Profile: Training the Owners

Most people find jobs. Charlotte Reed ’86 invented a career as a pet trends entrepreneur.

For two decades, she has dispensed advice about caring for dogs and cats on a host of national television shows, including The View, Steve Harvey, Today, and Fox & Friends.

She has tracked pet trends for Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy magazines, written columns and blogs, and can be heard regularly giving pet tips on 25 radio stations around the country. Her book The Miss Fido Manners Complete Book of Dog Etiquette: The Definitive Guide to Manners for Pets and Their People teaches pet owners how to be good citizens, to use what Reed calls “petiquette” with their companions.

“I appeal to people who want to have great relationships with the pets in their lives,” says Reed. “Think of yourself as a canine ambassador. Wherever you go you need to leave joy. That means scooping up the poop or going to a hotel and bringing a sheet so that your pet doesn’t sleep on the linen.”

Reed’s reputation has made her a natural spokeswoman for products geared toward pets and pet owners. Clients as diverse as GM and Dyson have hired her to talk about the best cars for dogs and which vacuums are most efficient for picking up pet hair.

“I’m the CEO of a brand,” she says. In fact, Google the word petrendologist, which means pet trends expert, and listings about Reed fill the screen. The reason? She coined the word.

After graduating with a history and international affairs degree and earning a JD from Fordham, she took a job as a securities lawyer in New York City. But a negative experience with the person who walked her dogs inspired her to start her own pet-care business, Two Dogs & A Goat. Her company grew rapidly and attracted celebrity clients. She began making appearances on television and radio offering pet care advice, which led to her current success.

—Margie Peterson