Original subtitles

No, not at all.

Are you kidding me?

Pinch me now.

I think I'm living a dream.

It's crazy.

I still can't believe we're here.

I go through the day and I look up sometimes and go, wow,

what is this.

It's been that way ever since we started building it.

It was almost like we were building it for somebody else.

And I'd have to just shake myself and say, hey,

this for our dogs.

We never, ever, ever believed this would happen,

that it would get this big.

So-

We were talking about moving.

And we said, we should have a parade to move the dogs.

And it stuck.

Isn't it awesome.

Yeah.

Cute little floats and everything.

Yeah, that one's great.

I know.

This is great.

Yeah, this is going to be good.

Yeah, well done.

All right, thank you all so much for joining us today

for the senior dog parade.

My megaphone is on the way.

But for now, I'm just going to yell.

So we have about 60 dogs who are going

to be moving during the parade.

We have more volunteers than we do dogs, which is awesome.

So what we're going to do is everyone

is going to go to their assigned float,

we are going to call each float up, one by one.

That's when you will come up.

And then we are going to start bringing your dogs out to you.

And then staff are going to help you

place your dog into either a shopping cart

or stroller or a wagon.

When we- I really wish I had my megaphone.

Once we get to the pavilions, you all

will take your dogs into the building.

Staff will show you which rooms they are going in.

OK.

Come on, let's hear you.

They can't hear you.

Hello.

Yeah.

OK, so that's pretty much it.

Oh, nice.

All right, we are about to get started.

We've got Sally.

This is Sally.

This is Dino. come on, Bud Dino is

going to go in a shopping cart.

OK.

Yeah, we're going to be taking 100 of our dogs from point A

to point B. And we want to do it in a parade form.

Yes.

OK.

Brandon is going to be in a shopping cart.

Looking good.

With our new location being less than a mile

from our old location, it made sense.

Why not make a huge event out of it?

Hi, hi, what do you want.

Oh.

We provide lifetime homes for senior dogs,

either at our sanctuary or in forever foster homes.

And we make sure that they never end up

in a shelter for the rest of their lives

and are always in a good place.

I know I love you too.

The whole thing started one day when Zina said to me,

why don't you go out and do something with yourself

rather than sitting there watching soap operas.

So I said, OK.

I said, you know, I love dogs.

And she said, well, they need dog transports.

And I've got just the place, Middle Tennessee Golden

Retriever.

The first dog we fostered for them

was an ancient Golden Pyrenees mix.

And he only live for two weeks.

We got him because nobody else was

willing to give him a chance.

We decided to take him on.

And again, he didn't live very long.

But we saw that need.

So we said, OK, we'll take the next senior dog that comes

along that really needs a home.

And that was Lucy-Lu.

So Lucy-Lu who we consider a co-founder now,

as well, because she showed us the way with senior dogs.

Zina started thinking, I think we can run our own rescue.

And I said, really, seriously, let's think about it.

Well, overnight, she came up with Old Friends Senior Dog

Sanctuary.

And so we were off and running.

She said two things.

What we'll do is we will post pictures of old dogs

on Facebook.

And I just said, you have got to be kidding me.

It's not going to work.

Completely wrong.

And then, also she said, the other thing

we're going to have to do is we're

going to have to pay for the medical for all the dogs we

bring in.

And I said, how are you going to do that?

These are old dogs.

They cost a lot of money.

And if there's an emergency, it can be $5,000.

She was like, what do you mean, that's nothing.

We're going to have the money.

It went from basically 0 to 90 miles an hour

in a matter of two months.

Likes started rolling in and we started getting calls on,

oh, we understand you take old dogs.

We have a lead on a dog.

And I was like, wow, this is really starting to take off.

And at the time, we had 18 dogs.

I was like, well, OK, we got some more rooms.

So I started building gates and things

of that nature because that was the only place these dogs could

go, was our house.

One of our first big experiences with expansion

was we were sitting in the backyard

and we found out our neighbor's home was for sale.

I found out first.

And I said, Z, did you know that Jay's selling the house.

And she went, get it.

And I went, what do you mean, get it?

We don't have money to buy a house.

We didn't.

At that point, if we got $10,000 in, we were in heaven.

It was like, oh, my god, what we can do with this for the dogs.

Before we paid a dime, we had our first biggest donation

come in.

And we paid for it in cash.

OK, today, we're moving all of our dogs

over to the Grand Paw's Gardens, which is our new sanctuary.

We want to do it all in one day.

And from there on, forget it, seriously, roller coaster ride,

up and down.

Last week was our fourth birthday in the Gardens.

It's when Old Friends moved from Michael and Zina's house

to where we are currently.

So today, we're doing a surprise birthday

party for Michael and Zina.

We want you to be a part of everything.

When we started out, it was in our house.

We thought that's where it would always be.

When we got the cabin next door, we thought, this

is where it will always be.

When we moved into the Gardens, we

thought that was a forever move.

And it was only 18 months after we moved in

that we were looking to go into a more specific senior dog

facility.

We learned a lot of things that we needed that would be better.

And we started thinking about moving again.

It just sort of happened.

We've kind of followed the path.

It's led us, we haven't led it.

I think it's hard for people to understand

that started out, maybe here or even at the old building,

of how-

I mean, it was literally in their house.

I'm one of the few people that have been along with Zina

and Michael's ride from the beginning.

I think she said I might have been the 10th foster home.

And now there's 400.

I just found them on Facebook.

And Michael called me and then they drove the dog to my house.

To see the progression from them to go from their house

to the Garden building to here, it's pretty awesome

to be a part of it.

We have been able to do this just through the generosity

of our donors.

The majority of our donations come from fundraisers

that people set up on Facebook.

And it's funny because a lot of people just sort of say,

there's no way they built this thing on Facebook.

Well, guess what?

There is a way.

What people do is they'll be prompted by Facebook when

their birthday is coming up.

And Facebook will say, it's your birthday.

Do you want to run a fundraiser for a non-profit organization?

They simply put it on their page and say,

I'm raising money for Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary.

They explain our mission.

And their friends pitch in and donate to the cause.

So we get a lot of donations that way.

But the average donation is only about $25.

So we have a lot of people supporting us.

And it really shows how important each donation is.

Building this place took over a year, literally 24/7.

I was on this all the time.

It's hard for me to wrap my brain around

that this building was possible because of donations.

Over $5 million.

It came from those $25 average donations.

And that's to this day what built this place.

You're talking major money.

Just to give you an example, in one two-week period

we got $600,000.

And that month was over a mill, in one month.

It just really amazes us that so many people would

be interested in our cause.

There are so many dogs that are surrendered

to shelters as seniors.

And as heartbreaking as that is, Old Friends Senior Dog

Sanctuary make everything OK again for those seniors.

They help senior dogs live the best life that they possibly

can until it's time for them to go.

They rescue senior dogs that usually

have been dumped at a local shelter at 15 or 16 years old.

Those dogs are probably very likely that they're

going to be euthanized.

Old Friends goes and scoops them up from these shelters.

And then what old friends does is

to make them feel comfortable and at home.

It's a place that we accept them no matter

what their disabilities are, no matter

what their care requires.

And Old Friends will do whatever it takes

to get these dogs fixed up.

Yeah, good boy.

It's OK.

I'm going to fix it, make it all better.

I started at Old Friends about three years ago.

I moved here from Connecticut.

I'd never been to Tennessee before.

And it was kind of like a leap of faith.

I met Zina and learned about this organization

and believed in the cause.

It's my dream job.

Here, I feel like I'm making such a big difference

for the dogs that don't have anybody to do that for them.

Come on.

Hey, come on.

Come on, you can do it.

Right here.

Come on.

What are you doing?

Belly rubs.

You want bellies.

I'm on call 24/7.

And I like it that way.

I'm so invested in these dogs that when something happens

to them, if it was my day off and nobody told me

that somebody was seizuring or this was happening,

I would have a breakdown.

So yeah, they're my kiddos, so I want

to know what's going on with them.

It's one dog.

I don't know anything about it until I go to pick it up.

The times I picked up the small ones,

they've always ridden in my lap back with me.

It's just, I feel like we have this little bond

because I'm like the first person

that they meet coming in.

And they're my little babies.

I can't hold the big ones, unfortunately.

But they're like my little babies when I bring them in.

Oh, my goodness.

Hi.

Oh, OK, I know Sarah had talked to-

Hi, I think your name's Charlie.

Hi.

Given that it's like a Peke mix, Dr. Puskaric

will immediately fall in love and name her.

So it doesn't matter what I name her.

She's going to name her something else.

That's funny.

Pekingese, she's all over that.

Let's go.

We're going to go to your new home, huh?

What do you think?

I would call you Sweet Pea.

But Christine will probably name you

something completely different.

Say hi.

Hey.

It's a new baby.

I want to call her Sweet Pea.

On the bed?

You kind of match the bed.

Here you go.

What you think?

You like that?

That comfy?

Yeah?

I'll get you some water and you'll be all set, OK?

There's this cute little Pekingese

I think Christine's going to fall in love with.

Oh, it's a Pekingese.

It's a mix.

I know.

She doesn't have a name.

And she's 12.

And she's matted and severe dental...

but once she -

Which is just what Christine loves.

Exactly.

Little blonde, right there.

Oh, I see her.

You see her?

Oh, yeah.

It's a little girl.

Oh, look at that face.

I know.

Oh, my gosh.

Has Christine seen her yet?

Uh-uh.

Oh.

She's not around.

I know.

Oh, she's going to go nuts.

And she's got hip problems too?

Oh, my god.

She's going to go nuts.

Call Christine.

Come see Sweet Pea.

I named her Sweet Pea.

She's six pounds and all up your alley.

No, sir.

Oh, my lord in heaven.

Oh, she's a little scared.

I named her Sweet Pea.

Oh, hi, you got some knots on your toe toe.

She's got mats everywhere.

Hi, aren't you the most beautiful thing in the world.

I knew it.

I knew it was going to happen.

I knew it.

Oh, my goodness.

Hi to you!

Oh, you're blowing your snots on me.

Hi.

Oh, my goodness.

New medical dog.

Oh, boy, this is really bad.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know.

That's really bad.

I love her.

I know.

I knew you would.

Not getting any more work out of this woman

for the rest of the day.

That's it.

Focus is on her.

Oh, my gosh.

He's super cute.

He's very sweet.

All right, yes.

Sorry, I get distracted.

Easily distracted by dogs.

All right, do you want me to give Halo a bath now?

I think with a lot of mainstream veterinary clinics,

if they're 13 or they're 14, they'll say,

well, if they were six years old,

you might want to do this surgery,

but at 14, maybe just put them on some steroids or something.

That's not how we work here.

It's if they have a good quality of life and they're happy

and this could help them, who cares if they're 14.

And those 14-year-olds go on to be 17 or 18 or 20 here.

And that's almost unheard of out in the general population.

And I think finances are a concern.

At 14 years old, is it going to be worth it to spend the money

and then maybe have them die in six months.

But at 14 years old, six months is a lot.

And if that's going to be a quality six months,

we're all for it.

The shelter that reached out to us

basically said, you are our last chance with this dog.

When he went into that shelter, in addition

to his medical issues, he was very food aggressive.

I think he had been starving and he

was biting people because of the food aggression.

I mean, he came in here so bad that I actually

was like, where is his quality of life,

should we even be bothering to try

and help him because euthanasia might be kinder.

Hugh, I still worry about.

He's still going through his diagnostic phase right now,

so we're waiting on biopsy results and culture results

to see how we can address that.

When we go to take something, maybe on an emergency,

to one of the local specialists or something, they'll say,

you might want to consider euthanasia.

And I'll say, I want to give this 24 hours.

If they're stable and they're not in pain

and they're not suffering, I want

to give this 24 hours because it is amazing what

these dogs can recuperate from.

I can't tell you how many dogs in the past two years,

if she wouldn't have said, give it 24 hours,

wouldn't be with us today.

From what I've seen in the past with how we've

turned some of these dogs around,

I have absolute faith that we can help you.

Yes, I do.

When we get these guys in, a lot of them

require specialty treatment that a lot of people can't afford.

I think that's what the local animal

control and the local shelters have associated us with.

If we don't take those dogs, those dogs

are going to be euthanized.

There are very few rescues that can

afford the medical care that the Sweet Peas and the Hughs need.

And so now that they have us as a resource,

when those dogs come in that they used to not even consider

for placement anywhere, we're the first ones they call.

So I just got a sweater on this morning.

Come on.

Look at you.

She was found running down..

And they posted and posted and no one's claimed her.

A lot.

Zina has- if I get old dogs, I continuously call Zina.

And she's been great.

Yeah, it's helped us a lot.

Thank you.

She's so cute.

This is Marla.

She also was found running as a stray.

And nobody ever came for her.

But these are her favorite toys and have to go with her.

And her jacket, she gets cold..

She's so sweet.

When you take her out to introduce her to people,

she gets all excited and she hops around.

And she gives them kisses and her tail wags.

She's just darling.

She really is.

She deserves a good home.

Bye.

All right.

Oh, look at this.

How big.

There's your toys to travel.

All right.

All right, thank you so much.

Thank you, all.

It's nice to meet all of you.

It's just frustrating when we have dogs being turned over

because they're not as active anymore

or they're not as playful anymore.

It's a stage of life.

And every stage, I think, needs to be celebrated.

And there is a lot that can be done

rather than giving up on them.

It's awesome that we're helping them.

But when you see that somebody is dumped a 16-year-old dog,

it makes me angry.

I mean, it's like dumping your grandma when you're older.

You just don't do that kind of stuff.

It's disgraceful.

And I mean, most of the reasons that they're being turned over

are fixable.

That's the really sad thing.

So don't neglect them and ignore all of the care that they need

and then just dump them.

If they're provided for all along the way,

then you'll have a healthy, happy senior dog.

Hi, sweetheart, how are you?

I can't get-

I know.

I've got to wait for Taylor to come in.

I don't know if there's many people other than Dr.

Puskaric who would be as great with senior dogs as she is.

She's just amazing.

She's really taken it on as a challenge.

No, she is amazing.

We're so lucky to have her.

She loves the dogs, which that's something

that you can't train somebody.

She just loves them.

No.

It's lots of fun when you come here.

I want to tell you how much I appreciate

your care for.

Aw.

I can't even say her name.

I loved her more than any dog I've ever had.

And I've had a lot.

So thank you.

Yeah, she was precious.

She changed my life, I'm telling you.

I don't know why, but she just did.

Yeah.

Caring for her.

Yeah.

But thank you.

Yeah.

Well, I wish you had her longer.

I wish we had all of them longer.

Me too.

She was wonderful.

Yeah.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

Old Friends is- well, it's heaven on Earth

just because it's a place full of dogs and full of love.

It is the most amazing organization

I have ever heard of.

I think it's just the most wonderful thing

since sliced bread, myself.

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary,

love what they stand for, love what they do.

And we just have always thought about being a part of it.

It's the most wonderful thing that I can think of for a dog

because dogs are just like children, really.

And they need care and they need love.

There's a need for these babies to spend

their golden years being loved and have

a forever, loving home.

It must be very traumatic to lose your owner.

And you don't know what's going on.

We don't know what their circumstances are

a lot of the times, why they ended up at the sanctuary, how

they ended up there.

It's nice to see them get a second chance, so to speak.

Old Friends, I think, has opened up doors for not only dogs

but for people to care for them.

Senior dogs have become like the throwaway of dogs

because they're older, they're more expensive,

and the fact that Old Friends covers that expense,

there's really not a reason why you would not

foster a senior dog.

I mean, what they're doing is just- it's unbelievable,

just the way they've touched people across the world,

not just here in Nashville.

Just started with the few, and now it's

just grown into what it's grown into.

I was watching the parade.

And people from New Zealand and Ireland

were chiming in and saying, we're

going to come visit one day.

It's just pretty incredible.

Here we go!

Hi.

Hey, guys.

Hey.

Thanks for coming.

New home sweet home.

We need it.

No.

He's on steroids, which is what's

helping to clear up his skin.

He probably has an autoimmune disease

and the steroids have helped a huge amount.

But steroids slow down healing.

So we were going to get him scheduled for surgery.

We're going to have to put that on hold for now

until we get him back on track again.

When he first came in, he wouldn't let me do that.

He gets a little bit upset when you get on these sides,

but he's come a long way.

Dr. Puskaric does amazing things with the dogs.

She's brought in dogs like Hugh.

Hugh, right now, looks awful.

But she's brought in dogs that are just

as terrible that have turned into some pretty

fantastic dogs.

She'll try to give it as much time as she possibly can

until it becomes obvious to her that dog is-

it's time for that dog to go.

When I put him under anesthesia to clean off all of his scabs,

one of my technicians was actually

crying while we were doing it.

And she said, I really think we should euthanize this dog.

And I told her, I said, he hasn't given up.

And I'm not giving up on him yet until he tells me it's time.

And until we've tried these medications-

he's ultimately going to end up losing

that left ear altogether.

They're going to have to remove the ear canal.

He's getting there.

Slow and steady, but he's getting there.

I worked with Dr. Christine in Connecticut five years ago.

She is the best doctor that I've ever worked with.

She found this place and just the stars aligned

and everything happened.

And she came here and this was her dream job.

And she said, you have to come work with me.

And I said, OK, eventually.

Because I was in Connecticut, she's in Tennessee,

and constantly like, come work me.

And finally, I'm like, yeah, I'm doing it.

So I moved a thousand miles to work with Doc.

And I love my job.

And she's part of the reason why I love my job.

She says, I'm a princess.

I'm a princess.

Is she smiling?

So little Sweet Pea had her surgery postponed a bit,

but she had her spay.

And now she's got to get her legs fixed because she

has luxating patellas.

So it's really hard for her to walk on her back end.

He loves her.

She wasn't feeling so well.

And she was at the ER a week or so ago.

And he was just beside himself.

Huh, that's your girl.

Are you going walk or what?

Come here.

We've got vets who are dedicated to senior dogs, know more about

senior dogs than anybody else.

So we have probably one of the best senior dog

veterinary clinics anywhere.

The medical area has improved a hundredfold.

We were in a space that was the size of a regular office.

We couldn't perform any surgeries.

It wasn't sanitary enough, so everything we

would have to resource out.

In the previous building, I had two small rooms and absolutely

no diagnostic capabilities.

So I didn't have an X-ray.

I also didn't have a surgical suite.

So I was evaluating them, seeing what they needed,

and then utilizing either local veterinarians or specialists

if needed.

Some of these round trips were taking 2 and 1/2, 3 hours just

to get the care that they needed.

She's in these two small rooms.

She's trying to do dental.

She's trying to do all this.

We need to get her a vet clinic.

That was the beginning.

Then we had a few problems with the building,

like the back foundation started to leak a little bit,

the floors weren't any good.

So then the wheels started turning.

And Zina and I said, we really should

start looking at building something from ground up.

The fact that the entire area of the old building

is the same size as our medical facility at the new building

is huge.

This just revolutionizes everything for me.

I can practice full medicine here,

which I couldn't do before.

We have enough room now for having two vets.

So she's like a kid in a candy store.

She loves it.

It's way better than I ever dreamed, yeah.

We have special needs here.

What we had problem with the Gardens

is the fact that primary for the dog's care

is their living areas.

That has to be special.

We take on our dogs for life, no matter what their temperament.

So some of them do have a problem living in a group.

So we had to build little containment areas

for these dogs at the Gardens.

And it was really, really Rube Goldberg type of stuff.

I'd have a contractor and put some cinder blocks in.

So we knew we needed to have suites for individual dogs

that preferred to live alone.

So we called it Barkley Suites.

But everybody has their own yard.

And then they have access to a much larger yard so they

can really get some exercise.

We put in all canine turf, specially made for dogs.

They're loving it.

They're rolling in it.

They're scratching in it.

The canine turf folks also had a side company

that put in splash pads.

So it's a doggy splash pad.

And we call it "The Oasis. "

And so since we've been here, I think two of them

have actually approached it because they're afraid of it

right now.

So we're going to have a learning curve with that.

And then we have our group areas, which a lot of dogs

prefer, obviously, because they're pack animals.

We have two rooms for little dogs, one room for medium size,

and then two really large ones for our big guys.

We've only been here less than a week and they're loving it.

Another major thing we wanted to do is try to get away from mud.

Our old building did not make it easier.

Mopping constantly, mud constantly,

cleaning dogs constantly, didn't work.

I mean, we made it work.

But for four years, it was like, ugh.

With a hundred plus dogs, it's a fight

that you don't need to have because you need

to be focusing in on the dogs.

So we thought about cleanliness, cleanliness everywhere.

So that's when we came up with, OK,

let's go find an internal cleaning system.

Oh, man, everything's so clean now.

We used to have a lot of trouble with the floors

because the floors were not sealed well.

They looked great when we moved in.

From cleaning and cleaning and cleaning,

they got worn away pretty bad to where

they were almost just concrete.

So having the epoxy resin floors that nothing can penetrate,

and the drains, and we have a spray system

so that we can keep everything clean.

We're not mopping, so we're not just

slopping the same dirty water over and over again.

It's amazing how clean we can keep things.

What used to take them probably an hour and a half

now takes about 15 minutes.

The other big thing we wanted was windows everywhere.

And the reason for that is you walk through a hallway

and you look down, and there's a dog in their yards.

We want everybody to have viewing for dogs

and have an interactive type of thing.

We have three people that are going to do tours constantly

through here.

And then we'll have a lot of special events.

It's just going to allow us to do a whole bunch more.

So back to the actual building, it just

sort of piecemeal together.

And it grew and grew and grew until our architect said, guys,

it just keeps growing every day.

I mean, can you afford it?

And we went, yeah.

I'm a builder.

I like to build things.

I like to see them grow.

That's one thing I've loved about being part of something I

love to begin with, but something

that has no bounds because it's never really been done before.

The sky's the limit.

We don't have anything holding us back.

So that's how we ended up with 20,000 square feet.

Count down.

We're open for business.

Now we're going to talk.

All right.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Zina Goodin, Co-founder and executive. director of Old

Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary.

Thank you so much for coming today.

Got a few people to thank.

Only the ones that are here though.

Just kidding.

Zina and Michael have always been focused first and foremost

on the dogs.

Everything else seems to fall into place

with that philosophy.

Thanks to a fabulous group of supporters and donors,

we have been able to build a-

Whoo!

- nearly- a nearly 2,000-

They liked it, Z.

OK.

We've been able to build this dream home for senior dogs here

at the PAWvillions, a state-of-the-art facility built

specifically for our old friends.

It's just amazing.

We can't believe it.

Couldn't imagine the success that we've

had saving literally thousands of dogs.

There is no other organization in the world with the vision

and mission of Old Friends.

I think I speak for the entire staff

when I say it has been amazing to be a part of this journey.

So thank you very much.

All right, all right, all right.

We're home.

The parade was, I think, a once-in-a-lifetime event.

It was a great way to bring the dogs to the new sanctuary

without them burning their feet or having

to do that walk in the heat.

I think the dogs actually fared better than some of the people

did.

That was a long 8/10 of a mile to push a grocery

cart with a dog in it.

What a great way to move from A to B.

Beautiful.

Hi, Lady, welcome home, baby girl.

Go over to the base storage unit.

There are a ton of water bottles in there.

Do you know where that is?

Hot girl.

Yes.

Put her in a crate.

No worries.

Probably not.

You don't have to sit down.

Baby's in here.

Go ahead and get him in a crate.

Hello.

Shasta's also in here.

She can go right into a crate.

And they keep water everywhere so that way,

you can give it to her.

I got it.

Thank you.

OK.

I'm Devi Sanford, the photographer for Old Friends

Senior Dog Sanctuary.

I was going through the airport one day,

and they had this mosaic dog behind a case

along with 10 others.

And it happened to be a fundraiser that they had done.

And the one that has the camera around its neck,

I was like, oh my god, I have to have that.

So I saw this- oh, excuse you- sign.

And to see what is Old Friends Senor Dog Sanctuary,

I sent an email to sign up for one of their tours.

And come to find out, I was the first tour

that they had ever offered.

And Zina gave it.

And I think it's probably the only one she's ever given.

So I gave her the tour.

And there was something about Devi that just clicked.

I knew when we first met Devi that Devi

would be good to take pictures of our dogs.

Perfect.

And she's been taking them ever since that first day.

She contacted me, and she said, we

have a good feeling about you.

Come on in.

I told her I wanted to do a gallery show

to raise some money for them.

In three hours, I think we raised close to $5,000

for them.

I was hooked.

Another thing that's really great about that

is when I went back to the airport the next day,

the dogs were gone.

And then when I went for my tour and walked in

up high on a shelf in the old building,

that dog was in there.

And whoever had bid on it originally never came for it.

And so it was like one of those "oh my gosh,

I was so meant to be here" moments.

So I bought it.

When we first moved to Grand Paw's Gardens in 2017,

I think we had two full-time employees other than us.

Most of them are full time now.

If not, at least 75% of our 60 employees are full time.

OK, well follow me.

We pretty much doubled our staff when we moved to this building.

So this is a break room.

We named it after Leo.

And if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram,

you should know who Leo is.

He was the dog that just caught everybody's eye.

He was found in an alley behind a hair salon in Nashville.

And he just became the face that everybody loved.

He passed away a couple of years ago.

I still have people on tours that come in and ask,

I miss Leo.

He has sold over 30,000 t-shirts.

He has three t-shirts with his face

on them, over 30,000 t-shirts.

When he died, several of our vendors sent flowers.

He was he was a character.

I've been here from the beginning.

Zina and Michael were still with Middle Tennessee Golden

Retriever Rescue.

They were just starting to collect dogs in their house.

But we became friends, and I've just

been doing whatever I can along the way to help.

When we moved to Grand Paw's Gardens,

things just literally blew up.

Everything just grew I think faster than anyone

could have anticipated.

It was very difficult to build our staff before we moved here

because there was nowhere to put them.

We were trying to train them, but they

were tripping over each other in the smaller building.

So now that they're spread out, it's

going to be easier to add more people.

We've got a lot of people who are younger than us that

will be able to pick up right where we leave off.

And they're learning everything we know and adding to that.

We are the ones who are hands-on all the times with the dogs.

We feed them.

We walk them.

We do their day-to-day care.

We are the people who alert medical

if there's a slight change in their behavior.

And we advocate for them.

When you say shelter-

or in our case, we're a sanctuary, but a shelter-

I think people just envision dogs

in cages just languishing there until somebody adopts them.

This is so not like that.

They run around free unless they're eating or sleeping.

They've got the splash pad.

They get laser therapy.

Any time Ellie has anything small, and I tell the vet team,

they're back there checking on her.

It's great.

I mean, I would love to live here if I was a dog.

Even as a human, I would probably want to live here.

I was unaware of how much these dogs are valued,

and they're not just dog number 375 to us.

They all are so loved.

And what's amazing to me, too, is the dog caretakers,

I just pictured they come in the morning,

and they're assigned to whatever room.

These dogs have the same caretakers,

and the caretakers are so attached to them.

The goal is to keep them in the same room

until they're forever fostered.

So that way, they have the same people, the same dog friends,

everything.

So it's more like a family-based setting for them.

We have 11 big dogs in a room.

Most of the day, we just hang out with our 11 dogs,

walk them every day, feed them.

If any dog needs any medicine, we administer that as well.

A lot.

I think it's about 200 pounds of food a day.

That's what it was at one point.

And that's just the dry food.

We also feed wet food and other types of food.

Oh, we feed at 9:00 and 5:00.

So our feeding time is an hour and a half to two hours

of organized chaos.

This is the cabinet where the meds are.

We pull them from the vet clinic.

So not only does Jen have to put the right food in the bowl,

but then, after she gets all the food,

she has to get the medication.

Each dog has its own bowl.

Those white boards there, each of the vertical columns

is a different dog area.

You might make a bowl, and then they're like,

eh, I don't want that today.

So you have to make them another bowl.

But they're old.

Let them have what they want.

I'm just going to park this over here.

We have to get our dinner.

I mean, it's so cool to come to work.

And my first day, I set up my desk.

I walked away for a second.

I came back, and there was a dog standing on my desk.

I mean, it's a dream job.

So we do must definitely build a bond and a connection

with these dogs, for sure.

I feel like at other places, when they see a dog,

they're just like, oh, it's just a dog.

And I think here, when we see the dogs, we're like,

that's family.

That's our dog.

For me, it just feels like the dogs

are at the forefront of our minds

as opposed to our rules being at the forefront of our minds.

You know what I mean?

It's not as worried about cold structure as it is about, OK,

I know exactly where Baby is.

I know exactly where Charlie.

Is I know exactly where Woody is.

That's the difference.

It's like you have a team that wants to get these dogs better

and happy, so.

And now with this setup, it's so much easier

to get around and see the dogs.

We don't upset them every time we go to see them.

We can watch them through the windows,

and we don't have to go through all the dogs

to get to a single dog.

I've been working here for almost three years.

So me being used to the old building

and then coming over here is like a complete game changer.

But over here, it has helped the dogs tremendously.

The other building was so open and loud,

that it just upset our dogs.

And now that we're here, they have their own rooms.

And we can play music, and they are just the happiest here.

The dogs are so much happier.

Because you can just tell.

They have their own space.

Obviously, they have desks to stand on.

Yeah.

Her food gets matted down because she has no teeth.

So I was just fluffing it back up.

I'm in it for the dogs.

My joy in my association with old friends

comes from interaction with the dogs.

The people that I've met along the way, especially people

that I meet on the tours, they're

just from such varied backgrounds,

with such different reasons for coming here,

that it just amazes me.

This is Tigger.

Tigger is in a foster home.

Tigger is a dog that one of the earlier tours,

there was a young couple on the tour,

and they were from Lithuania.

And as we were going through the building,

they let me know that Tigger was an internet sensation

in Lithuania.

Out of that conversation and that visit,

he has his own t-shirt.

There's one that you can get online called

The Wonderful World of Tigger.

I mean, just strange things can happen.

This is Central Bark, hence the skyline of New York.

It's used by our physical therapy department.

We are dealing with old dogs.

And fortunately, we're funded well enough,

that we can do a lot of physical therapy for these guys

to make their lives peaceful.

Release the beast.

Let's see if-

On the right.

There we go.

So I work in the medical department at Old Friends

Senior Dog Sanctuary.

I am actually head of the physical therapy department.

So I do the laser treatment and coordinate

all the other treatments within the sanctuary.

And for me personally, I no longer just

have to find a little corner wherever I can.

We now have an area that is specially designed

for the physical therapy.

And what they've done is recreated Central Park in here.

But with some of our dogs-

Sharky, Maxwell- you're going to recognize Leo's on top

of the fountain over there.

Simba, Oreo.

1.24.

How long does she normally go for?

20 to 25 minutes.

The most she's done is 20-

she's done 28, that's the most.

Oh, wow.

We also have an underwater treadmill.

I mean, it's state of the art, and it's all digital.

And the water fills into the treadmill.

It's fantastic.

Treadmill water therapy, which is awesome for dogs,

because it's weightless for these old dogs.

So when they need to heal or arthritis,

it's really great for them.

It obviously, also, depends on how hard

you want to push your dog.

Because a different level of water

will either make it easier or harder.

So we have a class for laser.

It's a modality that we use in our physical therapy

department.

The laser therapy, it does all sorts of things, actually.

But primarily, we use it to-

it reduces inflammation and therefore, offers pain relief.

It's a way that we can treat discomfort, pain, swelling,

without having to use medications.

But it also promotes healing.

So we can do wounds, post-surgery.

It has actually helped to improve mobility.

So dogs that were previously unable to walk,

we've seen them with improved function in their legs.

Yes, our Sweet Pea is literally two weeks out of surgery today.

And we've been doing laser treatment

daily since her surgery because it's

really good for wound healing.

And as you can see, it's very non-invasive.

She enjoys it.

She just pretty much relaxes and lets me do my thing.

Good girl, Sweet Pea.

Aw, more scratchies.

Where I might get involved with you is once we got him

to a comfortable enough place that he trusts us,

we hope to be able to get in there

and do some laser for him.

Because we can also use the laser

to help with skin conditions and what have you.

So yeah, I'm very hopeful.

But his personality is coming out.

You can tell he's a lot more comfy.

He broke my heart because when he was first here,

I put him in my office because I thought

he needed to be socialized.

And once he got into my office, I

realized he really wants people to touch him.

He would come over and rub his head on me,

but he wouldn't let me touch him.

So he's come a long way from there.

Now his sores are healing up, so he

lets us touch him now- so just balancing

antibiotics and oral steroids and the right dose.

So we're waiting on him to get a little bit more

stable on a lower dose of steroids,

and then we'll get his ear addressed.

Who's a good boy?

He has such a good spirit.

Yeah.

He makes me really happy with his progress.

You just see on his face the relief.

He's like a different dog.

Hello.

Good boy.

Want to lay down?

This is Lil.

How are you doing, old girl?

She says, I've been through the wringer.

But I think everything we need done is all finished now.

So she had surgery done on both of her knees.

And she's doing phenomenal.

I mean, if you go back to what she

looked like when she first came in, she was super hunched up.

I mean, that was how she was born.

And she's an older dog now.

So it's like she's learning to walk

on normal knees for the first time.

Good job, little girl.

Look at you go.

She was already on three different medications

in both eyes because she had issues in both eyes.

And she was completely blind.

She had cataracts.

So both of her eyes were removed.

And I mean, it sounds horrible.

But she couldn't see from them, and she's actually a lot more

comfortable without them.

So that's healed up nicely.

Now she's just going through her rehab and her laser.

And she'll be heading into the underwater treadmill

eventually.

She's super cute.

So Nikki, who also has Abner, who's a forever foster,

has been taking her home to do some extra physical therapy

and stuff with her at home.

And she's fallen in love with her other foster.

They sleep together, and everything.

So I think she's found herself a permanent place to go.

It wasn't until I lost one of my own non-Old Friends

that I realized I could get my own forever foster.

But I thought, having worked at the sanctuary

for a number of years, I was like, how on Earth

am I going to choose out of all these wonderful dogs?

So it was just a regular day at work.

And I got my laser goggles on.

I was lasering one of the dogs in there.

And after a few minutes, I felt this cold, wet nose

on my cheek.

So I took my laser goggles off and looked,

and these big, beautiful brown eyes,

they literally spoke to me.

And I knew then and there that he had chosen me.

He was going to be my foster.

And those eyes are still speaking to me.

Just before Christmas, a dog named Abner found himself

living in the medical department because he had

some pretty bad health issues.

And one day I said to Christine-

Dr. Puskaric- I think I'd like to take him home and just see

if I can help him.

So I took him home for the weekend.

But after about 10 hours, I thought

to myself, how am I going to take this dog back?

I love him.

A couple of weeks later, I was heading

towards a decade birthday.

And my husband said to me, Nic, what

do you like for your birthday?

And where most people might say, a new pair of shoes

or a nice bottle of perfume, I said, I'd like Abner.

And he just rolled his eyes at me

because he knows what I'm like with these dogs.

So along comes my birthday, and my family sit me down

to give me a couple of birthday cards

and actually, handed me this.

The Dench family is growing by four feet.

And then I heard the door open, and in walks Abner wearing

a big gold bow.

I can honestly say that's the best birthday

present I've had in years.

So they don't really do much playing in the house.

But when I get them in the back of my Jeep

and take them to the local park, they

will turn into completely different dogs.

My husband I have to stand ready to catch them.

They're ready to just leap out and go,

and it's just lovely to see that.

Most days- I kid you not- either me or my husband

are asked, where did you get that wonderful puppy?

And when I tell people that he came from a senior dog

sanctuary, they're just blown away.

I just really try to just enjoy every moment

I've got with these guys.

I love the seniors.

I've always had a special thing for seniors and special needs.

And I wish every state in America

had an Old Friend Senior Dog Sanctuary.

This is our grooming area.

We do have a groomer on staff with 100 and some dogs here.

We can keep her busy.

Our fosters can also make appointments with Stephanie

to bring their old friend in and have her groom the dog

at no cost.

I do nail trims.

I clean ears.

A lot of dogs have really damaged coats

or a lot of mats when they first come in,

so a lot of shave-downs.

There's dogs, they get medicated baths

because they have really bad coats whenever they first

come in.

So they have to get regular medicated baths,

and I do that as well.

Usually, dogs like Caesar, very fluffy dogs,

or dogs that need frequent haircuts,

I do every three weeks.

And then other dogs, I try to do every six weeks.

Accidents always happen, especially

for the compassionate care dogs.

They have mobility issues.

Mabel has three legs.

She can't really stand up on her own to go potty.

So a lot of the times, when I first come in the morning,

I'll just go check on them because they

will need a regular bath.

So there's really no point to putting them on the schedule.

I see them very often, yeah.

As you notice walking around the building,

you really don't know that there's 100 and some dogs

in the building.

When you walked into the building,

you knew there were 100 and some dogs in the building.

So these are three of our dogs that have dog aggression.

But all three of these are at a point where

they could go to a foster home.

Bella's the one on the far end.

She's the newest one to this group.

Miss Peggy does not like dogs.

She is also deaf.

She is one of the first dogs that new volunteers get

to go and visit with because anybody

could walk in that room, pet her, and she'd be fine.

Just don't put your cell phone down.

She has eaten a couple of them.

I don't know why, but she is a character.

She's also our cover girl.

She loves to put sunglasses on and-

I don't know, maybe the light bothers her eye, or something.

So there are three girls that work with these 10 rooms of dog

aggressive dogs, nobody else.

And they have made huge progress with Archie

in the couple of months that we've been here.

Archie wasn't in his room because he's out here.

He had food bowl aggression in the other building,

and the staff have been able to work with him.

And he no longer has food bowl aggression.

Archie's completed a five-stage food bowl training program

with us.

And Archie is really intelligent.

And he's a really quick learner as well.

So stage one of the food training program

is really just familiarizing getting a dog

to be comfortable with occupying a space with you

while he's eating.

And day by day, we move closer.

And eventually, his tail starts to wag when he hears us talk.

So we're ready for stage two.

Stage two is staying in that same spot, keep your distance,

but toss pieces of food in his food

bowl while he's eating from your distance, or treats,

or whatever.

We use pieces of food.

So then you inch a little bit closer and inch a little bit

closer.

And when you see that positive reaction,

stage three is walking up to him while he's

eating, talking to him, and then dropping food in his bowl

and then walking away.

Stage four would be standing next to them

while they're eating and dropping

something in their bowl, not bending down, just standing up.

And then stage five would be bending down.

You've got your hands by their face,

and you're really getting on their level

and testing their limits, to make sure

that they're OK with it.

Since I work with the iso dogs-

for example, Miss Bella here, she loves people,

but she can never go to a room with 10, 15 dogs.

It just stresses her out.

So I work with dogs like her and some dogs

who are people aggressive.

So we have special plans with every single one of our dogs

to help them get over their people aggression, dog

aggression, food bowl aggression.

There are currently only three of us.

Over in Barkley Suites, we have what

you call a Forever Project Dog.

So what we would do is, for example, Bella is

one of my Forever Project dogs.

So I'm going to keep trying to get

her used to other people and other dogs

until she gets a home.

Most of the time, when the dogs get

fostered, we have a whole waterworks session

because it's bittersweet.

We want to see them go and get homes, but we also love them,

and we want them to live the best life they could possibly

live.

I'm pretty sure if anybody sees Hank,

and they're just like, oh, he just

he doesn't look like he could do much,

or he's probably doesn't have that much life left in them.

But he most definitely does.

And I'm sure he can make a family pretty happy,

so whenever he gets fostered out of here.

She doesn't act like she's 10.

She runs around.

She plays.

He is an old one, but he can run for days

and jump and play all he wants.

And they're just as much fun as a puppy, except they-

They are.

- stop.

They don't go for 8 hours.

They might go for 15 minutes.

You've got to remember they're old dogs.

They get their bursts of energy and run around,

and then they just want to relax.

That's pretty much what I do, too, so it's great.

I swear they appreciate the being rescued, being

able to be in a home again.

Always give a dog a chance, regardless of age.

Age doesn't define a dog at all.

I just- I love what they do here.

I love senior dogs.

And honestly, my financial situation is not the greatest.

And this way, I don't have to pay for the vet care.

Because I've had dogs that got old,

and I know how that can run.

So this is just perfect for me.

I have a friend who told me about it,

and I'm just so glad she did.

Oh my gosh, beyond, beyond- oh, my whole neighborhood's

waiting to meet them.

They might see a dog on the website.

They might see a dog on our public Facebook page.

They might find out about us in many ways.

We do want fosters to know what we expect from them, going in,

that it's not a typical walk in, choose a dog, leave,

we never see them again.

They're coming back for meds.

They're coming back for vet visits.

They're coming by to pick up food.

The dog, they like you to be within 100 miles.

We don't just hand a dog to anyone.

We do home visits.

There's a series of questions.

We check references.

So we're making sure that these dogs are set up for success.

Because once they're out of that 100-mile range, the chances

of that dog coming back to us, should something

go awry with the arrangement, is a lot slimmer.

And we do want to know that they're

in a good place for the rest of their life.

I think it's a journey for everybody.

We invest so much in these dogs before they're

ready to go into foster, that they really are

a member of the family here.

And so we make sure that everything

is going to be safe for the dog that they choose.

And I sit on that foster committee.

And so I feel like when they choose a dog,

I'm handing over one of our babies to their care.

And my goal is to be here for the fosters,

so that when they have something going on

that they're worried about, me or my support staff

just want to be there and let them know

we don't care what time it is.

We would rather you call us at 2:00 in the morning and ask us,

is this OK?

than to have something fall through the cracks.

Because when they foster they become

a member of the Old Friends family,

and we want to take care of them like family.

I've always wanted to go get a dog that maybe not

everyone else wants.

Everyone wants to go get puppies.

If there's a puppy in a kennel, that puppy

will probably be gone in a couple of days.

These dogs end up sitting around for a lot longer

than they should.

And so I like the fact of bringing some of those dogs

into my house and giving them a good home.

We have an online application which is very helpful.

It provides a lot of information about the physical environment

of the home.

I had to do interviews, and I had

to walk around with my phone and show

them the house and the property and everything.

Often, someone has fallen in love with a face,

and they don't realize the whole package that

goes with that face may not be compatible with the home they

can provide-

no fault of theirs.

Just if you have an incredibly arthritic dog,

and you have to walk up two flights of stairs

to your apartment, that's not going to work.

So we get to see all of that.

So we decide yay or nay.

It's almost always yay.

And then I call him and say, you're approved for this dog.

When can we do Gotcha Day?

The vet goes over their diet, how to administer the meds.

And then they take a picture for the newsletter,

and they go on their way.

And we do stay in touch with them

and make sure things are going well.

There you are.

Hi, girls.

Perfect.

Oh, look at you girls.

Some dogs, I don't understand why

they don't get the attention that you

believe they would get.

And Sadie and Sally have been here almost a year,

and they are probably the most gentle bonded

pair that I can think of that we've ever had

and just so delightful.

And they're going home-

For Christmas.

Yay!

You're going home.

We're taking Sally.

Let's go home.

Bye, girl.

Good girl.

Well, we've spent a lot of time with them

the last couple of weeks.

We have.

We've taken them to so many different things.

Yeah!

I'm just excited.

Over a year.

They've gone to events.

They've been all over.

And Barbara's so perfect.

I know.

I was going to say, there's a right person

for every dog out there.

It's just finding them to- getting

them to find one another.

Exactly.

And we did.

Email is great.

Social media is great.

We have the family page, and they

post on there their photos, their updates.

I love the fact, too, that we have a Facebook

page for the families.

There's people, humans, that I know the names of their dogs,

but I would not recognize them if they came up

to me on the street.

So it really is like a family.

Most of the time, it really works out well.

We do everything we can to try to help them work

through the adjustment issues.

But sometimes, they're just like, wow,

this is just more work.

I just can't do it.

I just cannot give this dog what it needs.

Then we, of course, allow them to bring that dog back.

That's part of our program.

Those worries are taken away from the fosterer.

Go Buddy, go.

One question that a lot of people often ask

is, do you know where this dog came From and 99% of the time,

we don't have any answer for that.

We don't know.

They came from a shelter.

They've been through a lot of changes in a very short time

by the time they get from animal control to us.

These dogs come in.

They have a lot of baggage.

But mercifully, they don't carry it

like we do, for the most part.

They're very resilient.

They live in the moment.

We want to make the moments count,

and we want people to share in that with us.

And you have?

Six.

All from Old Friends?

All from Old Friends-

over the year, I think 17 dogs since 2014.

I can handle up to 10 dogs.

But depend how I feel.

Six is, I guess, enough right now.

I like the senior dog a lot.

This one's Charlie.

Charlie is an original cabin dog.

Then this is Snow.

Since I got Snow,

So I picked Lincoln Parker.

He's the oldest dog.

He's 17 years old.

Annabelle is a funny dog.

I like her, too.

I like everybody.

This one's Chloe.

I just pick up her last week.

And?

And that one is Smoozie.

Smoozie I picked up two weeks ago.

They play a lot.

They don't like the next door dog.

They lie around the fence and bark.

They are like puppies.

they're brilliant.

They think a senior dog need help.

Then they decide to make all the friends.

They have another life with them.

So it's really nice.

Yeah, I have so many dogs, and I have so many ashes.

See.

I think 13 is here.

Without them, none of my dog would survive.

He's the biggest one I've ever had.

Here's Forrest coming home.

Forrest, I love my Forrest.

He's got a snood to wear.

He's going to be the most famous Basset Hound anywhere

because he's Forrest.

Well, I found his picture.

And I noticed right off from the start

that he's got an issue here going on

that he doesn't seem to mind.

His eyes were removed I think within the last year.

From Glaucoma.

Yeah, glaucoma- and I just I fell in love with him.

Before he came to Old Friend Senior Dog Sanctuary,

a family in Nashville found him-

On the side of the road.

The side of the road, yeah.

And God bless the Old Friends Sanctuary.

They took him.

We fell in love instantly.

Susan from Old Friends called me, and we went and got him.

And everybody was teary-eyed.

We were joyful but the staff was teary-eyed.

And even though they didn't have him very long,

they all had just fallen in love with him.

Forrest.

Here, boy.

It's a foster situation.

We're supposed to love them and care for them until they

pass on, like we all do.

But we're also supposed to keep up with Old Friends medically.

And I give them reports all the time.

I'm always asking the medical staff to refill his pills,

like his heart worm.

And they also supply food through the vet.

It's really like a no-brainer program.

To me, it was just like, OK, they

take care of all the reasons why I wasn't ready for a dog.

I didn't have the financial capacity at the time

to take care of a dog, much less a senior dog.

And they take care of all of that.

These are our kids.

We don't have human kids.

When you've got aging babies, they

require more attention and more medical attention.

It's like, hey, we're taking in a senior dog.

There is that fear of oh, man, his meds,

and there's going to be issues.

There's going to be arthritis.

They take care of all that.

So to know that they're always there to back us up

is tremendous.

It's tremendous.

That's the biggest things.

I can have six dog.

If I had my own dogs, and they didn't pay,

I can't afford this much, the dog.

When I found out that all they needed from us

was love and attentiveness to his needs,

we were right there in line.

So really, all Old Friends Senior Dog

Sanctuary is asking is, hey, come love a senior dog.

Take me home.

Give me a great life.

Don't worry about what my past was.

We don't know it.

Just their future is amazing.

Come here.

Come here.

That's a good boy.

Such a good boy.

Say hi.

This little guy came in, and I just fell in love with him.

He had such a great personality and such a zest for life.

And there you go.

There's some of his personality.

And I decided he needed to be mine and brought him home.

And I've had him for just about eight months now.

He is blind.

His retinas are completely detached.

So he is completely blind.

He can't see light or anything.

And it's remarkable what a blind dog can-

he does not know he is blind, do you?

No, he does not.

OK, let's do it.

Ready?

Let's do this.

Ready?

Oh, good job.

I wouldn't call it fetch, because he never

brings it back.

It's more like find.

And I discovered if I get these particular squeaky,

bouncy balls, and I hit it on the ground really hard

the first time, and then as it bounces along,

he can hear it and follow it.

And it's fascinating.

He doesn't get it every time.

But there's just something about seeing a blind dog actually

find a ball that you threw for them.

Ready?

OK.

Good boy.

So we were expecting a dog that was going

to be bumping into everything.

And he does better than I do at 70.

I mean, he can still run and play.

And he's an amazing dog.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

The first or second day that he was here- now,

we have a small yard, but it's very long.

I watched him find the borderline, which is the fence.

And he went all around the yard a couple of times in the back,

and stuff.

And then he had it.

When I brought him home, put him on a leash,

and spent about an hour and walked

him the perimeter of our back yard

and showed him where the doggie door was, and within that hour,

he knew everywhere he could go.

And I mean, it was unbelievable.

You would never have known that he was blind.

He's taught me a lot.

Because it just shows that anyone who has a disability,

that there are ways to overcome.

And if a 12, 13-year-old Basset can do this in a matter

of hours, days, here-

I thought he would really be something

that we would have to watch all the time.

But he requires no watching really.

I mean, we do because we love him.

But he's amazing.

He's an inspiration.

He has no limitations.

I am in awe of him.

I have lived in this house for 15 years

and closed my eyes sometimes just to see how he does it.

And I still run into things.

And I know this place-

I've been here for forever.

There you are.

Freida, Frieda, come here.

Hurry!

Oh, I love Frieda.

Hi, Frieda.

Oh, you're so good.

Frieda, Freida, Frieda.

Frieda, Frieda.

I love you, girl.

I love you, girl!

The photographs that are currently at the new sanctuary,

the PAWvillions those were images

that I had shot the first time Zina

had allowed me to come in and take pictures.

I've started to learn what it is that people that follow us,

what it is they really like.

And we have learned they don't really

care to see people in the pictures,

and they definitely like pictures

where you actually- when you look at it,

you feel like you're interacting with that dog.

There are some photographs I'll take that I think, oh my god,

that's a great picture.

I was really happy with it.

But as far as social media goes, it

might not be as popular as something else.

One was of Big Ben.

He's a big black dog we have there now.

And it was an action shot of him catching a stick in the air.

And it probably had 7,000 engagements,

which is still spectacular.

I'll take that any day.

But then I post a picture of Roscoe,

who, sadly, we recently lost.

But with him just looking up at me with these eyes of just

"take me home," and I think that one had 15,000 engagements.

So it's very interesting to find out what

pulls at people's heartstrings.

And those heartfelt stories that tug at your heartstrings,

Rex getting his wheels, being able to run again

for the first time since he was one or two years old.

He's probably 10 to 12 now.

We didn't have to use any words.

But that, that told the story right there.

And you learn the dogs that like to be photographed,

and you learn the dogs that don't like to be photographed.

Knight- he hates me.

Knight is a blind pit bull that's

very selective of people.

He's one of the most photogenic dogs that we have,

but he hates shutter sounds.

He hates the sound of my camera.

He cannot stand it.

He's blind.

He can hear a shutter.

And when he hears it, it just sets him off.

He's just like- he's just rrrr, rrrr, rrrr, rrrr.

So I've gotten some of the best pictures I've ever

gotten of him now that I can shoot right through the glass.

He's not really aware that I'm there,

and then now we can get pictures of him out there as well.

Mack, obviously, always is a rock star.

Everyone loves pictures of Mack.

I can always tell when we have new followers on Facebook

or Instagram because they'll make a comment about,

it would be great if somebody would

trim his bank so he could see.

And then our dedicated followers will shoot right back to them

that he has no eyes, so he can rock any hairstyle he wants.

I think Mack's human.

I really do.

He's just really great.

He's really awesome.

I love photographing Forrest because of his ears.

He's got those amazingly great ears that

just almost hit the ground.

He's a hound dog, and he moves at the pace of a snail.

He is just a rock star.

People love him.

There's just something magical about Forrest.

And that's why we're here with him, or he's here with us.

I remember, yeah, going there and meeting him and taking him

home and seeing what a response he was getting from everybody

and just realizing how lucky we were to get him.

He's just a celebrity.

And I can see why.

I mean, look at this face.

Look at these ears.

He's perfect.

And so sweet, yeah.

You fall in love with them for different reasons.

I mean, one might be you fall in love with them

because, oh my god, that dog has more attitude than any person

I've ever met.

Or oh my god, that's the cutest little thing I've ever seen.

And you get to know them more.

We'll get a new dog in, and I'll get a picture

when they first come in.

But then over time, I spend more time with each of them,

so I learn a little bit more about what each of them

likes to do, doesn't like to do.

I'm really excited to see who likes the splash pad

at the PAWvillions.

I can't wait for that.

If you spend enough time with them,

and you learn their personalities,

they're all like puppies.

And so to go to work there and spend my day with, I believe,

97 dogs currently and photograph them all day long doing

anything and everything, there's nothing better.

And we get to be their voice.

And we have thumbs because they don't.

So we get to do the social media for them.

So with more stories that we could tell,

the better mirror that we can be as a reflection

of this place for the outside.

And I've never met a dog that asked me

to make them 15 pounds lighter.

So that in itself is brilliant.

They don't care how they look.

They're just happy.

It's all good.

Show them your little tongue.

Beautiful.

Hey, buddy.

Where is it?

I was sold the minute I walked in.

It was so great to see all the wonderful things

that they were doing here.

And not only that, but the passion that

you see from everybody that walks in-

the volunteers, the fosters, the staff.

And immediately, it was just like,

this is something that I want to be a part of.

So I'm events coordinator.

And so that's just planning events and coordinating

either events here at the center or outside

to just bring awareness and get the dogs visibility,

and those kinds of things.

So for example, we're talking about doing a senior dog yoga

class, just those kinds of things,

to get people's attention and show them

what we're doing here.

We don't do any advertising, any marketing for volunteers.

It's just everybody who finds us is interested in volunteering.

So I think in total, we have about 250 volunteers trained

and signed up.

But we get about 70 to 80 or so volunteers

on a monthly basis that are actively coming in.

So we're constantly growing, which is really exciting.

So we have a couple of different volunteer opportunities,

depending on what the people like.

But there's walking.

So people can come in and just-

I mean, we have 100 or so dogs here.

So definitely, those volunteers just come in,

and they take the dogs.

We have a trail, so they're able to go walk them around.

So people can come in, walk those dogs,

take care of those dogs, keep the space clean.

We also have laundry.

Surprisingly, I think laundry is what people sign up

for the most, not necessarily because people want it,

but because there's a need.

It backs up very quickly, as you can

imagine with 100 dogs, how often we have to wash the beds.

And it's not a pleasant job always.

But everybody here just cares about making

sure we're functioning and doing the best that we can

for these dogs.

We also have something called socialization,

which is for dogs who are a little bit dog selective or dog

aggressive, who are kept separately.

So people can come in and socialize with these dogs

and get them that interaction, and those kinds of things.

So all those are the different opportunities.

And people come in and just do one.

Sometimes, they can come in and do multiple.

And that just like makes me so excited about all

the possibility for the lives that we get to touch

and the dogs that we get to help and the awareness that we get

to spread and hopefully, will trickle down

into people doing their own version of this

or being more considerate about taking out a senior dog.

And that has just been my favorite part to see,

the way that it impacts equally.

You see the dogs and their tails wagging.

Then you see the people leave with this huge smile

on their face, which is why we see so many people return.

And so that would be, I think, the best part.

Two or three days after their eye surgery, Dr. Christine

asked me to come in and laser.

So I went in there to laser both the incision sites.

And I just looked at this dog on the operating table

and thought just the idea that she'd been through

so much in those two days, to have both your knees repaired,

both your eyes removed, just literally,

this got me immediately.

So I literally scooped her off the operating table

and brought her home.

My grandson happened to be here when I got back,

and I was thinking, this is going to shock him.

But he just looked at her for a while and said,

Sweet Pea got no eyes.

He needed no other explanation.

He just accepted her completely as is.

And the two of them are now really bonded.

It took about 24 hours for me to realize

that she wasn't going back.

She became my forever foster after that time.

So when I first bought her home, she was fine for four nights.

Night five, she just would not settle, came downstairs,

couldn't work out what she wanted.

So I just put her on the floor, and she

knew exactly what she wanted.

She walked over to where Abner sleeps, curled up in a blanket,

curled up with him, and that's exactly what she did.

She stayed asleep with him all night,

and that's where she sleeps now.

And they're an unlikely couple, but they are very, very bonded

with each other.

I also have to admit that I have ordered her a custom-made dress

for Christmas.

It's pea green.

It's stunning.

Yeah, I don't know exactly what, but it

would be in the thousands, without a doubt.

And that's where Old Friends just comes into its own right

there, because there's no way that many people

or organizations could foot that kind of bill.

So she's one lucky Sweet Pea.

Hi, boy.

Yeah, you got your on?

He has gotten so much better.

I mean, from weight to skin, I mean, even his spirit,

you can tell he feels better.

You just need to take care of your ears now, buddy.

So when he first came in, we hadn't worked him up yet.

And he was just covered in scabs and sores.

And he didn't even want to get up, and he didn't want to move.

His ears were so infected, that to touch

them would make him snap at us.

But you could see that there was something in him.

He wanted to be better, and he wanted people to be around him.

And we were trying to manage his pain as best we could.

So he actually chose me.

And it sounds cheesy, but it's really true.

It was just, I think, my understanding

of what he needed.

And he was drawn to just, I guess, my patience.

I went very slow with him.

So day by day, my love for him grew, and his love for me

grew pretty quickly.

And sorry.

It was really one day.

I was sitting in one of the offices, and he walked by.

He was going for a potty break, or something.

And he walked by.

And he just fell over into my lap and then looked up at me

and gave me a kiss.

And then from that day on, we've been inseparable.

I think you can see it in their eyes

when they don't have life left in them anymore.

And I never saw that in Hugh.

And to see him and the relationship

that he has built with Shay is heartwarming.

There you go!

Yeah, Bubba.

We felt like, OK, at this point, we really

need to address what's going on with his ears.

So we got him evaluated by a surgeon.

The decision was made that both his ear and his ear canal

needed to be removed on the left side.

Those were end stage ear disease that

were so painful, that for comfort sake,

it would be best to have that ear removed.

And the surgeon had a big, long conversation with me.

And the risks were pretty high.

And did we want to go ahead with this?

And I said, it's either this or euthanasia.

And he's gone through way too much at this point to do that.

So we're going to go for it.

He had some complications under anesthesia.

They actually, in the middle of the procedure,

rushed out to contact an anesthesiologist

and to ask, what can we do?

The anesthesiologist talked them through what to do.

He made it through the procedure.

And then he came back here afterwards.

And so we got through the first surgery.

And after that, it was like he completely regressed.

And so I'd come in to work about an hour early so.

I would just lay there with him before I would clock in

for about an hour.

And I wouldn't touch him too much unless he wanted me to.

And I just let him know that even though he's in pain,

and he may snap on me, but I wasn't going anywhere.

So once he figured it out that I was sticking around,

we grew closer.

And then he wasn't doing very well here.

I think we were re-evaluating quality of life again.

And all along the way, every time something

would happen to him, I'm like, am I

doing the right thing for this dog?

Is there going to be something happy at the end

of this rainbow for him?

Because I don't want him to go through all of this

just for us to end up euthanizing him.

I was like, well, he seems to do better on the days

that I'm here to do his meds, and stuff.

He is a little more himself, the he that I know.

And so I was like, you know what?

Let me just take him home and do what I can.

And so I made him a room.

So I set it up for him.

And he was still very painful.

But we got him there.

And the first night, you could just

tell he knew something was different.

And it was pretty neat because he surrendered to me.

I'll never forget.

He dug his head into my neck and just took a big, old sniff

for the first time at home.

And then I think I knew he was home to me.

Yeah, but from then on, I just knew

it was a big part of my job to get him better.

And so we still had one year that we were not sure,

can we address this?

Because that year was really bad, too.

And I had another conversation with the surgeon

and asked him what his comfort level

was with what happened under anesthesia the first time.

And so we scheduled his surgery when the anesthesiologist

was going to be there to monitor him completely.

So last week, he had that second surgery,

and it went much more smoothly.

He recovered really well.

It was like nothing happened his second year.

He just bebopped out the doors and was like, all right,

I'm ready.

It just shows his strength and how far

he's come, not only from what we can see, but inside, too.

He's a fighter.

My name is Barbara Muncy, and I am a forever fosterer for Old

Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary.

I've been a forever fosterer since 2013,

so that's eight years now.

And I am on my seventh and eighth forever fosters.

Zina and Dr. Christine both told me,

we've got a couple that you need to meet.

That's when I got to meet Trixie and Buttons.

Their story is a fun one because they're a mother and son bonded

pair.

Trixie is the mother, and Buttons is her son.

A lot of bonded pairs don't get adopted, because people

don't want two dogs.

But we're the more, the merrier.

If you have room for one dog, you have room for two.

I was happy about it.

Yeah, more dogs- bring it.

Two?

All right.

We win.

When I was volunteering, I was going and visiting

with all the dogs in the little dog halls.

And when you pet him, he will not let you stop.

And I just fell in love with him.

And see?

They told me that they were a bonded pair.

So I was like, well, I told him about them.

He's like, bring them home.

He wouldn't even know she was blind when we're walking.

She has figured out this place pretty quick.

She jumps on the couch just like it's nothing,

gets down like it's nothing.

She practically runs.

Yeah, it doesn't slow her down one bit.

A lady was helping them get to Old Friends.

And they spent the night in a local hotel.

Buttons got spooked and ran away.

So the next day, they took Trixie to old friends.

And then she was very sad.

But they put the fliers out.

They had people searching for them.

Somewhere along the way, during his time out,

he got hit by a car probably.

Because he had a dislocated hip when they did catch him.

But that Saturday, he got caught,

and he was reunited with his mom.

And it was the day before Mother's Day.

So then I brought them home.

They've been a good addition to the family.

Well, it's been a year, and I still

feel like we're getting to know each other.

You're my good boy.

Seniors are so good at making you stop and sit

and just realize there is more important things out there.

Life would be too quiet if I didn't

have a dog in the house, at least one.

And I don't ever want to go down to none,

so I've got to at least have two.

They are pretty close, like brother and sister.

And it's funny when they play.

He plays in a way that she can find him.

Dogs will normally be running around more.

He'll stay where she can find him and touch him.

And they'll play tug of war with their toys.

But he'll make sure that she can get to it.

There's always puppy in them.

And they may not be able to play as

long as when they're little bitty,

but Ryker here is out catching birds.

I mean-

I like the energy of the senior dogs.

I don't know.

There's just something in their eyes.

And they're just special.

Old Friends, when I came out to visit them,

it was just like so heartwarming that they took

on all these older senior dogs.

And Peaches, with the sad eyes, totally

won me over with the three dogs that I met while I was there.

So I took her home.

It was the imperfection of Peaches, her sad eyes,

her unique skin, which I really love the freckles.

There was a picture of her when she first arrived.

And her skin was all chapped.

She barely had any fur, only the fur on her head.

I think that's why they called her Peaches.

Because she only had peach fuzz.

Through medication and giving her a special diet,

her skin has become really healthy.

And she has a lot of life, and she has a lot of spunk.

So she can be very active.

She loves chasing squeaky balls, and she gets very excited when

there's a squeaky ball around.

She came in really bad shape, and she's really beautiful.

Her skin and everything has become

quite beautiful and healthy, and she's become quite healthy.

And it's all through the help of Old Friends

taking her in and taking the time to give her treatment

and figure out what she needed to get better.

So I went online, looking for adoption places for dogs.

And I came across Old Friends.

And it had the explanation of what Old Friends represented.

And I said, I like that.

30 minutes to 45 minutes, I came upon Gertie.

When she came on the frame, I said, that's it.

That's my dog.

So I called them, and I said, I would

like to get Gertie Birdie.

And they said, well, there's a process

that you have to go through.

I said, that's fine with me.

So I went through the process.

And then I called back, and they said, well,

somebody else beat you to her.

Their application was dated before you.

And I was heartbroken because I knew this was my dog.

So about three days later, they called me back.

They said, Ms. Hall, Gertie's back.

It didn't work out.

I said, whoopie!

When I went and did a tour of the facility, I was like,

this is amazing.

I really just fell in love with their mission and everything.

And I went back a couple of weeks later

and met Pepper and knew pretty much right away.

But they had a couple of different dogs

for me to pick from.

And I was like, I don't want to tell these other dogs no.

My roommate came with me to- when we first met Pepper.

And then we both got back and called Susan at Old Friends

immediately.

It was like, can we come back and get Pepper?

We were like, we should have taken her home right then.

So I went back a couple of days later, and now she's here.

I just love her.

I became ill three months after I got her, and I fell.

And I couldn't get up.

I managed to get my phone, which was in my pocket,

to call my daughter.

And Gertie came up and laid down beside me.

And she just stayed there with me until my daughter came.

That's precious.

You can't get some people to do that.

You know that?

So I think this is a worthy cause.

Because dogs can be your best friend.

They are your best friend.

One thing about a dog is if you treat it right,

they're always glad to see you.

When you come in the door, they glad to see you.

Hey, Pepper.

She's so friendly.

Whenever she meets people- and she's

just very curious and kind of shy.

She really likes to roller skate with me.

I roller skate, and she loves when I walk her as I'm skating.

It's the most fun she has.

I would say that she spends about, let's say, 70% napping.

And she snores like a little lumberjack.

She said, I'm going to get my house.

She does a lot of sleeping.

See, she wants to go to sleep now.

At other times, she'll go out in the backyard,

and she'll be running, running, running.

My granddaughter say, Mama, I can't catch this dog.

I said, I don't believe that.

She said, come and look.

And she was gone.

So I guess she gets her energy in spurts, like me.

I mean, I definitely think Old Friends mission is great.

I think it's kind of hard to watch

that process of her getting older and knowing she's

hitting the end of her time.

So it's really great to know that they

have this whole dedicated facility and mission to making

sure that older dogs can have everything they need.

Zina and Michael, they are definitely saints.

They're living my dream life.

If I could do that, I would.

I feel like they would spend their last penny

to make sure these dogs are taken care of.

I'm awestruck about what they've been able to do.

It's very inspiring.

We had talked about we would like

to be able to follow in their footsteps someday.

I honestly can't see something as big as they've done,

but would like to actually have our own little sanctuary

to bring in old dogs in need.

They're just amazing, selfless people.

There's a lot of senior dogs whose lives are much better,

thanks to them.

So I think it was about June time.

Reggie, just out of the blue, stopped eating.

And we tried just about everything,

just tempting him with all sorts of food, and nothing worked.

He went to the sanctuary couple of times

so Dr. Christine could look at him,

and she couldn't locate anything particularly wrong with him.

It was almost like he was so stoic,

he just didn't want us to know.

But I knew something was going on with him.

We took him to NVS, and he had an ultrasound,

and they confirmed he had a mass on his spleen.

Coincidentally, Abner also stopped eating.

Well, unbelievably, it turned out

he also had a mass on his spleen.

So there I am with two dogs with the same issue.

So one was scheduled to have surgery on the Monday, Abner.

And then Reggie was scheduled to have

his spleen removed on Tuesday.

And the one I was most worried about

was Abner because he has so many other medical issues going on.

Well, he had his on the Monday, bounced back like a champ.

Reggie went in on the Tuesday, and they actually called

Dr. Puskaric while they were under anesthetic with him

and said that it looked cancerous,

and it looked like it had spread quite extensively.

And they were considering not waking him up from the surgery.

But Dr. Puskaric said, no, he has a loving family at home

that will want to say goodbye to him.

Which is what we did.

And he came back here.

And we had him for about another week.

He would just lie on his bed with his Teddy bear.

And again, it was his eyes that told me he was ready.

One day, he just looked at me.

And I just knew he was ready to go.

And so we actually got a vet to come here,

and we put him to sleep in the garden

with the family around him.

There's a poem named "The Rainbow Bridge," that's

been floating around for years and years

and years, that portrays a dog's passing

as going to the Rainbow Bridge.

And the dogs wait at the Rainbow Bridge

until their people come along, and they all cross the Rainbow

Bridge together.

Which dog do you miss the most?

Cherie was this-

Cherie.

She was great, a little, tiny Maltese about this small,

blind-

Diabetic.

- diabetic, the whole bit.

Oh, she had a lot of attitude.

But Gracie really hit her heart.

Yeah, she was my sidekick it seemed.

Yeah.

So but there's so many, so many that we just loved.

Our whole philosophy is to focus on what we can do for the dogs

while they're alive.

And we accept the fact that they're

going to pass away, when we're sad when they pass away.

But we focus on what we can do for them while they're with us.

There was someone at the sanctuary that told me this.

They said, you're giving them a safe place to land.

I mean, they've had a really hard life, most of them.

That's the reason they've ended up in the pound,

in the shape they're in-

and just to know that we've given them

love at the end of their life they

may have not had their whole lives.

Our senior dogs aren't disposable.

They are a treasure, and we are lucky to have them around.

These guys have all the personality and more.

They're just such a blessing.

People miss out on the best part of their lives.

They really do.

The senior dogs, they don't worry about the past,

and they don't think about the future.

They live in the moment.

These dogs have got mindfulness down to a fine art,

and we could learn so much from them.

I can't imagine a time in my life

when I won't get another senior.

I don't care if we have them for a month or 10 years.

It's not the quantity.

it's the quality.

The greatest thing about this is we can go with the flow

and go with where our mind tells us

it's the right place for the flow.

Exactly.

So our next project is Flow's Front Porch,

which is part of our Happy Even After program, which

will be a neighborhood dedicated to dogs whose owners have

passed before they have, so that they

can live in a home-like environment

for the rest of their life.

And it's just down the block here,

so it'll be like an extension of Old Friends,

only it's its own program.

Right now we're looking at 11 cottages

with 3 to 5 dogs per cottage.

Talk about unique, that will definitely

be one of a kind in the entire world.

We're building a neighborhood for dogs.

I think Mike and Zina are phenomenal.

And I love their forward thinking.

Knowing how innovative and imaginative they are with this,

I think possibilities are endless really.

And nothing seems to get them down.

They just keep on pushing and really deserve

the success they've had.

Michael's and my job right now is

to build a team that can take over beyond us.

Since we've started this, we don't want this to end with us.

So we've been putting together what

we think is a fabulous team of people

that can move on beyond us.

It takes an army to make this happen.

But everybody is fully invested.

And I think that's what makes it amazing.

I'm just one piece of the puzzle.

The staff that's here, every one of them

is so crucial to the role that they play.

The place wouldn't run without them.

It's indescribable really.

I mean, it comes to a point where it's not a job anymore.

I mean, we're so invested.

I love them.

And we have a great working relationship

with the people here.

It's just like a big family.

Everybody knows everybody.

We're all here to love each other and love these dogs.

This is a dream, an absolute dream.

I love coming to work.

Here, it is amazing to come to work every day and be inspired.

Here, I literally wake up every morning.

I'm excited to come to work, and I know that I'm doing good

and that we're helping these dogs find homes.

I feel like every single person that works here,

we all have this common goal of giving these dogs the best life

that we can.

And Michael and Zina just made that possible.

It's amazing.

I'm really very proud when people ask me

what I do they almost always have heard of us when I say it

but I'm thrilled to be part of the team.

It's a great honor.

To work for a place like this, you

would have to come to Tennessee and work here.

I mean, there's no place like it.

It's a dream fulfilled, is really what it is.

I mean, who would have ever thought

that a few dogs in your backyard would

turn into something that's unmatched in the entire world?

What are you doing?

Hugh just is an amazing dog.

And he has been an emotional roller coaster

for the medical department.

I think pretty much everybody in this medical department

has cried.

And I have agonized over him.

But in the end, I think we did what was right for him.

Because to see the relationship he has with her

and how happy he is, it's just amazing to see

where he's at, yeah.

He's the reason I do what I do every day.

I hope people will look beyond the fact

that he doesn't have ears and see how perfect,

how perfect he really is right now.

I mean, this kind of stuff wouldn't

happen without this facility, without the donations

and being able to give the medical help that they need.

And he's pretty incredible.

It's like our little heaven.

I'll never forget the look that she had given me

of just we might lose him.

And I just had this feeling of-

I'm a Christian, and I just started praying.

I was like, God, I need this.

And I probably sounded pretty selfish, but I just begged him.

I was like, this dog has to make it.

And he did.

And he saved me just as much as I helped him.

The thing that's been cool about this

is I was in corporate America for years.

And then we went into retail.

But there's a limit.

The sky's not the limit there.

You have to stay within the franchise rules.

This has been great because-

No limits.

There's no limits.

We can do what's right.

We can do what feels right.

We can do what works.

There's nobody telling us, you can't do that.

Well, he tries to tell me, you can't do that.

But there's nobody to say, no, you can't do that.

I'm like the dogs.

I go day to day.

I just plow further along.

And I think that's how I did it.

I never had a vision like this.

I think just having our home be a sanctuary was all

I thought of in the beginning.

And we never changed our mission, though.

We knew we wanted to save senior dogs.

Absolutely.

And that's something that we always remind ourselves,

is that we are here for the dogs.

And everything we do-

For the dogs.

- is to make the lives better of senior dogs.

In five years, I hope to be retired a little bit,

sitting there on a beach in Malibu,

or something, with dogs, of course.

But no, I'll never retire.

I'll be here.

I enjoy it too much.

It's not work.

It's not work at all.

I'm living my dream.

There's no doubt about it.

I can't imagine anywhere else I'd want to be right now.

Another glass of whiskey coke,

sitting by the telephone alone.

I only drink 'cause legends do.

I'll write another song soon, when the pain subdues.

Then you saw me crying on a couch.

You lay down next to me with your tongue hanging out.

Everybody needs a friend like that,

to scratch between the ears when things get bad.

Every runt of the pack has always got your back.

And everybody needs a friend like that.

Everybody needs a friend like that.

Everybody's getting sick of the news and the way they tell it.

Though my friend doesn't say a word,

I can listen to any kind of hurt, even the worst.

When you saw me laying by the door,

you licked my fears and tears to the floor.

Everybody needs a friend like that

to scratch between the ears when things get bad.

Every runt of the pack has always got your back.

And everybody needs a friend like that.

Everybody needs a friend like that.

When a storm hits like 1,000 bricks, when the world we know

is falling, at least I know there's someone by my side.

Everybody needs a friend like that,

to scratch between the ears when things get bad.

Every runt of the pack has always got your back.

And everybody needs a friend like that.

Everybody needs a friend like that.