Petspace Podcast

Episode 19 - Kelsey Darragh

Wallis Annenberg PetSpace

Sometimes, the rescue world can be heavy. But today’s guest – creator, filmmaker, and author Kelsey Darragh – somehow captures the most magical moments, especially with her ever rotating cast of foster dogs. Admittedly, Kelsey was a pro at saying goodbye… until Hippo came along. She shares how one dog seemingly changed her life for nothing but the best and how she continues to champion for her foster dogs with the help of one squatty, crop-eared nugget by her side. 

On this episode of the PetSpace Podcast, Kelsey talks about why animal shelters are a great place to make friends, how fostering is good for your mental health, and why it took her so much longer than everyone else to realize that she and Hippo were meant for each other.

For more from Kelsey and Hippo, follow Kelsey on Instagram and TikTok and check out her book, Don’t F*cking Panic: The Sh*t They Don’t Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression.


The Petspace Podcast is:
Hosted by Catie Voglio,
Recorded & Edited by Roger Gomez,
Produced by Cameron Kell,
To learn more about Wallis Annenberg Petspace visit us at our website annenbergpetspace.org

[PODCAST MUSIC FADES IN]


CATIE: 

Welcome to the PetSpace Podcast. Sometimes, the rescue world can be heavy, but today’s guest—creator, filmmaker, and author, Kelsey Darragh—somehow captures the most magical moments, especially with her foster guests. Admittedly, Kelsey was a pro at saying goodbye… until there was Hippo. She shares how one dog seemingly changed her life for nothing but the best, and now, she continues to champion for her foster dogs with the help of one squatty, crop-eared nugget by her side. Kelsey was an absolute blast to have on, and it was refreshing to hear how being involved in dog rescue helps her mental health. And honestly, having Kelsey on today, without a doubt, helped mine too. Good vibes are infectious, and the rescue world is lucky to have the amazing duo of Kelsey and Hippo in it. So, get ready to smile and laugh: please welcome Kelsey Darragh!


[PODCAST MUSIC FADES OUT]


CATIE: 

Kelsey Darragh. 


KELSEY: 

Hello!


CATIE: 

Welcome to the pod—the PetSpace Podcast! We’re in the studio—


KELSEY: 

Oh my God, how fun is that to say?


CATIE: 

The PetSpace Podcast! 


KELSEY: 

PetSpace Podcast!


CATIE: 

Thanks for joining us in the studio!


KELSEY: 

Thank you for having me, I love it here already.


CATIE: 

Of course. We are so happy to have you, because you are a dog person.


KELSEY: 

Lover. Lover! Animal person, but specifically, I do love my dogs. 


CATIE:  

Yeah, like from the get go—


KELSEY: 

Yeah.


CATIE: 

We want to take it way back. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, sure. 


CATIE: 

So, when did this wild obsession for—it, was it a gradual build? Or did you like, hop on in?


KELSEY: 

No. My whole life, I've been an animal lover. I would say it definitely came from my dad. I had pets growing up all the time; I was always like, I knew if I went to my mom, she'd say no, but if I went to my dad, I’d be like, “We’ve got to save this gerbil from PetSmart!” and he'd be like, “Alright, yeah, let's go get it.” [laughs]


CATIE: 

Yeah, we definitely have to. Like, “Here we go.” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

And he worked in the horse business before I was ever born, so he definitely instilled all of that, like, animal-lover energy into me, which—it's so funny now, looking back, but I don't know if you've ever known anyone like this, and I don't mean to throw my mom under the bus, but my mom kind of hated animals. She had a puppy stolen from her when she was a teenager, and I think it just like—


CATIE: 

Childhood trauma? [laughs]


KELSEY: 

—traumatized her. It was like, the opposite of, like, getting attacked by a dog. It was like, the thing she loved was taken from her, and I think that just stuck with her. Like, she—no animals for the rest of her life. Even when she had kids, she was like very, “Ugh, if you take—get it, like, you and your dad are gonna have to take care of it,” and [mimics chatter].


CATIE: 

Well, because if you don't have one, you can't lose one.


KELSEY: 

Exactly! Until the kids left for college, and we grew up, and she got that empty-nester syndrome or whatever—


CATIE: 

And then what did she fill it with?


KELSEY: 

She got a doodle. 


CATIE: 

Oh, God. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

She got a doodle, who she will tell you she loves more than her children. She has no problem telling you.


CATIE: 

Full-send doodle lover. 


KELSEY: 

Loves! Didn't ask me for my—when I tell you, she—she surprised me by getting an animal, I was shocked. I was like, “Why would you—you don't like pets!”


CATIE: 

No consult.


KELSEY: 

No! No consult—on the breed, nothing. She went—


CATIE: 

Would you have tried to talk her out of it? Would you've been like, “Mom, you don't even like animals, why are you doing this?” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

She doesn’t even like—and, a DOODLE, of all animals? Are you crazy? Like, I would have gone so many different rounds of helping her find a breed that is more “her—”


CATIE: 

Suitable?


KELSEY: 

—but let me tell you, that dog and her are like… unbreakable bond. So it's, it’s an—everybody, all my family, is rescue dogs. The medical problems, the funky ones—


CATIE: 

Layer on layer on layer of animal people. 


KELSEY: 

Yes. 


CATIE: 

So, when did you branch out into Kelsey’s world of dogs; like, “Now I’m ready?”


KELSEY: 

Aww, yeah. 


CATIE: 

Family. Yeah, sure, love, love, love; it's in me, but how did you get to that point where you're like, “Dogs are going to be a part of MY life?” 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, yeah. I always thought I was gonna be a cat person because of my lifestyle. I like, travel a lot, and—for work, like, you know, I was worried that getting a dog, I wouldn't be home enough. And so, I thought I was a cat lady, and I always tell this story: I worked—when I first moved into a college it—down in the South, I went to a shelter and was just like, “I don't have any friends and I have nothing to do.” So I went to the shelter, and… yeah. [laughs]


CATIE: 

Same! [laughs] I might do that too every time I move, so—got it.


KELSEY: 

Honestly. It's a great way to meet people and socialize, or if you're someone that's actually kind of antisocial, it's a great place to also be. 


CATIE:  

Yeah. 


KELSEY: 

It's whatever you make it, but I would always foster pits, because pitties down in the South are just, like, dumped left and right. And so, I knew I loved pitties, but I—again, like, wasn't home enough to, to be able to have one of my own. And it wasn't until I came to LA, and I always tell this story: as soon as I moved here, I went to Burbank Animal Shelter, and I was like, “I'm gonna volunteer, I'm going to put my work in.” I worked there for two weeks, I got two cats, I had to stop. [laughs]


CATIE: 

It's funny, cat people really add ‘em in quick. 


KELSEY: 

[laughs] Too quick.


CATIE: 

Like there's no real barrier—


KELSEY: 

No. 


CATIE: 

—to cat entry into a home. [laughs]


KELSEY:   

No. And I was like, “I can't be here.” It was my first kill shelter I had worked at, like, I was not prepared. I thought I, I knew what I was doing; I did not. 


CATIE: 

The emotional toll—


KELSEY: 

Yeah. So I was—


CATIE: 

—resulted in two cats. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Two cats, two weeks. And that was right when I moved out here. So, I've got my two boys at home: Larry and Leo. They're edging around 13 years old now. 


CATIE: 

Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah.


KELSEY: 

My—my gentleman. But it wasn't until I went through a really, like, stressful time in my life—and I had always fostered dogs throughout, because I knew with work I could do a little bit at a time here and there—but it wasn't until I was going through a breakup of five years with my ex-boyfriend that I was like, fostering this dog; he was perfect, and I said, “I think I'm finally ready. Like, I need that thing in my life.”


CATIE: 

How many dogs were there before “The One?” 


KELSEY: 

“The One?” Well, I—it's so funny, because I had fostered about… I think it was seven or eight—


CATIE: 

Oh, that's a healthy—that’s—


KELSEY: 

—I think he was my ninth. Yeah, I was good at this!


CATIE: 

Yeah!


KELSEY: 

I was like, “Bring ‘em in; get ‘em out! I'm here to just coach ‘em.”


CATIE: 

Sure, you’re just the facilitator.  


KELSEY: 

Just the—just the teacher in-between. But it was—


CATIE: 

Yeah, and were they always—because it seems like you like, like, that pittie-type dog. Were they always a pittie-like dog, or—? 


KELSEY:   

The chonks? They were always like, the—the beefier breeds. So like the, the pitties; the Staffies; I had like, a Boxer mix in there; the bulldogs— 


CATIE: 

When I was fostering—to avoid the keeping, I'd always go for like, the ones where I'd be like, “I'm never getting that's definitely not my type, so I’ll never keep it.” So it— 


KELSEY: 

[laughs] That's a good reverse! 


CATIE: 

Yeah! Because I don't want this weird little thing that's in my home! 


KELSEY:   

No! 


CATIE:  

That was always my go-to, so it's funny that you like, almost were like, edging. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yeah, I was like, “I know what I want; I gotta get to another breed…”


CATIE: 

We’ll get there eventually. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yeah, and—and it really was like, a trial-and-error, because as much as I love a Bulldog, that spit… [cringes] I just—


CATIE: 

Yeah, that spit is…


KELSEY:

—I have hardwood floors, and the water dripping… And I'm like, “Y'all are nearly perfect. You are nearly a perfect dog.”


CATIE: 

Yep. 


KELSEY: 

But the—it—so it was kind of, in a way, trialing and erroring what kind of dog was perfect for me. And my first foster in Los Angeles, Barry—that was the Boxer mix—was the hardest one to let go. Like—


CATIE: 

Well, the first one always has to be, yeah. 


KELSEY: 

Always the first one. And I was like—after that I was like, “Okay, I gotta change the mindset. It has to just be fostering. Like I cannot get that attached again.” So like—


CATIE: 

Yeah. Well, you did it the first time, like—


KELSEY: 

Yes, got through—


CATIE: 

“Whew, cool. Got that out of the way, survived—”


KELSEY: 

Yes, exactly.


CATIE: 

“—only slight mental breakdown—” 


KELSEY: 

And what is it with everybody like, around you? Everyone in your life is like, “You gotta keep it!”


CATIE: 

Oh yeah, they're—they're such, they're—they don't get it.


KELSEY: 

I'm like, “Shut up! NO!”


CATIE: 

Yeah—“Guys, hello? There's a big problem here.” 


KELSEY: 

I'm trying to help!


CATIE: 

Do you feel like people understand that they're—you are part of—you’re a solution-based person—


KELSEY: 

No, of course not. Um, I think—


CATIE: 

—and they're… like, do they even know there's a problem? Do you feel like LA people know that there is a problem; there are too many dogs?


KELSEY: 

No. Absolutely not. I don't think the world knows—until we have only ethical breeding, like, Europe's got it figured out, like the other places in the world have done this. It sounds a lot like—you know, with the problem we have with guns, but I won't go there. But it's like, I don't think until we eradicate like, the core problem of the breeding and the unethical amount of dogs that are bred, I don't think we'll have a control—no one will really understand how bad it is. 


CATIE: 

Yeah. And you're kind of a person about town, like you—right?


KELSEY: 

[laughs] Thank you!


CATIE: 

I mean, I’m gonna just throw—I’ll call you that. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

No, go on! [laughs]


CATIE: 

Like you—you know, you’re places, and you now, like—oh, we’ll get back to your dog!


KELSEY: 

Sure.


CATIE: 

But you’re with a dog that you can actually go places with, and when, when people say, “Oh, you foster?” Like, do you have to like, explain it to people? Do they *get* it—like, the reason why I foster is, there's a problem. Like, what is the reaction within your peer group of people, like, really, fully comprehending this?


KELSEY: 

Yeah. Yes. I think I'm lucky now that I have a lot of people in my life that also are fosters. I've met so many great people through, like, even social media and stuff, that are like—they reinforce what we're doing with fostering, so I feel like now I've gotten a good handle on it, but I think when I explain to people the issue and what fostering can do to help, they're always so surprised. Like, as soon as I hit him with any facts or like—


CATIE: 

Pull—pull out your, your data. 


KELSEY: 

Right? Yes!


CATIE: 

You’re like, “Hold on, let me get the, the data out!” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

The receipts are here! And also just like, what fostering actually is and how anyone can do it, because so many people don't think they can that like—and don't get me wrong, some people shouldn't, but people that are interested in it *can,* and I think once they hear the realities of it, it's like, “Oh my God, no. I had no idea that it was so gnarly.” 


CATIE: 

Wild, yeah. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah. And I think that's like, a lot of the point of what I do with social media, too, is just to show people the myths versus realities of like, fostering. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, it's like a, “Where it started/how it's going; you can be a piece of this too,” but—


KELSEY: 

Yeah.


CATIE: 

But to your point, a lot—like, we have a lot of people come in here, whether it's through corporate volunteer groups to PetSpace, or all these different things, and they just go, “Oh, these come from another place? Like, where do you get these animals?” and I'm like, “These lovely animals had two days to live from, you know, wherever they came— whatever shelter they came from,” and they're like, “Wow, I just had no idea.” So it's this “ignorance is bliss” [thing] and I'm like, “I wish I could go back to that, but…” [laughs]


KELSEY:  

And, I get it. In the world, there's—we live in such a… poopoo world right now. [laughs] I’m trying to censor myself.


CATIE: 

Yeah, that’s accurate. [laughs] 


KELSEY: 

That like, it is overwhelming to try and think of all the social causes. Like, I find that I become overwhelmed when I open up like, Twitter, and I found that my social justice actually brings me a lot of joy and not stress, and so, I totally get if people are like—because we even talked about it off-camera, like there's an overwhelming, like, sadness too, and like, anger in this community that can become draining and overwhelming, where it's like, if you think about all the horrors that are happening to animals, it becomes overwhelming, and so, I totally get when people are a little bit like, “out of sight, out of mind,” with it.


CATIE: 

“Too sad, don't want to think about it, thank you!”


KELSEY: 

Yeah, but there's a balance!


CATIE: 

Yes. 


KELSEY: 

Like, there's a beautiful balance of like, doing what you can, and showing up in a way that is healthy for you. Like, if this stressed me out, I wouldn’t be doing it.


CATIE: 

You wouldn't be here talking about it.


KELSEY: 

No! And it does sometimes, like—God, yeah, I come home and there's poop on the walls, and you're like, “How did you even get it over there?” Yeah, that's stressful for five minutes. But then I'm like, it’s—


CATIE: 

“But you're still real cute.” [laughs]


KELSEY:  

Yeah, “You're so cute. You bring me a stupid amount of joy that, like, nothing else in my life brings me, so it's worth it,” you know? 


CATIE: 

Yeah. Okay, so back to Hippo…


KELSEY: 

Let's talk about the baby!


CATIE: 

I remember seeing the video that you posted of this dog—


KELSEY: 

Oh, no way! So cool.


CATIE: 

—before I knew of you. To be honest, I was just like, “Oh, how is this—” and I'm not one of those people who's like, “Keep the dog, you're—keep it!” And I was like, “Oh my God, how is she gonna give that up?” That is a near—first of all, even with the snot, and all the medical problems that I could see—


KELSEY: 

Oh my God, all those problems…


CATIE: 

—I was like, “I don't—I don't think I could give that up.” So, tell us how Hippo came into your life. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, absolutely. So, I was—you know, m—I had moved into this new place that had a backyard, and I was so excited because I, I knew now I could foster bigger dogs. And so, I was doing my, you know, nightly social media scrolling. And I follow—I'm sure you know her, she's an amazing pet photographer and advocate—Rita Blackwell. 


CATIE:   

She was on our podcast! 


KELSEY: 

Stop it!


CATIE: 

Kelsey, go back a few episodes. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Oh my God, I absolutely will! Shoutout to Rita. She reposted a video of Hippo that she had taken, a bunch of pictures, saying SOS, like, “He has ‘til Friday; the euth[anasia] list,” and I don't know if you're this way too, but I just—when I see an animal, I get an instant, like, knowing, from the universe. 


CATIE: 

Yeah. It’s a—it’s like a third eye, a sixth sense.


KELSEY: 

Yes! Because there’s so many dogs that I'm like, “Oh my God, I wish I could foster.” I just know, and Hippo was one that I looked, and I was like, “That's my foster.” And I reached out to every rescue because he was rescue-only, not because of behavioral, but because of medical. 


CATIE: 

He literally had snots dripping from that cute little face—


KELSEY: 

One eye works, infected peepee—I mean, crust—


CATIE: 

You could see it through the bars. Like, I was like, “Oh, that is a—”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] A crusty boy!


CATIE: 

—I remember seeing him too, because I love a cute, chunky pittie, and I was like, “Oh, that is a hot mess!”


KELSEY: 

That boy was yeasty, crease-ty, crusty, musty—


CATIE: 

All the “–sty”s. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

All the “–sty”s. And I reached out to every rescue I could, and believe it or not, I got so many “No”s, and not that they didn't want to help, but they were like, “We are overrun, we are in debt—” 


CATIE: 

“We already have five of those: crusty, musty, dusty—” 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, and a lot of the problem—a lot of the times, the problem is they don't have a foster to take in dogs, and I was like, “Guys! I’m telling you, I’m—I will do this!”


CATIE: 

“I will do it, I’ll take him! I volunteer as tribute!” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

[laughs] I volunteer as tribute! And so, I got one of—one of the rescues I love working with—I Stand With My Pack—they said, “All right, if you can do it, we'll pull ‘em.” And I was—I remember waiting for like 24 hours, not knowing, and that period is always so stressful, or especially when you comment, like, “Hey, does—any updates? Like do we know what happened?” And I just remember them reaching out and being like, “Okay, we pulled him.”


CATIE: 

“We’re going,” like he’s—


KELSEY: 

Yeah—“got it, you can pick him up tomorrow,” and I just remember being like [gasps] “Oh my God, we did it.” And we actually had so many people reach out and donate to be able to facilitate the pull.


CATIE: 

Aww, good.


KELSEY: 

Yeah, like people from Just Food For Dogs and advocates through their community. Like, just—it just felt like a community effort. Like, big names and people were, were reposting him and stuff; it just felt really cool. And so, I went and picked him up; he went to the vet for an overnight visit, because he was messed up—


CATIE: 

Yeah, he—he needed at least that. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

And I remember him coming around the corner, and I will never forget: I was shocked at how small he was. Like, that's the first comment everyone says when they meet him in person, because he gets recognized everywhere we go—


CATIE: 

Like [an] LA celebrity. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

—cannot go anywhere without someone recognizing him. And that's the first thing everyone says, is like, “Oh my God, he's so much smaller than he looked.”


CATIE: 

Yeah, like micro-pittie; exotic bully—


KELSEY: 

Yes! And I think that part of the problem of why he wasn't also getting adopted was, in the shelter, his shelter name was “Spike.”


CATIE: 

Oh, I hate that.


KELSEY: 

I hate that! He was not a “Spike!” [laughs]


CATIE: 

[laughs] Or, you know, when it's like “Thrasher,” and you're like, “Guys, uhh—”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] “Violent chewer of animals—” also, I just pulled out a cereal bar from the back of my pocket, sorry about that.


CATIE: 

Oh, wow. Bonus! [laughs] It’s okay.


KELSEY: 

[laughs] And I just remember being like—his, his shelter photo, he looks a disaster; looks like this big, beefy, 80 pound—he was 40 pounds when I got him. 


CATIE: 

Aww, that's like a nugget.


KELSEY: 

That is a nugget! And so, I just remember being like, “Oh my God, he's so little,” and then I took them outside to pee, and he peed on about everything. 


CATIE: 

Perfect. 


KELSEY: 

Every tree, everything. He just had to pee so bad. And then I put him in the back of this car, and I had one of those—like, the backseat cover hammocks? 


CATIE: 

The hammocks, yeah.


KELSEY: 

Yeah, and I—Oh God, I'll even cry thinking about it. I just remember he like, put—posed his head right up on the hammock and was just like, “I'm here.”


CATIE: 

“Hello.” [laughs] Aww.


KELSEY: 

“I'm ready. Let's go home.” And I just remember like, kind of putting my hand back and putting his chin in my hand, and I like, took him home. And my boyfriend at the time was out of town, so I remember—


CATIE: 

That's the best way to do it, guys. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yeah. I was like, “You don't need to know.” And I took a video and I was like, “Surprise! We got another foster!” and I took a bunch of videos to send to my boyfriend at the time being like, “Oh my God, he's perfect!” Like, he doesn’t bark; he doesn’t lick—


CATIE:   

Mute, non-licker. 


KELSEY: 

He brings—he plays—he already has “fetch” built-in.


CATIE: 

Yeah.


KELSEY: 

Like, he knows—I taught him “sit,” like, he is perfect. And so, I have all these videos of his first day at home, of him just like, being absolutely the best ham sandwich of all time. And like, ever—like you, everyone who saw that video was like, “That's your dog.”


CATIE:  

Yeah, it was like, magical. I was like, “Wow, I see a lot of these,” right? Like, I see too many of these, and I was just like, “This is…it's perfect!”


KELSEY:

Yes! He chose—he like, literally chose me and was like, “Okay, Mom.” And I was like, “Okay, foster. I’m gonna just keep calling you a foster,” and he was like, “Okay Mom, however long it takes you.” And, oh my God, I was so stressed out, because I was going through this breakup of five years; he was moving out; we had just gotten this place, big place together with a big backyard, and I was like, “Oh, great. Now you're gonna leave me?” And I was so stressed, and we had so many conversations about, “Should we keep him? Should we not?” And I was like, “We can't, we can't, we can't,” and HE more importantly was like, “You can't, you can't, you can't—” 


CATIE: 

Right. 


KELSEY: 

And I was like, “Yeah, you're right, you're right. It's just a foster; it’s just a foster.” And then I remember towards the end, when it was really time for us to break up, we spent a month apart. Like the last month, we spent separately; separate houses, and I just remember being like, “I only have this dog, and me.”


CATIE: 

Yeah. 


KELSEY: 

And I'm crying all the time; I've got snot coming out of my nose, he's got snot coming out of his nose all the time—


CATIE: 

Snot twins. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Like—he had to have surgery, so he—he was just a mess, and I was a mess. I could barely get out of bed; he could barely get out of the crate, and I just remember during that month of us both, like, healing together, that I was like, “Oh, yeah.”


CATIE: 

Like slow progression—like, his bandages come off; you feel a little brighter—


KELSEY: 

My bandages were coming off, yeah. And like—I'll never forget: there was a family that was supposed to adopt him, and the day before they were supposed to come meet him, they canceled. And I was like, “Okay… [mimics The Twilight Zone theme] That’s a little weird, but alright.” And they said, “Well that’s okay, we have—the next guy on the list is really gonna—REALLY wants to adopt him.”


CATIE: 

Well yeah, because I’m sure over like… what, two months of having Hippo, you were having all of this viral success with this cute-as-hell dog, so—


KELSEY: 

Yes, yes! People were like, “I want him—”


CATIE: 

I can’t imagine they didn’t have a million applications for this animal.


KELSEY: 

A MILLION applications. A million. And the virality, like—it was amazing, but I knew it was going to end when he left. I was like, “Well, I’m just gonna keep posting as much as I can, because someone—the perfect person needs to adopt  this dog.”


CATIE: 

Find this dog, yeah.


KELSEY: 

Yeah. And then—so they were like, “No worries, we’ve got another guy. Let's connect you—”


CATIE: 

[laughs] “Line ‘em up.”


KELSEY: 

Yeah. And so, they put us on a text thread, and I'll never forget the moment—-it was about two and a half, three months in—and I was sitting at a boba shop, and I had Hippo with me, and the guy texted and he was like, “I'm coming, I'm about an hour away, and if I—if we get along, I'll take him tonight. I’ll take him tonight.” And GIRL, when I tell you: I lost my SHIT! I lost my shit like I never have—like, I was like—[mimics choking]


CATIE: 

Like, “Is this a real panic attack?” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

[laughs] And I went home and I just started bawling. 


CATIE: 

The people at the boba shop were like, “911?” 


KELSEY:  

They loved Hippo! They had met him; they were used to me coming in every week with him, they LOVED him, oh my God. And they were like, “Are you okay?” and I was like, [crying] “I—I don’t—I’ll be back.” 


CATIE: 

“I’ll take that to go.”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] “Take it to go—” and I called the owner of the rescue, and I was like, “Hey, I don’t think he can go. I think I need to keep him.” And—Alex, God bless her—she was literally like, “Yeah, Kelsey! We told you this was your dog!” [laughs]


CATIE: 
[laughs] Duh! “Oh, you mean the animal that’s helped you get through a horrendous heartbreak and has been perfect since the day you got him and the two of you have completely changed lives together? Oh, yes, that’s yours. Yep.”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] “Yeah, that one?” Then she was like, “Yeah, no. It’s no problem; like, we’ll call the guy,” and it was so sweet. They called him for me so I didn’t have to like, break the news—


CATIE: 

Oh, that’s nice that you didn’t have to break the news. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, and he texted me right away and he was like “Hey, I just talked to Alex. Congratulations—”


CATIE: 

Well yeah! If anyone saw your videos, I’m sure they were like, “I was shocked that I was even given a chance to apply for this animal.”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] Yes! Yes. And like—of course I felt so bad, like I was taking this animal away from someone, but at this point it was like, even he was saying, “Yeah, that’s your dog.”


CATIE: 

Yeah, yeah. Like “Okay, makes sense.”


KELSEY: 

And I'll never forget—I caught it on camera because my friend was videotaping—as soon as I called the rescue, Hippo was outside with my friend playing in the yard, and then, for some strange reason, he ran back in the house and he jumped on my lap. 


CATIE:  

Aww!


KELSEY: 

And I was still on the phone with them, and he like, jumped into my lap, and I just lost it. 


CATIE: 

It was just—he was like, “I knew you’d figure this out, Mom!”


KELSEY: 

He was like, “You ready? Okay!” and since then, it's been like, the best thing I ever did in my life. And I still tell people like, my biggest reservation with adopting him was that I wouldn't foster anymore—girl, that wasn’t even true. If anything, it just gave me more of a reason! 


CATIE: 

And how’s that going? Yeah. [laughs]  


KELSEY: 

If anything, I was like, “I have a perfect dog to socialize fosters with!” [laughs]


CATIE:   

That is so lucky!


KELSEY: 

SO lucky!


CATIE: 



Like, I do say, on this—like, my next round of dogs as my herd thins, you know—I went through my like, early 20s rescue phase where I was like, “Give me the worst dogs!”


KELSEY: 

Yep. Yep.


CATIE: 

—and now I'm like, “I can't wait to have an incredible, well-balanced dog that I can do what you're doing.” Like—


KELSEY: 

Yeah, multiples. Yeah.


CATIE: 

Yeah! You're so fortunate to have this like, wonderful breed ambassador, first of all— 


KELSEY: 

Yes! Yes, truly. 


CATIE: 

—still such a nugget, so small, but he's kind of a really great reflection of what's out there now?


KELSEY: 

Oh my God, yeah!


CATIE: 

It's not all humongous beefcakes that weigh 80 pounds—


KELSEY: 

Like… XL bully, exotic, like, fight/protection dogs.


CATIE: 

Yeah! Yeah, it’s kind of this cool mix of like—it's unfortunate, the lack of spay/neuter resources, but there's like these, you know, there's these weird mixes and these tiny pocket pits that, strangely, humans have made now, but kind of are really lovely, besides all the health issues—


KELSEY:  

Yeah, oh my God. Yeah. So docile—I mean, yeah, you can't find one without an allergy problem, but that's just the nature of bully breeds, too. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, that—that’s what you’re getting into, people. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, but it's so true. Like, I always say when people meet hippo that are afraid of dogs, they walk away no longer afraid of dogs—


CATIE:  

Yeah!


KELSEY: 

—because you get the most—I mean, he beefy! He beefy boy; we got him up about 18 pounds from adoption. 


CATIE: 

Okay, good. Yeah. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, he's big boy now. And he muscle! And I—sometimes I throw on the gold chain on him and a lot—listen, he could look a little—a little rough. 


CATIE: 

A little intimidating. It’s the big dog effect; you can walk at night, feeling okay—


KELSEY: 

Yes! Yes. And that’s another big reason why I got him, because I was like, “Oh Lord, if anyone actually knew how much of a baby you are—”


CATIE: 

Yeah. Same.


KELSEY:  

—they’d rob us both. But I always say that I’m like—he is such a perfect species of breed to take away that stigma and that myth, and people will always go like, “Oh, I’m—I’m not so sure. Oh, these big—these guys are mean,” and “These guys are aggressive,” and then they’ll be like—by the end of the conversation, they’ll be like, “I just don’t know why they get such a bad rap!” I’m like, “Oh yeah? Really?”


CATIE: 

[laughs] And that’s all it took: a twenty minute convo and a couple pets and a cuddle—


KELSEY: 

Yeah, and he sits on their feet, and he knows. He always goes to the people that are most afraid—


CATIE: 

A real charmer!


KELSEY: 

He can sense it and so, you know, he’s, he’s the perfect—you’re so right, and he is like the perfect breed advocate of just like, showing what a dog can really be if you show them the respect and love that they need, and—yeah. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, yeah. Totally. So the new fosters—or, who have you been fostering lately, or are you still taking the approach of, things that you’d really like but don’t have room for, or? [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Oh, my God. So my—my first foster after Hippo was Yogi. Yogi, if you can imagine, was worse off than Hippo. 


CATIE: 

Oh, Jesus. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yeah. Yogi was a micro, *micro* bully, so an XS. And he was—I did a DNA test on him, and he was like 52% Staffy and like, thirty Frenchie, and like, two percent—I don’t even know. He was a—a ham sandwich. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, a tiny one!


KELSEY: 

Yeah, 25 pounds, so he was even smaller. Clipped ears, infections, hypo—no, what’s it called? Cerebellar hypoplasia, the “sploot” disease—


CATIE: 

Oh, yeah. Yeah.


KELSEY: 

—where they just give up walking halfway through walking, and they just [noise].


CATIE: 

Okay, so now you have a 25 pound weight to carry around! [laughs]


KELSEY: 

[laughs] Peeing on himself, crud—scabs all over—was found in the middle of a dirt road in Apple Valley, of course, where they’re breeding them up there. And he was a DISASTER, and—I mean, I remember bring—going to pick him up front he vet, and he stunk SO bad, I was like, “Yo—” [laughs]


CATIE:

“First step is a bath.” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

First step is a bath! [laughs] And we took him to the vet, and they were like, “Yeah, no. He’s got everything wrong that you could have wrong, and like, you’re gonna be on antibiotics forever—”


CATIE: 

Forever, and for the rest of your life. 


KELSEY: 

“—and he needs physical therapy three times a week,” and of course the physical therapy office is 45 minutes away from my house, and you know, but I tell you what: that dog taught me so much about resilience and love of life. Like, arguably, that dog maybe could have been put down in another life, that it would have been more careful—


CATIE: 

Just quality of life, yeah.


KELSEY: 

Yeah, it could have been helpful, but watching him go do the little aqua therapy—


CATIE: 

The treadmill! [laughs]


KELSEY: 

GIRL—and anywhere I brought him, people just died over him, just absolutely—and don’t get me wrong, he was not easy. When they have the [hypoplasia], they just kinda like, run into things, they knock things over, they pee on themselves—


CATIE: 

They’re wobbly—


KELSEY: 

—they wobble, yeah. And he needed a lot of training, but if he got on some turf, you know, or some carpet—


CATIE: 

He would be like, “Nyoom!” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

A different dog, like a laser beam! And him and Hippo just loved each other. They would share a ball, you know, the classic two mouths on one ball, and just go back and forth for hours. I'd have to take it out and be like, “Alright, you two—” 


CATIE: 

“Okay, break it up.” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yes, like “This is a fixation issue!” [laughs] But he was the closest I had come— 


CATIE: 

Oh, God, it would have been back-to-back! [laughs] 


KELSEY: 

[laughs] It would’ve been back-to-back, and the only reason why I didn't was because of how much I traveled. With something like that, I always said like, “They need an empty nester; a white lady with too much money and time—” 


CATIE: 

Yeah. 


KELSEY: 

—and that's exactly who adopted him.


CATIE:  

Is that who you found? A white lady with too much time? [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was seven months that I had Yogi. 


CATIE: 

Wow! That's a really long time, yeah.


KELSEY: 

That’s a really long time for a foster, but for about four of them, he was recovering. 


CATIE: 

Sure.  


KELSEY: 

He had to have both thumbs amputated because of his, his walking disability. He basically was like, ripping off his own thumbs—


CATIE: 

He wore them down, yeah.


KELSEY: 

And so, just having like, two bloody paws at all times. Like, I always tell the horror story of like, one time I came home and he had pooped and then slid in it—


CATIE: 

Oh, good!


KELSEY: 

—and slid his bloody paws and there was blood and poop on the walls. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, perfect!


KELSEY: 

And I came home, and I was like, “[gasps] What happened?! Did something get in here?” [laughs]


CATIE: 

Okay, but for someone who talks a lot about like, mental health and all of these things, and then you're bringing up—[laughs] like, to me, there's nothing worse than walking into a house full of blood and—


KELSEY: 

Blood and poop? [laughs]


CATIE: 

Walk me through how this has helped you, Kelsey, and your mental health? [laughs]


KELSEY: 

My mental health—I love talking about this, let me—


CATIE: 

For those questioning it, yes.


KELSEY: 

Yeah, this aspect of like, fostering and mental health is like, my Keystone, like, favorite talking point, but my mental health loves to be selfish. When you're having a bad bout of depression or really bad anxiety, it loves to take over your entire being. It loves to take over your social life, your health and fitness; it loves to be like, “Me, me, me, me, ME. Everything's bad, everything's shit—oh, excuse me—everything's poop,” like, it—everything's really stressful and hard, and you're very in your head. You don’t get that luxury when you got pets. 


CATIE: 

Especially when you have a pet smearing blood and poop everywhere. 


KELSEY: 

When you got a medical needs foster, it needs to be fed, it needs medication, it needs accurate exercise, it forces you to take them to physical therapy and talk and interact with people… it gets you so outside of yourself, and especially when you love the dog and you actually like it, and you’re like—


CATIE: 

Bonus!


KELSEY: 

Yeah, you're like, “Alright, yeah, I get something to wake up to,” like people all who have suffered from depression understand like, the—the hardest part about depression sometimes is even just getting out of bed. Like, I don't feel like I have a “why;” like, “Why, what's the point? Like God, look who's in Office, and look at like, the rights we've lost, and look at what's happening in the Middle East,” like it can be, just like, “What's the point?”


CATIE: 

A tidal wave, yeah.


KELSEY: 

A tidal wave. And when I would wake up and like, my eyes would open, I'd be like, “Hippo, Yogi, coffee.”


CATIE: 

Yeah. 


KELSEY:  

“Hippo, Yogi, coffee.” That’s like—


CATIE: 

I'd lay there and be like, “Why? Because I don't want to clean up pee, so I have to wake up now.” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

[laughs] “If I don't get up now, I'm gonna come downstairs to something worse.”


CATIE: 

Yeah. 


KELSEY: 

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Yogi also suffered with, um… M.E? Meso… megoesophagus? 


CATIE: 

Oh, so he was puking all the time?


KELSEY: 

The regurgitation station; puking every time he ate. Luckily, we sorted it out. It wasn't so much M.E. as it was the, um… the core wasn’t strengthened enough?


CATIE: 

Oh, his core muscles—did he have to do some Pilates? [laughs]


KELSEY:  

We had to do—we had to take him to the Pilates studio; he got doggy Pilates. So it was like: puke, shit, blood. That was Yogi.


CATIE: 

The Holy Trinity. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

[laughs] The Holy Trinity! And you, it—saying it out loud, it's like, “Yeah, why would anyone who struggles with depression add that to their list?” Girl, it was the complete opposite. It felt like every day it was curing my insane, like, selfish darkness. It brought so much light, and joy, and levity, and oh my God, that dog was so funny, dude. You could hear him coming a mile away. It would be like, [makes scooting noise] on the floor, just scooting himself along, and he—I got him a stroller at one point, and getting to be *that* lady—


CATIE: 

So you didn’t have to carry him everywhere—


KELSEY: 

[laughs] Yeah! I had the sling, I had the stroller—and then like, if you saw me and Hippo and Yogi out on the town? Girl, we couldn't take five steps.


CATIE: 

You couldn’t make it more than—yeah. 


KELSEY: 

You couldn’t make it more than five steps without somebody just wanting to ask about them—


CATIE: 

You just kinda need a T-shirt that says, “Yes, you can pet him. No, this isn’t my dog. Here’s the website [where] you can adopt him.” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Yeah—yes! [laughs] Girl, I think I need to make that! That’s actually really smart!


CATIE: 

Next foster—you’re welcome, thank—you’re welcome. 


KELSEY: 

I have, like an “Adopt Me” vest, but it never stayed on him. He would be like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa: where’s my legs?” flying across the room, and “let me chew on it.” He also loved to chew on things, oh my God. He chewed on my walls at one point; that was new. I was like, “How did you even—? You know what, let’s just repaint—”


CATIE: 

Aww. “You can barely walk, but somehow you made it to the wall and ate half of it.”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] I was like, “Maybe he’s like, pulling himself around?” But it was so funny to him, and Hippo actually learned how to—Yogi would latch onto a toy, and Hippo would grab the end and pull Yogi across the kitchen, and that’s how he would like, get from Point A to Point B.


CATIE: 

[laughs] It’s like a comedy duo!


KELSEY: 

It really was, and that’s why I say, like, it—it brought—what should have been, like, the worst time in my life? The best, absolute brightest, most joyful moments came from that dog.


CATIE: 

Yeah, right. So like, FYI to those going through a breakup—


KELSEY: 

Get a foster dog!


CATIE: 

Yeah!


KELSEY: 

You don’t need to adopt the dog; in fact, I say DON’T adopt a dog in a tumultuous, trauma[tic] period.


CATIE: 

Yeah, right. Right, right. That's not the time to be making big choices. 


KELSEY:  

That's the time to hire a therapist. 


CATIE: 

Yes. 


KELSEY: 

But go—what goes good with therapy? A therapy dog. 


CATIE: 

Uh, a foster dog that needs you way more than you need to be indulging yourself? [laughs]


KELSEY:  

Yes. Amen, sister. So that's definitely my, like, pro [tip]. And then, we also had Harper, just recently. Harper was a pittie—I think we're doing a story with The Dodo coming out about her—


CATIE: 

Oh, good.


KELSEY: 

—where she was, oh my God, just a gorgeous pittie. Beautiful skin, beautiful eyes, titties hanging to the floor.


CATIE: 

Yeah. Well, she’s—that beautiful skin and eyes made a—probably a couple of beautiful babies. 


KELSEY: 

Yep, litters. And of course, she was the ripe old age of only three, being dumped. The breeding-out age, and those titties—oh my God. I saw them on Instagram, and the thing about Harper was, I watched that video and I got that same feeling. I was actually on a plane flying back from Mexico, and I wasn’t even supposed to have service, but I saw this video pop up—


CATIE: 

Miraculously, the Wi-Fi gods came through. [laughs] Yeah.


KELSEY: 

The Wi-Fi—foster baby gods were like, “Here you go, girl.” And I texted our friend Liam from Dog People [stylized as DOGPPL], which—I work with their rescue, Canine Rescue Club, and I said, “Liam, PLEASE—”


CATIE: 

[laughs] “We got a hot one!”


KELSEY: 

“We got a hot one!” And her little tail—in the videos, she looked so depressed and so sad; she was cowering in the corner. She was barely looking up at the camera, and whoever was talking to her through the, the cage, her little tail just started to lift up.


CATIE: 

Aww.


KELSEY: 

And I said “Lord—that’s all I need to see!” [laughs] And I sent this to Liam and I said, “Please, Liam. Can you help? All we need to do to get her out is a rescue and transport money,” because we already had people in the comments saying, “I’d take her, but I'm in X, Y, or Z,” and Liam, without hesitation, immediately texted me back: “If you pull her and you have an adopter, we’ll—let’s do it, I’ll pay.”


CATIE: 

Great.


KELSEY: 

And I love that man, because he is just as messed up [as] me with how much he loves his medical needs, big chunky-bunky boys. [laughs] And so, [we] went and pulled Harper. She was just, oh my God, the sweetest, absolute Velcro dog. We made her a little makeshift bra at home, we sacked those titties up—


CATIE: 

Aww. Keep ‘em up high. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

“The over-the-shoulder boulder holder” is what we called it. We gave her one of those, and she was adopted by an amazing family all the way in—I wanna say it was like… I’m gonna butcher this; maybe it was Maine? 


CATIE: 

Oh, that’s great!


KELSEY: 

She went to the complete opposite coast. 


CATIE: 

But I think that’s important—


KELSEY: 

Wisconsin! It was Wisconsin, yeah. 


CATIE: 

Oh. Yeah, somewhere up there.


KELSEY: 

Somewhere over there, yeah. Not my—don’t ask me.


CATIE: 

Yeah, geography. But I think that’s something that we all have to kind of come to terms with. Like you, as the foster mom, don't get to see that dog every day. 


KELSEY: 

No.


CATIE: 

And I don't know if you've had this experience, but like, there are some times where the person adopts it, and like, that's the end of communication. 


KELSEY: 

That’s the end. I hate it when that happens.


CATIE: 

It sucks. But it’s also really important to remember, and like, [it’s] a part of the journey that you kind of have to come to terms with, so it’s—but that dog is really great, it went to an amazing family—


KELSEY: 

Amazing family who had lost their pittie a year before, and they were like, “We saw her, and we just knew,” and you can’t argue with that. 


CATIE: 

Yeah.


KELSEY: 

And luckily, even if they’re not on social media, I’ll always reach out, and I still get updates, STILL, from… I would say 99% of my babes.


CATIE: 

Of your fosters? Aww, that’s so nice. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah, it’s just been—I, I could never have seen myself not fostering, ever.


CATIE: 

Right.


KELSEY: 

Like, unless something happened to me.


CATIE: 

So, how does that play into life now? Because, you know— 


KELSEY:  

She workin’. [laughs] Yeah. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, and now you're out there, you’re like, life’s new… Do people get that this is a part of your life? Like, a) you have a man in your life—his name is Hippo—so like, anyone else is coming in at number two right off the bat, and I hope they understand that. 


KELSEY: 

[laughs] Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I got—I got rid of a guy once who was very like, anti-Hippo and Yogi—


CATIE: 

That was my next question is, what happens when you find these people and they’re like, not really a dog person?


KELSEY: 

I'm not gonna say that—listen, as a bisexual person, I'm not gonna say that it's always men, but it's ALWAYS men! When y—women are like—


CATIE: 

[laughs] If the shoe fits…


KELSEY: 

Listen, if, if the shoe fits; you’re so right. But like, women have always been like, “Oh my God, this is so amazing;” they just inherently understand, and men have been the tougher fix, but I'll tell you a funny story. My partner that I’m with now, we moved in together—he moved into my house after we only knew each other, after a month. He doesn't—he's from a different country; he was just supposed to be here for a short amount of time; I had an open room; we went on one date, and I said, “Listen, I have a room—”


CATIE: 

This is a tale as old as time. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

And he was like, “Oh, do you have dogs?” and I was like, “Yes… Green flag?”


CATIE: 

What kind of question is that? Have you been on the Internet? Have you Googled me?


KELSEY: 

Yes. And then, he came over ,and like, seeing them interact—and I was like, “Great. I hope you know, I also foster,” and at that time, Yogi had been with—he, unfortunately, started to have seizures, and so, he went to a medical—like, a seizure foster pro for a month, and then he came back. So, after my partner had moved in, we got Yogi back—


CATIE: 

Bonus. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

—so he got the blood, poop, and puke version. [laughs] And he loved that dog. He was like—oh my god, like, he just melted over him, and I mean, he's like a six [foot] five [inch] athlete—


CATIE: 

Ooh, green flags. 


KELSEY: 

Yeah. And he just had this little dog, like a baby in his arms. And so, I even told him today, I was like, “Listen, I'm gonna do this podcast and you know very well I'm looking for a foster. I'm finally done traveling for Q1, my dad—I'm trying to find a dog for my dad; If I come home with a dog—” and he was like, “Yeah, I know. I know.”


CATIE: 

[laughs] “Great, sounds good!”


KELSEY: 

[laughs] He just KNOWS that he is a part of the process now!


CATIE: 

That's a keeper. 


KELSEY:  

And I genuinely think, like, even if we were to break up and part ways, I bet you he would get into fostering.


CATIE: 

He would keep going with it. 


KELSEY: 

He would keep going with it. 


CATIE: 

It's pretty infectious!


KELSEY: 

IT IS! A disease I love to spread. [laughs]


CATIE: 

Like—yeah. And like, an addiction that’s not so bad?


KELSEY: 

It’s—it’s really not. There are worse things.


CATIE: 

Like s—sign me up. Yeah. 


KELSEY: 

There really are worse things… to be addicted to. 


CATIE: 

That’s kinda how I feel about it is like, the whole rescue thing can be… highs and lows, and that’s probably the addicting part of it, but there are—the, the highs are really great, and—


KELSEY: 

You’re right. I am sober now, and I think the uptick in fostering kinda went after I quit drinking! [laughs]


CATIE: 

Yeah, like the rush. [laughs]


KELSEY: 

It’s my—it’s my healthy high, now. But yeah, it—the fun part about having this be such a big part of also, like, what I do on social media and stuff is, whenever I meet someone or like, catch up with an old friend, they’re like, “What dog do you have now?” like, “Who—do you have any fosters right now? Do you have—which dog—I saw that you had this one,” and, you know, it’s a fun thing to talk about. I, I constantly get to talk about it in my day-to-day life, and just having a dog like Hippo, you inherently get to tell his story over and over and over again, and it's just… yeah, it's something I think—


CATIE: 

Did you ever think—like, if you go back to like, young Kelsey, would you ever be like, “Okay, you're going to—A), You're gonna make it; pretty successful. B), The dogs are playing a big part—like, this whole animal thing? It doesn't go away.”


KELSEY: 

I think if you would have told me that I would have had, like, a mountain full of animals, I’d believe you, but never in the way that it's panned out to be and never in a trillion years did I ever think I would be a dog influencer mom. Like, when that started to happen, I reached out to my manager—well first, my manager was like, “Something’s happening here with this viral—”


CATIE: 

[laughs] “We got a real spike happening.”


KELSEY: 

Yeah, a spike was happening and like—I was like, “Do you represent any dogs?” and literally like, she had, and she was like, “Yeah,” and started reaching out to companies, and Hippo started getting partnerships and stuff, and I was like, “Good, you paid your rent!”


CATIE: 

Wow, yeah. Yeah, really! I mean, truly, I look at my freeloader and I'm like, “And what have you done for me today? I just picked up your poop!” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

Girl, I—he gets custom allergy shots once a month, plus weekly injections. His eye—he has an autoimmune disease, so he’ll eventually need his eye to come out, and like, I’m—I’m putting all that coin right in that bank!


CATIE: 

[laughs] It’s—it’s Hippo’s savings, health—it’s his, uh—health FSA!


KELSEY: 

It’s his own savings! [laughs] Truly, I'm like, “You're doing this for yourself!” You know, he's getting his first teeth cleaning coming up, and I'm like, “Do you know how expensive it is—”


CATIE: 

Yeah, like “Your dental care is more than mine!”


KELSEY:  

I was like, “I'm about to just put you in a headlock and do it myself!” [laughs] Even though I brush his teeth, he just somehow finds a way. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, he’s just the crusty dusty boy, that’s what you got. 


KELSEY:  

He’s just my crusty, dusty boy. My musty, busty—he’s, he’s my—he’s my baby. 


CATIE: 

Okay, so in addition to fostering, tell us what else you're working on? Or, if you just want to talk about fostering, just tell us about that.


KELSEY: 

Oh yeah, sure! I’m like—that's all I have going on. I'm looking for a dog for my dad, you and I've talked about this. I—you know, I supplement my passion for documentary filmmaking with silly fun social media videos, so watching those always helps me be able to make my passion projects, and hopefully, you'll be able to see some of those come out soon. And yeah, I'm writing my second book about breakups, which—a lot—Hippo will be in a LOT of it. 


CATIE:  

The co-author. 


KELSEY: 

You know what’s funny is, my first foster had his own—Barry had his own section in my first book about mental health. So like, weirdly—and there's like, a little illustration of him in the back, and there’s like, a dedication to him on the back.


CATIE: 

Aww. If I ever write a book, that—I mean, that's goals, right? Is that—


KELSEY: 

Yeah, it’s just such a big part of your life. You couldn’t not, so… yeah, that's it, and just, you know, follow me because by following me, you're actually following like, a thousand dogs, so…


CATIE: 

Bonus. 


KELSEY: 

You’re gonna get a lot of good content that way. [laughs]


CATIE: 

Totally. Well, you're doing an amazing—I feel like Kris Jenner, I'm like, “You're doing amazing, sweetie!” [laughs]


KELSEY: 

[in unison with Catie] “You’re doing amazing, sweetie!” [laughs] I know you are, but what am I? I just am such a big fan of what you guys do here, and like, it’s such an amazing space, and if anyone ever gets the chance to come here, you absolutely should. 


CATIE: 

Should I plug our open hours? No, I'm kidding—find it on Instagram! But no, we're so happy to have you here, and thank you so much for advocating and for fostering and for foster failing and then still fostering—


KELSEY: 

Aww, I’m so glad. [laughs] Honestly, I only do it because I get amazing people like you guys and what you guys do to support it, and so, the work you guys do is so important, and it's so cool to have a podcast about it. This is awesome. 


CATIE: 

Yeah, we're trying. 


KELSEY: 

I got to talk about Hippo for an hour, this has been the best day!


CATIE: 

Spread the word!


KELSEY: 

Yeah, spread the word!


CATIE: 

Thanks, Kelsey.


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CATIE: 

The PetSpace Podcast was brought to you by Wallis Annenberg PetSpace. To learn more, please visit Annenberg Pet Space dot org [annenbergpetspace.org]. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating, a review, and be sure to share with your friends. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram at Pet Space podcast [@petspacepodcast]. 


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People on this episode