The Bark: A Pet Podcast Unleashed

In Episode 17 of The Bark, there will be no policy. No legislation. No heavy stuff. Today? We’re not being serious.

We’re sharing the most unhinged, hilarious, and slightly concerning stories from pet owners — including our own. We’re talking canine red flags, behaviors that would absolutely get someone blocked if they were human, and why bringing a puppy on a first date might be a relationship-ending decision.

Is it cute… or is it a red flag? Should we be concerned? Are we the problem?

This one’s just for fun. Consider it your break from the serious stuff… because even dog advocates need a chaotic episode now and then.

What is The Bark: A Pet Podcast Unleashed?

The Bark: A Pet Podcast Unleashed dives deep into Tennessee’s animal crisis, exploring the real financial impact, community responsibility, and tough decisions behind the headlines. Presented by nonprofit Laws Saving Paws, this podcast connects the dots between public safety, tax payer burden, and the wellbeing of pets and people alike.

Whether you’re an animal lover passionate about advocacy and humane care, someone frustrated by the neighborhood impact, or a practical thinker concerned about how your money’s spent, this show offers honest insight.

Episodes will cover topics like:
• Why today’s pet climate demands responsible action
• The real effects of spaying/neutering—or not
• What every buyer should know about breeding
• Preventing costly, common pet health issues
• How your hard-earned money is enabling the crisis,
• And much, much more

The Bark: Raw, relevant, and unapologetic—because the truth affects all of us.

Candy:

This podcast is meant to inform, entertain and occasionally stir the pot in a good way. The opinions expressed are our own shaped by personal experience and thoughtful research. They may not reflect everyone's views, and we may even offend you. We're just a couple of humans doing our best to advocate, educate, and elevate one episode at a time. Yours truly, the bark.

Candy:

PS, please don't sue us.

Meaghan:

Alright. Good morning,

Candy:

How are you?

Meaghan:

I'm warm.

Meaghan:

I think I forgot how to dress for warm weather. I mean, we're still in that

Meaghan:

phase where it's chilly in the morning. I don't wanna get out of bed.

Candy:

Yeah. You know, kind of thing. Don't wanna go walk the dog.

Meaghan:

Frost on my table outside.

Candy:

And then by midday, you're like, oh my gosh. Why not wear a coat today?

Meaghan:

And it's that weird time of year also. Where like, I don't know about your house, but it's colder in my house than it is outside. So I'm like, do I put my heat on and open a window, or how do I do this?

Candy:

Right. Very confusing.

Meaghan:

But we are back. We are Laws Saving Paws This is our podcast, The Bark. And episode 17, we're approaching 20. Pretty proud of ourselves.

Meaghan:

And we are at the Awaken House again. We've just kind of moved around a little bit. So the Awaken House in Spring Hill, Tennessee. We love being here.

Candy:

we like all the different backdrops that we're having fun with, right?

Meaghan:

Yeah, it's so versatile. It makes us feel professional. We're not at all. Candy and I were talking and we were like, alright. What can this episode be about?

Meaghan:

Because we've been really hammering home, like, legislation All the ssues. And breeding. All the things that you just wanna, like, shake your hands at.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

And then Candy had this wonderful suggestion.

Meaghan:

And what was

Meaghan:

that, Candy?

Candy:

Just talk about the dogs.

Candy:

Just how smart they are, the fosters.

Meaghan:

No. You had a better suggestion than that.

Candy:

I did?

Meaghan:

Well, the way you worded was better. You're like, let's talk about something funny.

Candy:

Oh, yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Meaghan:

That was great. You're right. Let's have fun. Yes. Yeah.

Meaghan:

We just feel like we just needed an episode to be light hearted. So, I mean, granted everything else you said, yes. Yeah. But when you told me, Meaghan, let's just talk about something funny. I was like, yes.

Candy:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And I'll

Candy:

I'll admit, I tried to go to Reddit and find some stories that Oh, my gosh. The stuff on Reddit.

Candy:

I Like, had to clean my eyes afterward, you know? Yeah. I know.

Candy:

And

Meaghan:

I think it went public

Meaghan:

That's where I used to watch. I don't even know if I should say this out loud. Well, I can. Because they don't allow it anymore, but I used to watch all of my illegal NFL streams on Reddit. I can't anymore

Meaghan:

But yeah. So, you know, this episode we did exactly you know, we don't have a super specific theme, but I think we've each maybe compiled some things we wanna talk about that we just saw, like, online somewhere, or we have story of our own to share that we're just like, what on earth?

Candy:

Right. Right. Yeah.

Meaghan:

So that's kind of what we're going with now. So I think we're just gonna jump right in because it's gonna be we're gonna try to keep this a little bit

Meaghan:

of a shorter of an episode too.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

So, Candy, I had pulled something recently. It was

Meaghan:

a list that said, this would

Meaghan:

be a crime if you were a human. And it lists all these characteristics that dogs have. And so I'm just gonna list them because I watch a lot of true crime. I think you do too. And I watched- I listened to some of these or I read some of this list and I'm like, yep.

Meaghan:

Saw that in a Lifetime movie. Saw that in a Lifetime movie

Candy:

Sure.

Meaghan:

Alright so the first

Meaghan:

one:

Meaghan:

watching

Meaghan:

you shower.

Candy:

Oh yeah, yeah.

Meaghan:

Does your dog do that? I have

Candy:

I have a foster that is getting comfortable with the rest of the home like she stays in one area and we're trying to stretch her to come and see the rest of it and now I've started to go and take a shower and the doors are open to where all the dogs in my house right now are not chewers, they're potty trained. So I don't have to do baby gates and all this. They all get along. So now she's stretching her limits.

Meaghan:

And now she's a peeping Tom.

Candy:

Have brought her upstairs and then now I'll leave and then the the other two dogs will follow me, and then I'll be in the shower. All of sudden, she'll come in. She'll look at me, and then she's like, ugh. And then she leaves. And then a few minutes later, she comes in again.

Candy:

And I'm like, what? It's just like, gosh. No.

Meaghan:

creepy if someone does that to you and they're a human. If it's a dog, it's just like, oh, they're tricky.

Candy:

Yeah. Oh.

Candy:

And until she turns up

Candy:

her nose and walks out.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Alright. Number two, breaking into your bedroom because you closed the door.

Candy:

Yes.

Candy:

I used to have a cat that would reach her paw under the door and shake it violently And she wasn't a huge cat, but

Meaghan:

that's Like a horror movie. Like with dogs.

Candy:

Like CATS, not the musical.

Meaghan:

Shoving their head between you and your partner.

Candy:

Yes. And my foster, my current foster will shove her body between me and my dog too. Trying to do that

Candy:

I have to correct her because she's tried to snip at him and the other foster before and she's glad but yeah,

Candy:

they get jealous when you're... it's like a jealous... giving attention.

Meaghan:

Totally. See, this is when I first read that last one, was thinking of this next one. Sniffing guests' crotches.

Candy:

Oh god.

Meaghan:

Which is the most in my opinion, like, when you're out

Meaghan:

and a dog snips your crotch, it's, like, most it's really awkward.

Candy:

Yes.

Meaghan:

Right? Because you're like, is there something wrong

Meaghan:

with you?

Candy:

Yes.

Meaghan:

Dogs are so gross. Like it's not to say a little they're like

Meaghan:

they are in there like they're in there.

Candy:

I don't know how to describe it, but it's like dude privacy. Yeah. Boundaries borders, you know?

Meaghan:

Yeah. Yeah.

Candy:

Boundaries. Yeah. There's a show on TLC about people's odd habits and there is a young lady that has a similar odd habit and it was like when...

Meaghan:

She puts her face in people's crotches?

Candy:

No, no, no, no.

Candy:

She has a she likes to smell underwear. Okay. I'm just gonna leave it at that. There's more to it, but that I didn't watch the actual show. I saw the preview and I just wanted to scream.

Meaghan:

Are you sure it's TLC?

Candy:

It's TLC, dude. It's TLC and I was just like, I was horrified. But you're right. We're just used to dogs being a little crude and like, hey, you know, sniffing at it.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Okay. Well, reasons I don't watch TLC.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Alright. Intense eye contact while you're eating.

Candy:

Oh my

Meaghan:

My dog was doing this last night. I was eating a bag of popcorn on

Meaghan:

the couch, and she's just

Meaghan:

sitting . I mean, like she's going

Meaghan:

to kill me.

Candy:

Yes.

Meaghan:

You know?

Candy:

Okay, I did read a story on Reddit. Oh, did I put it in here?

Candy:

Yes. I put it in here. Let me jump to it for us. Okay, I have it right here. This is from a contributor named Crispy Mongoose.

Meaghan:

Okay, well I have

Meaghan:

so many questions about that, but we'll move on.

Candy:

So he talks about his dog. I got him as a rescue when he was two years old. I don't know anything about his previous life, which is typical, right? But what I very quickly realized was that he had zero training. Okay, we know where that's going.

Candy:

Absolutely none. His first owners must have just left him to run wild. He wasn't a bad dog but this naturally meant he was naughty. Whilst training was ongoing, I did a sort of mild time out punishment where I put him in a separate room with a spare dog bed in it for ten minutes or so. So he doesn't get home, you got to go cool off.

Candy:

Yeah, okay. One day I walked in to find him happily munching on my bacon sandwich that I put down a couple minutes earlier. He takes one look at me then goes and puts himself in the timeout room still eating my sandwich. He knew. And not breaking eye contact for him.

Candy:

Like, man, I've never seen a (bleep) eating grin on a dog before. I'm absolutely certain that he was thinking worth it in his own dog logic way. I laughed my butt off. He's trained now and is, like, an exceptionally I know.

Meaghan:

They know. Oh my gosh. They're so manipulative.

Candy:

Yes.

Candy:

Our dog, we've done the whole, like, stay out of the kitchen while we're cooking kind of thing. Yeah. And they'll just, like, sit on the edge, and then they, like, scoot,

Meaghan:

My dog oh my gosh. So my older dog Brady, I remember I dated a guy who, you know, when Brady was over his house and he had two dogs and at the time I had two dogs, and it used to drive him mental because Brady would just like get up from his place. We would command him to go to his place, and he would get up as if he had like a purpose for getting up. And he would he would go over to the to the water bowl to make it look like he wanted water.

Meaghan:

And my boyfriend at the time was like, he's not actually drinking water. He's just making you think that he wants water. And I'm like, no. He needs water. But and I noticed he does that now. I'm like, you jerk. Like, I told you to get out of the kitchen so you're gonna stay here and drink water to make me think that you need water.

Candy:

It's like

Candy:

the time when you're doing the the bedtime training, like, to go in there, but I need water.

Candy:

But I need to get...

Candy:

in the bathroom.

Meaghan:

Gotta crate those children.

Meaghan:

I'm just joking. The last one is screaming when

Meaghan:

you leave for thirty seconds.

Candy:

The current foster, the latest one, the little one, she's she's amazing. She's adorable. Her name is Willow Ember, and I call her monkey because she just always...

Meaghan:

Which has nothing to do with either of the first two. you Okay. Just trying to click the dots here.

Candy:

She is

Candy:

like when she first came,

Meaghan:

like if you put her in her crate and

Candy:

left the room for like two seconds, it was just because and now that she's gotten used to things, she's always attached to you. That's why I call her monkey because she's always like, follow me.

Meaghan:

Do monkeys follow people? Is that a thing?

Candy:

Yeah. They like to especially if you go to like so I know that. I grew up in Miami. They had monkey jungle. And if you have monkey jungle, the monkeys are around you and you're like yes, they will follow you.

Meaghan:

They will, you know, monkeys are notorious for pickpocketing. Did you know that? You didn't know that.

Meaghan:

No.

Candy:

Monkeys are pickpocketers.

Meaghan:

What?

Candy:

Yes. And anytime I sit down, here comes Willow. She's gotta, like, be right next to me.

Candy:

So I have a bacon sandwich. But, again,

Meaghan:

it's so cute until you realize it's separation anxiety, and it's

Meaghan:

actually not.

Candy:

Yeah. Yeah.

Meaghan:

It's not cute at all.

Candy:

She's getting better though because like I said, you used to put her in a crate for two seconds to go grab a glass of water.

Candy:

She would reach like a screaming child. Now she's like, what'd you do? You know? It just takes time.

Meaghan:

Yeah, there's a lot of things with dogs that you think they're so cute and then...

Candy:

Let me tell you how I recommend to everybody now that I've had the fostering

Candy:

experience whenever somebody says they want to adopt a dog, I'm always like, please foster to adopt.

Candy:

Because I don't think people realize how many dogs like, yeah, you can find a dog that's pretty cool in your house. But when you find the one that clicks. then, you know, yeah, and in the meantime, you're doing something great for dogs like yeah, fostering

Candy:

It's a dream.

Meaghan:

Right. Yeah,

Candy:

but out of all the dogs I've fostered, there's probably only a handful that I would say would, you know, yeah, would really fit as my dog.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Yeah. But you did it anyway.

Candy:

it's my own story.

Meaghan:

So selfless. I mean that.

Candy:

I will never own my own dog ever again. I'll foster for the rest of my life.

Meaghan:

I get that. I've got another many, many years until I can even think about that. So I mean, was that list. Anything stand out to you?

Candy:

No. No. I think they're all spot on.

Meaghan:

Yeah. I will say that.

Meaghan:

Yeah. They're all, like, okay.

Meaghan:

And if they were people, they would be really creepy.

Candy:

Or on TLC?

Meaghan:

Yeah. Yes. Yes. And actually, this kind of brings me...

Meaghan:

this is a a good segue because, Candy, I don't know if you saw, I put this into our our, like, agenda for this And I don't know if you've given this any thought at all.

Candy:

I actually haven't.

Meaghan:

But if your pet was a celebrity, who would it be?

Meaghan:

Like, let's go with Tank.

Candy:

Oh my gosh.

Meaghan:

Who would Tank be? And let's describe Tank a little.

Candy:

Okay, I know and because you asked the question his name has escaped me but I recently had a conversation with somebody about this person so I'm gonna just quickly look up his name.

Candy:

So Tank is a big, buff, strong, dude Whenever people meet him and they see him, they're like, what's his name? And I'll tell them they're like, Oh, that's fitting. Okay, so that's what tank looks like.

Candy:

But tank actually is a big softy. He's gotten into dog bites before I think because he gets scared of the other dog even though He's the tank in the house. He used to go to open day care and they told me that whenever the other dogs were getting fussed out like they were doing something wrong and the people watching over the dogs would fuss at him, Tank would immediately like, uh-uh, I didn't do it. And he would go, he don't want to be in trouble. He didn't want to be part of the trouble.

Candy:

He would veer off and go his own way. He also tended to stay on his own. I'll tell you one beautiful story about Tank that they told me one day is that Tank likes to chase shadows like bird shadows.

Meaghan:

Oh, does he know they're shadows?

Candy:

I haven't asked.

Meaghan:

You haven't? He didn't tell you?

Candy:

In

Candy:

the middle of summer, people will come over and tank us face down and going like howling around. What's wrong with the dog? What's your dog doing? And I'm like, well, he's chasing shadows. We had somebody come to our house to do some work on our house and the gentleman, he's watching Tank.

Candy:

Tank will climb trees when he sees things and he will get up there.

Meaghan:

And if you guys saw this dog, you'd be like, How did that dog do?

Candy:

Tank was on the show. You have some big but white Tank will climb in the trees and somebody was doing work on our home and they saw Tank and he's just like, That dog is touched.

Meaghan:

That's what they call it?

Candy:

That dog is not right or or something like that. And I was just like, Oh yeah, well, I just So that's Tank. But anyway, going back to his time at his outdoor his group daycare, he would also he chases bird shadows but also bug shadows and everything, butterflies, things like that. Just, you know, and one day they said that he walked up to a shrub that had a butterfly perched on it and he just stayed there looking at the butterfly for a moment and then he wandered off and came back with a toy. And I was like, wait.

Meaghan:

Like, he was bringing the butterfly the toy?

Candy:

That's what it looked like.

Meaghan:

Like, he wanted to play with him? know. Also, butterflies are so creepy. Whoever would take me to a butterfly garden, I will never meet you there.

Candy:

Why?

Meaghan:

They don't respect your boundaries. They float around you. They land on you. Like, I'm the only one in the world who does not like them.

Candy:

I think it would be jarring to have that happening. And if you respect, like, if you don't want to hurt them, you're like, you can't touch.

Candy:

I get it.

Meaghan:

No, Thank you.

Candy:

But Tank is not afraid of them. And so that that is Tank. So he is he is big and burly but also soft and charming, you know. So yeah, I'm gonna say if he were a celebrity celebrity, he would be Dave Bautista.

Meaghan:

Who?

Candy:

Dave Bautista has been in a lot of great movies and I'm forgetting there's one movie where he like he has a fish she said this big strong guy trying to help out.

Meaghan:

Can you name some movies?

Candy:

I'm pulling it up.

Candy:

I can't remember the name of this movie.

Meaghan:

This is the part where everyone gets like, gets a glimpse into how little I know about pop culture.

Meaghan:

Well, I used to be pretty good

Candy:

But I mean, you are our sports person. I am the not sportsperson. But, yeah, so Dave Bautista, I'm trying to remember the name of the the movie that I saw him in where he was guarding a little girl, but he had a little fish, and the fish was blue, and the fish was named Blueberry. And it there was just a funny part where...

Meaghan:

Is it a good movie?

Candy:

It was a hilarious story, and he just a little girl that because they're there he's protecting her from from getting hurt from bad people blah blah blah. And he teaches her that the way to avoid an issue is to create a distraction. Later on, she's trying to get away from him. So she topples over the fish bowl.

Candy:

And there goes Dave, big burly Dave Bautista, blueberry. And he's talking about the fish while she is getting away. Oh, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Meaghan:

That's why I don't watch. Oh, there's a lot. Yeah. I never would have guessed that.

Candy:

Okay. You have to watch Guardians again. He is hilarious.

Candy:

And there's just like there's several others. I can't tell off the top of my head, which one of these was with the little girl, but he is hilarious. And I also recently heard that he flies his he adopts adopting dogs, he also flies his dogs around on a private jet if he can, but also because he does not want to put his dogs in the cargo.

Meaghan:

Oh, yeah. That's a tough travel

Candy:

So he was in the news for, like, chartering a private jet. That way his dogs, you know,

Meaghan:

We should talk to him.

Candy:

He would have to meet Tank.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Oh, that was good.

Candy:

I'm impressed that you came up with

Meaghan:

someone because, like, I've been trying to think. I don't know. so I have three

Meaghan:

dogs, and I named them all after New England Patriots players even though they have nothing to do with–

Candy:

No personality that ties them.

Meaghan:

No. Not whatsoever.

Candy:

Oh, now it makes sense.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Yeah, totally. So I don't know, like Brady oh, Brady, my love. Gosh, he's 11. He's a horse.

Meaghan:

He's like a horse. He's freaking, like, a ninety pound guy He put on some winter weight.

Candy:

It happens.

Meaghan:

We all have.

Meaghan:

And he acts like he's three months old, and then Jules is just a scaredy cat. But she's so sweet, but she's scared of everything. And then Dola, oh, well, everyone knows Dola. Everyone knows Dola. I don't know.

Meaghan:

They're they're like the little rascals.

Candy:

There's an NFL player player named Dola?

Meaghan:

Short for Amandola.

Candy:

Oh.

Meaghan:

Yeah. My friends helped me with that

Meaghan:

because I'm like, what do I name this dog? And it's a girl, and I don't know what to do.

Candy:

Yeah. Yeah.

Meaghan:

So Danny Amendola is the football player.

Meaghan:

Dola for short.

Candy:

You could've named her Danny, and there's, like, the

Candy:

female spokesman.

Meaghan:

I had to do all last– No. Actually, I didn't need to do all last names because my middle dog is Jules and that's short for Julian. Alright. Anyway, I am totally thinking out loud

Meaghan:

right now.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

But, yeah, I don't know. I'd have to give it more thought. I feel like they would be, like, characters from the Little Rascals or, like, there would be some seven dwarfs. You know?

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

I had to figure it out. Yeah. So oh Lord. Candy, I wanna read this story

Meaghan:

to you.

Candy:

Okay.

Meaghan:

I don't believe in segways. It's not good.

Candy:

No...

Meaghan:

Okay. So I

Meaghan:

actually thought of you when

Meaghan:

I read this story because I'm like, what is Candy gonna think?

Candy:

Uh-oh.

Meaghan:

So there's a guy who met a girl on a dating website.

Candy:

Okay.

Meaghan:

And I guess they had a plan to go on a date and then she got COVID and so it had to get postponed.

Meaghan:

So in the meantime, they were like FaceTiming and talking and everything . She I guess had planned– so finally they were able to meet up and he meticulously planned this date that was like, okay, we'll go here and then if it's going well, we can walk to go here and, you know, thought about it a lot.

Candy:

That was great. Use your imagination.

Meaghan:

The night of the date, she texted him saying, hey, you wanna come over to my apartment? I have a surprise for you. And he's like, Okay. By the way, I'm adding the voices. I read this story, but I'm using my own tone. he was like, Yeah, sure. Let's see what this is. And so he went over and she proceeded to show him two puppies that she rescued to foster.

Candy:

Okay.

Meaghan:

Right? And so she's like, yeah, I just got these dogs today. I think it would be fun if like we moved our date around and instead we took care of these dogs. So their date turned into them going to PetSmart to essentially buy things for these puppies.

Candy:

Okay.

Meaghan:

Okay. And then they get back

Meaghan:

to her apartment. And and the thing is too, like, he liked dogs. So he was like, okay. I guess I can do this. I can pivot.

Meaghan:

Get back and the dog so she has another dog at home who she failed to tell him was aggressive toward some nails.

Candy:

Oh, good.

Meaghan:

Okay. Yeah. So the dog, like, she lets the dog

Meaghan:

out, like her dog out. He's growling at this guy.

Meaghan:

And then the puppies start pooping everywhere. She can't smell the poop because she's because she

Meaghan:

had COVID And then so she's like, can you help me pick up the dog poop? Like, she didn't even know they were pooping. He had said they were pooping. She asked him to help pick up the poop.

Meaghan:

They ended up ordering food before all this happened, they ordered food in and, like, finally, he was like, I

Meaghan:

have to

Meaghan:

go.

Candy:

Yeah. I know. I know.

Candy:

Let's do more. Let's make it a walking journey of the day. And she's like, let's pivot. Let's make it a puppy journey

Candy:

Little adventure. They seem to be a good match. But I draw the lines and

Meaghan:

that and No. And then they said so she had

Meaghan:

washed off the dogs, like the puppies after they

Meaghan:

had pooped. Was, like, cleaning them off. And then one of the puppies got really aroused by that and started humping the guy

Meaghan:

Hey was like Look, I'm out of here. And I was just like, you know, like the first part I mean, the thing is, even if– I don't know. I feel like I wouldn't have posed it as, hey. Come over. I have a surprise.

Meaghan:

It would kinda be like, hey. Here's what happened today. I ended up rescuing

Meaghan:

these dogs.

Meaghan:

Can we–

Candy:

I would also wanna be dressed for dealing with puppies.

Meaghan:

You know? Just a little, like, thanks for making us all look like crazy dog people, whoever this girl is.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

And I was like, thanks.

Candy:

Do we know if

Candy:

they ended up, like...

Meaghan:

No.

Meaghan:

They never went on a second date

Candy:

Yeah. I can see that.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Yeah.

Meaghan:

Oh, I was wondering. You know what? I'm definitely surprised by your reaction, Candy.

Candy:

Why?

Meaghan:

Because I don't know.

Meaghan:

One time okay. Because Candy and I have famously disagreed on this one thing. Do you remember when I first met you

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

And we talked about, would you date a guy who didn't fix his animals? Do you remember this?

Meaghan:

I feel like we disagreed on this. Maybe you were joking.

Candy:

I would need a reason.

Candy:

Okay,

Candy:

I think I

Candy:

would need a reason. Yeah. Like, the dog is too old. You know, yeah, I can't do it in time. Now that, you know, because at certain ages, just like humans, the risk of having a surgery goes up.

Candy:

Yeah, I think it's like around eight years old. But I think that also depends on the pet.

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Candy:

And the health of the pet at the time. But so if it's something like that, or like I know people who are allergic to certain types of anesthesia.

Candy:

So these are like legitimate reasons. Like legitimate reasons.

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Candy:

Not like, oh they had an appointment last Tuesday and I missed it so now I'm not going to

Candy:

do it at all.

Meaghan:

No, not like that.

Candy:

Like we need a legit why. Was I like, yeah, they the guy who didn't No. We talked because

Meaghan:

I

Meaghan:

think this story came up, like, on Reddit or something. And I remember you jokingly were like, we'll stay

Meaghan:

away from that person.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

And I'm like, oh... I mean, I don't know. Whatever.

Candy:

Yeah. Like, it's

Candy:

Yeah. I remember talking about a story where a woman posted online. She's like, how do I convince my boyfriend to fix his male dog because he also has he wants to get a neutered or an unfixed female. He already had a dog that got pregnant and the female died. And so he was going to set himself up for failure again.

Candy:

Yeah.

Candy:

And my whole thing and his whole thing was...

Meaghan:

I'm not gonna take my dog's

Meaghan:

manhood.

Candy:

I was like,

Candy:

I just wanted to tell her lady, you know, if that's the level that you're dealing with, date somebody else because when it comes to your kid and like, I don't know if you're putting religion in the mix or not putting religion. Yeah. Like all the if that's the level argument that he's putting forth and he was there was more to it. He wasn't listening to the vets saying the age of the dog, don't put the male and the female because you already had one he Right. He didn't even take that female to the vet.

Candy:

She slowly died giving her another like I want to tell you Don't even date this guy. He doesn't have the empathy to learn your lesson from watching a female die.

Meaghan:

That's fair.

Candy:

I'm out. Yeah, I'm way out.

Candy:

That makes sense. That was like indicative of maybe more problems.

Candy:

Oh, yeah.

Meaghan:

Or bigger problems like yeah,

Candy:

before you bring children out Those are what moments where you're like, yeah, if it was somebody in your family like we need to talk.

Meaghan:

Yeah. Yeah. And I said that's why and maybe I was too hard on you.

Meaghan:

Maybe that's why I was like, I wonder what she's gonna think of this story.

Candy:

Do you think it had anything to do with not fixing the dog?

Meaghan:

Wait. What?

Meaghan:

The puppies.

Candy:

Like, because she got To foster. Right?

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

But it wasn't her dog's puppies.

Meaghan:

No. No. No. No. No.

Meaghan:

It was just these puppies that she decided to rescue and foster.

Candy:

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know where the non neuter

Meaghan:

Oh, no, it was because I was saying...

Candy:

why were you so curious about my response? And it was because we had differed.

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Candy:

So that is why we got it.

Meaghan:

It just went off on such a long time.

Meaghan:

Yes.

Candy:

Sorry

Meaghan:

I'm not sorry. You can be sorry.

Candy:

Candy it looked like you had

Meaghan:

some story?

Candy:

Yeah, and some anecdotal like a lot about my fosters. Some cute experiences. For example, my first foster who is still so sweet. She was this chubby roly poly of a dog and I mean so dang sweet.

Candy:

I have pictures of her sitting behind our cat while our cat was eating her food because the dog was waiting in line. That way whatever the cat didn't finish because I don't know if you know cats tend to eat like you give them their food and they tend to spread it out in the bowl a little bit as they eat

Candy:

they're so fussy. They don't eat what's around the sides and–

Meaghan:

no way

Meaghan:

the cat was fussy. I don't believe you.

Candy:

So she used to sit behind Nani and I have pictures of her sitting punched over with her, like, fat and just waiting for Nani to finish. That way she can go clean Nani's bowl, I'm like, in his circulation, fight with her a bit of food. She didn't push her weight in. She just sit there.

Meaghan:

Cute. That reminds me of Brady, for instance. Julies is so food motivated.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

She will sit next to him and just wait. And she's like, when's he gonna pack up and he's so gentle like he's never been food aggressive or anything and so I don't like that though and so Brady though, sharing is caring, he takes his food and then drops it on the floor so she can have some And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.

Candy:

The third Ferdinand.

Candy:

When I though, when I called Ferdinand earlier, did you know what I meant by Ferdinand? Ferdinand the bull?

Meaghan:

No.

Candy:

There's a children's book.

Meaghan:

I've heard of it.

Candy:

It's about a bull. And he's just this. He's I mean, he's a bull. burly bull.

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Candy:

But actually, he likes to go out meadow and well, it's a very I haven't read it forever. So I'm not going to go into the story, like probably bringing a whole bunch of it, but it just talks about how this this burden

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

that what crazy, like, when I mean, like, my mom, for instance, she's more afraid of Dolan, my 45 pound pit mix because she barks. Then then Brady, my big German shepherd who I mean is terrifying looking.

Meaghan:

It's just so funny.

Candy:

Yeah. It depends. I prefer a dog that barks because they're letting you know when they're nervous.

Meaghan:

Oh, yeah.

Candy:

We've had fosters who just kind of get they might get a little sip, but you might not notice it depending on how much birthing you have, but they don't bark. And then if you do something, all a sudden they snap.

Meaghan:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. the thing is, Dola has no middle ground. Just barks. Everything.

Candy:

Got it.

Meaghan:

I can have an episode all about Dola.

Candy:

Yes.

Meaghan:

I won't do that

Meaghan:

to anyone. But do you say bye to

Meaghan:

your dogs when you leave your house?

Candy:

It depends on the dogs. If they have separation anxiety, I don't because that's one thing that can fuel. I know. So I don't but I'll sometimes like practice like going out to the garage like if I do have a dog with separation anxiety.

Candy:

Yeah, I'll just practice going in and out of the garage and picking, you know, they say pick up your keys, put them down, pick up the leash, put it down. to desensitize.

Candy:

I'll do that stuff. If I in particular have a dog with separation anxiety, I will not or like if it stays at like with tank. He has a little bit of separation anxiety. Fortunately, what he does is he'll go into the trash can in the bathrooms and tear it up or he'll tear up a toilet paper roll every once in a–

Candy:

he

Meaghan:

That's how he shows his anxiousness. Okay.

Candy:

If my husband is staying home and I'm leaving the house, I'll say goodbye to him.

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Candy:

If my husband is not, just so I don't amp him up, I don't. Yeah, I try not to.

Meaghan:

That's smart.

Meaghan:

I think I'm creating my own problems with my dogs and actually none of them have– I don't think any

Meaghan:

of them have separation anxiety.

Candy:

Yeah. That could also be like not separation anxiety exactly, but sometimes it could just We build excitement in them.

Meaghan:

Yeah.

Candy:

Before we like close the curtain.

Meaghan:

Well, when I like every time I leave my house. I go kiss each one on the forehead.

Candy:

Oh my God.

Meaghan:

And I'm like, I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. And I say bye, like, 13 times. I'm probably making it worse.

Candy:

Oh, wow. I would be anxious.

Meaghan:

yeah. So I have something wrong with...

Meaghan:

I just don't know why

Meaghan:

I'm single.

Meaghan:

Just kidding

Candy:

Want us to talk a little bit about some of my fosters. Yes, they're funny. But we've had a few gems that are just like, they make you laugh so hard. And they're so smart to like, think of fosters as the mutts that nobody wants.

Meaghan:

Aw,

Candy:

That is so not the case. So I think I spoke about Blackjack maybe in a previous episode where I talked about this dog that lived his whole life. He weighed about forty five pounds. He lived his whole life outdoors. So when he came to our home, he wouldn't even walk inside the door because he touched the wood floor and he just didn't know what to do with it.

Candy:

He was very scared. So what we did was we laid out some towels along because we realized when we got him inside he was fine on the carpet, yeah, but not on the other flooring. So what we did is on the wood floors we spread out towels and then we did like a hot dog with little pieces of hot dog trained, yeah, And when he got comfortable with going on the towels and you remove the towel and you spread them outside, he'd have to do one step every once in a while on the wood floor. So we did this and it only took a few days for him to pick it up and then he was fine. So you would think he's like a scaredy cat but he wasn't.

Candy:

He was so good. He was mostly good. One day our neighbor's chicken chickens are not supposed fly over eight feet. They have an eight foot fence.

Meaghan:

Haha supposed to.

Meaghan:

I know where we're going with this

Candy:

Right. They have a special chicken that was able to jump over and Blackjack goes to the chicken and Tank not wanting to get in trouble. We have them on video and Tank sees him go for the chicken and Tank goes to the other side of the yard and the chicken was gone in two seconds. It's a 45 pound dog and the chicken.

Candy:

It was over in a minute. That was also Blackjack. And then one night before we go to bed, I'm sure many people you let your dogs out right before you go to bed, last call, your potty break and everything. So we did all that and I can't remember if Blackjack went out there and was just distracted and didn't do his business or he didn't go out at all, whatever. And we I'm like, whatever, go to bed.

Candy:

And I hear something going on a little bit later and I get up to I was like, I think I know what I'm hearing. And I get up to go check. He had to use the bathroom and what he did is he went in our shower

Candy:

and tinkled down the drain.

Candy:

I was like, that is so much better than on the carpet. It's smart.

Meaghan:

He tried. Who taught him that? Joey.

Candy:

Remember? Remember? This is a dog that had never lived indoors before. So it's like, yes.

Meaghan:

You really want me for a dog Yes. I agree.

Meaghan:

Who has never been in and I bet you it has something to do with he really knows not having been allowed indoors He really knows that pottying is outside. I gotta get Dola peeing in the sink that's what I'm–

Candy:

No. Bath.

Meaghan:

Shower drain. Maybe? Not sink. Not sink. Shower drain.

Meaghan:

Or just outside. Or outside. It's gotten better.

Candy:

Good.

Meaghan:

Yeah, it's gotten better.

Candy:

But he was so like he was so he came in scared. He immediately showed how smart he was. Yeah. And then what I noticed this was during COVID. I also noticed that I would be in meetings had these two mirrors on the side of the wall because I was intending to hang them in the house and while I'm on this call I see him fidgeting alongside me here and I look over and he is just crossing his paws and looking at himself in one mirror and then he waited a second and looked himself in the other mirror

Candy:

and I'm

Candy:

like, you are so cute.

Candy:

You're so smartly.

Meaghan:

You have a vein dog.

Candy:

That's a mirror.

Candy:

video just like looking at her.

Meaghan:

Oh my goodness.

Candy:

if we had been further along in the foster journey, I think Joey would have had me adopt her. Joey loved I didn't know until after, she was getting adopted that he Joey had an interest in him at all.

Meaghan:

That was convenient. Just joking.

Meaghan:

He was a fun dog. That's great.

Candy:

Yeah.

Meaghan:

Well, I

Meaghan:

know we were trying to keep this one a little short. So I think we've got to wrap it up. But this was fun. We should definitely throw this in more often. I feel like

Candy:

I want to hear stories from our subscribers. I love to hear your funny stories. I've heard some like nightmare stories. Send them in, share them. We'd love to have them on the we'd love to, you know, tell your stories on the show.

Meaghan:

Absolutely. and you can email us at the thebark@lawssavingpaws.org. Visit lawssavigpaws.org get ah old of us somewhere on there. We are also on Facebook and Instagram. Just find us.

Meaghan:

Just use Google. We're here.

Candy:

We'd love to hear from you.

Meaghan:

Yes, thank you guys so much. We'll catch you next time.