Family Tree Food and Stories

Singer [00:00:06]:
Surrounded by the winners, my mavericks are with me. Underestimated as you see. We ride the epic ride. Climb the epic climb. We slide the epic slide. And at the end, we rise.

Jen Hardy [00:00:26]:
Welcome to the fabulous Over 50 podcast. I’m your host, Jen Hardy, and we are celebrating today because Today is the 200th episode. Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I am thrilled. I cannot believe it. When I started this in 2018, did I think a that it would be called the fabulous Over 50 podcast? It started out as the Chronically Positive Bomb Podcast. We’re not even going to go there right now.

Jen Hardy [00:00:54]:
I am just so excited to be be knee deep in glitter and sequins and you. We are Now a top 2.5% podcast worldwide. Oh, my goodness. Thank you. And having this marathon right in the middle of hitting this milestone is so huge. And joining me today is one of my dearest, dearest friends, Nancy May and her friend Sylvia Lovely, who I now consider one of my friends because she’s truly lovely. And their podcast is Family Tree Food and Stories. And they have chosen a great episode to share with you today.

Jen Hardy [00:01:32]:
It’s one for the dogs. Guys, you’re gonna love it. I’ll be back at the end and we can talk about it some more. Please join me over@jen hardy.net Go to jenhardy.net contact and send me a message. Let me know what your favorite episode is, what you’d like to hear from in the future. I want to know what you want to. This is your show and thank you again. You’re amazing.

Jen Hardy [00:01:55]:
I love you. And without further ado, here are Nancy and Sylvia.

Nancy May [00:02:01]:
Today we’re diving snout first into the tales of mischief and mayhem, including a tasty razor blade, a pooch that ate Alpo and was still worth $12 million, and other incredible tales of our best friends, our dogs. So grab your favorite pooch, a cup of coffee and meet us on the couch for this next episode. We promise your tails will wag and your belly will be full. Hey there, food lovers and history buffs. I’m Nancy May.

Sylvia Lovely [00:02:29]:
And I’m Sylvia. Lovely.

Nancy May [00:02:30]:
Welcome to Family Tree Food and Stories.

Sylvia Lovely [00:02:32]:
Pull up your chair to the table and get ready to dig in as we take you on a wild ride through generations of flavors.

Nancy May [00:02:38]:
That’s right. We’re dishing up the juiciest family history secrets, some epic dinner disasters, and intriguing tastes behind your favorite dishes.

Sylvia Lovely [00:02:46]:
From grandma’s legendary cheese crust apple pie.

Nancy May [00:02:49]:
To Uncle Bob’s questionable casserole, there’s a.

Sylvia Lovely [00:02:51]:
Lot More going on at that table than you might realize.

Nancy May [00:02:55]:
So join us as we eat, laugh, relive the past, and create new mealtime memories together.

Sylvia Lovely [00:03:00]:
Because every meal has a story, and every story is a feast. Let’s dig into the show.

Unknown [00:03:12]:
Well, I had a dog with a royal name. But the things he eats bring me nothing but shame.

Nancy May [00:03:21]:
Hello, it’s Nancy and Sylvia. Hi, Sylvia.

Sylvia Lovely [00:03:25]:
Hello. How are you doing?

Nancy May [00:03:26]:
I’m doing great. But today we are going to the dogs.

Sylvia Lovely [00:03:32]:
Hey, you sound almost like one. I’m loving that.

Nancy May [00:03:35]:
Well, before we start, I actually want to ask everybody to do us a favor. Wag your tails or get your puppy. And would you please follow the show and share it with others? Because every good dog follows its master, right?

Sylvia Lovely [00:03:47]:
Yeah. Give the dog a bone. That’s what we’re gonna do.

Nancy May [00:03:50]:
So. So we’ve got a lot going on here, but we’re talking first a little bit about the history of what dogs eat. Because, you know, I guess, well, there were dogs in the beginning. We had dinosaur dogs, I guess. I don’t know. Did we have dinosaur dogs?

Sylvia Lovely [00:04:02]:
We. No, we didn’t have dinosaur. We probably had things that looked like dogs, maybe. But the really first kind of threads, there were wolves. Right, right. And they would sneak into campfires. That’s how people lived. And then they would like steal some scraps.

Sylvia Lovely [00:04:17]:
That’s what they ate.

Nancy May [00:04:17]:
Yeah, they always do that. They still do that now.

Sylvia Lovely [00:04:19]:
Yeah, they and country dogs still do. I mean, I’m going to go into history of the fancy food, but the country dogs always do that. But these dogs would sneak into the camps, but eventually they joined as team members to these folks because they could help them find prey. And in that process they became domesticated and that all the through line to now. Dogs are our families.

Nancy May [00:04:43]:
You know, when it’s really cold or when it was really cold up north, we’d always say, is it a two dog night or a one dog night? The bed with the feet. Right.

Sylvia Lovely [00:04:51]:
That sounds like a song. Two dog night. Oh, it’s a group. Two dog night. I’m dating myself. So. Yeah. So those were ancient times.

Sylvia Lovely [00:04:58]:
And then they evolve. And now look what we have today. You have every imaginable kind of dog from teeny tiny dogs all the way up to Saint Bernards and wolfhounds. And it’s like designer dogs and shelter dogs.

Nancy May [00:05:13]:
And we can’t forget the Heinz 57 dog. Right.

Sylvia Lovely [00:05:16]:
I know out of the shelters and we’re going to talk about that in a little bit. But here’s how food developed you want to go into that right now?

Nancy May [00:05:24]:
Oh, please. Woof, woof.

Sylvia Lovely [00:05:25]:
You ready? Because I am so into dog food, and I have my own dog. I mail order my dog food.

Nancy May [00:05:31]:
Well, you’re fancy.

Sylvia Lovely [00:05:32]:
I will say this. I will say this. It’s tender loving care. Tlc. And that was what he was fed as a puppy, and people are doing more and more of that. It’s specially formulated, and he has been. I say this, please. If all ended tomorrow, he’s the healthiest dog I’ve ever had.

Sylvia Lovely [00:05:48]:
So we’ll see.

Nancy May [00:05:49]:
Oh, that’s interesting.

Sylvia Lovely [00:05:50]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So commercial dog food was developed in, like, the mid-1800s, and James Spratt, Mr. Spratt, invented dog cakes and then came. Do you remember kennel ration?

Nancy May [00:06:03]:
Wait a second. He invented dog cakes?

Sylvia Lovely [00:06:05]:
Yeah, dog cakes with meat and veggies. Not fancy cakes.

Nancy May [00:06:08]:
Okay.

Sylvia Lovely [00:06:09]:
Do you.

Nancy May [00:06:09]:
I’m thinking, like, party cakes. Yeah.

Sylvia Lovely [00:06:11]:
No, I don’t think so. I say they were extremely low level, but kennel ration. Do you remember kennel ration?

Nancy May [00:06:18]:
The moist and meaty or. No, it was the canned stuff, right?

Sylvia Lovely [00:06:21]:
Yeah. Canned dog food. And you’ll love this. Made with horse meat.

Nancy May [00:06:26]:
Oh, okay, okay, okay. Wait a second. So our little dog, when we were kids, we had two miniature poodles. Jacques Pierre and Tosh. Tish. Tosh Piddlepaw.

Sylvia Lovely [00:06:35]:
You always have such interesting names of your animals.

Nancy May [00:06:38]:
Right. Well, anyway, so Jacques, our first one, would not eat anything other than cat food. And then one day. Yeah, he liked the smellier the better. And so one day, my mom got horse meat in a can, and I freaked. And I said I was so angry with her because horseback was my thing as a kid, and I just like, nope, won’t do it. But yuck, horse meat can’t do that up here.

Sylvia Lovely [00:07:00]:
You have to whisper it. I mean, horse meat. Oh, oh, oh, yeah.

Nancy May [00:07:04]:
Especially with the derby horses up there.

Sylvia Lovely [00:07:07]:
No, the horses up here don’t go to the glue factory. Not that we know of. Or into dog food because that was banned. Actually. Dog food made with horse meat was actually banned in 1970. Am I a fountain of facts?

Nancy May [00:07:19]:
Thank gosh.

Sylvia Lovely [00:07:20]:
Okay, so next up was dry food, and that came about in World War II because rationing there was not a lot of meat. So you had to start, like, combining things. And that may have led to eventually, Purina, Kibble. Purina. I mean, we all know. And dog chow. And that made it mass produced, and that’s when it was, like, uniform morsels. But that was the beginning of some challenges with Tastiness.

Sylvia Lovely [00:07:46]:
And nutrition. And boy, did that change.

Nancy May [00:07:49]:
I’m going to stop you a second. So how do they know whether it’s tasty or not?

Sylvia Lovely [00:07:52]:
Oh, I don’t know. But have you accidentally ever ate a dog bite of something? I have.

Nancy May [00:07:57]:
Oh, Mal. No. But I will occasionally eat a dog biscuit. Not a lot, just to taste. I’m like, are you crazy? No.

Sylvia Lovely [00:08:05]:
You are crazy.

Nancy May [00:08:07]:
I don’t. I don’t. He’s crazy. Not me. I don’t eat. No, I don’t even try.

Sylvia Lovely [00:08:10]:
Okay, okay. So then in the 60s to the 80s, specialization came in. And what was that? That was puppy food and all of those kinds of things. And the nutritional quality began to improve to the late 2000s, late 20th century. Sorry, that’s holistic. And all natural came into being. Grain free got to be very popular, particularly people that, you know, didn’t want the kind of. The mix of stuff.

Sylvia Lovely [00:08:38]:
They wanted it to be.

Nancy May [00:08:39]:
Fillers, Right?

Sylvia Lovely [00:08:40]:
Yeah.

Nancy May [00:08:41]:
Okay.

Sylvia Lovely [00:08:42]:
So grain free controversy. There is a dog version of cardiomyopathy. You know, that’s the heart thing. What’s fat kills people. That’s the heart inflammation.

Nancy May [00:08:53]:
Okay. Cardiac care.

Sylvia Lovely [00:08:54]:
Yeah. And that was caused, they think now there’s no definitive link. And people stopped feeding grain free because veterinarians got very concerned. And some still are, although there’s no definitive thing going on here. But it was because it contained, they think, legumes and pulses. Do you know what pulses are?

Nancy May [00:09:16]:
No.

Sylvia Lovely [00:09:17]:
Pulses are dried beans and legumes. I had no idea.

Nancy May [00:09:22]:
Oh. So it’s just a fancy name for dried stuff.

Sylvia Lovely [00:09:24]:
But where’d they get the name pulses? I don’t know.

Nancy May [00:09:28]:
But, you know, you figure dogs eat grass, so there’s dried seeds in the grass. I guess they’re just smaller seeds versus smaller.

Sylvia Lovely [00:09:35]:
I think if you concentrate their food and they eat the same food, like breakfast night, you know, breakfast in the morning, dinner at night kind of thing. But anyway, our dogs are treated more like humans than ever. And today the big movement. If you watch television or walk by a television during a sporting event, it used to be about, well, things that maybe we shouldn’t say. Anna, go ahead, go for it. Erectile dysfunction. But now it’s about farmer’s dog. I don’t know if there’s any connection.

Nancy May [00:10:05]:
Connection to that of the farmer’s dog. Oh, that sounds right. No, we’re not. That’s rather pornographics. Poor doggy.

Sylvia Lovely [00:10:11]:
Anyway, farmer’s dog is probably the biggest brand and I was skeptical when I saw that. And frankly, that stuff comes in a pouch and the ads are beautiful, where they’re throwing people out of their house because the people look in the refrigerator and see the farmer’s dog packet.

Nancy May [00:10:24]:
I love that commercial.

Sylvia Lovely [00:10:25]:
I know. I love those commercials, but throw them out, too. Anyway, so here’s the deal. They’re actually finding very preliminary because it’s pretty new. You know, raw dog food’s been around for a while, but this is heavily advertised that it actually is good for dogs.

Nancy May [00:10:41]:
Oh, well, wait, I have a little bit of controversy on that one question on that, because our vet used to get a lot of dogs that were coming in with the raw dog food. Now, this was probably about. So we’ve been down here four and a half years. So pre Covid five years plus back. And all the dogs that were coming in with digestive issues had shards of bone in their stomachs from the raw dog food.

Sylvia Lovely [00:11:05]:
How long ago was this?

Nancy May [00:11:06]:
I’m going to say six or seven years ago. Okay, well, it’s probably formulated different now. Yes.

Sylvia Lovely [00:11:12]:
They said be very careful about that kind of food because it still isn’t up to standards. And there’s like, standards associations that standardize.

Nancy May [00:11:22]:
And say what you can and cannot put in the ingredients.

Sylvia Lovely [00:11:26]:
Yeah. And so the farmer’s dog stuff is considered pretty good.

Nancy May [00:11:30]:
Well, and then you’ve got Rachel Ray and Blue Buffalo. And who’s the gal from Grey’s Anatomy that’s doing her fancy dog food stuff?

Sylvia Lovely [00:11:38]:
I mean, there’s all kinds of evolutionary things and revolutionary things taking place. Now, question is, are you ready to get into the things dogs eat that they’re not supposed to eat?

Nancy May [00:11:50]:
Well, let’s talk about the things that not good for them. Poisonous stuff. And then we’ll go to the other stuff.

Sylvia Lovely [00:11:55]:
Okay, things that are not good. Here’s the official list. Chocolate, coffee, caffeine, poisonous bugs and spiders. This is just a list.

Nancy May [00:12:04]:
Poisonous bugs and spiders. My dog’s gonna eat a bug. Yes.

Sylvia Lovely [00:12:07]:
My dog is gonna eat really seriously. Raw dough and fermented items that result sometimes in dogs getting drunk. Now, that’s the official list. You want to hear some of the most interesting things dogs have eaten? Live through.

Nancy May [00:12:20]:
We’re going to take a break because this is where we’re going to make a little bit of a shift in our conversation. Hang tight, because it’s all about Woof the dog food. If you want to hear the full song of the mighty Quinn, and it’s a good one, just listen to the end of the episode and we’ll play it for you there. Now here’s the break that we promised you. I can guarantee that you’ll want to stick around for just a moment to hear the rest of this story. But before we take you there, Sylvie and I want to share news about our newest book called My Family Tree Food and Stories. We’ve created this one just for you and your family and friends. It’s designed as a type of journal where you can relive and share your family recipes and stories.

Nancy May [00:13:08]:
Honestly, most people think of a plate of food as just that, food. But when paired with a good story, each bite becomes a banquet of joy, laughter, maybe even a few tears and memories that never go stale. To get more details and a special gift from us, go to book.familyfoodstories.com We’ve got a lot more fun and a lot more to come down the road or just to put on your plate. But for now, let’s get back to the rest of this family tree food story.

Sylvia Lovely [00:13:40]:
Are you ready, pooch?

Nancy May [00:13:42]:
Okay, so we’re back with dog stuff. Well, maybe that doesn’t. Maybe I shouldn’t say dog stuff. That sounds. That sounds like dog poop as opposed to dog food.

Sylvia Lovely [00:13:50]:
Well, it eventually ends up there. Right, Right.

Nancy May [00:13:53]:
Okay, so we’re gonna do a little bit of a radio show here. Not that we aren’t, anyway. And Sylvia is going to be the dog owner, and I’m gonna be the dog, talking about what I ate and what I don’t eat. How’s that?

Sylvia Lovely [00:14:06]:
I love it. What’s your name, doggy?

Nancy May [00:14:08]:
My name is the mighty Quinn. Okay, Quinn.

Sylvia Lovely [00:14:12]:
So, Quinn, I’ve got you on the couch where you like to lay, all right?

Nancy May [00:14:16]:
Oh, rub my belly, please.

Sylvia Lovely [00:14:17]:
Yeah, okay, I’ll call her. Your mama. What have you done to upset your mama as far as what you’ve eaten?

Nancy May [00:14:25]:
Oh, well, she doesn’t get too upset until she finds out what the vet bill is. And I don’t like to do that.

Sylvia Lovely [00:14:31]:
But I think your mama has a couple of stories about you. So let me just help me. Tell me what you’ve eaten. I mean, I need to know this so I can help you get over this obsession.

Nancy May [00:14:40]:
Well, let me stretch out first and talk about that.

Sylvia Lovely [00:14:43]:
Okay. Belly, belly. Have you no shame? You’re just laying on your back, everything’s.

Nancy May [00:14:48]:
Exposed, passing gas, doing all that good stuff Anyway, so let me go down the list, Sylvia, because it really is a doozy. All right.

Sylvia Lovely [00:14:57]:
Yeah.

Nancy May [00:14:57]:
Oh, it makes me tired just thinking about it. Anyway, so we’ll start with underwear. She has the best underwear. Oh, my God, it tastes so good. And when she’s not looking. I will go diving into the hamper. She doesn’t even know that I can reach to the bottom.

Sylvia Lovely [00:15:15]:
Hamper diver, huh?

Nancy May [00:15:16]:
Yeah, I’m a dumpster diver. She’s just not that so smart and catching me when I do it. But anyway, socks. Socks are not quite as tasty as underwear. I’m not sure why. I think the underwear really has the. The top of the list. It’s kind of like people caviar, right?

Sylvia Lovely [00:15:32]:
Yeah. Yeah, it’s your mama, you know, then.

Nancy May [00:15:34]:
She has a tendency to be creative in certain things, and she leaves out technical pens, so. You know, technical pens with those little sharp points at the end with permanent ink. Well, I decided it was time for a tattoo, and this one landed on my tongue, so I have a black spot on my tongue. Yes, they call me the Mighty Quinn for many reasons. Oh, and then there was that really tasty rat poison that was in the garage. That stuff tastes so sweet and good. Yep. Well, I had to go on like a month of vitamin K for that one.

Nancy May [00:16:05]:
But you know what? It was worth it. It tasted so good. And don’t forget the rats that I ate along the way.

Sylvia Lovely [00:16:10]:
Hey, you sound more like a cat.

Nancy May [00:16:12]:
No. Yeah, well, you know, the cats, I eat those, too, but that’s besides the point. Razor blades, so they weren’t so good.

Sylvia Lovely [00:16:21]:
No kidding.

Nancy May [00:16:22]:
Yeah. Disposable ones are actually the better ones of the two, but those are the ones I that. And you know what they fed me to get rid of those?

Sylvia Lovely [00:16:30]:
What?

Nancy May [00:16:31]:
Well, because if they take me to the vet, they’re gonna slice me open. And I heard, don’t slice me up anyway.

Sylvia Lovely [00:16:37]:
My belly, unaccessible for a while.

Nancy May [00:16:40]:
Not good. And that cone of shame, not good. No, no, no. So they fed me cotton balls loaded with olive oil. And she’s asking the vet, do you think he’s gonna eat olive oil?

Sylvia Lovely [00:16:51]:
Oh, yeah.

Nancy May [00:16:52]:
And the vet looks at her. And since I take stock, people, you know, I am a magic dog. The mighty Quinn. We do a lot of things here. But the vet said, look, he ate the damn razor blade. What do you think? And she looked at him, halfway nuts. And so we went home. We’d get some special olive oil, extra virgin, of course, please.

Nancy May [00:17:08]:
And darn if those olive oil cotton balls, a whole bag. They were delicious. Almost as good as underwear. But the good thing is that everything came out in the end. And it didn’t hurt.

Sylvia Lovely [00:17:19]:
Oh, man, you crazy dog.

Nancy May [00:17:22]:
Sliding away, as they say.

Sylvia Lovely [00:17:24]:
You know, you might even eat some razor blades in the future. Just so you can have those.

Nancy May [00:17:28]:
Just to get some of those cotton balls you got. Then there was that soresto collar. That one cost her $5,000. Oh, my God. Yeah, I did. Yeah. Wow. Cotton balls didn’t work on that.

Sylvia Lovely [00:17:40]:
They had to actually go in and.

Nancy May [00:17:42]:
They had to open me up. Yeah. Not pretty. Oh, and Nancy, you know, she was down there taking care of her folks in Florida at the time, so I felt a little guilty on that one. But it kept the color away from my other housemate, Otis. Otis of Redding? Yeah. I don’t like him so much, but, you know, I got the collar and the cone of shame.

Sylvia Lovely [00:18:01]:
Oh, my.

Nancy May [00:18:03]:
Then there was the time that the. The bone. You know how they have those big beef bones? Oh, I love those. Well, there was the time that I got that one stuck around my jaw just trying to get the marrow out.

Sylvia Lovely [00:18:13]:
Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Nancy May [00:18:14]:
Well, they had to saw that one off my. Off my jaw. Talk about that one. Well, then there was paper towels. Paper towels are always delicious, especially if they have a little extra baby on it. Oh, yeah, Toilet pa. I share the toilet paper with Otis. He eats the inside, I eat the outside.

Nancy May [00:18:31]:
So, you know, partnership.

Sylvia Lovely [00:18:32]:
Yeah. I’m getting this dead stuff.

Nancy May [00:18:35]:
Dead stuff in the yard is so good. The stinkier the better. Grass. Of course. Garbage. Business card case. I got in trouble with that one. That was one that she had had since the first day she worked.

Nancy May [00:18:49]:
Oh, my God, Did I get a spanking for that one? Well, I got yelled at. I didn’t get hit. She’s not a spanker. She’s a yeller.

Sylvia Lovely [00:18:56]:
Mighty Quinn, I tell you.

Nancy May [00:18:59]:
And I’m not done.

Sylvia Lovely [00:19:00]:
Oh, my.

Nancy May [00:19:01]:
I’m not done. There’s the watch band, both metal and leather. And then we’ve got. Well, I also ate the front of the glass. That one hurt, but got more ol. Cotton balls for that one.

Sylvia Lovely [00:19:12]:
I see a pattern.

Nancy May [00:19:13]:
Yeah, and credit cards. I. My stomach’s worth a lot in American Express dollars, but I guess. Mighty Quinn, I swear, I think that does it.

Sylvia Lovely [00:19:23]:
All right, well, a few more belly rubs, but I think you’ve gotten my dog beaten in the race to have the worst foods go down your gullet. A bottle of Melatonin is about as bad as he’s done, but he loves all the other things you do. Except razor blades. No, he doesn’t do that.

Nancy May [00:19:37]:
Oh, Melatonin. You probably slept for a long time after that one.

Sylvia Lovely [00:19:40]:
Did you have a poignant story, though, about getting. Let’s call Nancy back in. Okay. Let’s call your owner back in. Okay, mom, come here. Didn’t your dad pay for that surgery? It was a poignant story, wasn’t it?

Nancy May [00:19:55]:
Oh, yes. Yes. Quinn, down. Sit. Sit. Stay. No, lay down. Okay.

Sylvia Lovely [00:20:00]:
Yeah. Tell this story. It was sweet.

Nancy May [00:20:02]:
I was down in Florida taking care of my. My folks, and I’m always looking for some adventure that was going on to keep mom and dad happy. Mom did like to go on the adventures, but dad was always adventurous, and I decided that I could. I got him. I got a helicopter ride. You know, got on one of those discount things. So we got a helicopter ride out of Tampa, and we were driving around. We’re about to get into the plane in the helicopter, and I get a call from Bob.

Nancy May [00:20:26]:
I said, I can’t talk to you. We’re getting into the plane. You gotta talk to me. No, I can’t. No, I’m at the vets. Which one? The emergency vet.

Sylvia Lovely [00:20:34]:
No, no dollar signs.

Nancy May [00:20:36]:
You are kidding me. What’s happened? Quinn. The mighty Quinn. What’d I say? Sit down. Don’t. Don’t bother me now. Okay, so he’s looking for pats and belly rubs. But anyway, so the mighty Quinn had eaten the seresto collar, and the vet told me, it’s gonna cost $5,000.

Nancy May [00:20:52]:
Either we do it or that’s it with the dog. And I tell my dad, and I’m, like, shocked. And my father said, let me help you with the bill. So he helped us with it.

Sylvia Lovely [00:21:01]:
Aw, that is so sweet. It was really sweet. I mean, to get a $5,000 sudden shot.

Nancy May [00:21:06]:
I know.

Sylvia Lovely [00:21:06]:
I mean. Yeah, you got a tough decision to make at that point, and people do.

Nancy May [00:21:11]:
Yeah. I was ready to get on the plane and tell the helicopter, go to Connecticut, I’m going to kill the dog myself.

Sylvia Lovely [00:21:16]:
Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re saying. I mean, that’s. But that was a beautiful story. Okay?

Nancy May [00:21:21]:
It was. It was a very sweet story. And my dad worried about Quinn, and I sent pictures. Oh, my God.

Sylvia Lovely [00:21:27]:
Yeah.

Nancy May [00:21:27]:
And the interesting thing is, after they opened him up, they decided because he’s a large dog, he’s a standard poodle. And you think. You think a poodle would be a little bit more discerning. Otis of Redding is very discerning. Yes, Otis. He’s discerning about eating stuff. He eats a lot of stuff, too, but he’s picky with his dog food. And so what happened is, when they opened him up because he’s a large dog, and large dogs have a tendency to also sometimes get bloat.

Sylvia Lovely [00:21:51]:
Yeah, sure.

Nancy May [00:21:52]:
And they’ll get colic and die from that. So they get a twisted gut. They actually surgically sewed his stomach to the side of the walls of the inside of his body cavity so it won’t flip. He’s still pretty good at eating all sorts of things.

Sylvia Lovely [00:22:04]:
What a dog. I tell you what, let me talk to Quinn for just a minute, though. I want to talk to him about. Okay, I’m back again. All right, honey. Okay, you gotta listen to me on this one, okay? If you don’t do anything, watch how you eat your bones, okay? I don’t know what your mommy does, but you have to be very careful. And you only eat raw bones, like raw lamb bones or beef bones. And the big ones, and I don’t know what kind of bone it was, they cut off your mouth, but it.

Nancy May [00:22:35]:
Was a big one.

Sylvia Lovely [00:22:36]:
Yeah, you got to have big ones and never cooked ones. Okay, I know I’m talking to the wall here. You’re not going to listen to me.

Nancy May [00:22:43]:
But never eat cooked ones. I always thought I was.

Sylvia Lovely [00:22:46]:
Because it softens up the bone and it cuts into shards more easily. Okay?

Nancy May [00:22:51]:
Oh, so I’m going to tell Nancy about that one because. Yeah, she gave me a couple. It’s her fault.

Sylvia Lovely [00:22:56]:
One more lesson. Don’t eat raw hide bones. And it’s all over the marketing now. Do not eat rawhide bones because they’re made from the inside lining of the animal that they’re taken from.

Nancy May [00:23:07]:
Oh, the stinky part, that’s so.

Sylvia Lovely [00:23:09]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it. What it does is it. They have to chemically treat it so much and it still doesn’t break down in your mouth. Okay, well.

Nancy May [00:23:17]:
And I’m. I hear they come from China, too. And Nancy. Nancy’s pretty good about not buying stuff from at least. Yeah.

Sylvia Lovely [00:23:25]:
So anyway, there you have it. Now, I just want to tell you just Some quick statistics. 51% of our households, our national households, have dogs. And that’s 68 million dogs. Okay? Some people have two.

Nancy May [00:23:37]:
Hey, mom, come back. Sylvia’s talking to you again.

Sylvia Lovely [00:23:40]:
Oh, yeah, sorry. Sorry, Gwen. You don’t really care. You just care about.

Nancy May [00:23:43]:
I’m back, I’m back.

Sylvia Lovely [00:23:45]:
Your razor blades and all of that. And then here’s something interesting. The most popular animals that we all. We have to feed all these animals, right, Are dogs, cats, freshwater fish, small animals like guinea pigs. Don’t ever do it, people.

Nancy May [00:24:00]:
Don’t ever do it.

Sylvia Lovely [00:24:01]:
Guinea pigs.

Nancy May [00:24:01]:
I won’t do guinea pigs.

Sylvia Lovely [00:24:02]:
Birds, reptiles, horses and saltwater fish. And Leo, our good friend Leo, the podcaster.

Nancy May [00:24:10]:
Yes.

Sylvia Lovely [00:24:10]:
Has Tarantulas. I don’t think they rank very high.

Nancy May [00:24:14]:
No, no.

Sylvia Lovely [00:24:14]:
But he’s got several tarantulas.

Nancy May [00:24:16]:
I wonder if they eat dog food.

Sylvia Lovely [00:24:18]:
He says crickets. I asked.

Nancy May [00:24:20]:
Crickets. Crickets. Well, speaking of crickets, let’s finish up our show because I think there’s some interesting stories about one of the most famous dogs. Well, maybe it’s not the most famous dog, but certainly at a certain time, there was a very famous dog owner by the name of Leona Helmsley. And Leona was known, at least in the New York area. And I think she made pretty big news about how she treated her pooch troubles with the absolute royalty, because she considered. Well, Leona considered herself the queen of New York at the time anyway, because it was the Helmsley Palace, a rather interesting lady. But her hotel is actually.

Nancy May [00:24:56]:
Or is. Or was beautiful, I guess probably because she wanted to look so nice for the dog, but not us people. But you’ve got some stories on exactly what happened when she died, because it made a lot of national news.

Sylvia Lovely [00:25:07]:
It did. She was a neighbor.

Nancy May [00:25:09]:
Oh, she was a neighbor.

Sylvia Lovely [00:25:11]:
Kentucky. She was in the federal prison here for tax evasion.

Nancy May [00:25:15]:
Not quite that palace.

Sylvia Lovely [00:25:16]:
Yeah, no, I mean, think about that. Think about what she went to. But anyway, this was a Maltese tiny dog named Trouble. Just one. Not. It’s singular trouble, Trouble. And died at the age of 12. But when she died, she left that dog $12 million and cut out her grandchildren and a bunch of.

Nancy May [00:25:34]:
I remember the story was incredible.

Sylvia Lovely [00:25:36]:
Yeah. Remember this? And the. While she was alive, though? And I don’t know who cared for the dog while she was in prison, but the dog had its own chef, and it was fed such things as crab cakes, cream cheese, you know, it was a small dog, by the way, and small dogs live a long time, so it actually kind of died young. But anyway, you’ll find out in a minute. What? Maybe. Why, I don’t know. Steamed vegetables. And they were served to the dog on a silver platter.

Sylvia Lovely [00:26:02]:
Literally a silver platter.

Nancy May [00:26:04]:
I would have liked to have been a dog owned by Leona Helmsley.

Sylvia Lovely [00:26:07]:
I know. And then she died and she left money to her brother. She did leave him millions, and I guess he cut the dog off. But the dog went to Florida and lived in a palace down there, one of her places. So, I mean, it did fine. But guess what it ended up eating for the rest of its life after she died?

Nancy May [00:26:25]:
Dog food.

Sylvia Lovely [00:26:26]:
Alpo. Canned Alpo. Leona, you’re turning over in your grave. So anyway, that was the story of Leona. And that story sort of ushers in this whole obsession we now have. Our, our dogs are our children.

Nancy May [00:26:41]:
Absolutely.

Sylvia Lovely [00:26:42]:
I love heart. I mean, I, you know, I can’t imagine life without him. And the older I get, the more attached I am. I. Because I love everything. You know, Nancy, I just reached the point where I love everything and I mother everything. And now I’m at the age where I grandmother everything. And so now my cat and my dog, I choose my house based on whether it’s going to be friendly for my cat and my dog.

Nancy May [00:27:04]:
Well, I think that makes a lot of sense. A lot of people do that. And yeah, my, my mom would always say that she was a grandma. Grandma dog. Yeah, yeah. She wasn’t a grandma dog, but she was a grandma toy doggies. And she always asked about the dog so we’d send her pictures as well.

Sylvia Lovely [00:27:19]:
Can I add just a couple of things too? And I know that we’re running out of time, but the pandemic really escalated. All of this because of the loneliness and people needed companionship. Right. And it’s continued. But there’s some challenges and here’s some challenges where dogs can be. And I own a restaurant and I know people ask all the time and there are people getting service dog destinations and some of them are legit and some of them are, you’re right, because you can them. But I mean, do you want dogs sitting next to you as you dine out? A lot of people don’t. Right.

Nancy May [00:27:48]:
Well, in, in Europe they do that a lot. And we saw dogs in Paris quite frequently and if they’re small and they’re sitting on somebody’s lap and they’re behaved well, I don’t have a problem with it.

Sylvia Lovely [00:27:57]:
I don’t either. But some people are allergic to them. People like our good friend Frida who frequently comments on our work, love Frida. And Frida’s terrified of dogs. She was attacked when she was little, so, you know, there’s all that. And then we have shelters that are.

Nancy May [00:28:11]:
Overflowing, overflowed and abused animals.

Sylvia Lovely [00:28:14]:
Yeah, yeah. And so you just got all these kind of things that happen as a result of a good thing is that we’re feeding them better and better and they’re living longer. So anyway, well, I know one quick.

Nancy May [00:28:24]:
Story before we leave that friend. Years back when Boston chicken was hot and popular, I guess upon Boston chicken was hot. Haha. We think it was hot. Anyway, she used to buy her dog, which was a little like wiener dachshund dog, a chicken from Boston Chicken with all the fixings every other day. And I don’t know how long that dog lasted, but I gotta tell you, I think she kept Boston Chicken afloat.

Sylvia Lovely [00:28:48]:
Yeah. And I think in your notes that you mentioned that that could be. That’s a biz op.

Nancy May [00:28:53]:
I know, right?

Sylvia Lovely [00:28:54]:
The companies that invent dog dishes.

Nancy May [00:28:56]:
When you go to kfc, next time you want to ask is the kind that doesn’t have so much salt. So you can give it to your puppy, too. Yeah, that’s a good idea. We should charge them for that.

Sylvia Lovely [00:29:05]:
The only thing I would say about all of that is I’m always concerned about nutrition. It’s hard enough to keep track of mine, but at least I know the dog food, if I trust the people who sell it to me, that it’s nutritionally balanced.

Nancy May [00:29:19]:
So dogs cannot live by chicken alone. Or Boston Chicken alone.

Sylvia Lovely [00:29:24]:
I know, but I love that Boston Chicken, by the way. I remember that well.

Nancy May [00:29:28]:
And we can’t live by chicken alone, I guess, as the cow would say, eat more chicken.

Sylvia Lovely [00:29:32]:
I know. I love that ad.

Nancy May [00:29:34]:
Well, on that note, it’s been a lot of fun doing this dog show episode with you and the mighty Quinn. What do you say? I think it was good.

Sylvia Lovely [00:29:42]:
You were a great dog. You were great. There’s a future for you on Broadway.

Nancy May [00:29:47]:
Okay, my tail is wagging and my belly is being rubbed. We’ll see you soon. And woof. We’ll hear you soon. Take care. Bye bye.

Sylvia Lovely [00:29:55]:
Bye. Bye.

Unknown [00:30:00]:
Well, I had a dog with a royal name but the things he eats bring me nothing but shame he started with socks then moved on to lace underwear Vanished, not a single trace Rat poison, yep, garbage galore Chewed up my flip flops then came back for more Almighty Quinn got a belly of sin Ate my razor blades with a devilish grin from pens to napkins, watches to cards no trash too nasty no items too hard Credit cards vanished Gone with a lick he bit through a wallet like it wasn’t that thick Paper napkins and toilet rolls too he once tried a candle and part of my shoe oh, mighty Quinn got a taste for the weird if it ain’t nailed down it’s bound to disappear from pens to napkins Watch bands to ten the devil made trouble then he may quit in vets Know him well He’s a four legged storm Wears chaos like others might a uniform don’t leave him alone don’t turn out the light or your iPhone’s a snack before midnight Almighty Quinn got a hunger profound Swallow my earbuds and still stuck around from car cases, couches to things in a bin, you’ll never out chomp the mighty Quinn. So here’s to the hound who devours with glee. He ain’t picky, he’s just a wild and free guard Just use your stuff, your pride in your kin Nothing’s too holy for the mighty Quinn.

Nancy May [00:32:31]:
Sylvie and I hope that you’ve loved this episode of Family Tree Food and Stories. If there is a family recipe or story that’s been passed down at your table, or even just something that happened yesterday, we’d love to hear it. Maybe your special dish or family moment could even be featured in one of our upcoming episodes. You can share it by just heading over to stories.familyfoodstories.com to submit your story or recipe. And before you go, make sure you subscribe so you’ll never miss an episode full of delicious ideas and heartfelt ways to make every mealtime a memorable experience. It’s easier than you think. We’ll help you too. So put those phones aside, switch off the television and turn off the laptop and let us show you how to turn everyday meals into something more special.

Nancy May [00:33:18]:
Lastly, you can join us on Facebook and Instagram @FamilyTree Food Stories. To keep up with the fun and stories, let’s continue to celebrate the joy of food, family and gathering with friends and those that we love. Thanks for listening. Until next time, happy eating, happy storytelling, and ciao. Bye Bye.

Jen Hardy [00:33:37]:
Oh my gosh, what a great, great episode to have to celebrate. 200. I love it. Oh my goodness. And I love you Nancy and Sylvia. You two are so amazing. Thank you for celebrating this day with me and my dear listener. I love you so much and I appreciate you because your time is the most valuable thing you own and you’ve chosen to share it with me and that means the world to me.

Jen Hardy [00:34:03]:
Thank you so very much. And again, hop over to Jen hardy.net jenhardy.net contact send me a message. Let me know. What should we start focusing on for the next 200? We’re not moving on yet though. We’re knee deep in the middle of this marathon and we’ve got so many more different podcasts that we’re going to bring you over the next couple of weeks. And I know you’re going to love them. They are all phenomenal and well, we’ve got another one coming tomorrow. My friend Sandy K from Australia, you are not gonna believe who she has on her show.

Jen Hardy [00:34:38]:
You’re gonna love it. So stay tuned and stay fabulous.

Unknown [00:34:53]:
Gather around now quietly and hear us tell the tale Ere you ever notice we win and then rekind winning all the races Coming out ahead.

Nancy May [00:35:18]:
In no.

Unknown [00:35:19]:
Prisoners we put them all to bed no matter age, no matter size, no matter what our looks we’re at the.

Nancy May [00:35:28]:
End.

Unknown [00:35:31]:
Writing our new books? You may not know the stories yet the many successful you’ll understand before too long Too proud to impress but you might blow back out like the wind blowing like.