we use as reporters is to ask rhetorical questions. So how do you how do you think about the letterbox so your? What's your thoughts on that? You know, it's like, well, yeah, I just don't have time to clean it. It's I know, my cat hates it, you know? Yeah, I'm sure that in one hour, the cat from the cat standpoint, instead of accusing and, and, and and berating someone, maybe you can say I, there's a lot of conditions that that can happen to a cat's respiratory system, or their plumbing. And I know you don't want to pay high veterinary bills. Sounds like it looks like you really love fluffy. And so you can guide someone as a pet sitter, to help them have more hygiene habits for their pet. Come on, you've probably walked into a house where the litter box is just like, Oh, no.
Collin 17:11
Yeah, well, or either either the conditions aren't okay, or you start picking up on the owner, the way they're bought their body languages and the tone of their voice, they might not really care about the cat, and they feel like the cat's a burden, or they they're not that interested in something. So you're reading about the body language of the animal and also the owner as well to see how interested are they in this? Are they are they invested in in the proper care and maintenance of this pet that they brought into their home? Are they just going to ignore you and fly off and do other things?
Arden Moore 17:42
Right, but the motivation may be the pocketbook that the cat may have some expensive bills, or you may not have friends over because your house smells like a toilet. But you can't say that word. So number one, so from the meet and greet, I think it's nice to establish eye contact to when you're asking a question, avoid run on questions with lots of data, data, data data, because the person trying to feel that it's like an outfielder and somebody just hit a screaming shot from home plate atcha. And then somebody else's juggling next to they can't focus. They can't figure out what question they asked. So clean, clean, short questions. Always help and be polite. And say the person's name and say things that bring you and I together. Rather than me telling you how I'm going to do this. It's, hey, sounds like you're going to have a great vacation. I know we've all been wanting a great vacation so long. And it sounds like you really want to make sure that your cat or dog is really cared for a while you're gone. So let's talk about what we all can do together to make this happen. Yeah. What do you think about that approach?
Collin 19:02
Yeah, the we language is really important, because you're right, that immediately gets you on their side. We're talking we're in this together. I'm a resource. I'm helping you. Now you help me help you. And we can work together on this.
Arden Moore 19:16
Yes, exactly. So in the meet and greet, it's a we, in first aid when I'm at a pet emergency situation. People love their pets. I'm going to save 99% do. Maybe I'm optimist. But when something happens to a pet who is in pain and the person starts to freak out, you need to say things as I teach my students is I'm trained in pet first aid. I'm here to help you. You go to the car if you would, and get out of blanket would you call your veterinarian? Um, like if your dog got hit by a car. I'm going to stabilize What's your dog's name? You know, so you you don't ever say that question. Can I help you? When you ask something like that? Can I do something to someone, when someone's emotionally crippled, they're gonna fly off the handle. But if you say quickly, hey, I'm trained in first aid, I'm here to help you, then you can get an action plan.
Collin 20:16
Yeah, it's amazing how the first words out of our mouth really do set the tone for a lot that's going to follow. And especially in those emergency situations, the expected behavior that we want somebody to have, it really does build that relationship and set those expectations pretty quickly.
Arden Moore 20:32
Because when I teach my classes, It's Pet first aid for you. And I also teach an instructor training program under prepaid health. I teach people I give everybody in my class permission to freak out later. And that is a big gift for you all as pet sitters. Because you walk in your frontline workers come on, you guys come into a house. And maybe the lamp broke in there, and there's shards of a light bulb in the mouth of a basset hound. If you remind yourselves that you have permission to freak out later, and you tap into your, let's think like a first responder, look, listen, safely, touch, smell, and be able to approach the animal safely, you're going to do so much better for you and for that pet. And then when things have stabilized in the pet is at the vet, freak out, please, because we need to win that adrenaline has finally drained. So I think pet sitters walk in, listen to that dog and the other side of the door. You know, pay attention to those cues. I've done a lot of presentations at petsitter International and naps. And that's that's a big deal. You guys are walking into a home, and the person is not there anymore. And the dog is like I met you one time, dude. Why are you in my house? So I hats off to you. But gather the clues. Be in the present moment. Freak out later. And watch what and how you say anything to a dog or cat because they smell our emotional states. Things like, Hey, I'm here for you. Gotcha. No baby talk. No apologies. No tough guy. You will be amazed at how much better you will be able to handle that dog or cat.
Collin 22:33
It's interesting to hear you talk about pet first aid and CPR from the mental and emotional side as opposed.
Arden Moore 22:41
Big, that's huge. That is why you can handle a fractious cat or a dog. You know and and I've been very blessed because I get to work with a team of 12 veterinarians that are got like Vanna White initials after their name their board certified in ER critical care internal feline medicine house called vets. And I keep learning from them. But they have taught me repeatedly do not undersell the mental game, your state of mind in a pet emergency. I show everybody how to wrap a wound and splint and do CPR and all the physical mechanics. But if you don't have that mental part, you're not going to be as successful.
Collin 23:32
Yeah, because you mentioned we come into a home and we have no idea what is on the other side of that door. And we have to take that seriously. I think many times I know I can become blase about it. It's just another day, I'm just opening up the door. But if I am so far out in left field that I see see something that you know the dog is eating something that's supposed to or is lying motionless on the floor, I've got to be able to have some mental muscles to pull myself back together and hold myself ready. What are some ways we can start building that and build some of that resiliency?
Arden Moore 24:06
I think that's you, as we said, you are a first responder. And sometimes the response is something benign like feeding the cat and walking the dog. And sometimes the sponsor is oh has happened inside the home. So thinking like a first responder, as I've learned from the paramedics, firefighters, doctors, nurses, veterinarians and vet techs that I teach in my classes, they all do the same thing in which I'm going to share with all of you, you need to take a deep breath in and let it out when you open that door. Why are you doing that? That gets you into the present moment. You're not thinking about what has happened. You shouldn't be thinking about your next visit. You should be in as my cat Casey likes to say that me now. You have to be in the present moment. And one of the quickest ways to get in the present moment first. fighters do. And let it out the deep breath. The second thing, you need to do a quick check of your surroundings, we call it in the first responder world, a 360. So you do do you look forward, left, right, up, down and definitely behind you. Because you can be prepared for any of those that might be coming your way. Maybe as you said earlier, the dog is on like, on the on the living room rug still, because there's a burglar in your client's house. So I always even in my own house, and I come in with groceries, silly, but it's ingrained in me now I do a 360. That's the end, then your approach, running screaming high pitched voices, you know, those all trigger fight or flight in a dog or a cat. And so calmness saying the pet's name, hey, I'm here, you know, deliberate motions, not Wow, all over the place. Those are just just, they seem little, but they can do so much.
Collin 26:13
That really, really they can. And it's it's kind of hard sometimes to bring ourselves under that control. But I think for me, what really helps is having practiced as you mentioned, the mechanics of the other stuff, I'm better able to keep my emotions under control whenever I have practiced the bandage 10,000 times, so I don't even have
Arden Moore 26:31
to think about it. Right. Right. And, and when you when you are doing anything, like feeding the pet, or wrapping a wound, talk out loud, because it's also your your inner voice is being a cheerleader, if your inner voices is motivating you, and the dog or cat is hearing a competent human that they want to hear. And and so, you know, I've heard the jokes that you all have used all the time. Well, kkona, when would the can opener be if you were a can opener, because you all don't know if you have secret webcams being zoomed on you in the kitchen, or even at hopefully not the bathroom. So I know a lot of my friends who are pet sitters are saying, Oh, we talk out loud all the time have conversations with the dog or cat when we're trying to find something we need to use to provide the care for the fan.
Collin 27:27
Or not. No, absolutely. You're totally right. I do it. Yeah, cuz it's a one if I'm being watched, I want them to know what my actions are, because they just be watching this silent movie of me rummaging through cabinets. And I need to let them know I'm looking for a can opener. And I think to as you mentioned, it does build our confidence. I had a very real moment. Last week, I was walking to dogs, it was very late at night. And it was in a part of town that has no streetlights. And right, I started to get a little freaked out about some cars that were driving around and some people that were walking, so I just started talking to the dogs out loud. And it was it was it was amazing the difference that that made just in my self confidence and help bringing me back down and calming me back down. So so I could think more level headed, I'm sure again, the neighbors probably thought I was crazy. But I didn't care at that time.
Arden Moore 28:16
You're talking to a bouncer and Buddy, and they hear their names. And you're being confident, you're also building a relationship with them. And I think when you're in a house, and you're feeding the pets, and you know you have only so much time talking to him, is is a good thing because you're building a relationship. And so those those are things so I don't know if I got off the track, but be a pet detective, be in the present moment, have permission to freak out later. Those are some of the skill sets that apply to so many aspects of our lives. I think I'm a better wife because of this, you know, we're never too old to learn. And that's the other thing. Many folks that have become professional pet sitters. I interview them for the pet sitter magazine that naps puts out the digital magazine, I am floored by some of the different backgrounds and now they're doing their passion career. And that is petsitting. You know, we're talking people that worked in labs, people that may be bankers, people that were real estate agents, people that were who knows they come from all walks of life. And my message is don't give up the skill set you got from those other occupations, because you're going to be surprised how they apply in your new vocation, which is the vocation of passion, which is petsitting. Yeah,
Collin 29:45
that's, you know, we tend to think a lot of these are not transferable skills, or you think oh, I don't have any skills in that but that's told we have applicable applicable skills that can be applied in it's kind of like translating your CV from one to to another and just using different words, but it's all applicable. And there's so many things that carry over.
Arden Moore 30:06
And also know what you're good at and know where you need help. I know that I'm good with words, I know I love to interview people I know I'm, I'm good at not freaking out if the pet is injured, I've done CPR on animals, I've treated wounds, those things don't bother me. I do. I'm not a numbers gal when it comes to reconciling my checking account, or making my QuickBooks maybe win award of the month because it's so perfect. Nope, that's not my that's not my wheelhouse. So what do I do? I have a business manager. Her name is Aaron Aaron Fenstermaker. She has amazing with numbers. She has kept me grounded. And so my advice to all of us is find out what you really are good at, and find somebody that you can deal team up with, that may come up some of the areas that you're you're not so good at. And so it's like having an opposite, but it's a good opposite. So I don't know what the situation with Megan and you count, but I'm sure there's some strength and weaknesses you have as a couple. And as I've co hosting on the podcast. And if you recognize where one has a strength and the other is it has a strength, and it makes you
Collin 31:26
better. It really does. And yeah, we are total polar opposites in many cases with our strengths and our weaknesses. And it takes a lot of humility as a person to realize that you don't have strengths in a certain area. Because especially as small business owners and entrepreneurs, we feel like we have to be the ones doing everything all of the time. And we've got to know it.
Arden Moore 31:46
Well, during COVID, I was amazed by the number of professional pet sitter owners, who suddenly learned how to do their books, who suddenly learned a new application through download taking client and scheduling and all the stuff that we would stash in the corner and say someday we'll get to it. Well COVID made many pet sitters kit that Sunday button is now and I think that makes them stronger business people. And I do know a lot of the organization's psi naps and others, I have seen a boost in the business side of helping pet sitters, and you know, more webinars and things like that, or featuring people that aren't just talking about the behavior of a pet, or how to do a dog walk, they're they're really getting into things like you know, how do you reconcile your books, what happens when COVID hits, and you have to file for some a grant, and things like that. So I'm really proud of the industry. It's it's evolving, and I think COVID I'm guess I'm a full glass kind of gal looking at it. It's made us stronger, as as independent business people. And and I think that this is going to make the petsitting industry even stronger. I couldn't
Collin 33:13
agree more. It was it was amazing to see the number of people who started to look at their books for the first time and realize, Oh, my ship is actually a lot leakier than I thought, I need to shore this up, or I need to learn these skills. Because we weren't out there doing the pet sitting the dog walking the dropins, we had a lot of time on our hands. And I do really feel like that we had a lot better. We as an industry, you're right, we have a lot better foundations and business than we did a year ago, two years ago. And that's only gonna help.
Arden Moore 33:42
When I write articles for the NAPS magazine. There's, you know, the whole area of insurance. There's so many aspects, and it's different by which state you live in. And the laws are always changing. So you have to make sure that you're following what the rules and regulations are for your particular state. And how much insurance do you provide? Do you have independent contractors? Or do you go full throttle with employees? And so there's a lot of issues. It isn't it's well beyond the end of the leash, right where the litter box scoop? There's so much to it. I mean, this is a tough profession.
Collin 34:24
There's a lot of aspects to it. And one of that aspects that that I think doesn't get enough light on it is the role of educators that pet sitters are and do and I know you have a long background and a passion for educating others and people as as pet sitters and business owners. What advice would you give to us to be better at educating to be better at communicating to people things that we want them to know?
Arden Moore 34:53
Well, you are as we said, the front line, you're on the front line and you're trusted and people are going to feel comfortable talking to you that because you're taking care of their most priceless asset, their pet, and they want a pet sitter that has information or can offer them sources of information. So I see that as an important role in educating. It's okay to say to a client, I don't know that answer, but I'm going to find out. So number one, which we learned in journalism, is don't pretend and give an answer that isn't under and without any foundation. It's okay to admit you're not you know, that you're human and that you don't know the answer. Number two, make sure as we said at the beginning of this, get valid sources cat pets.com Fear free, happy homes. AKC, you know, CFA, whatever. AVMA the American Veterinary Medical Association, the respective petsitting organizations, they have a lot of information. So, number two is do your homework and make sure your sources are valid. And three, when you are educating someone, it's never a me talk you listen, it should. That is not learning, learning doesn't happen when someone's Spats. And you're like, your ears are like, Oh, they're overloaded. So engage your clients, ask them questions, and learn more about their circumstances. So that we might come up with a plan to help them with a specific issue with a dog or a cat. You have taken the time as an educator to listen so that you can better respond to their needs.
Collin 36:52
And I think that's counterintuitive to what many of us may expect of when my job is educating is I need to be talking an awful lot and I need to be filling the space. And instead going, we're actually need to listen. So as you said, we can be addressing the right issue for the right reason.
Arden Moore 37:07
Yeah, give me an example. I teach different levels of pet first aid. I teach for pet parents with no certification courses, they don't really care about it. A thing hanging on their wall. I teach thing. I teach it a certification class for people like yourselves pet professionals. But then I also teach a two day we're talking 16 hour class for people wanting to be instructors. Would you want Collin for me to talk to you for 16 hours? No,
Collin 37:37
thank you. No offense.
Arden Moore 37:41
So how do you do it? You got to teach them things? Well, you engage them. You ask rhetorical questions, you find out their strengths. And you remember what their circumstances are. So when you're educating someone, they're more laps to pay attention when you when you say, you know, hey, Arden That's right, you have a cat in cases of therapy pet. And you know, ginger cats, believe it or not, they get this dark pigmentation on their gums and their nose and under their eyes when they become men. So can you want to check Casey's gums? Does he have any of those marks on his on his gums? While Yes, Teacher He does? Well, we check that out to make sure there's no swelling, bleeding, any discharge. Otherwise, it's this freaky anomaly that ginger cats have. I listened to the student who has a ginger cat, I'd said the cat's name. And I gave them a bit of an information, but I did it in an engaging way. So I guess in your meet and greets, really take notes on the names of the pets, circumstances that the people are saying, recorded if it's easier for you, so you can have a conversation. But then bring those bits of information in when you have a conversation. And you're talking, wanting to share them and educate them on some, they're going to be more receptive.
Collin 39:17
And just knowing something more about their pet than just I'm taking care of them. Because when an issue does arise, you know, a great example that we run into a lot is dogs who were rescued from the shelter and the early history of the pet is almost totally unknown to them. If you can bring that in and use that as an intro into saying, hey, you know, I really noticed Zeus was having this behavior and I know that he's a shelter dog and we don't really know these things. Yeah, yes, we let's let's work with this. I know this trainer who deals specifically with dogs from shelters, I think that'd be a good you know, relationship to bring it.
Arden Moore 39:52
Yes. Very good. And, and you can have two dogs in the same household with two different personalities that may have Been littermates. But because of environmental experiences have totally different ways of thinking about the world. So I love that's perfect. And when you're educating to it's keep it short. If you're writing an article, it's always good to use bullet points. Don't use big fat paragraphs, one of my best editors taught me Arden you're in a boat, a rowboat with a bunch of words in that rowboat. And you got a leak. Okay, editor, what are you driving that? What words? Can you pitch out of that boat and keep your boat afloat, not sink and make it to shore. And the shore means that your article is readable. So when you write a good tip is right, it spikes wet past on the wall, step back and start pruning. And ask yourself talk in a conversational tone. I'm talking with you account right now. So I'm thinking what would intrigue him. So right as you are talking. And so you may, you know, he's probably really wanting to know how to do CPR, rescue breathing, and I'm going to show them in a fun way. But so bullet points, try to be conversational. Before you even put the first word on the keyboard. If you have a trusted friend, talk about the articles if you're sharing a story with them, hey, I want to talk to you about why you should be a poop biologist. You know, because it's, it's important as a pet sitter. And I didn't know this, did you notice that veterinarians actually scored on a poop on a score of one to seven, if you can have some competent, a trusted, confident that you can say I'm working on this story for my clients. Can I just bounce off some of the things I'm thinking about including take them to lunch, whatever you need to do, but sometimes saying it out loud, and listening and watching the response from somebody else, before you put it down in words may make writing much easier.
Collin 42:16
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Arden Moore 43:47
find your page where you got little things like I always do little things like you know, there's a I'm doing a story right now, why dogs pant? And well, there's medical reasons. There's behavioral reasons. There's environmental reasons. So there I got three little chunks right there, plot plot plot, what are some of those things? Then the obvious? What should we look for as a pet? Parent or a pet sitter? That makes us out? Oh, are normal? Right? So what are some of the things and then always do something proactive? Like Well, what can we do to avoid this or minimize this? So if you think like that you've already got an outline in your head.
Collin 44:30
And again, you're trying to bring in some some real world applications some of your stories experiences that you have as a pet sitter, there's there's a lot there that you can tie in and again, reminding ourselves I don't have to be the expert, world renowned expert in panting in dogs. I just have to ask them good questions and do a little bit of research.
Arden Moore 44:47
Right? And don't be like my father, who says Ardo do know what people do that men step that dogs do that men step in. pants. I don't So I'm this is for a pretty high level publication, I'm writing about panting. And I keep wanting to read put in dad's joke, the old dad dad's joke, but I'm like, and then and I don't think that's appropriate, but I could do it on your show. So I like it. The Pan joke.
Collin 45:23
A key part of that process that you said was, you know, right, like with the wet noodles, and then take away, it's the takeaway part that I know a lot of people struggle with kind of that self editing, to know what to keep in and leave out.
Arden Moore 45:36
Well, the rowboat analogies with dumping out extra words, long phrases, comma, blank, blank, blank colon, you know, when you when you have a sentence that fills a whole paragraph, and a person has to take two breaths, three breaths to get through it, that is too long of a sentence. Writing tight is hard. Writing tight is very hard. But it's also the most efficient and the most well received. That's probably why my favorite writer is Ernest Hemingway. Because he could punch up emotions and drama. In short, simple sentences. I'm not a fan of Fitzgerald. So, as a reporter, I work as a journalist, we, we sometimes we are not English professors. We are not an English language. We have been trained to write like people talk. And that's my gift to the pet sitters who are doing blogs, other things, right? Like, people talk, you will find people will be more engaged, they will listen and read what you've written more. Don't and don't think every single word has to hum has to be the best. Be kind to yourself. Writing is a process. I've been doing it all my life. And I still am trying to get better. You look at a Stephen King. And then you can ask him, and he will tell you he's still learning. So it's a it's an all evolving process. It's it's not like you've just solved some puzzle, and it's over. No writing is puzzling. You'll never complete the puzzle.
Collin 47:28
Yeah, it is. It's something that and as you mentioned, you can write write as other people talk. And you can really write as you talk and have your own literal, you know, your voice in telling this. And that is something that we have to deprogram from ourselves from English days in high school, because it was very much don't write how you talk, don't write how you talk. And now to make it more relatable and connecting to people and in art and my sense, easier to write for me, I can, it's okay to write like that, because I'm not writing in that style anymore.
Arden Moore 47:57
Well, and social media, I mean, Instagram, nobody's gonna read a huge post on Instagram. But if you had one tip, with a cute picture of a dog or a cat, you mission is accomplished if you use effective hashtags. So we are also becoming abbreviated as is as communicators, right? And so keep that in mind. One of my favorite Instagram posts is by a veterinarian, Dr. Lisa and she wrote, don't period use period, hydrogen period peroxide period, to period clean period, wounds period on period pets period. The effective use of the period after that and that one line with a picture of her and her two dog Chloe made the message hit home versus her being Miss fancy pants fit Marian giving you a big diatribe about the dangers of hydrogen peroxide and trying to impress you with big words. She strategically use a period after end of each word to get the warning. Really across.
Collin 49:09
Yeah, yeah, just being strategic about our words and our photos and everything to tie in to figure out basically sit down and go, Okay, what's the message? What's the takeaway that I want people to walk away with this? And then how would I as an individual, as a business owner, petsitter construct this, to get them to walk away
Arden Moore 49:25
with that? Yeah, and do things like a little short boxes and sidebars and quizzes and you know, bullets. So don't make it a sea of words on your blog, or in an article or whatever, break it up. So because people read if they read a newspaper, if they read a magazine or something, it's called chunking style. What does that mean? People go to that little box at the front or the picture, or the pullout quote and all that people don't read anymore, up and down one column to the other. So, maximize that because people want different points of entry when they read a blog or see an article in print. They're there look, I mean, look at People Magazine, look at USA Today. It isn't just a sea of words and columns, there's different charts, there's photos, there's boxes, there's, you know, budgeted knows, you know, so think that way to
Collin 50:25
Arden, I know that you are all about pets and people. And so in closing here, I did want to know where that comes from, and why you're so passionate
Arden Moore 50:34
about that. Um, I guess I grew up in a family where we always had pets, and I was I still very close to my siblings. And I didn't have the best of childhood, I alluded to it with my stepmom, it was not a good scene. And the pets in my life in the sibling to my life got me through. And I'm grateful. And I realized how lucky I was because I saw the value of real friends in real pets. And I love to write, so I can't be any happier I get to do now, what I really want to do. And that is to get out good information to make this planet better for pets and their people. It sounds corny. I mean, people know me, hopefully the ones that do No, this is, this is real art. This is art. She's corny, but I love the people in my life. I love the pets in my life. And I'm on a mission to do whatever I can to give you the best information in the best way to make your life better and silly. But I'm more enriched than I'll ever be rich. And I'm happy. And I say to all the pet sitters out there, you you follow your passion. And you will build skills that you never thought you could do. And what you're doing right now is amazing. Because we need our pets now more than ever, with this crazy pandemic. And you all are risking your health in some situations. Because of the virus. I'm glad it's abating in many states. But I salute all of you because what you do matters. And you're helping people see the value of that dog, cat or other companion animal that is under their same roof.
Collin Funkhouser 52:27
Well, I appreciate that Arden. And I really appreciate you coming on the show today to help us be better at educating about communicating, and about helping elevate the pets and people's lives and playing that role. I know that there's a lot more here and you have a lot going on. So where can people find you and follow along with everything that you've got going on and learn more about your stuff?
Arden Moore 52:49
Well, first, I really enjoyed this conversation with you, Collin, because it's been a conversation that you feel Yes, yeah, absolutely. And I feel like you asked amazing questions. And I wish you and Megan much success on petsitter professional, I know you're going to kick tail. People can learn more about me. I'm glad I have a weird first name Arden, Arden more.com They can go to my Facebook, Ardmore, they can go to pet, first aid, the number for the letter U pet first aid for you. And they can go to the old behave show on pet life radio. And I'll
Collin 53:31
have links for all that in the show notes on the website so people can start learning more art. And again, this has been a really fascinating conversation. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Arden Moore 53:40
Well, thank you again, Cowen, have a great day. Think like
Collin 53:45
a first responder, because you as a pet sitter as a dog walker, or a trusted front line worker in the world of pet care. I don't know about you. But when Arden talked about us in those terms that made me a little uncomfortable, and I wasn't quite sure how to fully understand what my role is and what I should take that to mean. But to pet parents. That's how we are viewed. pet parents view us as trusted frontline workers in the care and support of their pets have their family members who they have to leave at home. So when we enter into a home, we never know we're going to come into and our clients trust us because of our background, our experience, our ability to research and really importantly here effectively communicate that information to them, whether it's an emergency and we have to talk to them about what is going on, or whether it's something that they've requested and wanted us to look into. Giving them clear, concise, well worded well presented information is a one way to help continue to put ourselves as a trusted authority not just in their lives but in the lives of their friends and families who they can refer us out to in our community. as well, I know writing isn't Everybody's favorite subject or thing to do throughout the day. So I hope you can take some of the tips that Arden gave us to heart and start implementing those in your daily business. Whether you're writing blogs, whether you have just general communication or whether you do aspire to write a book and put together some of your own stories. We'd love to hear your feedback on how you go about asking good questions, educating your clients, what your approach is to writing, you could send those to feedback at Pitzer confessional.com Or anywhere on social media at Pet Sitter confessional. We want to thank our sponsors today time to pet and pet perennials for making today's show possible. And thank you so much for listening and supporting the show. We know we're going into an extremely busy holiday season and so your time your attention is very valuable and we thank you for spending some of that with us. So as the holidays heat up, we're rooting for you. You're going to to a magazine, and we will be back again soon.
