Animal Posse Training a Way Out of the Crisis - Animal Posse

Episode 33

Training a Way Out of the Crisis

Published on: 12th September, 2025

In part two of her powerful conversation with Dixie, Ashley Gardenier, founder of Southern Paws Inc., continues her deep dive into the South's animal welfare crisis. She highlights a crucial, often overlooked solution: dog training.

Ashley explains how training isn't just about teaching a dog to "sit" or "stay"; it's a vital tool for preventing dogs from being surrendered to already overcrowded shelters. By addressing behavioral issues—like separation anxiety, leash reactivity, or house-soiling—training helps keep dogs in their homes and out of the shelter system. These common behavioral challenges are often the main reason families feel they have no choice but to give up their pets, particularly in times of economic hardship.

Ashley shares how Southern Paws Inc. is tackling this head-on with its new training center. This initiative is designed to equip pet owners with the skills and knowledge they need to build stronger bonds with their dogs and navigate common challenges. By offering accessible training resources, Southern Paws Inc. isn't just saving one dog at a time; it's empowering entire communities to keep pets where they belong—at home, as part of the family.

#animalrescue #animalwelfare #dogrescue #dogtraining

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Transcript
Dixie:

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Last week's episode featured Ashley

Gardinier with Southern Paws Inc.

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And we talked a lot about the animal

welfare crisis, so if you didn't

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listen to last week's episode.

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Make sure you go back and check it out.

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But today we're back to talk about

the other things that Ashley does,

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and one of 'em is dog training.

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Ashley Let's get into how dog training

can help to keep dogs in homes, First off,

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where did you learn to do dog training?

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Ashley: Oh so honestly I learned

to dog train when I got Goose.

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, I have a dog named Goose

like Goose and Maverick.

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And he is my soulmate.

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I love this dog.

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He is my soul dog.

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He is my best friend.

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And many years ago, like going back,

15 some odd years ago before our animal

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rescue was even a thought in my mind.

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I had a dog who I had gotten and

some rescue, just gave me a puppy

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and they didn't educate me at all.

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They didn't tell me I was

supposed to socialize her.

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They didn't still tell me I was supposed

to train her or do anything with her.

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They just said here's a puppy.

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So I got her and I didn't know

I was supposed to do all these

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things because nobody told me.

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And when she was seven years old,

she jumped up and she bit a little

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girl in the face and she ripped

off half of this child's face and.

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After it happened which was devastating.,

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I was young, I was like in my very early

twenties, and I had to , sit down and

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make this decision on what do I do?

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Because she had already

bitten a couple people.

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This was obviously the worst bite

and really, at that point had calmed

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down to it's gonna happen again.

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And I had tried everything.

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I had dog whisperers, I had tried

training, I had tried ecollar work.

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So through Kylie I went through the gamut

with dog training from the beginning.

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And after this bite

happened, it was really bad.

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There's still a woman that

walks around with scars on

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her face today because of me.

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Okay.

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Not because of my dog, not because she

was like hardwired, because of me, right?

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Just because I didn't know any better and.

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When I ended up euthanizing her.

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It was still to this day, like one

of the hardest things I've ever done.

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It's probably one of the worst moments

of my whole life, honestly, looking back.

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And when I decided, like right around

the time I actually got exposed to animal

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rescue , goose was actually on that

first transport back from Louisiana.

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So I had seen this little chocolate

lab puppy it's chocolate lab Catula.

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And I just thought they were so cool.

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Johnna had them in her barn and

his brother was just gorgeous.

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And I was like, oh, so

Goose, I ended up fostering.

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I was really concerned if Maverick

got adopted before Goose did.

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'cause Goose was like this

really sensitive sweet dog.

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And ironically Christmas Eve, maverick

gets adopted now, I end up with Goose and

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everybody was like, you're not gonna keep

this dog, you're not gonna keep this dog.

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I go into Petco and somebody

goes oh my God, I love him.

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I want him.

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And I was like no, nope.

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Sorry.

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Nope.

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He is mine.

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And she was like, oh, I

thought you were fostering.

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I was like, no, he's mine.

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And I like took him out.

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The next day I walked into the

local training center and I said to

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them, this is what I went through.

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How do I, what do I have to do to

make sure this never happens again?

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Because I can't go through

this again with this dog.

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And if we're gonna do it, we're

gonna do it right this time.

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And , the local training center by

me Stacy, who's actually one of my

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mentors I trained with her for 10 years.

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I brought all of our

behavioral dogs there.

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I brought Goose there.

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Not only that, but I got Goose

and Lexi, my other dog, both of

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them are certified therapy dogs.

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I didn't just go through the like

bright and beautiful program like.

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I went through a two year

extensive training with them.

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So that literally if my dog was on the

other, like a mile away from me and I

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saw him like move a certain way, I was

like, I knew exactly what he was thinking.

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I knew exactly where his head was at.

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It was just this bizarre

connection, right?

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And I really learned how to read dogs

and I actually have a master's degree in,

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in human psychology in forensic psych.

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That's a whole nother story in itself.

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But it was interesting the more training

I did, the more I was able to understand

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dog psychology in a very humanized way.

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So.

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I say all the time, one of my best

talents, I'm not necessarily good at

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demonstrating what to do with your dog,

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i'm great at it 'cause

Goose is great at it.

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That's the only reason.

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But it's funny because I say all the time

my, like the best part of me training

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and the thing I'm really good at is

taking a situation and putting it in

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human terms so that you can understand

what your dog's doing, why they're doing

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it, why it's not okay and how to fix it.

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And letting you have that like

light bulb moment of oh my

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God, I didn't think about that.

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So I always had this psychology.

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And then with the rescue

crisis, I said like, all right,

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listen, adoptions are dead.

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We just had this opportunity

like fall in our lap.

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I'm tired of being a part of,

just like getting dogs out.

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I wanna start working on solutions

that are gonna keep dogs out of the

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shelter and out of the, the thing.

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So if we can provide a program

that's maybe a little bit lower

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cost than like our local programs,

and then the money, it's a win-win.

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The money is a donation, the

money goes back into the rescue.

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So we're able to actually use the

training center to help provide

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financing for the rescue that we're,

that we lost in our adoption fees.

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And on top of that, the real win

is we get to work with people to

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keep their dogs in their home.

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So once the upstairs kind of came

available, I said, oh, I guess

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I better go get a certification

listen, you don't have to have a

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certification to be a dog trainer.

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I personally think everybody should just

so that you learn the fundamental basics.

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But I had also worked with every single

behavioral problem in our rescue.

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I had worked with dogs, during disaster

relief in flooded houses that I now

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needed to carry, that didn't know me

and were terrified, I had to work with

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feral dogs to be able to get them to

trust me enough to come near enough to

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me where we could get them help, there

were all these just different things

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that I had learned along the way.

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And I said, you know what?

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I said, I bet we could

turn this into something.

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So I went back actually to my trainers.

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I have a trainer, Stacy, that

I just adore, and then she's

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just incredible and amazing.

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And then I have another trainer,

Anne, who is also just like

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absolutely phenomenal, amazing.

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None of them sugarcoat things like,

I don't do well with these like fru

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trainers, I like the down and dirty.

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What were you thinking when you did that?

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Like, why would you think that's okay?

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That kind of stuff.

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And, I had built these relationships

with them over years and years between

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my own dogs and dogs in the rescue

and dogs with behavioral problems and,

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asking advice and all these things.

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And now I put it all together.

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I got the certification through

animal Behavioral College.

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It was an online course.

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It took me about a year to

probably get through it.

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And like I said, it was cool 'cause

I got to learn the fundamentals

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of it was really cool to learn

how dogs were like domesticated.

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I knew the commands, like the sit

and the down and the, whatever, but

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I didn't necessarily understand the

psychology behind them which was

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really cool as well as all of the.

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The methodology, right?

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And the psychology behind the methodology.

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That was another element

that I found really helpful.

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I had all these things surfacely,

but didn't really understand

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the education behind 'em.

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And I had to do like an externship which

I did over at and at Good Dog training.

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And yeah, I just had these really

amazing women that I really respect.

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So I just pulled me under their

arms and were like, okay, we're

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gonna, we're gonna teach you.

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And I started teaching.

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I'm still not super confident.

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I really don't do behavioral modification.

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I try those are like your bigger

behaviors, your aggression, your

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reactivity, your severe anxiety disorders.

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The dogs that I actually love to work

with the most are very fearful dogs.

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Those are the ones that I

really love to work with.

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The, fear, almost like

fear reactive a little bit.

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Like I love that I do a lot of

what I call exposure work that

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is not what it's actually called.

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It's called desensitization

and generalization, but like

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to humans, they're like, I

don't know what that means.

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Those are big words.

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So, I dumb it down.

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It's exposing them to just like very mild,

like uncomfortable stimulus ultimately,

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and pairing it with really yummy treats.

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Like we make it rain hot dogs.

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But yeah, so that's how it started

and , I think the hardest part

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is getting people to train.

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But it's been really helpful too to

be able to also offer up myself as

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a resource for my adopters, right?

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Like I tell my adopters all the time,

if you, they all have my personal

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cell phone number, I've had the same

cell phone number since I was like 12.

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The amount of people that have

this cell phone number are just,

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is in incomprehensible, but they

can call me anytime day or night.

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And usually I'm like, okay, listen,

if it's a real in-depth thing,

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like I'm gonna have to send you

somewhere, but they can call me.

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It doesn't matter if you adopted for

me yesterday or 10 years ago, you can

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call me with any behavioral problem.

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I'll give you some pointers.

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I'll give you, I'll tell you

direction on where you should go.

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I had an doctor call me the

other day from eight years ago.

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Their dog is having some neuro issues

and they were like, what do we do?

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And I was like, okay, this is what you do.

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This is where you go, this is the doctor.

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So I, I think that's more important

than anything and it's given me the

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opportunity to be able to provide

more of that from a more educated

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standpoint, if that makes sense.

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Dixie: Yes, it does.

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Would you recommend other dog rescues

to have a person maybe go through the

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same course that you did so they know

that basic psychology of dog behavior?

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Ashley: Yeah.

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The more education you have, the better,

like the more education you have.

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And listen, a lot of this

comes from experience, right?

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Like I had an issue today with one

of one of our teammates where like

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she just didn't know the right

questions to ask because she's just

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not as experienced yet as I am.

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She's still a little bit green.

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And we had an issue with it

because we almost pulled a dog

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that has like severe neurological

issues by accident which was fine.

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Like it would've been fine.

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We're still looking at pulling the dog.

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We just needed way more

information than we had.

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It's like one of those situations where

like the more information and the more

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you can educate yourself, the better.

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And it's not, you don't have to

spend, $3,000 and go get a piece of

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paper, find a local training center.

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I have never met a trainer who I was

like, Hey, I wanna sit down on your class.

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And they were like, no,

like that's never happened.

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Everybody should have a trainer in their

pocket, like a real trainer, right?

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Somebody that's good.

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Somebody that's been doing

this for a long time.

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Somebody that's like really has

a background, in dog training.

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Not like somebody that's oh, I just

got a certification like yesterday.

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It's like me, like I just

got my certification.

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Have I worked on a lot of things?

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Yes.

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Am I really confident?

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Working with like behavioral

modifications, stuff like that.

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Absolutely not.

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So I'll defer those

clients somewhere else.

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Now, I also tell every single one of my

clients that they need to do at least a

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minimum of a year of dog classes anywhere.

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It doesn't have to be with

me, it could be anywhere.

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And if they're not local somebody

just asked me they're like 20

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minutes away from us and they were

like, well, is there anybody here?

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And I was like, yes.

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This is who I recommend.

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Go there.

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So it's not so much, even if you

don't know the psychology or you

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don't wanna learn the psychology,

sorry, or you don't wanna learn.

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Like even if you don't know the

psychology or you're not interested

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in learning the psychology, at the

end of the day, have somebody at

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least in your pocket that does.

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Somebody that's really good that you're

close with or that you can consult with.

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Because if it wasn't for

that half of the issues.

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That we've had would

never have been fixed.

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And then it's just the dog that suffers.

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Like you develop all these behavioral

problems just simply because you

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really didn't know any better.

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Like you dealt with a problem and you

were like, oh, I think I can fix this.

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And like you tried to do what you thought

was best, which was like all the wrong

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things, so even if you don't do it

yourself, like just have somebody there

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that you can use as a sounding board and

say Hey, this is going on with this dog.

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What do you suggest I do?

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Dixie: Let's get onto some

of those behavioral issues.

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You said that a lot of people were

complaining about behavioral issues in

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these COVID puppies or pandemic puppies.

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Yeah.

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What are some of those specific

behavioral issues that you're seeing?

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And then how do you address those issues?

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Ashley: I had so many things.

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So this is one of my favorite

examples to use dog on dog reactivity.

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Okay.

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. And dog reactivity can come from all

kinds of different things, right?

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And what that mean, what dog reactivity

is like your walking down on the

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street and your dog sees a dog and

they just lose their ever loving mind.

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Okay?

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This is something we see a lot, right?

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And a lot of it is because during

COVID, dogs didn't see other dogs.

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Dogs are a lot like humans.

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They're a lot like child,

like children when it comes to

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psychological and social development.

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So during COVID, we were not allowed

to leave our houses, correct?

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Correct.

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So we were home all the time, which

means our dogs were home all the time.

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They didn't meet people, they

didn't go out in the world, they

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didn't interact with other dogs.

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They lived at home.

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We lived at home.

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And then when the world opened

back up again, now we are

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trying to take our dogs places.

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We're trying to do things with them,

we're trying to get 'em off the property,

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and the dogs are either terrified or

like they don't know how to act, right?

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So a great example of

this is dog reactiveness.

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So, I did dog walking for a year

and there was this dog Yeti,

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and I use her all the time.

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She's my claim to fame this dog.

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Because she was so reactive and

it was anything she saw, like

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it didn't have to be a dog.

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If she saw a squirrel, she was a lunatic.

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If she saw a deer, oh, forget it.

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Like she would throw herself on the floor.

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She would scream like a lunatic.

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She was this like 40 pound

white like Aussie husky mix.

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And she had taken her mom

down like multiple times.

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She actually really hurt Elise's elbow.

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At one point and she, when I

started walking her, I was like,

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oh no we're not doing this.

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I was like, we are absolutely

not gonna be doing this.

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We're not pulling.

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So within two weeks I said to, she had

taken me down like once, and I said

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to Elise, I was like, absolutely not.

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We're not doing this.

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I'm getting a gentle leader for your dog.

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And Elise was very against it.

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She didn't wanna do it.

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And I said, listen,

let me at least try it.

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If you really feel like it's awful, like

we've used this, I've used this before

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on dogs, that I've trained, especially

dogs in the rescue that are like large

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breed and really gonna take you out.

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'cause they just are big puppies.

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There's a great it's mildly invasive.

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Like it's not a big deal.

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And what I did was I was a

Pez dispenser for treats.

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And I would do a lot of, in the

beginning, turning around and walking

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in the other direction, right?

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So we'd see something at a distance.

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We really, as a society, I'm

sure you know this, we need

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to get out of our cell phones.

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We need to start paying attention to

our surroundings and things like that.

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A big mistake that I see made a lot

is we're in our phones, or, so we're

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not necessarily looking at what's

happening around us that's going

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to potentially trigger our animals.

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So in Yeti's case, it's a lot of looking

around, looking for deer, looking

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for dogs, looking for people that are

walking, looking for, whatever it is.

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So that I could use that

as a learning moment.

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And I'm not gonna put her in a situation

that I know she's gonna fail in, which is

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like walking towards a dog or, walking in

their space and getting closer to them.

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I'm gonna literally watch

her, she's gonna get alert.

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She's gonna, get stiff and she's gonna

stare and before it gets close or I

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get close, I'm gonna turn around, I'm

gonna shove a cookie in her mouth and

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I'm gonna walk in the other direction.

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And we would take a

different path that day.

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And we would just do

that over and over again.

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And eventually over time we were

able to get closer and closer.

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This is actually what I call,

this is the exposure work

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that I was mentioning before.

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Eventually you get closer and closer and

you're desensitizing the dog to being in

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the presence of whatever that stimulus is.

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You're counter conditioning her.

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So that to the point where she would see

somebody else and she would literally look

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at me like, where's my cookie lady like?

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And it got to the point after,

and it took me eight months.

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Eight months, and on in the eighth month.

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There was a lady that walked by with a

dachshund that was losing its ever loving

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mind, and she sat right next to me.

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The dog walked probably

between six feet away from her.

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She looked right at me and was

like, lady, where's my cookie?

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And I'll never forget, the lady said

to me, how'd you get her to do that?

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And I was like, oh, it's been

eight months, but it works.

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And she was like, I was like, she's

could you teach mine to do that?

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And I was like, ironically, yes I could.

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I'll tell you what, the

lady never called me.

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So it's things like

that, that are so simple.

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And the reason that these resources

and being a resource and being,

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having the training certification

and understanding the psychology

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there's a basis to these behaviors.

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And this is actually in the

conversation I have with every

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single one of my adopters, okay?

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Because I tell all of them,

like I mentioned before,

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everybody's gotta go to training.

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So.

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It's not, I'm not telling you, you need

to train because I think you're stupid and

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you can't teach your dogs to sit and stay.

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I'm teaching you to train

because you're not a dog expert.

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:

You don't know dog psychology.

362

:

I still don't like, there's still, I call

myself number one dog mom, and I say all

363

:

the time, there are literally like times

where I don't know things like, and my

364

:

trainer's like, why are you doing that?

365

:

I'm like I don't know.

366

:

I take my own dogs to other people's

classes because every time I

367

:

go I still learn something new.

368

:

I co-teach with Stacey in the morning

on Saturdays, just so I can learn

369

:

from her, and Stacey will test me.

370

:

She'll let me, stick my foot

in my mouth and then say, okay,

371

:

you're wrong and this is why.

372

:

And I'm okay with that

because I'm learning.

373

:

So what happens with dogs, like

leading up to that behavior, right?

374

:

That behavior was built.

375

:

It was, the dog wasn't born like that.

376

:

The dog, that behavior was built.

377

:

She was got during COVID, I.

378

:

She wasn't around other dogs.

379

:

She wasn't around a lot of people, okay?

380

:

And so when she was seeing these other

dogs, people, animals, whatever, she

381

:

was getting so amped and nobody ever

taught her how to handle herself.

382

:

Okay?

383

:

Imagine you have a child, right?

384

:

And that child has never been around

people and you stick it in, middle

385

:

school with 400 kids in his class.

386

:

How do you expect that child to acclimate?

387

:

They're either going to be running

amuck and psychotic, or they're gonna be

388

:

terrified and hiding under their desk.

389

:

They're not gonna know the social skills.

390

:

They're not gonna know how the

interactions, they're not gonna know the

391

:

appropriate way to interact with humans.

392

:

So why would we think that our

dogs would, and that's where the

393

:

reactivity come from, comes from.

394

:

So those are the kind of

behaviors that we see a lot of.

395

:

We're seeing that we're seeing

I'm seeing, we're seeing a lot

396

:

of we call it stranger danger.

397

:

Okay?

398

:

And it stems from

literally the same thing.

399

:

They're not used to people

coming into their space.

400

:

And I'm not gonna lie,

people are stupid, okay?

401

:

We do stupid things when we, when it comes

to dogs, because everything, every five of

402

:

our being is oh my god, dog, I love you.

403

:

And that's not a dog's

love language, right?

404

:

The love language of dogs is

smell my butt, like body language.

405

:

This don't come at my face.

406

:

And we've just done all the things wrong.

407

:

They're not used to that.

408

:

They don't know how to react.

409

:

So maybe they're getting afraid

and they're going to fear

410

:

react, which is they're going to

overcompensate and they're gonna

411

:

bark at you and tell you to back off.

412

:

'cause that's their language, right?

413

:

Things like that.

414

:

It's a lot of things.

415

:

We also never, none of these people

trained during COVID because none

416

:

of the training centers were open.

417

:

So you also have all of these

unruly dogs that are now just like

418

:

large dogs that don't have matters.

419

:

They don't have structure, they weren't

told, they were never given any rules.

420

:

And just like children, it's

the same concept, right?

421

:

You ultimately have what I had with my

first dog, there was no rules, there was

422

:

no consequences, there was no structure.

423

:

If you do that with a child, you're

going to have a monster who's

424

:

climbing your curtains, right?

425

:

And getting into trouble.

426

:

So why would we expect our dogs to, in

the same scenario, to be well-behaved

427

:

and not have behavioral problems

or not be emotionally balanced?

428

:

So that's really what we're seeing.

429

:

And the bigger issue we're

running into is a, we as a

430

:

rescue, we are really overwhelmed.

431

:

So we, we don't have anywhere to put

a dog that's got behavioral issues.

432

:

And on top of that, we

don't have the finances.

433

:

Like I used to be like, oh,

your dog's a little afraid.

434

:

No problem.

435

:

I can work with that.

436

:

We have a great foster and we would

throw them in training three days a week.

437

:

I can't afford, a thousand dollars a week

for a dog that's got behavioral problems

438

:

because you didn't do right by your dog.

439

:

You didn't train your dog appropriately.

440

:

And now your dog has behavioral problems

and now I'm supposed to try and fix

441

:

it and spend all this money to do

it because you either don't have the

442

:

money or don't care or don't want to.

443

:

Dixie: What do you do in the situation

if somebody does call you and they tell

444

:

you, I've got this dog to surrender

'cause this dog has behavioral problems?

445

:

Well, I'm sure of course you're

gonna recommend training.

446

:

But how do the people react to that?

447

:

Being that, you said this dog that

you had the one that took eight

448

:

months to train, it's eight months.

449

:

So are people open to even wanting to wait

the eight months to see if their dog Nope.

450

:

Will start reacting differently?

451

:

Ashley: Nope.

452

:

Nope.

453

:

Not at all.

454

:

I will tell you, I would

say 95% of them do.

455

:

But I educate them

about the rescue crisis.

456

:

And I tell them, listen, your best

bet is this, working with your

457

:

dog, training your dog, socializing

your dog, getting a trainer.

458

:

I would get a trainer in there

immediately working on it with

459

:

them, trying to get them fixed.

460

:

I will, if they're local.

461

:

There's some people who have been

like, I can't afford it, and I've

462

:

been like, bring me your dog.

463

:

We'll work together.

464

:

Like I have a little bit

of time on Tuesday nights.

465

:

I got you.

466

:

Let's see if we can at

least fix this portion.

467

:

And sometimes I get lucky, and

sometimes they're like, yes, I got this.

468

:

But you know that 95% of the

time they just call another

469

:

rescue, and if it's really bad,

what am I supposed to tell them?

470

:

And that's why I don't call

people back anymore because

471

:

what am I supposed to tell them?

472

:

I'm the rescuer.

473

:

I'm supposed to be the

one that's there to help.

474

:

I'm supposed to be the one

that has all the answers.

475

:

And it goes back to what you were saying

before is we are supposed to be here for

476

:

dire circumstances, and we're not like

people treat us like crap because we can't

477

:

help you because you have a responsibility

to this animal that you committed to.

478

:

That has done nothing be loyal to you or

be the way you trained them or raised them

479

:

to be, and now you just are dumping them

because you don't feel like putting the

480

:

time, the energy, or the money into 'em.

481

:

That's really the heart of it.

482

:

And people could argue with me all day

about it, but really at the end of the

483

:

day, if you I am a big believer in you

want, you will, you won't, you don't, if

484

:

you wanna fix it, you are gonna fix it.

485

:

If you don't wanna fix it,

you are not gonna fix it.

486

:

So we have to look at that as a population

and say Hey, what am I supposed to say?

487

:

Some cases where a dog's had multiple

bites and there's like stitches

488

:

involved and things like that.

489

:

I don't recommend they go to

a shelter because I also don't

490

:

think it's fair to the dog.

491

:

Dixie: Yeah.

492

:

And I was gonna say too, like when you

say you're not calling them back, you

493

:

don't have the room, you don't have the

resources to take care of 'em, and I

494

:

understand that, but let's suppose the

next rescue that they call takes 'em.

495

:

What does that rescue, do?

496

:

What does that rescue left working with?

497

:

Ashley: Yeah.

498

:

I don't know.

499

:

And you know what?

500

:

There are times like we

actually got wrecked.

501

:

Like we got blown up on social media.

502

:

Like all hell broke loose because.

503

:

There was a dog that

was brought one of ours.

504

:

And I work very hard to

get all of our dogs back.

505

:

Like right now I have two dogs

that I'm trying desperately

506

:

to get back into rescue.

507

:

They're 10 years old.

508

:

The guy has got medical issues.

509

:

Luckily the dog walker has been really

helpful and she's been working with me

510

:

because I don't have anyone who put these

dogs, one of which has behavioral issues.

511

:

The other one's great, but like they're

two bonded, 10-year-old pit bulls.

512

:

So we've been trying, but like we can't.

513

:

So I've told them like, reach out

to other rescues and if you can find

514

:

a rescue that's got the resources

right now, let them go there if you

515

:

asked me that three years ago, I

would've been like, absolutely not.

516

:

Nobody is allowed to touch my dogs.

517

:

Those are mine.

518

:

Like they come back to

me, no questions asked.

519

:

That is my responsibility.

520

:

That is my dog.

521

:

The problem we're running into

now is we don't have the resources

522

:

anymore that we used to have.

523

:

One of the things I do is now I educate

people about that when they adopt with me.

524

:

Everybody gets a spiel about this,

about the animal welfare crisis

525

:

and how nobody has resources.

526

:

And I pretty much tell them

like, nobody's got help.

527

:

Nobody can help you now.

528

:

This is gonna be on you, so

really think this through before

529

:

you leave here with this dog.

530

:

But like we got wrecked years ago

because I had a dog that came in.

531

:

It was at a local shelter.

532

:

The dog had pretty rough

behavioral problems.

533

:

The dog had attacked a child.

534

:

There was like quite a bunch

of things that I had heard.

535

:

So the dog ended up there.

536

:

They had contacted us to take the dog

back and I said, I'm really nervous

537

:

about taking this dog in because the

dog had gone after a child twice.

538

:

And I said, okay.

539

:

They were like, well, just put it in a

home where it doesn't, but I didn't have,

540

:

at the time, it didn't have a placement.

541

:

So they dumped the dog at the

local shelter and the shelter

542

:

calls me and they're like, Hey.

543

:

Will you take this dog back?

544

:

And I was like, listen, would

you guys, I don't have anywhere

545

:

to put this dog right now.

546

:

Would you guys be willing, I know

that you guys do behavioral analysis,

547

:

like evaluations on your dogs.

548

:

Would you guys be willing to do

a behavioral eval on this dog

549

:

and let me know what you find?

550

:

And they said, okay.

551

:

So they did the behavioral

evaluation, which did not go well.

552

:

Okay?

553

:

Not at all.

554

:

Like dog bit.

555

:

The hand twice, didn't go well.

556

:

Then they did another evaluation two

days later and the dog failed again.

557

:

Okay.

558

:

So they call me back and they're

like, while I'm on the phone

559

:

with them, I'm like, okay.

560

:

I'm like, Jesus.

561

:

I'm like, where are we gonna put this dog?

562

:

And I'm like, all right,

let me make some calls.

563

:

Let me see.

564

:

And the girl says to me, we do have other

organizations that like to work with this

565

:

type of dog that do have the resources.

566

:

Would you want me to reach

out and network them?

567

:

And I said, yeah, absolutely.

568

:

I said, if you have another organization

that has better resources than I do right

569

:

now to be able to help this dog please.

570

:

Because at the end of the day, it's

not about my ego, it's not about

571

:

the money, it's not about whatever.

572

:

It's about the dog.

573

:

So if we can find somebody

to help the dog, great.

574

:

Let's do it.

575

:

Like in the meantime, I'm gonna

keep looking for a placement.

576

:

You guys let me know if you find anything.

577

:

I was looking for a placement.

578

:

Looking for a placement.

579

:

Never found one Called

back, talked to 'em again.

580

:

They said, listen, we have a rescue

that's willing to take the dog.

581

:

I said, okay, well listen, if it

doesn't work out, if God forbid this

582

:

dog is gonna be euthanized, let me

know and I will come and get it.

583

:

I promise you just call

me and let me know.

584

:

They were like, okay, dog goes to rescue.

585

:

We get blown up all over social media

that like, what a bunch of trash we are

586

:

because we dumped our dog at a shelter

to die and we would rather the dog

587

:

be euthanized than come and help it.

588

:

When I, we were getting like hate mail.

589

:

I got phone calls about this and

every time I told them like, we

590

:

still have a review on the Southern

Pause page about this situation.

591

:

And literally my answer was, in

that moment, we did not have the

592

:

resources to care for this dog.

593

:

The dog would've been put down

if it was, if it came to us.

594

:

So we found there, they found a

rescue where this was supposed to

595

:

be a partnership where like they

were providing a, helping us to

596

:

provide a solution to a problem and.

597

:

The dog ended up going there.

598

:

They placed this dog with children, okay?

599

:

They sent me pictures of this dog

in a home with young children,

600

:

with all kinds of other things.

601

:

I never would've put

that dog there, never.

602

:

But whatever they did worked okay.

603

:

And they sent me, so every couple of

years I get our social media gets blown

604

:

up again with pictures of this dog

living its best life with children and

605

:

whatever else is in the home with the dog.

606

:

And they send it to us to shame us

every time this organization to tell us

607

:

all about well we, you know this dog.

608

:

Look, it's with children.

609

:

And look, we placed it with

this and you left it to die.

610

:

And like all these different things.

611

:

And every time I say, oh my God, I'm

so happy that this dog is alive, he's

612

:

thriving, and we made the right decision.

613

:

Sad.

614

:

'cause at the end of the day, it's

not about me or them or anybody else,

615

:

or it's about the fact that the dog

is alive, the dog is thriving, and

616

:

the dog is living its best life.

617

:

Dixie: Yeah.

618

:

And that's terrible though, that you had

to go through that with the bad reviews

619

:

Ashley: Oh, we go through it all the time.

620

:

All the time.

621

:

Especially now, anytime one of our dogs

comes up and we don't have somewhere for

622

:

it to go, we get some rescue or social

media warrior or whatever calling us and

623

:

telling us how awful we are because we

can't take our dogs back because right

624

:

now we just don't have the resources.

625

:

Dixie: It's wild, even if another

rescue steps in, why would you

626

:

drag somebody else's name into it?

627

:

If the dog is safe.

628

:

Ashley: Oh yeah.

629

:

Oh yeah.

630

:

I know the best.

631

:

One of the biggest criticizers that

came out during that whole thing.

632

:

She had a whole bunch of stuff to say.

633

:

A couple years ago.

634

:

It actually turned out she was a hoarder.

635

:

And she got busted and

charged with animal cruelty.

636

:

And I was like, are you kidding?

637

:

I was like, like somebody sent

it to me and I was like, shut up.

638

:

I was like, that's unbelievable.

639

:

Dixie: Most of the people that are leaving

the comments, they're people that never

640

:

would foster in a million years anyway.

641

:

It's like an ego boost for them.

642

:

It makes them feel good to say something.

643

:

Ashley: Oh yeah.

644

:

100%.

645

:

100%.

646

:

Nobody knows.

647

:

Like even listen, even sometimes my board

members, they just don't get it, right?

648

:

And they're actively in the

trenches with me every day, right?

649

:

So to have Joe Schmoe on the internet,,

like I said before, 95% of these

650

:

people have no idea what's actually

going on , in animal rescue or with

651

:

the animal welfare crisis or anything.

652

:

And the only thing we can do is just

educate them, and that's what I try to do

653

:

every time somebody is mad at me because

I can't take a dog or, or the best is

654

:

they're like, like we got a call the

other day, I still can't believe this.

655

:

And I called the local rescue my contact

over there and I was like, Hey, be

656

:

advised this call is coming to you next.

657

:

I got a call from a guy who breeds.

658

:

Bernice Mountain Dogs, backyard

breeds Bernice Mountain Dog.

659

:

And his unspayed female is fighting

with his pregnant female, so he needs

660

:

to rehome the the not pregnant female.

661

:

And I was like, I'm sorry, what?

662

:

I was like, is this real?

663

:

And I said to him, I said, listen,

we can't help you with that.

664

:

I said, but.

665

:

I know the shelter nearby, they're great.

666

:

Like they, they do a really amazing job.

667

:

We actually pull from them all the time.

668

:

So I was like, all right, well let's

send it over there and see if it at

669

:

least gets behaviorally tested, and

then we can see if maybe we can pull it.

670

:

But I called up my contact

over there, Mike, and I was

671

:

like, Hey, just be advised.

672

:

Wait for this call.

673

:

It's coming.

674

:

He was like, are you kidding?

675

:

And I was like, Nope.

676

:

I was like, I told him to call you

'cause I got nowhere to put that.

677

:

He was like, unbelievable.

678

:

I was like yep.

679

:

Because I can't make this up.

680

:

Dixie: Yeah.

681

:

I would've been like, well, if you spay

and neuter, it curbs those behaviors, so,

682

:

Ashley: oh, yeah, I mentioned that.

683

:

Or the better one is they're like,

well, we're gonna go buy a dog.

684

:

That's one of my favorite things, like

people say to me, especially when we

685

:

reject them because I told you I'm

a snob when it comes to my adopters.

686

:

I have a very specific type

of adopter that we adopt to,

687

:

and I'm a total snob about it.

688

:

And I'll get certain

people and they're like.

689

:

Well, this is why people go to breeders.

690

:

And I'm like, okay, so go to a breeder?

691

:

Like I, I actually don't

know what to tell you.

692

:

That's fine, but you

cannot have one of my dogs.

693

:

I'm sorry, but I'm not,

I'm really not sorry.

694

:

Dixie: I understand that too.

695

:

'cause I'm the same way and I do a

lot of bottle feeding I do kittens.

696

:

When you put that much time and effort

into getting them well because Yeah,

697

:

bottle feeding, they're very delicate.

698

:

And then sometimes you have to deal

with things like, with illnesses

699

:

that'll pop up and you essentially

have to go nurse them back to health.

700

:

So I feel like if I'm gonna have

to be up in the middle of the night

701

:

every two hours to feed a sick kitten

702

:

I want that kitten to go to a home

with somebody who's gonna do the same.

703

:

So I'm picky.

704

:

Exactly.

705

:

I'm picky too because it's like that's all

of my love and dedication and everything

706

:

goes into taking care of these animals.

707

:

And so I wanna make sure that they're

going into a home that's gonna

708

:

provide the exact same for them

709

:

Ashley: As you should.

710

:

And that's, I love, like I said,

I keep going back to this I love

711

:

what you said before about like

animal rescue isn't just for you to

712

:

dump all your animals on us, right?

713

:

It's here for a last resort.

714

:

It's here for an emergency, it's here for

a medical case, it's here for whatever.

715

:

And I've been there, right?

716

:

Like I, I don't typically do cats.

717

:

Occasionally, I told you I like

to fill needs wherever I'm needed.

718

:

So occasionally I will do kittens.

719

:

It's rare, but it's usually like somebody

found them and they're like, whatever.

720

:

So I'll get them in and I'll take

care of them and I'll feed them

721

:

and I'll do all the things until.

722

:

I'll ultimately foster them through

our rescue and then send them to do

723

:

adoptions with a partner rescue that

we work with that's like a cat rescue.

724

:

And even in those situations I've had

kittens that came in practically feral

725

:

that I spent time and energy befriending,

and I want them to have the best life

726

:

ever, like I and every one of these dogs.

727

:

And I don't know about you but I know

every time I get a dog back, especially

728

:

a dog, that came out of like a situation.

729

:

'cause no matter how hard we work, no

matter how diligent we are, no matter

730

:

how meticulous we are, there's always

gonna be that like 1% of douche baggery

731

:

that somehow manages to evade us.

732

:

And the dog still ends

up in a crummy situation.

733

:

It's rare, but it I've seen it a

couple times in my career and I don't

734

:

know about you, but every time it's

happened, I've looked into the eyes

735

:

of that dog and just felt awful.

736

:

Like I was like, I made

the wrong decision.

737

:

This is because of me.

738

:

And I know we're not

supposed to think that way.

739

:

And everybody's you can't think that way.

740

:

But at the end of the

day, that's how I feel.

741

:

Well, every time I have a dog that's

returned, every time I have the dog,

742

:

especially a puppy that comes back

with behavioral problems, I'm like,

743

:

damn, I should have picked better.

744

:

I'm so sorry buddy.

745

:

I should have picked better.

746

:

Dixie: Yeah, I totally understand that.

747

:

Ashley: Yeah, it sucks.

748

:

That's the one part that, and like

only have to do euthanizations.

749

:

'cause we have this puppy hospice program

that we started totally by accident.

750

:

This thing came on and it's

such a long story, but it's,

751

:

we call it Griffin's legacy.

752

:

We call it the Baby Shark

program, and it's specifically

753

:

for neurologic hospice, puppies.

754

:

Okay.

755

:

Like babies.

756

:

And it is the hardest program.

757

:

It is the most rewarding program.

758

:

But I think when it comes to

the downsides of rescue, like

759

:

we have a couple of downsides,

that's the one that's the worst.

760

:

Anytime we have to euthanize

anything, I feel like it's awful.

761

:

Anytime something dies, I feel

like that's the worst part.

762

:

But I also feel like on the same

level, having to look a dog in the

763

:

face and know you failed them, that's

something that like it, it falls.

764

:

I don't know about you, but it

falls in the same category for me.

765

:

Dixie: Yeah, no, I agree.

766

:

Before we end the call, what final message

or advice do you have for our listeners

767

:

regarding the animal welfare crisis?

768

:

Ashley: Oh, God.

769

:

Spay and neuter your animals.

770

:

All of them.

771

:

Train your dogs.

772

:

Okay.

773

:

Reach out for help if you need

it before you get to the point

774

:

where you need to rehome.

775

:

One of the biggest things I say to

my clients all the time is always

776

:

is like my most disappointing thing

is I wish you reached out sooner.

777

:

Don't wait six months make the call,

even if it's just to ask the questions.

778

:

And I think, honestly, I think I

can speak for an entire community

779

:

of rescuers and trainers and

whatever animal professionals.

780

:

In saying we, we would rather

have you ask too many questions.

781

:

We'd rather have you reach out with

something stupid that and send us a

782

:

picture and are like, is this normal?

783

:

Or, should I fix this?

784

:

Or, we don't expect you to

be a dog like expert, right?

785

:

But we do expect you to have the

common sense to reach out to the ones

786

:

who are, and it's important to know

that everybody in the rescue community

787

:

right now needs to band together.

788

:

We need to help each other

in whatever way we can.

789

:

Whether that's with information,

whether it's with education, whether

790

:

it's with, help with transport, whether

it's somebody's got an extra foster.

791

:

Maybe it's somebody has more

resources than the other one right

792

:

now and they can step in and help.

793

:

Or maybe it's just, hey, a

phone call for a plea for help.

794

:

Right now, if you can't foster

volunteer, if you can't volunteer,

795

:

donate, if you got no money, share it.

796

:

Just keep sharing because right now,

the only way that the animal crisis is

797

:

going to get better is if we all change.

798

:

Like the communities have to change.

799

:

The people have to change.

800

:

The mentality has to change.

801

:

If it doesn't change, it's

never going to get any better.

802

:

We're not gonna be able to

un dig ourselves outta this

803

:

one, like we're too far in it.

804

:

It's gotta be something that

like changes as a whole for us

805

:

to be able to fix it, right?

806

:

Or we just have to hold on for

the next 10 years until everything

807

:

finally writes itself and the adoption

population goes back up again.

808

:

And the finances, the financial

world gets a little more

809

:

stable or, that kind of thing.

810

:

. So.

811

:

Be supportive, be kind just be nice.

812

:

Please be kind to one another.

813

:

And like I said, train your

animals spay and neuter them.

814

:

Take responsibility for them.

815

:

Take accountability for them.

816

:

Start working with them

before they develop problems.

817

:

Build the kind of dog you want

instead of trying to correct it later.

818

:

And always reach out and ask questions.

819

:

Like I said, I don't think anybody's

ever going to turn around and be

820

:

like, no, we, or shun you because

you asked if that behavior was

821

:

a little weird and is it okay?

822

:

That kind of thing.

823

:

So, use the resources that are there for

you and don't wait too long to use them.

824

:

Dixie: It's a great message,

and I would rather answer a

825

:

question than take an animal back.

826

:

That's the first thing that anybody should

do is, even another rescue if you're

827

:

having difficulty with something just.

828

:

Reach out to somebody else and see

they might be able to help you.

829

:

Ashley: You'd be amazed.

830

:

One thing that I've always found my whole

life is the power of a phone call, right?

831

:

Even if it's just a, Hey, I don't

really know who I'm supposed to

832

:

talk to about this, but I'm hoping

somebody can give me some guidance.

833

:

You'd be amazed the kind of

response you're gonna get.

834

:

There's never been a time that I've

done that where I've never somehow

835

:

gotten something that benefited me.

836

:

Whether it was knowledge, whether it

was the answer to a question, whether it

837

:

was direction, whether it was whatever.

838

:

It's make the phone call because

that's another thing, like we

839

:

don't ever call people anymore.

840

:

And it's something I also tell,

we work with teenagers too.

841

:

And in the rescue and my teens, I tell

them all the time, like, when you get

842

:

into college, make friends with your

professor, talk to people, call them.

843

:

That's how you're gonna get your foot

in the door with things like, and it's

844

:

the same thing in animal rescue, right?

845

:

Make the phone calls, ask the questions.

846

:

You'd be shocked how many

answers you're gonna get.

847

:

Dixie: Thank you so much for

joining me today, Ashley.

848

:

I really enjoyed our conversation.

849

:

Ashley: Yeah, thanks

so much for having me.

850

:

This was really fun.

851

:

Dixie: We've reached all the time

that we have for today's episode . If

852

:

you are enjoying our show, please

consider leaving us a donation.

853

:

A hundred percent goes to our animals.

854

:

Paws in

855

:

the night Claws in the

fight Whiskers twitch and

856

:

tails

857

:

take flight

858

:

They’re calling in Stories to spin

From the wild to the heart within

859

:

Broken wings and hopeful springs

We’re the voices for these things

860

:

animal posse hear the call.

861

:

We stand together.

862

:

Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

got it all Animal posse Saving

863

:

them

864

:

all

865

:

The vet’s got tips The rescuer’s

grit The foster homes where love

866

:

won’t quit From a pup in the rain to

a bird in pain , Every soul’s worth

867

:

the

868

:

strain

869

:

Animal posse

870

:

Hear the call

871

:

We stand together Big

872

:

and small Rescue tales We’ve got

it all Animal posse Saving them all

873

:

Every caller tells a tale, every

howl a whispered wail, we rise up.

874

:

We never

875

:

fail.

876

:

This

877

:

is

878

:

the

879

:

bond

880

:

The holy grail

881

:

Animal posse Hear the call We stand

together Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

882

:

got it all Animal posse Saving them all

883

:

Every caller tells a tale Every howl

a whispered wail We rise up We never

884

:

fail This is the bond The holy grail.

885

:

Song by Suno.ai

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About the Podcast

Animal Posse
A look inside the world of animal rescue
Dive deep into the world of animal rescue with heartwarming stories, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights. From heartwarming adoptions to daring rescues, we'll explore the incredible bond between humans and animals.
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