- [Rocky] Oh somebody's happy, who's bouncing around?
Blossom, Blossom!
Good girl, good girl!
Look at that tail wag.
(laughs)
Oh my god!
- That fact that this rescue dog named Blossom
is running around and smiling
and wagging her tail is a big deal,
and I'll tell you why.
Because this is the first time
that this almost three year old rescue dog
has ever smiled, or wagged her tail.
- [Rocky] Blossom!
Look at that, good tail waggin'!
Blossom!
Good girl!
(laughs)
Oh this is amazing!
♪ Lost again going back around ♪
♪ Dreaming of a time when I get things right ♪
♪ Lost in the shadows of a million stars ♪
Good girl.
(laughs)
- Now unlocking Blossom,
gaining her trust, and getting her to this point
wasn't easy, it's been a journey.
And I wanna share some of that journey with you
because Blossom is now ready for adoption.
- She has truly blossomed.
♪ Send a little love and I'll make it back ♪
♪ Send me a letter and a bottle of wine ♪
♪ Telling me I will be fine ♪
♪ Baby I'm stuck with a halfway heart ♪
- Look how happy she is!
- But first, I wanna answer that question
that's probably on your mind,
"Rocky, how do you know this is the first time
she's ever wagged her tail, or she's ever smiled?"
Fair enough, I'd be asking the same question myself.
Well unfortunately, Blossom's story
up to this point is heartbreaking.
(sad piano music)
- Animals that were rescued from that alleged
hoarding situation Tehachapi are now
here at shelters in Bakersfield.
- Well when I arrived I saw about 10 animal
service vehicles being loaded with dogs.
Agents just kept pouring out of the house
carrying dog after dog for hours.
Animal services booked Lee on suspicion
on 120 felony counts of animal cruelty or neglect.
- You see, Blossom was a part of that extreme hoarding
case with about 160 other dogs.
And when I heard about this,
I knew that I had to get involved.
A lot of them are really scared,
like these guys are just, these guys are pretty timid
because they've never really been in an environment
outside of the house where it was just
hoarding a lot of dogs.
I met up with Marley's Mutts at the
Kern County Animal Shelter and we got started.
What's up buddy?
- What's going on man?
- [Rocky] And so what's the plan today?
- The plan is to do our best to assess these dogs
and try and keep them as calm as possible,
as comfortable as possible,
but get a feel for what they're gonna
be like with other dogs.
- The goal is to get all of these dogs placed.
When that many dogs flood the shelters
there just isn't enough room,
and unfortunately, a lot of those dogs won't make it out.
But we weren't gonna let that happen.
We spent the day clearing out all the kennels,
we thought we had them all, but someone said,
"we're one short!"
- We cleared this one.
- We did.
(dogs barking)
- Yes there is.
- There's one under there?
- Yes there is.
- Oh yeah.
And sure enough, there she was, hiding.
(sad piano music)
There was just something about her.
It was just the sweetness in here eyes,
and the curiosity that I knew I had to do something.
So I filled out the paperwork,
and I loaded her up in the car.
Now when I got Blossom home, I didn't know what to do.
I worked with a lot of rescue dogs to
help pull them out of their shell,
and get them to a loving home.
But never a dog this shut down.
In fact, my initial approach wasn't working.
I started working to integrate her into the pack,
and it was just too much.
I reached out to some friends like Zach,
the director of Marley's Mutts,
and we agreed that the best thing for her
was just letting her be.
And what I thought would take days
lead into weeks, then into months.
And you know what, I fully committed that
if it would take years, I would be there.
Cause I truly believe that all of us deserve that
one person in our life that will not give up on us,
at any cost.
And I was bound and determined to be
that person for Blossom.
And as soon as I made that commitment,
and I stopped leading, and I started listening,
you could literally see that this fear that
had wrapped its fingers around her brain,
started to let go.
And a lot of firsts started happening.
You see for a while when we would feed her,
we would have to put water in her food
because fear had paralyzed her so much
that she couldn't even go get a drink of water.
- Oh oh, just happened.
Good girl Blossom.
Good girl.
Sorry, sorry.
That was the first time I've ever
seen her drink water.
It's been six weeks now.
Ah, that feels so good.
Before, we had to put water in her food,
and now finally, finally she saw Zoey drinking,
and she just went up there and drank water.
Ah yes!
God it's great! It's just moments like this.
Ah it just feels so good.
She's cruising the other dog bowls now.
Oh, two times.
Okay, I think that's all we get, but that's huge!
- It was amazing.
And I remember the first time that,
out of nowhere, she jumped up on the coach
to sit next to me.
As you can tell, like super weird about it
as soon as the camera turns on.
But you know what,
No no, stay. Stay.
She's up here.
Stay. It's okay.
Relax. You're a good girl.
You're a good girl, Blossom.
Good girl.
Okay, I'll leave you alone.
As other rescue dogs came into the house,
she would start to greet them.
Like Wade here, who I featured on my show,
Dogs Day Out.
She was happy to meet him.
And as dogs have been coming and going,
getting into loving homes,
Blossom's been developing into an amazing dog,
that I can't wait to see go to a loving home.
Now don't get me wrong, it's been challenging.
She kept running away any chance she got,
and we'd have to chase her down.
You see, when fear grabs ahold of you,
it really only leaves you with two options.
That's fight or flight.
For a while I kept working on trying to figure
out how to make it so that she wouldn't run away.
And then I realized my approach was all wrong.
So Blossom's biggest challenge right now is fear.
And the good thing is, she doesn't lash out.
She doesn't bite, she doesn't become aggressive.
But she does run, and she's an escape artist.
And so, a lot of this is just been working with
her to make sure that she's safe,
and she doesn't get out.
I've gone around the yard and put bricks
and stones everywhere.
I spent a good part of my day doing that.
The other thing here is just the basics, right.
We got her dog tag on her.
We got her micro chipped.
And then we also got a whistle.
Have you heard about this thing?
So many of you are asking me questions
on comments, and DM'ing me, and
going hey, what is that?
What is that on Blossom's collar?
And I'll tell you, it's amazing.
It's a GPS tracker.
And why that's perfect is because her brain
tells her when she gets scared to run.
Which is better than the alternative of
fighting and being aggressive.
But really dangerous, right?
If she gets away, or she gets out,
yes she's micro chipped, but that's not a GPS.
And yes, she has her dog tag on.
But I hope someone calls, and it just
really puts my mind at ease.
When any dog gets into a new environment,
like your home, they have the potential to get out,
to run away.
You leave a door open, and they sneak through a crack.
And so that GPS tracker, if they get outside of
the perimeter, it sends an alert.
It's really awesome.
When I put this whistle on, I actually talked
to Whistle, and they said hey, we wanna help Blossom.
So, what they've done, is they've put a special
deal together.
You get 25 dollars off a Whistle if you get one,
an 20% of that sale is also going to go to
Marley's Mutts, which is the foster program
that Blossom is from, so that it continues to help.
So, I have to tell you, I love companies like
Whistle that really supports pets.
And the fact that they're going out of their way
to help Miss Blossom,
I wanna support them back.
So follow that link down below.
You'll get $25 off, and also 20% of the sale
will go to Marley's Mutts.
So click on that link, check it out.
It will blow your mind, it's such a cool product.
- As the days went by, little things started happening.
One of the biggest things that's made an
impact is walking, and I mean a lot of walking.
Is walking and walking and walking.
Because with every corner, and every new street,
every new sidewalk, and every new day,
she starts to learn that she's safe,
and I won't lead her to harm.
- Okay, this is the best.
Just watch her face, just how unlocked she is
when she walks.
Come on.
When she saw the camera she freezes up a little bit.
But, look at that, she's doing so good.
Also, she looks like a little mini me next to Flip.
But look, so happy.
It's that walking, that's the key to success.
It's really really helping her.
We're just gonna keep walking, walking, walking.
Yeah, it makes me so happy.
Go Blossom, go!
Come on.
(upbeat step music)
This outside of letting her know that she's
loved, and that she's safe, is the number one
thing that I attribute to her coming out of her shell.
Or should I say, her really starting to blossom.
By the way, you guys picked that name.
We voted on Instagram for that, which I think
is really cool, because everyone's been
such a big part of this.
And to all of you who have been asking me
how is Blossom, and how is she doing, thank you.
And if you're not following me on Instagram,
make sure you follow me on Instagram,
because I really want you guys to be a part
of these journeys as we take these dogs
on these Dogs Day Outs.
Okay, here's what I want you to do.
I want you to leave a comment down below
for Blossom, and I'm gonna read all those to her.
And trust me, all that positivity coming her way,
it make a big difference.
Okay, she's had quite a bit of time to
just learn the space, learn that she's safe
and comfortable.
And now, gently, kind of like a personal trainer
almost, I'm going to start coaching her along,
and getting her out of her shell.
So, one of the ways that I can do that,
and make sure that she's okay is just
attaching her to my hip.
Literally attaching her to my hip.
Everywhere I go she will go.
Now this takes some dedication because,
it's hard enough to just functioning on my own,
let alone having someone attached to you at all times.
I got this idea from watching Zack George,
who's a trainer on You Tube.
He's really awesome, you should check him out.
And I thought, you know what, he does it for
training with a hyperactive puppy, but this
will probably work in the other direction too.
For a dog who is just fearful of everything.
Because now they can kind of learn to trust
that wherever you go, they'll go, and they're safe.
And let me tell you, it worked.
It started making a big difference.
I don't do it all the time anymore,
but you can definitely see the before and after.
Before, she would run right into her hiding spot,
and she still does that sometimes,
under the kitchen table.
Man, she loves that hiding spot.
But now, I'll be walking and low and behold,
there's Blossom right beside me.
And it's just a really neat sight to see,
because she knows that now is also
a safe space, next to me.
♪ Count on my company and I will come ♪
♪ Save me when I am falling ♪
Okay, let's take just a second here
and let's talk about fostering.
You should foster.
You should do what I am doing.
You can do it, anybody can do it.
That's what's so cool, it's a journey, right?
Why do I do this?
Well one, I wanna get her adopted.
She's ready now for that next stage in
her development, where she goes into a loving
home, forever, and she's with someone.
And the bond that she's gonna form with someone
is just gonna be unbelievable.
So, if you're that person,
if you have the patience, she's the one for you.
And look, she's great with other dogs.
She's low maintenance.
It's just having the patience and the time,
to let her live up to her name, Blossom.
So, if that's you, I'm gonna put the link
to the adoption application down below.
Fill that out right away.
I cannot wait to see the next home she goes in to.
You know, I remember when she first came here,
I had to hand feed her.
And it took time.
But it was so worth it.
Because that bond that we formed,
there's just nothing else like it.
- All right, so we are hand feeding Miss Blossom.
Just to kind of build some trust.
These are meals that we prepped.
Kel helped me make these.
And we don't usually feed dogs on the couch,
but she jumped up here when the food came out,
and so that's a good thing.
And she's a little needy I see.
Yeah, just working on building trust,
and also just getting her to eat, you know.
Right now, if she would just eat,
I'll feed her wherever.
(laughs)
I'm just kinda grabbing her food out of here.
Makes a little bit of a mess on the couch,
but she's worth it.
We can clean the couch.
Yeah, just ever so slightly getting her
closer and closer, until hopefully,
eventually she's eating on my lap.
Where you going?
You done? Is that it?
Then she goes back to her bed.
See how she's always hiding, or looking for safety.
Me, Flip, Blossom, we all just got back
from a walk, and so right now her brain is
kind of relaxed a little bit, and I'm gonna
try and get a picture, because when we're on
a walk, and I turn the camera on her,
she freezes up immediately.
I'm gonna try and just chill out and get a picture.
The picture that I'm trying to get is when
she relaxes, and you can see she just releases
and lets go.
It's something amazing about her, where
she's literally smiling.
She's done it before where she was running
around in the yard, and it's hard to catch on camera.
But if I have to, I just kinda sit here,
even if just takes a while, I'll be patient.
And let's see if we can get that picture.
Blossom, come here.
♪ Save me when I am falling ♪
Okay, there's that smile.
Almost, almost.
♪ Baby I'm stuck with a.. ♪
We got it, we got it.
We got it, it was like one second, but we got it.
Oh that's perfect, look at that smile.
(laughs)
Look at that.
♪ Pick me up when I'm in pieces.. ♪
Who knows, maybe you're the next dog model, huh?
We might have a little bit of work to do for that.
But having that picture is perfect.
I can't wait to show my wife, Kelly.
And by the way, my wife has been amazing.
You know, I bring these dogs home,
and I'm like, guess what, new project.
And so, Kelly, thank you.
You are amazing.
The other person I have to thank is you.
All of you that have been along on this journey,
and are so supportive.
Thank you so much.
If you haven't subscribed yet,
make sure you do that because
I've got an idea for the next video
that I'm gonna make.
We're gonna do kind of a Dogs Day In for her,
because I think a Dogs Day Out, where I take
her on the town, would just be way, way too much.
So, I've got an idea.
You know, working with a foster that's shut down
like this, a lot of it is just problem solving.
That's what it boils down to.
So, I'm working on solving a problem right now,
where she keeps hiding under the table.
I think I've got an idea.
So, stay tuned for the next video.
All right Blossom, let's go.
Slowly, as to not alert her, or make her
jump and run away.
Slowly.
This has really been a lesson for me,
and moving slower.
Okay, love you guys. See ya.
I'm leaving. Bye.
Bye. Slowly.
♪ Pick me up when I'm in pieces ♪