I broke this shelter dog out for Thanksgiving!
Video Transcript
Rocky Kanaka (Animal Advocate):
Good morning in Los Angeles right now. And if you saw my last video, I said I have a tough decision to make with Winky the dog. “I Fell in love with Winky… She’s been through such a tough time. She hasn’t been adopted yet, so should she be our next Dog’s Day out candidate?”
Rocky Continues:
Oh, such a cute dog. But I have some bad news. She got adopted. <laugh>, obviously that’s not bad news.
I mean, we can’t do Dogs Day Out with her now cuz what the whole point of my show Dogs Day Out is I take these dogs that have just been really having a hard time out on the best day ever. Try to raise enough awareness so they can get adopted and she got adopted, which is awesome.
She’s with a really great new family. But we do have something else to talk about that’s really important. So let’s head to Adopt and Shop. Yeah, so I’ll miss Winky, but it’s for the best. But I have some good news. You guys remember that lab mix that we couldn’t break outta the shelter the other day because he was still on hold…
That looks like a completely different dog with that giant smile right there. Look at that. Everybody meet our Next Dog’s Day Out Doggo: Bodhi. One dog, one day and one mission where I take shelter dogs out on their best day ever and work to help raise awareness to get them adopted. I’m Rocky Kanaka and this is Dog’s Day Out.
Rocky:
What a perfect name too, Bodhi, right? It means enlightenment, by the way. Huh? You like that name? Are you slobbering a little bit? You excited <laugh>? He’s drooling. Hit that thumbs up button if your are in love with Bodhi as I am. Oh man!
We are gonna have some fun. And he deserves some fun because recently Bodhi’s had it pretty rough. Just the other day I headed to the shelters in Los Angeles. When I first walked by Bodhi at the shelter, he had no name. He was a stray and he was jumping at his cage door and barking. And I knew it was likely that this dog that had been neglected and forgotten might not find a home because often the dog that’s excited and behind the cage and lunging at the door is not truly who that dog is, but because of his reactions will likely continue to get passed by.
But you know what? Dog’s behavior is often a product of their environment. But I knew if we could get him out of this shelter, he would be a completely different dog. And this week is Thanksgiving, but unfortunately that day there was nothing we could do because he was on hold.
But as you know, things are looking up for this shelter dog. The next day, my friends from Adopt and Shop, which is a store in Culver City, California that has dogs and cats available for adoption at any time, went up and grabbed him bright and early first thing in the morning so we can take him on a Dog’s Day out.
We literally broke him out for Thanksgiving. Sometimes weeks go into planning for Dog’s Day Out, but today we’re just gonna go do it because I couldn’t think of any better way to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Rocky Continues:
It’s pretty amazing just what a different dog Bodhi is from when he was in the shelter. Just lunging at the cages and I mean completely different dog. Now we’re just starting walking and I don’t think he’s really been walked on a leash ever if at anything not much.
All right, so we’re about to go on our first walk, and this is the fun part because you really get to learn more about the dog, the real dog. So now we get to really see who he is. Now I do know this, he has a lot of energy and what dog wouldn’t after getting out of the shelter, but I’m a little concerned because on his intake form it said that he was as stray and it likely means he gets so excited he runs away or he gets scared and runs away. I don’t know yet.
The good news is I’ve got just the thing, and Bodhi is perfect for this because he’s a high energy dog. He was a stray. He got away. He wasn’t micro chipped. And so I reached out to my friends at Whistle and they’re more than happy to sponsor Bodhi. Wait, you see that? You can’t eat it, man. It’s gonna keep you safe and we’re just gonna attach it right to his collar so that if something were to happen, Oh, need a post sheltered chest rubdown, huh?
This moment right here is important because it’s Bodhi telling me he feels safe because it may be the first time that he’s ever felt that way.
Oh yeah! yeah! Super simple, you just attach it to the collar. He’s sporting his cool green. And now what I love about this is it just adds that extra layer of safety. Whistle, Thank you and I’ll put a link down below so you can check it out and get one for your dog. And let’s go on a walk.
I’m gonna work to stay really calm because his energy level is really, really high and we’re gonna go try this out and see how he does. All right. He’s doing good out of the gate. I’m letting him kind of just check out the trees and get familiar. Smell the neighborhood.
Here’s something that will really surprise you: on the shelter intake, I think it said he was about two. There is no way I got news for you. He’s like 10 months old. He is still a little puppy. He’s got bright white teeth and puppy energy and he’s a playful puppy. I mean puppy all the way.
Rocky Continues:
You can definitely tell there’s neglect, not from an abuse or starvation sort of thing, but he is overweight. So he is probably just being, food was just probably being dumped in his bowl. He’s got lots of energy. He was a stray dog, so he probably got excited and ran out. There’s no microchip and who knows, maybe not the case at all, but most likely, and it takes time and it takes work with dogs like this. He’s an amazing dog, but he’s just gonna need a little extra work now just because for the last 11 months of his puppy life.
Now someone’s gonna have to take the time and spend that time with him. I’ll spend a little time with him, but whoever adopts him is gonna have to really dedicate that time. There’s an amazing dog in there for sure. Good boy. Good boy. Look at that face… Good boy. Yeah! Oh yeah… Let’s keep checking this town out. Come on bud!
Okay, so Bodhi is definitely fitting in with this Venice vibe, so I think it’s a perfect name for him. And one thing I’m wondering is he, he’s obviously a lab something, a mix of something. So I don’t know, I think we should do a DNA test kit. Comment down below if you think so too. Let me know what else you think his in Bodhi and it’ll be fun to look back once we know the final results and see if you were right. So comment down below. Bodhi is a lab mix. What do you think he’s mixed with?
Okay, so we got Bodhi out of the shelter for Thanksgiving. So I think it is time for your barks giving meal. What do you say? You hungry buddy? Work up an appetite, do it. Come on, Come on.
<Rocky Setting up the Table>
If this isn’t a Thanksgiving meal fit for a dog right out of a shelter, then I don’t know what is. Look, we’ve got stuffing. It’s, it’s a little bit different. I’ve got rice and carrots in there. We’ve got a pop pie. This is filled with Turkey and vegetables. Oh man, so good! Cornbread… What barks giving meal would be complete without cornbread and of course a dog pumpkin pie. What I love about it is pumpkin pie is great for dogs and dogs also love pumpkins. I’m excited. I’m excited to see how Bodhi reacts. I think he’s gonna <laugh> I think he’s gonna clear the table. He deserves this. So Bodhi, happy Barksgiving!
<Bodhi Eating his Barksgiving Meal>
Okay! Stuffing first… Oh! <laugh> Where are you going?! Taking your Barksgiving on the run? Good boy! <laugh> Bodhi keeps running away from the table whenever he gets his food. And you know what? He can eat his Barksgiving meal any way he pleases. If you know me, you know that I believe dogs deserve our gratitude. And Thanksgiving is a perfect time to do that. And not just at Thanksgiving, but year round, because they give us unconditional love.
This Thanksgiving hug your dog and know that by being a part of this channel, you’re a part of something bigger, of helping the dogs that have been forgot, that are broken, that are neglected, because every dog deserves their day.
Leave a comment down below for Bodhi and I’ll read as many of those as I can to him. If you didn’t see the first video where he came from the shelter, make sure you check it out. I’ll link it up right up here. And that’s how you clean a Barksgiving plate. Make sure you subscribe and even one level better join my channel.