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The Fresh Patch Podcast - Where Good Pets Get It.
Welcome to the Fresh Patch Podcast where we talk about everything, from dog training, to potty talk. It's time to save your rugs, and get REAL! Fresh Patch has been featured on Shark Tank, Oprah and the Today Show. We're here to discuss why every pet owner should have real grass and the benefits that come with it. So sit back, relax, grab some treats and cuddle your furry friend, you won't want to miss an episode!
The Fresh Patch Podcast - Where Good Pets Get It.
How A Nonprofit Rescue Saves Dogs With Nowhere Else To Go
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The rescue world is full of heart, but it runs on resources, and Brittany Vascara from Paw Works does not sugarcoat what happens when the need keeps rising and the funding does not. Brittany joins us with Vega on her lap, a tiny foster with epilepsy and Demodex mange, and that alone opens the door to the real behind-the-scenes work of special needs dogs, veterinary costs, and why “harder” cases so often get passed over.
We also get into Brittany’s story, from volunteering in 2014 to running operations for a nonprofit dog rescue that has saved nearly 20,000 animals from euthanasia across California. Along the way we talk misconceptions about rescue dogs, why expecting a perfectly trained “turnkey” pet sets everyone up to fail, and how simple patience can change an animal’s entire future. Brittany shares what it’s like doing emergency animal rescue during major wildfires, including chaotic evacuations, unexpected helpers, and the kind of community response that can keep people and animals safe.
If you’re looking for practical ways to help a local shelter or animal rescue nonprofit, we lay them out: donations at pawworks.org, monthly giving, sharing posts, free large dog adoptions, hands-on volunteering, and the field trip enrichment program that reduces kennel stress. We also talk apartment dog life, potty training, and how Fresh Patch real grass can make the transition easier for adopters and rescue dogs alike. If you care about adopt don’t shop, spay and neuter access, and keeping rescues open, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find the show.
Thanks for listening to the Fresh Patch podcast brought to you by Fresh Patch. We hope you enjoyed the show. Give us a like or a follow, or shop all of our real grass supplies at freshpatch.com. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Youtube, Reddit
Welcome To Fresh Patch Podcast
SPEAKER_02You may know Fresh Patch from Shark Tank, Oprah, or the Today Show. This is the Fresh Patch Podcast where good pets get it. Sit back, put your paws up, and enjoy the show. Welcome everybody to the Fresh Patch Podcast. I'm your host, Drew, with my amazing co-host, Mr. Gabe, on my right for all our viewers, and we have an awesome guest on the podcast today. It is Brittany from POWWorks, one of our amazing rescue organization partners. So thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. Yeah, welcome to the pod. And who is that on your lap?
SPEAKER_00Oh, this is Vega. Vega is my current foster. She's kind of a problematic puppy. She has epilepsy and Demodex mange, which is a non-contagious mange. Um, but it's a bit tricky because most treatments for Demodex uh trigger seizures in dogs, and she already has epilepsy, so it has been a bit trial and air go, you know, but she's doing okay. She looks colour.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, she just looks a little crusty right now.
SPEAKER_00But I'm looking, I'm happy.
SPEAKER_03Well, welcome to the show, Vega and Brittany, of course.
SPEAKER_02Welcome both of you. And before we really get started, just everybody that is watching, if you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. Uh, leave a comment, like the video if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, follow us there, and then follow at Fresh Patch on all social media. Check out freshpatch.com for all your real grass potty needs. And if you want to give a shout out to your social handles website, everything for Paul's on everything, P-A-W-W-O-R-K-S.
SPEAKER_00We're on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, but not so much. So check us out. Check out our website.
SPEAKER_02X formerly Twitter, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. Great, cool. So yeah, just to run through some questions, let's have a fun conversation. I know we're already vibing off camera, so let's bring the vibes
Meet Brittany And Foster Vega
SPEAKER_02back in and just start by telling us about yourself and uh PowerWorks.
SPEAKER_00So um I guess I'll start with myself because that's the topic that I know the most about. Um Power's the close second. So my name is Brittany Vascara, and I'm the director of operations at Paul Works. I started as a volunteer back in 2014. And yeah, long time ago. God, it feels like so long ago. And apparently they like the way that I talk a lot. So they hired me on as a store associate adoption counselor, and no more than like four or five months then they offered me a position as uh a full-time position as a manager. So now I'm the director of operations, so I now I run the entire rescue.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Yeah, I love it. Um, but yeah, I I personally love pets. I've always loved animals my whole life. I've always been the kid who brings the kittens home in her backpack despite her parents, parents' uh, you know, protest. And then um, so I kind of fell into the rescue world. It wasn't anything I really saw myself doing. I had a gal who was fostering a hospice case for Paul Works uh back in early 2014 and just fell in love with what they could provide for animals in their most troubling times. This was a dog that was abandoned and basically left for dead. And he was given a couple months to live, and because of his foster and everything that Paul Works dedicated to him, he lived almost another year, and the last year of his life was beautiful and amazing, and I I thought I wanted to be a part of that. So that's when I started volunteering, and I never looked back. It's been the best choice I've ever made, truthfully. Yeah, it's been amazing.
SPEAKER_02Amazing. Yeah, you always seem like you're having an amazing time. Every time we're with you, it's like you're not. Yeah, you're exactly pretty cool, pretty cool working with dogs, I gotta say.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's hard. I mean, the nonprofit sector is definitely not for the faint of heart. It's it's uh especially working with animals, it's emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting. Yeah, especially in this current climate. We are really, really struggling, but we are consisting of a really incredible team of people who dedicate so much of themselves to getting to the next day and advocating for these animals. Um, and because of that, Paul Works since we started, which was early 2014, we've rescued almost 20,000 animals from euthanasius throughout California. So it's a mission that we believe in, and you know, we're still trying to fight hard to stay here and to save even more.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. Um, yeah, so it does sound like you've always kind of been like a dog animal kind of person.
SPEAKER_04Same time.
SPEAKER_03So growing up, um, you know, we were talking a little bit off camera about how you had bunnies, dogs, different animals. Yeah. Um, tell us a little bit about like your upbringing and how you know you were around animals and that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_00Um, I mean, I think from day one I was kind of thrust into just this very animal-centric life. My family, they had a ranch in Mexico. So my mom and her seven siblings grew up around tons of animals, and my grandma too. So when I was born, there was my grandma had chickens and dogs and cats, and my mom had her dog. She almost named me Shiloh, so it would match with her dog Milo, which you know, thank God my aunt talked her out of that one. But um, yeah, I just I've always been around animals. My uncle ran a horse ranch in Ohio, and so
From Volunteer To Running Paw Works
SPEAKER_00like that part of my life, loving animals, was always there. It was the rescue world that I was kind of naive to. Um, but growing up we had personally, uh my dad was a big he's a cat daddy, he loves cats, so I'm super excited to show him your guys' cat condo because he's gonna be so pummed. Yeah, nice. Um, but he yeah, he had cats, and um my we got a dog, her name was Pork Chop, and and you gotta name my next dog. Like, holy crazy yeah, we two cats, pork chop, and then Miss Bunny. Um, we we got in the Garmin District in LA, and she was so so so sick, and she was so cool. She lived to be about 15 almost.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's that's wild.
SPEAKER_00We attribute it to like a just a really just open lifestyle. She was litter box trained, doggy door trained, did good with my animals. My dad was very meticulous about what she ate, and he built her own garden. So I, you know, with that kind of family, yeah. It's like, how can I, you know, we just that's just kind of what I was I've always grown up with. And then I found Paw Works and it just kind of opened my eyes to this world that had so much more need than I ever knew. I think as a person growing up, but you know, now rescue is such a prevalent topic. Everybody knows adopt, don't shop, and that rescues are my favorite breed, and you know, you can go to a shelter to adopt, which is so great. But even just when I was growing up, which wasn't even you know 15 years ago, I had no idea about how important shelter adoption was and rescue world. And PowerWorks has just shown me like wow, not only is it true there are if you're looking for a breed, it is in the shelter system, there is a rescue that's catered towards that. Um, but also that these animals truly need somebody to advocate for them and and they need the support and the help because the overpopulation crisis is just is just wild.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. Yeah, oh yeah. We've learned a lot. I mean, not only working with you, but obviously you know we work with a lot of other rescue organizations tapping into the cats and stuff too, with like the um, you know, uh TNR and stuff. And just we've learned so much on this podcast about the severity, I guess you could say, of like how many animals are happening. It's so wide, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's so it's it's hard to even comprehend. And like on the rescue side of it, we see that anytime we think we're making progress, we're just swept away. And like, okay, I guess I guess there's still so much work to do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And a lot of it's kind of back to square one. Like, oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00A lot of it's education based. Um, because the resources are so difficult, you know, and and but education is definitely where we have to start and just build more awareness um to get those resources and to push for more momentum in getting those resources available to the public and to organizations like PaulWorks because you're being crazy.
SPEAKER_02I really love it.
SPEAKER_00Um, but yeah, it's it's definitely challenging. I mean, on a personal note, I have now become the person who takes like the unwanted animals. Um, most of my adoptions, my personal adoptions, are not what I would consider like my choice per se. Um, all my dogs are either special needs or behaviorally problematic. Um, I don't think they're problematic, but the the community might be. So that's like dogs like you know, Vega have a soft spot in my heart because they are more challenging for the average person right now. Um and I, you know, I don't think that I'll ever be able to be somebody who can adopt a puppy. Not to say that there's anything wrong with adopting a baby, a puppy, or anything, because they do need homes and the need for those animals to be adopted is so high. And we see it all the time. Um so many pregnant moms and babies enter the shelter system and will ultimately be euthanized just due to their own sense of health and wellness and safety.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But um, you know, I'm one of those people who I've found can handle taking dogs that have that high need, and it's not for everybody. And despite my boyfriend's initial protest, um, he now also realizes that we're always gonna be a household with animals that are a little different that you have to warn people about when they come over.
SPEAKER_02No, for sure. Hey, we got this, we got that. Just, you know, I just want to disclose all this information. But he's just wearing his bubble, it's like this NDA. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like if anything happens, like we're not liable.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's so funny. But it's it's really cool. Yeah, it's really cool though, because like, you know, it's going going to the shelter, you see so many different dogs that are available, and you know, there's there are a lot of dogs out there that have these kinds of issues, and you know, it's it's amazing that there's people out there like you who like it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I appreciate that. Oh, hello.
SPEAKER_02Like I feel like uh make a mate of the phone. Are you pushing this?
SPEAKER_00She's like, stop talking to her.
SPEAKER_02Give me the mic. Say it all. What do you want to say? You want to say some words? Awesome. I agree. Not agree more. I agree, for sure. Yeah. Um, I want to go back on the uh you said your you your dad was raising horses in Ohio. My uncle, my uncle was.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02He um what type of horses they were?
SPEAKER_00He was, no, he wasn't like he was a boarding facility, so he had his own um, he worked as a canine or canine, uh a mounted patrol unit for Oxnard PD back in the day. Yeah, yeah, no, oh that'd be so cool.
SPEAKER_02Not in Ventura County, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I know VCAS does do like their their officers do mounted patrol for certain things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I noticed like last time we were there, they have a stable. Yeah. Yeah, which is like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they I think they don't have horses there right now, but they definitely do provide shelter and care, and I don't want to speak on their behalf because I don't know fully, but especially during uh emergencies like fire and stuff. When the fires happen, yeah. Everyone was rushing
Growing Up With Animals And Rescue Reality
SPEAKER_00around to it's super cool. Horse trailers, all that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02The reason I ask is because um my family, so born and raised Cameroon, and my uncle like raised all the Cameroon horses.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's so cool.
SPEAKER_02And they were sold at like one of the wills was like get rid of the horses, you know, type of thing. And it was like a really big bummer. Yeah, but we heard that like a couple of went to Ohio. So anytime I hear somebody like I have horses in OHI, I'm like, Did you buy chance? Like, maybe get one of these because like those might be Ortiz's family horses. Yeah, exactly. They really are. Like that would be. Sadly, the breed has like disappeared because once they were sold and stuff, it just kinda yeah. People try to replicate them, but they couldn't do what like my uncle was doing, and then they like kind of turn into ponies and they're not supposed to be ponies, and like it was just a whole thing, and it was like a big bummer for like our family. But like anytime I hear like we actually had a coworker, she's like, No, I know they're like I've used to be at a place where like there was a camera white horse and stuff, and like I'll get you in contact with them, and it kind of fell through. But like I've kind of lost hope, like talking to my other family. They're like, Yeah, they're probably not like a hundred percent you know that breed.
SPEAKER_00So rough.
SPEAKER_02Um, but yeah, no, it's cool. I mean, yeah, he didn't question it life, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, two were his, and then he boarded like up to 20 at a time. So it was more of just like a boarding place. I mean, honestly, as a like a girl growing up, it was so sick and so beautiful because like he had this gorgeous property right off the Santa Ana Creek, and there's just horses everywhere, and you know, the dogs and a creek running through the yard.
SPEAKER_03It was like a fairy tale land. I was gonna say every every little girl's dream is to have a pony.
SPEAKER_00I'd like BC to go to school. We could stay here when we had the floods happen uh years ago. Um, it actually washed out the road that so we couldn't leave. We couldn't leave for almost a week because the floods were so bad. I don't know if you guys remember, but it was in through Ohigh, the Santa Ana River filled, and the floods and the mudsides were so significant that they buried two-story houses. It was it was catastrophic. People lost. Oh god, I was young. Yeah, and I must have been like 13 or 14. So I'm not gonna age. Was that the same time as uh what's it called, La Cachita?
SPEAKER_01I think it was around the same side, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And we were there, yeah, and we just we all got I mean, we all got stuck. It was terrifying, it was so scary. And my heart goes out to all the families who lost, I mean, their horses, their homes, their everything. It was it was horrible. But we we got really, really lucky that our property was okay because it was on the creek bed, and so we ended up ha able to pull the horses all up and it only flooded the bottom of it, but it was it was brutal,
Fire Evacuations And Emergency Animal Rescue
SPEAKER_00yeah.
SPEAKER_02For sure. Yeah, I mean any natural disaster situation or animals is always so terrifying. The fires of Malibu, yeah, that was crazy. Malibu Camarillo, like all those.
SPEAKER_03I mean, was Paw works like affected by that at all? Like, did you take an extra dog?
SPEAKER_00So we were we're always prepared to help. Um, you know, even if we may not be totally capable of it, we will always offer whatever we can. Um, and so when we had the was it the Woolsey and the Hillfires, yeah. Yep, when that happened, our founder Chad, who was still with us, and he was very much like, okay, let's go. Like, let's do this. We're gonna, we always, you know, he was always able to pivot. And when he saw the fire coming over the hill, because we were in Camarillo at the time and our rescue was right, we could see the grade um from our facility, and when we could see the fire, he was like, Okay, we have to do something. So, first, of course, we came up with a plan for our animals as a backup, but he said, Okay, now we need to figure out how to help. So uh we called Tina from Aloha Dog Grooming and we said, Hey, do you have a truck and trailer we can borrow? Chad had horses, and so he was used to being able to drive trailers and trucks, and he said, We want to do emergency rescue. And she said, Cool, it's yours, take my keys, whatever you need, let me know. And right then and there we just posted out there and said, Hey, we are here to help whatever you guys need. If you need us to check your property, get your animals, if you need it, we will figure out a way to if we can help. And he put his personal number out there on our socials, and the calls just started to flood again. And it was the most wild, like I could cry thinking about it sometimes because it was just so overwhelming. The need was overwhelming in the desperation of people's voices, especially people who couldn't get to their properties um and not knowing if their animals on their property was okay. And it one night started. The first was uh to check on some people's cows, and we just remember like sitting at the fire line, not being able to get through, and it was late into the night, and then finally they let us through. We were able to let their cows out of the pasture and they ended up all surviving. And we're like, Okay, cool. And we go back, we're eating dinner, it's we're at a bar, it's like 11:30 p.m. And then we get another call, and Chad's like looks at me and Michaela, who worked with us at the time, and he's like, What do you guys think? We're like, let's go. And so we were out driving back and forth with animals. I think you guys might there was a very widely seen photo on the beach in Malibu where there was like a horses, they're tied to a life tower. Yeah, okay, so we were able to help go pull those animals, and yeah, and so we were just like driving, I mean, all day and all night. We didn't stop until about 10 10 a.m. the next day. Took about an hour nap, and then just hit it again.
SPEAKER_01That's crazy.
SPEAKER_00Catching alpaca, I've never been spit up by more alpacas in my life. I'm like, John's please coming. No, we don't know. Like, we're like, we're not like laughing. It was well, no, let me tell you, there's a video somewhere, and it's Chad, my boss, and Dennis, my colleague, two men. They're figuring out how to open the gate while they're having me alone wrangle 13 alpaca. And I'm like, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_03Can I get up on gate duty?
SPEAKER_00How do I get at in the face? I'm like, I hate this. I and I'll never forget. It was like the I was just like muttering and like cursing and like, God stop spitting at me. And I'm like chasing them, and I'm like, and I have like slip leads, like dog slip leads. I'm like, I'm gonna catch you. Yeah. And then I hear over the fence this very like distinct, manly Australian voice. Oh, you need help? And I'm like, hello, and I'm and I'm I'm not saying the nicest things. I'm you know, I'm talking about chocolate. I'm gonna spit back at you. He's spitting at me and he means this team of rugby players from Australia happened to be in town and they were checking on their friend's property. I don't even know. They came out of nowhere just hearing me meddled to myself cursing, and they go, Do you need help? And I'm like, uh yeah, I'm trying to catch some alpaca. And this crew of rugby players come around the corner and they're like, All right, let's catch some alpacas. And I'm like, Are you kidding me? What is this?
SPEAKER_03That's wild.
SPEAKER_00Me and all these big burly men just or got all the alpaca in our trailer. Yes, they did. They loved it. They were and and after that, we were all friends on like Instagram and Facebook, and you know, we pop and check in on each other every now and again, and be like, hey, remember when we all got spat on that pile?
SPEAKER_03That's so cool. Well, if you go to Australia, you got a place to stay. Yeah, exactly. Pretty cool. I'm like, oh don't forget. You got three rugby tickets, you got a place to stay. I promise I'm bringing zero ball packers with me. So not gets better than this way.
SPEAKER_00It was it was a wild, a wild experience. And I think honestly, my not that there's like a favorite thing to come out of such a horrible situation, but the one thing that I think I always reflect on that really also, I guess kind of also changed my perspective of the community was we put out a plea and said, Hey, um, this is what we're doing. We're going out every single day, all day long. Oh god, I can go on for days about this, you guys. Like Scientology got involved. Okay, yeah. Dump booms DC. Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson. Oh, yeah. She was there. I've been to her house. Yeah, it was.
SPEAKER_03Did she do it for you?
SPEAKER_00She came. Oh, yes. Eat my chores. She treated. But we put out this plea saying any donations anybody wants to bring, whether it's food for those affected, for the first responders, water, food for animals, hay, anything that you can think of that you think could be used for people, we will take it. We will drive it over, we'll do it. And I again could cry. Like I was so blown away. We had just gotten in from another really long day. And um, we were taking a nap on the floor in our office, and I come out, it's like 5:30 in the morning. Our parking lot is filled, and I mean like 10 stalls deep, filled with pallets of food for animals, for humans, like grocery stores, Vaughns, our local Vaughns in Camaro was bringing over like troves of supplies. That's amazing. I was blown away, and then I looked across the street, and there was like 10 trucks and trailers of volunteers ready to go out with us. I was just, I was shocked. The community response was wild, and it really then was cemented like for all of us. Okay, yeah, this is what we do. Anytime somebody needs help, we'll help. That's crazy. Yeah, it was it was cool. So to answer your question, yes, we were slightly affected. We had crazy stories. Yeah, yeah, the most sweat, like the end of it was um my employees are cleaning and we are dealing with like a totally random emergency. One of our neighboring he runs an auto shop near us, and his he had an emergency, his dog had birth, and it was not going well, and he like comes in and he's like, I don't know what to do. And he has like this newborn baby and this mom and they're all in distress, and we're in our office figuring that out. And I look out the window, and I mean there's a sea of people in yellow jackets and hats, and I'm like, What the budget? And they're just walking like with purpose towards our building, and our we had a big roll drop down door, and they just walk in, walk like literally walk in, start looking around, looking at the dogs, and we're like, What are we being under seizure? Like, what is happening right now? It's Scientologists, and they Saw our post and they're like, We're here to help. And we're like, Wow, what? It is eight o'clock at night. Like, what do you mean? Like, how did you find us? Like, what is going on? And um, yeah, they they helped us, they got us like press badges and all kinds of stuff, and we went out in like all these like trucks of just it was like me, Chad, and Christine, my VP and my founder, and we're all in like trucks with these people we really don't know in yellow jackets and hats, and they're like, let's go. And we're like, That's crazy, okay. We ended up like catching like 40 sheep, and they all stayed at Nancy Cartwright's house until they could be reclaimed by their own. It was the most we went to Malibu, uh, the wine safari place. We went there because that was super controversial. People were saying, like, they left their animals and he took his cars, and it was a really weird top topic. And so we went out to bring hay and stuff, and we found like what had been being said about them was actually incredibly untrue, and it was just being perpetuated. Like, people don't realize when you have to move exotic animals no matter what the situation, it is so much more than just loading them into the van and going, yeah. And so we were to help, we were very unbiased. And my boss was like, Look, we if you want the truth, because there was like some celebrity personalities who were getting involved, and we're like, It's wrong, and they're corrupt, and they're this. And so Chad's like, let's show the truth. He's like, invited them, he's like, Come with us. We got permission from the owners, yeah, we're bringing a team of veterinarians, they're gonna examine all the animals, and we'll be honest about everything that's being found. And we did, and people didn't like the truth, which was that no, the millionaire guy did not take his cars. We had videos of them all burnt down, and yep, all the animals were generally fine. They had plans in place, and um, they did have some casualties, but you know, it couldn't have been avoided with and and the team of people who care for the animals were living on site, did not leave those animals once. And so we put that all out there, and it was that's a weird time, you guys.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, thank you for remembering my question because I completely forgot what it was.
SPEAKER_00I could go on for days.
SPEAKER_02I I've never sure like we'll bring it back to potworks with some of my other questions, but um so going into maybe like the you know, just rescue dogs in general is with you know potworks, but what are some misconceptions
Misconceptions About Rescue Dogs
SPEAKER_02people have about rescue dogs? Maybe that, especially that maybe you've seen at potworks. I know it could be different other places, but um, yeah, what do you think? Some misconceptions.
SPEAKER_00I think as far as like misconceptions for rescue animals, especially dogs, is that they're damaged, they're broken, unwanted, they're just throwaway animals. Um or every animal you meet is gonna have these problems or be problematic, you know, and I know I'm talking about it, like all the dogs I take are that. Um but it's not always the case, you know. We we have you know, speaking for PowerWorks itself, um, I have animals that I've had for years that get don't get looked at at all, they're overlooked completely, and they're perfectly lovely, happy, deserving dogs. And um people just think that in my experience, what I have seen is that you get some individuals who want a turnkey adoption, meaning they they want them to come trained and they want them to come perfectly well-mannered and needing no work, and they have this immediate connection of love, and it's just not realistic. Um I tell people like with animals, you have to shake hands before making out in any good relationship, you know what I mean? And so if you have reverse, so um animals are the same way, they have con, you know, they have complicated feelings and they have personalities and they've been through things that we can never even know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And expecting them to just have this immediate connection or just have all this training when you know they may have been in real experiences living in a dirt field with just somebody throwing things at them and barely feeding them. Yeah, it's not fair to the animal. And I think if I think if people gave animals just a little bit of time and a little bit of understanding, like they would want for themselves in meeting somebody new, they would be so amazed and impressed with what they actually receive back from that animal because every day we get to see it at the rescue. You know, we get to see these animals that have been through horrible situations open up and are just so incredible and so sweet and so loving and so deserving. Um, they just need a little bit of time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I think that's the biggest thing is just that they're gonna get they're gonna get exactly what they want right away. But you gotta put them a little bit of work, you know.
SPEAKER_02Definitely. Hey, we say the same thing about fresh packs. You know, when it comes to the grass, it's like some people are like, oh, it didn't work. It's like, how did you try? You put it on there, they didn't pee. It's like, okay, well, you gotta like, you know, it's gonna take a little bit of time. It's training maybe involved.
SPEAKER_00So I put my baby behind the front seat of a car, but it didn't know how to drive.
SPEAKER_03Had to put her up for a doctor. Yeah, throw the whole baby in the trash.
SPEAKER_00Send it back to the hospital.
SPEAKER_03I wanted to ask also, too, because like we've kind of like touched on it a little bit, but like what are maybe like some of the biggest challenges that
The Money Problem In Nonprofit Rescue
SPEAKER_03you face on like a day-to-day basis, like running a rescue.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, honestly, and I feel like this sounds so predictable, but money, it's so hard. Um, being in the nonprofit world means I always have my hand out. I'm always being that person asking for help and asking for money. And it's it's it's really hard. It's a challenge. I mean, as a person, asking other people for their money, especially in this climate right now, is so hard. And the fact is, my phone has been going off this entire time, and I have had at least seven messages of people asking me to take animals, to take medical case, to do this, to do that, and I have zero dollars coming in. We PawlWorks, we rely solely on community-based donations. Uh, we have zero large financial donors. Um, I think some people come and see like our adoption center, and it's bougie, it's in the yoke small, it's got chandeliers and a big couch, and it's really nice. But the only reason for that is because we've gotten really good at asking for things for free. And we've gotten really lucky at people who've said yes, that we are able to bring um rescues into this really beautiful, nice setting so they can be given the chance by people who may not have an easier time looking at them if they're in a kennel at the rescue. Yeah. Um, but lately what we've been experiencing is all the grants we typically apply for and oftentimes get because we do do deserve them. We work so hard to deserve these grants and we hit all of the things that we need to, um, they're gone. They're dried up, they're not coming in. I don't think we've gotten a grant in over six months, and community-based donations are hard because everybody is struggling. And it's at this point where you know, we don't know, and we hate we hate having it like post on social media like we need help and we need this, and because we understand like donation fatigue is a real thing, and we hate always having to put it out there when we're in this like hard position, but it we're struggling. We are we are watching so many organized shelters, even community be shelter, like uh they're getting shut down, and rescues are closing because nobody can afford to support a we're ba I hate saying the word, but like rescues are a bottomless pit. We're we're a financial pit because there's no money really coming in. Um adoption fees don't even touch a fraction of the cost each animal that covers. Um, and then you know, just everything costs money and asking for money about things that are necessary but unattractive, like payroll, rent, utilities. Nobody cares about that. Nobody wants people want we can do fundraisers for medical cases or things that like really hit at the heartstrings all day, and maybe we'll get them funds. Um but it's just it's really, really hard. Like it's really, really challenging. And we have our own hospital, which is amazing. Yeah, but even so, it's still expensive. You know, we have to pay for the doctor's time and the supplies and everything that goes in with that, and it's wildly expensive, and costs are just going up. So I think that's the biggest thing is just where's the money gonna come from? And do we live to stand another day?
SPEAKER_03Yes, it's hard to kind of like go off that. Like to people who may be watching this and might be like touched by like your story or
Real Ways To Help Right Now
SPEAKER_03or just by pot works in general, like what are some ways that they can support you guys?
SPEAKER_00Um, donate.
SPEAKER_02Donate, we're talking to you, yes.
SPEAKER_00If you want to donate, um where to go. Yeah, yeah. We we post on our Instagram and our Facebook. Uh like right now, if you look at it, actually, we I just posted uh I think yesterday or the day before, three super major medical cases that we're facing. One of them is Vega. Um, and hers is the most inexpensive just because we're basically paying for the medication right now. Um, but we have Yogi, who was born, he's only two weeks old, his front leg is mangled. He has to have a full amputation, but he's on medication in order to get him well enough to have the amputation. Um, Bell's, who's a Frenchie, yes, we get Frenchies, we get purebred dogs, but guess what? They are jacked up. And they cost a lot of money. And she um she's undergone over two months of laser therapy treatments that are we have to buy them in 10 packs. Each 10 pack is almost $700. And we've already bought two packs of laser therapy treatments, and that's just the cost of the treatment, not the cost of the care. Um, our hospital isn't charging us for time or resources, just what we actually have to pay for on that. Um, in addition to that, she's on steroids and different medications, and it's all because her ear canals were so badly infected that it looked like when you open her ear flap, it there's cottage cheese or cottage cheese, uh, cauliflower coming out. Her ear canals were completely internally sealed, and she was we thought she might be deaf and it was just from infections that went treated, uh untreated for so long. And now her ear canals are open, which is cool, thanks to the laser therapy treatments. Like it was expensive, but the other alternative is a total ear ablation, which is where the doctor goes in and surgically removes the entire ear canals, which is also very expensive. But also, if this dog would have ever had a chance to have a happy hearing life, we wanted to try. Yeah. Um, and we did, and it's showing beneficial, but now we have to upkeep with those laser therapy and the medications and let me tell you, it's expensive. Um, and you know, so if you're watching and you do want to support and you can donate, go to our page, Paul Works, or our website, which is PaulWorks.org under the donation tab. You can set up monthly donation plans, you can do a one-time donation. If you can't donate, I get it. Trust me, we are we are struggling too uh individually and as an organization. So if you can't do that, share our socials, share our posts, anybody you know who's watching. Uh, we're also doing free large dog adoptions through the month of June. And adopting not only provides a home for the animal that needs one, but it also is gonna give us financial relief because that's one less dog we're having to provide day-to-day care for. So we're doing everything we can to try to find any way to alleviate the financial burden so we're not constantly having to beg for money to survive. Um, but those are some ways adopting, donating, sharing, yeah, anything, coming to events, supporting Fresh Patch who supports us. It's all it's all a win for us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Truly. Absolutely. And you guys have volunteers too, right? Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we we accept there's we have several volunteer programs that we love. One is at our Thousand Oaks Adoption Center, which is kid friendly. We take volunteers six years old and up. Um, it's pretty easy. You hang out, you're hands-on with the animals in the pen, helping us keep keep the peace and clean up the mess. Um, if you want to get more down and dirty, come to the rescue and you can help us with cleaning. Um, that alleviates cost for my staff who I love dearly. Um, but you can wash, walk dogs, wash dogs. And then my personal favorite program, which is geared for 18 and up with uh reliable transportation, is our field trip program where you can take a dog for a field trip for the day, somebody who maybe is having a hard time, um, we're seeing kennel stress or depression. You take them out for a stress-free day. We don't do any like adopt me this, adopt me that. It is solely a day of enrichment for that dog, whether it's a trip to the park, to the beach, on a hike, you know, whatever. You are taking that dog out. You're not feeling the stress of having to explain their story to any strangers. It's like you and your dog for the day. You photograph it, document it, report back the good and the bad, and then we can use that information to promote them on social media.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's really cool. It sounds great too, for maybe someone who's like, I'm thinking about adopting a dog, but I'm not really sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, or like I can't have one in my apartment, but I love dogs, so you get to take them out for the day. And it's let me tell you, our depression rate has reduced significantly since we've had volunteers doing that program.
SPEAKER_04That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Um, it started when I decided I have no life back a few years ago, and on my days off, that's what I would do. I would come and take our big dogs out, and we just saw the benefit of it, and I was doing our social media um and I would post it, and we ended up having some good adoptions. And so Chad was like,
Volunteering Programs That Change Outcomes
SPEAKER_00That's your new program. I'm like, Okay, let's go. Let's do it. Yeah, so it's been it's been super, super cool. The dogs love it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's great. And I'm glad you brought that up. That's kind of going right into our next question. People that live in condos apartments, you know, that they might think, Oh, I can't really afford a dog to have a dog and stuff. And um you can, you know, with Fresh Patch, you know what I mean? So um, how can adopters help dogs adjust to an apartment or condo living? Obviously, with Fresh Patch as being a core product to support that. But have you heard any other cases where people are like maybe skeptical about you know, I live in a condo, I don't know, big dog adoptions right now. You know, you want the big dog, but you don't really have the space.
SPEAKER_00So I think the biggest thing for me is just taking a really good, honest look at your lifestyle and what you're willing to do because um there's gonna be an adjustment for everybody, and you just have to be re realistic and know, okay, can I still is this the right dog for me? Do I wanna take a very high volume cattle dog who is used to running on acreage? Probably not for you. Um, like, or yeah, exactly. Do you have the um activity level to keep up with those dogs' needs and um or are you wanting more of a couch potato? You know, really looking at that and then being super honest and then coming and meeting with us so we can go with your honesty and gauge exactly who might be the right fit for you. Um, we think we're pretty good at it. We we think we and we're very honest too. Um I I will be very straightforward if I think there's a fit or not a fit, and I will never put one of my animals in the position of and the person in the position of coming back if I can avoid it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but with that being said, we also do have an amazing sleepover program where you can take a dog on a trial for one week to see how you do before committing to adoption. That way you get a really good insight to see if are you capable of the needs for that animal? Is that animal the right for you? Do you guys vibe? You know, those are all things that we want you to consider. And the sleepover program is a great way to to to find that out. Yeah. And then, of course, using Fresh Patch makes life so much easier. I know when I was living in an apartment, I had a patch on my on my uh patio because my little dogs, and um, Richard, who's disabled, he's incontinent, and I would have to walk to take him out down three flights of stairs every day because we had no elevator, and Fresh Patch totally changed the game. It made my life so much easier. And um, and then Grim took it, my other dog took it up so quickly too. So it was it was great because he stays where I'm like, I'm either at work and they're at home or I am stuck in home. Oh god, especially during the pandemic. I was like, I'm inside, I'm stuck in here. Um so that's it's it's real, it's a really great investment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, and I yeah, like how you said, you know, one takes to it and then the other kind of follows to if you have a multi-dog household, you know.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I selfishly um, you know, I express my own dog's
Apartment Dog Life And Potty Training
SPEAKER_00bladder because he's he's paralyzed. So it makes it real easy for me. I'm like, come here, Richard. Yeah. So if you need to rent my dog to show your dog how to pee on the grass, I got you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, show them where to go, you know. Leave your dog a nice little message.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. He'd be very cursive, their name.
SPEAKER_03So I know that we also um I love going over to the Paw Works um facility and just like seeing our grass there. Um, and that's something that we've we've been doing for for quite a while. Do you have any like oh hiccups? You know, insight on the like how that's been a benefit to like the dogs that you guys have that are like up for adoption.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um, I mean, we fresh patch is our longest standing business relationship. I just want you guys to do that.
SPEAKER_02We love you guys so much. Yeah. I didn't even know that. That's great.
SPEAKER_00We love you guys so much. We recommend you to anybody who would listen. Um, with our dogs specifically, especially at our adoption center in Thousand Oaks, it's an indoor location and they're in a pen. So we don't always have volunteer. We have a lot of youth volunteers there, so we can't always have volunteers who can walk them out to the grassy areas to do their business. So Fresh Patch has really come in super clutch where they can start to learn I go potty on the grass. It has made, in our experience, potty training in homes far easier. Um, I mean, you know, there's there's always those stubborn dogs, but yeah, what we have heard back is that okay, great. Um, and what we've had adopters do or recommended that they do is if they go and purchase their fresh patch, they take it in the home and they can slowly work their way back out into the yard if they have a dog that's having a little bit more uh need to adjust to the curve.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, but it's definitely made the uh process from adoption center into home and potty training much more seamless.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. And that's something that we always say too. Like we we love donating the patches, just like help because obviously it's helpful, you know, when you have an indoor facility or like not easy access to a place to go. Yeah. But not only that, you know, we like to think it helps um, you know, get dogs adopted because what we hear is that like one of the biggest reasons that dogs get taken back um potty training. Yeah, so it's really cool to hear that that you know there is a correlation between going on grass and then you know being potty trained easier.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, making that transition is that much easier.
SPEAKER_00Plus, personally, in my humble opinion, I would much prefer a patch of live, healthy, stunning grass than a bunch of paper potty pads, which are also a health concern, let me tell you, out there. Um potty pads are not digestible for dogs, and especially puppies. If you're potty training a puppy that can't go out in public yet to go to do their business, fresh patch is the way to go because they're gonna learn outside is now in, they're gonna see the grass, they're gonna recognize it when they're finally ready to go out into the public. Yeah, and you're not having these horrible paper potty pads everywhere that if they do tear them up and they do ingest those micro beads, um, they can swell in their tummies, then you have a blockage. Hello, several thousand dollar emergency bill. So I'm just fresh badge. It's cheaper than a thousand several thousand dollar emergency bill. Yeah, just 100%.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there you go. So for everybody listening, fresh batch.com. Harder for Brittany herself. This is the way to go. Amazing, cool. So um we've been hopping around questions like crazy. So let's see, where were we at? That's another good one.
SPEAKER_03I'm just going random. Go rogue. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, I feel like we've gone through. Yeah, we've kind of like covered it all. We're talking about organic.
SPEAKER_03Do you have any questions from the heart?
SPEAKER_02From the heart, yes. From the heart. Um, not necessarily a question, but I remember last year when you guys were struggling too, and you made that post, and I just wanted to highlight that as well. Well, like, we were already talking about it and stuff, but you made a really good point. This has stuck with me like ever since that video. It was like, yes, like you were like, I get it. Things are expensive in this world right now, and like, but like, how about you just like don't buy that Starbucks today? Like, yeah, five dollars. Yeah, like that'll make it imagine if a hundred people just gave five bucks, you know, like and you just didn't get your coffee this morning, or you made your coffee at home, and like it was like verb you said that verbatim. I was like, that's so true. I was like, that's such an easy way to look at it. It's like, let me just sacrifice something that I don't really need, and it's gonna help an organization that is really struggling, you know, and like, yeah, it's gonna be make a huge impact versus a little caffeine for myself.
SPEAKER_00You know, like it's just it's true. I we always think about it too, because I think we have over like seven. 75, almost 76,000 followers on like Instagram and 100 or so on Facebook or something. And it's like if every one follower donated five dollars, we would be set probably for like almost a year, which is wild to me. And and it's just it's just that simple. Like we if we had that kind of support once or twice a year, we'd be solid. And it's very, very minimal about what the person donating would have to give up. There's and I understand not everybody's in a financial dis you know place to do larger donations, but five dollars is you know, we can figure it out. We lose five dollars every day and we don't even think about it. You know, you use lose a five dollar bill and you're like, oh it's gone.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you got like probably a couple subscriptions that you don't even know about.
SPEAKER_00But like you're losing that money and you have no idea.
SPEAKER_02I mean Netflix subscriptions, I didn't even know.
SPEAKER_00That weird farming game you downloaded that one time. You demanded. Yeah, it's it's I think about that all the time too, because you know, we we look at it uh in that way where we're you know, some people are like, I'm so sorry, I could only give. I I hate when I hear that because you're giving what you can give, and we appreciate that so much because it is more than the person who's just choosing to not be able to do that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, at the end of the day, it's better than nothing.
SPEAKER_00Like 100%. And honestly, like this is something Chad told me, and it's kind of morbid, but I think it also is very um honest in a way that I never thought about. Animal rescue, and this sounds so I think it's gonna sound so biased coming from an animal rescue person, but animal rescue affects everybody. Um whether you want animals like animals, care about animals or not. Uh it's there's so much more behind the scenes that people don't think about, even as far as like animals being euthanized in facilities and in shelters. Again, morbid, but what people don't know is that when animals are euthanized, they're typically cremated and then they go through a rendering process and the remains are rendered, and then those rendered remains go into consumable products like plastic or some cosmetic products that are not vegan or cruelty-free.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_00And so if that animal is passing away and they have medical issues or something's going on, those remains are being processed and put right back into the community. So whether you like to believe it or not, the carcinogens and everything going through this rendering process are affecting every single person in this world.
SPEAKER_01I am that shocked.
SPEAKER_00It's pretty wild.
SPEAKER_01They're going back into pee-pads, maybe. Yeah, they're going like that. Break the cycle with Fresh Pads.
unknownExactly.
SPEAKER_00You're being one buddy. Like, don't get real fast.
SPEAKER_02That's wild. Oh the all natural. Animal remains are used in the making of fresh pad.
SPEAKER_00No rendering process at all. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it's kind of wild. Yeah, that's crazy.
SPEAKER_00So, like, big picture for sure. It affects everybody. And then, like, even beyond that, on just like a real world scale, like if you don't want to adopt or support or whatever, okay, like nobody's gonna force you, I can't force you, but it's a huge issue, you know. I mean, just having pet overpopulation, having unaltered animals just on the streets, it's already problematic. I know right recently, especially with like the mayoral mayoral elections and stuff in LA, we're seeing how bad it is on the streets. So um it's it's a problem that is gonna become even worse than everybody's problem at the rate that rescues and shelters are having to shut down. And it is
The Five Dollar Donation Mindset
SPEAKER_00pretty scary. Like it's pretty terrifying.
SPEAKER_02No, yeah, definitely. I mean, financially, this world is we're all struggling. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03It's crazy. Get out there and support your local shelters. Yeah, yeah, truly.
SPEAKER_00I mean, if it's not power works and you're not out here, then support locally. Um, support power works too, though. Especially pop works. Because we'll do the legwork. You don't have you could you could just give us five dollars. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02We said it needs to commit. Cool. So I know you have Vega here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00She's eating my fingers.
SPEAKER_02Highlighting, I know. She's going to town with her fingers. Enrichment. Enrichment. Yeah. You can put her on the grass if you want to. I don't know if she'll nibble the grass, but instead of your fingers. Let's see.
unknownWhat do you think?
SPEAKER_02For all the viewers, this is a uh less than five-pound dog on our mini size. Yes. Uh so if you have a Vegas-sized pup. Oh, don't hop off the table now. Don't get too cute.
SPEAKER_03I thought she was about to lift her leg for something.
SPEAKER_00I'm I'm actually. Hopefully she doesn't lift her leg up.
SPEAKER_02That might be.
SPEAKER_00She's like, I'm a squat. I'm a lady.
SPEAKER_03Come on, come on, Gabe. Come on. I'm a leg lifter myself.
SPEAKER_01Don't get a start on the pro patch.
SPEAKER_03That'll make its podcast debut one day. Not today. Not today.
SPEAKER_00As a lady, I'm a little jealous that you can be a leg lifter. I will squatter myself. I don't have a choice.
SPEAKER_03Hey, we're all different in beautiful ways. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02Um, but what are some uh maybe other dogs you wanted to spotlight that are at PawWorks right now that, you know, maybe are getting overlooked or maybe have the same situation as Vega and they're just, you know, they've been there for a while or not. There's so many. I know.
SPEAKER_00I think right now maybe what I'll I'll want to focus on is our big dogs because we are doing this promotion for our big dog adoption.
SPEAKER_04That's right, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, because truthfully, our bigs are the ones that are tr really overlooked the most. Um oh my god, there's so many. So there's Black Jack, she's a healer, she's a cattle dog. She is stunning, incredibly smart. She's making strides every day. She had a traumatic situation in her previous home. She didn't do great with uh another dog. It was resource gardening. Um, but we have gotten her in successful playgroups now. So if you are an athletic person, a runner, or you have a large property and you want a really great
Big Dogs Being Overlooked
SPEAKER_00healer, that is your girl. Her adoption fee is free. It's amazing. She's she's worth a million dollars, but she's stunning and she's adoption is free. Um we have Marty. Uh also side note a lot of the dogs I'm talking about were actually adopted from us as puppies and returned as adults, which is a tale as old as time in the rescue and shelter world, despite vetting and despite making sure it's a good fit.
SPEAKER_02Um is that just like I wanted a puppy up over it approach? Like, or what what happened?
SPEAKER_00So every story is a little different. Um, some of them come back because I mean the most common things we hear are I moved and I can't take my dog. I guess you're moving somewhere where they don't allow dogs. I don't know. Um it couldn't be me. Could not be like, I'm here that I'm like, where are you? Yeah, where are you? Dogs are outlawed, maybe. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me. Um we've lots of I've I'm moving, I can't take my dog, or um, they're too active for me. That's wild because you adopted a puppy. So what were you thinking?
SPEAKER_04And also was it was just yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So um we've had we've had some situations where um, like in Blackjack's case, she wasn't doing she got into a TIF with the other dog over items. Um, she technically belonged to the male partner in this relationship. They male and female split. Female wanted to put in the work. Um, male said no, and uh basically dumped the dog on her. It was a whole mess. Um that gentleman sucks.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, sounds like it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the the girl was trying to do her best, and she respectfully just said gentlemen. I don't know if not so gentlemen. You're watching, rough man. We got peeve. Yeah, I'll catch you on the streets. So, anywho, the the gal was doing her best, but you know, having her two dogs plus this dog and those two dogs really colliding, it was just becoming really, really difficult. And she still follow up follows up with Blackjack all the time, trying to help. She donates, she supports when she can. We've had dogs come back, and I can understand the reasoning behind it. I it could never be me, like the girl who takes all the problematic dogs and just figures it out. But um, yeah, there's there's some cases I've had you know individuals pass and there's nobody who will take their dog, which again couldn't be me. I have such a large Hispanic family, they're the I my will is sheets long. I have to go down that list. But um, yeah, so it's it's tricky, but I would say right now, about 98% of all the dogs I have are big dogs, are adults that were adopted as puppies. Yeah, which is so sad for us. Yeah, it's such a bummer, man. Like, we can see their side-by-side pictures. Like we did a post about it recently, and we posted their baby picture and then their adult picture, and you're just like it was like that that TikTok trend that was recently like when you're yelling at her, this is who you're yelling at, you know, like it's it's giving that for us on like such an emotional level because we put in that time and the work and the love, and then we see them as babies, and people are fighting to adopt them, and then as adults, they're just so like discarded, and it's hard. And they hang at the rescue, and you know, while we do we love them and we do everything we can, it's not a home, it's it's not ideal, and it gets stressful, it gets hard because they're big dogs who need big dog type of attention and care, and they don't get it. So um there's Marty's great, he's a super smart, active, beefy man with these like super tall ears. He's orange and white, and he's so goofy. He's the total mutt. Like, I couldn't even tell you. He's like robust, and he almost looks like he's like a some type of like shepherd, cattle, something mixed. I don't I couldn't even tell you. He's so freaking handsome and he's funny because like he'll bark, like we would walk by with dogs and he's barking, and we're like, Marty, no. And so we what we do is like we we try to switch bad behavior with something positive. So like if he's barking, we're like, go play with your toy. So now what he does is like if you're walking by, he'll go pick up a toy and go and you're like, okay. I love the effort, but I'd like that so funny. We're like you're a dork. So um dogs are yeah, he's so sick. Or we have um lentil, aka monkey. Um, his situation's a little tricky. Like, if he doesn't get adopted and like circumstances change in the home that had him, like they're gonna take him back. It was just not safe for him. With they have a senior German shepherd, she does not like Lenny and um Lenny, Lentil, you know, monkey. He's got all these names, but he is the ugly, cutest dog, you know. Okay, like so yeah, so ugly and he's cute. Yeah, yeah. He was as a puppy, like the lady who adopted him has his had him as a baby, and he was born with a cleft palette. And it doesn't bother him at all. Like he eats he's totally fine, but he has the dumbest face because of it. Like he you can see just like his teeth. Like he just you look at him and it's all teeth, and they like are like I'm a little M shape, and it's just he's so cute. And when he shakes, like when he sees you and he's excited, he wiggles with his whole body and he's got like this big hairy chest. He's very like curly, he's a spaniel type mix, but he's like medium size. He's like, I don't know what he is, honestly. He's so hodgepodge. But when he shakes, like I'm like, shake your Chi Chies, Lenny, because like his whole chest is like shakes, and he's just like, Yeah, he's so cute and he's so sweet, and he's he's just such a cool dog. Like, yeah, um, Lenny's a cool dog, uh, Marty is great, blackjack is great, uh Chase is strange, but like he's great. He's this really tall, stunning shepherd, but and he had some trauma. Like, if you grab him by his collar, he panics. I think the home he was in had young kids who didn't respect boundaries, gotcha, and it gave him some trauma. Um, but if you just respect his boundaries and like uh communicate with his body language, and it he's he's so good and he's and he's so silly, and he like loves to play, and he's just he's just a very stunning dog. Yeah, um he's super cool.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I was gonna say it kind of reminds me of Oakley. Yeah, just gotta respect his boundaries, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. That's it. Like if you just learn how to be patient and like not just push the boundaries that the dog is very clearly putting in place, yeah. He's so cool. Like it even like volunteers and stuff, they walk him and stuff, and everything's fine. They do we just tell him, like, just don't grab him by his collar. He just he gets freaked out. Once he trusts you, he doesn't care. You can do whatever you want, you can make it, but um do whatever the heck I want to now.
SPEAKER_03That first month working here, he used to get so mad at me. Yeah, he would just don't come near my couch. Yeah, I would like lean on the couch that he's sitting on.
SPEAKER_00He'd be like, get off of it. It's not a coach.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, now he just like leans there and I'll just like it.
SPEAKER_00He goes like this.
SPEAKER_01He's like, Yeah, yeah. Oh, you're back up.
SPEAKER_00Grim is like that, but like over me. Like if you if you come in my house, like even with my boyfriend, who he he loves, surprisingly. Um, because Grimm is Grimm is one of those dogs to me where it's like I put in the time and the work and I see all the benefit and the reward, and he loves me so truly and so dearly, and it's something that I actually don't think I ever felt before with and I've had animals my whole life, but this dog, it's like it he looks at me and he treats it's so stupid to say it, but like it sounds so weird. He looks at me and he treats me like you saved my life, and it's wild because he when I got him years ago, before he was my dog, three years before he was my dog, they brought him to me. His crate's wrapped in a quilt with bungee cords all around it, and I'm like, red flag, what is going on? What's and are you being you're just trying to get naked? Um nudity alert, we're taking her clothes off, and it's a little questionable. Yeah. Wow, I'm crunchy. Um so they gave me this dog, and I'm like, what is that? And they're like, Oh, he attacks you when you make eye contact. And I'm like, Oh, say less. I love my dogs. And so sure enough, I take him back to the rescue. He's being vicious, like he's like headbutt headbutting the cage, like he's being crazy.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So my staff, just to make them fear me more, I guess, I said, okay, I go put two pairs of pants on, a bunch of hoodies on, we have Kevlar bike gloves, put those on. I climb into an X Pen and close it all the way around me. I go, okay, dump him in the kennel with me. And they're like, Are you kidding me? And I'm like, Yeah, just dump them in. They're like, Okay. Like, I got the protection of it. I'm fine. Yeah. So he he sure enough tries to attack me for it felt like ever. And I'm just sitting there, not doing anything, not saying a word. I'm just sitting there until he calm, he calms down because he's tired. He's just like panting, looking at me.
SPEAKER_04She's like, Who are you? This is a tough one of the crack.
SPEAKER_00And I go, okay. And I just pick him up and I put him in a kennel and gave him some food and I left him alone. And the next day I come in and he was like, That's my best friend! Like, just like fighting to get out of the cage, but this time to kiss me, to love on me. And I'm like, Okay, and ever since then, he was like my best buddy. He was problematic for sure. Like, he was many people's first bites. Like, people now, like myself, are like, that was my first bite. I'm like, oh, he christened you into the family. So, and you know, after three years, he just still remained pretty like problematic. Where we got him to this place where he could hang out with the volunteers and the people that he knew, but if they tried to touch him and he wasn't ready, or if they are hand lingered too long after a retreat, he would bite them. And my boss was finally like, Brittany, we have to do something with this dog, and he's like, You're something, and I'm like, Hey, you are that something. And we tried everything. We did training, we did floxetine, we did activity training. Uh, so like floxetine is Prozac, we did Trazodone, we did gabapentin, and nothing really worked like as a solution, I should say. Um the only thing that was that helped was me advocating for him, me just caring for him and giving him what he needed and putting not putting him in positions where I knew he'd be set up to fail. And now he's pretty cool. Like he he can go in public with me, he could be on leash, off-leash. As long as I just tell people like don't touch my dog, and they don't, he's fine. He used to go and attack people, now he's just chilling. Oh so um, but yeah, I got it. But he's he's the best. It just I don't even know why I started talking about him, but I love him so much. Like he's the only dog, like if he could live in my flesh, like in my flesh, he would. Where like Richard, my cute special needs man, yeah, yeah, he would leave
Fundraiser Plans And Spay Neuter Help
SPEAKER_00me for a piece of pepperoni. Like he's like no loyalty to me at all.
SPEAKER_03That was so funny. Shout out Grim. He sounds like a cool guy, yeah. He's the best. Sweet.
SPEAKER_02So to wrap things up on the pod, um, any fun initiatives going on for PowerX besides the big dog adoptions, but any more events or anything that you want to give a shout out for?
SPEAKER_00I think I mean right now, honestly, I don't really have a lot going on. There's a lot hanging in the balance, you know, financially. We're not doing too much right now. Uh oh, we do have our Yolanda's fundraiser in Camarillo coming up in September. Peep the socials for the exact day. I think it's September 19th or 14th. I can't remember. I just made the five years.
SPEAKER_02After my birthday year from the last one?
SPEAKER_00Almost. I think the last one was in October. That's crazy. Wild, right? It was fun. We raised so much money. Um we I think we raised over like five grand or something on the raffle, which was so cool. So if you don't know and you're watching, and you're local to Ventura County, uh, every year for the past couple years, Paul Works has done a large fundraiser at Yolanda's in Camarillo, where if you go to our socials, we have little flat flyers. We also have them to be hand out in our hospital in Thousand Oaks and our adoption center in Thousand Oaks and our rescue, which is in Hoxnar, right down the street from Fresh Patch. And um, if you bring it in, they donate 20% of your whole meal total to Paul Works, whether it's at the bar, dine in or take out. And we also are all on the patio. Our team is there all night. We do a huge raffle fundraiser. Um, last year I think we had like 28 large raffle items, which are really cool, fun raffle items, like golf experiences, lots of booze, uh, coffee, fresh patch. Yeah. And um, we it's super successful and it's so fun. Like we have so many local people who support us, who know us, and we just see so many familiar faces, but also fresh faces, and um, we raise really great money and we do it with a marguer in our hands, happiness in our hearts, um bean dip. Yeah, now oh yeah, the bean dip. Get out of here.
SPEAKER_03You showed me the the sampler platter. Oh, the sampler platter has changed my life. Oh, you're welcome.
SPEAKER_00And we get to support a local business in the meantime. So, and and all the businesses are in the raffle, they get you know into new homes and stuff like that too. So check us out, check our socials for that. That's coming up. Uh, outside of that, we don't really have anything on the radar right now. Um, we are gearing up to hopefully, and I might be saying too much than I should, but we are also hopefully going to be very soon offering very low-cost spay and neuter initiatives at our hospital in Thousand Oaks. So if you're in the community and you're affected by the crisis that is our economy right now, and you need assistance with spay and neutering your pet, Paul Works might be able to help you with that. Amazing. So we're working on that. Yeah. Nice.
SPEAKER_01That's cool. Looking forward to that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that'd be game changing. Amazing. Absolutely cool. Yeah, that's nice.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much for hopping on the Fresh Patch podcast today. Yeah, this has been great hosting you and showing you the facilities and everything.
SPEAKER_00It's so impressive, you guys watching, like blown away. Impressive. It's so cool.
SPEAKER_02We try to keep it cool around here at Fresh Patch, but yeah. So for everyone listening, watching, hit that subscribe button if you're watching on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcast, follow at Fresh Patch on all socials, Freshpatch.com for your real grass potty needs, treats, poop bags. We got you covered. And then check out powworks.org, make some donations, uh, follow their socials as well. Anything helps, like we said. And yeah, appreciate everybody watching, appreciate you again, uh, Brittany. And we will see you all on the next episode.
SPEAKER_04Woo!
SPEAKER_02Later. Bye bye. Thanks for listening to the Fresh Patch Podcast, where good pets get it. We hope you enjoyed the show. Give us a like or a follow and shop all real grass supplies at freshpatch.com.
