Hello everyone! This is Krista with Episode #109 on the Wag Out Loud Pawdcast. Here’s a fact that all of us need to know.  Xylitol is the number two cause of all dog poisonings after chocolate and sugar-free gum is the number one source of Xylitol poisoning.  Because xylitol smells good and tastes good, dogs love it but be sure to read your labels because it’s also found in candy and is added to some toothpaste, medications, marijuana edibles and peanut butter.  Peanut butter.  So, before you stuff another kong, please make sure your peanut butter contains no xylitol because the scary part is that only a small amount can be lethal to dogs.  We appreciate our sponsor: CritterZone This episode is brought to you by our friends at CritterZone.  All animals, including dogs and even ourselves, have an essential need not only for breathing, but for also being exposed to fresh air. Just like the new and energized air you get when you first step out in the morning. That energized air helps the immune system’s ability to deal with allergens and pollutants that our dogs get exposed to by constantly living indoors.  Odor control, respiratory health and overall happiness depend on energized fresh air.  I noticed a huge difference right away when I plugged in the little CritterZone unit and I love that it brings fresh air indoors NATURALLY…without ever having to replace any filters!  You and your dog will notice the difference immediately.  In order to truly appreciate the difference CritterZone can make - TRY it for a 30-day money back guarantee trial.  As an added incentive for our Wag Out Loud listeners, use the code WOL for $15 off per unit at CritterZoneUSA.com  and breathe easy! As a Wag out Loud listener you can use code WOL at checkout to get $15 off of your purchase Hello Dog Lovers!  Welcome to another episode of the Wag Out Loud pawdcast where we are constantly learning new ways to enhance the health and well-being of our dogs.  Today’s guest, William Converse, has over 3 decades of experience in the air purification industry and is the President and inventor of the CritterZone.  Bill is a pioneer of non-filter air cleaning technology, especially in the home and has served on the board of Indoor Air Quality and is a sought-after consultant in the air-quality industry. Bill, it is a pleasure to have you with us today. Well, we are going to be speaking about, are you ignoring a major element of your dog's health? So Bill, what is that major element that we're going to be chatting about? Well, you know, sometimes a major element is all around us. And we don't even realize it, because we just kind of take it for granted. And I would challenge you to remember the last time you've thought about breathing, and about the air that you breathe and what impact it has, we just don't do that. And we don't do it for ourselves. We don't do it for our pets. Definitely we don't put ourselves in our dogs place. Imagine what the air is like, where they're at or what impact it could have. But I have to tell you, when you think about something that is so pervasive, everything we do, starts out with you got to be able to breathe, and that air has a major impact on the quality of our life. And so don't you just take it take it for granted that the air is going to be there and we need it. And that's it? Absolutely. Yeah, breathing is automatic. But with this interview today, I did a little investigative reporting here. I can't believe this statistic, I found that Americans spend approximately 90% of their lives indoors, which can be the dirtiest air that we breathe. So the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA estimates that on average, indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. Bill, what's going on? Well, I'll tell you what's going on. It happened it started happening. Just about the time when World War Two ended and our our whole lives changed because we went from living outdoors to living indoors. And you can kind of track all of the problems that we have with the sale of air conditioning systems and doing everything we can do to stay indoors instead of outdoors. That is the that is the key because the pollution that we have, is you noticed indoors over outdoors, and the same pollutants are there. It's just the outdoors, there's a way to get rid of them. That makes sense. So Bill, why is air quality, so vital, not only for our health, but for our dog's health and wellness? Well, there's two aspects of it, who the first aspect of it, of course, is the one that we normally think about what do you with polluted air who wants to be in pollution? So there is an accumulation of pollutants that are in our indoor environment, because there's no outdoor mechanism to be able to get rid of them. That's the one aspect of it, then the second aspect of it, that most people really ignore, is the fact that the air is so vital to so many of our systems that keep us healthy, I did some looking at some of the guests that you had on recently. And you know, they all tend to agree on one thing, the more natural that you can get it, the more that you can do to create an environment that is healthy and let them the your dog's body take care of itself, the better off you are. And so almost everybody is working to try and get help that along. But they ignore one very critical thing. And that is the that with all of the things that we do with exercise with food, with, with supplements, with all those kinds of things. The one thing that you need to make that work is air, you need the oxygen in the air and you don't need it just in the air, but you need it in your system. And once your dog gets that, and you as a matter of fact, once you get that air in your system, then it releases the mechanism to let the body's own mechanism, start breaking these things, metabolize the food, helping digestion and really strengthen your whole immune system. Just because you're getting the things out of the other things that you're putting in the body. It's the mechanism that drives everything else. That makes so much sense. So what You're saying is that our dogs are not getting enough exposure to outdoor air? Because we spend most of our time indoors. But what about dogs that are exposed to too much outdoor air in the form of air pollution? Well, this is what we're talking about statistics, one of the amazing things is that if you have the things in the outdoor air, that cleaning up the pollution, and that's a mechanism that's happening all the time from the energy that the sun provides, is to break those things down, that people can live in that dirty environment, as long as those elements are there to clean it up. Have you ever seen the pictures of Beijing, China, for example, that that's some very popular one of the most polluted places in the world. And those people and their pets that live there that live outside without air conditioning are actually healthier than the people that are living in the inside, it's just that the outside pollution is so visible, we think it's bad, but because the other stuff is in the air to take care of it, we can tolerate it much better. And so the thing that really kills us and hurts our health is the fact that indoors, because I don't care what you got outdoors, some of its going to come in even under the best of conditions. If there's nothing in there, no mechanism to go start breaking it down, it's going to accumulate and the longer accumulates, the dosage gets higher, the amount of time that you're in it increases your risk to it. And there's nothing there to take care of it until you get an increase in the pollution. And there is nothing there that aids the body in being able to deal with those kinds of pollutions. You mentioned that the sun energizes the air. So how does that work and try to be as 101 as possible? It’s pretty simple, you know, some kind of the energy, the air, every all the energy that we have on the earth comes eventually from the sun. And a lot of it comes through basically electronic means because of electrons and a bunch of other kinds of cosmic energy, and all form all forms of energy. But the thing is, that that energy has a way to interact with the pollutants because it comes from the sun, it's in the outdoor air and is not shielded. So what happens is, as you put a pollutant in the air, and there's all kinds of natural my, goodness of wood, we didn't have a way to clean it up, the odors from dying dinosaurs would still be in the air, there has to be some mechanism to break those chemicals that make odors down. And so the chemical the energy to break them down in the form of electrons, usually, but in the in the in some form. It interacts with the chemical structure that makes up an odor and breaks it up and starts breaking it down and happens actually 24 hours because once that air becomes active once it becomes energized, once the energy is in the air, and is interacting with all the electrons, it makes everything start to break down quicker. And that's why if you've ever noticed if somebody hits a skunk, and I'm sure everybody's run across someplace where…notice how quickly does that go away, you know, if outdoors. But if that same skunk dies underneath your porch, it's going to be there a long time until you can't take it anymore and get it out of there. But that air is that air with that energy in the air is interacting with the chemical that makes up the odor that we're breathing, and converts it and keeps breaking it down breaking it down to its simpler elements until it's just all gone. And that's why the air is continually renewed outdoors. And because of that energy that we have in the air outdoors. And that's the problem. That lack of energy indoors where we spend most of our time means there's no natural mechanism to clean it up. Never thought about that. Well, before doing this, I tried to write down everything I could think of that contributes to indoor air pollution. And I came up with wood burning stoves, fireplaces, tobacco smoke, cooking, air fresheners, cleaning products, mold, mildew, bacteria, dust mites, do you have anything to add? Well, in an indoor environment, everything you know you're walking into a room, you put you put your your dog out for the morning, you know and go with them and go on a run and everything and everything that you came in contact with everything that your dog stepped on everything that in fact stuck to the fur, everything that stuck to your clothing comes in with you. So there is there is nothing If that is not some kind of a pollutant, when you come indoors, just just you being inside, start polluting it because there's nothing there, you sweat, you shed cells from your skin, your pet carries with them things on there for that they've come in contact with on their skin, because that's a natural cleaning process on their feet. Everything that you come in contact with the to bring indoors, is now there, because there's nothing to break it down in its continuous accumulation means that it not only the big stuff that you can see, but just naturally living in an environment causes it to become polluted. When you move into a new apartment, for example, you know, that though people that lived in that apartment before, were there, because they left traces of themselves and most of the time, we can smell it. And that's one of the warning symbols that we have is an area's not clean if we can smell something bad in it. But that's merely an in identification of the problem, that there's nothing there to get rid of the natural accumulation of ordinary things which can become a pollutant. I'm feeling pretty filthy. I know about this time everybody starts moving away from each other what I'm what happened. But you know what the The interesting thing about it is that we can talk about that. And we you know that you can get really complicated because you can start talking about chemical structures and all that. But it's very, very simple. If you're going to live in an environment, you are taking in food, you're taking in materials, you're you're you're interacting with your environment. And so are your pets. And that means interacting means that you're shedding and giving off as much as you're getting in. I mean, it's an interactive kind of thing. And if you can reestablish the energy so that these things are taken care of a little bit at a time, every single day, because this is not, this is something that's an accumulation thing, it's not a single event kind of thing, then you don't have a problem, it needs to be continually broken down. If you have a fire in your home, for example, you know that you've got people that can come in and clean that up, and they can get rid of the oder if they do enough reconstruction, you'll never know what happened. That's a major event. But that's not where people normally and their pets normally start to be affected. They're affected by the ordinary kinds of things just being accumulated to get the nature out of balance. Well, I'm glad we're talking about this. Why don't we talk about what health issues would we and our dog's experience, by being exposed to all these contaminants? there's a whole list of kinds of things. And when you kind of look at things that indoor pets are associated with, as opposed to your outdoor lifestyle, you can kind of see the difference, for example, you know, dogs live with their sense of smell, you know, and so the constant exposure to the sense of smell in an indoor environment where you don't have these natural things to clean up the nasal passages so that you can, the dog can smell, gradually, they lose their sense of smell. Once they lose their sense of smell a little bit and become insensitive to it, you've taken away one of the ways that they can tell what's going on in their environment. When dogs start to get old, for example, and lose their sense of smell, they're more easily startled. They have a sense of being on the alert when they're not because they don't know, they know they should be on the alert for something and they've lost the ability to be able to do that. We work with police dogs a lot. And believe it or not, that's a real common problem that you keep putting in a lot of bad smells in, in an in car environment, which is also an indoor environment. And gradually, their sense of smell starts to dull and they have to get out and get in the air again, and to be able to refresh it. So losing the sense of smell affects the dog's ability to be happy in an environment that makes them irritable. A lot of a lot of pets do much better outside, when they have that full range and full sense of smell. A lot of things that are a little more subtle than that. For example, a lot of dogs get infection hotspots. And you see that in indoor dogs not outdoor dogs so much because the natural cleaning power of the air keeps the skin clean just a little bit of the time. It's not like running through a disinfectant wash, but every single day, some part of the skin is exposed to The air in that the cleansing property of the energy in that air pulls down the bacteria growth. And that means you don't get hotspots, it helps things like digestion, because as I said before, if you can get a lot more oxygen in to the system, and you keep the respiratory system clean, which fresh air does, then you get the blood oxygen levels up. And that means that they digest food better they get the nutrition they need to get out of it, is throughout the whole digestive system actually works much better. And that energy keeps their immune system up. So they're not going to get sick and things like that nearly as quickly, just because they're stronger, and they're able to ward off the natural kinds of pollutants. Right? Well, let's move beyond the doom and gloom because you have an answer for this, don't you, Bill? And, you know, if I had my way, I probably would say if I if I would, I would use this as an air conditioner, the whole earth. So we didn't have cold and hot and stuff like that. But we would still have all the energy that is outside. So it's over the years, I have tried to clean the air. And I found that there's no way I can make it clean enough. Because when you clean it, you take all the energy out, it actually makes it worse to live in. So what we've done is we went the other way. And we said, well, let's see if we can duplicate putting the energy back in. And that's what CritterZone does. It's not really an air purifier as such, but it does purify the air, because it just puts energy back into the air so that it simulates what's going on outside. So when you kind of imagine what it does, it does the same kind of thing that outdoor air does, you don't have to move a lot of air around, you just put that energy back into the air. And then it works, right, you don't even really know what's there. It just keeps the. air, flat, fresh and clean and energized. And what's the difference between the critter zone technology versus ozone generators or ionizers. I built both those kinds of devices for a lot of years, and they do have their place. But the idea is what you're really trying to do with with is not necessarily make make a particular element like ozone. To make it the cleaning agent, what you're really trying to do is get just put enough energy in the air so that you get the molecules in the air to interact with each other as they normally would. So we don't put any kind of a chemical in the air, we don't really try to disrupt the ionized level, it's in the air, what we do is we put out and form of ionization, both positive and negative ionization, so that we really just get the total amount of energy built up in the air, so that we cause the air to start reacting with itself. It's like what we're doing is electronically just stirring the air up and making it interact with itself and cause it to achieve its natural balance in a very ordinary, natural way. Now that makes sense. Thank you for dumbing it down for me. What about viruses, we talked about pollutants would critterzone take care of airborne viruses as well? We don't necessarily kill the viruses. Because that's not the thing that we really do. But what we do is we eliminate the impact of the viruses, viruses, by themselves really don't do anything, they have to get into a place where they can do something. So the by energizing the air, we take things out of the air that viruses travel around on so you don't get exposed to them. Without without being able to go from one host to another host, a virus doesn't do very much on the surfaces. Because we clean continually cause the surfaces to be clean, we don't give them a chance to grow anywhere. So they may still exist, because we're not going to put something so harmful, that it's going to kill viruses, they're part of the environment too. But we're going to keep them under control by limiting their ability to spread from from you to your pet or your pet to you or anyway around. And we also by keeping the surfaces clean, keep them from getting a place that they can start to grow and be in a significant enough quantity to become a problem. One virus is never going to hurt you. You need a bunch of them established to be to get enough of them going to start to cause a problem. And it's very much like in again I go back to the outdoor air. These viruses have been with us as long as God created the earth. I mean, they're not something new, but they're always in balance because they do perform positive functions as well. And it's only when they get out of balance or Either in your system is out of balance, we as your immune system can deal with them as it normally does, or on a surface because it's now not a naturally cleansed surface like it would be outdoors, that that's when we start to have a problem. So all of the testing that we've done shows that when you recreate that natural environment, that what you do is you knock down the bacteria levels, you knock down the the viral levels, you knock them down to where they're still there, and they're still present. But they're not in the kind of quantities that can start to cause a problem. And that's why with these recent viral outbreaks that we've had, you've seen that were areas where people are able to get out and get into their environment leave their windows open. And that kind of thing, pretty much as we do in more of the southern states that you're going to find that you're not going to have near the problems is where you're totally air conditioned, and locked inside or heated and locked inside. So just recreating that environment eliminates the impact of the viruses without doing something as drastic as trying to kill them. So where is the best place to have a critterzone in the home? the best place is where the where your dog spends the most time, you know, and sometimes means two of them. Because sometimes it depends on what you're living we are I know, an awful lot of people leave their pets in their apartments. And so you need to have it where the dog hangs out the most. And often that that means wherever, wherever you've arranged for them to go when you're not there. But basically, it's where it wherever they experienced, the critterzone is basically a room device. And it does clean the air and the air, because you put this energy in the air, that energized air goes throughout the house, in the apartment, but usually putting them in the area where whatever the dog's room is, and then wherever the dog lives the most, or wherever in the kitchen is a good place because it's a source of nutrients. And that's a good thing the dogs walk into the kitchen, they like to know go and know where that is. Right. And, you know, depends on what the lifestyle is. One of the things that we do is we recommend more than likely that you use two of them, one, wherever the pet lives and hangs out the most when you're not there. Because that constant exposure to that energized air generally just keeps them healthier and keeps them happier. And you'll find out they'll hang out there more just because it's nice for them too they really do know what fresh air is like they, I can't imagine what it must be like to be a dog and live down with your head down in the dirtiest part of the house next to the floor, with all the contaminants that are there. And then the other thing is, and because of where they sleep, because during the time that they sleep just like you when you're sleeping, that's when your body is recovering. So wherever they sleep, and they sleep in your bedroom with you, that's where you need to have it. If they have their own place to sleep. That's where that's where I would want it to be because that gives you the maximum benefit. Yep, well, I have a critterzone. And I love it for so many reasons. It's small. There's no filters to replace. Actually, it's in our bedroom. And it has a very quiet, soothing sound, which is great for sleeping. You guys offer a 100% money back guarantee. And I can't explain. But when you walk into the bedroom, the air quality just makes you want to breathe deeper. It's just you know, I know that you that you guys have said it's kind of like right after it rains and the sun comes out, you know that fresh, clean smell it, it works. It's amazing. And you mentioned it before it actually improves blood oxygen levels, which is something that we all need. So I love this product. Bill, I've never used it to remove urine or other pet accidents and stains, how does that work in breaking up odors and stains? Well, you have to recognize that all odors are just chemicals. And so it's a matter of breaking them down. One of the things that happens of course, all pets like to mark their territory a little bit. And so not only you have to worry about urine , but you have to worry about some other things as well. So the idea is that you can maybe break it down but the natural way to do it is if there's any moisture in the air, the the energy will enter into the air into the water, the moisture of the water, the humidity, and as long as there's any moisture there, it will start to break down the chemicals that make the odor. So the first thing that happens is in Got a place in the where they, they keep going back to mark on, you eliminate the odor of the mark, and they tend not to go back there. So you eliminate the problem. But the second thing is, it takes a little while. And you just keep putting leaving it in the air where the moisture is. And if you really want to do it quickly, you just can put a little moisture on mist it right in that spot where it's at. And take the critterzone over and just kind of put it real close to that area. Because the energy coming out of the critterzone is quite concentrated there. And you know, 15, 20,30 minutes, the dog won't even be able to find it. So cool. Well, Bill, as we are wrapping up, I had questions about can you use the critterzone in the same room as a humidifier? Or a diffuser? Or what if we have our windows open? Certainly you can use it when you've got humidifiers. Using when you've got moisture in the air, you can use it when there's dryness in the air. it doesn't really make any difference at all was a third one that you asked? What about having windows open? Does that just help the critterzone? it doesn't hurt. The thing is that you think with you think that when you have the windows open that you're getting fresh air inside, and if you've got an old fashioned house with some way to pull the air in from outside or a cross draft or something that's true, but usually fresh air doesn't go more than maybe five or six feet tops into the into the house even with the windows open. So if you do sleep with the windows open, I recommend putting the critter zone on the inside wall rather than closer to the window. And that will still energize the air where the outdoor air doesn't get to. Got it. Well, Bill in closing, what is the most common reaction that you hear from your customers? What is most said and all the testimonials? Well, the first thing is I get the most common reaction when people get it and take it out of the box is that little thing can possibly work? Well, okay, I'm gonna plug it in, but it is not going to work. And then the second thing is that they say, you know what, after 5-10 minutes, I can tell if there is a difference in this room already because I can feel the difference. But the other thing is that once you've once you've used it that you wonder how you ever really got along without it, because it just totally changes the environment. And the funny thing is that we have pets that you'll notice or wherever you got it, you will find your your dog kind of liking it over there because they can breathe easier. They they sleep better they eat, they are calmer. They have more energy and and then then I guess the other kind of side effect is when somebody comes over they say, What is your dog gone? Don't you have your dog anymore? It does break down the doggy smell of the house? Well, the cool thing is everybody's probably wondering, Well, how do I get a critterzone, just so everybody knows there's critterzones for in the home. And there are also units for in the car, which is great. And the team at critterzone is offering an amazing offer for you guys to try it for yourself. And you want to use the code WOL to get $15 off per unit that you purchase. So Bill, where can everybody find out more information about you and actually order their critterzone? Well, I would suggest you just go to critteroneusa.com. And take a good look at it. And first I would just want to mention that that would try it is a really important thing because this is a new way of looking at the technology. And it is so hard to explain air because you can't see it. Nobody understands it right if you try the unit and you understand it immediately. Well again, everybody go to critterszoneusa.com use the code WOL to get $15 off per unit. Bill, thank you so much for making us breathe a little easier and for sharing all of this great information. I know you've put a lot of work and research into air quality. So we really appreciate you being here today. Thank you so much. I really hope everybody gives it a try. I do too. It's amazing. Social Media: FB @CritterZone  IG: @critterzoneusa Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for tuning in again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the Bark About it section. Or you can click on the social media buttons to share an episode. Special thanks to Bill for being on the show. Catch you next time! Also, don’t forget to Subscribe for FREE and please leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Android | Spotify I Stitcher I iHeartRADIO “The Wag Out Loud pawdcast is supported by listeners like you! The show started as a passion project that would help all of us make well-informed decisions for our dogs’ health and well-being. After many amazing guests, intriguing topics and incredible feedback, the WOL pawdcast is hitting a nerve. If you are interested in having your dog live healthier and longer and are finding value in this podcast, why not contribute to the show’s success? It would not be possible to consistently produce a quality show without the listener support that is received. Thanks to all of the dog lovers out there!” The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a veterinarian, licensed nutritionist or other qualified professional. The host as well as guests who speak on this podcast express their own opinions, experience and conclusions, and Wag Out Loud LLC neither endorses or opposes any particular views discussed here.