30+ Minutes Of Animals Who Tug At Your Heartstrings ｜ The Dodo

In the distance there's this bright white bull in the middle of the road. As it hopped closer and closer I could definitely tell this was not a wild rabbit. It was a pet that someone probably dumped outside. It was raining and extremely cold. I did pick him up, wrapped him up warm. I had to give him a little wipe down just to help him warm up. He was definitely nervous at first but as soon as I gave him something to eat he did warm up to us a little bit more. He became a lot less fearful as I wrapped him up to help him settle in. It wasn't long until I realised how special he genuinely was to me. Me and him had quite a special bond and became completely obsessed with each other. Months later we couldn't leave each other's side. Yo stop taking off my duvet man chill. He wakes up every single day next to me. Yo! He likes to take off the blankets in the morning. Do you do it one more time master? Oh my god. And then he starts his crazy zooming around the room. He demands the first breakfast of the day. After he's satisfied we head downstairs for our second breakfast. We start off the day with some redecorating. Are you alright? I pay him with kisses. Give me a kiss. And he does the same too. Next we catch some sun outside. Mr Prairie definitely demands we lay down for our midday nap. To make sure I'm thoroughly groomed afterwards. Wait, wait, wait. Ease up, ease up, ease up. Now it's time for our homeschooling. I have the nugget here. Don't eat it. I'm gonna put it here. Don't eat it. Okay? His next class is always philosophy. You know what's going on? You're a rabbit. I'm a human. This is a room. You're in a house. It's Monday like do you know what's going on? Or do you like just live? Good talk. We often pause the school day for some very important announcements from Mr Prairie. Yo. After dinner, I do try to get him out of bed before I go to sleep. I know you can hear me. Don't act like you're sleeping. Trying to sleep, man. I know you ain't sleeping. I can see you. But he usually ends up staying the night. I just feel so lucky that he chose me to be his little buddy. I just love that man so much. She was a mom's girl from the beginning. My little ride or die gal. You're a good girl. My husband and I found out we were expecting our first child in October of 2018. We continued on our merry way thinking everything was great. We had a pretty run-of-the-mill experience with our pregnancy up until we didn't. We said goodbye to her. I spent a lot of time in my bed, very down. It's funny because your dogs don't stop needing you. But they also don't stop supporting you. Ray still wanted to go out for their walk every day. And for me, it was kind of motivation to get up and do something. What do you want? Come here. Come here, Miss Ray. You get up and she's like, where are you going? She was really there. I was kind of thinking this flat out isn't going to happen for us. And I took a pregnancy test and I was like, oh my gosh. Seeing her be that attached to my belly to me made me really hopeful. It took a while for me to get attached to my own pregnancy. It was really hard for me to trust that things were going to be OK. Having Ray start to kind of cozy up this time around was a little bit of extra reassurance. She would just shove her snout up into my belly. It's like, OK, I'm by you. I need to stay by you. Really just wanted to be involved in everything. I think she's like, your look is changing. So that's when she really started to pick up that things were changing. It was a really great experience for us both. So we walked in that door with Maddox and Ray was fired up. So she'll sit by him any time he is on her level. She's like, OK, I got this. But seeing her be so close to him now is really a joyful experience. Just seeing kind of like my two loves, right? My first baby and my new baby. You know, now that we have our son here to grow up with him, he's going to have his childhood really enhanced by having this great dog by his side, too. She came here to not only be, unfortunately, a part of some of the lowest lows of our lives, but also to really be here through some of the highest joys with us, too. Here he comes. He walks around like he owns the place and wants to be included in everything. We have our own little language. He'll try to find me wherever I go. I work from home, so he'll be on my shoulder and no one will know. I couldn't imagine not having him by my side. He's very attached to me and me only. I was probably more nervous to meet Dusty than I was any other family. Hello, sir. I'd like to date you. It didn't go well. If you want to date me, the bird comes with me. To like me. But he wouldn't budge. He's like all business. Just love me. Love me. I didn't know what to do. I gotta play the injured bird card. Aw, my baby. Play the injured bird. I was focused on making the best impression with the bird. One day, I realized Carrier can't whistle. I'm like, all right, let's see if he's going to be affectionate and start whistling. He slowly started to mimic. The longer I whistle, the longer I know he won't attack me. They have a little routine. I was like, I can't believe this is happening. We've grown over time. A little bit. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to be with somebody. Seeing Carrie happy makes me happy. It doesn't hurt to have a little garden bird around. The bird is priority one. I was paired up with Dorka to deploy Afghanistan. I didn't think that this would be where I'd be meeting my best friend. We worked together where she became a certified bonded extra dog. I got paired up with Dorka because nobody else wanted her. They thought that she was frail and timid, which is ironic because she has the best nose out of all the dogs. We went to work. We were always together. A few years later, she retired and I put in to adopt her. I brought her home to Florida with me. I was so excited to adopt her, but I didn't expect how challenging it would be for her now that she's retired. It's a pretty girl. She seemed kind of disengaged and bored, not really into what we were doing. I was hoping that she would get used to her new life, so I tried different ways to cheer her up. But nothing really seemed to work. She'd rather go search some cars or go search something with her nose, and that's just what she wanted to do. And that's when I came up with this idea to get something that's similar to what she was trained on and just hide it in different places for her. On my car over there, but I hid it there, so she's probably just going to run straight to my car. Dorky! Let's go. It's okay. Told you. She's probably going to try to sit too. She found it. She was very confused, didn't really know what was going on, but she sniffed it again, and then she sniffed it again. And once she finally realized what it was, she's like, oh, I know what this is. She sat and she literally just stared at me. That's my girl. Oh yes, that's my pretty girl. Where are you going? Dorky. So then I started doing it everywhere we went. And she was just happy, just like waiting for me to give her a toy and reward her. So I praised her up and I gave her a bunch of love. What's that, Dorky? I immediately thought she was back to her old perky self. Seeing her happy makes me happy. And putting her on different scents and getting her excited again. We're inseparable. The bond between us is amazing. Almost all my plants are set around her. Wait, is he giving you kisses? Aww. Is he following you? What are you guys going to do? We had someone reach out and they were like, we're rehoming a donkey. He just isn't getting the time that he should be getting. So we brought him home. He just felt like he was at home. Our backyard, we have a fence. Snickers came right up to the fence. And Gunnar would just start walking up to him too and just start petting him. What's donkey doing? Gunnar, are you cleaning your wheelbarrow? He's very independent. Good job. Gunnar just turned three and he loves to do everything on his own. He loves to go and do chores. Then he thought it was the greatest thing because he got to hold buckets. And we feed Snickers his grain. We have to make him happy? Snickers just loves all the attention. He'll just be crying for us to come over and Gunnar can just give him all the attention. Aww, is Snickers saying hi? Yeah, let's go. Where is your friend? Good job. It's just so cute. Do you gotta go say hi? They both have a crazy amount of energy. And when Gunnar and Snickers are together, then they do have more of a sense of calm. Who is your favorite animal? Snickers is literally always just following him around. I feel like that's what Snickers has with Gunnar is part of his herd. And he always wants to keep an eye on him and make sure he's safe. Best friends. They are seriously the cutest. I love them. A lot of people will say that it looks like we let a gorilla in the house. If they hear anything, they'll just sit there and observe and watch together. Even though he's big, he's just such a gentle giant. They're always watching out those windows. It's really sweet. We got Drax when he was about eight weeks old. We had found out that I was pregnant as well. As my belly grew, he was just always right there sitting on my lap, laying on my stomach. He was always very gentle with me. We let him observe him from afar. We always really focused on early socialization and desensitizing. We would have a little playpen with our son in it, and Drax would always be on the outside of it just watching him. Drax just loved soaking in this little baby. We would try to work on rolling our son over. Drax has rolled over on his back like he's trying to show him how to do it. Every time I had him hanging and jumping in that little jumper, Drax had to be right there. He would always lay at his feet. They just were instantly like little magnets to each other. Drax reached his full size when our kid was about one, pushing about 125 pounds. That's probably why our son was an early walker. He just wanted to keep up with his puppy. He might look big and intimidating, but he has a complex where he thinks he's just this little tiny lap dog. Our son got a ball pit for his birthday. Every time he's in that ball pit, Drax is over there too. Some of them get destroyed, but it's worth it. I don't know who loves the park more. I think she thinks they built it for him. This is the first year that I think our son really got to understand who Santa is. Who is that? Come on, Drax, come on. Oh, it's Santa! He reached for his puppy to make sure his puppy was there like, are you seeing this too? I think Drax was more of a fan of Santa than Mrs. Claus and our own son was. Drax likes Santa. Drax has been a good boy too. Ah, the tree didn't get for me. Where's my tree? You don't get candy canes. Drax has changed my perspective on how beautiful dogs can be, breaking down those stereotypes. I just think there's so many beautiful aspects that a child can have with a dog. It's just so fun to see them grow up together. He's sitting on your lap. I got a notification, so I opened it and I just saw Luna rubbing all over her. The camera was right in her face and they were both looking at it like, Mom, please don't separate us. Please don't let us stay. Luna was just cuddled up next to her like, Mom, don't come get me. She knows when she hears Mom coming, she's not supposed to be in the crib unless we're in there. It doesn't matter where it is. Luna just seems to always be right next to her. Good job, Luna. Oh, look at her. You got your kitty? She doesn't meow often unless I'm talking to her about Cali or vice versa. Luna, do you gotta do everything with her? Okay, it's okay. You find your kitty? Hi, girls. She lights up anytime I talk about Luna or bring her near. I can't even explain the noise that she makes when I talk about her kitty. These are two kitties. Did we bring your kitty to Grandma's? Yes. She gets the biggest smile every time. We brought your kitty to Grandma's house, huh? Did Luna come find a box right by you? Did she? How gentle Luna is with her amazes me. Cali can pull on her fur and Luna doesn't even flinch. Careful, careful. Hey, hey, let go. Let go. I know, I know. You're happy. Luna, you're such a good kitty. Oh, don't pull her. Don't pull her hair. Don't pull on her hair, Cali. If I put a blanket down, she's laying on the blanket right next to her just watching. Is your kitty playing by you? If I go away, Luna's within a foot or two. What are you guys doing? It's like my turn to watch. You can't even explain the way those two interact. Hi, hi girls. Good morning. Right after I had Cali, we started going to the shelter and they said that they had a cat that they wanted to show us and that's when they brought in Luna. And I mean, she instantly was on Cali's car seat. She hopped up on my shoulder and I was like, I can't leave without this cat. This is the one. Is that your kitty? She loves snuggling. She is the sweetest thing ever. I always find her sleeping with the big kids. What are you doing, Luna pup? You got your babies? Honestly, she always veers back to baby. From the start, it's kind of been Cali's cat. And I never saw it going the way it did. It is literally a baby and cat bond. Everyone always said the cat will pick you and she did. Bruno always has the same reaction, which is to open his arms and hug him really hard. We feel that there is an immense happiness that emerges at that moment. Sora, at 100 meters, he knows that Bruno is in that place. And if Bruno is not in his tent when we arrive in the morning, Sora will wait for Bruno. You can't expect something so strong. To be able to live in peace, you have to accept that it happens and you go beyond your assumptions. On the way down a street, there is Bruno's tent. And in fact, Sora stops for a moment and he finds himself face to face with Bruno. There is no assumption. No, no, I'm in a tent. No, you're not going. Only thanks to that, he doesn't move. For a while, my cat was looking at me. He had a kind of pleading in his eyes. And in fact, Bruno made a big smile. And Sora actually jumped into Bruno's arms. Bruno, he has a smile that is frank and jovial. You really feel that he is someone sincerely nice. Sora was very sensitive to that. From that moment on, I decided to take this journey on a daily basis. Every morning, I would bring a coffee, a croissant and a hug from Sora. I talked a lot with him. I asked him if he needed anything. From time to time, he would ask me for some money. I would give him my whole. I had to do everything to help Bruno. It was a mission. Bruno's daily life had to change. I would use TikTok as a basis for me. And in fact, I post the video on my account. Half an hour later, I see a lot of comments on my phone. Don't you think? And I remember sending a message to my wife saying, I think I did something stupid. I put a basket in place. The basket gathered the sum of 5,800 euros. So I sat down next to him. I told him, I have a surprise for you from all the people who have followed this story. I stop and he says to me, it's a lot. He thanks me very, very much. And we feel that he is very embarrassed. We don't often have the opportunity to truly change someone's life. Bruno? Hey Bruno! What are you doing here? I don't have any more news until the day when I see Bruno in a sleeping bag. In fact, Bruno was finally still on the street. And I said to him, what happened, Bruno? He said to me, Thibault, I never had access to this money. I don't have a passport. That's when I learned that in France, you can offer a bank account with the photocopy of an old passport. On the other hand, when it comes to accessing this money, you need the real passport. The first step was to get the passport. So that he can finally have access to his bank account. I said, well, listen, Bruno, you're going to spend a few days at my house. Bruno, where are you going? So I bought him a tent. In the middle of the night, I was told that a passport was created. The next day, we can go. And I find Bruno, who is completely frozen, without strength, without anything. I said, now you're going to come and sleep at my house. We're going to warm you up a little bit, finally. No, I'm fine, I'm fine. It doesn't matter what happens at my house. It was a story, wasn't it? Yes, yes. Are you happy? Yes, very. There's Bruno's friend at home. Bruno refuses to go to bed because he can't take a shower in the state he was in. So I put a tarp on my bed. Are you happy, Sola? When Bruno lies down on the bed, finally, Sola doesn't want to move. Sola, bonjour. Hi, how are you? The next morning, I don't know what to do, but good. Oh, yes, kisses. What are you doing on the bed, you? Sola was following me everywhere, he was super happy. Ta-da! There you go, good, I put it on. The ideal kind, little rolled collars, little pants, little shoes, little jacket, very clean on him, little scarf. And now I can take off my mask, with the three, you see that? Well, there you go, that's good, we did it, we did it, that's good. Today, very good. So today, we're going to take a call from Bruno, so he'll have the Internet. When we got his money back, he said to me, Thibaut, today I have my passport, I have access to my bank account. I think you've done enough. I have everything I need to be able to get out of here. He'll have my phone number if he needs anything, but he really wants to handle it on his own. Yeah, look at that. How nice is that? Look at that! You've got, oh my God, TV, everything. You will be like a king. You are jealous though. Yeah, that's my place. Ta-da! New start. It's very good. This is like a dream, look at your view. You're lucky it's Bruno who created it, because he's the one who smiled at my dog. If Bruno hadn't been invisible, if Bruno hadn't been smiling, none of this would have happened. Who is that? One of my dearest memories is my dog and an unknown illustrator who gave it to me. If you hadn't been there with me, I would have passed 50 times in front of Bruno without even looking at him. The total love of an animal for a human being really managed to change the life of this person. Her initial reaction was just this look of curiosity, like what is this tiny thing? When we brought her home, we called it the honeymoon period. These two little babies are sitting together, petting each other, getting to know each other. We loved the idea of them being similar in age and just watching them grow together. Almost like a sibling relationship. Rio has definitely learned the benefit of sitting beside the high chair. And Rio knows exactly when she has her snack cup in hand, she'll feed her through the gate. I would say they're learning how to share as snack time is constant between the two of them. And I think it's only a bond that they have and we may never understand. She has to be the first to give Hazel attention, start sticking her snout through the crib. The crib thing started as one of those growth progressions, but they love playing in there together. They were talking to each other, I suppose. We don't know what they're ever saying. It is constant comedy, constantly getting into something. This is the name of the game. The one thing that's really driving us crazy, Hazel loves the dog water bowl right now. She'll get in Rio's crate. I mean, she'll crawl right up in there and she wants Rio's attention. Really our days consist of them just playing around the house, playing outside. They've both learned how to be gentle together. She is just now starting to walk, babbling a lot more. So with the two of them in this phase of expressing more energy, it's just showing us how much fun is in store. Knowing that Hazel will always have that friendship at home and the same with Rio, always having her person is something that is really special and can't be replaced. I wouldn't trade it for the world. They are truly best friends.