Can Brushing Your Dog’s Teeth Extend Their Life?|ft. Sherri Marchese

What if something as simple as brushing your dog’s teeth could add years to their life?

In this episode of Long Live Dogs: Pitbulls & Pet Grief Podcast, we’re joined by Dog Mom and dental hygienist Sherri Marchese—known by many as the face behind @nybulldogsisters. Sherri shares how her commitment to dental care helped extend the life of her beloved Bulldog, Phoebe, who was born with a congenital heart condition.

We dive into the powerful connection between oral health and overall longevity in dogs—and why dental disease is one of the most overlooked threats to their health.

Sherri breaks down:

• How poor dental health impacts the heart, organs, and lifespan
• The simple daily routine that can add years to your dog’s life
• Easy, stress-free ways to start brushing your dog’s teeth
• Her natural DIY toothpaste recipe
• Real-life lessons from Phoebe’s journey

This episode is both educational and deeply heartfelt—because loving our dogs means doing the small things that give us more time together.

🎧 Listen now and start building a routine your dog will love.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to Long Live Dogs Pit Bulls and Pet Grief Podcast. We are so excited to dive into episode three. What if something as simple as brushing your dog's teeth could actually give them years more life? Today, we're joined by Sherry Marchese, known to many as the dog mom behind New York Bulldog Sisters, but also a dental hygienist who's worked with high-profile clients and brought that same level of care to her own dogs. She's here to share the story of her beloved Bulldog Phoebe, who, despite being diagnosed with a serious heart condition as a puppy and given a limited future, went on to live over 12 beautiful, healthy years. Sherry believes dental care played a huge role in that, and today she's going to break it down. From simple daily habits to her natural toothpaste recipe, this episode is full of practical tips that can truly change your dog's life. Brought to you by Cassone, America's number one hooklift truck dealership, and your trusted source for modular buildings, trailers, and storage solutions. 50 Years Strong and Woman-owned. Also, Bully Crew CBD and Mushroom Tinctures, natural healing solutions for you and your dogs.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

My name is Craig Fields. I am your uh your co-host along with my other co-host, Josephine. Uh, I'm also the founder of the New York Bully Crew. And the reason I started this podcast was uh first and foremost, I uh would like to figure out how we can keep our dogs on this planet longer.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

We want to welcome Sherry. Hi, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Dental health is is the key to keeping heart health good in dogs, and I know that's what you're gonna talk about, but I learned that uh because, you know, uh the animal hospital that we work with is very it was w they did dentals and they told me uh, you know, a long, long time ago to keep, you know, all my dog's teeth clean if you want to have good heart, you know, healthy hearts, and it you know causes infections in the body as well. So it is super important. So I'm glad that you came on uh to this episode to talk about.

SPEAKER_04 2:03

So I'm specialize in uh preventive disease, such as periodal disease for a lot of um chronic illnesses for a lot of patients and for humans, for humans, and I um utilize what I know for humans onto my dogs. And a lot of dogs and cats has a lot of periodal disease and they don't talk about it at all. So I always very um I always were really into paradigmal disease with animals, even my vest though, I was a little too much about 10 years ago. Um, the reason why it became so relevant so into it because my my bulldog was born with congenital congenital heart disease where her valves were not working properly. She was diagnosed after one year old. So her blood was not pumping normally. So the valve is not working, therefore the the blood flow was very was very slow, or it just is not functioning as well. Um, and my vet told me that she will not live beyond five.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 3:17

So I made a mission to make sure that I take care of her heart in any way I can so she could live as long as she can. And she lived up to uh 12 years and um two months. Wow. Yeah. And then they would talk about it because if I said it, it was true, and I was too afraid to talk about it. But it's almost a year of her anniversary uh that she passed, and I feel like I need to.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

It's been a year since you passed?

SPEAKER_04 3:47

Almost. Next month is a year. So I you can you guys can laugh. I use gum wipes first. That's like a mouthwash for your dogs. You just wipe their gums and their teeth with any type of wipes. I even make some myself, and then you brush your teeth mechanically like a circular motion. I if you can even Google it, how to brush kids' teeth. That's the technique I use. It's called fond. It's a circular motion. And if you're lucky enough, you could brush uh inside on top of their tooth structure if you're if you're able to do that, which you can. You can really force your dog to brush your teeth. They they'll do it. Yeah, they'll do it. I've I I brushed f um Yogi's teeth. I the foster dog. He didn't like it, but I force it open. Yeah, and it brushes teeth. You couldn't really do it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

I do mine mine, don't like the toothbrush too much, and sometimes they bite it, like they try to bite the toothbrush. Because I didn't brush their teeth when they were younger, which I should have. Um so what I do is I use the finger claw and then I like rub it with they seem to let me do that. So I'll do that.

SPEAKER_04 5:02

It's better than nothing. Yeah. But I prefer the, you know, the finger one with the little rubble, rubber, rubber. Yeah, do you like that one? I mean, if they don't, if they let you do that, then go ahead. You just need some rubber bristle. You need some mechanic.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

You know what we do? What? I literally pick the plaque off their teeth. With your with what? With my finger. I swear to God, it works. Yeah, it does. It works. And and it's and it's the le like they don't they don't mind that. Yeah. You know, because I'm like petting them and and then like I'll chip a little off. And yeah, that that's that I found that works the best. And also, uh, if they'll eat carrots, carrots will help too.

SPEAKER_04 5:43

Yeah, I I I like when they chew frozen carrots.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:48

Well, like there's some toys that's rubbery and has little bristles.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Yeah, those those actually work too. Those do. That's okay too. I mean supervised, but because you can't do those with the dog. No.

SPEAKER_04 5:59

But I I'm old school. I like literally brush their teeth.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yeah, no, I yeah. I mean, it it works. It works. It you know, it's the same thing as a human. You know, it's literally the same thing. And and they have, you know, uh more bacteria than humans.

SPEAKER_04 6:15

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

So actually, I think it's the opposite, right? Isn't the human mouth the dirtiest?

SPEAKER_04 6:19

Well, human mouth is actually more dirty than dogs. That's yeah, right. That's what I thought. So I don't know how balls. So in human in 24 hours after we eat, we develop a self factor called plaque. Dogs, I don't think they grow that quickly in 24 hours because they're always chewing or something. But I I have seen you guys can laugh. I exam people's dogs' teeth all the time. Like when I walk them or my neighbors. So I have a poodle friend that won't chew toys at age.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

You examine people's teeth too. Right. You're right, right. Like, hey Joe, you know, have you used the teeth whitening stuff now? I did.

SPEAKER_04 7:03

I gave you a lightning set. I can't, I can't. I'm I'm actually really, yeah, yeah. I'm very strict. I've been doing this a long time, and I'm very strict. And um, I have brought offices that never involve an um periodontal type of disease. Like they don't understand it, and I have converted a lot of office that way in humans. That's why I'm so so I know so much about it that I do it to dogs. What if I do, I do it on my dogs. What I eat is what I get to my dogs. It's healthy stuff, of course. Yeah. Not my French fries. I love French fries.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:43

But I I do. I feel like human and dog anatomy and physiology is almost the same, you know. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

I treat them my kids, so so you know how like people they joke around and say, oh, your dog has stinky breath, or um, you know, my dog's breath stinks, or whatever. Really, they shouldn't have stinky breath, right?

SPEAKER_04 8:07

Right. That's the signs of gum disease.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:11

And when gum disease gets worse, it's called periodontal disease, where the bacteria now is attacking the bone. Not just the gum, but the bone. And they can easily get at age of two. I think like 80% of dogs get paradontal disease by age or two or something like that. If it depends on their Wow, I didn't know that. Yeah, it's very severe. And a vet, oh one time a vet told me cats and dogs, when they ate, like if there's, you know, as they get older, they usually have paradigm disease that can affect their heart and touch in their body from their mouth. It is so preventable.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yeah, I was I was like I said, I was told that many, many years ago.

SPEAKER_04 8:50

So you have a good vet.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

I've been conscious of that for a long time. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:55

And I I do recommend if your dog is able to be on an anesthesia, like, should get a dog clean.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah, so I get my dog's teeth cleaned.

SPEAKER_04 9:04

That's really good.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Yeah, I go to uh, you know, the vet and go to a dental vet and I have them cleaned. That's excellent. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:13

Some dogs like like once a year, or no, they don't need crazy. When they need it.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Yeah, I think it's like when they need it. It it doesn't technically have to be once a year, but if if when they get maybe when they get older, you know, more frequently than when they're younger, you know? Yeah. So just just when they need it.

SPEAKER_04 9:31

Right. So Phoebe had heart condition, so I try not to put her under any anesthesia forever. So my goal was to keep her heart under control as much as I can.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Try the picking method with your finger.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

Yeah. Well, I actually you can laugh. You can laugh, Craig. I actually used my dental tools.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Oh, that's right. I forgot. You're you're you're a pro. My bad. I actually went to Jimmy. Maybe I should be asking you for your tool instead of me telling you to use your finger.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

I'll give you some. I'll give you some. She came to my house and she started checking all their teeth, and she was like scraping. Minnie, who, you know, is a little bit afraid of people, but she loves Aunt Sherry, scraped her teeth. You did Luna.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_03 10:16

Yeah. Yeah. If they don't bite, I do, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:19

But I I've bulldogs. Yeah, the bulldog smart. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:25

You have that special toothpaste. You have to that special toothpaste you make. It's natural.

SPEAKER_04 10:30

So I I make my own toothpaste because um I didn't like the stuff that's out there, but I've got some good brands that's out there. But I made my own.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

You make your own.

SPEAKER_04 10:40

Yeah, so I put a tablespoon, uh I get a glass jar, and I put uh a tablespoon of um baking soda, a tablespoon of uh bone meal because it has calcium, phosphate, and magnesium. Um, and it's edible. That's why I put that in there. And then I put maybe like like half a cup of coconut oil that's melted. Now mix it up.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

Yeah. Because calcium is really good for your teeth, and so is phosphoryl, obviously. So um, but there's the I think I found brand I kind of like that has good things for the dog.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

But not that not those bacon tasting brands, right?

SPEAKER_04 11:23

Well, they're okay. The bacon soda's okay too, but I feel like there's other crap that's in there I don't like. Uh so I don't want to lose it. I feel like junk, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Like they sell those greenies and everything. That's the worst.

SPEAKER_04 11:36

That's disgusting.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

Um no offensive greening, but that's like junk in there, I think. And then for gum wipes, you know, Joe, I like chlorohexidine with um with distilled water. And then you you soak your gauze in the jar. Oh, it's a jar, because you know I hate plastic. And um chlorohexidine is great for ginger vitis and periodontal disease. It really is. But you have to dilute them because it's high concentrated. Yeah, and then you soak your gauze or cotton pat, whatever you have, and you just use that to wipe your gums. It's really good for gingivitis and periodontal disease.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Obviously, you know, the diet helps your dogs too, because you keep your dogs on a good diet, right?

SPEAKER_04 12:17

Yeah, so for Phoebe, my whole goal was making sure that she don't keep her heart not stressed.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

So, what did you do to help fat?

SPEAKER_04 12:29

So diet is important. She was always on a low-fat diet. Um, I don't, I I actually buy a little bit of kibble, but for topping, but I cook for them. I cook for her.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:39

And uh um, I never could get the food straight. I tried raw diet, it didn't work. I I didn't know how to do it, so I didn't do it right. Um, and um also I made sure she never, ever pent. She's never overheated, she's never stressed.

SPEAKER_03 12:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

Once she feels stressed, I leave. I get out of the situation or put on an AC. I never let her pent or stress ever. Because that you can have a heart attack that way.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:06

So I I made sure that that never happens. The weather's hot, she's not outside more than two minutes. Just no way. I I was not gonna stress her heart out. And then her last, when she was 10, I knew it was a borrowed time. And I think that's when I started using Bully Crew stuff too. Oh, nice. I did that, and that keeps her calm and cool. Because she was kind of, she had a lot of anxiety, so that was that was that was the thing. CBD helped and the mushroom helped.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

So what else, like besides brushing every day, obviously, healthy diet. Um CBD can help too, right, Craig? We C BD.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah, so so CBD traditionally helps with with their breath. Yeah. And it helps with their immune system as well, which really helps everything. So yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 13:51

Yeah. I'm obsessed with your products, girl. I love obsessed with C B D and the mushroom. I'm like, I told, I think all my patients with dogs, I like every time somebody stops us and ask us, oh, why they look so good with the age. And I'm like, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you know. Especially with bully croppadas. I'm like obsessed. I told like all my patients, all my patients, the cats, my patient had cats. I text Josephine, I'm like, I don't know anything about cats. I'm like, could cats take CBD? Like, it's okay. It's really Palton. It's really, it's really great.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

That's funny. Yeah, I mean I but uh I I I I truly believe in the five and one mushroom too. So I don't know if you know, but just by giving uh Mac, my dog Mac, the five in one mushrooms, I was able to take him off his cortisol.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

He did he was before he passed away, he was off his cortisol shots, and then Nathan diagnosed with heart disease, right? And then over the course of uh two and a half years, his heart disease became undetectable. And the only thing that changed was the five and one mushroom. I believe and it's and it's like you know, we got echocardiograms done, and it's not like we're just saying that, like just like just like put it, you know. Right.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

I believe it.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

I I I I take it every day. I have my mom on it.

SPEAKER_03 15:12

I take it too. It's okay. I was on FaceTime this morning with my mom, and I was like doing it. And she's like, hey, how many how come you're doing three job reports? Like, I need a boost today.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

I take cordiceps before I before I train, before I spar. It absolutely gives me energy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cordyceps before I train and and spar and you know, do any kind of uh you know activity like that absolutely gives me energy.

SPEAKER_04 15:43

Hey, you should have a bully crew fitness for human.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Yeah. You know what? The only thing worse than training uh dogs is training humans. Yeah. For sure. It's not the dogs, it's not the dogs I don't mind training. It's the people who uh that I that you know uh that I I mind. I don't mind the dogs at all.

SPEAKER_04 16:06

But no, dental health is so important, they don't talk about it enough for sure.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Never hopefully this will get out there and people will start caring about it. Like I said, I I got lucky that my vet was a go.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

I remember the vet argued with me. He was like, you don't have to do it every day. I say, don't tell me what to do, and don't tell your patient that. That's ridiculous. Yeah, like that's that.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Especially considering you're a dental hygienist.

SPEAKER_04 16:31

Yeah, I was like, don't tell me what to do with teeth. Like, I was like, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Well, I had like two senior dogs that ended up I had, you know, had to get teeth pulled out, Howard and Bella. Yeah. Um, they one of them was cracked. One of them I noticed the teeth, the tooth started turning like brown, you know, like discolored.

SPEAKER_04 16:54

When it's discolored, I mean the tooth is dying, the nerve is dying. But there's a cavity, yeah. If it's a cavity, it'll crack. That's why dogs should not chew a lot of those. Was that elk thing? Yeah, and elk.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Yeah, you know, I heard, uh yeah, uh elk antlers.

SPEAKER_04 17:10

Yeah, they can't.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

Is that is that what you're talking about?

SPEAKER_04 17:12

Yeah, yeah, they shouldn't.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Yeah. It's about them. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:18

That's gonna cost you so much money doing that. Don't don't let them chew that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:23

At least not I I don't know about other dogs, but bulldogs, they can't. They can't. I don't know, some dogs.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

So it's just so it's important. I know a lot of people, they tend to wait. Let's say if they're going to the groomer or they're giving their dog a bath, like ever once a month, or whatever it is, that's when they look at the teeth. Oh, wow. So they don't really keep up with no staying on top of it, right?

SPEAKER_04 17:47

Well, I think people don't know what it looks like. Like people don't know what healthy look like. Even humans, no one knows. So healthy gums should be pink. It should never be uh red or like a bluish red. It should never be that hot pink either. It should be light pink or pink. And it should never be white. If it's so white, something's wrong, too. That's like an emic or something like that, or yellow. Um, yellow means Sajana's issue. So it has to be a like a light pink to a medium pink kind of color. And gum should be firm, it should not be fluffy, and it shouldn't look, it shouldn't look swollen or fatty looking. Yeah, it should be flat to the tooth. And people don't know that. Like you just, I mean, how could they know that, you know?

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, I get my shit cleaned all the time.

SPEAKER_04 18:34

Yeah, yeah. And the young thing's teeth, I just go.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

I went to see a dentist and and he's like, Oh, you you you you're gonna get uh gingivitis if you start because I never really did cleanings. And I was like, yo, what's gingivitis? And well, you know, and then he and then I was like, Yeah, I don't want gingivitis. So then I just started getting my teeth cleaned. And I I mean it's it's really not like you know, I don't know why people don't do it more often. It's really it's it's good for you, and it does it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

They don't people don't know like this the even human, I think it's 70% human walking around with uh periodontal disease, which is more severe than gum disease. Like, and then the ginger body is like 80%. It's like really high. It's really high.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

Well, he showed me a picture of my teeth, what they look like, like under like a mic, like I guess microscope or whatever it is, you know? And I was like, ew, that's my teeth. Yeah, he's like, yeah. I was like, yeah, that needs to come off.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

Yeah, yeah. I take photos. I take photos. So do you that's my technique?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

They scared me into teen uh into into cleaning my teeth regularly.

SPEAKER_04 19:36

That's my that's my technique. I scare people about it.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Do you think like I I don't know, I was thinking about this today, because Minnie is very slobbery. She's always, you know. So she's got the slobber. Are they do they have worse mouth, you know, like gums and teeth?

SPEAKER_04 19:54

Actually, the more they slobber, uh so the more they slobber is actually make it their teeth stronger. Uh-huh. Saliva, believe it or not, cleans the teeth. How but if you don't but you're right, if you don't brush it, that saliva could form tart more. It's bad for the gum, but it's great for the teeth. I know it's such a contradiction, but that's what it is. Saliva, believe me not, cleans the teeth. If they're not slobbery, they tend to get cavity more. Oh, it's a lot of people. And bulldogs, yeah. Yeah, because but bulldogs are mouth breathers because the way they perform. So they tend to get tart a little bit more. Any dog that's more smooshier or like the jaw sticks out, like some pitals are like that, their jaw sticks out. Those kind of, it's called class three, where the jaw, the lower jaw sticks out more, gets more tartar buildup, because they breathe in their mouth more. I know it's a whole obstruction thing, breathing out. It's a whole thing. It's a whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

So Earl's uh, because of his his clef, his like his uh and his heat are really bad. Like they're worse than than uh than his top teeth from I guess con it's from constant air on them as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:07

Cleft pile because they're not breathing right and they're they're not formed correctly. Yeah, so their inclusion's off. It's funny because I actually saw the thing about the air, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

The air hitting mouth breathing.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

It's the mouth breathing. Even humans, we have that problem.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:21

Mouth breathing is like breathing, obstruction of breathing is is a factor too. It's a lot of factor for for gum disease. Yeah, but number one factor is not brushing it. Brushing the teeth. Yeah, it's like bad hygiene. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah, I was given good hygiene, but um Yeah, you're lucky.

SPEAKER_04 21:41

Yeah, you're lucky. You have a good dentist and event.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

And she was like, you know, the the the uh the toothbrush police, you know? She made sure all three boys brushing their teeth.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

So Oh, I love yeah yeah. I I I feel like I was the only one that was doing it. I was like, oh. Oh well. I never taught I I show I did a lot of videos brushing, I th right?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

But I don't think it's so important too. Like Yeah. You know? It's like the first thing you really, you know, like you know, you smile and it's like teeth, you know?

SPEAKER_04 22:13

Well the the the secret of youth is your hair, your skin, and your teeth. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Thank god I thank God I I I'm I'm good. Great.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

That's funny. So um what we'll do is like if you want the recipe, can we can you um we can post it, Shari?

SPEAKER_04 22:34

Yeah, yeah. You want me to do a video?

SPEAKER_03 22:37

Um yeah, why not?

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Well, give them your give them uh why don't you give them verbally give your email address if anyone has any questions about about it? You know, because I'm sure people might.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

So also you should tell us, tell us about New York Bulldog Sisters. What do you want to tell? Um no, because you do you talk to a lot of bulldog parents worldwide, right? About health and teeth and other things.

SPEAKER_04 23:05

So I know for a year I I I've been slacking, you know I've been slacking ever since Phoebe. I made this page because of Phoebe because she was so funny and goofy. So after that, I I couldn't, I just don't have the, you know, I I'm not ambitious enough. I don't know what's going on. You know, you can know why I'm grieving, but yeah, but um I tried to my my goal was trying to keep every dog healthy. That remember that's how I started. I wanted people to to keep their dog healthy. And then that how crazy I am with my dogs and how crazy Phoebe was. But I, you know, I've lost, I feel like a little spark, right? Like I lost it. And I'm trying, it's hard. It's really hard.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

Yeah. I know something about that.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

It's hard. I know so. I'm sorry, Craig, you lost your baby.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

No, yeah. You know, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 23:57

Like if it's like every conversation, I feel like it always turns into like the grieving part, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:05

It's so hard. Yeah. I mean, but without the grieving part, you would have nothing.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Yeah. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

It's it's part of the journey, you know. Uh when I adopted when I took in all those dogs, you know, I I said, you know what's gonna suck is that they're all gonna pass away around the same time. Because I, you know, I took them all in at the same time. All the same age. And uh, you know, I still did it. You know, I knew I knew what I knew what was gonna happen. I knew, you know, when it was gonna happen approximately, and then it happened. So I can't, I I can only be grateful uh because if I don't have that I'm grateful attitude every morning when I get up, I won't be able to get out of bed.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

So for me to get out of bed literally every day, I have to think about all the good things and about how much they would want me to be happy and not, you know, lay in bed all day and not make money and and take care of dogs and uh, you know, do the things that I need to do for the day, uh, because I have responsibilities no matter what, and I need to take care of my responsibilities. So it's it's the you know, it's the way I cope. And uh, you know, that comes with the territory.

SPEAKER_03 25:21

Yeah. I know. Sherry, she Sherry's been struggling a lot over the past year. Um, with Phoebe was her baby, you know.

SPEAKER_04 25:31

So my kid, I see as a kid.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah, that was like Mac was literally my best friend. Like I never had a dog or anyone like that, you know. Uh besides my wife.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Uh but Mac was just, you know, uh that that was tough, you know? And uh you know, you gotta, like I said, uh you know, that there's a there's only one way to handle it. You know, for me, for me, you know. And I just have to, you know, just think about all the memories. Although, you know what's you know what's weird about it is it's hard for me to look at pictures. Uh I I have a hard time going through my phone. Like, I don't even really go through my pictures anymore, you know, and but I have the memories and I love the memories, like some of the pool memories are like some of my the best times that I had in my life, you know, swimming with all them and and you know, hanging out by the pool and you know, and I love reminiscing about all that, but looking at pictures is like, you know, unless I'm in like, all right, you know, I'm gonna cry a little mode, you know, because I pretty much, you know, I do cry every day, at least once a day. Yeah. For sure. Or at least for at least one of them, you know, yeah. At least, you know, once a day. So uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

You know what's the worst, I think, that the stupid Facebook memories. Yeah, all the day like you know, all of a sudden it pops up and you're like Yeah, but you know what?

SPEAKER_01 27:09

I don't mind those because I'm not looking for it. And when it pops up, it makes me smile. But when I start going down like all the pictures in my phone, it's it gets it gets deep. It gets deep. But if one picture pops up, I'm actually like, you know, like Maddie popped up the other day. It was like it was like a week after like a month after I got her, and she was looked so cute young. Oh my god, she was at the freaking cutest. Uh she was adorable. But yeah, I don't I I you know that those those make me smile. But like I said, going through my phone, it's like, you know, it gets deep. It gets deep. It gets very emotional to go through my phone.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Do you do you have like do you have pictures out of them or do you put things away?

SPEAKER_01 27:57

Or so I'm like a memory guy, not a picture guy. So I have like all of their stuff like that I never moved. Like, you know, like uh, you know, like Max stuff that is still like where it was. Aetha's stuff is still where it was. You know, I use you know, all of the bowls that I use are all someone's bowl. You know, so like the dog bowls that I use, it's all like, you know, someone's bowl. And, you know. Uh but no, I'm not, I'm gonna, I'm gonna set up like a memorial with all their ashes and pictures, but I've been meaning to do that because I think that'll make me uh feel, you know, feel better to have like all of it together. Because right now it's like literally everywhere, you know?

SPEAKER_04 28:43

And you need I call it shrine, make a little shrine.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yeah, yeah, like yeah, no, but like for real, like a nice little table with their ashes and some pictures.

SPEAKER_03 28:54

And uh, yeah, you know, so I have yeah, what I did that's on my list of things to do. What I did was I have I bought this little shelf thing in my living room, and I have all five of them. You know, I had like two fosters that I had lost, and my three, you know, my pack, right? So I have their pictures, I have their ashes, I have their little collar things, you know, and little candles and whatever. It makes me happy.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

I talk about a shrine.

SPEAKER_04 29:28

I have a shrine. I I have a shrine. Yeah, I haven't I haven't touched any of her stuff.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

You wait, so you so you so you leave it, you left it right where it was when she passed.

SPEAKER_04 29:39

Yeah, she has clothes and like so she she didn't like to walk, Craig. So she had all these carriers. Any carriers you could think of, I have it all.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

And they're all like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:51

I I won't, I just won't touch it. I don't uh see I the only thing I tell you was on medicine, but that was it.

SPEAKER_01 29:58

But princess was No, I have all their meds. I know on Walgreen. I can't I have all their meds. I'm a sicko like that. You can't like I literally have the bag that they came in, too. Like some yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Like I have their um their medical records, you know? Well, I don't, yeah. And no, so like Howard's and Bella, Princess. So Rob is like going through the draw and he's like, Why are you why don't you just get rid of this? I'm like, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

That's the first thing I got rid of. Yeah. I didn't want to, I didn't want to see her diseases. That's the first thing I got rid of, yeah. Like, look what I have. I'll show you. I won't have a disease. Oh, the medical hospital thing?

SPEAKER_03 30:39

Oh no, this is this is Howard's collar when they found him at ACC. Oh, um, are you serious? I saved it.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

What was Howard?

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Howard was my my No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

What was he? A squirrel? Yeah, he was little. That looks like it could literally go around a squirrel's neck.

SPEAKER_03 31:00

It fell mistree.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

What kind of dog was he? It was a bulldog, right?

SPEAKER_03 31:04

Six weeks old, they found him. Oh, he was like, he was like seven pounds.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

They told they wanted me to foster him, right?

SPEAKER_03 31:15

And I'm like, oh, it's probably a mix, you know. And when I went there, he was a perfect six-week-old bulldog puppy, like seven pounds. He's beautiful. I could put him like in my jacket, and I was fostering him, and I was like, oh my God. It's like he just like looked at me, you know, when a dog looks at you and like that's it. You know?

SPEAKER_04 31:40

I have his, I still have his stick in my wall. I'm obsessed with him.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Say my circle got real small. Now my circle is all dogs.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

I know. Yeah, that's that's that's yep, I agree with you.

SPEAKER_03 31:55

All right, thank you, Sherry. Yeah, thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. Thanks for listening today. Today's episode is such a powerful reminder that the little things we do every single day, like caring for our dogs' teeth, can truly give us more time with them. Sherry gave Phoebe that gift more comfort, more health, and more beautiful moments together. If you'd like to learn more about Sherry's natural toothpaste and gum wipes, email us at info at bullycrucbd.com and we'll share you the recipes. And if this episode meant something to you, please take a moment to leave a review. It helps us grow this mission and it helps support the dogs at New York Bully Crew. Hold your dog a little closer tonight because every year, every day is everything. And together, let's keep adding more healthy, happy years to their lives.