How a loving home took Oliver off the streets and into therapy work

It’s true - adorable Oliver the pooch was rescued from Mexico’s streets, where he was cared for by a group of young orphans. By September 2020, Oliver (affectionately known as Pawfessor Poopy) was rescued by The Animal Pad. The rest wasn’t exactly a smooth ride for the pup, but after being welcomed into a loving home by our member Missy and her husband, Oliver thrived. Now working as a therapy dog and touching the lives of many, let’s hear from Missy about his road to success…

“He was brought to the states to The Animal Pad facility just two months after I started volunteering there. I started volunteering because I already had two rescue dogs of my own, so I couldn’t adopt more, but I wanted to help and make a difference in the lives of other rescue dogs. It was then that I first met Oliver. We quickly realized that Oliver had no controls of his bowels or bladder, meaning he was fully incontinent. He was such a happy dog, though, and would be pooping without knowing it! He would then turn to his fresh droppings and would look at it like, ‘well, who put that there?’

In trying to learn more about his condition, the x-rays revealed a story that broke our hearts. Oliver had a shattered vertebrae and a bullet lodged in his spine, indicating that somebody had shot this beautiful, happy boy. The vets said if it hit a tad higher, he would have been paralyzed. 

This was the problem. NO ONE would give this dog a chance. The Animal Pad’s director pleaded with anyone that would listen and posted Oliver’s story everywhere. People that didn’t know him urged her to put him down because he was “wasting resources”, but I knew there was something uniquely special about Oliver.”

“I started visiting him everyday at The Animal Pad to spend time with him and give him extra love. One day he looked at me with his soulful eyes and I knew instantly that I needed to do everything possible to save him. I went home and begged my husband to let me foster him but was met with the expected “we already have two dogs, we can’t get a third” response. I pleaded by saying Oliver would just be a foster dog and if we didn’t agree to foster him, he may not get a chance to live a happy life. How could he say no to that? I brought him home the next day and he immediately fell in love with him and Oliver fit in perfectly with our other dogs. I was falling in love and I knew I could not let him go.”

“We finally got an appointment with the specialist and he confirmed that nothing could be done and that he would be incontinent for the rest of his life. This meant he would have to wear diapers (REALLY CUTE ONES).[...] So the very next day we made it official on November 14, 2020.”

Despite his difficult start in life, Oliver was just the lucky charm that Missy needed...

“ I live with three anxiety disorders and recently finished my masters in school counselling to help others dealing with similar diagnoses. It has always been my dream to have a therapy dog but my other two dogs are just not a good fit.

I had one job interview this summer and got the job and I truly believe Oliver got me the job. They asked how I felt about therapy dogs and I lit up and told them all about my diaper dog and all about my thesis, which was about the impact of rescue dogs on children's SEL development.  They called me the next day and offered me the job.”

“Fast forward to today, Pawfessor Poopy and I are loving our new job. He lights up when we get to school and refuses to leave at the end of the day. The transition back to school after the pandemic has been really hard for a lot of my students but Oliver makes it better for them. In fact, I received a letter from a parent thanking me and telling me that her daughter has always wanted a dog and was very nervous and stressed about coming back to school but Oliver has given her a school pet to look forward to that provides her with the emotional support she needs to succeed. 

Not only has Oliver changed my life but he has changed the lives of about 200 students in just 1 short month. I cannot wait to see the impact he continues to make. All because we gave him a chance to prove how amazing and deserving of love he really is. I hope this inspires just one person to give a mistreated and unwanted animal a chance at life. I guarantee you won’t regret it and chances are it will change your life for the better.”

We're not crying, you're crying!

Feeling all warm and fuzzy now?

If you love the idea of caring for cute pets like Oliver and making a difference in the lives of fluffy friends all over the world, get your pet sitting adventure started with a TrustedHousesitters membership.