James:

Hello, I’m James Jacobson, and you’re listening to The Animal Innovations Show.

Chris:

I think you’re hired. You’re going to be my professional announcer from henceforth. Just saying.

Tell us, James, who are you? And how are you innovating and helping animals?

James:

I am a dyed-in-the-wool dog lover. I have been thrust into the dog business.

I guess my life went to the dogs many years ago, when I wrote a seemingly innocuous book called “How to Meditate with Your Dog”.

Anyone can meditate. I used to say it’s a non-dogmatic approach to meditation. Pun intended.

It was just sort of like—just sit in the silence, 20 minutes. Do it with your dog. Your dog is the ultimate meditation partner in many cases.

And I wrote that book, and it did really well, became a bestseller. And we created the first viral dog-related video out there, before YouTube existed, to promote it.

And I did Jay Leno and CNN and all sorts of things flew in Oprah’s chat. It was just a whole crazy bunch of stuff, all from dogs.

And then it led to one thing which led to one thing, which led to one thing, which led to basically what I’m doing today at Dog Podcast Network.

Chris:

So, what really prompted you to do that book? I mean, were you fascinated with meditation?

Obviously, you love your dog, but it just seems like an interesting combination of the two.

James:

It is. And I was fascinated with meditation since I was a little kid, like two or three years old.

I’m an only child, and it was just a natural thing that I would do.

I would just sort of like—my dad would say, “Were you navel-gazing?” And I guess I was.

I was a little kid. And I discovered it because my dog would jump on my lap when I did it. She likes the energy of the meditation.

So, I would put one hand on her heart, one hand on her butt—developed a little bit of a protocol, not much, mainly more about getting the dog acclimated to the idea.

And then maybe following the dog’s breath initially, because a lot of meditation is about following the breath.

So, initially, I would follow my dog’s breath. And if you start doing that for a short period of time, the dog will start to follow your breath.

It’s a really cool thing, and it’s just the dog and you really connecting. And so, that was the idea behind the book.

And I just thought that, well—people will do things for their dogs that they wouldn’t do for themselves. It turned out to be the case.

And so, I was an early dog meditator.

Chris:

What have you learned about yourself along the way?

James:

People say, “How did this whole thing started?” And it probably started when I was a tiny little kid.

And I was promised a dog when I turned 10—so I was like 4 or 5 or 6—was promised a dog. Then when I turned 10, I didn’t get a dog.

I got a tape recorder, and that probably remind—I’m sure it’s great fodder for a psychologist to say: “Aha, this is where it started. It started with the belief as a child. Meditating by himself because he didn’t have a dog.”

So, I don’t know, but Sigmund Freud there. I think what it has taught me about myself is that dogs really are important, and that yearning that I had as a kid—to have a little white dog, which I finally have—is something that may have been implanted in me as an infant or earlier.

I just love dogs, and I really appreciate other people who love dogs and connect with dogs.

And it says a lot about humanity. I mean, there’s a lot of quotations, but you can learn a lot about someone by the way they treat their animals.

I think we, as a species, are better by sharing our homes with animals. And my strong bias, of course, is towards dogs because I think they are truly a man’s best friend and humankind’s best friend.

They give us so much, and they make our life so rich, and anything that we can do to give back to them, in terms of better diet, or you know, what you do—the extraordinary work that you do at Doobert—in terms of  making sure that they find homes, forever homes.

It’s so critically important, and then also in terms of DPN—giving the dog lovers information and entertainment that enhances that relationship.

So, that’s what I’ve learned about myself. I am a real, dyed-in-the-wool dog lover.

Chris:

James, where can people learn more about you? The Dog Podcast Network, Nutraceuticals, I mean all of the above.

James:

Dog Podcast Network is easy. Go to DOGPODCASTNETWORK.COM and you can learn more about that and hopefully listen to it.

Listen to our flagship show: Dog Edition, or The Long Leash, or Dog Cancer Answers. All of that at DOGPODCASTNETWORK.COM.

The Nutraceutical company is called Functional Nutriments. N-U-T-R-I-M-E-N-T-S.

The main products are Apocaps and EverPup, and you can find those anywhere—well, most anywhere, certainly online.

I can always visit Amazon, or get in touch with me, I guess. And I’m not a big social media person, but you can find me on most of the socials @JAMESJACOBSON.

Chris:

James, this is a fascinating story, and I’m super excited to see what you’re going to do next.

Before I end our show here, I’ll just remind our viewers and listeners, that if you are a fanatical dog lover like James, and have dedicated your life to animals, or you know somebody that’s got a product or service, whatever it is, I’d love to get them on the show.

Just go to INNOVATIONS.SHOW, and let us know about it. We’ll get him on the show.

So, James, thank you again for coming on and sharing your story. It was really good to talk to you.

James:

Thank you, Chris.