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November 5, 2025 55 mins

Think rescue is just about saving a dog? What if that dog ends up saving you?


In this emotional and eye-opening episode, Em celebrates Toby’s 12th Gotcha Day and sits down with Tracy Fosterling, a foster and rescue advocate who’s fostered over 60 dogs—many of them “unadoptable.” Together, they unpack the gritty, beautiful reality of what rescue really looks like: patience, partnership, training, enrichment, and second chances for dogs—and people.


In this episode:

  • Hear the real stories behind feral dogs, misunderstood behavior, and the power of trust

  • Learn why training and enrichment—not punishment—are essential to a rescue dog’s recovery

  • Discover how you can support rescue work, even if you can’t adopt or foster


Press play for an honest look at rescue, recovery, and what it truly means to show up for dogs when no one else will.


The Dog Who Asked for More Extras:


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Email thedogwhoaskedformore@gmail.com to get in touch with Em


This episode is POWERED by PetMatRx

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This podcast explores real-life dog behavior and training through the lens of a canine nutritionist, dog coach, and retired vet tech—diving into reactivity, dog obedience, dog health, dog food, dog habits, dog lifestyle, canine enrichment, pet enrichment, dog myths, and what it actually takes to support reactive dogs safely and calmly. Whether you’re a dog mom navigating reactivity, building the human–dog bond, choosing dog products, or just trying to create a calmer dog life with your canine, you’ll find grounded strategies to build trust, improve dog behavior, and help your dog feel safe, understood, and supported.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What if the dog you rescued didn't just need saving, but
ended up changing your life? Welcome to the Dog Who Asked for
More, the podcast helping dog parents who feel stuck and
overwhelmed by their pup finallylet go of the guilt.
Learn to communicate clearly andbuild the bond you've always
dreamed of through a partnershipbased approach that combines

(00:20):
training, nutrition and enrichment instead of chasing
the quick fixes that don't actually work, ma'am.
And in this episode, you'll learn why second chances matter,
not just for the dogs, but for us too.
How rescue work can transform even the most unlikely stories
into lifelong bonds. And what it really looks like
when your dog recovers emotionally over time through

(00:43):
patience, trust, and love. Today's episode is extra special
because we're celebrating Toby's12th Gotcha Day and talking
about the power of second chances.
Toby's story isn't just mine. It's one of resilience, trust,
and what happens when someone believes in a dog that the world
overlooked. To help honor that fact, I
invited Tracy Foster Lane, a passionate rescue advocate and

(01:06):
foster who's seen first hand howpatience and love can rewrite a
dog's future. Together, we're going to dive
into the realities of rescue recovery and what it truly takes
to give dogs like Toby the livesthey did.
Tracy, can you share a moment ora story where a dog's behavior
was actually an ask, something you hadn't quite experienced
yet, and how you showed up differently in response?

(01:30):
It's funny you asked that because yesterday I was going
through all my old footage of mycurrent foster dog Blossom and
making the story of I've had herfor six months now and I got to
the part where I had just started to try and leash her.
If you don't know Blossom, she was feral.
She's still kind of is feral. I first started fostering her
six months ago and we've been through a long journey, but she

(01:53):
did not like a leash and I had to get to the point where I had
to put a leash on her. We worked with a trainer and I
was watching those videos back and she was nipping at me.
She was trying to bite my hand, she was lunging.
And I'm so happy the trainer wasthere because I'm not a dog
trainer and I never claimed to be.
But a lot of people see that when if a dog fights, that's a

(02:14):
form of aggression, which that'sgenerally not a form of
aggression. That's them asking you to do
something. Blossom was nipping, but she
wasn't trying to bite me. She was nipping in a way where
it wasn't going to do a whole lot.
That was her warning. That was her asking me to stop
in a way that I was still comfortable with, that she was
comfortable with. She wasn't trying to be

(02:36):
aggressive. She wasn't trying to actually
bite me. And I had never really worked
with a dog that was actively doing that to me.
And so my first thought was, oh,my gosh.
But then the trainer kind of talked to me and was like, this
is her way of telling you she doesn't want to do it in a
respectful way. She is trying to communicate to
you that she's uncomfortable, that she doesn't want to do

(02:56):
this. And that was kind of an eye
opening thing to me. And I and I knew in the past
that dogs biting and growling warning signs, they're trying to
tell you something. But until I was in it first
hand, I did not like fully comprehend that that's what was
happening. And so that was kind of the
first time I was in that experience and I had to push
through it, which in the past I would have been like this dog is

(03:17):
biting, is trying to nip at me. No way.
But I knew that I could push through it because I knew what
she was asking me to do. So that was kind of my one of my
first like bigger aha moments where I'm like, wow, this is
like so interesting, like how dogs communicate.
So that's definitely the first thing that came to mind is that
and we got through it, but we had to do it in a way that was

(03:38):
respecting her space and respecting what she was trying
to tell me and then what I was comfortable with doing.
People automatically assume thatdogs who bite are being
aggressive. They don't necessarily
understand that it is they are afraid or they don't like it or
they're annoyed by what's happening.
I like to tell this story about Toby because when I went to the
shelter to rescue a dog, found Toby and I had visited all of

(04:02):
the other dogs in the rescue andToby was in the last run and
he's a 12 LB dog. Normally they keep the smaller
dogs in smaller areas, but he was in a full on run and I found
out that it was because they couldn't put a leash on him
because he freaked out so badly.So they were literally shuffling
him out the door into the yard with their feet because they

(04:22):
couldn't pick him up or leash him because he would just maul
people. I went in and after 45 minutes
got him to come up to the front of the kennel.
He was sniffing me. He was looking me through the
the chain link fence and I askedto take him into the quiet room
to see, you know, if he would sit in my lap to see if I would
be able to pick him up and take him.
And the ladies at the front deskwere so hesitant and they were

(04:44):
kind of rude. They were basically made me sign
every piece of paper that I could sign except for the last
signature on the adoption form because the only person he
hadn't bitten wasn't there that day.
And I said it's going to be fine.
You watch, I'm going to be able to put the leash on him or pick
him up and take him into the quiet room.
And they're like, well, you haveto sign all this paperwork.

(05:04):
So I signed all of it and went in there with the leash.
He came right to me. He got right up in my arms.
He let me carry him into the quiet room.
We sat down, he got in my lap and he fell asleep.
And they came over this like intercom while they were
watching me through the glass window.
And they were like, so you're going to take him, right?
And that is how I rescue too. A lot of people in rescue, not
rescue, have a lot of misconceptions about dogs that

(05:27):
show teeth or bite. And again, sometimes, sometimes
there are dogs that are doing itfor reasons that are not good.
But there are a lot of times where dogs are just trying to
warn us. They're trying to communicate in
the only way that they can. And unfortunately, like society
sees a dog, if they show their teeth, we don't care.
We don't want them. They're bad, we disregard them,

(05:48):
which unfortunately like that's why so many dogs are put down,
because there's barrier reactivity.
So many dogs will show their teeth from through the gate,
through the kennel, and it's just sad that that's like
automatically what we think and we're not willing to maybe work
through some of those issues like you did with Toby.
You are not deterred because youunderstand how a dog generally

(06:08):
behaves. It's unfortunate that more
people can't see that. It really is and I think that if
more people would just slow downfor a minute and also learn to
read body language on dogs like it would be game changer for so
many dogs. Social media is so scary.
When I see somebody put their dog through a trend, I'm like,
this is so painful, painful to watch.
I know your daughter's one moment away from snapping at

(06:32):
you. And then when the dog does,
because you put the dog in an uncomfortable situation, you're
not respecting the warnings and their space.
It's the dog's fault. It's always the dog's fault.
And I think like reading body language, yes, it's so important
if people don't people see a tail wag, but a tail wag can
also be a bad. Thing it can so.
Yeah. It's all about positioning and

(06:54):
body posture. And I mean even the ears are
like a dead giveaway. Sometimes dogs give mixed
signals if you don't know what you're looking at.
Yeah, it's definitely complex, reading dog body language.
And I don't want to say it's like you watch one video and
you're an expert. No, it's takes a lot of
experience to know how to do it.And like, nobody's going to be

(07:15):
able to read 100% of dogs. I don't care what anyone says,
there's no person out there thatcan read it every dog 100%.
But then when you can't respect their boundaries, that's it, how
we got to respect them. It's really not that difficult.
So Tracy, for someone who's justmeeting you for the first time
today, can you share a little bit about your background, how
you became involved in rescue work, and a little bit about

(07:37):
your work on Instagram that addsto your advocacy?
How I got into animal rescues back in 2016 or 2017, I was
living in Tampa, FL and they have a huge shelter, a very big
county shelter where they house 5-6 hundred dogs.
And I was volunteering there doing playgroup adoptions and I
had two dogs myself and I had always wanted to foster.

(07:59):
And one of my favorite dogs was on the youth list.
She was about 20 minutes from being put down.
And that just like pushed me into it.
I was so scared, I was so scaredto take on my first foster
because there's so many unknowns.
I think taking that first step is always the hardest.
But I saw that dog and I'm like,it's now or never.
And so that's how I got my firstfoster.
And over the last 6-7, eight years, we fostered I think 60

(08:24):
some dogs throughout Florida through national rescues.
And that's kind of how I got started in it.
The social media stuff just kindof happened organically.
I somebody who likes to express their feelings and their
thoughts. I was a TV producer before my
current job. And when I was done with that, I
wanted a creative outlet to, youknow, make videos and I like

(08:47):
visual. And so social media was just
something I could start making fun videos.
And everyone always makes comments And I'm like, I was
fostering dogs for five years before I even put them on social
media. So please don't come here and
tell me I'm fostering for socialmedia.
So that's kind of how it startedon social media.
The the more I'm involved, the more I realize there are so many
things that are involved in dog rescue that isn't just adoption

(09:10):
and fostering. Like there's so many nuances of
the rescue world and the rescue industry that a lot of people
don't know about, they don't understand, and that quite
frankly, just aren't talked about.
And for me, getting on my socialmedia platforms, talking about
those hard topics, those topics that some people just don't want
to touch is important to me because I post a lot of videos

(09:32):
talking about these things. And 90, one of my comments say I
have no idea. And I think it's because
nobody's talking about the quoteUN quote bad size, the harder
parts. We see all these videos on
social media that are amazing ofdogs being saved and
rehabilitated, which is awesome.But we also have to show some of
the sides that aren't that awesome because when people get
involved, they're not shell shocked and like, wow, I had no

(09:54):
idea this happened in animal rescue.
And so I just try to prepare people for some different things
that I've personally gone through and personally dealt
with. That's how my platform for
advocacy got started. And so far it's been
interesting. And but there's a lot of people
who don't know a lot of things. That's why important, it's
important to just keep talking about those things.

(10:15):
Honestly, that's why I love yourcontent so much because that's
the same thing that I try to do with this podcast is educate on
those topics that we're not talking about because people
don't want to see that. But that's my biggest problem
with social media is that it's all aesthetic and we're doing
the trends and we're or following the, you know,
whatever. You mentioned this earlier, I
don't put my dogs through trendsbecause unless it's something

(10:37):
we're training there. Was that the hands in challenge?
I did the hands in challenge andthen later came across the whole
video that I posted earlier thisyear of all the dogs biting the
owners or humping the owners or whatever because they, they were
overstimulated, they didn't likeit, they were fearful and they
reacted. And for me, it was just like a
high five challenge kind of thing.

(10:57):
But I didn't realize, like, how that could negatively affect
other dogs until I started seeing those videos.
And then I was like, OK, not doing any more challenges
because it's not fair, especially when I have two
sensitive dogs. It's crazy.
So I love that you take that bold stance and that you speak
your mind and that you educate on the hard things because we
need more people who don't walk into rescues and go, oh, wait,

(11:21):
what? The fact that people don't know
how many dogs are getting euthanized every year because of
backyard breeding and just all of the other things that are
happening in this world. It's just file to me.
I think my favorite series that you do, and it's a controversial
1, is the people who come in andthe stories that you tell about

(11:41):
them returning the dog like 6 minutes or six hours or six days
after they rescue the dog. I mean, it's dumbfounding, but I
know it happens. Never fabricated one single any
of those stories. They are all real things that
either I've seen first hand, I've seen happen because I've
been volunteering, or I've had people who are involved in

(12:04):
rescue message me and tell me, Oh my gosh, this is a story I
have to tell you about. They send me screenshots.
And again, 90% of those commentsare people that are just
dumbfounded that this happens. There's no way.
There's no way. Yes, yes, unfortunately, there
is a way that these things happen and they happen every
single day. And guess what?
Those dogs are considered owner surrenders and they're going to

(12:27):
be put down first. That is another thing people
didn't know. Owner surrenders are euthanized
first in shelters and nobody understands why.
So it's sad that you have to talk about that stuff.
And I love the happy videos. I love laughing on social media.
But I think we have to take the Rose colored glasses off
sometimes and get into those topics because ignorance is not

(12:47):
bliss in my opinion. I can't live in a world where
that is the attitude people haveis if I just ignore it because
we've been ignoring it for too long.
So let's stop ignoring it because we're never going to get
to the root or try to even help this crisis subside without
actually talking about these things.
Yes, there's a girl who has literally posted all the dogs

(13:10):
that she had to euthanize that day, showing them in the bags in
the back. And I'm like, yes, that's not a
horror movie. That is what happens every
single day. It's hard to look at, but we
need to stop pretending that these things aren't happening.
And so I post things that some people don't like, and I'm not
going to apologize for it because you need to look at it
and listen to it. Yeah, 100%.

(13:31):
Since we're talking about secondchances, let's go back to that
comment you just made about owner surrenders and those dogs
being the first euthanized. Let's talk about it.
Let's talk about why that happens and try to maybe help
people understand why surrender is not necessarily the best
option. Yeah, so I also was one of those
people who didn't understand theowner surrenders were euthanized

(13:52):
first. But the reason why that happens
is because somebody brings a dogin that shelter, knows once that
dog is signed over to the shelter, that dog does not have
a rightful owner. Nobody's looking for the dog.
Nobody's going to come in in 24 hours and wonder where that dog
is. They know legally that dog is
not tied to anybody anymore. If they euthanize that dog,
there's going to be no repercussions.

(14:13):
A lot of times there's there's dogs in the shelters that are on
strayholds for three days, four days.
Some shelters have 10 days strayholds.
They cannot euthanize a dog thatthat is on a strayhold because
an owner could come looking for the dog and they don't know who
it belongs to. A shelter is only going to use a
nice a dog that belongs to them,the county or whoever it may be.
When you turn your dog in, when people say that's a death

(14:36):
sentence. If you're turning a dog into a
shelter that's 500% over capacity, it is a death
sentence. There's physically nowhere for
these dogs to go. And I don't think people
understand that when dogs are doubled up in kennels, when
crates are stacked in hallways and in offices, there's
physically just nowhere for the dog to go.
So sometimes these dogs are euthanized that same day that
they are surrendered, which is sad, but they're just not

(14:58):
legally bound to anybody. And that is the main reason why
they go 1st. And it's a hard line where you
say like surrendering is not thebest option, which I agree.
And I get their circumstances where it has to be done.
I'm not going to be the person that's like, there's just no way
ever that you should do it. There are circumstances where
there might be any other option.And if you're going to dump the

(15:19):
dog on the side of the road, don't do that.
The videos I make about the ridiculous reasons, I will never
just, I will never stand by and say, you know what?
You want to return to your dog because it beat on your run.
That's not a good, that's not a good reason for me.
And so it's such a fine line to walk of what's a good reason and
what's not a good reason. I've made lots of videos and
people don't like those either about valid reasons to surrender

(15:42):
God. So it's tough and I'm not going
to say definite this is a good reason and this isn't because
that's different for everybody. And I understand that.
My thing is to come on and say here are some reasons I've seen
that are not valid. So if you're thinking about
doing it, please don't do it because your dog will probably
get euthanized, especially if you're in the South and you
start under. It a lot of that comes back to

(16:02):
if you didn't want to put work into the dog, if you didn't want
to train the dog, if you didn't want to spend time with the dog,
if you just wanted the dog to bea couch potato and hang out and
live this boring existence and you didn't expect it to be
shredding your house and your pillows and all of the things
like that is partly your fault. OK, that is partly your fault.

(16:23):
You contributed to the problem. And if you're not willing to do
something about it, it's not a fair reason to to sentence the
death of a dog. It's just not.
And you know, I think that thereare many more other creative
ways that you could potentially rehome the dog or get some
training and work with the dog to give it some better
fulfillment and enrichment in its life so that it's satisfied

(16:45):
and not destroying things in your house.
Because a little bit of trainingand a little bit of attention
goes a long way with dogs. For sure, and I always like to
tell people who say I can't afford a trainer, which very
valid. I understand not everybody can
just shell out thousands of dollars.
YouTube is an amazing resource. Social media is so powerful when
it comes to the offerings they have of dog training.

(17:07):
You can learn so much online about dog training.
And what I've also learned aboutbeing on social media is people
don't understand how to properlytake care of a dog.
And that might not be their fault.
They were just never raised to understand that dogs have to be
enriched, especially certain breeds.
When I I started making enrichment videos like ideas,

(17:27):
people had no idea that dog enrichment was a thing.
And so a lot of people get dogs,they're shredding stuff, but
they don't understand why enrichment is something that
needs to be done. Stimulating their brains like
that's something people don't know.
That's hard to is like, how do you educate people out of
something? They grew up seeing their

(17:48):
childhood dog for 20 years sit on the couch and do nothing.
And then they get a dog and they're like, well, why is it
tearing my stuff up? Well, it's an Australian
shepherd. Your parents had a 12 year old
lab, you know, And so it's hard for people to recognize like
what they need to change and then helping them make that
change. YouTube is free.
It's the most amazing thing you will ever find on the Internet

(18:10):
is YouTube. If you want social media, go to
YouTube. Tip tap and Instagram are kind
of are kind of scary places, butgo to YouTube.
Truly, there's a lot of educational content on YouTube.
I actually put my educational content on YouTube and I
actually also have a free 60 page enrichment book because I
got a certification for enrichment.

(18:31):
Because I agree with you. It is something that is so
needed. It's something that most people
don't realize is a thing. It's not just extra or some
bonus thing that you do for yourdog.
It is essential to their well-being.
And to your point about the dogsthat are in homes now, there's
less dogs doing the jobs that they were meant to do and more

(18:52):
of those dogs ending up in homesand people don't do their
research at all. And then they end up with these
breeds of dogs because that Malinois looks awesome.
Or, oh, Aussies are so cute and they have such great
personalities. Well, yes, but can you handle a
dog? Like, this auction's going to be
such a good guard dog. Those dogs have to be trained to

(19:13):
do that. You understand, Belt and melon
walls don't just come out of thewomb protecting you, right?
You're gonna turn that dog into a biting machine if you don't do
it correctly. And it's just, it's crazy.
It's nuts. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen
a lot of times. Exactly.
The problem is we don't set our dogs up for success.
We want the dog to fit into our life.

(19:35):
We're not willing to do any workfor these dogs.
We want a perfectly amazing trained dog to come in, fit
right into our lives. And if it inconveniences us in
any way, and I mean us, not meanpeople, not me, if it
inconveniences them in any way, they're out because we live in a
society where they want instant gratification.
They want a dog that's going to go to dog parks with them and go
to breweries with them and be the perfect Angel.

(19:56):
But we're just not willing to put the work in and setting them
up for success. And that's the problem.
Like I just wish. Society, when it comes to dogs,
put more value on setting them up to do the right things.
It's not their fault. It's not their fault they're
acting poorly. What they're proud to do.
People get crazy about this, butI'm going to compare dogs to
kids here for a second because when you're raising a toddler,

(20:17):
if you don't teach the toddler that they can't smear their food
all over the wall, they're goingto smear their food all over the
wall. If you don't teach a teenager
that they have to do the dishes,the teenagers not going to do
the dishes and then you're goingto have to come home from work
and do the dishes. It's the same thing with dogs.
You have to teach them what the rules are.
You have to give them instruction and then you have to

(20:37):
reinforce that instruction because if you don't, they're
just going to continue to make the same mistake.
And that's something that I train all of my clients.
Give the dog something else to do.
Give them an option. Teach them that when they're
feeling in a certain kind of way, if they sit politely and
stare at you or you put their paw on your knee, they're
indicating I would like to play a game or go outside and play

(20:58):
fetch, or maybe I just want to have a a lick mat or something.
There's nothing wrong with teaching your dog to ask you for
attention. There's nothing wrong with that.
It's better than them ripping upyour couch or with the wall.
It's not that difficult. Yeah, and dogs thrive on
structure and routine. I have six dogs in my house.

(21:18):
There's no way I could have six dogs in my house if I did not
have a very strict routine. And these dogs are knowing what
they're doing when they're doingit.
Our routine doesn't change that much because as much as people
think that dogs should just be able to do whatever they want,
they thrive on structure and routine.
When they know that they're gonna do certain things, that
becomes ingrained. And dogs are smart.

(21:39):
And so I always encourage peoplelike if you wanna have one Doc
Five dogs, you have to have a routine to fulfill them, to
train them, but also to keep yourself sane.
It goes hand in hand having thatroutine.
A lot of people just don't really quite understand that,
which that's fine. Again, they might just not know
these things. And that's people's jobs on the

(21:59):
Internet to teach them and help them part.
Of having those routines helps your dog recognize what's going
to happen next. I've seen so many reels on
Instagram where people are like my dog when I put on real
clothes. Well, that's because your dog
knows what you're going to wear at home because you always wear
that at home. When you change into something

(22:20):
that's not covered in their scent and you or hair and all
that other stuff and you leave the house, that is what's called
a precursor queue. And the dogs like, Oh yeah,
okay, I know I have to go in my kennel or I know I have to do
this or I'm going to get a lick mat and it's you and it's going
to be great. And you know, all of those
things dogs understand and see, and they do.
They thrive on pattern and consistency.

(22:43):
Yep and when you put on your tennis shoes they get excited
cuz they know those shoes mean they're going on a walk so some
people are like it's so annoying.
My dog jumps every time I put onmy shoes.
Dogs are not dumb people. Then no.
I know it's an interesting worldwe live in, and the more you're
in it, which you know, the more you see how much more education
needs to happen. It's scary.

(23:05):
Honestly, it really is scary. Yeah, but that's part of the
point of this podcast, is talking about these things and
talking about the hard things that might seem common sense to
you or I but are not common sense to my parents.
My family don't even know these things.
And they're like, what is that like it's a lick mat.
Just like, give it to your dog and see how they do.

(23:27):
They love that lick mat. They were really tired after.
I'm like, yeah. So you just have to present it
in ways that are going to resonate with people.
Not everybody's going to do it, but you can try.
Just like people, they respond in different ways to different
tactics, so you just have to do what you can to try to get
through to them. The other thing too is is the
after story. So Toby was a feral dog

(23:50):
basically. Not to the level that Blossom
is, but he was not socialized atall.
He was used as a bait dog. He literally lived in a kennel
for his entire life. I'm pretty sure that he didn't
get fed on a regular basis because he was.
Healthy when you adopted? Him, they think he was one to
two years old. We don't really know how old old
he was. And he was so malnourished that

(24:13):
you could see like his skin was hanging off of him.
His fur was yellow and a broken jaw, broken hip.
And he was just mean. I mean, he was just mean.
Rhett Phoe stuff. Yeah, exactly.
But when you hear stories like Toby's, what stands out to you
about the emotional journey thatrescue dogs actually go?

(24:33):
Seeing stories like his, like his is definitely an extreme and
awesome. Seeing stories like his makes me
realize that every dog is different and every dog's
journey is different with traumaand with abuse.
And you're never going to get A1size fits all when you think
you've seen the worst of a dog having abuse and trauma.

(24:56):
Like there's always going to be another dog that's different.
And like his story, probably theway you approached him at the
shelter by going in his kennel is different than another person
is going to have with another dog.
Like that's not going to work for everybody and not everybody
has that same level of comfortability.
And so hearing his story, I'm like, I don't even know how I

(25:17):
would have approached that. I mean, most people probably
wouldn't have approached as kennel.
It's great on you. Like they put you together at
the right time so you can find each other.
And I just try to stress that topeople as every dog's journey is
different. We get on social media and we
see these amazing transformations of these dogs
that had traumatic past and wereabused.

(25:40):
First of all, I got to say not every sad dog was abused at the
past. We got to get past it.
But just because a dog is shy, Dustin Amino Dunham was used as
a bait dog or was abused. Some facts just have that
personality. So I always get it like that dog
so abused. It's like, do we know that or
are we just saying that? We see all these amazing stories
of foster God goes into a home and three weeks later they're

(26:02):
fighting and they love people again and they're doing so well.
But every dog is different and that's not going to be the
journey for everybody. Yours has taken still 12 years
later, still working with him onbehavior and different things.
And same with Blossom, like that's not going to be her
journey. And I think just approaching
every dog and the way that they need to be approached is what's

(26:22):
important. And people, I hope they can
remember reaching over a dog's head and petting a dog might
work for one dog, but it's not going to work for the next dog.
And it's just, it's hard. And I get it, it's hard to know
how to work with these dogs. But the more you do it, the more
you can understand what they need and what they don't need.
And you've seen so many dogs come through rescue because you
said you've fostered about 60 yourself.

(26:43):
Can you share a story, whether it's yours or someone else's,
that really shifted your understanding of what second
chances can look like? I don't want to always go back
to Blossom, but I am going to because a lot of people ask why?
Why did you do this for her? Why aren't you trying to
domesticate a feral dog? These dogs end up in shelters
due to no fault of their own, sowhy don't these dogs deserve

(27:04):
chances? So with Blossom, people ask me,
why put so much time into this dog?
Why put so much effort into thisdog when you could be fostering
another dog that's adoptable? It's because that's not her
fault she ended up in a shelter.That's our fault as human
beings. That's our fault that these dogs
are here. So it's like, why not?
She deserved it. What does she deserve to just
sit at a shelter for the next year and then eventually get

(27:25):
euthanized? No, that's not right.
If a dog shows at least some promise, and in Toby's case they
do not at all, they still deserve somebody to try.
She is by far been my hardest foster.
I had another dog about six years ago that I thought was
feral that was had nothing on Blossom, but he was another case

(27:46):
that very shut down, very shy, but I could at least get a leash
on him. And that was my first dog that
wasn't quote, UN quote normal. That was my first experience
with it. And like had to travel for work.
And I left him with my husband. And my husband was like, I don't
even know what to do with this dog.
Like, I like what is going on because I do 95% of the
caregiving. He's like, oh, no, they have to

(28:07):
do with this stuff. Why don't you leave?
He doesn't just go on outside. I'm like, yeah, no, he's not
like the other ones. That was my first experience
where I'm like, OK, I'm going tohave to be ready for not the
perfect puppy all the time, and I have since I try to stay away
from puppies, but sometimes theyjust end up with me.
Sometimes they just end up with you and and that's that's how it

(28:28):
goes. Blossoms story is really very
inspirational and just watching her blossom like you named her
perfectly. It's it's such a joy just to see
those little shifts. I did see your video that you
posted the other day of all of the clips of you trying to put
the leash on her and getting hercomfortable with it and having
the bike glove and all of the things, things that you did for

(28:49):
her. And some dogs just require that
small amount of time and effort and energy.
And you're right, it does take the right person to do that.
Which brings me back to another Instagram video that you posted
recently, which is about how rescue workers and adopters are
often times the people who are hurting the rescue the most and

(29:12):
how sometimes. That was controversial.
Yes, it was controversial, but it it's so I think that it's
it's true, like we're rescuing for ego in this God complex, in
this superiority. And look what I did.
It is my personal opinion that rescue is just the beginning of
the story. Yes, Toby has a horrible
background and a horrible story.And I do share it for

(29:33):
educational purposes, but you don't see that content on
Instagram because that's not hisstory anymore.
We've been together for 12 years.
That's not his story. He's turned into this crazy
little senior potato dog who hasbig opinions and the best side
eye I have ever seen because he can judge you from 4:00 rooms

(29:55):
over. People get so stuck in.
Well, I have 8 rescue dogs. Oh, I have, oh, I look at well,
the good that I've done. But like I would like to know
how many of those people have taken on challenges like you
have and done it so that the dogcan have a better life.
Even if you're just the transitional person to get her
into a final home or to get theminto a final home where, you

(30:16):
know, they didn't actually do any of that work that made them
adoptable. So I just think that it's really
important that people realize how much time and energy goes
into getting these dogs homes sometimes.
That is another part that I liketo talk about is just how hard
rescue is because you get on social media and you say, ah,

(30:36):
this dog was rehabilitated and adopted, but do you know what
went into this dog? How much time, but also how much
money goes into these dogs? It's not just you hold on from a
shelter, they go into a home andit's free people's times,
people's money, the rescues, money, donations.
And that's they're great storiesto watch.
But I love when people actually talk and show the hard parts of

(30:57):
it and what went into it. Like that video I made took me
hours to make. I'm like, this is 6 months of
footage. I took out a bigger project than
I can handle on that one. But yeah.
And the video that I made about people in rescue making it
harder, like the people are making it harder than it has to
be. And that's the problem is
because people get into rescue probably with good intention.
Why else would you? But they get into and then they

(31:19):
realize social media exists and social media is a cash cow for
donations. I see so many people asking for
donations on social media who don't have a 5O1C3, who aren't
registered anywhere that aren't actual rescues and are asking
for donations. And those are the type of people
that are ruining rescue because somebody donates and they never

(31:40):
see that money again. Or people on rescue who get into
it for the right reasons, but they get these egos, which I
don't know why we have egos and doc rescue.
Well, we do. My rescue is better than yours.
I've rescued more dogs than you.My vetting process is better
than yours. Like why are we comparing?
The end goal is to get these dogs adopted, but you all have
made it so difficult to work with some of you.

(32:03):
I've worked with rescues once, never again.
Why are we talking down to people in rescue?
Why are you treating your volunteers and your fosters like
they're idiots? You ask for support, you get it,
and then you treat these people poorly.
And that's one of the biggest reasons mostly that I was
talking about is people in rescue unfortunately are not
always nice and they turn peopleoff.

(32:24):
If you don't have thick skin, you will not last if you get in.
And sometimes your rescue is says things to you that are or
ask things of you that are. If it raises a red flag in your
mind, walk away. I've walked away from so many
rescues where I'm like, this is not, no, no, this is not what we
should be doing. If you're going to treat me like
crap and I'm donating my time and my money to you.

(32:46):
If you don't deserve my time andmoney.
And that's the problem is I've had so many people message me
and be like, I worked with the rescue once and they treated me
like shit. It's like, why are we doing
that? Why are we treating these people
who are trying to help you like shit?
That should not be the case. And I get it.
Rescue's hard. It's emotionally draining.
It's physically draining, It's mentally draining.
It's a fakeless job, essentially.

(33:08):
But now social media exists where they can be hailed as
heroes, and now that's where youstart.
These people come out of the woodwork and they start rescues.
It's a whole thing. You know what I'm talking about.
But I just think we should try to support each other rather
than just tearing other rescues down and tearing people who are
trying to help down, which I don't even know why we're
rescuing dogs. Why is this dramatic?

(33:30):
There's some adrenaline, tongue rescue, you know, it's so
confusing. Rescue should be a collaborative
effort, whether that's rescue torescue or a volunteer to rescue
or a doctor foster, any of that stuff.
All of those things have to happen in tandem.
They have to work together in order to be successful.
So we can't be jerks and be treating people terribly or

(33:55):
talking about potential adopterswhen they're not there.
There's just so many things thathappen in rescues and it's
really, really sad. We'll never get out of this hole
that we're in. If rescues can't work
collaboratively or shelters can't work with rescues, it's
like we're shooting ourselves inthe foot because we can't get it
together and understand that. The goal is the dogs.

(34:18):
The goal is not to get as many donations as possible.
The goal is not to get as many social media followers as
possible. Yes, that helps.
If that's what you care about, do not get into rescue.
If you care about the number of followers that you have on
social media, you're not in it for the right reasons.
If you care about the number of animals that you're saving, and
that's the most important thing,do not get into rescue because

(34:38):
you're not in it for the right reasons.
If you start fostering a dog andyou post a video and it gets 100
views and you're upset over it, do not get into fostering.
We shouldn't be getting into this for social media and
notoriety and people saying you're the greatest person on
planet Earth, like that's not why.
And unfortunately social media is a blessing and a curse in
that way. It's hard.

(34:59):
Like it's amazing TikTok was going to be banned.
I was like, no, so many dogs getsaved from this app.
But then you have the other handwith so many people see it as an
opportunity like dogs. He's not a a job, it's not a
career, it's not an opportunity for you to get followers and
make money. But that shouldn't be why you're

(35:20):
doing that. And that's my opinion and I
don't share that that often but I'm sharing it here cuz I see it
a lot. Firstly that's what happens.
People say well you are on social media.
I foster dogs for like 6 years before I even posted them on
social media. Shut it, you know.
I love that you shared it. It's really important.
And I agree with you. I, I mean, I've been in this

(35:40):
industry with animals in one wayor another for 30 years now and
it's, it's hard to watch the things that we watch.
I did a lot of rescue work in myyounger years when I was a vet
tech. And between the rescue and the
clinic, it is not for the weary or weak at all.
You have to have thick skin, a tough heart and and you have to

(36:04):
be able to deal with dogs in bags, in freezers because that
is the reality of the day in andout.
And I do want to stress too, that I understand how hard
rescue is. And sometimes you're dealing
with the dumbest of people who are so irresponsible, who are so
nasty and so mean. And they come into your DMS and

(36:25):
they call you every name becauseyou won't take their dog.
So I understand that at a certain point you're like, fuck
off. I get it.
There's, there's some days wherethese rescues do so much and
then people still continue to treat them so poorly and so
poorly. And that's hard because then
they build up this inside. They're like so bitter and so
resentful towards the public because the public treats them

(36:45):
like crap. But then there's some people who
come in and they're just trying to help.
And then in turn you start treating everybody like that.
And it's, it's hard because if you do it for 30 years and you
see the worst of the worst of the worst of people and your
mind is just, people suck, but not all people suck.
And we have to remember that. So I do want to stress that I
would never start a rescue because I don't have what it

(37:06):
takes. So the people that are running
reputable, great rescues, I commend, I can never do it.
And so I just want to stress that like sometimes you just
have to be an A hole because that's the only way to get
across. But the people in rescue, the
people that don't have good intentions, are the ones that
are ruining it. With your experience, especially
with Blossom, you have been in what I like to call the messy

(37:30):
middle. If the person listening right
now is in that messy, hard middle where their dog is still
learning to trust them, still learning the lessons and the
rules of the house, what would you say to help them understand
that it's OK if they're not getting it right and what to
look for to help them get it right?

(37:51):
It's OK to my breakdowns. I did it several.
I always joke that every time I would have a breakdown, a
breakthrough, what happened right after I would have a
breakdown, a breakthrough, what happened?
And I want to stress it's okay to like feel.
It's okay to feel overwhelmed and it's okay to feel like
things aren't going right. That's a normal feeling.

(38:12):
And I, I don't, I want to stressit.
Fostering is hard. It's an amazing thing to do, but
sometimes you just have these feelings where you're like, what
am I doing? I can't do this.
What have I got myself into? I'm so bad at this, I don't know
what to do. That's a normal thing,
especially with dogs who like Toby, are like Wassome, who are
harder cases. You're not a bad person because
you feel like you're not doing well or you're not helping the

(38:36):
dog. There were times where I would
cry when the trainer would come over and I'm like, I don't, I
don't know what I'm doing. I don't know if I can do this.
This is so hard. I like to stress, feel the
feelings like it's OK, you're not a bad person because you're
like, no, you jumping. Why are you listening to me?
And then like after I was done with that and I talked myself
down, I'm like, I have to remember, like these dogs don't

(38:59):
know any better. They're not doing this stuff to
you. They're not seeing you and being
like, I'm not going to make the person's life hell.
The dogs aren't doing anything to you.
They're doing what they know howto do and what they were brought
up doing. Blossoms growled at me because
that's the only thing she ever knew how to do to communicate
her. She doesn't do it anymore,

(39:20):
thankfully, but she did it for five months.
Just remember, the dog is not trying to make your life hard.
This is how they're communicating and it's your job
to teach them and not every dog is going to learn the same way.
The tactic settings with BlossomI could not use a penny.
So every dog is different and it's not a one-size-fits-all
scenario like every foster dog I've had.

(39:40):
I've had to do different things with each and every single one.
Maybe set aside. Like if I'm fostering an 8 week
old puppy it's pretty cut and dry for the most part.
But older dogs, every path is different, every timeline is
different. You might have had one dog that
came in and it took them three weeks to learn how to be potty
trained or learn how to walk on a leash.

(40:00):
And then the next dog you're going to get is going to take
six months. And so that's what I would just
try to remember and ask for help.
You're not a failure because youasked for help.
I have fostered 65 dogs. I don't know what I was doing
with Blossom. I was in over my head and I was
not afraid to say it. I needed help and just because
I'm experienced. Doesn't mean I know everything.

(40:21):
I know what I'm in over my head and I'm good to ask for help.
So reach out to the rescue, reach out to the shelter.
They will help you. If they don't get out of there,
they don't find another rescue, but just ask them.
I would just text the rescue andbe like, I don't know what to do
dot dot dot. You know, and likely they're
going to have a trainer to help you.
They're going to have resources to help you.

(40:42):
You're not a failure because youdon't know what you're doing.
You're not a failure to ask for help.
And that's the only thing I can stress, because the more you
don't ask for help, you're goingto resent the dog, you're going
to resent the rescue, and you'regoing to resent the whole
process of fostering. And you're never going to want
to do it again because you're going to feel backed into a
corner and you don't know what to do.
And it's not going to be a good experience for you.
And we need good fosters. So just know when you're in over

(41:03):
your head, it's hard. Trust me.
I'm like, all right, I don't know what to do.
I was crying. My husband was like, you should
go to rescue. And I was like, yeah, maybe I
should call the trainer. Like to add that that applies to
anyone with a dog at all. That doesn't just have to be a
foster or rescue dog. If you are struggling with your

(41:23):
dog, ask for help. I spent way too many years with
my other dog Fitz, not asking for help, crying myself to
sleep, wanting to RIP my hair out every day because I just
didn't know what to do with him.And then when I finally started
asking for help, that's when things started to change and now
here we are. Don't be afraid to ask because
your dog is asking you for help all of the time and sometimes

(41:46):
you need to ask for help to helpyour dog.
Yeah, the things that they're doing is their way of
communicating with you that theyneed help or they're not doing
things out of spite. I don't care what people say.
A dog is not going to do something out of spite unless
you have the smartest dog on planet Earth.
Well, most of the time these dogs are doing what they know
how to do. And again, it's your job to
teach them. As a foster, as a dog owner,

(42:07):
that's your job to provide for them what they are asking of
you. Just like a child, it is your
job to provide what they can't provide for themselves.
A dog can't train themselves. A dog can't learn how to go to
the bathroom outside. We expect dogs to know how to do
too much. We have just gotten in this
society where the dogs won. They shouldn't be potty trained.
Well not every one year old dog is potty trained.

(42:30):
It's just that's just the reality of it.
Just like every baby has to go through stages with diapers and
then potty training, because even as humans we don't know
that we're supposed to use the toilet.
And don't know how to communicate effectively either.
We have to relate it to that. We don't know how to communicate
what we want. We have to learn it.
We don't know how to do things. We have to learn it.

(42:52):
And we're not going to learn it by ourselves.
Someone has to usually help us do these things.
So yeah, it's just it's a world where instant gratification,
unfortunately, is what we're looking for.
This girl here, Penny, not instant.
We're three years in. Not instant.
I mean, I love her, but like, she still has a lot of issues
that we're working through and we work on it every day.

(43:13):
And that's all that matters, just a little bit at a time.
We are not perfect as humans either.
We have to work on ourselves every single day, too.
And we should give our dogs thatsame grace, for sure.
Yeah, if somebody listening wanted to support rescue in a
meaningful way. If they can't foster or adopt,
give them some ideas on how to pitch in.

(43:35):
There's a lot of people who justfor whatever reason, can't
adopt, can't foster, and that's okay.
If you can volunteer at a shelter, do that.
If you want to volunteer and you're not comfortable walking
dogs out of the cat room, I knowit's always all about the dogs,
but there are cat rooms too if you're not comfortable being
around animals at all. They need people to do laundry,
they need people to do dishes, they need people to restock the

(43:57):
shelves. They need people to make
enrichment. That's a really great way to get
involved and also like immerse yourself in the shelter
experience because you will havea totally different mindset the
second you step into a shelter and spend time there.
You don't even have to be handling dogs to Start learning
about the processes and what actually happens and like what
the procedures are. And I get not everybody's

(44:18):
comfortable handling dogs and that's OK.
But there's like a million otherthings at a shelter.
You can walk into a shelter makea huge difference without even
handling an animal. And I think people automatically
think I have to walk dogs and I have to take them out and I have
to this. You don't have to do that.
And another way is I know peoplethink like, well, what is what?
What is my like or my comment going to do on a post a lot.

(44:41):
Cheering, hiking, putting a comment under a video makes a
huge difference. These dogs, they're not being
seen and that stuff helps. I recently went to and played in
a charity golf tournament for a Humane Society in Florida.
They have events all the time. Just go and support, go
participate. If you like to play golf but you
don't want to lock docs, go do that.
You know, they have events all the time that they need people

(45:02):
to may on the tents. They need people to do
paperwork, they need people to, you know, do the admin side of
stuff. There's so many things you can
do and course fostering and adopting is important, but these
other jobs and other responsibilities, abilities are
equally as important as that. Because without doing that
stuff, these dogs are not going to get out of a shelter and
they're not going to have a goodexperience out of shelter.

(45:23):
Enrichment for a dog at a shelter, it's huge. 20 minutes a
day really helps. Have a lick map really makes a
difference. Those are just some of the
things off the top of my head that I can think of that are
pretty feasible that don't cost money.
You just can do it from home or you drive to your local shelter.
There's probably 1 within 10 or 15 minutes of your house.
So I always try to stress other ways to get involved on my

(45:46):
channel too. It's super important to give
back in your community and if you want to be involved with
dogs and you can give back in little ways, just liking or
commenting on a post that helps it send it out to more people or
share it. That's one of my favorite things
to do is when I see somebody posting about a dog that they're
trying to get rescued or it's like a rescue feature of the

(46:06):
week or something like that. I love to share those dogs
because you never know. That share could get that dog
adopted. You just don't know.
Sure. Sure.
That happened to me. I was fostering a senior dog.
She had skin issues. She was just rough, but she came
from a hoarding case. I had her for six months.
I had no interest. I posted her on face on Facebook
and one the one person shared people who you're not friends

(46:27):
with are going to see it. And a lady saw who lived an hour
away from me because she was friends with that person was
like, I'm going to a doctor. And that's how we found it.
So it's like I'm just one person.
I hate that mentality. I'm just one person.
I'm not going to make a difference.
But you can make a difference just being one person because
what if everybody thought that nobody would be doing anything?
One share could change your dog's life.
And so I'm just like share, share, share, share, share.

(46:50):
All of us are free pals, free pals, free pals.
I love it. And then it takes 2 seconds to
do before we wrap up. I'd love to end with a little
bit of homework for humans. If you could give the person
listening one small, meaningful action that they could take this
week to support rescue dogs likeToby and Blossom something
simple but impactful, what wouldit be?
To support rescue dogs, I'm trying to think of one small

(47:14):
thing. I know we were just talking
about social media and sharing and engaging in content.
That's the easiest thing I can think of.
But really, if you want to support rescue and support some
of the harder cases is when you see somebody posting content or
just go watch a video about a story about a feral dog.

(47:34):
Just go see what goes into this,what goes into rehabilitating
these dogs and all the time thatis spent with these dogs.
Because again, I think when it comes to content, we want to
watch 5 seconds and we want to scroll.
But like, really watching what these people and these animals
have done makes a huge difference and will really open
up your eyes. And it's like, wow, Oh my gosh,

(47:56):
this is what it takes for hardercases.
But the end result is 9 times out of 10, going to be very
rewarding. There are some cases where it's
just sometimes things happen. Not every dog is saved.
And unfortunately that's a mindset that being in rescue,
unfortunately you have to understand, I came across a

(48:17):
woman, I was at Global Pet Expo and I met her and she said I can
never go to a shelter. It's just too emotional for me.
I would want to take every dog home.
And I think the biggest thing I would think is really look at
that statement and ask yourself,is that true?
Because there are so many peopleout there that can make a
difference. But they think immediately I
just couldn't handle it. Maybe to try to take a step

(48:39):
that's watching more videos about shelter dogs.
So going back to that story, sixmonths later, she messaged me.
This was probably a couple weeksago.
She said, Tracy, I just want to let you know, I stepped inside
my first shelter today. I didn't think I could ever do
it. It was really sad for me, but I
just went and I walked around and I wanted to try to get more
comfortable with being in this environment and I was like,

(48:59):
that's amazing. Just simply stepping foot in a
shelter and looking at dogs is something small you can do
because again, you've seen the comments.
I could never, I could never. It's too emotional, which it is.
I'm not mitigating that at all, but just try at least trying to
take that step to maybe walk around a shelter, shoot, go sit

(49:20):
in the parking lot and listen tothe dogs barf.
It's hard, but it's something that it's part of it.
Every time I come back from the shelter and volunteering, my
husband's like, how was volunteering?
I'm like, it sucked, but it was good.
It's a dodge sort of like it's so great to go and help, but it
is sad. So you have to try to regulate
those feelings somehow, which it's harder for different

(49:42):
people, like it's different for everybody how you do that.
So that's what I would say like long winded answer, which is
constantly what I give. That's what I would I would
suggest. And I know it's hard to take
that first step. I totally get it.
My first foster dog, I was terrified.
Taking that first step will openup so many doors for you.
Most people don't get involved because they are too scared to

(50:02):
take that first step. It is scary for sure, but once
you do it, your mind is opened up to so many different things
and the possibilities of how youcan help is opened up.
It's pretty interesting once youget started.
So that would be my homework. It's about 10 different things.
It's a super important message. You know, small changes add up.
1 thoughtful action can make a big difference.
And if even if that just means looking up on the Internet what

(50:26):
shelters are near you and figuring out if maybe
potentially you want to go visitthem and meet the staff, like
just do a little bit at a time to get to the bigger picture.
You don't have to just jump in like gung ho right out of the
gate. You don't have to just start
fostering. You don't have to walk into the
shelter and say, get give me themost difficult dog and foster

(50:46):
it. Like no, like you said, small
things can lead to really big results.
And I think we forget that. And rescue is like, I'm just
just me. I'm just a little me while
everybody is just a little you until you start doing stuff.
And you know, it's important to just get involved in any way you
can. It's scary and it's sad and it's

(51:06):
emotional. Like I'm not going to be like,
hey, it's happy all the time. But those instances of going
through those things make you a better person, make you
understand rescue more and make you more emotionally ready to
handle what's next. And you never get numb to it.
It's always going to be sad. You see so many great things in
rescue, which I think people forget is there's so much good

(51:28):
that comes from it. I've met some amazing people.
I've met amazing dogs. I have 5 of my own dogs.
Like it's an amazing community to get involved in when you are
in it with the the right people and you meet the right people.
You have friends, you have support system.
Like people that don't understand anything else.
Like you can go to and be like, and other people outside of
rescue don't understand. I don't care what they say.
People outside of rescue will not understand what you're going

(51:51):
through, but they're just dogs. Like you have that love.
Get involved because you're going to meet so many like
minded people that will help youthrough the process of when it's
hard and when it's stressful andwhen it's sad.
Like other people that aren't involved can't help you through
that. Only the people in rescue can do
that. It is a special community, that
is for sure. It's 1 unlike any other.
It really is, but it's it's great.

(52:12):
It is just getting bumped that's.
All I can say today we celebrated Toby's 12th Gotcha
Day, and in doing so, we honoredevery dog who's ever been given
a second chance. Toby's story is important proof
that rescue isn't just about saving lives, it's about
building partnership that changes both of you.
And through Tracy's experience, we are reminded of the hope

(52:33):
patients and everyday actions that make those transformations
possible. Tracy, what would you like to
leave the listener who is probably struggling a little bit
with this episode today? It doesn't have to be on topic.
It could be whatever you want itto be.
And when you say struggling withthis episode, what do you mean
by that? What do I mean by that?
I mean that this was a lot, right?
We kind of went back and forth, and I'm hoping that somebody is

(52:57):
struggling because they're growing because they learned
something today or they heard a hard truth that they didn't
realize, like the surrender dogsbeing the first euthanized.
We covered a lot, a lot of hard things, a lot of controversial
things. I'm probably going to struggle
while I edit this episode, so maybe just give some relief or
some advice. I always remember that what
you're doing is going to have a good result at the end of the

(53:20):
day. If you go into it with a
positive attitude and a positivemindset, you're going to make
positive changes. It's just like anything you do
in life. You're going to have things in
your job, in your relationship, in your friendships that are
hard, but they're always worth it in the end.
Maybe not your job in your relationships in life, like
you're going to have hard thingsthat you have to work through,

(53:41):
but it's always worth it in the end to get that end results, to
get that really great friendship, that great
relationship, that great job like, and that's how you have to
think of it too. Go into it with a positive
mindset. Yeah, you're going to hit bumps,
you're going to be sad. That's just part of it.
But it's always going to be really great at the end.
Seeing blossom now, it was worthit.
It's always going to be worth it.

(54:02):
And just remember that. And you're changing dogs lives
who would never get a chance otherwise.
You're completely changing a dog's life and that's huge.
What's that saying to you? They're just a dog, but to them,
you're their whole world. Like that's so true.
You are a dog's whole, entire world.
Whether you're fostering or adopting, you're changing that
dog's life. So just remember that.
And it's, it's a fun journey. We talk about hard things, but

(54:26):
sometimes it's good to explore those hard things.
I, we can't ignore the hard things and expect change to
happen. And that's just what I'm going
to say is don't shy away from the hard things sometimes.
So remember, be kind, spread joy, and learn hard things so
you can change a dog's life today.
This episode is brought to you by Pet Matrix, the science

(54:47):
driven premium canine supplementcompany on a mission to help
dogs thrive at every stage of life.
Their advanced cell matrix delivery technology fuels
Wellness right at the cellular level, so your dog gets real
results where it counts, just like mine have.
With Move, you're supporting joints, bones and recovery.
With Think, you are helping calmthe nervous system and sharpen

(55:10):
focus. And with Protect, you're getting
gut health and immunity. Don't sit on the sidelines when
it comes to your dog's health. Jump into the Pet Matrix today
and see the difference. Thank you for listening to the
dog who asks for more. If you've ever stood in the pet
aisle feeling totally overwhelmed, or if meal time at
home feels stressful because your dog turns up their nose or

(55:30):
you're constantly second guessing what's actually
healthy, you are not alone. That's why I created the free
Mini Bowl Blueprint, a simple step by step guide with three
easy swaps to make feeding easier, more nutritious, and
something you can finally feel confident about without breaking
the bank. You'll find the link in the
episode description. Go grab your copy and start

(55:51):
making better bowl choices today.
New episodes drop every Monday and Wednesday.
I'll see you next time.
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