Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Muddy Paws Insurance podcast. I'm your host, Dawn Cross, and today I'll be chatting about natural food and pet treats with Robert Burns, finder of the Hind Hut.
If you enjoy our podcast, make sure to leave a rating on your favorite podcast directory.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Brilliant. If I could get started, introduce yourself and what company you work with.
[00:00:22] Speaker C: Yeah. Hi. So my name's Rob Burns.
I am a co-founder and owner of a pet shop called the Hound Hut.
We specialize in kind of like trying to give all of our customers as much advice as possible to help them kind of like get through the minefield of information around there, around food, treats, diet, nutrition, and also make it kind of like a really good experience for their pets when they come in and bring them in. It's not, you know, we not only deal with dogs, we also have sort of like cats call, corner section, etc.
You know, I mean, essentially we, we set up the business after my partner Anthony. He used to work in the raw food industry for over 10 years and was a wholesale manager and used to go around to a lot of pet shops and see kind of like how people were actually doing things and noticed that there was kind of like, you know, whilst people were bringing in the natural diet and natural nutrition, there are a lot of people that didn't actually really understand totally the benefits and what was going on with that. And, and there's kind of like, you know, people will have it in their shop and not actually realize the total holistic approach to feeding your dog, kind of like natural foods and natural treats.
And so we thought, right, okay, well, we'll bring something a little bit different to light and, and also kind of like make it a really nice boutique experience to kind of like come into the shop and, and bring your pets in there. I mean, you know, it's quite fun because we end up having people come into us and just basically say, I can't get past it without my dog dragging me in.
So I suppose that's the biggest advert you could ever turn around and sit there and say, so.
Yeah, I think what's really important about what we do is we appreciate there's lots of different, different aspects and angles and foods that you can actually feed.
And it's about giving people the information that they need to make their own choices.
Because there's, you know, there are, you know, there are pros and cons of feeding kind of like a certain diet, like kibble, cold press.
What we specialize in is raw food and also very natural treats.
And I think Whilst raw is probably always kind of like what we would deem to be the best food because it's the most natural food that a dog could actually potentially eat. If you think of them, if they were left to their own devices, how would they actually get food?
They'd actually be looking at getting prey.
And that means kind of like meat and bone.
And that essentially what the raw diet is. And it's trying to, because we have so much experience of it, we can kind of like quite easily help people cut, cut through kind of like a lot of the information that you find online and give them kind of like that focus to turn around go. Oh, actually, you know, a lot of the myths that people worry about with kind of like bacteria in the products etc. I mean it is a real worry, but it's more to do if you're actually feeding fresh produce that hasn't been frozen over, something that's actually been properly produced and frozen to a certain level, which is basically the freezing is like the cooking.
So yeah, so that's, that's part of what we do.
We also look at kind of like as much as possible to try and see how we can be as sustainable as possible and what we're doing.
And I think kind of like if you turn around and start looking at kind of how products are actually made and what people kind of like look at a little bit is, you know, how green can we actually be when we're actually turning around and actually, you know, looking after our pets. It doesn't go for just dogs and cats, everything and everywhere.
You know, cats need cat litter.
You know, can you use kind of like a more sustainable cat litter, like a wood chipping cat litter that you can get?
You know, I got three schnauzers, I go around and try and do a one bag walk, as I call it, you know, so we're not using kind of like too many bags, etc.
But it's also sort of like drawn us to actually realize that most of the people that are actually out there, suppliers and competitors and other people and not really everything's always in plastics and that sort of like kind of unrecyclable or uncompostable. It is recyclable, but kind of like, you know, obviously degrades over a longer period of time.
So we started with our natural treats, putting everything into kind of like compostable packaging.
Which means that our, you know, our customers who come in can kind of like basically know that they can literally, it's a tin tie bag, you get rid of the tin tie. But the rest of the packaging is basically completely compostable. You can just turn around and throw it and you know that it's actually going to degrade.
But the other thing is that also when it comes down to looking at our natural treats, unnatural treats are pretty much bits of body.
And when it comes down to looking at that, what you're doing it there is that it's sustainable in so many different levels because basically you're never going to turn around and change the fact that you actually have this food going through the food chain. So, you know, chicken, beef, all these bits of pieces, and there's so much parts of that food that's actually been thrown away and wasted. And what, what actually happens if you're actually feeding kind of like natural, kind of like dried foods and treats, you're actually kind of like lowering that waste, you know, and stuff, going to landfill, etc. Or wherever it tends to go.
And so. And also what it is, is it's a very pure and natural treat for the dog, so really, really healthy for them. You know, things like anything with fur on is fantastic, acts as a natural dewormer for the dogs.
You know, if you think about it, in outside in the wild, you don't necessarily see a wolf scooting its bottom across the floor. It's probably because the fact that he's actually got a nice diet, which actually with a lot of fur and everything else like that. And so basically it doesn't have issues that feel like the dogs in general kind of like can potentially get up.
And again, similarly with cats and stuff like that, if you turn around and put some feathers in their diet and stuff like that, that can actually also kind of really help with that, that kind of side of things.
But yeah, I mean, we've, we, we always try and strive to kind of like provide kind of like, you know, the best good nutrition and good value and stuff like that. So.
[00:07:21] Speaker B: I'd say I really appreciate how environmentally conscious you guys are as well. So I think that's what a lot of companies seem to forget.
[00:07:30] Speaker C: I mean, there's a, I mean, the difficulty. The thing is when you, if you look at kind of like all the difference, if you look at, when it comes down to the environment, give it a rest.
This is what happens when you have your hat. Actually have your own pets. I've got three of them.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: Let's go.
Nine times out of 10 when we do podcasts, we've got at least one pet that interrupts the interview. I Promise you that.
You've had a cat literally just walking around.
[00:08:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I've just got the doors open and stuff like that. You can hear somebody rattling around downstairs.
I mean if you, if, if you're looking at food from an environmental impact and kind of like people worry about that kind of like whole element of raw and what raw is coming through and the fact that you know, you've got a, a much increased kind of, you know, the, the, the, the farming of the meat etc, it's still going to happen anyway and a lot of, a lot of the meat is actually kind of like comes directly from a, from you know, human grade quality farms. And so that's always going to be around.
Yes, there's a lot of kind of like the, the main processing of that food is kind of like, you know, it's ground down with all the other ingredients and then it's frozen. So yes, there is kind of like a certain sort of like aspect of high energy use there, but it's also using a lot of awful and other bits and pieces will generally go to waste. So you're kind of like offsetting that balance like I mentioned earlier with the drink treats that kind of like, you know, nothing's really going to waste. The other thing you tend to find is that when you look at kind of like things like kibbles, kibbles are produced under really, really high temperature. So actually they're kind of like less green from an energy consumption kind of like production sort of sense anyway.
And also you've got cold press which is another food which is produced under more heat, less heat, more pressure, which means it actually retains more of the nutrition.
All everything is going to use sort of like a certain sort of like amount of energy. And from that perspective it's kind of like quite interesting. It's difficult because also packaging other bits and pieces you're looking into used to be a lot now that kind of like used to get a lot of polystyrene boxes where the frozen food used to come in. That's now because of the gut, because of the law changing.
Everything is now coming in cardboard which is great for us because it's just like, you know, it means that our, the waste in general is just like going down to zero and it's all recyclable cardboard waste and all the plastics and everything else that are used are actually recyclable as well.
So it's, it's getting a lot greener than some of the other elements. And I think that there's no, there's no silver bullet bullet to being kind of like environmental. When it comes down to like anything, really what you want to look at is, I suppose it's what you're comfortable with because every single thing you're going to get is going to kind of like have some kind of like energy uses, CO2, sort of like impact everything else.
And I think it boils down to really the choices you make about how healthy do I want to feed my animals and how healthy do I want them to be.
Similarly, it's like kids with parents with kids and stuff like that. You know, it's you, you've got to offset kind of like, you know, the balance of, you know, the environment against the better, you know, what's, what's best for you for, for your family as well. So it's very similar like that with dogs and cats.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: So see, you spoke a little bit of the benefits of the kind of the natural treats you guys provide.
Could you give me a bit more information about. I know you talking about the fur and the feathers, but I'm sure there's more than just those that are the benefits to your treats.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: So I mean, basically, if you, I mean, my. In our experience, what we tend to find is that you, you know, a lot of people want stuff where they're, they want their dogs to kind of like, you know, it's good for the teeth health and gums and sort of like, you know, dental, sort of like sticks, etc.
Sorry, excuse me.
Yeah, so basically you end up finding that a lot of people are kind of, when it comes to natural treats or coming in looking for treats that they either want sort of like training treats which are kind of like very, very easy little snippets and bits and pieces to give their dogs.
We tend to find the higher value and the ones that they really love are the ones which have kind of like pure meats, etc.
But there are also a lot of inquiries about kind of like, you know, what's good for my dog's teeth. Can I. Have you got any dental sticks and things like that? Now you know, you can get the dental sticks. What we tend to find with the dental sticks is they tend to be quite high, high in carbs and carbs can kind of like act a little bit fun kind of as well, they transition into sugar kind of like content which can kind of like add to kind of like dogs kind of like sugar spikes in their blood and stuff over something which is kind of like very natural. And essentially when it comes down to Sort of like the natural chewing that kind of like element where they've got something really chewing at the back of their teeth or, or even if you get sort of like a raw meat bone that actually has some meat on it, like a duck neck or turkey neck, where the fact they actually ripping that meat off with the front teeth, that kind of like gets helped and it helps natur and like deep plaque. There's a bit of a misnomer around the fact that if it's crunchy biscuit, it's actually going to turn around and make my teeth my dog's teeth cleaner.
And I think what I turn around sort of. I tend to say to people it's like, well, what happens to your teeth when you eat a biscuit?
You know, and dogs tongues go one way, back and forth. They don't have a dexterous tongue like us where we can turn around and sit there and pick stuff out of the toilet. So therefore you end to tend to find that the only way they can actually turn around and clean their mouth and palate quite, quite well is when they're actually got something that they can hold in between their pores and actually chew on.
It tends to be the more natural kind of like sticks and. Or the better thing for them is actually things that are very, very natural. As I said, when it comes down to kind of like keeping them.
What's great with anything with fur and you can use. And I know people can get a little bit squeamish about this, but if you, if you feed your dogs something with hair once or twice a week or supplement it into their diet, etc.
They don't digest the fur at all. So it kind of like almost goes through their system like a brush. And so it's internal. It's also super hyper allergic, hyperaller, really great as a digestive aid as well.
But you know, my three dogs, I don't think I've ever given them any worming tablets. You know, I only really tend to give them flea treatment because we, we're surrounded by so many dogs and when you get to that certain point in the, in the season where everyone's coming in with fleas that they tend to.
Yeah, but yeah, so.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: No, that sounds amazing. I think. So, like people tend to forget is that, you know, pets do have very specific needs similar to humans. You know, you can't just kind of chuck some stuff in the bottom like, yeah, that's fine. Or even just giving them loads of table scraps of like your own plate because like a Lot of stuff for them, won't work for them. And kind of getting stuff that's really beneficial to like their needs, you know, like you said with, with the fur and like with the actual natural bits where they can kind of chew at it and it can help maintain their teeth is it makes such a difference as well to their health and their happiness.
[00:15:28] Speaker C: I mean, you know, there's lots of different things that you can turn around and feed them just from you, from your, from your fridge and stuff like that. You know, carrots and pieces sort of like great. But the only, the only thing you've got to realize is that they're not, they are pretty much carnivores. They're not kind of like they don't have system and that their whole insides are kind of like very acid and they don't really chew anything. So basically if you turn around and put a carrot in, it comes out looking like a carrot. Do you know what I mean? So which is why with certain sort of like foods and stuff that the, the vegetable content's actually been pulped. When you see a food that's sort of like showing you that it's got peas and everything else in it, it's got nothing nutritionally advantage that's advantageous to the dog as such. It's really kind of like boils down to the fact that it's us looking at it and going, oh, isn't this lovely? Isn't it good what I'm doing for my dog?
So then they need some help when they're turning around and kind of like getting that stuff and digesting that stuff. At least that's in my opinion.
Well, you're full of.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: No, I think we've had previous guests who've actually said similar things as well. So we've had, you know, twin chefs that came on. They actually do, you know, a dog cuisine business. So they do actually work a lot with that. Very similar, like with dog food. So, yeah, our last question today is, you know, just for a bit of a giggle is what's a funny memory you've had whilst owning your dogs? Because you said earlier about three. So it's got to be an interesting.
[00:17:12] Speaker C: I mean, I've got mum, dad and daughters. So I mean like, you know, daughter's gonna be the one that's gonna kill me. But you know, but now that I, I mean, I think we've, we've had our shop shops now for about five years. We've got a couple of them, one in over Rochester and I think what's I think that what's really, really lovely about it is that we end up kind of like looking after. So. And we used to. We do daycare from time. We did a big daycare session kind of like through Covid, because we're getting a lot of puppies. We want to make sure they're being socialized, even though we probably shouldn't.
So you might have to edit that out.
But. But you know, with the daycare and having dogs on. On daycare and what would end up happening is that they remember.
They remember so much that when they come running in, they do what I call glee excited. And it's just like, oops.
I don't know whether you can get 10 of pants for dogs, but I mean, sometimes I need them. But.
And I think. I think it's really just. I think it's just funny just some. Some of the things that dogs do. I mean like. And each one.
And I think every single breed has a personality and it's mad and. And they don't. And. And we just see it and we know just from doing. Doing the stuff we've done. I don't know whether there's something really funny that I can say about it, but it's just.
I can't think of anything that's kind of like hysterical.
I mean, Ollie just around and choose the girl's ears. He just sits there and. And you go to strike one of the girls. It's like, you've got wet hair again. It's like, all right. Oh, thanks.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: It's one way to show affection.
[00:19:08] Speaker C: I can't think of anything kind of like too crazy and too funny. When it comes down to the pose.
It's quite funny when you take a dog upstairs and you sit and the owner does. It wasn't the groom that the owner was expecting, but that's.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: I'm not going to say too much.
[00:19:25] Speaker C: We're very good at grooming. Don't worry.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up the episode today?
[00:19:33] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, you know, we're so. Our business is the hound up everything, including all of our social medias, is everything's about the dog. So Our website is TheHoundHut Dog.
Our social media is TheHoundHut Dog. Our telephone number ends in 364, which is Dog love that pretty. We're not in the States, but, you know, we. We provide kind of like pretty much a360 kind of like approach not only to dogs but also to cats. About like nutrition diet, the best sort of like things that owners can turn around and provide their dogs, you know, and also stuff which is, you know, we, there's not no need to go for the most expensive actually, you know, we're trying to kind of like create an environment where it's value for money as well.
And you know, outside of the shop where we have the nutrition with all the toys, we have a big toy chandelier because there's nowhere else to put the toys. So everyone comes in and goes, where are the toys? And you go, look out.
And it happens a lot.
For me, I just bang my head every five minutes because I'm like six foot three. It's just like bang, bang, bang.
But outside that we, we also do, we do grooming, we do daycare.
You know, we do have a full service for all of that in both our shops. We have one in Oval in central London and one down in Rochester in the Medway area, so.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your knowledge and experience.
[00:21:13] Speaker C: Dawn, lovely to meet you. Lovely to speak to you. Look forward to hearing from you.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Thank you very much.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: Thank you to my guest today, Robert, for chatting about his amazing natural food products and the Hound Hut. If you'd like to know more about his shop and pet services, please click click the link in the description.
I have been your host, Dawn Cross and make sure to click follow for more episodes.
Muddypors takes pride in keeping things simple. Our goal is to provide a reliable insurance policy that is well delivered and gives you peace of mind, intelligent underwriting, a user friendly application and outstanding customer service. Ensure we stand out from the crowd and provide the best for your furry friends.
