Maverick's personality is a lot like mine.
He takes time warming up
to some people that are new in his life.
And then when he figures out that he loves them,
he gives them all of his love.
And he's very protective, as am I.
Very protective of my family, of my husband,
of my friends and of our home.
And he is just fiercely loyal.
He's the best dog ever. And his personality -
he always makes me laugh with his little ear.
Always makes me laugh.
I'm Katherine Schwarzenegger, and this is "My Pet Tale."
So Maverick's about to be 7 years old,
which is insane.
And he's a California mutt,
or a California blend, I like to call him,
because I have no idea what he is.
So I met Maverick when I was fostering puppies
for a local shelter and helping a woman
who needed some help with some foster dogs that she had.
And I had decided to take a break
and not foster puppies anymore.
And then she called me last minute and said,
"I have this last little puppy.
He needs to be with somebody who can give him
really good care 'cause he's very malnourished
and needs some help."
And I decided to take him and have what they call
a foster failure because I decided to adopt him
'cause I just fell in love with him.
I think really from the start when I got Maverick,
he was 3 and half weeks old,
really tiny, like this big, and very sick.
And so I had to give him a lot of TLC.
And he got even sicker right after I got him,
and we had to take him to the vet.
And he had to stay there a little bit.
And they didn't know whether or not he was gonna make it.
And I think when I brought him home from his treatment,
which he had parvo when he was a puppy,
which is very scary.
And when I brought him home, I think
I really felt like that was the moment
that he became part of our family.
And just to see how loving my siblings were,
and my mom, and my dad.
Just to see how they really fell in love with him
and really supported my falling in love with him
and also getting really attached to him,
and then ultimately deciding to properly adopt him,
was really when I think he became
officially part of our family.
Animals have always been a huge passion for me
since I was little, and a big love.
And when I was introduced to the world of fostering
and animal rescue, I was just so interested in it.
And just the many ways that you can help animals
that need a second chance at life
and need to find their forever home
was really amazing and inspiring to me.
So it's become a huge passion,
which is why I love working with different organizations
to kind of help spread the word.
Maverick and Chris actually get along very well,
which was something I was
very nervous about in the beginning,
because you just never know how your pet will respond to
bringing somebody new into the picture.
And I was very, very lucky, and am very lucky
that they have a great relationship.
Finding someone that shares your love of animals,
and your passion for being around animals,
and helping animals is the greatest thing
to be able to bond over.
So I feel really lucky to have been able
to find that with my husband.
So my dog, Maverick, and my little brother
Christopher's dog, Champ, spend a lot
of time together at my mom's house.
And their dynamic is very similar
to I think how my brothers acted
with each other when they were little,
which was they kind of,
well, one will hit the other one
and the other one will hit the other one back.
And just constantly bickering,
and then they're very cool with each other.
So it's funny to watch their dynamic and to see how
similar they are to how my brothers used to play fight
with each other when they were little.
My mom is an incredible dog grandma
to Maverick and to Champ, although I don't know
if she would like that I said that.
But I've heard that she's said that herself, so it's fine.
She's so amazing with Maverick and with Champ.
And very supportive.
I have Maverick stay with her a lot of the time.
So she's the best. I couldn't ask for a better mom
and grandmother to Maverick.
My sister and I kind of co-parent Maverick together.
And she's so incredible and has truly been
such a gift to be able to have her be
so attentive and loving to Maverick.
And to do it together is such
a great bond for sisters, as well.
And so it's been a great gift since day one,
and continues to grow and be more gifts
constantly present themselves to me.
And so it's a fun experience.
So I decided to write my third book
called "Maverick and Me."
My goal was really to be able to
give the book to children and teach children
about the option to adopt their first pet.
And it's been such a rewarding and incredible experience
to go around the country and to be able to talk to kids,
and to have kids come up to me and say that
they wanna go adopt their first pet.
I've had Maverick for almost seven years.
And he's really been there for me
through such formative times in my life.
I graduated college and adopted him right away.
And so he's really been with me in an apartment,
in my very first home, when I first started
dating my husband, now that I'm married.
So he's been with me through a lot.
And I feel really grateful to have
decided to adopt him. And he's really
just taught me so much, not only about unconditional love
and responsibility, but about patience
and understanding, and different ways to dog parent,
which was a whole new world that I had
never really explored on my own before.
So I'm just really grateful and feel really blessed
to have the little guy in my life.