Canines are our passion. They are our addiction. They are our way of life right down to the very core and without them we would be lost. The canines of this world really are something to behold. They assist us at work, they accompany us at home, and they perform for us in the field. No matter where we go, they are by our side. Canines really are a ride or die and for that we are grateful.
This podcast will showcase working canines of various breeds and disciplines as we search for those canines and their handlers who are always striving to be the best at what they do. Those who are always grinding. Those who are always pushing the limits. Those who are always dogging. Join us on our adventures as it is sure to be a wild ride. I'm your host, Bryce Matthews. And I'm your co-host, Stephen Basham. And this, this is Simper Dogging. Dear Houndsman, what a day right?
You just picked up your new pup and can't wait to hit the woods. It's starting off strong and over the years you've walked hundreds, if not thousands of miles chasing behind them. A song so strong your heart drew to it before your own two feet began to move. So many victories and setbacks, yet the two of you couldn't be closer than you are now. Like with everything in life, time catches the two of you like game up a tree. You and the Hound have both aged both mentally and physically.
Though you have only gained some sore muscles and lines on your face from lack of sleep, the Hound has grown gray and its legs aren't as strong as they once were. Their eyes have begun to fog over. You would think they were looking back in time to the night the swamp seemed to suffocate your eyes and mist. Unfortunately, it's just the age hugging the once sharp eyes of your partner. And the gray has overtaken the shining coat. Your heart starts to panic and the what ifs flood your mind.
Then you remember back to those days when you yourself were struggling. So you turn to them for comfort. It's now your turn to be the strong one. The two of you go for one last ride and walk through the woods you both grew up in. You share memories of the late nights that ran into mornings and you soon feel the gentle eyes gaze upon you in acknowledgement. You don't want to turn around, but the appointment is set and it is the right thing to do.
The waiting room begins to feel big and you have the urge to run now, yet your feet remain still. You're greeted with a friendly face as you walk into the strange but comforting room. You know all too well you aren't the first to sit within the four walls and you won't be the last. Draping your hands on the head, tears begin to fall and the final syringe is emptied of the unforgettable pain medicine. One last listen confirmed your unasked question. There is no more heartbeat.
In that moment your heart stops and your knee grows weak and fall to the floor. You'll never be able to call their name again or chase that familiar song through the beautiful timber. In the passing days you catch yourself looking out the window hoping for one last glimpse of the hound that built you. Being a houndsman is so much more than running and training hounds. It's about being there for them until the last heartbeat and losing one yourself. It's not an easy life, but it's so worth it.
Sincerely, Lauren Elizabeth. Wow, guys. That just needs a whole podcast right there. Yeah it needs to be. It needs to be. Guys welcome. I don't even know where to start. Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of Simperdog and podcast. Right there who you just heard from that was miss Lauren Elizabeth Brown down in North Carolina. Lauren thank you for joining us today and thank you for starting us off with that beautiful short story. Yeah thank you for having me.
Absolutely guys I don't even know where to start on this one. We originally brought Lauren on here because I have followed her for a couple years on Facebook and those stories that you just heard are the stories that I have read and that's what captivated me. What drew me to Lauren is the way that she puts her feelings about her hounds into words and for the public to see and to read and to be a part of is unlike anything else that I've written from anybody else.
It really embodies what it is to be a houndsman. So Lauren great job. And I think when we all think back to how we started, whether it be from a father or grandfather or whether you picked it up yourself and pass it on to your kids, I think it's more what she wrote about was more than just about a dog. It's about just a camaraderie.
It's about the feeling that you get and then what me and you talked about before in our other podcasts and that is just being closer to dogs than we are people because no matter how bad of a person you are or what you've done wrong or what you've done right, they're always there to show you unconditional love and I think you captured that. You hit that nail on the head with that story. Thank you. All right. Well, let's lighten the mood a little bit. We're going to get into this.
We're going to get into this hot and heavy guys. Like I said, we've got Lauren Brown sitting down with us recording tonight and we just really appreciate her taking the time to do this. So Lauren, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself, where you're from and maybe tell us how you got started into hounds. Yeah. So I'm from North Carolina. I got into hounds when I was, I think I had just turned 15 years old. I come from a family of deer hunters.
I mean, nobody knew what running dogs was. It wasn't a thing. It was never anything that actually ever crossed my mind. And for a while when I was younger, when my brother used to squirrel hunt, I used to hate it. I was like, that's so mean, that's so cruel. And then once I was in eighth grade in middle school is when an old friend of mine had reached out to me and he said, you know, you want to go coon hunt? And I was like, what the heck is that? And he's like, come on, like you'll love it.
My mom dropped me off at his house. He had a bunch of property and the first dog I ever coon hunted behind was Rosie's dad and his name was Finks Texas Pete. He was an amazing, amazing dog to hunt behind. I mean, when this dog opened, it was like it shook the whole timber around you. Like you couldn't miss it. He would drown out other dogs. I mean, it was the first strike of that dog that completely hooked me onto this whole life.
And truly it's like Rosie made me who I am, but he following that dog is how I found who I am. So it was incredible. And I'm really thankful for that night. I'm thankful for the friendship I had that got me into it because it started everything of who I am today and who I want my kids to grow up to be and what I want them to follow in life. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, that's very evident to see is, you know, if anybody follows you on social media, it's easy to see your love for the hounds.
It's been easy over the years to see your love for Rosie. It's been easy to see here recently, your love for faith and the way that you want to have your kids involved in those dogs and in those hounds and to experience what you've experienced. And we're going to dive into all that here later in this podcast. But it's just so it's so evident. You can just hear the sincerity in your voice. And and I just absolutely love it. Bastrum, do you remember?
Do you remember the first time you went hunting? I must have been four or five years old. Yeah. Yeah. With your dad? Long time ago. I come from a family of coon hunters, so I mean, my great uncle took my dad and I remember when I was a teenager sneaking out of the window. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I I kind of have I mean, I wasn't I started a little bit further in life than Lauren was whenever she went. I didn't go till I was in college.
You know, I kind of grew up running deer dogs down in North Carolina with my granddaddy down there. And that's what I look forward to every December was going on there and running those deer hounds with him. But as far as listening to a coon hound shake the timber, that didn't happen till I was 20 years old in college. So you know, I can vividly remember that night and what it sounded like and walk into that first tree and seeing that coon in the tree and seeing the excitement and the dog.
And I can remember seeing the look on Quentin's face whenever he looked at me and he was like, yeah, dude, this is it. Well, welcome. Welcome to coon hunting. And it wasn't with a hound is actually with a cur. But you know, I remember every bit of that. So I can relate, you know, to your first time out there. So why don't you tell us a little bit about Rosie? Let's make this. Let's make this a podcast of of who made Lauren Brown. And I believe it's Rosie. If it's correct me if I'm wrong.
It was Rosie. So I got Rosie when right when I turned 16. Neither of us knew a thing about the sport. You know, I had gone a handful of times with her dad and then her mom. But I didn't I didn't know anything. I didn't I didn't know what it was to be a houndsman. And so Rosie and I kind of made each other. You know, it was a lot of trial and error. Rosie did not treat her first coon until she was a year and a half old. That was her first solo coon.
And I remember that, you know, that season, it was literally we probably went out three, three, four times every week. I mean, I was always going to my buddy DJ's house, you know, to his property. And it was, you know, so much of, you know, slick tree, slick tree. But she would always she was very tree minded. It was just we always came up short. It was either she wasn't checking herself. She was going too fast. She was too excited.
But in that moment, I was I didn't know, you know, I didn't know what it was. So I just kept turning her loose. But I had a lot of guys that was like, you don't know what you're doing. That dog doesn't know what it's doing. Like you might as well quit. Let me let me stop real quick. Let me stop real quick. Let's what breed of dog was Rosie? She was an English coon hound. An English coon hound. OK, I just want to paint a picture for the for the listeners.
So yeah, she was she was a little petite, mostly white English coon hound. And literally our first night hunt ever, an older gentleman said, what's that bird dog doing here? I mean, and all this stuff just fueled me to keep going. So I'm like, these people are counting us out, but I know my dog can do it. I always knew Rosie could do it. We just had to keep trying. And it was the last night of season. It was literally 30 minutes before season went out. And she had just like treated us like DJ.
I cannot go like I need to do one more turn out. He's like, what is the point? I said, please, just one more. And he was like, OK. So I dropped her under this one fence, passed a cow pasture because Rosie used to run cattle. I'm not going to lie. The dog loved cows and it ticked me off to high heaven. So I walked her past the cattle. I pushed her under this fence and she took off. And it was like nothing I had heard before. It was this huge locate.
And then she just stuck in just one one bark after the other. And I was like, this is it. I just know it. So we run through. At this point, Rosie never didn't have a tracking collar. I didn't have a light. I had a flashlight from under my kitchen sink that my dad let me borrow. I mean, we were literally just it was it was a situation for a coon hunter, but it was what I had at the time. So that's all we went with. But when I got to this tree, I shined my flashlight.
I saw nothing and I was like, that's it. That's the season. And my buddy DJ comes up behind me and shines his actual headlight. He's like, Lauren, be quiet and look up in that tree. And there were two coons, one on two different branches. And I lost it. I mean, it was literally the best day of my life was when Rosie treat these coons so well. And I was like, I want to shoot them both. I was like, I want to shoot them both. And he was like, OK, like you go for it. And so we shot them both down.
It was my biggest Eastern coon I've ever killed was Rosie's first one I shot over her. It was like 22 pounds. It's actually hanging on my wall downstairs. I got it for North Carolina. That's huge. It's giant for North Carolina. It's huge. I'll definitely have to show you all a picture or send you a picture of it sometime. But it's on my wall. And that night I posted these pictures and the guy that had been talking so much crud about my dog and I, his dog didn't tree a single thing last night.
And he was very ill seeing that my dog finally did it there because he you know, those boys always ran with multiple dogs. So for all you know, like you don't know who's treating it truly. Right. But I always ran Rosie solo because I didn't want her to rely on other dogs. But I was like until your treeing so I'm not running you with a bunch of other dogs. So she finally did it. My dad was the first one I called.
It was literally one 30 in the morning by the time we got back to the truck and I was like she did it. I can't believe it. Like I'm finally a coon hunter. My dog's a coon dog. It was the best. And then I actually called my neighbor out of his sound sleep. I was really good friends with his daughters and I said, can I use your freezer? And he said, excuse me. I said, I got a coon I need to put in your freezer. And he said, don't tell my wife.
So that could have stood in their freezer for almost two months without my neighbor knowing like his wife knowing. And then when I finally took it out, she was like, I cannot believe you had a raccoon in my freezer. But this it will always be one of my fondest memories is that first night. Yeah, you know, and something that you said right there that kind of stuck with me and I don't know you really well at all. I mean, honestly, this is what the second time we've talked in person.
But you know, I said, I followed you along on your social media for several years. And you said that you always took Rosie by herself because you didn't want her dependent on anybody else. And from what I can tell, that almost seems a little bit like who you are. It is. I mean, it seems like you when you put your mind to something, that's what you're going to do. And that's it's true.
You know, when I was in college, I did a lot of coon hunting, you know, a lot of I went to NC State, you know, it's a deal on school, people will party, people do all these different things. But I did night hunts, I couldn't hunt it. That was my thing I did in school. And I at the time, just had a big tattoo of my dog Rosie treat on my arm. And my feeds and nutrition, my livestock feeds and nutrition professor used to call me coon dog. That's what a lot of people called me.
That's how they knew me was my big coon dog tattoo. Yeah. And it's it's who I was. And it's who I am. And you know, sometimes I kind of forget that since Rosie's been gone. And I'm thankful that I have faith to remind me most of the time. But it's just this sport has shaped me in every way, shape and form. Really. Yeah, absolutely. So let's go back to Rosie. Like when after she treated that first coon, you guys had a lot of fun numbers. You guys took a lot of trips together.
Walkers through walkers through the life of Lauren and Rosie. So Rosie and I gosh, we did everything. I mean, every time I went to a different state, Rosie was there. You know, I didn't get my license till I was 18. I was scared to drive. I lost a lot of friends in high school to car accidents. I was terrified to drive. I got my license when I was a freshman in college and my mom was like, she's not going to go anywhere. And I literally went cross country. And I loved it.
We drove out to Wyoming. We lived out in Wyoming together. We lived in Virginia. We went to Wisconsin. I mean, I took that dog everywhere. If I went to the doctor, she was in the front seat. I went to the grocery store. She was in the front seat. I mean, there wasn't Lauren without Rosie and there wasn't Rosie without Lauren. And that one of my favorite trips is when we actually were in Wyoming together. I had already lived out there for a summer.
It was one of like a summer job right out of college. You know, I had just looked up a random dude ranch and I was like, that's where I'm going to go after I graduate. And I did. But I was very homesick. So I left early. I didn't like that I couldn't have Rosie because I didn't have a vehicle out there. So I came back early and then they wanted me to come back out for the second summer. They're like, bring your dog. I don't care. Come back out. Work for us.
And I said, OK. So Rosie and I took the truck out there. My mom went with us. So I wasn't driving by myself cross country the first time. And we lived on a dude ranch for several months. It was the best. Rosie would go on all my rides with me until she got trampled by a horse. And then we got the rule of no horses. I mean, no dogs on horse rides because of my dog.
And then Rosie would just kind of roam the ranch while I was working until Rosie started getting in trash cans because she was so Rosie had to be up in the house for a while. But you know, all the Wranglers like to do bonfires at night. So every bonfire at night, she would come up there with us. I remember one time I went to go have a fire by myself because no one else wanted to. And I let Rosie just kind of walk up there with me and Rosie took off after a mule deer. Yes, literally.
I mean, the dog was so broke yet she took off after a mule deer. I was just getting ready to ask that. I was getting ready to, you know, ask you going out to Wyoming where there's different types of animals, different terrain. I was wondering how a dog with a nose and who knows how to use their nose reacted to that. She literally would taste anything from a tiny mole and within the brush to a mule deer. It was so embarrassing.
But I couldn't be mad at her because you can't legally run dogs where I was living in Wyoming. You know, there was no raccoons where I was. There's nothing like that. So the dog was so stir crazy. I only got one day off a week. That was it. And then for that, you know, most of the time I was exhausted. I didn't want to do a bunch, but sometimes Rosie and I would go venture off, go do something. But the dog just wanted to run. She wanted to hunt.
She was like, I don't understand why we're not doing this. It wasn't us. So you ever get on any mountain lions? No. So there were there were none where I was. We had a lot of wolves and grizzlies. OK, so explain to me because and I'm sure some of the listeners are asking the same thing if I am. What is a dude ranch? A dude ranch is a working ranch where guests can come and stay, stay in cabins, chuck wagons, teepees, anything like that.
And you take them out for like guided rides or you know, some people do rafting trips like we did rafting trips, horse rides and fly fishing trips. And I was one of the wranglers that worked with the horses and helped, you know, green horses, breaking horses. I mean, the whole thing and would take people out through the Teton National Forest. Got you. So you're in the Teton. It's like so Wyoming and Montana are two states that are on my list because I really want to go see Glacier.
That is like my number one place I want to go see. Oh, yeah. My thing is go to Yellowstone. I mean, Yellowstone is the most amazing place in the world. The Teton Mountains are literally a gift from God. I have never loved any type of mountain more than I love those. They're just unreal to look at. And you know, I've got that on my list as well.
I'd love to go out there and make a trip where you kind of just start and start at Glacier and work your way to Yellowstone and do all of that stuff because well, I've wanted to do that for years, but I've recently been listening to a podcast, the Bear Grylls podcast with Clay Newcomb, and he was talking about, you know, wilderness with the capital W and how Yellowstone was the first quote unquote wilderness bought by the U.S. to preserve what was left.
You know, that started the movement of saving what wilderness was left, because if they wouldn't have done that, America would have just went on and wiped everything out and took full advantage of the land that was there to further the technological advances. And I hope I'm getting that right. But that's what I got out of it. You know, Yellowstone was like the start of that. I think they purchased it for forty thousand dollars. The U.S. government. Like, what?
Yeah. Like back in the day, they purchased all that land for forty thousand dollars, I think is what it said on that podcast. My gosh, that's wild to think about, especially nowadays. Yeah. So what was it like living in a place where you weren't legally allowed to run hounds? Like is that because it's not statewide, is it? Is that broke up county? Like how does that work? So I'm honestly I don't think there's many places you can run dogs in Wyoming.
As far as I know, I'm sure there I think there are a few places, but I didn't look too much into it. You know, a lot of people would be like, I know you're miserable, but this is my thing. It didn't bother me only because coon hunting was so much more to me than the actual hunt. I just loved being with Rosie. I mean, the dog is what matters to me the most. So I wasn't as miserable as people would think I would be. You know, you know, I was a little bummed, but it wasn't even coon.
I honestly could care less. I just wanted my dog with me. And I think it's what we what we really stand for, Bryce. And that is, you know, from it sounds funny that I said it, but it's kind of become a meme of ours is from the chairs to the bears. I mean, it's not just about hunting and coon hunting. It's also, you know, about those dogs in the rocking chair. They curl up next to you. It's about your companion, your best friend. I mean, that's what that's what this whole thing is about.
Absolutely. And the people you do it with, you know, I know the listeners can't see what's behind me, but, you know, I got these pictures up here behind me and these are two of my favorite pictures. That's a picture of me and my boy Colton and then me and my boy Owen. And you know, those were pictures that were taken when I really didn't know anybody was looking or taking a picture and then they were, you know, hand drawn for me.
So I keep those right here in the office right to these podcasts because that really is what it is all about. It's, you know, the people that you're with, the hounds that you're with enjoying a sport that you love, whether that be coon hunting, bear hunting, squirrel dog agility, fly ball, whatever it is, you're doing it with your dogs. It's all about dogs and the passion that you share with them. The Semper Doggin podcast is proudly presented to you by Froggy Bottom Outdoors.
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The team at Froggy Bottom Outdoors is excited to get to know you and will be glad to answer any questions you may have. You and Rosie were out there in Montana for a while and you come on back. I know that you had hunted with several ladies around your area. Did you ever get to hunt Rosie with those ladies? Oh yeah. So one of the first girls I actually couldn't hunt with another woman was my friend Chelsea Capps. I met her in college when I was in college. She was in college.
She had briefly owned three of Rosie's litter mates. Unfortunately they did pass away before, I think before they turned one or like right as they were one. It was kind of a tragic thing but it's how I knew her. And so once I got to NC State she lived pretty close and I had asked her one night, you know, do you want to go coon hunt? She was like, oh my gosh, I would love to.
I want to meet Rosie because kind of like you, she had followed me for a while and I had followed her because of that mutual ground. And so that was like the first time I really got to hunt with another girl. And it was so fun. I mean we completely just hit it off then. We became best friends and that's mostly the person I couldn't hunt with a lot when I was in college was Chelsea. And then from there I had met a girl named Corabell.
She is literally one of the sweetest people I had ever met in the hound industry. I mean she's just very down to earth. She had followed me and Rosie for a while too. It's kind of Rosie introduced me to a lot of the really wonderful people in my life. So those are two. And then, you know, another one which is actually the girl I got faith from is Cody Hossman but now Cody Yandel. She is a girl from close to where I'm from that I can hunt with a lot. She actually gave me faith.
She had reached out to me asking if I wanted a puppy off of her dog. It was an accidental litter. Her dog, Rabbi, had accidentally bred a dog she had found on the side of the road. She's a full blue tick. And when she brought her home she didn't know how old she was. You know, no one claimed her. She put her out in the woods and the dog started trinkets. That's awesome. But they had a litter of puppies and I just fell in love with faith.
I actually wasn't supposed to get faith because I was still living with my parents at the time and they're like, no more dogs. But I got her anyway and I brought it home. And my parents were furious. But Cody is also another awesome girl to hunt with. Her and her husband are just amazing houndsmen themselves. I can learn a lot from them still. And her husband, Casey, he's awesome. They run English dogs. They've had black and tans plots. I mean, pretty much everything.
But those are the three girls that I've really hunted with. And I feel like I'm missing one. But then again, I don't. No, I think that's really it. Yeah. So what's it like, you know, being a woman in coon hunting? Like I know you said that you're in college. Everybody called you coon dog and stuff like that. Like have you ever gotten any flack for it? Do people like, are they just shocked whenever they find out you're a coon hunter?
Like you've got this huge tattoo and we're going to get into that too because I'm intrigued by that. But what is people's reaction? Very intrigued. I got a lot of, I got a lot of hate for it for a while from, you know, gentlemen that I met at coon clubs. You know, I was made out to be a joke. My dogs were made out to be a joke and that was fine to me. It didn't bother me.
But what closed their mouth was my dogs and what they did and how they, you know, how they hunted, you know, how they are in field trials. I mean, it's what made people respect me and my dogs was when I didn't clap back at them, I just let my dogs talk. You know, that's a big thing is, you know, people can ramble about their dogs all day long, but dogs are, they can mess up too. It's okay. And I feel like a lot of people let their dogs kind of carry their egos on their back.
But and, you know, I did that with Rosie some too. I won't lie. Rosie kind of built me up a little bit, but, you know, that was a big thing is, you know, a lot of people would just talk down and that was it angered me. I had to call my dad a few times, you know, try to talk me down, especially like before a night hunt. You know, like that first night hunt, I told you I was in and, you know, someone called Rosie a bird dog. I actually got casted out with him and my dog scored higher than his dog.
So I didn't win my cast, but I was second in my cast and he was last. And so at the end of this hunt, he shook my hand and he's like, you got a good dog. I said, thank you. And that's all there was. Yeah. That's all it took. You know, run your dog, not your mouth. It's one of my favorite things. I wish a lot of people would listen to that. Yeah. So let's slide in here to this tattoo you've got, cause I also have a half sleeve of a Coon portrait.
It's more like in the woods, more of a portrait setting, but yours tells a story. Walk us through that and tell us the story behind that. So my sleeve is kind of a timeline. You know, my first tattoo when I was 18 was a picture of Rosie Tweed. And it was actually, they're all from real photographs. You know, none of them are made up, you know, so no one can have the same thing because they're all truly Rosie and me. So the first one is Rosie Tweed on a tree behind the house where I grew up.
I have a raccoon on the inside of my arm and it's not a real raccoon at all, but the other one is a picture of her bait up, not on anything. She's on the edge of a mountain cliff. And it was actually when I found out Rosie was sick. It was when I first truly found out she was sick. And it was on a mountain cliff in Virginia where we used to live. Another one is her last birthday here on earth. And it was her walking across the beach and it's her silhouette.
And then the other one is Rosie and I in Wyoming. And it was our final goodbye. I drove Rosie out to Wyoming to say goodbye to our last place that we knew as home because Wyoming is where her and I were truly free. So I got that tattooed on me. And then my final thing is a yellow butterfly on a rose. So after Rosie passed away, I started seeing these big, beautiful yellow butterflies. I mean, the first time I got on a horse after she died, a big yellow butterfly swooped in front of me.
The first time I climbed a mountain again, when I got to the top, a big yellow butterfly right in front of me. I mean, it seemed like whenever I was truly missing her, truly needing her, a big yellow butterfly would show up. So I got that landed on a rose for her. So it's all of the stages of her life, from hunting to her journey being sick to our final goodbye, her final birthday. And then I have the Tetons on my arm because that was where our souls were free.
And then wild flowers because Rosie and I, whenever we would travel, I would see wild flowers on the side of the road. We'd pull over and she would take pictures with them. So that was kind of our thing together. That's awesome. That's awesome. So walk us through your emotions and what happened and played out in your head whenever you found out that Rosie was sick.
And I know it's a hard subject, but I really think it's going to pull this whole thing together because that was a big part of her journey. Was you knowing your dog and not giving up on her even when everybody else was not giving you the answers that you thought were correct? So I will admit. So when Rosie first showed signs of something being off, I just thought it was her being stubborn. I mean, I would get mad at this dog. I would hammer on this dog.
When she would walk 10 foot in the woods and sit down, I lost my mind. I was like, I don't understand what you're doing. This is not what you were trained to do. This is not what you do. And I got mad for honestly several months of trying and she'd pull up slick. And I was like, I don't understand what's going on. You're a finished dog. Like you are a good dog. What are you doing? And then I started seeing these blisters pop up on her body.
After she would run and I was like, what the heck is this? And I was like, well, maybe it's just like an allergic reaction. So I started giving her Benadryl. These things didn't go away. You know, I would soak her and you know, that seemed to kind of help. And you know, it's like when one would heal, another one would pop up. And so I was like, something's got to give. So we brought her into the doctor. Like, oh, it's probably just a little skin infection.
You know, here's some medicated shampoo, wash her in this, you know, twice a day for a week. And then it should be good. I was like, OK, it was a fungal medication. So I did that. Her skin kind of seemed to clear up. So I was like, OK, like we're done. And then I would run her again and these things would pop back up. And I was like, this doesn't seem right. So I thought she was having allergic reaction to briars because the dog would pull out through anything. It was like a deer in the woods.
Nothing stopped her. She was so quick. So I was like, let me just not hunt her for a little while and let her skin kind of clear up and take some time. So that's what I did. And you know, she seemed OK. But you know, she wasn't all there, I guess. After that, I started noticing hair loss on the back of her neck. This had been over a year now of, you know, kind of struggling with skin issues and, you know, people telling me, oh, it's just, you know, a little skin infection. She's fine.
So when I started seeing hair loss on her neck, I panicked. I was like, what is this? So I took her back to the doctor and I'm like, something's really wrong. And he's like, well, let's put her on flea medication because you don't have her on any. And I was like, this is not flea. She's a white dog. You know, this is before I was a vet tech, you know, before I knew a lot more than I know now.
And he just kept saying, well, you know, we got to go down a checklist, you know, so I can't just jump to conclusion. I said, well, you know, a lot of her symptoms kind of sound like Cushing's and he's like, she's only five years old. He's like, she doesn't fit the bill. I was like, OK, you know. And so he was like, I'm going to send you to a specialist. And I was like, OK. So he sent me to a specialist who was like, well, I can't really do much for you.
You know, I can run blood work, but they've already ran it and a lot of it looks normal. I was like, OK. So she sent me to an endocrinologist. And as soon as he walked in, he said, I don't need to test her. This is Cushing's. And I was like, I know that. But it took me going through all of you to tell me this. So my vet would take me seriously. So when I had called my vet and said the man just walked in and told me it was Cushing's, he didn't even need to test her.
I was like, so I need you to test her. And he's like, I'll do it for free. Like, I'm really sorry. Like, I just didn't think this could be that, you know, at that point, she had started to kind of get a potbelly, her fur was really brittle. It was like when you kind of ran your hand across her, some of it would just fall out. I mean, it wasn't her shiny, beautiful coat like it used to be. It was I was literally seeing my whole world with her way in front of me.
You know, to me, Rosie was everything. Rosie was my life. She was the air I breathe. I mean, everything. She was what made my heart beat. You know, I relied on this dog for everything. I went through, you know, a lot of stuff, you know, in high school and then in college. So she was just kind of like my lifeline. So I was panicked. I was panicked that, you know, what am I going to do without Rosie? So he was like, let's start her on some medication, you know, pushing disease.
Unfortunately, you know, it's kind of a trial and error with medication. You got to keep adjusting it. Yeah, so can you explain to listeners real quick just what Cushing's is? Yeah. So Cushing's is an autoimmune disease and there's two different types. There's a tumor. It can either be on their pituitary gland or I believe there's one on their thyroid, from what I remember. Don't quote me on that. It's been a while since I've really kind of been through it and on it.
But a lot of dogs, you don't find it till they're much older, like 10 plus years older. So it's very uncommon in young dogs. You know, symptoms can be hair loss, pot belly, excessive eating, excessive drinking, excessive urination because basically attacking that pituitary gland, they think they're always hungry. They think they're always thirsty. So they're overeating, over drinking. You know, the pot belly is, you know, a lot of inflammation in the body.
And then the hair loss is from calcium buildup under their skin, which pushes all their hair out. So it was several months of different medications, different levels of medications. And I just looked at her and I was like, okay, we're done. This isn't working. I know what's what should have been helping her just seem to be doing nothing to help her. I mean, she just kept getting worse by the day. And I was like, I'm not going to do this to you anymore. So I took her off the medication.
I was giving her CBD to keep her comfortable just because she her skin had gotten so thin that when she would sleep in the middle of night, her skin would break, literally just break wide open and she'd bleed. So you know, a lot of people and especially being a vet tech for a few years, you know, a lot of people have a hard time with saying goodbye. A lot of people drag their dog or their cats or horses or whatever, drag their lives out because they don't know how to let go.
And I can't fault people for that because, you know, everyone grieves different. But to me, Rosie had given me every ounce of her. So who was I to let her suffer to help me like to, to like still be there for me? It just it wasn't an option to me anymore. So I told my mom I was going to bring Rosie out to Wyoming and I was going to make the appointment to have her euthanized.
And just saying that word, it's just it sends chills down me because I mean, thinking about that, you know, everyone when they get a dog, they're like, you know, they're going to grow old, they're going to pass away in their sleep, you know, they're not going to know anything. It's going to be peaceful and though it'll hurt, I mean, they'll live a very long life.
That's that's what the dream is to anyone who owns a dog, to any houndsman is their dog will, you know, go for one last hunt and then go to sleep and that'll be it. Like that's the dream. That truly is. But to me, I was looking at my dog who had just turned six years old and I had run out of time. So you know, where my family was looking at this beautiful dog that they had all fallen in love with. I was looking at a, you know, one of those, what are they called?
Those like timers with the sand in them. Oh yeah. Gosh darn it. I know what you're talking about. You flip it over the sand comes through hourglass. Yeah. An hourglass. I was looking at an empty hourglass. That's what I saw. So I made the appointment. We took the drive. We went out to, you know, our favorite place in Wyoming. Rosie used to love to swim. I mean, the dog was a fish. It was the funniest thing to me. And Rosie wouldn't get in the water.
And that's how I knew I was doing the right thing. That was my sign from her that I'm doing the right thing. So the drive home, you know, a 30 hour drive, you know, everyone's like, oh my gosh, that's a long drive. But to me it flew. It flew by. And I wish it was so much longer because I knew when we got home, I would only have another week or so left. So after that, I was actually euthanizing her at a place I was supposed to start work at. We walked in. I got guided to that room.
My mom and brother and dad were there. Actually no, my dad didn't get to be there. Unfortunately, it was just my mom, brother and the one I was with, the man I was dating at the time. And the thing with Cushing's is you're told you're going to have to let go on a good day. Dogs with Cushing's will have good days and they'll have bad days, kind of like a cancer patient. You know, you're going to have good days and you're going to have bad days. So I had to say goodbye to Rosie on a good day.
You know, she perked up when she saw she was at the vet. But to me, I'm like, you know, she's doing that because she's on alert. You know, she knows something's going on, which crushed me even harder. You know, Rosie was so smart and intuitive that I was like, she knows she's going to hate me. You know, I don't know what to do. And you know, I unclip her her lead for the last time in that hospital. And the last time was when that syringe was emptied.
So it's like for the last six years, I was uncliping leads in the woods. But the last unclip was letting her go to heaven. It was like our final goodbye, our final release of each other. And when she stopped breathing, so did I. You know, my my heart stopped for a minute and my whole world had ended. And I had to learn how to be Lauren without Rosie. And it took a very long time. And some days I still don't know how to be Lauren without Rosie.
I have to remind myself on the anniversary of her death that I can get out of bed, that I can, you know, I can breathe in and out. It's OK. So Rosie will always be, you know, my heart in the sky. You know, when I coon hunt, I still listen for her. I still listen for that dog that can literally drown out the world around me. So, yeah, I think that's what we're all looking for. We're all looking for that that one piece that just makes sense.
And I kind of resonate quite a bit more than what you would think. I'm actually wasn't a hunting dog for everybody that knows me. All I all I've ever been is a coon hunter. Mine was I had this lab overseas that we turned into a bomb dog and her name was Bonnie. And we me and her found or confirmed one hundred and nineteen IEDs in our deployments.
So just how many how many lives she saved, you know, and then just every time I'd come back, you know, if I had a rough, you know, a rough patrol or whatever, one thing was constant. She knew when something was up and she'd always sleep at the end of my bed. But when something was up and she knew something was wrong, she'd be right there to be my pillow. And so just hearing you tell that story really hits home with me. Yeah, I, you know, I agree.
And I'm kind of in a different situation than both of you guys, because, you know, I'm actually sitting here looking at my dog right now that I feel that way with, you know, I got I got Nova laying right here. She lays right next to me every time we do a podcast. And, you know, I was there the day that she was bred. You know, I've literally been with this dog before she even knew she was a dog. And it has been a wild six years.
This dog has been with me through a bunch of crap and through a bunch of really good times. And, you know, Nikki, my fiance, she she jokes with me now. She's like, hey, you've kind of lost your dog. She's like, that's Colton's dog now, you know, because she likes to have her own kid. She used to have you and now she's got her own kid. And you know, anywhere Colton goes, that's where she that's where she goes 90% of the time.
So, you know, she's six now and she's starting to show a little gray in the face. She still gets gets around pretty good. But I know one day that, you know, that's going to come and, you know, just hearing that you lost your dog at six years old, it makes me very grateful for the time that I've had with this one. You know, obviously, I'm a coon hunter and I like every dog that I have to have a job. I really enjoy a working dog.
And this is probably gonna be the last dog that I have that doesn't have a job. But I feel like, you know, I she's been with me through everything and I owe it to her just to see it out for her to have a have a good rest of her life because she doesn't have a job. You know, she's my buddy, but she's been there with me through it all. So I understand it's the my thing. My thing on that is I think there was two dogs that kind of rented for me and having a dog that doesn't work.
And that was well, I say that because Bonnie worked definitely. But that attachment, Bryce knows that if I train a dog, it's only in my kennel for so long and it's gone. And I think that's because I refuse to get attached anymore because it because of the pain of losing. You know, I had this other one whenever I was in the Marine Corps and I was stationed at Camp Lejeune, I had this pit bull. Beautiful. His name was Tank. He was a white red nose, white face pit bull.
And I mean, just he hung on the balance of my breathing. I mean, if I wasn't home, he wouldn't eat. He would sit at the door and wine until I came home. So it's just because of that attachment and then ended up losing them. It's just it's it's a feeling like you can never describe.
And so I think the worst feeling for me was is with Bonnie is when we came off that tarmac, you know, when we came off that that airplane and because she was owned by the Marine Corps and I had to turn her back in because she was a piece of gear, that was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Semperdorgan and Hometown Hero Outdoors are proud to partner together to bring you the Hometown Hero Outdoors Hero of the Week. This week's hero is Kane Brown.
Kane is the MK3 in the United States Coast Guard approaching his fourth year. Kane is currently working on the steelhead off the coast of Fort Macon in North Carolina. The 86 is a patrol boat helping keep safe our coastal lines of illegal exports, reckless boaters as well as assisting in rescues and recoveries. Brown's job aboard the steelhead is machinery technician, making sure the engines and machinery are always running smoothly for every trip, no matter the distance.
Though not his first boat, Kane started on the Ski-O-Do outside of Keokuk, Iowa, which was a river tender along the Mississippi. His late uncle Vince was his biggest inspiration into entering the Coast Guard. He was a strong Marine, father and husband. Kane, from Semperdorgan and Hometown Hero Outdoors, we would like to say thank you for serving and protecting your community.
Listeners, remember, if you have a hero of your own that you would like to recognize, please send their name in a brief description to semperdorgan at gmail.com and we will be glad to recognize them. If you would like more information on Hometown Hero Outdoors, be sure to visit them at hometownherooutdoors.org or follow them on Facebook. So were you not able to try to get her back or have her retire with you? No, Bonnie went on.
Bonnie got moved over to another handler and did two or three more deployments and then we won't go into all the details because this is more your podcast, but Bonnie ended up actually perishing in Afghanistan. I try to remember the fond memories and the things that made her, my heart, my soul, my calm during deployments. Yeah. Well, all right. Well this is getting a little sad. It's pulling on my heartstrings. It's really touching the one feeling I've got left.
You know, Lauren, during all this time, but during all this time with Rosie, you know, you had, you had other dogs as well. And one of those dogs you've still got right now and that's Faith. So walk, walkers. Oh, look at her. See, she's laying right next to you. Like, she's like, no, walk us through your journey with faith because it didn't start after Rosie passed. You know, you, you've had Rosie or had faith, you know, while you had Rosie.
So walk us through that and just give us a little bit of where she's at now, what she's doing for you and where you see her going here in the next few years. Yeah. So I got faith, I believe it was two years before Rosie passed away. Yeah, two years before Rosie passed away. But I had a dog named Maggie to my plot hound. So I was out of college once I got faith. And I didn't it's like it was more of me just like wanting another dog, you know, wanting to train another coon dog.
You know, I knew I wanted Rosie to train another dog for me. That was kind of my thing. I didn't have any like, you know, big plans for faith. You know, it's just kind of I just rolled with it. But then once Rosie got sick, you know, I kind of pushed my other two dogs off to the side. You know, my focus was on Rosie. Because that was it. And my other two dogs honestly didn't care. Like it didn't seem to face them. When faith was a puppy. That's when Rosie and I went out to Wyoming together.
I believe faith was four months when I like gave her to Cody to watch while I was in Wyoming, which was the girl who gave her to me. And then when I got back several months later, because I got to a bad horse accident and I had to my dad had actually come get me and bring me home with my truck. When I walked in to go get faith, it was like faith's whole world lit back up. I mean, I couldn't believe that this dog missed me the way she did when I didn't really feel bonded to this dog at all.
And that was the first sign of like, I think this is going to be a really big thing, her and I. And then as you know, Rosie got sick and then once Rosie passed away, faith did not leave my side. Not once. I mean, it was just she turned into a piece of Velcro. And you know, I didn't like really notice it or really pay attention to it for a while. It's just my mind is still fixated on Rosie and losing Rosie. And at one point, I wanted to get rid of my dogs. I want to get rid of faith.
I wanted to get rid of Maggie. I didn't want another dog. I said, I am done. I'm done coon hunting. This is not a life I want anymore. I don't want it if I can't have Rosie. Like this is it. And my mom was actually the one that was like, this is who you are, though. You can't give up on who you are because you're sad right now. And I'm so thankful. I mean, my mom has saved me in that way a million times over. But my mom's the one that kind of helped pick me up and say, this is who you are.
These dogs are who you are. And so a month and a half after that, Faith and I hit the woods for the first time since I lost Rosie. And it didn't it didn't feel right to me. But I kept walking. I kept chasing faith. And I know I'm saying your name. And so that's literally you were chasing faith. And I was. And so and it's funny that her name is Faith, you know, for the reason being a lot of her all of her family, pretty much. They're all named from pieces of the church.
And so when I gave Faith her name at the time, I didn't realize how much she would live up to her name. I mean, this dog pulled me out of the ashes completely. She brought me back to a world I had once known as the light of my life. And she just has guided me ever since, you know, and then when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I ended up having to move back home. You know, I was a single mom and Faith was the first to greet me at that door. I mean, she was so excited.
You know, we hadn't been apart longer than a day, you know, ever since that one time when she was a puppy in Wyoming. So when I was gone for almost three days, I mean, the dog bout had a heart attack. So we walked in, that baby became Faith's. We were her responsibility. She didn't let any of the other dogs come in the room. She went after every dog in the house. We had six dogs in the house at that point, and she would go after everyone. I mean, we were her responsibility.
She didn't want anything to happen to us. And the same goes for my son. You know, when I got back, you know, I had surgery with both my kids to have them and Faith felt bad. You know, she felt every bit of my hurt and took it onto hers. You know, she guided, guarded my bed. She guarded my kids, their cribs. I mean, and still she does not leave me alone. She's just, she's completely taken on the role that Rosie once carried. You know, she's not Rosie, but she's Faith.
And she's the Faith I need every day. She's my constant reminder of, you know, it's okay to have a bad day, but you just, you got to have Faith. You got to have Faith that's going to be okay. You got to have Faith that tomorrow's going to be better. You know, you know, when you have a bad hunt, you just got to have Faith that the next time you turn loose, it's going to be a great one.
So Faith is just everything I needed in my next dog, a dog that I didn't want after Rosie, but I'm so glad, you know, I kept. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and one thing that really stuck out to me in the last, I don't know, few months or so was the pictures that you've posted, like the newborn pictures, and they all included Faith in your baby, you know, curled up together. Yep. Faith will let you literally do, my kids do anything to her.
And you know, I put my newborn son on her, literally only seven days old, and we had him wrapped up and put on Faith on the couch and she stood very still because she was like, if I move, I'm going to be in trouble. This baby's going to be hurt. I mean, she's so smart. She's so good and she loves my kids, loves my kids. Yeah. How old is Faith now? Faith will be six this year. She'll be six. And are you still actively hunting her? I am.
Unfortunately. So where I'm at, I am in the Cotone National Forest on the east. I'm in where a lot of the big bear are, all that stuff. But where I'm at, I mean, literally I'm in the middle of this forest. But because there's so many freaking walking trails, you're not allowed to hunt within 200 yards of a trail. That's the law. So if my dog were to come tree close to a trail, whatever, I can't do anything about it. I'm not technically supposed to have a gun near it, nothing.
And that's what a forest ranger had told me. And I'm going to tell you what, my face I was giving him was probably not the nicest. But when I told him, I'm like, OK, but I'm hunting at night. And he's like, yeah, but there could be people nearby. I said, in the middle of the night? I was like, what are they doing there? I said, I'm just there to hunt. I said, if they're there, that's probably not for a good reason. And he's like, well, you just can't do it. And I was like, OK.
And also, where I'm at, there's a lot of private land and a lot of big hunting leases. I mean, where I am living is in the middle of like deer doggers universe. Literally every like, literally every few cars, there's a dog box. There's a high rise dog box. There's a deer doggers. During deer season, my road was loaded with them. Yeah. Loaded with them. I love to see that. I said I grew up doing I love to hear that it is still strong in North Carolina. It's huge.
I could I can't believe how big it is here. But it makes me like so happy to see all these dog boxes, because I don't know if you all do it. But like when I go out of state and I see a dog box, I'm like, oh, those are my people. I'm like dog box. Those are my people. And then I wonder if they see that I have a dog box. I wonder if they're like, oh, look at that one. It's like you pull up next to him on the highway and you kind of just like look at each other.
You're like, it's almost like the Jeep wave. You know, it's like, hey, it is the best thing. You're like, OK, there's a little piece of home. There's a dog box. Yeah. So yeah. Now, just just a little thing on that. So obviously, I was in the Marine Corps, so I was out in eastern North Carolina.
And a good thing about a lot of those hunting leases, if you'll go to their actual monthly meetings that they have or find out who host it, a lot of times those guys will grant open arms for you to go in there and kill some of the Coons because they have bait piles and them Coons tear it up. I got quite a few buddies that live in eastern North Carolina, and they've they've got major hunting lease opportunities because of that. Oh, my gosh. See, I didn't know that.
I just thought, you know, if I if I go and ask these people, they're going to be like, well, here's our, you know, yearly fee. And the yearly fees for these hunting clubs are just. I'm like, there's no way. You know, you just go to them and basically just tell them, hey, I'm only here to come hunt. I don't want to deer hunt. Yeah, I'll abide by your hunting laws or whatever. I just want to during your off season, I just want to be able to come in here and run dogs.
And I've got plenty of friends in North Carolina, North Carolina that's got keys to all the gates and I mean, they have massive amounts of hunting because they go to these deer leases and they get permission to come hunt. I should start leaving those on gates. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, welcome to Semper Doggin where we give free advice and talk about our dogs. No, we don't give our hunting locations. Correct. Now, Lauren, this has been absolutely great.
This has been this has been fantastic. You know, I really I really wanted to bring you on here just just to touch that part of the houndsman that I am not as good as at articulating as what you have been over the years. Just, you know, reading your stuff on Facebook and and hearing the emotion that you've got, it is so clear how much these dogs mean to you. And that really embodies everything that we are at Semper Doggin. Do you have anything that you would like to leave us with?
You got any you have a short story about faith? I do. I have one more little story to give you. All right, guys, we're going to let Lauren give the story about faith and we're going to we're going to wrap it up because I don't think Basham and I are going to be able to top this. I haven't heard it. But after the first story, I don't think we're going to be able to top it. So Lauren, take us out of here, guys. I definitely don't think you'll top my first story.
But if you ever want to hear more stories, I'm actually writing a book full of them. So perfect. We're going to feature that on the Semper Doggin podcast. We will definitely have a separate podcast just to advertise that book. Oh, that'd be great. OK, so my last one is growing up, you learn millions of things from speaking to reading and writing. Then there are other things like how to swing on a swing set or how to climb a ladder to get to the top of a slide.
One thing you probably don't think of is when you learned what a shadow was for a while. You probably didn't even notice the silent black figure that followed every time light touched the earth below you. Once you knew it wouldn't hurt you, it seemed to be forgotten about. Then you grew up and your shadow no longer was quiet. It had four beats, one after the other. It followed even when there was no light. It came inside and was there to catch your tears.
Your now once lifeless shadow was now made of flesh and blood. A heart beat all its own and unfortunately a life clock ticking just like yours. Only theirs is much shorter. So one day you will have to say goodbye to your beloved shadow. For now mine goes by Faith, though not my first. She is one as beautiful as you could ever imagine. She's quiet in hard times and guiding when the moon is up and the stars are out. The thing about a hound is they were bred for the definition of hunting.
But what most read over is how the hunt may run through their veins, but it's the desire to please their person that fuels so many. It's the bond between man and dog that makes the hunt so amazing. Faith has many traits that make her irreplaceable. She has love so deep that it covers even my children. The moment each of them were carried through the front door for the first time, she was theirs.
When I had a hard day and felt so alone, she was my first reminder that such a word didn't exist as long as I had her. And on my best days, she was and always will be my biggest fan. Both in and out of the woods, this shadow is a guiding light and one I wish selfishly I could keep forever. For now, I'll take every minute I have and thank God for another amazing shadow. That is awesome. Guys, I hope I hope that you guys have enjoyed this as much as I have.
This has been the most heartfelt episode that we have recorded here at Semper Doggen. And it's really been one that's touched me and I know it's touched Basham and I hope it's touched you guys too, because this embodies everything that we're about here at Semper Doggen. You know, we're always dog and so, Lauren, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down, share a piece of your story with us and to share a little bit of faith and a little bit of Rosie with the rest of the world. So thank you so much. Yeah, thank you for having me. I've really enjoyed it. Yeah, absolutely. So guys, whenever that book comes out, we're going to do another podcast on that book, you can hold us to it. You're going to hear it first here on Semper Doggen.
You know, we say it every episode, but we really appreciate each and every one of you listeners who take the time out of your days to listen to our podcast because this is our way of expressing stuff. I'm not very good at putting words on the paper, but I can sit in front of a mic and I can talk to people all day long. So you know, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to listen to us. Thank you for following us on this journey. That's been Semper Doggen so far.
It's going to go great places and bash man. I we've got a lot of things in the works. We've got more guests lined up just like Lauren, who really embodies Semper Doggen and their own way. You know, maybe it's not just like Lauren, maybe it's not just like Basham or I, but it's in their own way. And we're here to bring those people to you guys and connect everybody together. So I'm going to leave it with that. You guys good? I'm good. Good. Thank you very much for sharing.
It was definitely a delight. Thank you. All right, guys. Well, we're out of here. We'll catch you on the next episode. So until then, guys, keep dogging. We all know that canines can take us to some wild places, and some of those are only accessible by an off-road vehicle. No matter how hard you try to maintain your ride, something is bound to break on one of your adventures.
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