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Chicago's Dog Ambassador: One Dog, One Loss, and a Mission to Save Lives · Every Pawprint! Every Story!

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Every Pop Rent, Every Story, where we invite families and friends in to just talk about pets, dogs, cats in our lives, but most importantly, that human-animal bond and really what it means having them in our lives.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm super excited today to share with you, or well, not to share with you, but just to kind of jump into this.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um Dana, right?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's Dania.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Dania with Dane.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: And Dania is up in, so you're up in Chicago.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you wouldn't know it with the accent.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely not.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Originally from the UK, but have been stateside for almost 30 years, but you can't tell from my accent.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, definitely not.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and for you listeners, I'm excited about this.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do a different, a little bit of a different direction here than how we usually start.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: But Dania and I met LinkedIn, and uh her her her profile was exciting, blew me away.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Chicago Dog Ambassador, let's talk about that.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: What is that?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: What's what's what's the pivot?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's jump into it.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's quite a good one, and I'm glad you picked up on it, Dan, and and thank you so much for having me on here today.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So um, prior to sort of joining the dog world um several years ago, I actually worked for one of the best brands in the world, McDonald's, yes, McDonald's hamburgers.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the best jobs I ever had with an absolutely fantastic team and just great group of people.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um and when I was telling one of my former colleagues that I was, you know, moving from, you know, burgers and fries to cats and dogs, um, she she so eloquently said, Oh my gosh, so you're going from being a McDonald's brand ambassador to becoming Chicago's dog ambassador.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it, you know, we sort of giggled for a moment and it really just stuck with me.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, gosh, you know, that really is something that I would love to um lend my time um and my passion and my purpose to.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, over the last, gosh, seven plus years, um I have really tried to um surround myself and involve myself with everything dogs.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so started, my my former colleague sort of labeled me Chicago's dog ambassador, and I sort of ran with it.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you so eloquently picked up on it, and what what a great way to start a conversation.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I've you know, over the last few years, I've I've really sort of tried to learn and understand um, you know, animal welfare, animal rescue, um, you know, what exactly does it entail?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, get very familiar with the rescues uh here in Chicago, but also familiarize myself with what is happening um elsewhere.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, one of the rescues where my three dogs, uh Baxter, Baby Barry, and La La, who are my three babies, and then also Ricky Mann the cat, but he he was before all of the dogs.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: They all come from Starfish Animal Rescue, an amazing organization uh out in the western suburbs of Chicago.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And they rescue from very high kill shelters in rural Kentucky.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I have been able to do fostering for them is really sort of learn and understand, you know, what does it take to help particularly underserved socioeconomically challenged areas such as the Appalachian region, which is where Starfish gets our dogs from.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um and one particular effort that our founder, Margie Swift, has really undertaken is a hip-to-snip program where we actually go into the communities and we fix these dogs.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: We the animals, the cats, and of course the dogs.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because what I have learned in my very, you know, I'm still very early on in this process, people have been doing this a lot longer than I have, but um, you know, we we've got an animal crisis out there, and we unfortunately can't just sort of foster or adopt our way out of it.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: And seeing what it means to go into these communities and really fix the issue of overpopulation has taught me a lot.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's something that we spend a lot of time on uh at Starfish Animal Rescue, which is the rescue that I foster with now, as well as MCP, Mission Compassion Pause, which is our uh a rescue here in the great city of Chicago, who I've joined more recently.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I got involved with them because I really wanted to have skin in the game, uh rescuing dogs from our own municipal shelter.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was sort of a brief intro into what I've been doing.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yes, the the world of animal rescue, uh animal welfare, sort of really understanding, you know, what does it mean?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, where does the government line sort of end and where does the you know human line begin?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and not to say that the people in government aren't human, but there's only so much that they have the power to do as well.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's been a fun few years of 100 and something dogs later and three of my own, and I'm sure we'll have a fourth at some point once I get a little bit more room.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yes, what a what an absolutely fantastic journey it's been.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I just cannot wait to continue because it it really just it just fuels me.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Just getting so no, that that's that's amazing, amazing story.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Love that the Chicago Dog Ambassador.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I almost feel like maybe maybe there's a there, maybe there's a movement there too, right?
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And just having you know the 50 states of of ambassadors and awards and all that stuff, right?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: What a what a great idea.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: What a great idea.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: And tomorrow, tomorrow's my 49th birthday.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I've I've started this sort of journey to 50.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So wouldn't that be great to add to my list to have a you know a dog ambassador in each state?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: What what what what amazing work we could probably do, you know, if we united and sort of tried to move things forward on a national front.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: So wow, with this passion, this drive, I'm I'm curious.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know we gotta still get in and talk about the the fur kids in the life today, but what what what what's the fire behind this passion and drive?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Did it start at a young age?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Did it start when you came to the States or what what you know it it it definitely started from a young age?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: I was an only child, um, and I grew up with two amazing chow chow dogs.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, both of them were called Bo.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: We had Bo One and Bo Two.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then in 2019, um I adopted a wonderful little dog called Horton from Poor Chicago.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And we found out um just through some, you know, I was trying to communicate with him, and people would touch him and he would jump, and you know, I would go stroke him and he would sort of jump, and we found out that he was deaf.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so I learned to communicate with this dog in ways that I never really thought one could communicate with animals, but sure enough, we did.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then very tragically, um I lost him.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I went on a vacation uh for a girlfriend's birthday party down actually in your neck of the woods, uh, not too far from uh from you in Florida.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately, he escaped from my friend's house.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and because he was deaf, he couldn't hear anything, and uh he got hit by a car.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: And oh my goodness, that was just one of the hardest things I've ever gone through.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And my father, who was alive at the time, said to me, you know what?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, that's it.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: He said, That dog was put in your life for a reason.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: He said, I think you should get another dog.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: He said, actually, I think you should get two dogs.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Hell, why don't you even get three?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so, sure enough, you know, after the heartbreak sort of, you know, set aside, was you know, I was sort of able to work through it.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I found this wonderful little rescue called Starfish Animal Rescue.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And uh eight weeks later, Baxter joined us, who's a little terrier mix.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: And uh 13 weeks after I got Baxter, of course, I was looking on the website and fell in love with the second dog that my dad had predicted that I was going to get.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: He's not with us, unfortunately, anymore, but I know he's definitely looking down, smiling at all of this.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we got Lala, and she's my was only meant to be about 16, 17 pounds, I think her last weigh, and she was around 30 something.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's also a terrier mix.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then number 59, foster number 59 was Baby Barry, and Baby Barry and Baxter gone along so well, and they looked so similar that I did the DNA test, and sure enough, 59 dogs later, Baby Barry and Baxter were actually related.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, very cool.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Which is a wow.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's a call because I thought, oh my gosh, what are the odds that I get a second dog?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: But then in the world of rescue, you know, we go back to gosh, how unfortunate because how many litters must those parent dogs have gone through, you know, to get to but here we are, the proud pack, as we are known around town.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um probably that's what we're known more as at this point, the proud pack than just the Chicago's dog ambassador.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yes, we are a mighty little family of four, three dogs and a cat, and the cat who thinks he's a dog.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And we just, you know, we we just have fallen into this wonderful world of the human-animal bond and just what they can do for people.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I've seen what they can do for children.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've seen what they've been, you know, brave.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I came out of a very deep, you know, depression after losing my mom and then losing my dad.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell you, those four little feet just whenever they're there, they just make everything better.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And that is, you know, for the next, you know, however many years I'm fortunate enough to be able to work in this environment.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: I am a hundred percent committed to saving more lives.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and I tell you, Dan, dog people are really quite fantastic, they are a breed of their own.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that pun was definitely intended.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I have just met some people that I would never have had the opportunity to meet.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, people that have opened my eyes and you know, to opportunities that I would never have even thought of if I had not ventured down this path of dog world.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um so, you know, to my friends, yes, I'm sort of the crazy dog lady, and um, you know, I I wear that label very proudly, but you know, really when you strip everything back, it's about, you know, if you can change the world and you can just sort of look at your little portion of what you have the ability to effect and change.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you know, God put me on this planet to do exactly what I'm doing, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're changing the world, you're love, you're you're changing the world one paw print at a time, right?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: One paw print at a time, yeah.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: And if every if everybody did that, then I think we really could have a movement.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I agree with you.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh oh, we might have lost it.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Impacting lives, yeah.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: It just takes one.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: It just takes one.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm curious with um that has an amazing story with with Horton.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: How long, how long was he uh in your life?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: I only had him for 19 months.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought he was going to be, I mean, he was my soul dog.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but gosh, he's gotta be looking down from the rainbow bridge saying, Mom, look at all the lives you've snowed.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: This is great.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was I was just gonna say that you know, short 19 months, the the impact, the power.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, it it stinks that it was short in in the way it lost, but the flower that bloomed out of that sounds amazing.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, just incredible.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's I I you know, and it was funny because I was actually talking to the former president of McDonald's USA Um just yesterday, um, and we were laughing because we were both, you know, career ladies.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, obviously, you know, she was a lot further along in her career than I was, but look at us now.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: We sort of giggle and we send each other text of dog memes, and we're like, would we have ever thought that the two of us would be doing this?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: But gosh, it's just you know, they just change and impact on such a positive level.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Even the sad stories, um, you know, and I've I've had a couple of fosters that, you know, unfortunately have not um been able to be saved for behavioral reasons.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but even the short time that they were, you know, with us and on this earth, they had love and they were part of our family, and you know, they knew what a kind hand was.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think those are the stories that almost motivate me even more, right?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's sort of very easy when you know you sort of have a sad story to say, right, that's it, no more, I can't do this anymore.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: And my friends have heard me say this several times.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then sure enough, you know, tonight after we get off of this podcast, I'm on my way to pick up two Pomeranians that um were uh brought to our attention at Starfish Animal Rescue that were living in a cardboard box in a garage.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we've stepped in, and sure enough, on Sunday night, I'm gonna go and pick up another two dogs.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: Why wouldn't I go and pick up another two dogs?
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we're so we're now gonna be a family of what is it, six now?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Six, okay.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: So everybody in the neighborhood knows me as as uh one of my other clients bought me a hat actually that says dog mayor of Gold Coast.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the neighborhood that I live in in Chicago.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got all of these.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: I should actually have one on.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Look at you with your dog dad hat.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it it's truly, you know, I I if if people are out there wondering whether they should get a dog or whether they should foster or whether they should volunteer at their local humane society, just do it.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, just go.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And if the stories are hard and the cases are sad, but there's so much more positivity that will come out of it.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And and I tell you, you know, one of the things, and and I think when people see this and they and they listen to this, you know, most of my friends know I am the least patient person.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: Ever since I was a little girl, patience has not been anything that I have been able to, you know, really sort of hone as a skill.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and these guys are teaching me.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: They are teaching me and teaching me well.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: I still wouldn't say it's one of my top qualities, but I would say that thanks to dogs, oh yeah, I'm definitely learning to be better at it.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, you're yeah, that's something they will definitely teach you.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: And um it's that it's that funny word accountability, right?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Holding you accountable and patience is part of that.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now I I'm curious with some of the the names.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: We got Baxter Lala, Baby Barry, where were they named that?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Did you get to name them?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a big thing about not changing dog's names.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I think when they come from wherever they come from, if they have a name, then you shouldn't change it because that's what their name is.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: So Baxter was Baxter, Lala was one of four telly tubbies, La La, Tinky Winky, Dipsy and Po.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we kept La La.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then Baby Barry was Barry, but because he never got very big, and because he's just the littlest, and he's mommy's little boy, he's baby Barry.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: I love it, and they all and they all get along.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Happy household.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: They all get along.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: We we are very fortunate.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: We uh have a wonderful hotel across the street called the Talbot Hotel that was recently purchased by uh Marriott, and we have table number 52, which is the dog table, and you can reserve it, and we do.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And the chef makes my guys burgers and eggs and bacon, and you know, they they sit there sort of like they're sitting on their little thrones, but they absolutely love it, and and they bring so much joy.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just people, you know, checking into the hotel who have you know had long flight delays, or maybe they're away from their family and their dogs, and you know, my guys are just sitting there just happy to you know be around people.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it it just, you know, dogs just bring this sense of joy.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um you you know, I mean, yesterday I, you know, I saw the picture that you posted when you were hiking, you know, with your dog, and everyone's got a smile on their face, especially the dog.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, it's just uh there's something about these creatures that um, and I think now, I mean, a lot of you know, universities are studying it.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm fortunate enough to be on the board of Canine Therapy Corps, which is uh uh therapy dog organization here in Chicago.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we have partnered with a university to do some you know substantial research on what exactly is the human-animal bond really capable of.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when I see my dog go in and sit with some of these children that are really high on the autism spectrum and really can't communicate, but they can communicate with dogs.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: They find a way, and these dogs know how to communicate with these kids.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we we went, we volunteered a couple of weeks ago, and there was this one little boy who really struggled, and he just he made a beeline for my dog, and they just sat there and he just was stroking.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: And every time he would stroke her, he'd smell his hand.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: So there was obviously some connection for him between the fur and the smell and sensory and evaluation, and you know, even people that were working with him said like they could see a difference in this little boy just from sitting there with my dog for 10 to 15 minutes.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, wouldn't it be amazing if we could make these dogs available to all of the children with autism across the US?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's a way forward to help these children, you know, integrate into society better and be able to move forward in life in a way that they're comfortable and and you know we're comfortable helping them do it.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I've got big aspirations whether I'll get there, but I've definitely got big aspirations.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm picking up on that, and I love yeah, I love that story because yeah, you're you're a hundred percent, you're 100% spot on.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: I can't even talk this evening.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: But is is that some of the aspirations what you're talking about?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what what's what's next?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like just listening to you, there's nothing you can't conquer.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and thank you for saying that because I've been needing to hear it.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've been a little uh stifled these past couple of months, and obviously you and I connected because you saw my post on LinkedIn, sort of looking for my next opportunity.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um but my passion, Dan, and what I believe I was put on this world to do, not alone, but with a team and a group of people, is to save lives.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: So tomorrow is my 49th birthday.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Tomorrow begins my road to 50.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: So what we should do is come back, same time, same place in a year, and see where I am.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, um on the cards to save 50 lives this year, maybe not all myself, but between myself and my friends, um, get some new people involved in fostering.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what I'd really like to do is find some land.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, some of these dogs, you know, we we can't sort of foster our way out of the pro out of the problem.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: But some of these dogs, if there were a place for them to go, just a little bit longer, you know, to give them the opportunity, whether it's behavioral, um, whether it's just they need a little bit longer to sort of integrate into society to become the kind of dog that we need them to be, to live a you know, happy um life with a family.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I don't have the exact answer yet, but um something something bigger where I can work with others to save more lives.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's really what I think you know I would like to do.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and and to your point, you may not have the answers yet, but listening to you in this passion and this drive, it's gonna come.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, it's gotta come at some point.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: I hope, I hope you're right.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: It it it will.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, someone might be listening and say, hey, I've been wanting to do that too.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the lady that runs our starfish animal rescue, Margie, Margie Swift.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I'm sure she'll be retiring pretty soon.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's two people that want to do it.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Then we have another, we have another cohort, Lori, um, who's like, gosh, I could see the three of us kind of living on a commune, you know, looking after dogs.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, would that be so bad?
• 24:56
  unknown: Not really.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Not really.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll definitely have to make sure we have your details in the article in the description of this podcast so the listeners can find you and maybe collaborate.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: We would love that.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: We we are just open to all sorts of possibilities and partnerships.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you never know where a conversation can go.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: And well, it goes back to like what you're saying, you know, with with pets, you've got so many folks that might be uh introverts and they just don't meet, but now you've got a pet and you now you've got a family that you've met because of your pet.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that's phenomenal.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And time flies.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: See, I told you this this this was flying.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I talk a lot, so you have to tell me to stop.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, it it that's it it yeah, that's perfect.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: I I I'm glad you keep talking because the less I talk the better.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um but so you talked a little bit about next.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I love the autism approach too, because I feel like, man, there there's something there you reminded me, and I'll have to connect you with um a fellow I had on the podcast a few episodes back.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's doing stuff in in mental health, but he's doing stuff with kids and bringing pets in there.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um that I think is is gonna be really big.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think once we can get some you know, substantial research behind it, you know, partnering, like I said, what even just with what canine therapy core is doing right now with a local university hospital, um, just to get something out there that we could build upon.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: I I definitely mean I see it, you know, I volunteer, I go and I see see it first hand.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, I'm not a doctor, of course, but I but I I know what I see with my own eyes.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there is something there for these children and for the dogs.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: The dogs love it.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: The dogs just love it.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um as we come to the end of this, but I I love the idea of having you back in a year.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll maybe we'll do something less than a year, but we'll figure that out.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um but um and I you touched on a lot of stuff.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of the one of the questions I love asking, or maybe it's not a question ending on for the listeners.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean what would you if there was advice or something to share with the listeners um and how it how the the pets have impacted your life, how would you sum that up?
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: What would you say?
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Gosh.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, I'm definitely a much better, well-rounded human being, um, more compassionate, uh, more empathetic, which too, along with my patience, isn't necessarily a skill that I was blessed with.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would just say to anyone, you know, the biggest thing, and I I had this today, I had a lady come into my dog store and uh she had a pug, and I had seen this pug, uh a black pug.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: She had a, it was like a mole.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was actually an interesting color pug.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'd never seen one like it before.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Hey, you're not looking for another pug, are you?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's one at Chicago Animal Caring Control.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and by the way, yes, I work at the store, but I also foster dogs, and I work with this organization called MCP Outreach.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're interested, you know, maybe you could foster this dog temporarily.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, the number one thing that people say is, oh, I couldn't.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: I just couldn't because I could never give the dog up.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I always go back to what my dad said, and I've got this photo, I'm gonna share this photo with you because I would love for you to put this in the article.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was the very first dog that I fostered, and his name was Teddy Roosevelt.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and my dad thought this was just great that I had this dog called Teddy Roosevelt.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I said to my dad on the third day, I said, Dad, I'm gonna keep him.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: And he said, he put his hand down on the table and he said, Dania, you cannot do that.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: He you have made a promise to this organization and to those animals that you're going to help save them.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: If you keep the first one, what are you gonna do when the next one comes along?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then the next one comes along, and the next one comes along.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: So sure enough, I still talk to the girl that has Teddy Roosevelt today, Victoria Lewis.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: She just moved back to Chicago.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um, he was right.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think that's the biggest thing is the first dog you foster is the hardest one to let go of.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: But if you do it the way that I've tried to do it, so I keep the dogs close enough geographically, because we actually don't foster uh with softfish, we don't allow dogs outside of the state of Illinois.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that way, if we do have to go back and get them for whatever reason, it's it's easy for us to keep them in our system.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I would say, you know, if you're a family and you maybe can't quite afford a dog or you're not quite ready to commit, foster, go to your local animal shelter.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone needs the help.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: And the resources are there.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: The food is paid for, the medical is paid for.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: They just need a soft place and a loving hand.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: And what a great way to give back to your community and the dogs that need the help.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say what my dad said: go out, do it.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: You have a responsibility to your communities to help.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell you, it's been the best thing I've ever done.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of other people would say the same thing that are in the in the same position that I'm in.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's a great way to end.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely, yeah, definitely send that picture.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: We'll make sure we get it in the article.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you reminded me the other picture I would love to get is one of you at table 52.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we got to show that one off too.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, absolutely.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: We will get you that.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: But this has been a pleasure.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad that you do this.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, thank you for even considering me.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've been looking forward to this all day today.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much for your time.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and thanks for having us on.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: No, absolutely.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I want to thank you right back.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, definitely don't go anywhere just yet.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going anywhere.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was looking forward to doing this as well.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, thank you for being on as as well.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And for the listeners of the show, be on the lookout for the article, and then uh Dania will definitely put you know the pictures and more information to find you in you know the fosters and the rescue groups that you're involved with.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: All right, with that, we will conclude the show again.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Danya.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.