How Oatmeal the Golden Retriever Became A Pet Internet Star

A Golden Retriever who looks like he’s running on tiny “baby cat paws,” grunts like he’s trying to speak English, and somehow turns everyday chaos into comfort-watch comedy? We’re talking with Adria, the creator behind Adria and Oatmeal, to unpack how Oatmeal went from nightmare puppy to internet main character and why millions of pet owners see their own lives in his weird little choices.

We get into the craft side of pet content creation on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube: how Adria plans a week of videos without killing spontaneity, why raw two-minute clips can beat hours of editing, and how one simple story-time moment can explode. She also shares the creator lesson that changes everything once you’re full-time: your audience becomes your boss, and respecting that trust is the difference between a quick spike and a long career.

Then we go full dog-parent reality. Adria breaks down what most people don’t understand about owning a Golden Retriever until they live it: nonstop fur, puppy chaos, grooming routines, joint support, and the post-swim process to prevent hot spots and ear infections. Finally, we talk apartment life solutions, including how she discovered Fresh Patch and why a real grass dog potty on the balcony matters for safety at night, middle-of-the-night potty breaks, and a low-maintenance routine with auto-ship convenience.

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Thanks for listening to the Fresh Patch podcast brought to you by Fresh Patch. We hope you enjoyed the show. Give us a like or a follow, or shop all of our real grass supplies at freshpatch.com. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Youtube, Reddit

Transcript

Welcome To Fresh Patch Podcast

SPEAKER_04 0:00

You may know Fresh Patch from Shark Tank, Oprah, or the Today Show. This is the Fresh Patch Podcast, where good pets get it. Sit back, put your paws up, and enjoy the show. Welcome everybody to the Fresh Patch Podcast. My name is Drew with my amazing co-host, Mr. Gabe, to my right. And we have two awesome guests on the pod today. Adria and Oatmeal. Woo! Um, yeah, so if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself and your social media handles and who's that in the background behind you.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Absolutely. I am Adria. This is Oatmeal. You can find us on social media. We are at Adrian Oatmeal, pretty much anywhere that you can post online. And we love to swim, we love to go on adventures together, and he is my ride or die. I love him.

SPEAKER_04 1:02

That's awesome. He looks like he just went for a swim. Yeah. He looks like he looks a little tired out right there.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

He uh his borderline is always just narcolepsy. Like you can get him riled up if you need him to, but he just he loves to sleep.

SPEAKER_04 1:20

Yeah. I know, right? Yeah. He's a chill golden. Yeah.

unknown 1:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:25

Hey, don't touch me. Yeah, no, when he's the treat. It's the treat.

unknown 1:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:30

That's true. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

When he was a puppy, I actually thought he had parvo because he was so lazy. And I took him to the vet, and the vet was like, he is perfectly healthy. He is just lazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

I was like, awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Which is like has been good.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

He's been a very easy adult dog.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

Yeah, that's good. We've definitely met our fair share of uh crazy Goldens, and I can imagine. I mean, they're a handful, the ones that we've seen.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

So he's probably got to stay off those tiny baby cat paws. I'm sure that plays a factor.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Those, how did they even hold him up, honestly?

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Seriously.

Subscribe And Meet Adria And Oatmeal

SPEAKER_04 2:05

That's great. Cool. So before we get into things, I just want to let the viewers and listeners know hit that subscribe button if you're watching on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcast, hit that subscribe, like, comment, follow at Fresh Patch on all social media. And like Adrian Oatmeal said, follow at Adrian Oatmeal on all social channels as well. We'll have it in the description. And check out Freshpatch.com for all your real grass potty needs, poop bags, treats. We got what you need at freshpatch.com. So thank you everybody for watching. And let's dive into it, Adria. Gabe's gonna start us off with we got a nice big clipboard of questions right now. So let's dive into it, get to know you guys a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Uh, first of all, I just want to say, like, kind of a full circle moment for me. It's pretty hilarious. I I got this job a little bit over a year ago, and when I got the job, my sister was like, Oh, I know that company. They're the one who Adrian Oatmeal posts about sometimes. And I was like, Who's that? That's kind of how I how I jumped on the bandwagon. So, yeah, pretty, pretty cool to be talking to you here. Full circle, you

Oatmeal’s Origin Story Online

SPEAKER_02 3:10

know. Um, so cool. Let's uh let's start a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

I love to hear it.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Let's start a little bit uh with your and oatmeal's origin story. Um, how did oatmeal come into your life and what made you start sharing about him online?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah, oatmeal came into my life when I was 21 years old. I had just graduated college and I was working from home, and I wanted my first adult decision to be to get my own dog. So I got oatmeal as a puppy. I thought getting a golden retriever would be an easy first dog. He was a nightmare. I did not realize that the price for an angel adult golden retriever is owning them as a puppy. So it was a wake-up call. He made me grow up very quickly, but ultimately it's been worth it. And I started sharing him online kind of accidentally. My internet presence started as doing shapeware reviews. And one day I was doing a brand deal and I just decided to put oatmeal in a pair of shapeware. And the moment that he hit my social media feed, no one cared about me anymore. It was all oat and rightfully so. He is a natural born star. He just stole the show. And since then, I slowly pivoted my content to being a pet page, and here we are.

SPEAKER_04 4:33

Here we are. And he is such a great name, too. I think that's so attractive to the viewer, too. Everyone, when we first started working with it, you know, I was like, oatmeal. I was like, that's such a good name. Like, oh my gosh. Like, definitely attention grabbing, but makes sense. Like, no offense to you, you know, but the dogs always the dogs always win, you know? Absolutely. I've been seeing taken.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

It's it's honestly like I love having the attention not totally beyond. It takes some of the pressure off, and he is such a star. He makes my life so easy.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Amazing. Absolutely. I've been seeing some more oatmeals out there in the past past year or so.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

So yeah, we get a lot of people who comment and say that they name their dog oatmeal after us. And I just think it's I almost can't even comprehend that we've had that kind of an impact. It's yeah, it's super cool.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

That's cool. Trendsetter. He's a trendsetter over there. You know, that's awesome.

Main Character Energy And Tiny Paws

SPEAKER_04 5:25

That guy. Sweet. So um, at what point did you realize oatmeal had that main character energy? Was it that that first brand deal, or was it a little bit after that?

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Honestly, it was before that. As soon as I got oatmeal as a puppy, I started doing what parents do to newborn children, which is those like four-month photo shoots where they put the baby in a basket and they have a letterboard and they so I did that with him. I would dress him up, we would do these photo shoots, and I would notice that he would look into the camera while I was taking pictures of him. He would work his angles, he loved the camera, and it he was so tolerant about me posing him and putting things on him. He really didn't mind. I was giving him treats, obviously, to persuade him, but of course it turned into a huge bonding activity for us. And that was kind of the moment that I knew, okay, this dog, he's got something special.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Yeah, he's got what it takes. He's got what it takes. He's got that extra something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

That extra doggo. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

I love it. I love it. That's so funny. Um, I'm sure you have so many words to describe oatmeal with, but if you had three to describe his personality, uh, which ones would you go with?

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Ooh. I would describe oatmeal as quirky, sassy, and stubborn.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

All right. That's a good one. That's good. Quirky. I think quirky's like, that's that's number one for sure. Like you he's a quirky dog.

unknown 7:07

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

That's part of his star appeal, though.

SPEAKER_04 7:09

Exactly. It is.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Exactly. He's always like, even when I think I'm like, okay, I know this dog, I know everything he does, he'll do something new. And I'm like, okay, that's just I he's constantly surprising me.

SPEAKER_04 7:22

That's awesome. Um, so I know Gabe said I think before we record him, but the little tiny baby cat paws are a thing, right? Big deal. It's a big deal for them. So we want to know how small are oatmeal's little tiny baby cat paws really.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Listen, we have met some of the people who follow us online in real life, and without prompting them, they will look at his paws and say, Wow, those are even smaller in real life than they look online. I swear I'm not doing anything to make them look smaller than they actually are. They genuinely are that tiny. That's near adorable. They really are small, they are less than an inch long. I have measured them.

SPEAKER_04 8:08

I have indeed measured them. You know, that doesn't surprise me. I hope you would.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Oh, yeah. No, I have to know. He um Oatmeal actually has a girlfriend, and I know they're doing long distance so far. No one has cheated, but he did measure both of their paws, and oatmeal has smaller paws than his girlfriend. His girlfriend is a Sheltie, so she is a much smaller dog in special.

SPEAKER_04 8:35

That's so interesting. Why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Have you like, is there any I looked up the um AKC breed standards for golden retrievers, and feline paws are listed as a breed characteristic. I think they're a little bit more rare, but they do exist. And I think Oatmeal just got some of the smallest ones that he could. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 8:58

He got that's awesome. I love those those shots that you take of him standing up, like from the profile view, and they just like it's like he's standing on high heels or something.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

That's okay. How much does he weigh though?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

He weighs 65 pounds. He's a little heavy right now. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 9:18

Okay, we're not judging. I was gonna say, you and me both, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

You and me both, O'Meal.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:23

We're all trying to get that summer bot right now, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

It's that time. No, we're working on it. He's on a he's on a little bit of a diet. We've been walking more, swimming more. Yeah, but there you go.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yeah, weather's warming up. Yeah, it's a good time for him to get in that pool.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Oh, yeah. No, we're going to the pool tomorrow. Gotta hit it.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Uh-oh, man. Did you ever uh did you end up fixing LeBron waves or is he still out of commission?

SPEAKER_01 9:47

All of the fish currently are out of commission. LeBron waves, Guppy Goldberg, swim shady. There's one more that I'm missing, but so these are automatic, these are mechanical fish that swim automatically when you put them in the pool. And I accidentally left them out during a really long rainstorm. So they were just swimming for the whole storm. All of their batteries are dead. So I need to get them a whole new flock of fish. I actually found a mechanical dolphin that you can control with a remote control. So I think I'm gonna get that to add to this. That's so great.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

That's cool. Send you some like fresh patch decals or something, and you can get it.

SPEAKER_03 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:28

The fresh patch dolphins. Yeah. Good pets get it. You know what I mean? Like that's the that's great.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

Um, so what do you think it is about oatmeal's content that like really resonates with people?

SPEAKER_01 10:41

I think oatmeal just has a very human quality to him. You can see it in the indecision that he has when he is trying to figure out how he's gonna fetch a toy. You can see it in when I take him to the dog park and he has trouble making friends because everyone's already in a group and he doesn't know how to infiltrate it. He just has these very human characteristics that I think are very relatable. And also, we really do try to root the content that we're sharing in real moments that happen. And I think that a lot of people see their dogs in him and see just themselves in him a little bit. So, relatability is I think our biggest um like strong point.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

Totally. Definitely relate to oatmeal a lot. Yeah, I get that. That's so good.

Planning Content Versus Real Moments

SPEAKER_02 11:30

Awesome.

SPEAKER_04 11:31

So, on the topic of you know, video creation and all that, what inspires you to create a video? Do you plan content or is it more capturing the real life moments that you know you're experiencing throughout your day?

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Oatmeal honestly is the biggest inspiration for content. I since we do, since we are full-time content creators, uh every single week I do have a loose plan for the content that I'm gonna edit. And it's more like backup stuff. But anything that he will do in a spur of a moment thing will take precedent to that. And he's always doing something crazy. So I just kind of always I've I just have this system set up where if he's doing something funny, I either whip out my phone, film it for two minutes, save it for later, add in some context to the story, or I just like make a note of it to talk about it. But it's all just it's really dictated by him or by the other animals that we have in our life. Like my mom has a cat that I've been featuring that everybody loves. My sister's dog, her name is Krusty Carl. She hates Obiel. Yeah, they're always having beef. Like, I really do try to like let the animals give me the content ideas because they're always doing something.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Absolutely, yeah. No, for sure. It's funny, like, um, from the last question, like talking about um what really resonates with uh your content, and I really think like you add like a level of humor to it as well that like you know people really like gravitate towards. So that's that's really awesome.

SPEAKER_04 13:01

Yeah, oh yeah, you're definitely enthusiastic with it. It's so funny. You're kind it's just some of the stuff is is so good. And we actually don't have we were talking off camera before we got on with you and stuff. We're talking about the one video that went really viral with us, and I thought that was hilarious. Like so good, you know which one I'm talking about, right? Yes, like your reaction to that is just so perfect. Like, I think that's why it was it hit so well, but like, oh my gosh, like it is so funny, it is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 13:37

So yeah, that comment section was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

If you I know and like I like I really like to think that anyone in my shoes would react that way because why is my dog peeing off of a third store about third story balcony? Like, that's insane.

SPEAKER_04 13:53

Yeah, couldn't tell you. Yeah, oh man, that's hilarious. So good. But yeah, I love what you said about like they are the ones that are you know giving you the content and stuff. I just recently started a little TikTok for Oakley, who you just saw before we started recording and stuff, and that's kind of the way I've been approaching it too. I'm like, okay, I got these fun edits and ideas that are like saved, you know, and stuff, but then like last night, for example, I'm just laying on the couch and I feel like the whole couch like move, and I'm like, what the heck's going on? I look down and this dude is just like on his back, all four paws in the air, like just cranked out, and I was like, okay, I was like, subtle movements. I got my phone, I was like, subtle movement, because it you know, he he'll probably get up if he sees me. Yeah, don't ruin the moment, and I got him so good. Just, I mean, he I don't even know how he was he was wrapped around the couch, it was crazy. But like that's what I that's what I think of when you're saying, you know, those are the moments that'll take precedent to the edited videos that are already kind of just made and sitting there, you know. It's like this is hilarious, I gotta post this like right now.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Like exactly. And it's like sometimes I find that the videos that take like 30 minutes to make, I just film it on my phone, I'm like, this is a real raw, hilarious moment, will do better than the ones that I spend a long time like curating and making a compilation. Like it's just people, especially on social media, just love authentic moments, and those are so easy to capture.

SPEAKER_04 15:20

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and you're not the first content creator to tell us that, especially on this podcast. Like everyone has that same approach. They're like, you know, it re it hits so much harder the ones that I'm just like, okay, 10 minutes, that was really funny. Put a funny caption and then post versus the one it's like so much thought and everything, and it's just it's interesting. It's a very it's a fun A-B test for us too, you know. But um, yeah, that that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

So, yeah, no, that actually leads perfectly into our next question here. But like, is there one video maybe that you were just like, uh, whatever, like gotta get something up today, post it, and then it like un unexpectedly just kind of like blew up.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Honestly, it was the fresh patch one, just because that was such an easy video for me to make. I he literally just peed off the balcony and I was like, okay, I have to share this. But he does these weird things so constantly that I've kind of become desensitized to them. And so an easy video like that where I'm just telling a story of something he does really doesn't seem that interesting to me in the moment. But seeing people react to it, I'm like, oh, that's hilarious. But I'm so desensitized to it that I don't expect videos like that to blow up.

SPEAKER_04 16:33

Yeah, no, that takes total sense, and that's crazy. That's oh my god, I just can't. That that's so funny. My gosh.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

I'm just so glad he didn't pee on anyone.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, that's yeah, that's a blessing.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

That that's a blessing, but also maybe would have made it even crazier. That's true. You know, like part two, like, I actually just got a knock on my door. Like, someone felt some drops on their head as they were walking past. Like, that would be a crazy follow-up part two.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

It could have been a fan, you know, who's like the blessing to get peed on by kickboat meal, you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

He's reached like that celebrity status that pee on me.

SPEAKER_04 17:14

I'm never taking a shower again. You ever know when you like shake a celebrity's hand? It's like, I'm never washing this hand again. That's so good. That's great. Okay, cool. So the fresh patch one, peeing off the balcony. We can establish that is the unexpected blow up. That is that's great. So

Audience Trust And Creator Lessons

SPEAKER_04 17:35

moving on to the next one. What what's the biggest lesson you've taken away from creating content and building a fan base through social media?

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Ooh, something that I really had to learn quickly is that your audience becomes your boss. And the more that you respect your audience and consider products that they would enjoy hearing about, content that they would enjoy to watch, you're gonna set yourself up for a longer career versus just taking any brand deal you can, pushing products that you don't really care about, sharing stuff that only interests you. Like I really spend a lot of time reading my comments and seeing what people are saying and building my content ideas from that because at the end of the day, having an engaged audience is what's gonna get me brand deals. It's what's gonna pay my bills, but also I want to make them happy because so many of them are just dog owners like me who love these silly moments. They make their day a little bit brighter, and I never want to, I don't know, break that trust if I can help it.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

Yeah, no, that makes total sense. That's a great approach, too. I feel like I've never heard that from a content creator. Like it's more so like the, you know, do what you would make you happy, what you want to post, you know, and stuff. Of course, you know, there is that aspect of it, but yeah, like he said, that's a great way of putting it. Like they're my boss. Like, you know, it's like it's that's a great approach because yeah, if they're not resonating to it, like they're either gonna unfollow, they're just not gonna engage if they don't unfollow, and then it's just yeah, then it's all downhill from there, sadly. But you know, um, but yeah, that's a that's a very good approach.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Yeah, and it makes my life easier because I don't even really have to like think too hard to come up with video ideas. It's just replying to comments, answering questions that they have, like really just creating a dialogue between us and just kind of building that relationship with them. Like I have people who've been following me for over five years and they feel like they've grown up with me in many ways. And I I remember being younger and having YouTubers and just feeling like they were a part of my life. And I know how special that relationship is, and I just always kind of want to keep that in mind and never take that for granted.

SPEAKER_04 19:50

Yeah, no, that that makes total sense. That's so cool. And yeah, that's awesome. You were gonna say something too.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Oh, yeah, I was just gonna say, like, um yeah, just paying attention like what to what people want to see. I mean, that's just a great way to make sure that you're making content that's gonna resonate with people. So that's like Drew was saying, that's yeah, like an awful lot.

SPEAKER_04 20:10

And the tools of social media now, like you were saying, taking a comment, you know, you can stitch the comment and stuff, like they're almost I don't want to say producing it for you, but it's just like, oh yeah, that's a great comment to answer video, you know, like that. You know what I mean? So and the tools on TikTok and just all the social media is plug in and play and stuff like that. It's great, you know, and people love that content, you know. It's like a it's like a review on Amazon, you know. It's like if it's not doesn't have good reviews, they're probably not gonna buy it, you know. If it doesn't have good engagement, it's like, you know, probably not gonna grab it. Yeah, try it out.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:43

Awesome. So one thing that I really love about like your content that you make with O'Meal is that a lot of it is just kind of like you doing stuff with him, like going, sorry, going places, going to the beach, and you know, doing stuff like that. So that's really cool. But um, obviously there has to be some balance between like your normal everyday life and and that sort of stuff. So, like,

Work Life Balance With Your Dog

SPEAKER_02 21:05

how do you balance creating content versus just enjoying your your everyday life and then also like your everyday life with oatmeal?

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Yeah, I have a very like very strict process where I have set times during my day that I'm really focused and I'm working, but I also have times, especially like right in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening where I'm either doing something for myself or I'm spending one-on-one quality time with oatmeal, whether that be taking him for a walk, brushing his fur or teeth, training him, something that will just deepen our relationship even just a little bit. Even if it's like five minutes of brushing his teeth, like that is gonna just help our bond, even just like by 1%. And ultimately, I found that investing in that translates into the content. So it just makes everything feel more authentic. But it It took me a long time to find that balance because especially when I first started going full time, the instinct is to work all of the time and just mass produce content. And I found that by doing that, I felt very disconnected to oatmeal. I felt very disconnected to myself, my audience. And so just taking time for me, like I run, I'm training for a marathon right now, and focusing on me and oatmeal's relationship is gonna benefit our work, even if we're doing less hours of work. Everything kind of feeds into those hours to make them the best quality that they can be.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Yeah, that's that's awesome. And it's funny because like I see like a common thread between uh social media creators that we've talked to, um, being that there's like always some form of like organization and like you know, like I'm gonna like you said, I'm gonna set aside this time to do this, and I'm gonna set aside this time to do all my other normal stuff. So I think that's really important. And it's funny too, because like I feel like people don't really realize that like creating content is is like a job, like it's it's it's a lot of work, so yeah, um, yeah, it's kind of cool to like kind of shine a light on that and hear a little bit about your process.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Oh yeah, and I think the hardest part is making it look effortless because so much work goes on behind the scenes. Like I have an employee, I um working over 40 hour weeks still, but I just manage my time in a way that gives me a lot of time still for myself and still for oatmeal.

SPEAKER_04 23:30

Yeah, that's the healthiest way to approach it too. I feel like, you know what I mean? And people probably, yeah, like Gabe was saying, you know, you see it and it's just like, oh, look at how yeah, look at this lavish life, or look at how much fun they're having and stuff. And it's like, yeah, no, it's that's what we want you to see, but also like the time it took, the editing, whatever. It's just like yeah, no, because I've we've met people that you know they try it too, and they're like, oh heck no, like I don't have time, this is stressing me out, and so it's like, yeah, see, it's not don't don't knock until you try it, you know what I mean? Like so, yeah,

The Truth About Golden Retrievers

SPEAKER_04 24:05

exactly. Awesome. So going back to the more, you know, day-to-day stuff and with oatmeal, what's the most chaotic thing oatmeal does on a daily basis?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Ooh, the most chaotic thing that oatmeal does on a daily basis, I think um, I have two green pillows right at the top of my bed. Every single day, oatmeal flips both of them over and then finds a way to thread one of his arms underneath one of them and then rests his chin on top of the pillow. He completely rearranges them so that they like fit his comfort. And those are not dog pillows. I have like this blanket on top of the bed so that he can like lay here and get fur on those, whatever. Those are decorative pillows, and I've I have this constant battle with him where I'm flipping up the pillows, I'll turn my back and I'll see him flipping them down. And I'm like, you little. So I've accepted my fate. Those are dog pillows now.

SPEAKER_04 25:05

Yeah, I was gonna say you could maybe do if you could if you could find another set, just have one for two for him, yeah, two for yourself. Or I don't know. He might just claim the other two, he might just have four by the end of it, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

He would claim them all. That's so what's mine is his.

SPEAKER_04 25:20

Yeah, absolutely. Fair enough.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

He pays my bills.

SPEAKER_04 25:25

I respect that, Oatmeal. I respect that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah, it's the least I can do, right?

SPEAKER_02 25:30

Absolutely. That's great. Um, so yeah, you can see Omeal. Um, we talked about it a little bit earlier, but you can see him snoozing back there. Um, and it sounds like he's very, you know, calm for a golden retriever.

SPEAKER_04 25:41

Um, but no reaction of those pods.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Oh, there we go. There we go.

SPEAKER_04 25:49

Oh, that was adorable. That was adorable.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

But at the same time, I feel like he is like the epitome of like a golden and you know that sort of thing as well. So um, what's something about owning a golden retriever that most people like don't understand until you own one?

SPEAKER_01 26:06

They are because golden retrievers have a lot of um like hip and joint issues. So to get on top of that, he eats a prescription diet, which is very expensive, uh, but obviously he's worth it. Um just the and like with swimming with him in the pool, it every single time he gets wet, he has to have a full bath. I have to fully blow dry him, otherwise, he'll get hot spots. Like, I spend so much time brushing him, blow drying him. It's a never-ending process. Also, the fur. Every inch of my apartment has fur on it. I've gotten used to it, but I get a little self-conscious when like I have friends over. Even if I spend hours deep cleaning, there will always be fur. And they're nightmares as puppies. You think golden retrievers are just automatically these amazing dogs? Oatmeal was had hate in his heart when he was a puppy. He, I don't know if he didn't like me or what. He was a nightmare to train. He would poop in the house and eat it in front of me if I told him what to do. He carried around a giant antler and would drop it on my foot. I could go on through training. He has become an angel dog. But I was under the impression when I was 21 and dumb and getting a puppy that golden retrievers would be the easiest one to get. They're not. Golden retriever puppies are the worst. They're worth it, though.

SPEAKER_04 27:30

Yeah. At the end of the day, they are worth it.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Well of the death would not trade him for the world. He is a lot of work. He is 100% worth it.

SPEAKER_04 27:40

Yeah, he's got to go through a little bit of some struggles first, you know, and necessarily struggles, but you know, the chaos, and then it all it's all rainbows and butterflies at the end of the rainbow, yeah, or at the end of the tunnels, you know. So oh, that's good. That's good. But that's a great point. I love that you uh about the the pool stuff, um, because we just recently uh went on a little trip with my dog and we've never had him swim before. And I was like, okay, maybe he'll get in the pool and see if there's like the little like one-foot area. He just had his paws in, but he wouldn't actually swim. But my girlfriend was like, Yeah, let's make sure we bring in the shampoo and everything, because if he does swim, like we need to bathe him right after and everything, you know, the chlorine, just I mean, swimming in general, but especially the pool swimming. And so I think that's yeah, it's a great point. You know, I feel like people might neglect that a little bit when it comes to these types of dogs. I mean, dogs in general, I feel like should, but these long-haired breeds that you know, the Goldens, the shepherds, everybody, yeah, they're gonna get hot spots. They're gonna get some, you know, you just want to mitigate anything, any risk of anything.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

So that's yeah, the ear infections too. Like I have to clean his ears even if he gets a bath. If there's any kind of water involved, I have to swish out his ears because he's had persistent ear infections in the past that require antibiotics. And luckily, we haven't had a hot spot or an ear infection in over two years because we have our process down, but we really struggled with that for a while.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

That's awesome. Is is oatmeal the kind of dog that, like, anytime you're near a body of water, he like has to jump in.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

He wants to, but he won't because I have specifically trained him not to.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 29:15

And I didn't even like he he just in general is like a very respectful dog. Like, he won't jump up on the bed without permission. I didn't train him to do that. He just like he will always ask permission before jumping into something, jumping on the bed. Like, and I'm so glad because he wants to, yeah. Always.

SPEAKER_04 29:34

He's a gentleman. He's yeah, he has some way to do that. He's got good manners, he's got good manners, you know. What can we say? Can't complain about that. Toply, he needs a can't complain. Yeah, that's great. And yeah, going back to what you're saying too about um all the fur, my dog Oakley, same thing. Um, it is everywhere. You think you clean it? We have you know, robot vacuums, purifiers, the thing just and then you're always gonna find something. So I feel you on that. I feel you on the fur.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Yeah, I found one of his I found a fur stuck between my front two teeth this morning. How did that get there? I had to pull it out like floss.

SPEAKER_04 30:09

Oh man. Well, he worked like floss too, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

I know. I think it did floss my front two teeth for me. I'm like, thanks.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Yeah, I guess. I guess my dog, like, when it was like shedding season, like, do you leave a cup out too long? Like, oh yeah, you gotta change out the water because there's definitely some hair in there.

SPEAKER_04 30:28

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. And the the one that gets me is like on vacation or something when they travel or they don't travel with you, but all of a sudden it's just like like there was one time I was at a restaurant, like he was nowhere near me, and I was like, This is a brand new shirt. Like, I literally got this shirt on this vacation. Like, how is there hair on it?

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Literally, yeah, it's it's like sorcery. How does it follow you everywhere? I can't wear black, I have no black, I can't wear it.

SPEAKER_04 30:54

Yep, that it's inevitable, you know. That's so funny. I just sparked a nice TikTok idea. You just film something like that, and then it's your your dog in the clouds, like you know, like behind you. Like, I'm always with you, I'm always watching you. Literally. I might have to make that one tonight. Yeah, there you go.

Habits Oatmeal Wins Every Time

SPEAKER_04 31:11

Awesome. So, what's a habit that oatmeal has that you've just accepted at this point?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Um the what?

SPEAKER_04 31:22

I said I was saying maybe the pillows?

SPEAKER_01 31:24

The pillows also he grunts at me while I'm eating. He will never steal my food without permission, but he will stare at me and grunt. He won't touch me, he won't paw me, he'll just like just nonstop. So I uh I don't try to train it out of him. It's kind of funny. Yeah, but that's so physical.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

That's the habit. That's the one. My dog used to do that too. That's that's awesome. Yeah, the the subtle one. You're like, oh, like you're you're kind of strong arming me here, but like you're so cute while you're doing it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

No, like the grunt almost it feels very human because it'll kind of change tone. He'll be like, hmm?

unknown 32:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Like, no, it's like we're having a conversation. Like, if he could form words, he would.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Yeah, yeah. That's so funny. I was actually gonna say that before.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

Minecraft villager.

SPEAKER_04 32:19

Yeah. That's so funny. I was gonna say that before. I don't remember what question it led to, but I was thinking, I was like, don't you just wish oatmeal could talk? Like, don't you just wish it like and he almost he's that type of dog. I was telling it with uh Gabe's dog too. It's like there's these certain breeds and dogs that are just like, I'm like, you're you're holding back. They want to say something so bad, but they know they can't, they can't blow their cover, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 32:43

Yeah, and like oatmeal is so expressive through his facial expressions, through his body language, through the choices that he makes that it almost feels like I am talking to him sometimes. And he knows what I'm saying based on my tone. So, like, he is as close as he can get to talking to him.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Exactly. Yeah, something my dog used to do is try to like herd me places. He'd like kind of walk somewhere and then like turn around real quick to make sure that I was like still looking at or still following him, you know, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

So good. Um, so yeah, that kind of leads well into this question here. Um what's something that oatmeal has trained you to do?

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Ooh, I uh I I go almost everywhere with oatmeal, and I'm he has a crate in the back of my car, and I'm so used to anytime I'm getting in my car opening up the trunk to let him in. And even if I'm not going somewhere, if I don't have him with me, I will still open the trunk just to let him in. And I'm like, oh wait, oatmeal is not with me. Yeah, I do that every single time, even if he's not with me.

SPEAKER_04 33:49

That's funny. That just force a habit there. Yeah, yeah, that's a true bond. That's true love, right there. He's with you in spirit, yes.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Oh, yeah, and infer that too.

SPEAKER_04 34:00

Absolutely, of course. Yeah, cool. So moving on

Discovering Fresh Patch For Apartment Living

SPEAKER_04 34:05

to more uh fresh patch talk. I know we kind of talked about the video before and everything, but how did you first discover Fresh Patch?

SPEAKER_01 34:14

I had just moved into my first apartment by myself, and I was like, there has to be something that I can put on my balcony that he can go potty on because I don't want to have to go downstairs every single time he needs to go potty to take him to the bathroom. And so I did some research and then I found you guys and tried it out. It took me a little bit to train him to use it. He, I think he thought it was like my plant or something, and he didn't want to pee on it. And then I had to be like, no, no, buddy, like this one's for you. And so finally was like, Oh, got it. Now he'll just go on command.

SPEAKER_04 34:49

Lovely thing. Yeah, you're like, by all means, sir. Like, please, this is for you.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Go ahead. I got when I was training him, I got a little mini fire hydrant to put on the patch.

SPEAKER_04 35:02

Yeah, yeah, that's so good. That's such a big that's a big part of our training, too. Is you know, a male dog does need a place to mark. So putting something, you know, fire hydrant, even a rock, like we tell people, if you just got a bigger rock, just put it on there. I bet you'll work and stuff. But um, I'm glad you say that too, because you know, fresh patch, a lot of dogs do take, you know, since it is real grass, they take to it naturally, but there always is a little bit of training involved, especially something brand new, or yeah, maybe they are mistaking it for mom's plants, you know, so you gotta let them know.

SPEAKER_01 35:31

Like this is this is my grass patch. I love watching it grow. Don't pee on it. Please.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

It's funny too. We were joking the other day in the office. Um, we have like a training spray that we use that has like pheromones that kind of like helps them understand what it's for. And we were like, oh, we should make a a fire hydrant scented spray for the grass, you know, since dogs love this so much.

SPEAKER_04 35:58

Like a nice metal paint smelling maybe a little bit of another dog scent on it already, so they really get in there and uh there you go.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

There you go.

SPEAKER_04 36:08

But what made you decide to try fresh patch with with oatmeal?

SPEAKER_01 36:13

It was uh like the biggest motivator was just not wanting to take him outside in the dark alone to go potty because, like, as a woman living alone, that can be dangerous, even if you have a dog still, that's a little scary. So safety was definitely one of my concerns. Like, obviously, I still take him outside to go potty, but it's just like at night, having that option, it keeps me safe, it keeps him safe. There's a skunk that lives in the front of our apartment, and I don't want to run into that guy. He's only out at night, so safety.

SPEAKER_04 36:48

Yeah, we'll pass on the skunk. Sounds like bad news. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Yeah, we're good.

SPEAKER_04 36:53

It's like a uh a tomato bath for oatmeal in the near future because that's how you get rid of that. Supposedly that's how you get rid of skunk smell, is like you gotta like tomato juice or something like that. Interesting. Yeah, but I actually had one of our old co-workers who doesn't work here anymore, but his dog got sprayed by a skunk once, and he was like, it was the worst experience ever. Because one, poor dog, like this poor dog just got in a running with a skunk and got sprayed by a foreign substance. And then now, as the owner, you gotta clean your dog, and yeah, he's like, it was just a disaster.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

I'm sure it's rough for dogs because like a big part of their sensory is like set.

SPEAKER_04 37:30

Oh, it's like a hundredth X what we smell, you know, to them, especially if it's on them. Like, oh gosh, like so.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

I do worry oatmeal would like the smell though. He is really disgusting things. I fear he'd be like, new perfume for bathing me.

SPEAKER_02 37:47

That sounds like an amazing piece of content for stuff.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

Yeah, oh I did a video. I took him to the park recently, and he rolled in someone else's diarrhea. And I made a video about that, and I had to give him a bath.

SPEAKER_04 38:00

He feels covered in it. Yeah, sometimes those are just the deep breaths. You just gotta accept it. And then yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Deep breaths just not around him because he's stunk.

SPEAKER_04 38:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:13

Maybe in a different room.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

Yeah. Yeah. Mask on, mask up for that one.

SPEAKER_02 38:19

So, how does Fresh Patch fit into your daily routine now?

SPEAKER_01 38:24

I always take so we have our we have our Fresh Patch out on our balcony, and I take him out there like right before bed, sometimes in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning. Um, so it's just kind of like the easiest times because like if I'm in my jammies, I don't want to have to go downstairs in my matching sheep pajamas. Like those are my bedtime clothes. I don't want to have to go outside for it. So just being able to like open my balcony door, he goes out, he goes potty, he's all set. So it's just kind of that like evening shift for potty time that our fresh patch is incredible for.

Night Potty Safety And Routine

SPEAKER_02 39:00

Yeah, definitely. I mean, that's how we that's what we always say is like in between the walks. We're not saying don't walk your dog, don't take them to the park, but like, you know, there's there's moments where it's really useful.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Yeah, especially the middle of the night. Like, I the last thing I want to do is go all the way downstairs to have to take him out to go potty and then come back and go back to bed. Like, that is such a hassle. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

Yeah, especially not in the sheep jammies.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

Yeah, not in the sheep jammies. I can't risk that being near peer poop.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

No, or skunks.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

Or skunks, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:34

Absolutely, yeah. That's so great. Yeah, and I mean it it's that's our bread and butter when it comes to you know, fresh patch, of course. It's like, would you rather just take five, maybe ten steps from your room to your door versus a hundred downstairs, everything? Like, I saw one, it was uh it's nobody we work with, but it was like it was a golden retriever puppy, and it was like, what's it like being a golden retriever like parent? And it was like when this one literally just go takes us outside at two in the morning just to fart. Yeah, literally. And I'm like, yeah, see, you know, with fresh patch, yeah, you could just have a fart on the pal.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

It's a much shorter journey to the fart. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

Much shorter journey to the fart, correct.

SPEAKER_02 40:19

That's so good. We should start using Allen. It's

Why Auto Ship Beats Store Bought Sod

SPEAKER_02 40:25

a great tagline.

SPEAKER_04 40:26

Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Cool. So for dog parents who are on the fence about Fresh Patch, what would you what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01 40:36

I would say just try it. Give it one month, but you're gonna be hooked. It's one of those things where once you have it, you can't go back to not having it. It really does make your life so much easier, just again, for those late night potty trips. I never saw myself as like doing it as a long-term solution, but it hooked me so much that I was like, I I can't live without this. It makes my life so easy.

SPEAKER_04 41:03

Amazing. That's that's what we love to hear. You know, so for all you viewers, listeners that you know have seen Fresh Patch or you've been thinking about it, take it from Adrian Oatmeal, take it from our other reviews, everything. It's such a convenience, and you know, it is keeping your dog trained on real grass. It's not plastic, it's not synthetic, so they're not gonna get confused. Like Gabe said, you know, take them on those walks still, you know, all the throughout the day, of course, you know. And like Adria said, it's just those the evening shift, the morning shift, those in-between times. So you heard it here first. Check it out. Freshpatch.com if you're interested. Be like oatmeal. Yeah, be like oatmeal, you know. Oatmeal is already a trend center, so why not, you know, keep it going. Look at that.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Exactly. And also just like the convenience of it showing up at your door, too. And I like I have it on auto ship, so I don't even have to think about it. I know that every three weeks it starts to get a little stinky. That's the day that a new one arrives. All I do is change it out. And like, yeah, sure, you could go and get like a thing of sod and like do it yourself, but then you have to cut it to be the exact measurement. You have to go out and get it every month. This is so easy, literally just arrives at your door. The like it's so low maintenance. Everything else with a dog can be so high maintenance. This is something that's so low maintenance.

SPEAKER_04 42:19

Beautiful. Yeah, no, that's that's the big that's the biggest caveat right there. We get that all the time. Why don't I just go to Home Depot or something and get the sod? It's like, go ahead, try it. I was gonna say and tell us how much of a struggle that was.

SPEAKER_02 42:31

Those people who say that, like, just try it once, yeah, and then try fresh patch once and like see how it goes.

SPEAKER_04 42:36

Yeah, not only not only the convenience, but the quality of the grass too. And like, you know, it's just night and day difference.

SPEAKER_01 42:42

So um it doesn't make a mess because there isn't like a bunch of dirt on the fresh patch, too. So, like you're gonna like if you go get some sod and stuff, like there's gonna be dirt in it, it's gonna make a mess. You have to cut it to the specific side. Like, that's that is so much work. Like, sure, go ahead, try it, but that's not that I wouldn't want to deal with that every three weeks.

SPEAKER_04 43:02

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and it goes that goes back to the point where you know, you a person like you, you have a schedule too, you know, like you have everything's mapped out. So why are you gonna inconvenience yourself by having to do this, you know, like you said, that three-week mark, and it's like, oh man, now I gotta get in the car, now I gotta go buy it. Sometimes, I mean, we made a video about this too, and like we showed up and there was literally one roll of sod, and it was the most disgusting roll of sod you've ever seen in your life.

SPEAKER_02 43:27

It was like if you've if you're a Spongebob fan, which I kind of think that you might be. Yes, it was like the nasty patty, but in grass form. Like it was disgusting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Yeah. And like there is something so satisfying about like rolling out a new fresh patch and like having my balcony be all clean. It almost feels like I have like a fresh cut lawn and it looks so beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

Right? Yeah. We always we always joke about g making like little lawn chairs, you know.

SPEAKER_04 43:57

That'd be funny. Yeah, we we need to come out with those. Yes, we do. But yeah, no, it's so fun too because like it does, you know, it's not a plastic, it's not a pea pad, it's not yeah, like synthetic, yeah, it looks alright, but it's gonna eventually smell. But like you were just saying, it looks so good on a balcony, especially if you put flowers around it pots, and you know, you make it decorative, like it looks so good, too. Like, you know, and it's just the convenience, everything. It's it's awesome. So absolutely. Oh, look at that. Look at oatmeal. Just sorry, I just got distracted by that big no good. Those tiny baby cat paws. Awesome. So I think this one's for you.

SPEAKER_02 44:37

The last question. Yeah, last question. Dang, I wish we had 50 more questions for you. I know.

unknown 44:42

This is fun.

SPEAKER_02 44:43

We could keep going. I mean, I can fire them off. Part two, part two. Part two. Yeah, part two. Um, so anything new and exciting coming up for for you in Oatmeal?

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Yeah,

Moving Plans And Part Two Tease

SPEAKER_01 44:55

we're actually moving in two weeks. We're moving in with my sister and her dog Krusty Carl um into a three-bedroom apartment. Right now we're in like the tiniest studio. Um, so we're gonna have a little bit more space, still a balcony for our fresh patch, but I'm very excited. It's gonna be um Oatmeal's gonna love having a friend. Krusty Carl is not gonna love having him, but she's gonna be here.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

I was gonna say, hopefully, they can like repair their relationship a little bit, you know. Yeah, roommates.

SPEAKER_01 45:26

Yeah, yeah, maybe. I'm not, I'm I'm not hopeful, at least on Krusty Carl's end. Oatmeal loves her, Krusty Carl does love him.

SPEAKER_04 45:35

Fair enough. Fair enough. Damn you, Krusty Carl, old man Jenkins.

SPEAKER_02 45:44

Yeah, Krusty Carl driving by in a jalopy.

SPEAKER_04 45:50

That's so good. Well, thank you so much, Adra. Like, you know, we could keep talking and talking and stuff, but we are out of questions. But thank you so much. Uh, this was a blast. Yeah, you know, we love we love your enthusiasm and just your approach to everything. This is so fun. And um, yeah, can't wait to see the next, you know, your move and everything, and all the uh content that you guys are gonna keep producing. And um, yeah, we'll we'll get you our poop bags too, of course. You know, we'll get those poop bags over there. Big time. And then um, yeah, so we'll give you one more chance to shout out your social media so everyone watching and listening can give you a follow.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

Yeah, we are Adria and Oatmeal on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. Check us out. We're we're everywhere.

SPEAKER_04 46:40

There you go. Check them out. The uh that'll be in the description for YouTube and stuff. And then, of course, check out freshpatch.com, follow us at freshpatch on YouTube, all the social channels, just like Adria and Hope Meal. And if you're watching, um, excuse me, listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, wherever you listen to your podcasts, give us a follow, subscribe, like, comment, and you know, keep up to date with all things fresh patch. And thank you again, Adrian. This was a blast. And uh yeah, maybe a part two. Leave a like, comment if you guys are listening for a part two. If you want to see Adrian Oatmeal again, we'd love to do a part two. So we'll see if that sounds in the works. Awesome. Absolutely sweet. Well, thank you. And thanks everybody for listening to the Fresh Patch Podcast. We'll see you on the next one. Thanks for listening to the Fresh Patch Podcast, where good pets get it. We hope you enjoyed the show. Give us a like or a follow and shop all real grass supplies at freshpatch.com.