1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,160 Hello friends, welcome to Rough Life. 2 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:15,440 Well, there's no transport this week, but that's okay. 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,920 We've had a busy week so far anyways. 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:23,720 We got the momma dog of the L. Litter of Nine from the Star Wars Transport back in February 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:25,440 1st spade. 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,720 We took one of our adult fosters to Doggy Daycare to spend a few weeks. 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:36,280 We got some much needed work done at the dog house in Boonville, which included a billion 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,000 loads of laundry for the momma and nine newborn puppies that are staying there. 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:48,000 And most exciting of all, my eleven puppies turned two weeks old and opened their eyes. 10 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:49,240 They are so cute. 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,800 They've been living in my dining room since they were born. 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,360 Today we will be bagging up an entire trailer full of pine shavings that my father-in-law 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,880 got for free that he's donating to us. 14 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:04,760 We are so excited because the pine shavings we usually buy have gone up in price and we 15 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,000 use so many bags of it, it costs a fortune. 16 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,200 There's no downtime down here, even when there are no transports. 17 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:17,000 But because I don't have any transport stories to tell you this week, I thought I would tell 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:23,200 you about my all-time favorite poll, the one my husband actually drew our Rough Life podcast 19 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,760 cover art to look like. 20 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,800 Almost seven years ago, I was just starting out in Animal Rescue. 21 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,680 It was the summer before my senior year of college and I had just bought my first house, 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,720 which is now the dog house in Boonville. 23 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:42,920 I got tagged on Facebook in a post someone made about the most pitiful puppy I had ever 24 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:43,960 seen. 25 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:49,720 There was a house on her road with a bunch of dogs that were in just poor condition. 26 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,560 She would stop occasionally and dump out a bag of food for them because they were so 27 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,400 skinny and their owners didn't seem to ever feed them. 28 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,000 She noticed this time when she stopped to dump out some food, all of the dogs came running, 29 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:03,720 except for one. 30 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:09,560 A small 12-week-old puppy slowly stood up and struggled to hobble over to the food. 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,160 By the time he got there, all of the other dogs had eaten all the food. 32 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,520 He would scream any time another puppy came over and tried to play with him. 33 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,200 She could tell this puppy was in horrible shape, so she knocked on the door to tell 34 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:22,360 the owners. 35 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:28,120 They said, oh yeah, we know, we ran him over with our car a few weeks ago, we're just 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,520 waiting for him to get better. 37 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:35,400 I'm going to be honest with y'all here, I don't know if she asked if she could take 38 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,140 him or if she just took him. 39 00:02:38,140 --> 00:02:43,160 She never told me and I never asked, I figured it's better if I don't know, but either way 40 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,920 I'm so grateful she did. 41 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:50,960 An hour after seeing her post, I was meeting her in a parking lot a few towns over to pick 42 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:51,960 him up. 43 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,480 I took him straight to my vet and his prognosis was so bad. 44 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,680 Both of his back legs were broken and had been broken for over a month. 45 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,040 That meant that they had already healed. 46 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:10,360 One of them healed somewhat correctly and one of them was just completely wrong. 47 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:16,440 He had both types of mange, he had a double ear infection, every type of intestinal worm 48 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:17,920 that you could have. 49 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:26,280 Anemia, ancoxidia, he was bald, he was sunburned, he was severely underweight, he was dying. 50 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:34,360 My veterinarian, whose expert opinion I trust and value tremendously, this is a man who 51 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,880 has more or less raised animals from the dead for me. 52 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:44,040 He solved medical mysteries that other vets couldn't, he's helped me in every crisis I've 53 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:49,920 come to him in and he advised me to euthanize this puppy right then. 54 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:57,440 He said if, if he wasn't good enough shape for the surgery, it would be over $2,000. 55 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,080 But because of the terrible health condition he was in, he thought it was best to just 56 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,760 put him out of his misery. 57 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:10,320 I'm almost certain this is the one and only time I did not take his advice in our entire 58 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,680 10 year working relationship. 59 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:18,280 I went to another vet and he said he wouldn't even consider doing the surgery and if he 60 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:21,600 did it would be well over $2,000. 61 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:26,320 I sent his x-rays to Dr. Burton, she agreed he needed to be euthanized. 62 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:32,240 I sent his x-rays to another vet, he told me there was no way he would do the surgery. 63 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,600 So I went back to my vet later that day with tears in my eyes. 64 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,960 This puppy had been run over, starved, and forgotten about at the hands of the people 65 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,280 who were supposed to love and care for him the most. 66 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:51,160 People had done nothing but let him down his entire short little life and I couldn't. 67 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,840 I wouldn't let him down too. 68 00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:00,320 I begged him to just give me two weeks, let me fatten him up, get rid of his parasites, 69 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,560 clear up the ear infections, and give his body a chance to heal. 70 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:09,080 If in two weeks he was stable enough for the surgery, we try it. 71 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,720 If he was still too weak, we euthanize. 72 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:14,240 And he agreed. 73 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:20,360 But he said even if we give him time and even if we do the surgery, there's still a very 74 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,720 good chance we'll just have to euthanize him in the end anyways. 75 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:25,800 But I didn't care. 76 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,960 I needed to give this puppy the best two weeks of his life before we ended it. 77 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:35,120 I couldn't let his only experiences in life be pain and suffering. 78 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,720 So we went home and we worked around the clock on getting better. 79 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:46,040 We bought all the toys, we ate all the treats, we took all the medicines, we snuggled through 80 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:51,760 blankets because I did not want to catch his mange every day and the vet was amazed 81 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,960 when we came back two weeks later for surgery. 82 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,400 The surgery was going to be very intense. 83 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:02,280 They were going to have to completely break his back left leg in half and realign it 84 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:08,760 because it had healed in the shape of a capital letter T instead of a straight line. 85 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:13,320 They were going to hold it in place with pins and screws and it was a gamble if he was even 86 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:15,640 going to survive the surgery. 87 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,840 As they were taking him back, the vet said, sometimes you just got to do stuff you don't 88 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:20,840 want to do. 89 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:24,920 But I could tell how much it meant to you that we gave this puppy a fighting chance. 90 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,440 It's going to be a Hail Mary but we'll give it our best shot. 91 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,400 When I dropped the puppy off, they asked me for a name to put on his chart. 92 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:37,680 I knew he needed a strong name, a fighter's name, and this was just a few days after Muhammad 93 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,560 Ali had passed away so I knew that was the perfect name for him. 94 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,440 We named him Ali. 95 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:49,480 Typically, they would keep an animal like this overnight, sometimes even for a few days. 96 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:55,000 But they knew me well enough even back then and they know that I want all my babies home 97 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,440 with me so I can watch them 24-7. 98 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,840 Plus they know I'm not afraid to call them in the middle of the night and wake them up 99 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:03,640 if there's an emergency. 100 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,680 So that evening they called me and told me sweet baby Ali survived the surgery and was 101 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,600 ready to come home. 102 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:15,200 My mom actually had to come with me because Ali was so fragile I couldn't put him in 103 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,840 a crate on the way home or just set him in the back seat. 104 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,560 I had to hold him tight in my arms to keep him as still as possible as we drove down 105 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,680 gravel roads to get home. 106 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:31,760 He had 28 staples and I don't even know how many screws that were holding the pin in place. 107 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:37,120 One of my favorite memories from that night is how Ali would be laying in his bed totally 108 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:43,520 fine, completely calm, but anytime I left his site he would start screaming and crying 109 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,880 like something horrible was happening so that I would come running back to him. 110 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,880 My mom had to stay for a little while afterwards just to help me get things set up for the 111 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,140 night since I couldn't leave Ali's side. 112 00:07:55,140 --> 00:07:57,520 It was definitely a rough first night. 113 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,480 Between the sedation wearing off and the awful pain he was in it was hard for him to get 114 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:02,640 comfortable. 115 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:08,040 I eventually figured out that he liked sitting straight up, flat on his booty, leaning against 116 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:09,640 me and the couch. 117 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:14,360 I will never forget the new season of Grey's Anatomy had just come out on Netflix that 118 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:21,280 week and I sat holding him propped up right next to me all night long. 119 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:28,680 Seriously, I think we watched the entire season in that first 24 hours we were even home. 120 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:30,720 But we made it through the first night. 121 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,200 I remember taking him outside to go potty that morning and seeing him realize for the 122 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:41,280 first time, even despite all the pain, that he could put his leg down and touch the ground 123 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:42,280 again. 124 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:49,080 I did the most pitiful, most rewarding little tail wag I have ever seen even to this day. 125 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,320 As the days went on, Ali got stronger and stronger. 126 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:57,040 At each checkup appointment, Arvet would always say, there's my little Hail Mary. 127 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,480 How's that miracle dog doing today? 128 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:01,960 He blew us all away with his progress. 129 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:06,960 He needed a ton of non-weight-bearing exercise to help the leg heal so we spent most of the 130 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,440 summer swimming together at our leg house. 131 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,400 By the end of the summer, his leg had healed perfectly. 132 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:18,080 Actually the vet even said, I couldn't have gotten those two bones lined up more perfectly 133 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,880 than if it had never been broken at all. 134 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,320 Ali was cleared for transport and it was time to send him to Virginia. 135 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,560 And here's the thing, I was okay with sending him. 136 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:32,040 I had been mentally preparing for it for three months. 137 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,440 I knew it was coming. 138 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:35,800 But he didn't. 139 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:37,560 He had no idea. 140 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:41,880 So when I thought about him spending those 14 hours in that van trying to figure out 141 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:47,680 what he did wrong to make me send him away from me, I completely broke down. 142 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:51,600 This puppy had been failed by every human he had ever met. 143 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,600 And he finally found someone he thought he could trust. 144 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,200 I couldn't let him down too. 145 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,720 There's a lot of dogs that just love people. 146 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:06,120 No one specific person, they're fine with whoever will scratch their belly for them. 147 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,360 And then there's some dogs who just love their person. 148 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,160 And I was Ali's person. 149 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,160 So I couldn't do it. 150 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:16,760 I foster failed. 151 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:23,520 We made it official and I changed the spelling of his name to Ali, O-L-L-I-E, Oliver when 152 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,240 he's in trouble. 153 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,720 And I wish I could say we lived happily ever after. 154 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,800 But unfortunately that is not where our story ended. 155 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:38,560 A few months later, right after Thanksgiving, Ali ran away from home. 156 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:43,680 For four days and five nights, I spent every second looking for him. 157 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:46,240 I left flyers on people's door. 158 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,240 I made Facebook post after Facebook post. 159 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,000 I combed the woods squeaking his favorite toy. 160 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,000 People would call me to report sightings, but it never failed. 161 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,920 I would jump in my car and race to wherever he was just seen, but he would already be 162 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:02,220 gone. 163 00:11:02,220 --> 00:11:07,000 We got a call one day that he was spotted on a golf course a few miles from my house. 164 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,200 I called my mom and asked her to come meet me over there to look for him. 165 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:12,720 And she was in the middle of grocery shopping. 166 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:18,080 She left her buggy full of groceries in the aisle and sprinted to her car to meet me. 167 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,120 But no luck. 168 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,200 I got back home and actually got another call. 169 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:25,960 The girl said, yeah, I just saw your dog. 170 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,560 I jumped up and started putting on my shoes. 171 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:32,320 She said he's brown and white with a red collar. 172 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:37,560 No, Ollie was blonde with a blue collar on. 173 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:38,760 But she gave me the address. 174 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,680 I told her thank you and we hung up. 175 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:46,040 I sat back down as adrenaline was wearing off and I decided not to even go. 176 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,160 But I thought I do have a transport coming up and we could send this puppy if it ends 177 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:51,780 up being a stray. 178 00:11:51,780 --> 00:11:53,280 So I went anyways. 179 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,680 I called my mom on the way who was back at Walmart using the same buggy full of groceries 180 00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:59,200 she had just left. 181 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,360 I told her where this sighting was but that there was no way it was even him and she didn't 182 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,240 need to come. 183 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:10,140 I pulled up to the storage building and I saw the girl who had called me walking out 184 00:12:10,140 --> 00:12:17,400 with the cutest, baddest, little blonde headed, scarred up, back leg, beagle mix I had ever 185 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:18,400 seen. 186 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:24,720 I jumped out of my car and then jumped back in my car because I completely forgot to put 187 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,720 it in park. 188 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,160 I ran faster than I have ever run in my life to him. 189 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,160 I think I actually ripped him out of her arms. 190 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,440 I don't even know what we said or how long we stood there. 191 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:42,880 I just remember absolutely sobbing and thanking God for bringing him back to me safely. 192 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,600 Something happens to dogs when they're out on their own. 193 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,480 It's like they go into survival mode and they turn into a feral dog almost. 194 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:56,160 Ollie did not recognize me and he did not respond to me at all at first. 195 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,560 It was like he was in shock. 196 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:03,120 We got back to the house and it took a good 15 minutes for him to finally realize he was 197 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,520 home and he was safe. 198 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:10,880 As soon as he did he ran around like crazy and squeaked all of his squeaky toys just 199 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:14,720 to make sure they still worked. 200 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:22,360 Ollie now wears a GPS tracker on his collar at all times because those 4 days took years 201 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,160 off of my life. 202 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,760 I never want to go through that again. 203 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,240 Also shout out to Whistle GPS and Health Tracker. 204 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:35,440 It is the best thing I have ever purchased in my entire life and if you're interested 205 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,400 I do have a code that can save you some money. 206 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,560 But seriously that tracker has saved us more than once unfortunately. 207 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:47,480 I will go without food before I get rid of that tracker. 208 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,320 So that's the story of my precious Ollie dolly boy. 209 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:56,080 I read something the other day that said, here's to the dogs we got in our 20s. 210 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,960 The ones that brought us such joy and comfort during the heartbreaks and also kept us young 211 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,880 at heart as we grew up. 212 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:08,440 The ones we told all our secrets to and were always there at our best and even at our very 213 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,880 worst when we didn't want anyone to see. 214 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:13,960 Ollie and I basically grew up together. 215 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:18,920 He watched me learn how to live alone for the first time in my life and figure out adulting. 216 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:23,960 I got to watch him learn how to walk again and discover that he can count on people. 217 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:28,440 We've traveled all over together and just recently figured out how to manage becoming 218 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,360 a family of three. 219 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:35,720 Ollie even walked me down the aisle at my wedding with a sign that said, I loved her first. 220 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,480 He is truly the best dog I've ever met. 221 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:43,400 Sometimes I feel a little guilty that I kept the best one here for myself and send y'all 222 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:45,080 all the others. 223 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,760 But I need him here to help train all the fosters for me. 224 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,080 It's a rough life but someone's got to do it.