October 26, 2025 • 35 mins
Have you ever wondered about the profound impact pets can have on our lives? In this heartwarming episode, Julie sits down with Amy King, a fellow animal lover and writer, to explore the joys and challenges of pet ownership.
Amy shares her journey from childhood fish tanks to adopting rescue dogs with complex needs. We discuss the emotional rollercoaster of caring for pets with health issues and the bittersweet experience of saying goodbye to our furry companions.
Key takeaways for pet parents:
- The importance of being observant and in tune with your pet's behavior
- Coping strategies for dealing with pet loss and grief
- Why it's crucial to give yourself grace during the grieving process
- The value of adopting from reputable animal welfare organizations
We also spotlight the Arizona Animal Welfare League and their fantastic work in matching pets with loving homes.
Ami King is a former higher ed instructor who wanted to do something creative and turned to writing and telling stories. Ami writes historical western romance novels with a mix of mystery, intrigue, and, well, romance. There's also a funny animal or two. Ami is married with 2 college aged boys, a koi pond and her ride or die dog, Finnegan. To learn more about Ami King, check out her Website, follow her on Facebook or Instagram.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers.
Welcome to a new episode of theStory of My Pet Podcast.
I am very happy to welcome myguest, Amy King.
Amy, thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks for having me.
Recently we bonded over ourshared love of our pets.
Amy, before we get into all thethings, like I always say, I
like to start off with (00:29):
have you always been an animal lover and
did you have pets growing up?
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
And yes, I've always been an animal lover.
I didn't get pets until I was 10or something like that.
We wore my mom down and finallyshe let us get fish.
Because my dad was allergic tocats, and I'm allergic to dogs,
even though I have dogs.
But I just grew up with reallybad eczema, and she was just
(00:57):
very weird about that.
You know what I mean?
So we had a tank of goldfish,and we had a tank of tropical,
and that was really veryinteresting because we got to
see our black mollies give birtha couple of times, and our
scissor fish.
It was very fascinating.
Yeah, it was really cool.
SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
You know, I was just talking to a potential guest for
this podcast, and she has a dogdaycare and does behavioral
things, and we were ventingabout what people do and don't
do with their pets.
And one of the things I said iswhat I've learned through all of
this is a lot of what myexperience has been, I think I
sometimes assume other peoplehave had it too, right?
(01:40):
So I think with animals,sometimes we realize, oh, well,
if you hadn't had a pet likethis before, you don't know how
they behave or how they shouldand all of that.
So I love that you're talkingabout these fish and that the
experience you guys got to havewas seeing births and seeing
them grow up.
So it sounds like you wore yourmom down and got to, you know,
(02:01):
experience some fun things as akid because of your fish.
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
Yeah, yeah.
It wasn't a puppy or a kitty,but still it was it was in its
own way because then it becamelike a family thing because we
would go to the fish store andwe would learn about all the
different fish, and it did turninto this giant project.
SPEAKER_00 (02:23):
Once you get one, it turns into the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
I know.
I think my mom was sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Yeah, then in on that.
SPEAKER_01 (02:31):
But yeah, we had tanks for quite a few years, and
and then she said no more.
So that was the end of it.
SPEAKER_00 (02:39):
So then at what point did you decide to get a
dog or to get your first pet?
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Oh, now that's an interesting story.
So I my husband and I weredating, and he got a job down in
Arizona.
It was training, and it wassupposed to be a five-year gig.
And so our first year, we moveddown together, and our first
year we lived in an apartment.
And when we moved into ourhouse, somebody I worked with
(03:06):
kept telling me stories aboutthis dog that she had gotten
from her sister.
And this dog, she presented asBelgian Malinois, but she had
like a little bit of keda, itlooked like in her.
She was a small, 45-pound dog,terrified, terrified.
She had been to four homes bythe time she was a year old, and
(03:27):
we were the fourth.
SPEAKER_00 (03:28):
And that doesn't help with their anxiety being
moved around that much.
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
No, no.
And I think that was harder forthis dog is that the sister had
adopted it from the pound andthought that it would make a
great dog for her husband, whowas a police officer at the
time.
So he trained that dog becausehe worked canine and he worked
undercover.
He trained this dog in verystrict police ways.
(03:54):
And because she had been abused,it didn't work out so well.
I ended up with a dog becausethe dog was going to go to the
pound.
And I was like, wait a minute,don't you take the dog?
I kind of had fallen in lovewith this dog.
And for a first-time dog owner,that was just not really the dog
I should have been bringinghome.
But fortunately, my husband hadgrown up with golden retrievers.
(04:18):
So I convinced him to go look atthis dog.
Come on, please go look at thisdog.
She's gonna go back to thepound.
Sad story, tears.
We go out.
The next thing you know, we'redriving home with this dog.
And so that that's our firstdog.
And she was terrified ofeverything.
And she warmed up to us, but shewas super super afraid.
(04:38):
She left my husband, but she wassuper afraid of any other man.
And very specific kind ofthings, like if you wore tank
tops, if you had a stick, itwas, and if you were older, like
she was she wouldn't go near aperson that hit those kind of
criteria.
So that was our first dog.
And we had a pair of rescuesafter her, and then another pair
(05:01):
of rescues after them.
And one just recently passed,but we still have one of the
pair.
SPEAKER_00 (05:08):
Should the pair I love that story because I have
met so many people who haveadopted the first time and ended
up with an animal of some typeof behavior issue.
Either they put in the work andit works out, and you do
whatever you need for theanimal, or they're like, oh,
this is too much work.
I can't do it.
And that's a lot of what ends upin the shelter, right?
(05:30):
Dogs and cats that need a littleextra.
Now, I want everyone to realizeall animals need that.
No animal is going to be broughtinto a brand new environment,
new people, new animals, and belike, sure, let's have fun.
You know, like we wouldn't dothat as humans, right?
So we can't expect animals to,but I applaud you and your
husband putting in the work andallowing a dog who obviously has
(05:54):
just general anxiety aroundthings, be happy and live in a
safe and positive environmentbecause not all dogs get to have
that safe place.
SPEAKER_01 (06:05):
Yeah, she was.
Thank you.
I loved her.
She was just such a sweet,expressive dog, but she had a
lot of issues.
She was a door dasher.
So we never broke her at that.
The minute the door opened, Igot very good with the arms and
legs, the door.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
Yeah, I had a dog growing up that if the gardeners
didn't lock the gate, she wasoff on a little adventure.
SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
Yeah, and it's terrifying.
And then the last thing aboutthis dog is that because she had
been an outdoor dog before wegot her, she was an indoor dog
with us.
In Arizona, you can get valleyfever.
I don't know if you get that inCalifornia.
So it's like mold spores thatgrow in the dirt, and then it
goes into your respiratorysystem.
Well, because this dog was sodramatic, she was just a very
(06:52):
dramatic dog.
Took her into the vet forsomething else.
And then the vet asked me somequestions and what else is going
on with her.
I said, she's been limping, andI she's kind of a dramatic dog,
but she was kind of holding herpod, looking at me.
And I said, I don't know if thisis her being dramatic.
He goes, Let's just take x-raysand case and she had bowel
fever, and it had gone into her,you know, yeah, and ended up
(07:17):
having seizures because it wentinto her central nervous system.
And so she was on a lot ofmedications, and that's what
finally killed her was all themedications that she was on.
And one day she just laid downand we and didn't get back up,
and we had to take her in.
But I think you have to beprepared for that, you know what
I mean?
And what's your game plan?
(07:38):
And you know, right.
SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Yeah, so much of what you said is important, you
know, especially if it'ssomeone's first pet or adding a
pet, like you have to thinkabout the time they need, the
space, and how to introducepets, all those things, plus the
medical side, you know, younever know what could come up.
And one of my childhood dogs,champ, he had seizures.
When it first happened, wedidn't know what was happening.
(08:02):
And so he was on medication forhis seizures for probably a
decade of his life, right?
Yeah.
And so in the end, it was themedication caused other problems
that ended up he had to be putto sleep.
But you know, you never know,and that can look different for
different animals.
But the valley fever thing isreally interesting because I
never thought about the animalscan get it.
It actually is very prevalentwhere I live in Bakersfield in
(08:25):
California.
There's actually some of thedoctors here that did some of
the early research with itbecause there's so much of it in
our soil.
I'm third generation on my mom'sside, born and raised here.
So we've been here for a while.
And so she grew up here and shehad no idea that at some point
when she was a child she hadvalley fever.
She was sick at different times,but it was never diagnosed back
(08:45):
in the 50s and 60s.
But when she was an adult livingin Santa Barbara, she had
several incidents where shecouldn't breathe and her lung
had collapsed.
And it was after the second orthird time then they did tests,
they realized she had all thesescars from valley fever, and she
actually had to have part of herlung taken out because it would
(09:07):
just keep doing that if shehadn't.
And so, you know, those arethings like that.
I never even thought that a petcould get it.
So that was just a veryinteresting you bringing that
up.
I'm like, wow, I would havenever even thought of that.
So you mentioned you recentlylost a dog, and so I don't know
how much you want to talk aboutthat, but I know that one of the
things I have found in thispodcast is talking about our
(09:30):
pets, especially the ones we'velost.
Sometimes it's, you know,healing to get to share them and
talk about them.
And it's also important forother pet parents to hear that
it's okay if you're not okay.
It's okay if you're strugglingwith an older pet or a pet
that's sick, or you've lost apet and you're not ready to get
a new one.
You know, those are importantthings for us to talk about and
(09:51):
be like, it's okay.
It's up to you what feels rightto you.
I'm sure it's a little differentfor you because you had a pair
and you still have one, but wealso have to think about the pet
that's left behind.
Sometimes it can really affectthem.
How has that whole transitionperiod of losing a pet been for
you?
SPEAKER_01 (10:08):
I think the loss of this pet was extra hard on me.
And because, you know, our firstdog was the extra medication,
and then the next two dogs, onehad had to have a splenectomy.
It's never easy over here.
So he had to have a splenectomy,and then after, because he had a
(10:32):
slow bleed in his spleen.
And I said to my husband, helooks depressed.
You look at him, he looksdepressed, he doesn't look quite
right.
And I he's like, He's a dog,he's not depressed.
And I'm like, so I took him tothe vet, and then they did some
tests, and he had this littlebleed in his spleen.
So I guess two things I thinkbeing really observant and in
(10:56):
tune with your dog can save yourdog's life, right?
Yeah.
The other thing is, like yousaid, so then the buddy, the
next one, had stomach cancer.
So it was kind of these thingsthat happened, and then we kind
of knew that they had thislimited time.
With Flanders, he had LARPAR, sohe had to have a laryngeal tie
(11:17):
back so that he could breathebecause he was starting to sound
like Darth Vader.
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
Yeah, and so but maybe the universe knows that
you guys will really take careof them, even if it's something
crazy.
Because you know, I hear all thetime animals get taken to
shelters because they can'tafford medical care and things
like that.
So somebody knows that you guyswill go the extra mile for your
dogs.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
My gosh, well, the family.
I mean, you wouldn't let afamily member suffer, but then
also at some certain point,you've got to say, this is too
much.
We weren't sure how long he wasgonna last, but you know what?
Two years that gave him twoextra, very good years, except
for a few bouts of pneumoniabecause they can aspirate.
So you have to be very carefulabout drinking and feeding.
(12:01):
And so in the earlypost-surgery, I grieved multiple
times because he'd lay on thefloor and I thought he was
going.
I'm like, this is it, he'sdying.
And because he really did looklike he was dying.
And so it was a long kind of twoyears.
I enjoyed every minute that wecould with him, but then he
started to slow down because hewas 14 by the time you know we
(12:24):
had to put him down.
The trauma of we have a vet thatwe've been going to for over 20
years.
Uh not the vet that owned thepractice had sold it to like a
corporate model, but you know,that the vet that we had there
(12:45):
had been carried for all ourpets.
So they care, you know, shecared for Buddy and Trigger and
Flanders and and then again.
And I think the hardest part iswhen I we called to say we were
having this problem and thatbecause of their business model,
they weren't going to take himin.
They just said go to theemergency room.
And that was heartbreaking forme because this dog really hated
(13:09):
the emergency room.
Because we'd been there for, youknow what I mean?
And so we kind of went therounds of trying to find a place
to, you know, take him thatwould be feel like the right
place to take him.
We ended up at another corporatemodel kind of emergency clinic
that was way better than theother ones that we had been
going to.
And it was a very lovely,peaceful passing, and they were
(13:32):
great.
But I think that I just felt solet down by our long-term vet.
And it wasn't hurt, you knowwhat I mean?
SPEAKER_00 (13:39):
Right.
You know, even when you try toget in, it's like a week out for
and that is, you know, one ofthe big issues in the US.
On top of the overpopulationcrisis and how many animals we
have with not enough homes,there aren't enough vets.
There aren't enough vets thatcan take new clients.
I've even read there aren'tenough vets in school becoming
(14:01):
vets.
Like we don't even have enoughin the pipeline.
I've had people tell me herelocally where I live that
they've called around and can'teven find a vet to take in a new
patient.
Like you said, with emergencyvets, they're so overrun.
They'll say, sure, come, butyou're gonna have to wait in the
parking lot for eight hours.
The system doesn't make it easyfor those of us who are trying
to help.
And so that kind of makes iteven more difficult for new
(14:25):
people to adopt, too, when theydon't have good resources to
support them and their pets.
SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
Yeah.
I mean, gone are the days thatyou say, Oh my gosh, you know,
my dog injured his foot andcan't walk.
And then they say, Okay, we cansqueeze them in at this time.
Can you come?
You know what I mean?
So because everything's sospaced out, they don't want
anyone together.
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
I think that's part of the difficulty, but then also
for us emotionally is the rollercoaster of not knowing, or is
this the right time?
What do they need?
They can't tell us.
And even when we're really intune and we can tell something's
wrong, we can't always figureout what it is, and that's so
hard.
And what I have learned issometimes the anticipatory work
(15:08):
grief going through the end ormedical issues is almost harder
than the loss because you'rejust you're up and down and
unknown, and you feel like,isn't it?
And you mentioned you would lookat them lying there and think,
Did he pass?
We've had that happen with oneof our cats, and I'm just like,
this isn't sense that I can'thandle keeping, but you know,
(15:29):
it's so hard.
So I can imagine, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:33):
Yeah, and that dog, he he'd lived a good life, he'd
been through a thing or two aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (15:39):
They are our family.
We make pets our family, and wewould never not do what we're
doing for them.
But um, we still go through thatpart of the grief process.
So for you with your most recentloss, how has it been having the
other dog still?
Is that a good support for you,or does that almost make it
harder in some ways?
SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
No, it's in some ways, yes, because I'll have
these moments where, you know,because they did funny things
together.
And so I would, you know what Imean, because it's kind of like
a routine, right?
And you kind of expect andyou're like, oh, but he's gone.
You know what I mean?
And so you have I have a lot ofthose moments.
But it's interesting how withboth pairs of dogs, how when the
(16:18):
first one died, the second, theremaining dog changes.
They change, they're sad for alittle while and they're looking
for their friend.
But then in my in our case, thesurvivor, I guess, for lack of a
better term, um, is more becomesmore affectionate.
They become more cuddly.
(16:39):
They were in your ride or diebefore, but they were really
like, you know what I mean?
Because I think they don't havethe competition anymore.
We're not gonna causeshenanigans now.
We're just like, here, payattention to me.
SPEAKER_00 (16:50):
You know, that is so true because things adjust, but
in some ways it's nice becauseyou get to maybe even see a
little bit different side oftheir personality, too.
SPEAKER_01 (16:59):
Yeah, and I thought that was really interesting
because I saw a side of Finneganthat I didn't really see.
Maybe I noticed a little bitwhen we first adopted him, but
he he morphed into a differentdog, and he's just he was always
sweet, but he does these reallysuper cute kind of different
things.
And he's very snuggly.
(17:20):
He wants to just get up thereand snuggle and so that's his
nice.
SPEAKER_00 (17:23):
Well, and I one thing that I've actually learned
too is that the animals alsosense when we're going through
things, right?
Yeah, they can tell when wedon't feel well or something's
off.
When I lost one of my first catsand I brought his remains home,
and I kind of sat it on the bed,and I didn't expect to have this
overwhelming emotion as I, youknow, took out and the paw
(17:47):
print, and my other cat came upand like rubbed on the box, and
then that broke me even more.
But it's like it's thatconnection we have that is why
we love them.
But it's also so interestingwhen we see the response of the
other pets.
SPEAKER_01 (18:42):
Yeah, it's interesting.
I had a job that I just reallymade me cry.
And when I had those dogs, yeah.
So, and that's where the dogactually, I that my friend that
had the dog that was that job.
And it just got to to the pointwhere there was a couple weeks
there where I cried every nightwhen I got home.
(19:03):
And so I was sitting therecrying on the like I don't even
know what made me cry.
I'm watching TV, and I juststart crying.
My husband's at work, and Dutchjust had this spot behind the
couch.
It was like this little cubbyfor her.
And I think that I must havestarted sniveling, making some
sort of noise, and she camearound.
And because I'm allergic, Idon't let the dogs lick me.
(19:24):
And I pet them and I snugglethem, but no licking.
And so she came up and it wasthe sweetest thing, and she kind
of like looked around the couchand then she moved forward, and
then she gently put a paw on myleg because I was laying like
this on the couch, and she puther nose up to my face and
(19:45):
didn't touch, but came so close,and you know, it was just like
it still gets me to this daybecause it was like she's
comforting me because I was justso miserable, and then she kind
of just curled up next to me onthe couch, and it was just like,
gosh, I can really sense things.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
I mean, oftentimes I'll say, I don't know how
people exist without a pet.
Like, how do you function?
Because I need them in thoseways.
Like, I need the I lay down towatch TV and I want to know
you're right here and I can petyou, or I had a cat that would
always take one paw and put iton my shoulder.
Like those are the little thingsthat make it all why we why we
do this, and while they'refamily, also, right?
(20:25):
They're such a part of our allof our experiences, good and
bad.
So, for you as a writer, wehaven't talked about that.
You write fiction, and can youtalk a little bit about that?
And how did you use animals inyour writing?
Do you like to add animalcharacters into your writing?
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
I do.
And so here's the funny thing: the first book, I had a donkey (20:47):
undefined
that we went out to Oatman, andOatman's a it's classified as a
village, which it has a like 27people or something live there.
It's a former mining town thathippies had moved into in the
70s.
It's kind of a touristy place,but the burrows that they
(21:08):
released that the miners used touse, they live in the hills
there.
And so they come into the town.
And so my younger son and I wentout there all excited to see
these.
And there was some sort ofincident, and so we only saw a
handful of them.
But when I came home, I had beenwriting this scene about I write
a historical western.
(21:29):
And so there's this charactercalled Riley, and he's one of
the gang members who's bad.
Nobody likes him in this gang.
But they there's a story abouthim trying to, he hates this
white burrow that keeps coming,and people feed him.
And so he's gonna ride thisburrow, and he gets bucked off.
And it's so I I told a funnystory that the other gang
(21:52):
members were telling this storyabout this this incident, and
they're layfying about it andlaughing.
And I just so that was the firstanimal that I wrote in.
And in the second book, I have atemperamental horse that the
hero rides, and he's just kindof a character in and of
himself, and then there's thisgiant wolfhound mix that adopts
(22:15):
the hero, and he's trying totell him something, but between
this dramatic dog and thistemperamental horse, that
through line that went through,and I really entertained myself
with that.
I really like this caregiver.
SPEAKER_00 (22:28):
I love that, and I have a feeling those
temperamental personalityanimals might have a little bit
of some of your dogs in them.
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
Yeah, you know, the one, and it started with the dog
that we have right now, stillFinnegan.
He doesn't like, he came to usnot liking baths, like he's
terrified of water.
And I think it's from being inthe county pickup, he was
astray, and then they get thekennels get hosed out, and he
does not like the hose, he doesnot like water, and so giving
(23:00):
him a bath is really not fun foranybody.
SPEAKER_00 (23:03):
Just you know, sometimes they're just like, no,
I don't like it.
You're not doing it.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
Yeah, he really doesn't like it.
He's gotten better, but it stillrequires two people to give him
a bath.
One person cannot do it on theirown.
And so I did write a scene whereJimmy the hero is like, You
smell dog.
You you you you can bunk withme, but you cannot, you can't do
it until you get a bath.
(23:28):
And so he takes him down to theriver to give him a bath.
And the one thing that I didtake from that dog is that he
gives me moon eyes, half mooneyes, you know, when they look
at the cube.
So that dog keeps giving Jimmythat look.
And so that's from Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:44):
I love that because one of the things I've learned
about storytelling, however, itis podcasting, writing, that,
you know, a lot of it is ustelling our story, is leaving a
part of our legacy.
So you've created thesecharacters, including animals,
that are a little piece of youand your animals and your
experience.
So I love how you can kind ofreflect back on that and think
(24:06):
of how the story you've writtenhas come from your own little
dog buddies, too.
So for you as someone who'srecently lost a dog, if
someone's listening and they aregoing through that kind of
uncertain time or they've lostone, what is maybe one little
thing you would say to themthat's helped you through your
(24:29):
griefing process?
SPEAKER_01 (24:35):
I think for me, when we had to put Duchess down, the
first dog, it was very hard forme because I just, even though
she laid down and didn't getback up, I just felt like what
if.
And I think that, like you saidbefore, when you love your
animals so much, they're such apart of your family.
You just kind of have to trustyourself and your team that you
(24:57):
made the right choice.
And I think that the what ifsyou're going to do it, but it
needs to stop.
Like you need to allow yourselfto give yourself a couple of
moments of what ifs or andhowever long that is, but then
you have to stop punishingyourself.
And you have to remember thatdogs do not live as long as
humans.
(25:17):
And they come into your life,they're a gift that comes into
your life.
And the best thing that you cando for them and for you is to
know that you did your best.
Even if you made mistakes, youdid your best and hold on to the
sweet memories that you have ofthem, or even the aggravating
ones that you can tell storiesabout because it's the web of
life.
(25:38):
And I think that I'm not sayingdon't dismiss it, but just don't
keep punishing yourself becausethat I think it's harder to
process the grief if you'repunishing yourself.
SPEAKER_00 (25:48):
And we all go through those times where we
question and and you know, oneof the things I always say try
to say to people, like evenonline when I'm coming in on a
post where someone said, Oh, Ilost them, or we had we had to
let them go.
It's like, you know, I knowyou're grieving right now, but
you just have to realize yougave them an amazing life,
whether it was a week or a yearor 10 years, right?
(26:09):
Sometimes we need a little, likeyou've been just said, we needed
just a little, it's okay.
The grief is from the love.
That's what I've learned.
Yeah.
All types of grief.
So we have to feel lucky inhaving it, but we also have to
realize that whatever time wehad with them, like we got to
give them everything in thatmoment.
And it doesn't always make usfeel better, but we can hold on
(26:30):
to the knowledge that we gavethem this great life.
And in turn, they gave us allthese amazing memories.
SPEAKER_01 (26:38):
Yeah.
And if you think about it, youknow, we always joke about, you
know, dogs forget, right?
In a nanosecond, they forgetthat you know what I mean.
You've left and you've comeback, and it's just like, oh my
God, you've been gone for days,right?
Then the opposite must be truebecause the sort of good times
that you had, even if you had aweek, a week could feel like
years to a dog.
(26:58):
Right.
And and that is a gift too, youknow.
And I I think we forget how muchwe I do.
I forget how much I have tooffer.
I think that we see it in otherpeople.
Like I would have no problemtelling, look, you're offering
so much and you're doing allthese great things, but I don't
give myself that grace.
And I think that we, if there'sany time that you could give
(27:21):
yourself that kind of grace, iswhen you lose a pet and you're
in the deep and you did a greatthing by giving this animal
love, you know, and food andshelter and care.
SPEAKER_00 (27:35):
Yeah, you know, it's something I had to learn.
The first kitten I fosteredpassed away, and it was awful,
it was horrible.
I didn't ever expect that tohappen.
And once I kind of got over theshock of it, it was, you know,
my husband say we could bury himhere, and then he's here.
And even though we only had himfive days, we were still his
family, and he gets to stayhere.
And it was hard, and I would notwish that on anyone, but it was
(28:00):
also good for me to realize, youknow, we have a cat that's 16.
We've had him for a long time.
Even the vet is shocked at howlong he's sustained by getting
insulin, right?
So it's good for me to hear thatto realize not only did we go
the extra mile and continue to,like, it's worth it.
He gets to sleep all day on thebed.
Who cares?
That's what we can give him.
(28:20):
And so I really appreciate yousaying that.
And I hope that it helps someonelistening to this episode
because sometimes we just needthe little reminder that don't
be so hard on yourself.
You did a good thing, no matterhow long you got to have them
with you.
And speaking of that, if you'relooking for a new pet, we want
to highlight one of your localanimal rescues.
(28:42):
Amy, you mentioned ArizonaAnimal Welfare League.
SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
Can you talk a little bit about the so when we
got Flanders from there and theyhave this beautiful facility by
the airport, actually.
And they have a separate areafor cats and kittens, and then
they have the candles outsidefor the dogs in the shaded area.
They were great because wewanted a pair of dogs, and our
(29:06):
kids were younger at the time,so they were young, and they let
us bring out pair, you know whatI mean, get to know a dog, put
it back, get to know multipledogs, and then try to get to to
know two dogs together.
And at the time we didn't adopttwo dogs together because we
couldn't decide, but we diddecide on Flanders.
So we decided that we couldbring him home.
(29:28):
But the facility is nice, and itwas, I don't remember what it
was like before that.
We got our other animals fromthe Humane Society and then that
friend, but they got like a bigdonation, and that's how they
were able to build thisfacility.
And the people who work therejust really spent nice time with
(29:50):
the animals and really get toknow them.
And the one guy that was workingthe animals, he was just like,
he said goodbye to Flanders.
I'm gonna miss you, buddy.
SPEAKER_00 (30:00):
And I kind of was like, please.
That's amazing.
A shout out to the ArizonaAnimal Welfer League.
But I can say that I've had alittle experience of that when I
volunteered and worked for alittle while in the shelter.
Is people don't realize a lot oftimes they're demonized shelter
workers, but they are literallythe heroes.
(30:22):
Like they live and breed thoseanimals, they get to know them,
they bond with them, and theywant them to find homes, but it
is also hard because they'vegotten to know them.
They can tell you like this is agood fit if you're looking for
this.
And that's such an importantprocess for organization.
Like that to have.
SPEAKER_01 (30:40):
Yeah, I have to say that's what I really liked about
it because they would tell us,you know, there was another dog,
and they were like, we don'tthink even on the card, it
looked good on paper.
But then they said, you know,this dog has like XYZ behavior,
and you know, and so we had tothink about it and say, okay,
and they were great.
They were a great resource and agood source of information.
(31:02):
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (31:03):
That's great.
Well, anybody in Arizona lookingfor a pet will have to check
them out.
But I also think that's a goodthing to highlight.
You know, if you're thinkingabout adopting an animal, find
an organization you feel like isa good fit for you that you feel
like is going to give you thesupport you need.
Now, not all shelters have timeto give a lot of that extra
support.
(31:23):
Find the resources because thereare lots of organizations out
there wanting to either help youfind the right animal or help
you once you've adopted withtraining or how best to take
care of them.
And those are the that's why wewant to highlight those and
those organizations so that allthe animals, you know, find
homes and are treated the waythe they should be, as the as
(31:44):
family.
Yeah.
And of course, for you, Amy, andyour books and all of your info,
we will put those links in theshow notes so people can learn
more about you, follow you, andhopefully read your books.
Thank you.
Well, thank you for being hereand sharing some of your pet
stories with us.
I know it's not always easy,especially when we've had a more
(32:06):
recent loss, but I knowsomeone's gonna hear this and
feel comforted or feel betterabout their own experience.
So I really appreciate youcoming and being so open with
that.
SPEAKER_01 (32:17):
Yeah, no, thank you.
It was like you said before,it's nice to talk about it with
somebody.
And so, yeah, it is veryhelpful.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Story of My Pet Podcast.
I appreciate you listening andsupporting the podcast.
And if you haven't already,wherever you are listening to
this episode, make sure you hitfollow or subscribe and leave us
a rating or review.
(32:52):
All of that helps the podcastgrow and get to even more
listeners and help us educateand advocate for animals in need
around the world.
If you haven't done so already,make sure to check out our brand
new YouTube channel, Story of MyPet Podcast.
Again, hit the subscribe button.
(33:14):
Give us some likes and commentson our videos, and that will
help the podcast grow on its newhome on YouTube.
Thank you so much for beinghere, and much love to you and
your pet.
Hello, my friends and fellow animal lovers.
Welcome to a new episode of theStory of My Pet Podcast.
I am very happy to welcome myguest, Amy King.
Amy, thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks for having me.
Recently we bonded over ourshared love of our pets.
Amy, before we get into all thethings, like I always say, I
like to start off with (00:29):
have you always been an animal lover and
did you have pets growing up?
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
And yes, I've always been an animal lover.
I didn't get pets until I was 10or something like that.
We wore my mom down and finallyshe let us get fish.
Because my dad was allergic tocats, and I'm allergic to dogs,
even though I have dogs.
But I just grew up with reallybad eczema, and she was just
(00:57):
very weird about that.
You know what I mean?
So we had a tank of goldfish,and we had a tank of tropical,
and that was really veryinteresting because we got to
see our black mollies give birtha couple of times, and our
scissor fish.
It was very fascinating.
Yeah, it was really cool.
SPEAKER_00 (01:18):
You know, I was just talking to a potential guest for
this podcast, and she has a dogdaycare and does behavioral
things, and we were ventingabout what people do and don't
do with their pets.
And one of the things I said iswhat I've learned through all of
this is a lot of what myexperience has been, I think I
sometimes assume other peoplehave had it too, right?
(01:40):
So I think with animals,sometimes we realize, oh, well,
if you hadn't had a pet likethis before, you don't know how
they behave or how they shouldand all of that.
So I love that you're talkingabout these fish and that the
experience you guys got to havewas seeing births and seeing
them grow up.
So it sounds like you wore yourmom down and got to, you know,
(02:01):
experience some fun things as akid because of your fish.
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
Yeah, yeah.
It wasn't a puppy or a kitty,but still it was it was in its
own way because then it becamelike a family thing because we
would go to the fish store andwe would learn about all the
different fish, and it did turninto this giant project.
SPEAKER_00 (02:23):
Once you get one, it turns into the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
I know.
I think my mom was sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (02:30):
Yeah, then in on that.
SPEAKER_01 (02:31):
But yeah, we had tanks for quite a few years, and
and then she said no more.
So that was the end of it.
SPEAKER_00 (02:39):
So then at what point did you decide to get a
dog or to get your first pet?
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
Oh, now that's an interesting story.
So I my husband and I weredating, and he got a job down in
Arizona.
It was training, and it wassupposed to be a five-year gig.
And so our first year, we moveddown together, and our first
year we lived in an apartment.
And when we moved into ourhouse, somebody I worked with
(03:06):
kept telling me stories aboutthis dog that she had gotten
from her sister.
And this dog, she presented asBelgian Malinois, but she had
like a little bit of keda, itlooked like in her.
She was a small, 45-pound dog,terrified, terrified.
She had been to four homes bythe time she was a year old, and
(03:27):
we were the fourth.
SPEAKER_00 (03:28):
And that doesn't help with their anxiety being
moved around that much.
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
No, no.
And I think that was harder forthis dog is that the sister had
adopted it from the pound andthought that it would make a
great dog for her husband, whowas a police officer at the
time.
So he trained that dog becausehe worked canine and he worked
undercover.
He trained this dog in verystrict police ways.
(03:54):
And because she had been abused,it didn't work out so well.
I ended up with a dog becausethe dog was going to go to the
pound.
And I was like, wait a minute,don't you take the dog?
I kind of had fallen in lovewith this dog.
And for a first-time dog owner,that was just not really the dog
I should have been bringinghome.
But fortunately, my husband hadgrown up with golden retrievers.
(04:18):
So I convinced him to go look atthis dog.
Come on, please go look at thisdog.
She's gonna go back to thepound.
Sad story, tears.
We go out.
The next thing you know, we'redriving home with this dog.
And so that that's our firstdog.
And she was terrified ofeverything.
And she warmed up to us, but shewas super super afraid.
(04:38):
She left my husband, but she wassuper afraid of any other man.
And very specific kind ofthings, like if you wore tank
tops, if you had a stick, itwas, and if you were older, like
she was she wouldn't go near aperson that hit those kind of
criteria.
So that was our first dog.
And we had a pair of rescuesafter her, and then another pair
(05:01):
of rescues after them.
And one just recently passed,but we still have one of the
pair.
SPEAKER_00 (05:08):
Should the pair I love that story because I have
met so many people who haveadopted the first time and ended
up with an animal of some typeof behavior issue.
Either they put in the work andit works out, and you do
whatever you need for theanimal, or they're like, oh,
this is too much work.
I can't do it.
And that's a lot of what ends upin the shelter, right?
(05:30):
Dogs and cats that need a littleextra.
Now, I want everyone to realizeall animals need that.
No animal is going to be broughtinto a brand new environment,
new people, new animals, and belike, sure, let's have fun.
You know, like we wouldn't dothat as humans, right?
So we can't expect animals to,but I applaud you and your
husband putting in the work andallowing a dog who obviously has
(05:54):
just general anxiety aroundthings, be happy and live in a
safe and positive environmentbecause not all dogs get to have
that safe place.
SPEAKER_01 (06:05):
Yeah, she was.
Thank you.
I loved her.
She was just such a sweet,expressive dog, but she had a
lot of issues.
She was a door dasher.
So we never broke her at that.
The minute the door opened, Igot very good with the arms and
legs, the door.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
Yeah, I had a dog growing up that if the gardeners
didn't lock the gate, she wasoff on a little adventure.
SPEAKER_01 (06:29):
Yeah, and it's terrifying.
And then the last thing aboutthis dog is that because she had
been an outdoor dog before wegot her, she was an indoor dog
with us.
In Arizona, you can get valleyfever.
I don't know if you get that inCalifornia.
So it's like mold spores thatgrow in the dirt, and then it
goes into your respiratorysystem.
Well, because this dog was sodramatic, she was just a very
(06:52):
dramatic dog.
Took her into the vet forsomething else.
And then the vet asked me somequestions and what else is going
on with her.
I said, she's been limping, andI she's kind of a dramatic dog,
but she was kind of holding herpod, looking at me.
And I said, I don't know if thisis her being dramatic.
He goes, Let's just take x-raysand case and she had bowel
fever, and it had gone into her,you know, yeah, and ended up
(07:17):
having seizures because it wentinto her central nervous system.
And so she was on a lot ofmedications, and that's what
finally killed her was all themedications that she was on.
And one day she just laid downand we and didn't get back up,
and we had to take her in.
But I think you have to beprepared for that, you know what
I mean?
And what's your game plan?
(07:38):
And you know, right.
SPEAKER_00 (07:39):
Yeah, so much of what you said is important, you
know, especially if it'ssomeone's first pet or adding a
pet, like you have to thinkabout the time they need, the
space, and how to introducepets, all those things, plus the
medical side, you know, younever know what could come up.
And one of my childhood dogs,champ, he had seizures.
When it first happened, wedidn't know what was happening.
(08:02):
And so he was on medication forhis seizures for probably a
decade of his life, right?
Yeah.
And so in the end, it was themedication caused other problems
that ended up he had to be putto sleep.
But you know, you never know,and that can look different for
different animals.
But the valley fever thing isreally interesting because I
never thought about the animalscan get it.
It actually is very prevalentwhere I live in Bakersfield in
(08:25):
California.
There's actually some of thedoctors here that did some of
the early research with itbecause there's so much of it in
our soil.
I'm third generation on my mom'sside, born and raised here.
So we've been here for a while.
And so she grew up here and shehad no idea that at some point
when she was a child she hadvalley fever.
She was sick at different times,but it was never diagnosed back
(08:45):
in the 50s and 60s.
But when she was an adult livingin Santa Barbara, she had
several incidents where shecouldn't breathe and her lung
had collapsed.
And it was after the second orthird time then they did tests,
they realized she had all thesescars from valley fever, and she
actually had to have part of herlung taken out because it would
(09:07):
just keep doing that if shehadn't.
And so, you know, those arethings like that.
I never even thought that a petcould get it.
So that was just a veryinteresting you bringing that
up.
I'm like, wow, I would havenever even thought of that.
So you mentioned you recentlylost a dog, and so I don't know
how much you want to talk aboutthat, but I know that one of the
things I have found in thispodcast is talking about our
(09:30):
pets, especially the ones we'velost.
Sometimes it's, you know,healing to get to share them and
talk about them.
And it's also important forother pet parents to hear that
it's okay if you're not okay.
It's okay if you're strugglingwith an older pet or a pet
that's sick, or you've lost apet and you're not ready to get
a new one.
You know, those are importantthings for us to talk about and
(09:51):
be like, it's okay.
It's up to you what feels rightto you.
I'm sure it's a little differentfor you because you had a pair
and you still have one, but wealso have to think about the pet
that's left behind.
Sometimes it can really affectthem.
How has that whole transitionperiod of losing a pet been for
you?
SPEAKER_01 (10:08):
I think the loss of this pet was extra hard on me.
And because, you know, our firstdog was the extra medication,
and then the next two dogs, onehad had to have a splenectomy.
It's never easy over here.
So he had to have a splenectomy,and then after, because he had a
(10:32):
slow bleed in his spleen.
And I said to my husband, helooks depressed.
You look at him, he looksdepressed, he doesn't look quite
right.
And I he's like, He's a dog,he's not depressed.
And I'm like, so I took him tothe vet, and then they did some
tests, and he had this littlebleed in his spleen.
So I guess two things I thinkbeing really observant and in
(10:56):
tune with your dog can save yourdog's life, right?
Yeah.
The other thing is, like yousaid, so then the buddy, the
next one, had stomach cancer.
So it was kind of these thingsthat happened, and then we kind
of knew that they had thislimited time.
With Flanders, he had LARPAR, sohe had to have a laryngeal tie
(11:17):
back so that he could breathebecause he was starting to sound
like Darth Vader.
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
Yeah, and so but maybe the universe knows that
you guys will really take careof them, even if it's something
crazy.
Because you know, I hear all thetime animals get taken to
shelters because they can'tafford medical care and things
like that.
So somebody knows that you guyswill go the extra mile for your
dogs.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
My gosh, well, the family.
I mean, you wouldn't let afamily member suffer, but then
also at some certain point,you've got to say, this is too
much.
We weren't sure how long he wasgonna last, but you know what?
Two years that gave him twoextra, very good years, except
for a few bouts of pneumoniabecause they can aspirate.
So you have to be very carefulabout drinking and feeding.
(12:01):
And so in the earlypost-surgery, I grieved multiple
times because he'd lay on thefloor and I thought he was
going.
I'm like, this is it, he'sdying.
And because he really did looklike he was dying.
And so it was a long kind of twoyears.
I enjoyed every minute that wecould with him, but then he
started to slow down because hewas 14 by the time you know we
(12:24):
had to put him down.
The trauma of we have a vet thatwe've been going to for over 20
years.
Uh not the vet that owned thepractice had sold it to like a
corporate model, but you know,that the vet that we had there
(12:45):
had been carried for all ourpets.
So they care, you know, shecared for Buddy and Trigger and
Flanders and and then again.
And I think the hardest part iswhen I we called to say we were
having this problem and thatbecause of their business model,
they weren't going to take himin.
They just said go to theemergency room.
And that was heartbreaking forme because this dog really hated
(13:09):
the emergency room.
Because we'd been there for, youknow what I mean?
And so we kind of went therounds of trying to find a place
to, you know, take him thatwould be feel like the right
place to take him.
We ended up at another corporatemodel kind of emergency clinic
that was way better than theother ones that we had been
going to.
And it was a very lovely,peaceful passing, and they were
(13:32):
great.
But I think that I just felt solet down by our long-term vet.
And it wasn't hurt, you knowwhat I mean?
SPEAKER_00 (13:39):
Right.
You know, even when you try toget in, it's like a week out for
and that is, you know, one ofthe big issues in the US.
On top of the overpopulationcrisis and how many animals we
have with not enough homes,there aren't enough vets.
There aren't enough vets thatcan take new clients.
I've even read there aren'tenough vets in school becoming
(14:01):
vets.
Like we don't even have enoughin the pipeline.
I've had people tell me herelocally where I live that
they've called around and can'teven find a vet to take in a new
patient.
Like you said, with emergencyvets, they're so overrun.
They'll say, sure, come, butyou're gonna have to wait in the
parking lot for eight hours.
The system doesn't make it easyfor those of us who are trying
to help.
And so that kind of makes iteven more difficult for new
(14:25):
people to adopt, too, when theydon't have good resources to
support them and their pets.
SPEAKER_01 (14:31):
Yeah.
I mean, gone are the days thatyou say, Oh my gosh, you know,
my dog injured his foot andcan't walk.
And then they say, Okay, we cansqueeze them in at this time.
Can you come?
You know what I mean?
So because everything's sospaced out, they don't want
anyone together.
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
I think that's part of the difficulty, but then also
for us emotionally is the rollercoaster of not knowing, or is
this the right time?
What do they need?
They can't tell us.
And even when we're really intune and we can tell something's
wrong, we can't always figureout what it is, and that's so
hard.
And what I have learned issometimes the anticipatory work
(15:08):
grief going through the end ormedical issues is almost harder
than the loss because you'rejust you're up and down and
unknown, and you feel like,isn't it?
And you mentioned you would lookat them lying there and think,
Did he pass?
We've had that happen with oneof our cats, and I'm just like,
this isn't sense that I can'thandle keeping, but you know,
(15:29):
it's so hard.
So I can imagine, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:33):
Yeah, and that dog, he he'd lived a good life, he'd
been through a thing or two aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (15:39):
They are our family.
We make pets our family, and wewould never not do what we're
doing for them.
But um, we still go through thatpart of the grief process.
So for you with your most recentloss, how has it been having the
other dog still?
Is that a good support for you,or does that almost make it
harder in some ways?
SPEAKER_01 (15:58):
No, it's in some ways, yes, because I'll have
these moments where, you know,because they did funny things
together.
And so I would, you know what Imean, because it's kind of like
a routine, right?
And you kind of expect andyou're like, oh, but he's gone.
You know what I mean?
And so you have I have a lot ofthose moments.
But it's interesting how withboth pairs of dogs, how when the
(16:18):
first one died, the second, theremaining dog changes.
They change, they're sad for alittle while and they're looking
for their friend.
But then in my in our case, thesurvivor, I guess, for lack of a
better term, um, is more becomesmore affectionate.
They become more cuddly.
(16:39):
They were in your ride or diebefore, but they were really
like, you know what I mean?
Because I think they don't havethe competition anymore.
We're not gonna causeshenanigans now.
We're just like, here, payattention to me.
SPEAKER_00 (16:50):
You know, that is so true because things adjust, but
in some ways it's nice becauseyou get to maybe even see a
little bit different side oftheir personality, too.
SPEAKER_01 (16:59):
Yeah, and I thought that was really interesting
because I saw a side of Finneganthat I didn't really see.
Maybe I noticed a little bitwhen we first adopted him, but
he he morphed into a differentdog, and he's just he was always
sweet, but he does these reallysuper cute kind of different
things.
And he's very snuggly.
(17:20):
He wants to just get up thereand snuggle and so that's his
nice.
SPEAKER_00 (17:23):
Well, and I one thing that I've actually learned
too is that the animals alsosense when we're going through
things, right?
Yeah, they can tell when wedon't feel well or something's
off.
When I lost one of my first catsand I brought his remains home,
and I kind of sat it on the bed,and I didn't expect to have this
overwhelming emotion as I, youknow, took out and the paw
(17:47):
print, and my other cat came upand like rubbed on the box, and
then that broke me even more.
But it's like it's thatconnection we have that is why
we love them.
But it's also so interestingwhen we see the response of the
other pets.
SPEAKER_01 (18:42):
Yeah, it's interesting.
I had a job that I just reallymade me cry.
And when I had those dogs, yeah.
So, and that's where the dogactually, I that my friend that
had the dog that was that job.
And it just got to to the pointwhere there was a couple weeks
there where I cried every nightwhen I got home.
(19:03):
And so I was sitting therecrying on the like I don't even
know what made me cry.
I'm watching TV, and I juststart crying.
My husband's at work, and Dutchjust had this spot behind the
couch.
It was like this little cubbyfor her.
And I think that I must havestarted sniveling, making some
sort of noise, and she camearound.
And because I'm allergic, Idon't let the dogs lick me.
(19:24):
And I pet them and I snugglethem, but no licking.
And so she came up and it wasthe sweetest thing, and she kind
of like looked around the couchand then she moved forward, and
then she gently put a paw on myleg because I was laying like
this on the couch, and she puther nose up to my face and
(19:45):
didn't touch, but came so close,and you know, it was just like
it still gets me to this daybecause it was like she's
comforting me because I was justso miserable, and then she kind
of just curled up next to me onthe couch, and it was just like,
gosh, I can really sense things.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
I mean, oftentimes I'll say, I don't know how
people exist without a pet.
Like, how do you function?
Because I need them in thoseways.
Like, I need the I lay down towatch TV and I want to know
you're right here and I can petyou, or I had a cat that would
always take one paw and put iton my shoulder.
Like those are the little thingsthat make it all why we why we
do this, and while they'refamily, also, right?
(20:25):
They're such a part of our allof our experiences, good and
bad.
So, for you as a writer, wehaven't talked about that.
You write fiction, and can youtalk a little bit about that?
And how did you use animals inyour writing?
Do you like to add animalcharacters into your writing?
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
I do.
And so here's the funny thing: the first book, I had a donkey (20:47):
undefined
that we went out to Oatman, andOatman's a it's classified as a
village, which it has a like 27people or something live there.
It's a former mining town thathippies had moved into in the
70s.
It's kind of a touristy place,but the burrows that they
(21:08):
released that the miners used touse, they live in the hills
there.
And so they come into the town.
And so my younger son and I wentout there all excited to see
these.
And there was some sort ofincident, and so we only saw a
handful of them.
But when I came home, I had beenwriting this scene about I write
a historical western.
(21:29):
And so there's this charactercalled Riley, and he's one of
the gang members who's bad.
Nobody likes him in this gang.
But they there's a story abouthim trying to, he hates this
white burrow that keeps coming,and people feed him.
And so he's gonna ride thisburrow, and he gets bucked off.
And it's so I I told a funnystory that the other gang
(21:52):
members were telling this storyabout this this incident, and
they're layfying about it andlaughing.
And I just so that was the firstanimal that I wrote in.
And in the second book, I have atemperamental horse that the
hero rides, and he's just kindof a character in and of
himself, and then there's thisgiant wolfhound mix that adopts
(22:15):
the hero, and he's trying totell him something, but between
this dramatic dog and thistemperamental horse, that
through line that went through,and I really entertained myself
with that.
I really like this caregiver.
SPEAKER_00 (22:28):
I love that, and I have a feeling those
temperamental personalityanimals might have a little bit
of some of your dogs in them.
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
Yeah, you know, the one, and it started with the dog
that we have right now, stillFinnegan.
He doesn't like, he came to usnot liking baths, like he's
terrified of water.
And I think it's from being inthe county pickup, he was
astray, and then they get thekennels get hosed out, and he
does not like the hose, he doesnot like water, and so giving
(23:00):
him a bath is really not fun foranybody.
SPEAKER_00 (23:03):
Just you know, sometimes they're just like, no,
I don't like it.
You're not doing it.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
Yeah, he really doesn't like it.
He's gotten better, but it stillrequires two people to give him
a bath.
One person cannot do it on theirown.
And so I did write a scene whereJimmy the hero is like, You
smell dog.
You you you you can bunk withme, but you cannot, you can't do
it until you get a bath.
(23:28):
And so he takes him down to theriver to give him a bath.
And the one thing that I didtake from that dog is that he
gives me moon eyes, half mooneyes, you know, when they look
at the cube.
So that dog keeps giving Jimmythat look.
And so that's from Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:44):
I love that because one of the things I've learned
about storytelling, however, itis podcasting, writing, that,
you know, a lot of it is ustelling our story, is leaving a
part of our legacy.
So you've created thesecharacters, including animals,
that are a little piece of youand your animals and your
experience.
So I love how you can kind ofreflect back on that and think
(24:06):
of how the story you've writtenhas come from your own little
dog buddies, too.
So for you as someone who'srecently lost a dog, if
someone's listening and they aregoing through that kind of
uncertain time or they've lostone, what is maybe one little
thing you would say to themthat's helped you through your
(24:29):
griefing process?
SPEAKER_01 (24:35):
I think for me, when we had to put Duchess down, the
first dog, it was very hard forme because I just, even though
she laid down and didn't getback up, I just felt like what
if.
And I think that, like you saidbefore, when you love your
animals so much, they're such apart of your family.
You just kind of have to trustyourself and your team that you
(24:57):
made the right choice.
And I think that the what ifsyou're going to do it, but it
needs to stop.
Like you need to allow yourselfto give yourself a couple of
moments of what ifs or andhowever long that is, but then
you have to stop punishingyourself.
And you have to remember thatdogs do not live as long as
humans.
(25:17):
And they come into your life,they're a gift that comes into
your life.
And the best thing that you cando for them and for you is to
know that you did your best.
Even if you made mistakes, youdid your best and hold on to the
sweet memories that you have ofthem, or even the aggravating
ones that you can tell storiesabout because it's the web of
life.
(25:38):
And I think that I'm not sayingdon't dismiss it, but just don't
keep punishing yourself becausethat I think it's harder to
process the grief if you'repunishing yourself.
SPEAKER_00 (25:48):
And we all go through those times where we
question and and you know, oneof the things I always say try
to say to people, like evenonline when I'm coming in on a
post where someone said, Oh, Ilost them, or we had we had to
let them go.
It's like, you know, I knowyou're grieving right now, but
you just have to realize yougave them an amazing life,
whether it was a week or a yearor 10 years, right?
(26:09):
Sometimes we need a little, likeyou've been just said, we needed
just a little, it's okay.
The grief is from the love.
That's what I've learned.
Yeah.
All types of grief.
So we have to feel lucky inhaving it, but we also have to
realize that whatever time wehad with them, like we got to
give them everything in thatmoment.
And it doesn't always make usfeel better, but we can hold on
(26:30):
to the knowledge that we gavethem this great life.
And in turn, they gave us allthese amazing memories.
SPEAKER_01 (26:38):
Yeah.
And if you think about it, youknow, we always joke about, you
know, dogs forget, right?
In a nanosecond, they forgetthat you know what I mean.
You've left and you've comeback, and it's just like, oh my
God, you've been gone for days,right?
Then the opposite must be truebecause the sort of good times
that you had, even if you had aweek, a week could feel like
years to a dog.
(26:58):
Right.
And and that is a gift too, youknow.
And I I think we forget how muchwe I do.
I forget how much I have tooffer.
I think that we see it in otherpeople.
Like I would have no problemtelling, look, you're offering
so much and you're doing allthese great things, but I don't
give myself that grace.
And I think that we, if there'sany time that you could give
(27:21):
yourself that kind of grace, iswhen you lose a pet and you're
in the deep and you did a greatthing by giving this animal
love, you know, and food andshelter and care.
SPEAKER_00 (27:35):
Yeah, you know, it's something I had to learn.
The first kitten I fosteredpassed away, and it was awful,
it was horrible.
I didn't ever expect that tohappen.
And once I kind of got over theshock of it, it was, you know,
my husband say we could bury himhere, and then he's here.
And even though we only had himfive days, we were still his
family, and he gets to stayhere.
And it was hard, and I would notwish that on anyone, but it was
(28:00):
also good for me to realize, youknow, we have a cat that's 16.
We've had him for a long time.
Even the vet is shocked at howlong he's sustained by getting
insulin, right?
So it's good for me to hear thatto realize not only did we go
the extra mile and continue to,like, it's worth it.
He gets to sleep all day on thebed.
Who cares?
That's what we can give him.
(28:20):
And so I really appreciate yousaying that.
And I hope that it helps someonelistening to this episode
because sometimes we just needthe little reminder that don't
be so hard on yourself.
You did a good thing, no matterhow long you got to have them
with you.
And speaking of that, if you'relooking for a new pet, we want
to highlight one of your localanimal rescues.
(28:42):
Amy, you mentioned ArizonaAnimal Welfare League.
SPEAKER_01 (28:45):
Can you talk a little bit about the so when we
got Flanders from there and theyhave this beautiful facility by
the airport, actually.
And they have a separate areafor cats and kittens, and then
they have the candles outsidefor the dogs in the shaded area.
They were great because wewanted a pair of dogs, and our
(29:06):
kids were younger at the time,so they were young, and they let
us bring out pair, you know whatI mean, get to know a dog, put
it back, get to know multipledogs, and then try to get to to
know two dogs together.
And at the time we didn't adopttwo dogs together because we
couldn't decide, but we diddecide on Flanders.
So we decided that we couldbring him home.
(29:28):
But the facility is nice, and itwas, I don't remember what it
was like before that.
We got our other animals fromthe Humane Society and then that
friend, but they got like a bigdonation, and that's how they
were able to build thisfacility.
And the people who work therejust really spent nice time with
(29:50):
the animals and really get toknow them.
And the one guy that was workingthe animals, he was just like,
he said goodbye to Flanders.
I'm gonna miss you, buddy.
SPEAKER_00 (30:00):
And I kind of was like, please.
That's amazing.
A shout out to the ArizonaAnimal Welfer League.
But I can say that I've had alittle experience of that when I
volunteered and worked for alittle while in the shelter.
Is people don't realize a lot oftimes they're demonized shelter
workers, but they are literallythe heroes.
(30:22):
Like they live and breed thoseanimals, they get to know them,
they bond with them, and theywant them to find homes, but it
is also hard because they'vegotten to know them.
They can tell you like this is agood fit if you're looking for
this.
And that's such an importantprocess for organization.
Like that to have.
SPEAKER_01 (30:40):
Yeah, I have to say that's what I really liked about
it because they would tell us,you know, there was another dog,
and they were like, we don'tthink even on the card, it
looked good on paper.
But then they said, you know,this dog has like XYZ behavior,
and you know, and so we had tothink about it and say, okay,
and they were great.
They were a great resource and agood source of information.
(31:02):
So yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (31:03):
That's great.
Well, anybody in Arizona lookingfor a pet will have to check
them out.
But I also think that's a goodthing to highlight.
You know, if you're thinkingabout adopting an animal, find
an organization you feel like isa good fit for you that you feel
like is going to give you thesupport you need.
Now, not all shelters have timeto give a lot of that extra
support.
(31:23):
Find the resources because thereare lots of organizations out
there wanting to either help youfind the right animal or help
you once you've adopted withtraining or how best to take
care of them.
And those are the that's why wewant to highlight those and
those organizations so that allthe animals, you know, find
homes and are treated the waythe they should be, as the as
(31:44):
family.
Yeah.
And of course, for you, Amy, andyour books and all of your info,
we will put those links in theshow notes so people can learn
more about you, follow you, andhopefully read your books.
Thank you.
Well, thank you for being hereand sharing some of your pet
stories with us.
I know it's not always easy,especially when we've had a more
(32:06):
recent loss, but I knowsomeone's gonna hear this and
feel comforted or feel betterabout their own experience.
So I really appreciate youcoming and being so open with
that.
SPEAKER_01 (32:17):
Yeah, no, thank you.
It was like you said before,it's nice to talk about it with
somebody.
And so, yeah, it is veryhelpful.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
Thank you so much for listening to this episode of
the Story of My Pet Podcast.
I appreciate you listening andsupporting the podcast.
And if you haven't already,wherever you are listening to
this episode, make sure you hitfollow or subscribe and leave us
a rating or review.
(32:52):
All of that helps the podcastgrow and get to even more
listeners and help us educateand advocate for animals in need
around the world.
If you haven't done so already,make sure to check out our brand
new YouTube channel, Story of MyPet Podcast.
Again, hit the subscribe button.
(33:14):
Give us some likes and commentson our videos, and that will
help the podcast grow on its newhome on YouTube.
Thank you so much for beinghere, and much love to you and
your pet.
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