Kaley Cuoco Says Her Rescue Dogs Love Her Daughter: 'She Got Thrown to the Wolves, Literally' (Exclusive)

The actress is launching her new pet care brand, Oh, Norman!, inspired by her late rescue dog

It wasn't exactly a stretch for Kaley Cuoco to create a pet care brand.

Her company, Yes, Norman Productions, was already named after her beloved rescue dog, a pit bull mix who died in January 2021 at the age of 14. "We call it your heart dog, right? Yeah, Norman changed my life," Cuoco, 37, tells PEOPLE. "This dog was just my heart for years and years and years. He'd been through divorce with me, changes in my career. I mean, the amount of times I would cry with this dog. He just saved my life."

Inspired by his unconditional love, Cuoco is now launching her pet care brand, Oh, Norman!, featuring eco-friendly, durable, and safe pet products. The initial launch includes liquid supplements, dog bowls, dog placemats, and matching human and dog sweatshirts.

"Listen, I am simply a dog/pet lover. I was excited to come out with products that were obviously cute, that were affordable, but also eco-friendly, healthy, good for the dogs, good for the owner, easy to clean, easy, easy, easy," she explains. "I have many dogs coming in and out of my house, so things need to be easy. They need to be able to fall and not break. I need to be able to wash stuff. So it was clean, organic, fantastic, eco-friendly products and I'm very proud of that."

At home with her boyfriend, actor Tom Pelphrey, and their 6-month-old daughter Matilda, Cuoco has a menagerie of four rescue dogs: Ruby, Opal, King, and Blue. Exposing the pack of pups to Matilda was an immediate priority for the couple.

"Oh my God, she got thrown to the wolves literally," Cuoco says, laughing. "After she was born, I'm like, 'If this child doesn't like dogs, I might have to send her back. There's no choice. This is your life. This is it.' They have jumped on her. They have crawled across her. We have let them lick her, kiss her. Our pediatrician was like, 'It's okay.' So they love her so much."

The actress also felt it was necessary to test all of Oh, Norman!'s products on her own animals before the launch. "Yes, Calm the F down came from one of my dogs who is just so anxiety-ridden in the car," she says. "I rarely put her in the car anymore because she hates it, but when I have to take her to the vet or whatever, I would constantly be like, 'Oh my God, calm the f--k down.' And we were naming the products, and I'm like, 'Guys, we have to name this for what it is.' It's so good. I've noticed a difference. It completely takes the edge off."

Most importantly, Cuoco wanted to make sure a portion of the company's profits would go to animal rescue organizations. "That is the best part about this. I was thinking, 'What's going to set you apart? Why would someone buy my product over someone else's?' To me, if you know a portion of this is actually going to animal rescue, you're going for that one."

The new venture is also a way of keeping memories of Norman vivid in her mind. After his death, "I was like, 'Oh my God, I have to have this dog remembered for the rest of our lives,'" Cuoco adds. "He's so special to me, and he's so alive to me. I still talk about him all the time."

The actress and Pelphrey will next be joining others to raise money for IATSE Members with Love Kills, a night of one-act plays by Don Nigro. The event will run Nov. 15-18 at the Colony Theater in Burbank.

For more information on Oh Norman! products, check out OhNorman.com or follow them on Instagram at @ohnorman.

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