[dogs barking]
[cell phone ringing]
[Mariah] Do you see her?
[man speaking]
[Mariah] Okay.
I am on my way to try and find the stray dog
that we keep getting calls about out here in the country.
Okay.
[Mariah] I got a written letter in my mailbox
from our mail carrier,
saying that there was a little tan pupp
hanging out around the post office,
really skinny, she tried feeding it, but it was too skittish.
All right.
Fear of being a dog.
[Tia speaking]
We do know that the dog is a female,
and from a video that we received from someone,
we can tell that the dog is extremely skittish.
[camera operator speaking]
[Mariah speaking]
[camera operator speaking]
Unfortunately, we didn't know if she was staying in that area
or if she was wandering further.
I am going behind the post office
where the dog was last spotted,
and I'm gonna look around the cane fields to see if I can see her.
Some wandering.
[whistles]
[Mariah] It's extremely difficult
to look through the cane fields to try and find a dog.
The cane fields are not something you can walk throu
and the cane is very tall.
They'll cut you
and there's snakes and rats, and... and it's not something
that is feasible to go into
She's got to be in there, in here.
Dang it.
[whistles]
Damn it. Ugh!
[Mariah] I gave our animal control officer, Richard, a call.
I contacted him and see if he could meet me to set a trap
and we'd just leave it out and see if we could catch he
[Richard speaking]
We could probably put it
like, maybe back here in the grass along this cane field road.
Do you wanna drive... I'll drive around.
Unfortunately, when you're using a trap,
you usually only get about one shot
with a stray dog, especiall one that's very skittish,
they're extremely smart.
So we want to wait until we know exactly
where to put it before we place one out.
[Mariah] She used to hide in these cane fields,
but they just got cut down.
This week, it's grinding season,
that means cane farmers are cutting down the sugarcane,
which means she's also at ri to getting hit
or injured by one of the tractors.
We need to try and trap her soon.
They said they still are seeing her,
but I'm wondering if she's closer to those cane fields now.
[Mariah] Her hiding place that she's kind of found
a safe haven in is getting plowed down,
which means she's losing the home she knows.
You know what?
Why don't we just put one in their...
their yard right here, and I'll just go tell the girls.
I'll go tell Shane the thing that we just put
a trap back there 'cause the mail carriers can watch.
The girls, they'll watch
'cause they even left notes in my mailbox about the dog.
[Mariah] This seems to be a very young dog.
I'm not sure that she has proper shelter,
and she definitely doesn't have proper nutrition with food and water.
We've got some stinky, stinky food.
She gonna love it.
Here, let's do it.
This way 'cause I think
she's coming from over here.
[Mariah] I brought some really smelly, pungent canned dog food.
It's just something that will catch a really hungry dog's scent.
Um, they can smell it, and they can come from far away to smell it.
So I'm hoping she is hungry enough
to follow the food in and get trapped.
[Mariah] Yummy, stinky, stinky food.
I'll give her some...
-Or else we're gonna catch everything but the dog. -[Richard] Yeah.
[Mariah chuckles] All right.
[Richard] All right.
-[Mariah] I have a 9:30 appointment. -[Richard] All right.
After my appointment, I'mma swing back by here
-and just check this real quick. -[Richard] Okay.
The only thing that sucks is most of those shy dogs
come around in the evening time.
[instrumental music playing]
[upbeat music playing]
[Tia] It's kind of nice.
It's perfect weather.
-Even the birds are singing. -[Earl] Mmm-hmm.
The adopter we have coming today is Kim.
He is actually a repeat adopter.
He adopted Huey from us last year.
You got nowhere to go?
-[Kim laughs] -Nowhere to go?
Do you want to get on the sofa?
-[Earl] That boy don't hesitate. -Fourteen?
[Kim] I really am partial to the oldest ones.
-Hello! -[Earl] Time to do some shopping.
[Tia chuckles]
-How y'all doing? -[Tia] Hi.
-[Earl] What's up? -[Tia] You guys are old friends?
-[Earl] How you doing? -Good to see you, man.
[Earl] Same here.
-[Tia] And we've never met. -I'm Kim.
[Tia] Hi, Kim, nice to meet you, finally, finally, finally.
My name is Kim.
I came here from Georgia,
and I'm hoping to adopt a senior dog today.
-I'm ready for another dog. -[Tia] Yeah, we got a few.
[Earl] Yeah, we got something for you, man.
-[Tia] We got a few. -[Kim] Okay.
I wanted to go through Villalobos
because I've already had one dog from here,
and I've had a great experience
with the whole process,
with how the dogs are treated and cared for
and how much history is known about the dogs.
I wanted to go to a place that I knew and trusted.
My second time here.
-Right, right, with Huey. -Yeah, with big Huey.
-[Tia] Wow. -He was great.
-He was. -He lasted a year.
-Oh. Wow. -[Earl] Well, that's good.
And at the end, osteosarcoma, which I had never heard of before.
-Yeah. -[Kim] But he had a fracture
-and they could tell from the X-ray... -[Tia] Oh!
-...that there was cancer around it. -[Tia] Wow.
[Kim] And I adopted Huey last year.
For the whole year that he lived,
it was a fantastic experienc
He was my best friend.
We traveled everywhere together,
and he was my constant companion.
He was very healthy, even though he was 14 when I got him.
But he did not act sick or off.
[Tia] You know, what's one thing about these dogs?
I mean, they just... they don't
show any pain, they just keep on going sometimes.
-Right. -You know, they just keep on going.
-Yeah. -[Tia] Well, I know...
-Yeah. -...you want like, an older dog again.
-Yes. -Okay.
But I don't know, like, anything about your lifestyle.
Do you just like, hang out at home, do you go places,
-do you drive? -So, I'm single,
-I'm retired. -Mmm-hmm.
-I travel quite a bit... -Okay.
-...mainly to Florida. -[Tia] Okay.
-But, um, my... my dog goes with me everywhere I go. -[Tia] Okay.
Okay. So you need that dog that will like to travel.
-Yeah. -You know, little road trips here and there.
-Road trips. -[Tia] Okay.
And there's a couple of special...
Huey and I did two walks a day...
-[Tia] Oh, wow. -...and two fairly long drives to get to the walks.
-He loved to ride in the car. -[Tia] Yeah.
-Well, it was just fantastic. -[Tia] Wow.
It was fantastic.
[Kim] Now, I'm determined that my next dog
is gonna be another senior,
one that...
particularly has not had a permanent home,
and kind of, like, a hard luck case.
I wanna be the one to step in and,
uh, be the person that might take that dog.
[Tia] You know, the dogs that we're gonna show you today,
you can't go wrong with any of these dogs,
where like, I wish you could take all of them
-because they're... -Yeah.
...all amazing and they're all so deserving of a, of a home, finally.
Well, that's what I'm looking for,
the really deserving ones,
-the older ones... -Yeah.
...the ones that typically get bypassed
-by other adopters. -[Tia] And that's what it is.
It's... it's not that any of these dogs have done anything wrong,
it's that they just get overlooked.
[Tia] Kim is the ultimate adopter.
He just, you know, these dog
they've been through so much.
So to be spoiled and to be just taken care of
and... and wined and dined 24 hours a day,
it's... it's what they want, it's what they need.
So, and Kim is that kind of guy.
Why don't you bring out the bad boy, Bartolo?
[chuckles] We love him. [chuckles]
[Tia] Bartolo, he was found as a stray in New Orleans,
and the family that brought him to us,
their last name was Bartolo so I named him after them.
And he is one that I do not understand
why he hasn't gotten a home
Bartolo is such a handsome guy.
He likes to play with his toys,
he's a fun dog, I think he's funny as hell.
-Big man on campus. -[Tia] Bartolo!
[Kim] I can't take it.
[Tia] He's like, "Hey, what's up? What's up?" [chuckles]
[Earl] Big man.
-[Tia] Yeah. -[Kim] Hey.
-[Earl] Big man on campus. -[Tia] Oh, my God, I would take this dog.
[Kim] Hey.
I love his head.
[Tia] Hey, you! He still got a little spunk in him.
So how old is this one?
[Tia] I think, like, ten, he doesn't act it, though.
-[Earl] Over here. -[Kim] That's okay.
[Tia] What? What? Look at you, you're into everything.
You wanna get into everything.
-Huh? -[Tia] Yeah, he's... yeah.
All the ladies like Bartolo.
[Kim] I'm used to big dogs, and he was a big dog with a big head,
and my last two pits had big heads.
So that was sort of a draw to me, his physique.
[Tia] Says, "I'm ready to go, man, I'm ready to go."
Why don't you go for a little walk?
-Go for a walk, dude. Come on. -[Earl] Come on.
-[Tia] You guys go for a walk. Come on. -[Earl] Let's go for a stroll.
[Earl] And so you could feel what you got right there.
[Kim] He looks strong as hell.
-[Earl] Uh, this is new territory for him right now. -[Kim] Oh, it is?
-[Earl] Yeah. -[Kim] He's not used to out here?
So has this one ever had a home?
-[Earl] No. -[Tia] Nope, nope.
[Kim] The only concern I have about any dog
is when I'm walking my dog down the street
-and another dog is coming from the other side. -[Tia] Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm.
-[Kim] I can obviously keep them from getting together. -[Tia] Right, right, right.
-He ignores them. Yeah. -[Kim] Oh, that's great.
[Tia] He is a dog that is not affected by kennel life
at all, like he's in his own world,
so we knew that he was going to come out like,
"Eh!
What do you want?"
[Earl] I remember, boy, when he'd first come, he was big, sexy.
[Tia] Still is big, sexy. Yeah, I'd be taking this boy home with me...
-[Earl] Yeah? -...if I didn't have Lucky. Mmm-hmm.
[Kim] He's solid.
Hey, good looking.
-Are you a good boy? -[Earl] Oh, yeah.
[Tia] You have to explain to the adopters with a, with a dog like that like,
trust me, he will show attention
when you get home and he gets used to you.
Right now, he doesn't give a crap.
-Okay. -[Kim] Hey.
[Tia] We'll get him back out. All right.
[Earl] Bartolo.
Will you get Marcello? Like, he's in my side door.
-[Earl] Mmm-hmm. -[Tia] We're gonna bring out my roommate, Marcello.
[Tia] Marcello is a dog that's also been with us for a long time.
He was actually rescued right around the corner from the warehouse,
just running scared for his life.
He was terrified.
So he ended up in my house,
and he's like a different dog now.
He's like, super confident.
He's older now, so he doesn't like to wrestle as much,
but he's like, he gets all wiggly when he meets a dog.
And I have like some obnoxious hound dogs,
he doesn't care, so.
-[Kim] Oh, he's bigger than I thought he would be. -[Tia] Marcy! Marcy!
Oh, he's got a big head.
-[Tia] Hi, Marcy. -[Kim] Hey.
[Tia] What? What? You know me, we're roommates, buddy.
-[Kim] So he stays with you? -[Tia] Mmm-hmm.
-Yeah. Yep, he is like the perfect dog. -[Earl] Living the life.
[Tia] Like, the... him and Lucky
-are the best dogs in my house. -[Earl] Yeah.
Perfect. Like, just lays in his crate, sleeps,
loves, loves, loves, loves going for walks.
Dude, dude where you going? He wants to go, that's why.
-Marcello, what do you wanna do? -He loves to walk.
He wants to stroll. This is like...
Saturday Night Fever's "Stayin' Alive" thing going on right here.
This is him, this is what he likes to do, likes to strut.
[Kim] I noticed that he looks so much younger
and the squareness of his head...
[Tia] Oh, he'll go right in the water.
[Kim] ...and the musculatur of his body,
I really liked Marcello.
[Tia] He wants to go, like,
-he will go, and he's a walker. -[Earl chuckles]
[Kim] And I need that, I need some exercise.
Yeah, he is, he will go.
[Kim] Huey was great, but he couldn't go fast.
[Tia] No, he'll just keep going.
He doesn't go fast, but he will not stop,
-he'll just keep going. -[Earl] He won't stop.
[Tia] He walks into the, walks into the lake.
-[Earl] Yeah. -[Tia] Yeah, he doesn't care about nothing, no more.
[Kim] Marcello.
I love his head. Hey.
Hey.
What do you think about me?
[Tia] What I like about him is his behavior.
He loves to walk, he loves to go out, you know, like for a stroll,
like loves the car.
He's just like a... you know, he doesn't have this overwhelming personality,
-he just has like a chill personality. -[Earl] Like, whatever.
-[Tia] Yeah, he does. -He's like, "Whatever you wanna do, man."
Yeah. He'll go up to anybody, like he doesn't like...
-[Kim] And he's fine with other dogs? -[Tia] Yeah, totally fine.
Come on, dude.
-All right. Now we have to put him away. -[Earl] Come on, Marcy.
[Tia] Come on. And we're going to bring out...
-[Earl] Little Marie, now? -[Tia] Yeah.
[Earl] All right.
[Tia] Marie has been with u for many, many, many years.
She was the original litter from what we call the UPS rescue.
The entire litter was found by a UPS driver,
uh, in a box, like in a, in a field,
and there was these little tiny puppies just left,
I mean, literally tossed out
So Marie was one of those dogs.
The entire litter got a home
and then there was Marie.
She's always been a sweet do
there was no reason for her never to get a home,
but she just never got picke
[Kim] God, she's beautiful.
-[Tia] Yeah. -[Earl] All right.
-[Tia] Come on, Marie. -[Earl] Come over here.
Say hello.
-This is Marie. -[Kim] Hey, Marie.
[Tia] She's scared, look at her, her tail's between her legs.
[Kim] Mmm-hmm. That's okay.
-I understand. -[Tia] Oh, my gosh.
-[Kim] Hey. -[Tia] Wow.
Hey.
-[Kim] Oh, my God, she's so pretty. -[Tia] She is.
So she is the one that's nine... nine?
[Tia] Yeah, yeah, almost ten.
It's okay, mama.
[Kim] Oh, I like her.
-[Tia] It's okay, mama. -[Earl] She a sweetheart.
She really is.
[Kim] My first impression of Marie
was that she had an innocent look on her face
that, uh, sort of touched me
I had her out in the yard, the other day, and like, I just couldn't...
I'm trying to take a video and she wouldn't. I'm like, "Get back."
-[Tia] Yeah, 'cause she, she knows you, though. -[Earl] "Stay right here."
-[Tia] Yeah, she does it. -[Kim] Oh, she wants to be close.
Yeah. She's a Velcro dog, she's really into being around somebody.
[Earl] Rescue, she never really bark.
-You know, she not messy, she don't-- -[Kim] She's so mellow.
-[Tia] Yeah. -[Earl] Come on.
Come on, Rie.
Come on. Let's go.
Let's get from around them.
There you see how her tail done pop back up.
[Kim] That's good.
[Earl] Yeah, it's her nervousness.
-Look, now you can see the difference right there. -[Kim] Oh.
That's it, that's all she wanna do, she wanna be up under you.
[Kim] Hey. Hey.
[Kim] When I got down on the ground at her level,
she came and...
sort of cuddled and, uh, I really liked that
Uh, I'm looking for, uh,
a dog that loves affection and, you know, and will take it.
[Kim] Do you wanna come with me?
-[Earl] This is like one of my favs here. -[Kim] Really?
She's been around so long. I... I kind of...
kind of like messing with the... the guy that's been here forever.
[Kim] Yeah. Yeah, they need the extra attention.
[Tia] Yeah, she's perked up a little bit.
-[Tia chuckles] -[Kim] I like her.
[Earl] Marie been around her for nine years,
and she literally grew up here as a baby,
and we really feel bad for her,
we really feel like she need to get out of here
But, it's like, once she ge to know you, like,
she going to wanna be on your hip at all times.
[Kim] Well, I would love that. Come here. Look.
-[Kim] Oh, my gosh. -[Tia] Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-[Earl] This is it. -[Tia] But that's the thing is...
-[Earl] Right here. -[Tia] ...she knows, she knows him.
-[Earl] You know what I'm saying? -[Tia] That's her. That's her.
Do you know anything about how she does in the car?
-[Earl] She's not going to do a lot of moving around. -She's... she's very calm.
-She's a very calm dog, you know. -[Earl] Yeah.
-[Tia] This is her. -[Kim] Okay.
[Tia] That's... oh, you go, mama, don't be scared.
I think I've seen what I need to see.
[Tia] What do you think?
[Tia] So, no pressure, what do you think?
You're leaning towards her?
-Yeah. -[Tia] Aw! She needs it the most!
[Kim] So... got to see wonderful dogs
and had the pressure, so to speak, of narrowing it down.
But in the end, I chose Mari
And she has great qualities and I just
have an innate feeling that we're gonna have a... a great time together.
[Tia] Now she was the one that I was leaning toward.
I mean, even though Marcello lives with me,
-I was hoping her because... -This sounding like a dinner date right here.
[Kim and Tia laughing]
-Okay. -All right, lock that in.
-[Tia] All right. Well, let me go put her back up. -[Kim] All right.
[Tia] To me, it was
the ultimate...
match, you know?
An adopter like Kim who is so wanting to, like,
give somebody love and just...
cuddle them and spoil them, she needed it.
It was, it was a happy moment.
-[Kim] All right. Well, thank you for everything. -[Tia] Nice meeting you.
-[Kim] All right, man. -[Tia chuckles]
-[Earl] Appreciate it. -[Tia] All right, Kim.
-[Kim] Okay. -[Earl] Thank you. Be safe.
[Kim] Okay.
[Tia] Kim, being a former adopter,
um, we obviously don't have to do a home check.
[grunting]
Yeah, that was good, that was good.
[Tia] So, he's gonna spend the night and stay here in New Orleans
while we make sure that she's okay with traveling in a car.
Oh, cool. That was, that was good.
-[Earl] That was a good one. -[Tia] I'm glad.
-[Earl] Me too. -[Tia] I'm glad, I'm glad.
-Good job, mama. -All right.
Get in there, high five.
-Get in there. -[Tia] All right.
[country music playing]
Let's get you some sunshine.
[Tia] A few of our Villalobos employees that have been with us
for a long time take on some of the dogs in a hospice situation.
Come on, Ches. You gonna smell every little piece? Come on.
[Tia] And they remain in a home environment until their day comes.
[Toney] You got to get through the walk
and you've got to make it to the end of the block sometime.
[Tia] One of those dogs is Chester,
who lives with Toney Convers
[Toney] Hey, ladies.
-I thank y'all for coming through. -[Lizzy] Hi, TC.
[Heidi] Hi, Chester.
Today, Heidi and I are meeting Toney at his house
so we can visit with Chester since he is a hospice dog
and we wanna check in and see how he's doing.
[Heidi] Well, I haven't seen him in a while.
Oh, my God, his head.
Heidi, what's the name of the condition again?
It's called the nerve sheath tumor.
Nerve sheath tumor.
I've had Chester for about two months, and, uh,
he has a condition where the muscles around his cranium
are kind of deteriorating because of a tumor.
There's not very many tumors, I guess, that cause this specific,
like muscle loss on one side of the head.
[Toney] And I've noticed that he's kind of collapsin
a little more than normal,
and I just want to do the right thing by Chester.
I don't want nothing to happen surprisingly.
I'd rather be on top of things and have an idea of what's to come.
Like, average lifespan for a dog
that gets this specific type of tumor was only like five months.
-Wow. -[Heidi] He's pretty close to that.
-[Toney] Yeah. -[Lizzy] Wow.
[Heidi] And he's doing so good.
I mean, no, other than that,
-he seems like he's so healthy. -[Lizzy] Yeah.
-[Heidi] He seems so happy. -[Toney] Eatin' good. He happy.
[Lizzy] With Chester's head caving in,
other than the way that it looks,
he's still the Chester that we know.
He can still see really well
he's still very happy and ea and drinks and is playful.
[Lizzy] You and Emily are the best.
You guys... I know it's hard to do this over and over again,
and you guys have done it so many times, but...
Yeah. I'm thank... I'm thankful, it's just like...
-[Lizzy] We're all thankful for it, too. -We've been there so long.
-We've been in the trenches. -[Lizzy] I know, they're your babies.
Yeah, so when they come here, it's like they...
-you know, it just make 'em lift up. -I just know how hard it is
to like experience those losses over and over,
and so like, it's just... you guys are really, like,
selfless to keep doing it.
[Toney] Just losing anything it's kind of sad.
You know, I've lost a lot of family members
and being in prison and stuff and having to lose my family that way.
And I lost my mom when I was incarcerated,
so it was as... you know?
Everything my whole life, everything I knew to fight for,
everything I knew to believe in, was kind of like...
stripped from me within the first year or two I was in prison, everything.
I swear to you, honestly, it was getting harder and harder to like
not be able to take something home
-and like... -Yeah.
...you know, sort of be in a situation where that got kind of...
-helped create it for us to do so. -Yeah.
[Toney] Death is a part of life,
but learning how to, you know, just to see the,
the good in it, Chester's deserving of a home,
all these different dogs are deserving of a home.
A lot of the negative stuff gets erased
with the positive out of the situation,
which is giving these dogs what they deserve.
Thank you for coming to do the check up
again, just to ease my nerves.
Emily and Toney are absolutely incredible
when it comes to caring for hospice dogs and senior dogs,
and, um, we know that he's having the absolute best time.
[Toney] Come on, snack time.
[Lizzy] Go get your snack.
[Mariah] Okey-dokey.
All right, let there be a dog.
Once I got done with my vet run,
I decided just to go by and check on the trap
to see if we had any movement,
or if I could see if the dog was around.
Nothing.
Dang it.
I had a feeling she wouldn't come out during the day, though.
There was no dog in the trap, it was very discouraging,
so I decided to pull onto the cane field road.
Guess we'll see.
Oh, my God, look, that's her,
where the tractor's about to go.
-[camera operator] Oh, wow. -[Mariah] Do you see her?
-[camera operator speaking] -[Mariah] Right after that tractor.
She's just hanging out right there.
Holy crap!
That's totally her, isn't it?
[camera operator speaking]
Poor baby, she's like living in these cane fields
and they're just knocking them down left and right.
Oh, God, it's going back in there.
Now to see if we can get her.
My major concerns going into the rescue is not catching her.
I was also worried that something would happen to her
by the cane trucks before we were able to get her,
or that she would never show back up
and we just wouldn't know where she was.
Where are you, little girl? I know you are here.
It's like her safe zone.
So she's gotta be in there,
in here somewhere.
I don't see her.
-Oh, look, look, look. -[camera operator speaking]
-Look, look, look. -[camera operator speaking]
[Mariah] Ahh!
They're scaring her back in. Don't run her over,
they probably see her, too.
That was her, right there.
I was really worried that she was either going to get ran over
or that the loud noise from the tractors
just scared her off and that she wouldn't come back out.
Come on, baby girl,
just go down to the post office,
it's quiet down there.
I wa-- Oh, there she is.
Oh, my God.
[bag rustling]
I need to get my stuff.
Hi.
Hold on, I'm just gonna try.
Hi, baby girl.
Hey, baby girl.
No, no! No, no!
-She's so skittish. -[camera operator] She is.
It's gonna make this so hard.
Damn it!
[Mariah] She's definitely extremely skittish of people
probably not been around people a lot.
So I just decide instead of trying to follow her and push it,
'cause I didn't want her to get too scared that she ran away.
Dang it.
She's not gonna come close to me.
Oh, oh, oh, yes. Come on, pretty girl, follow my van.
Come on, no, no, keep coming, baby, keep coming.
I decided to just keep driving slow towards where the trap is,
and thankfully she definitely started following my van
and got closer and closer to the trap.
Come on.
Come on. Good girl!
Oh, my God, like, she's hauling butt now.
My God, she's like, "Please save me."
Come on, baby girl.
Oh, my God, I'm like, if I catch this dog, I'm gonna be so happy.
She did cut to the post office yard where I had the trap,
but she completely passed it up,
she didn't want anything to do with it.
I didn't want to move the trap yet,
I wanted to go follow her and just see where she went.
Oh, look, look, look, she's right there.
She's hungry.
No, no, no, no, no!
[clicking tongue] Look.
Oh, look she's sniffing it. Okay.
I got her enticed now.
Good girl.
Oh, you're just a puppy.
God, she's so skittish.
She was really interested in my treats,
but wanted nothing to do with me,
so the closer I got, the more skittish she got.
I decided not to push it.
I didn't wanna chase this dog,
I didn't wanna push her to where she was fearful of me
or fearful of the area she's now kind of called home.
I should've loaded that trap up.
I should go load it up real quick and come back.
I'm gonna go get the trap,
stay here and keep eyes on her.
[camera operator speaking]
[Mariah] Instead of trying to push her,
I took a chance because you never wanna take your eyes off of a dog.
[tense music playing]
[camera operator speaking]
Where you going, baby girl?
[whistles]
[Mariah speaking]
Damn it!
No, please don't go back that way.
Maybe I can keep her from coming this way.
I'm gonna park right here and see if I can
shoo her that direction towards the trap.
No.
[camera operator speaking]
[Mariah] No, no, no, no, no!
[truck horn blaring]
[Mariah] No.
Damn it!
[car horn blaring]
[Mariah] Okay, yeah, go that direction.
Perfect, that's what I...
Oh, no, not that direction.
Oh, hold on, she might have gotten a whiff of it, she got a scent of it.
Oh, my God, please, please, please.
Oh, my God.
Please, please, please, please, please.
She may be too smart for a trap, but we'll see.
Oh, my God. Go in it, baby, go in it.
Go in it, baby girl.
Ooh, there she... Oh, my God, she's right up on it.
Go, go, go, go, go.
No, turn back around, turn back around.
There you go. There you go, baby.
[gasps] Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Oh!
Oh, God, she's so smart.
Step on it, step on it.
Step on that step board.
Oh, my God!
[Mariah grunts]
[Mariah exhales sharply]
[Mariah] I'm stressing out right now.
Yes! Oh, my God! Yes!
Whoo!
Okay.
Whoo!
Okay.
I got to go get my van so I can load her up.
[bleep] yes.
Oh, my God, yes! [chuckles]
[Mariah] I was so thrilled that we caught her.
I definitely didn't have a lot of faith going into this rescue
'cause she was so skittish and she really knew that area.
Hi, baby.
Look, we're gonna put this around you.
Hi, baby girl!
You're just a pup.
You're just a puppy, huh?
Hi, sweetheart.
Oh, you're giving me kisses.
And you're like, "Thank God, someone found me."
Well, I was gonna lift the trap in, but you're so friendly,
I might be able to just grab you.
Hi, sweetheart.
Oh, you're so sweet.
I'm so sorry it took us so long to get you.
Okay.
Hi, baby girl, you're such a good puppy.
Okay. Okay.
[Mariah] She definitely need some more meat on her bones,
but she's not in horrible shape.
Oh, my God. Okay. Good girl, good job.
Good job, baby, I got you.
It's okay, I got you.
Go on in.
Good girl.
All right, mama, we're safe.
Yay!
Okay.
Yes!
Now that we have trapped this sweet girl and she is safe,
it's just time to get her ba to the rescue and evaluate h
and give her some food and water and get her comfortable.
You've been running all your life, huh?
Okay. Whoo!
Okay, you are safe now.
[joyful music playing]
[upbeat music playing]
[Earl] Come on, Marie.
[Tia] Since Kim was staying in New Orleans,
we thought how fun it would be for him to be a part of,
you know, kind of the car testing with Marie.
Yeah, Marie.
[Earl] I'm somewhat nervous because, um,
she's one of my favorites
and I'm really pulling for her to get this done.
Come on, let's go.
Is she gonna be jumping around,
is she gonna be in the front seat,
front to back or she's just gonna lay down and relax?
We're gonna go up there, we're gonna turn
to like that Cadillac.
And, uh, hopefully she'll pass.
[Earl] Not... not this corner that's coming up but the next one.
We're gonna make a right.
-[Kim] So we're turning here? -[Earl] Yeah, we're gonna turn right here.
Look, she laid down.
-Already? -Already.
[Earl] Kim had some blankets laid out on the floor of the car.
She found her spot and she laid down and didn't budge.
-Hey, Rie-Rie. -What's she doing?
Just resting, laying down, ain't moving.
[Earl] She didn't care abou looking out the window,
she didn't care about what was going on in the front seat,
she just laid down between the seats and chill
-[Kim] That's what I want. I want... -[rooster crowing]
-[Kim] What is that? -I hear you, I hear you.
He right there.
-[Kim] Is it a chicken? -[Earl] Mmm-hmm.
[Kim] Is it just loose?
Yeah. That's how they run around here.
Marie, come a long ways, man,
Marie, come a long ways, you know.
Everybody really feels she really deserving
of being adopted.
-You know, nine, almost ten years. -More so than-- Yeah.
-[Kim] She's smiling right now. -[Earl] We happy for her.
She know what time it is.
So you think she'll be okay not in a crate?
-Yeah. -Back to Georgia.
-Yeah. She's great, man. -[Kim] Marie,
I can't wait to get you home.
[Earl] She's gonna be great.
-[Kim] Is that Lizzy? -[Earl] Yeah.
Yeah, Marie!
A+.
[Earl] After the car ride, you know, we make it back to the warehouse
and Lizzy come over and talk to us just to see how Marie did.
[Lizzy] So she passed. So you're still taking her, right?
-[Kim] Absolutely. -[Lizzy] Okay.
-[Earl chuckles] He wanna take her right now. -[Lizzy] So sweet.
[Earl] I was very excited for Marie.
She's been around here since she was a puppy,
she literally grew up inside the warehouse.
Oh, I'm so happy.
[Earl] And for this to be the last little piece of testing we got
before we get her out of her
I really wanted to do a back flip,
but I knew I wouldn't have made it.
-[Lizzy] That's your daddy. -[Kim chuckles]
[Lizzy] That's your daddy, Marie.
[Earl] Well, being as thoug she done real well on her car testing.
Tomorrow, we'll be sending her on her way with Kim.
[Lizzy] Talk to you soon.
-[Kim] Okay. -That's...
[Earl speaking]
This is Breakfast. She is around seven years old.
One of our employees found her as a stray,
and when they opened their car door,
this sweet girl jumped right in.
She has been a great office dog,
doesn't have any accidents,
loves to go on walks.
She does need to be the only dog in the home.
She's great with kids,
but it should be children around six and up
because her zoomies get a little bit intense.
[chuckles]
If you're interested in adopting Breakfast
or any other Villalobos dog
or donating to Villalobos, go to AnimalPlanet.com/Pitbulls.
[instrumental music playing]
[Emily] Come on, bubba.
[Toney] Baby boy is so energetic still.
[Emily] He's an athlete, babe.
This way.
[Toney] You don't even like worry about Luna in the stroller.
[Toney] Memories be importan man, you know, just in life
you have to have those thing we cherish,
you know, and with each of these hospice dogs,
we always try to find something we could do
to make a few memories.
We'll get that ice cream. What kind you want?
-They have vanilla. -[Luna speaking indistinctly]
[Toney] Come, look, they got banana cream,
they got chocolate.
He's around Luna, of course, and it's like,
it's so fun to watch her,
you know, get all that, "Chester, Chester."
You know, she started learning the names and stuff
[Toney] Say "A pupsicle for Chester."
-Chester. -[Toney] I want a strawberry.
[Emily] And a strawberry.
[Toney] This is one of her dogs.
This will be like, when she grows up, she gonna say,
I had a dog named this, I had a dog named that.
[Emily] Chester, look. Mmm.
He trying to like, do it when we're not looking, like he's violating.
[Emily chuckles]
He's like, "I actually prefer strawberry."
-I like that one you got. -[Emily chuckles]
[Emily] I mean, hospice has been so rewarding.
When we took him home, I was expecting him to be like,
kind of lazy and hanging around,
but when he realized that he wasn't going back to the rescue,
I mean, you could just really see a change in him.
-[Toney] Baby boy. -[Emily chuckles]
[Emily] Seeing dogs that I've seen for years,
you know, in the rescue, just finally, like feel like,
"Oh, like, um, I made it."
How about you, Chester?
You enjoying things?
You ate it all? Where it went?
Obviously, the most challenging part is saying goodbye.
[Toney] My baby boy.
Y'all ready to take a little voyage back towards the house?
[Emily] As much as like that part hurts,
you know, we would want to hurt like
a million times over for them to know that,
that they had someone. [sniffles]
This way, buddy.
[instrumental music playing]
[dogs barking]
[Tia] Marie got passed up year after year for adoptio
because, well, no reason,
like there was nothing wrong with her.
It's just, she just didn't get noticed.
-[Kim] Good morning. -Today is your day, huh?
[Tia] When a dog has been with us these many years,
it does give you hope.
[Lizzy] Here she is.
Rie-Rie.
Today is a very exciting day.
We're saying goodbye to Mari
She's been here such a long time,
and it's like an indescribable feeling.
[Earl] All right, now, I'm no longer your stepdaddy...
-[Lizzy] She's just ready to go. -...this is your daddy.
[Lizzy] Whenever we adopt out a senior,
it's always the best feelin in the world,
but Marie has been here since she was a puppy,
and we never thought this day would come for her
so this is pretty emotional for all of us.
-Bigger and better things you're gonna see. -[Earl] Oh, yeah.
[Lizzy] You know, you never have to go to bed alone, ever again.
I'm so excited to have another dog
and take the road trip home,
and, like, give this dog a great life.
[Earl] Look at his big soft-ass bed.
-[Lizzy] And you got some biscuits. -[Earl] Come on. Go ahead.
[Earl] Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Ooh!
[Lizzy] Since Marie rides so great in the car,
Earl and I decided to give Kim a brand-new
dog bed for her to lay in,
and she definitely was very into the dog bed, she got right in.
-She peeping out the door like, "What the..." -I like her look, look.
-"Let's go, Daddy." -That's so cute.
[Lizzy] Kim is an amazing adopter.
I know Marie is gonna have the best time with him.
I mean, we will be giving him dogs
for as long as he wants to keep taking them from us.
I guarantee you every time you move,
she's going to be on your heels like,
"Where are you going? Where are you going to?"
[Earl] She don't even know what's in store for her,
so she's gonna love it.
All right, Kim, be careful, be safe.
-[Kim] Bye, Earl. Be good. -[Lizzy] Drive safe.
With Marie being that she has never been away from us,
you know, I still want to check in with Kim
to make sure that everything is going oka
There might be some transitional period
that might be kind of tough for her.
[Mariah] Hey, baby girl.
Okay. How are you, sweetheart?
[Mariah] I just rescued a really sweet, shy puppy
from the cane fields behind the post office.
You thirsty, baby?
So I really wanted to name her after the girls
at the post office, um, so I named her Stamps, kind of just like,
you know, you buy stamps at a post office.
I thought that was a really cute correlation.
Look, he got you some food, mama.
[Mariah] She's very young and definitely under a year old.
Here, baby girl.
[Mariah] The fact that this dog is so young
and seems to be in somewhat good condition
and been living on her own,
it just goes to show how strong and brave she is.
I mean, she's definitely a survivor
in being so young to have lived this long.
Hey, hey, hey, no one's gonna take it.
No one's gonna take it, mama.
[Mariah] She is really hungr
but I think she's used to eating
what she can and trying to save stuff
because she's trying to hide some of her food.
You know, she wants to eat some of it,
but she wants to make sure she has it.
[Mariah] Like she's... she's so smart,
she's moving it around the bowl.
Hi, baby girl.
Oh, hi!
Hi!
You're so sweet. Are you more confident now 'cause you got food?
Good girl.
I love how like, the shy dogs,
when you catch them, they're so scared,
and then you get 'em back and you like,
hung out with them and then all of a sudden,
they're like kissing you and so happy.
She was in survival mode when I rescued her.
Very shy, very skittish.
Hi, pretty girl. Come see me.
Come see me, come here.
Oh, hi, sweetheart.
And now she's already welcoming me in
and letting me love on her
and trusting me, it just goes to show
how resilient these dogs are and how,
no matter what situation they come from,
alls they know is love and that they can trust very easily.
Oh, yes, you're gonna be just fine, aren't you?
You're gonna be just fine. You're gonna be just fine.
[instrumental music playing]
Hey, Kim.
[Kim] Hey, Tia.
[Tia] Hi, how are you?
It's been a few days since Kim came and picked up Marie
from New Orleans and drove her home.
Aw, she's all snuggled.
When you drove home, she wasn't in a crate,
she was just loose and then, you know, on the car, the seat.
Yeah, Lizzy gave me this plush, furry dog bed..
-Uh-huh. -...and, uh, she plopped down in it,
-and she-- -She just slept?
Almost the whole time.
Oh, good. I'm glad she drove home.
I knew that was important for you, so I'm glad
that she's comfortable in a car, you know.
Your home is quiet, it's just you,
I know it's the best environment
we could have possibly gotten for her.
-Thank you. -Yeah.
[Tia] All of us talked about how we wished
that somebody would come along.
She loves to go on walks.
[Kim] Come on, Marie, let's finish our walk.
In the morning, every day, we go to this beautiful duck pond park
in Downtown Atlanta area,
and she smiles the whole time we're walking
Oh, good.
[Tia] They say that there's someone out there for everybody,
and I think that this was finally it.
Well, I am glad that she settled in.
I'm glad that everything is going good,
and I'm glad that she's, you know,
being a good girl, which of course,
we knew she was going to be.
[Tia] This was Marie's somebody,
just as much as this was Kim's.
[Kim] All right, take care.
[Tia] All right, bye, you guys.
-Bye. -[Tia] Bye.