[tia] coming up on pit bulls & parolees.
An animal shelter in east texas called us.
They have two dogs
that they picked up along the side
of some desolate road.
They scanned one of the dogs.
The chip came back to us.
A lot of unanswered questions.
Hi, girls.
And we may not ever get the answers.
[woman] look at how cute they are?
It was love at first sight.
Hello.
They're both just simply adorable.
Look at you.
[mariah t.] that min pin wasn't this small
-when you got him, was he? -No.
[woman] we wanted to make sure that remington
have a brother to play.
[mariah t.] is this too much for you right now?
Ooh.
You're getting--uh-oh.
He's really overwhelmed right now.
-[woman] yeah. -[mariah t.] I've never seen him like this.
This is something that I have to call my mom about
'cause I have no idea what to do.
We just keep barely getting missed with hurricanes.
And at some point, it's not gonna miss you.
[tia] there are always concerns.
We never say we got this.
We hope we got this.
[dogs barking]
[slow rock music playing]
[tia] my name is tia maria torres.
For more than 20 years, I've run a sanctuary
dedicated for second chances.
It's for over 300 pit bulls,
the world's most misunderstood breed of dog.
And for parolees, the guys I hire
because no one else will.
My family and I have devoted our lives
to saving these dogs we love so much.
From louisiana swamps,
to the streets of new orleans,
the city of second chances,
our mission is to rescue, but my hope is one day,
we won't have to.
[instrumental music playing]
[tia] so we've had the warehouse nine years now.
When I found this place,
it was a little rough around the edges.
I mean, it was still like completely destroyed
from hurricane katrina.
And it was one of those things where, you know,
the landlord said, "hey, you fix it up,
you can have it."
painting it and putting everything back together,
the place looked spectacular.
Wow.
Now, it looks, looks really cute.
[tia] it was beautiful, you know, for a warehouse.
But since being here for such a long time,
we've had to make some adjustments.
The biggest issue when it comes
to this warehouse is the flooding.
[dramatic music playing]
this kennel is full of water.
[tia] during the summer months,
when it starts to rain
is when it becomes exhausting.
The flooding, the flooding, the flooding.
[mariah t. Speaking]
oh, my god. It's pretty bad.
[tia] the leaking, the leaking, the leaking.
And what a lot of people don't realize,
it's, again, not our building.
We rent it.
So if there are to be repairs,
we have to make them.
[thunder rumbling]
-[man speaking] -[tia] yeah.
It just... It's everywhere.
It just, it just... Everything just fills up
and it just turns into a raging river.
This is pretty decent. Yeah.
This is like a little island under here.
-Yeah. -The ground behind
-the building is higher up... -[tia] yes.
[emily] ...Than the ground in the building.
-So it comes this way. -So it will come in
and we have pumps pushing it back out.
So to combat the flooding
around our building,
we've tried everything. We've hired engineers.
We've dug trenches around the building.
You name it, we've done it.
Well, no, here's my new philosophy.
We are no longer going to fight the water.
-We're going to work with it. -[emily] we're gonna embrace it, yeah.
We're just gonna work with it.
We're not gonna fight the water anymore.
Living where I live, which is out of the swamp.
I live over water.
And I've just learned to adapt.
You just got to work with the water.
You don't work against it
'cause you're never gonna win.
And that's what gave me the idea
to do what I wanna do at the warehouse.
What I wanna do with these kennels
is tear them out
and have you build platforms,
same thing with a walkway.
We'll just have like a railing.
-So nobody will fall off and then... -Yeah, because I will.
Then like steps maybe on each end or something.
I'm building the kennels up
as if they were in the swamp, over the water.
The kennels will be put
on the actual wooden platforms,
tin roof over top.
And this way, when it floods,
you don't have to take dogs out.
Would you be able... Like, if we just did one section,
would you be able to work with it with these still here?
-[carl] yeah. -Okay. So if we just tore down one section...
We'll tear down half of these...
-Oh, okay. -...Build a section...
-And then... Okay. -...Put dogs in.
-So much easier. -I could tear down that half,
-tie it in put them back in. -Okay. Okay.
So when the area floods after a rain, it's...
We grab the dogs, crate them,
everybody gets moved upstairs,
or if it hasn't flooded into the warehouse,
sometimes they can stay in the front room.
We kind of put fans on them to make sure they stay cool.
And then we just wait it out.
It's so much work.
Like so much work.
It'll be a whole new world, man.
I'm telling you, you're gonna be...
You guys are gonna be in heaven
when all of these kennels are... We're all...
They're all being lifted up off the ground.
Okay. The three of you come up with the materials list,
so your brother can get an ordered.
-Yeah. -[tia] as soon as I know when it's gonna be here,
then we'll have a timeframe so we can get the dogs
moving and tear this down.
You know, with covid hitting, you know,
we shut down the warehouse. We don't... We don't allow
the public in there right now.
No tours, travel restrictions.
I thought, "you know what?
Now is the time to do it."
no more... No more evacuating dogs
every time it rains.
So along with dealing with the...
A covid pandemic, it's almost hurricane season.
We've been hit by several big storms
and hurricanes throughout the years.
And with each one, they knock us down
and push us to our limits.
So in getting this warehouse into shape,
it was a thing where time was of the essence.
All right, troops, see you tomorrow.
[upbeat music playing]
[mariah t.] today I'm meeting potential adopters,
a family from texas that are coming to look
at two puppies that we have.
-Hi. How are you doing? -Hi.
I'm nikkie. I'm from texas.
And my family and I came to villalobos to adopt a dog.
I am here today with my husband, fitz,
and daughters, teaghan and delaney.
Oh, did you draw me something?
I'm terrible of drawing. It's probably better
than what I can draw.
Is that your name?
Your name is so pretty.
You guys are way better at drawing than I am.
[teaghan] my name is teaghan and I am from texas.
[chuckles]
[woman speaking]
delaney.
[woman speaking]
-to find a puppy? -Puppy.
[mariah t.] thank you, guys, for my pictures.
These are gonna go on my fridge, I promise you.
These adopters actually just adopted a puppy
from another rescue and they want a playmate
for the one that they just adopted.
Okay. So what kind of puppy? How old?
-[nikkie] he's a pittie. -[mariah t.] okay.
He's three months today.
[mariah t.] they actually filled out applications
for a different rescue and us,
and had just adopted their little puppy
when we approved them to come meet our puppies.
And this family thought
why not just go with both
and get a friend for the one they already have,
so they're rescuing two different dogs.
We adopted our last two from a rescue...
Were your last dogs pit bulls?
-Yeah. Yeah, american. -[mariah t.] okay.
-You had two of them that... -They were brothers.
Tank and rebel were 16 weeks when we adopted them.
They were bundles of love,
and they were definitely co-dependent.
Wherever one went, the other one went.
To the point where they would even sleep
on top of each other.
They were completely adorable.
[nikkie] yeah. And they were...
They were best friends, and...
Doesn't always happen with siblings.
People don't get that. People assume that
because their siblings, they're gonna get along.
-That doesn't mean they will. -[fitz] yeah.
-[mariah t.] so you guys got lucky. -We did.
We had tank and rebel for eleven and a half years.
Rebel passed away this year in may,
and tank passed away in September.
They were totally fun and really playful.
I absolutely do love both those dogs.
And I think it's just an absolute positive
page-turner for us,
closing one chapter.
It'll be great to refill their space.
[mariah t.] so the puppy that you all have now,
remington, which I love,
have you guys ever had him around other dogs?
Yeah, I know he's still really young.
Actually, the foster family that we got him from,
his sister was there and then they had two larger dogs.
-So he's been around other dogs. -He has, yes.
Tank and rebel we adopted at the same time.
They were from the same litter, same rescue facility.
And we wanted to make sure that remington
had a brother to play with,
so they would grow up together
and just have puppy playtime.
[mariah t.] the puppies you guys are meeting today
are 13 weeks. They're teeny...
-[fitz] right. -[mariah t.] ...Which is new for me.
I'm not used to doing meet-and-greets
with dogs this small or puppies.
-Yeah. Yeah. -[mariah t.] and their new puppy, remington,
he hasn't had all of his shots yet.
We didn't want him in the play yard
with our puppies as well that haven't had
their full shots.
Somebody dropped the mama dog off
with three puppies.
Their sister actually has a home already.
And then we have the two boys that you all will meet today.
They're very, very sweet.
Bro and poppy.
One is very cuddly. They're both goofy.
They're really well-behaved for puppies.
-You all are lucky. -Oh, wow.
This family doesn't have too many specifications
on dogs that they want. They just wanted
another puppy and they wanted it to be a pit bull.
Do you guys wanna meet
possibly your new little brother?
Okay. I'm gonna go get them and let you guys meet them.
-Okay. -They're very small.
You ready?
We are looking for, in a dog,
just someone who is gonna be
an all-around great animal to grow with our family.
With having younger kids,
we want them to be able to have the security
of having a dog, and having a playmate,
and somebody to also be responsible to take care of.
[mariah t.] hey, stinkers. You ready? [laughs]
bro and poppy were brought to us
after a hurricane. Their owners surrendered
the two of them, their mom, and another little girl
that actually ended up getting a home already as well.
Even though these two are siblings
and they look a lot alike,
obviously their personalities aren't fully developed,
but we're already starting to see the difference
between them. Poppy's a lot more outgoing.
And I know bro, he's a little bit more
of a cuddle bug.
Are you sure we can't have two?
I know you're gonna twitch my arm about this.
[nikkie laughs]
okay. Hang on.
Oh, my goodness.
Look at how cute they are.
[fitz] I saw mariah walk in with these two dogs.
I mean, there is... What's not to love?
You know, both of them... I mean,
they almost look identical.
This one's poppy and then this one's bro.
[teaghan] hello, poppy. [chuckling]
-[nikkie] hello. -[teaghan] no way.
-What do you think? -[fitz] oh, goodness.
-Look at you. -[nikkie] oh, my goodness.
-[teaghan] come here. -[fitz] you're already off to the races.
[mariah t.] poppy. [makes sound]
good.
-Already in the laps. -[fitz] yeah.
[teaghan] I like bro because he's cute
and he's also cuddly.
And I also like poppy.
He is kind of also goofy. Same with bro.
And I actually really, really like that.
-You got the cuddler. -[fitz] hi, buddy.
Is he doing patty-cake already?
[mariah t.] what do you think?
Remington wasn't as small when you got him was he?
-[fitz] no. -It was love at first sight.
They're both just simply adorable.
Can I see you?
If I could take both puppies,
I definitely would, but I think fitz
would not allow me to have three puppies
all under the age of one in the house.
[mariah t.] what do you guys think so far?
[nikkie] which one do you like?
[mariah t.] can you tell the difference?
Kind of hard to picking between these two
'cause they're both really sweet
and their personalities are similar right now
but their personalities will change, obviously.
And you're not gonna see that.
And so you guys just flip a coin pretty much and...
-[fitz] yeah. -...Kind of whoever
you connect with.
Come here.
-Oh, look. -[mariah t.] yeah, by the time we bring
whichever one to you all, we'll be able...
Then we can do the insurance with the puppies
and they can have a ball in the backyard.
That's why I wanna know what the dad looks like
because the mom is just like a short little pit bull.
They're... They definitely have some
goofy helms, something.
I mean, those ears are giant.
They both just flop. Like go run around and play
but they're so down to cuddle.
-[nikkie] they're so cute. -What do you guys think?
Do you guys... Can you guys tell them apart yet?
-[teaghan] no. -[mariah t.] no?
[nikkie] bro is just absolutely stinking adorable.
Down to his little stripe on his nose
and just his cute little cuddly puppy-ness.
He's just perfect.
No, no. I think bro.
[mariah t.] yeah? Is that him?
I think so.
-[mariah t.] what do you think? -I think so.
-[mariah t.] yeah. -[teaghan] we chose bro.
-Yes. -We're gonna show him
the dining room.
He'll go see the backyard.
[delaney] dad's office.
No. Not dad's office.
[mariah t.] okay. I'll put them up.
Well, do you wanna say bye to your new
little brother then?
Bye, bro.
But you can't take him home yet.
-[nikkie] yeah, you can't... -[laughter]
-yeah. -[mariah t.] but soon.
-Once he gets his... -Hold your roll.
[mariah t.] once he get his next shot
then you can cuddle them all you want.
[fitz] I'm thrilled with the choice
to bring bro into our life.
It really is flipping a new chapter.
You know, we can be a solid home
with full stability,
and ultimately both dogs, remington and bro,
we entered their life at the right time
and they entered ours at the right time.
[mariah t.] all right. I'll see you guys in a month.
[nikkie] all right. Sounds great.
[mariah t.] all right. Bye, guys.
Have a safe trip. Great to meet you.
So at this point, what does need to happen
is bro being socialized with other dogs
so that he is comfortable with them
and not overwhelmed by meeting new dogs.
[nikkie] aren't they adorable?
[fitz] they are.
[country music playing]
[tia] so I just got involved in the craziest story.
An animal shelter in east texas...
-Uh-huh? -...Called us.
They have a dog in there
that they picked up
along the side of some desolate road.
It was dumped along the side of the road
in texas in a fallen down crate.
Actually, it was two of them. Two dogs.
-[tania] that's really sad. -[tia] like so sad-looking.
And it was just... They were just dumped.
So they brought the dogs back to the shelter
and they scanned one of the dogs.
[tania] uh-huh.
And the chip came back to us.
[mariah t.] hi. How you doing?
The location that our main warehouse is at,
the flooding has just gotten so out of control
that it's not even manageable anymore.
[mariah t. Speaking]
[suspenseful music playing]
[tia] they brought the dogs back to the shelter
and they scanned one of the dogs.
Uh-huh?
And the chip came back to us.
[tania] it's terrible to hear that
one of our dogs that we adopted out
was found just abandoned on side of the street,
you know, no man's land like texas.
It was actually really shocking to hear.
At least, in how these are like immediately
going into the system, trying to find out
-which dog it could be. -Yeah.
And it wasn't showing up in our database.
I'm like, "it has to be." and there was no like
reference to the dog's name, nothing.
We had no idea.
I said send me the microchip number.
And they sent it to me, and right away, I went,
"that's an avid chip."
I can tell by the number format.
-Yeah. -And like, "the last time we had avid chips
was when we lived in california."
what?
So then like the mystery started like unraveling,
-"okay, hold on a second." -who could it be?
-So I had them call avid... -Yeah.
[tia] ...To follow like the paper trail.
They found it further down on the record
of this chip that it was...
Adopted out to a woman named kelly
that we were the secondary
which is why they were calling us.
-Oh. -[tia] she wasn't in our system
because all my records at the time
in california, everything was on paper.
And we were only in louisiana for a matter of months
before hurricane isaac hit,
flooded our warehouse,
and lost all of our records.
And he goes, "I've been trying to call you
-at a 661 number." -whoa.
[tia] I'm like, "okay." then for sure,
I'm like, "okay, this is definitely a california dog."
-yeah. -[tia] it was our dog,
but it was time to figure out which dog was it.
We knew the dog at least have to be 10 years old.
We tracked it down and realized that this dog
was the original dog that we had.
It's a little puppy named nina.
-[tania gasps] -that's how little?
Yeah.
-[tania] holy crap. -[tia] it's nina.
-[tania] wow. -[tia] mmm-hmm.
-I know. Like... -[tania] yeah, that's...
Kind of hit your heart, right?
It's really freaking sad.
[tia] yeah, I would have to say this is one of the most
like crazy stories we've ever had.
Yeah.
Chips, man. They... Oh.
-I know. I know. -[tia] life savers.
So, anyways, it's a small little shelter.
The people are just like so thankful.
I told them there was no way we could leave
the other dog behind because even though
-that's not one of our dogs. -Yeah.
So if you wanted to go, you know...
-[tania] yeah. -...Pick them up and I can...
-Yeah. That's fine with me. -[tia] okay.
[tania] my mom always says, you know,
once a villalobos dog always a villalobos dog.
And I definitely stand by that.
I mean, we will go to any lengths to,
you know, save one of our dogs
as many times as we have to.
[country music playing]
[mariah] babe, you wanna help me start
putting away some of these baby stuff?
[kanani] yeah, but I don't know if all
that baby stuff is gonna fit in there though.
Probably should have gotten a bigger room.
[mariah] yeah, 'cause we can just make her room bigger?
Mind if I knock down a couple of walls, yeah?
Let's just go through some of these stuff.
So we have about five weeks left
of the pregnancy, so we are getting really close
to the end and really close
to meeting our new little girl.
The baby shower was really great.
Actually, it was pretty perfect.
-[woman] ooh, pretty. -[laughter]
[mariah] my sister-in-law lizzy, and tania,
and mariah kind of set it up.
It was super cute.
They did the theme of the nursery
which was llamas and cactuses
which I'm obsessed with.
It just made me feel really special
and really supported.
That's to put the stinky diapers in.
-You know what you're doing? -[kanani] nope.
[mariah] I think those things set on top
and they come out.
How big do you think her diapers are gonna be?
[kanani] I don't know. I can always assume.
Remember, you used to change luke all the time.
-We were... It's pretty good. -Yeah, but I didn't have a fancy...
A fancy diaper holder.
Oh, look, you can do the diaper warmer, babe.
See, I didn't have one of these either for luke.
[laughs] I have all these fancy stuff.
What's it for? It does what?
[mariah] you put the wipes in it and it warms the wipes.
When I had luke, I definitely didn't
get all the high-tech stuff.
I was also a single mom for luke,
so it was like, "what do I actually need?"
you wanna take out her little monitor
-and set the monitor up? -[kanani] ooh.
[mariah] that bottom part, you can like wrap it
around stuff. It bend... It's bendy.
-[kanani] is this... -Like I can...
We can wrap it around her crib.
So this pregnancy, you know, I think a lot
of our family and friends have really spoiled us
and supported us a lot.
Like, this is for her little bottles.
-[chuckles] -[mariah] like, clean the bottles.
Look how cute this little cactus is.
It's really different having
all these different things. It's kind of...
It's kind of exciting, you know,
to use all these things that a lot of people use
all the time I just never had.
Oh, my god. Remember these?
Mariah got us these. [chuckles]
I can't wait for her to wear these.
Look how cute this is.
So cute.
So weird having all the girl stuff
'cause I'm just so used
to always having boy stuff around.
Like, I like didn't think I would be into all
the girly clothes, but like I kind of am.
I'm definitely not the girly girl.
I'm more of a tomboy country girl.
But having all the pink and all the girly stuff,
it's actually been really fun for me,
and it's kind of brought out
a different side of me, I guess.
We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.
And now it's gonna be every week.
-[mariah speaking] -yeah.
[mariah speaking]
and I'm still working fulltime but it's like
getting harder every day. Like, my feet get more sore.
It's helped a lot though,
having you help with the dogs.
Like, do the dogs more than me.
You know what I mean?
I couldn't ask for a better husband.
He's super supportive.
You know, without even me having to ask, he does a lot,
which helps because I'm not much of a asking person.
I'll just do it and struggle.
It's been nice having him.
I'll probably finish putting some of this stuff up
-if you wanna... -[kanani] okay.
...You wanna let the dogs out.
Sure. Absolutely.
I'm just not supposed to be lifting anything,
even though I like still catch myself at work,
you know, just wanting to do it
'cause you forget that you can't do it.
And then I like hurt myself or I get sore.
-[kanani] yeah. -[mariah] I'm anxious
to meet her and actually get to see her face,
and just be able to hold her, and I'm really anxious
to kind of just be done with this pregnancy.
It could be the anticipation.
It could be the soreness that gets worse.
But I'm definitely ready. I'm ready to meet her
and ready to have her here in my arms.
[kanani] all right.
[upbeat music playing]
[mariah t.] the location that our main warehouse is at,
I feel like it barely sprinkles
and we're pulling dogs out of different areas.
The flooding just gotten so under control
that it's not even manageable anymore.
This whole warehouse just needs a face lift.
It's been years, and it's gotten beat up
from pigeons and storms.
Along with redoing these kennels,
we really need to address and show some tlc
to this roof 'cause it leaks pretty bad.
-Hi. How are you doing? -[paul] all right.
-How are you? -[mariah t.] I'm mariah.
-Nice to meet you. -I'm paul.
My brothers handle everything at this rescue
but they have done so much work on this
and I think it's time to bring in someone
that specializes in doing roofs.
Did I close that?
I know doing roof stuff is really expensive
but it has to be done.
Every time it rains, I have to move
all of the dogs from right here,
and it puts so much strain on the dogs
and my employees, so...
[dogs barking]
[mariah t. Speaking]
[mariah t.] there is a huge section that is so rusted,
I can literally see outside.
When we've tried to climb up there,
it just starts disintegrating,
so it's also really unsafe
and something has to be done about it.
There's parts like roof that I can just like patch.
-Right. -Over here,
-that's not possible. -Right.
It's so rusted.
Um, do you need to get up there and look at it?
-How do you go about this? -Yeah.
I like to get up there and take a look...
-A better look at it but... -Okay.
Let me move some of the stuff.
...I've seen the bulk of what your problem is right there,
-so, I mean... -And then if you need...
[paul] yeah, I'm just gonna get my ladder
-and walk up here right quick. -Okay.
If we're gonna be putting new kennels in the warehouse,
it's silly to not get the roof fixed.
If it's gonna be leaking, you don't want to add
even more wear and tear to these new kennels.
All right.
I got pretty much what I need.
Okay. So if you want to, I guess,
just figure out your estimate
-and send it to me, um... -Let's see.
You say from the kennel with all that rust?
Let's go at least 10 feet on each side of that,
-20-foot width... -Yeah. Okay.
...From the bottom up.
If I got used sheets at my shop,
-I'll put them in there... -Okay. Perfect.
...And I can give you a real good deal.
I won't be mad.
I mean, all of these expenses add up
very, very, very quickly from materials
to paying experts to come in and, you know, workers.
[paul] yeah, I'm glad you were able to get this done
a little sooner 'cause at a loss for words.
[mariah t.] yeah. That's... I'm trying to like
before hurricane season gets bad.
But my mom won't start a project like this
if she doesn't already have some plan
in the back of her head. We may not know it
but she wouldn't start it
if she didn't have a way to raise the money
to get all these done.
[upbeat music playing]
[tia] look at this freaking cages these trucks have, man.
-[tania] I know. -[tia] like, what the hell
do they rescue out here?
These two dogs were actually found dumped
along the side of a very rural road in texas.
This is a very nice animal shelter.
We were informed that one of the dog's
microchipped back to us.
That's when it became a whole different kind of rescue.
-[tania] hello. -[charity] hi.
-[man] welcome. Hello. -[charity] welcome.
-How are you all? -[tia] good.
So who's the one that found the dogs?
-Oh, you did? -[charity] dino.
-This is... This is dino. -[dino speaking]
-[tania] wow. -Like, what road?
Like, in the middle of nowhere kind of thing?
-It's off of the... -Yes.
[dino speaking]
-[tia] mmm-hmm. -[dino speaking]
wow.
[dino] the condition they were in
were very emaciated.
Very, very skinny.
They were a little standoffish at first,
but they came around, became very friendly.
But, uh, yeah, I could tell that they...
They've been through a rough time.
[tia] I mean, of course, the million-dollar question
is like, "why didn't you just bring them to the shelter?"
-[charity] I know. I know. -Yeah. Why?
[charity] maybe they were worried about bringing them
to the shelter 'cause they were so skinny.
-Yeah. Maybe. -[charity] a lot of people,
if they're that malnourished, they're worried
-they're gonna get in trouble. -[tia] yeah.
It's hard getting that visual out of your head, you know?
Like, seeing the pictures of them, just...
I mean, you think...
[tia sighs] I don't wanna get emotional.
What were they thinking when the person
dropped them off and drove off?
Just left them there.
Like, what were they thinking?
Like, how long were they out there?
How many cars passed by and didn't even stop?
But, you know, they're safe.
That's... It's all that matters.
You know, even though the other dog is not ours,
we're not gonna leave her behind.
-I mean, you know... -[charity] yes.
-We appreciate that. -[dino] they love each other.
-[tia] do they? -[dino] they love each other.
[charity] they do love each other, yes.
-So... Yes. -[dino] yeah.
-Right. -[dino speaking]
-aw. -[dino speaking]
aw. Wow. Are they together in the kennels?
No. They're separate but we walk them
-several times a day. -[tia] okay. Yeah.
So they walk them together and...
[tania] um, okay. Well, I guess,
we'll go take a look at them.
-Okay. -Yes, ma'am. Let's do it.
[tania] the kendall county animal shelter
turned out to be an amazing place.
A ton of empty kennels.
The dogs were not in any danger of being euthanized.
But I would never wanna burden
a public animal shelter with two pit bulls
when one of them belongs to us, you know?
Like, "we'll take them. They're ours.
It's our responsibility."
hi, girls.
-[tania] oh, hi. -[tia] hi.
[mariah t.] you ready, ginger?
[tia] I'll make sure these gates are closed.
[mariah t.] tater's going anywhere fast.
[tia] with not knowing where these puppies
or any dog that we get in comes from sometimes,
watching them and their body language
and the way they react to other dogs is important.
All right. I'm gonna let him down.
Is this puppy gonna be scared of another dog?
Ready?
-[tia] hi, puppies. -[charity] here's the girls.
[tia] hi, girls.
Oh, hi. I'll get my mask down.
Hi.
Now, you don't remember your name is nina?
You're going too.
[tia] yes, mama, you're going too.
You're going too.
-You're gonna go too. -Yeah, they are sweet.
[charity] yeah, they're sweet, huh?
[tia] yeah. Nini.
Nini.
Oh, nini.
When I saw the two dogs, they were...
They were pretty underweight but then I expected it.
You know, I... I've seen the pictures already.
[charity] we went ahead and heartworm-tested them.
They're heartworm negative.
Um, the kennel techs gave them baths yesterday
and trimmed their nails.
[tia] they cleaned them up and they gave them
like a little spa day.
I mean, they looked good otherwise
except for their weight.
[charity] we all give them their shots and de-wormer.
[man speaking]
[charity] 'cause they have worms.
-[man speaking] -[tania] okay.
-[tia] reunited. -[man] yes. It's awesome.
-[tia] we're reunited. -[charity] yeah, she's a...
-She's a talker. -[tia] yeah. Reunited.
[charity] she likes to let you know.
[tia] yeah.
[tania] it's definitely really crazy to find
one of our dogs like over a decade later
and in a whole another state.
I mean, we adopt the dog out in california
and she somehow made her way to texas.
[tia] come on, baby. Come on.
[dino] come on, baby. Come on.
-She knows. -[tia] yeah.
-[charity] there we're go. -[tia] hi, nini. Hi, nini.
-Hi, nini. -[chuckling]
-[tia] oh, my goodness. -[charity] are you okay?
I know you wanna go, you wanna go.
[dog barks]
[tia] the second dog, the white dog
with the tan patches was not a villalobos dog
but there was no way we were gonna leave her behind.
[man speaking]
[tia] spicy?
Oh, yeah, yeah. Come on.
[man] there you go.
[tia] let me hold her down here.
[charity] I'll lead the way, so that we could...
-[tia] yeah. Okay. -[charity] bye, guys.
[tia] come on.
[charity] the fact these dogs were abandoned
on the side of the road and are now going
to a awesome home, the best ever,
back home where they belong is just amazing.
We like to get the message out there
that microchipping works and if you microchip,
a lot of times, people will try
their hardest to get the dogs home
and in this case it worked.
So, we're very, very excited that they're going home.
[tia] come on, nini, come on.
-[dino] load up baby. -[tia grunts] she goes...
Do I have to do one of these again?
This one's not gonna end up on the side of the road,
I promise, come here.
[charity speaking] come on.
-[tia] oh, no. -[charity] let's see.
It's okay.
There you go.
[tia] it's a little tight, I know it's a little tight.
[charity] all right.
Bye, girls.
You guys are okay.
-Thank you. -[tia] thank you. Bye.
[tania] thank you so much.
Nice meeting you all.
[tia] nice meeting you.
Our motto is once a villalobos dog
always a villalobos dog.
And I mean, she's still one of us.
So, now we get them vetted, get them taken care of,
and try to find them a home.
Yeah. You a little worrywart?
She's just "man, so much just happened."
[upbeat music playing]
[dog barks]
[mariah] grab, um, poppy with the spot.
[kanani] just a moment.
Come here, my man.
[mariah] I've been really lucky
and been able to still work full-time
and do a lot of my daily things
that I normally do.
So, these spots are ringworm, so we got to keep him bathed,
um, we're gonna do baths
-twice a week. -Okay.
But because this is like painful,
I'm gonna show you how to do it
-so that you can help do them. -Okay.
You have a little cup, here, I'll hold him.
No, no escaping.
I'll hold you. Oh.
My legs hurt so bad.
Oh.
But now that I'm getting towards the end
in the last few weeks, it actually feels good.
Like everything is burning on my body.
I wanna get in there with you right now.
But my belly is bigger.
So it's harder to pick dogs up and bend over
and just do simple things
that you would never pay attention to.
Oh, it's like you have no idea.
[laughs]
the energy it takes just to bend over.
So we're gonna just scrub this stuff in.
Oh.
Oh, my.
I'm like "eh." here you can just do the scooping.
You did so good, you cute little boy.
Here. Let's wring your little paws out.
We'll have to do this twice a week, just like that.
And then the spray, you just do his little spots
that he has, the bath, you'll do everywhere.
Okay.
And I'm just gonna take a minute to get up,
-so you just... -[kanani] you got that?
You just do your thing.
I just got to push through and finish it up.
And who knows?
Maybe I'll just put myself into labor quicker.
Yay.
Twenty more days.
God, I hope I go early.
[upbeat music playing]
[tia] so, they're only taking this little blue one?
-[mariah t.] yeah. -Come on, poopy.
[mariah t.] I recently did a meet-and-greet
out at our country location with a family from texas.
Come here.
What do you guys think so far?
[nikkie] which one do you like?
[mariah t.] can you tell the difference?
Since this family does have another puppy that's bigger.
Ready, ginger?
Okay, hang on. Hang on. Hang on.
[bleep] come on, stinker.
I figured the perfect thing to do would be to try him
with tater and see how he reacts.
[tia] I'll make sure these gates are closed.
[mariah t.] come on, buddy.
[tia] you wanna check that gate over there?
Or guy can you check it?
Not the tater's going anywhere fast but...
[tia] with not knowing where these puppies
or any dog that we get in comes from sometimes.
We wanna make sure that they've been
socialized well or if not, we need to socialize them.
Watching them and their body language
and the way they react around other dogs is important.
You know, is this puppy going to be scared of another dog?
Is the dog maybe too big?
Maybe it needs a smaller dog to be around.
All right, I'mma let him down.
[mariah t.] okay.
[tia] just keep him a moment, so.
We tried to simulate as close as possible
to the situation that any dog is gonna be going into.
Go get to uncle...
[mariah t.] I'm gonna get some water.
Who's the... Oh.
Oh, wow.
[tia] he didn't think he was scared.
[mariah t.] he just went face first
and then crash landing.
[tia] I mean, could you at least act
like a little bit...
[mariah t.] I thought he was gonna be nervous with him.
As soon as we got bro out there, he ran into tater
and just wanted to run around and play.
He wasn't intimidated whatsoever.
He was excited.
So everything went absolutely beautiful.
I really thought he was gonna be nervous.
I did too that's why I put him down...
That's why I put him down far away.
[mariah t.] that was cute.
He's a wild one.
Okay, well, I tried to make this easy on you.
[mariah t.] hi.
This is cute.
Bro was being a typical happy puppy trying
to play with tater coming and saying hi to me
and going and saying hi to my mom.
Come on.
-He's crazy. -[tia] he just like hops.
[mariah t.] come on.
You are a happy guy.
Hi. Mwah.
He's really happy-go-lucky, sweet pit bull,
and I hope that he continues to stay that way.
That... Here's my concern.
You know me, as puppies, they're gonna be great.
They need to start setting boundaries
and have a good structured
-lifestyle for them. -[mariah t.] okay.
[tia] no eating of the same food bowl.
-[mariah t.] okay. -You know,
no fighting over toys,
none of this, let them work it out.
[mariah t.] I'll make sure I talk to them.
[tia] one of the number one calls we get to take dogs
-and that's... -They grew up together.
I don't understand why they're not getting along.
They grew up together and everything was great.
What happened when they got older?
One of the first things we look for in a home
that wants a puppy is how long are you away
from the home during the day?
We wanna make sure that there's gonna be
enough time paid to a puppy.
If there's another dog in the home
or a puppy in the home, teaching them their own space,
you know, we'd like to crate train
all of our dogs, either they get fed
in their crates or they get fed in separate rooms.
You have to set boundaries, um, as if you were raising
two small children together.
I'll make sure because I haven't
talked to him since then that they have separate crates
for them and stuff already
because people are probably not gonna think about it.
[tia] all children grow up to get along but...
You're gonna be a good boy.
Yes.
Yes, you are.
Now that they have two puppies,
they do need to have two crates
and they need to be separated, making sure
that we're setting bro for success
and their other puppy remington as well.
-[tia] can you take him? -Oh, here you go.
[sighs]
[mariah t.] now that we've done a little bit
of socializing with bro, all that we have left to do
is drive him to his potential new home in texas.
We'll be to my car tomorrow at this rate.
Moving slow.
[upbeat music playing]
[dogs barking]
[kanani] hello puppy.
[tia] you know, with the hurricane season coming in,
you know, and we're heading right into it, it's like,
okay, you know, we really got to get going on this project,
if not for nothing just to make it less stressful
and easier for the dogs and our employees.
[toney] I cut the roof on the first two kennel
and kind of like lift the roof up.
But we just got to try to get it out
and go that way but I'mma wait till all the fellas come.
[tia] the first step before we build
these above ground kennels is to tear down
the existing kennels that are at ground level.
[toney] mama gave us specific duties.
Mine was like a demolition to kind of get things rolling.
This becomes first priority because it's what's best
for the dogs and best for us here right at villalobos.
We're coming out to you spence.
Uh, like lean it forward with those...
I think we could lean it forward.
I think if we lean it forward like this...
[man] you know, I think that's...
[tia] you know, I find myself backed up against a wall
because there's a lot of repairs to make.
There's a lot of reconstruction
that needs to be done, which means
I have to pour money into this building that I don't own.
Well, what choice do I have?
It's home for our dogs. It's home for us.
You know, I don't know what else to do at this point.
I don't have the money to go out and buy a place.
We just got to work with what we have.
Get that whole area cleaned out,
shovel all the pea gravel out,
so that we can start
to take measurements and, you know,
build the platforms to put the kennels on.
We have various plans going into motion right now.
We just have to buckle down.
Just keep our heads to the ground
and just power through it.
You look fatter now. Oh my goodness.
So it's been a couple of weeks since tania and I
picked up cozy and nina from texas.
It's okay. I know you're nervous.
Let's go this way.
Lot of unanswered questions
and we may not ever get the answers.
Oh. Ah, ah, ah.
[dramatic music playing]
[mariah] so I was gonna have you help me
ever since I hit the third trimester,
I got like that carpal tunnel on my wrist now.
And so I have hard, like,
hard times doing certain things.
I wanna see if you would help me set-up the baby swing.
-[lois] okay. -In the baby's room,
-if you don't mind? -Absolutely.
[mariah] I got something to show you first.
Aunt carla from missouri sent me something.
My aunt contacted me and said that she had found something
when she was cleaning out my grandpa's house.
She wanted to send me something for the baby
but it had to be a surprise.
So it was something I really wanted to show my mom
and I knew it would mean a lot for her too.
Look at all the little hangers.
[mariah] I know, right?
-So these... -Oh.
-...Grandma effy made these... -Yes.
...I guess, before me and zach were even born?
-Yeah. -They were the very first
-baby shoes she ever knitted. -Yep.
[mariah] and like they haven't even...
[lois] they're not even worn.
I know she used to put these on your feet.
That's awesome.
[mariah] so, I thought that was...
-That was really cool. -That's cool.
-That they found... Yeah. -[lois] yeah.
[mariah] my grandmother who passed away in 2001
actually made them before me and my brother were born.
Me and my grandmother were very close.
So it was just really special for me.
But isn't that pretty cool?
-Yeah. -Yeah. It's like...
Because we don't have a lot
of family heirlooms stuff in our family.
-No. -So it's kind of crazy.
To see those little shoes in mariah's hands
really means a lot.
You know, having the people that have passed
having something from them.
It almost...
Gets me upset.
Makes me happy though.
Okay, I'm gonna grab...
I got the swing back here.
-Oh, yeah, a little swing. -[mariah] yeah,
this is the one you got me, didn't... Isn't it?
I don't remember what everyone...
So good, we get to see
if we really know what we're doing.
Well, this is all you.
-I'm just kidding. -[laughs]
[mariah] it was nice to be able to show my mom
the baby's room and do like
a couple last minute things with her
to get ready for the baby.
-Oh, lord. -Yeah. There's a lot of parts.
This is usually where I have kanani come in and do it.
[woman] where is he when you need him?
He's working.
He's trying to get all his work done
before this baby comes.
We better get the screw out of it.
Why don't they make these things easy for, like,
parents just open the box
-and it pops right up. -Like snap.
-Yeah. -Or snap, you know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So this goes up.
Oh.
That's... It snaps.
Hey.
To be around her as she goes through the process,
I was able to do that with luke
and now I'm very fortunate
to get that opportunity.
Wait. Hold on.
[woman] it's gonna go like this.
Hold on because...
-It's gonna go like this. -Oh, well, yeah.
Because the... Because the swing part.
-Yeah. -You keep reading
and I'll keep putting together, okay?
[mariah] I'm very thankful to have my mom around.
It's really nice knowing that she's here for me
and I really couldn't imagine doing it without her.
Oh, look at the little baby swing.
Oh, it just looks like backwards.
Did we do that backwards?
Shouldn't because that's should be the front.
Yeah. And I think this is the...
-Oh, yup, we sure did. -That's the...
We did it backwards.
See?
We sure did.
Like, wait, that's her feet.
She's just gonna be upside down.
I don't think that would be comfortable.
-There we go. -That looks...
Yeah, that looks a lot better.
[woman] you know, you always say
you love your kids so much,
and you'll never love anything as much.
But then there comes the grandbabies
and it's, like, "okay, kids, done with you.
It's grandbaby time."
that's a cute little swing.
-That's cute. -That's the only thing
I didn't have because I have a bouncer.
So the swing was perfect.
I'm ready to meet her
and see how luke interacts with her
and let kanani get to meet her.
Thanks for helping me put that together.
It's like the last little thing.
And now she's done.
Now it's time to just have her.
[upbeat music playing]
[mariah t.] there's already a crate in there,
it's massive but whatever.
He'll have some room to...
Let me push it backwards so he wouldn't fall out.
Today I am loading up bro, one of our puppies,
and driving him to his potential home in texas.
Hi, happy boy.
Puppy adoptions are typically really, really easy.
It's easier to travel. It's just me and one puppy.
Okey-dokey.
Hold on, buddy.
He's like, "oh my god, air conditioning,
-I don't know about that." -[mariah t.] here we go.
-Aww. -[mariah t.] so everything,
I feel like, will go very smoothly.
[tia] all right, honey, it's okay.
-Bye. -Bye. To texas.
To texas you go.
[mariah t.] you're wearing your texas shirt.
And I'm dressed for the occasion.
[mariah t.] I mean, hopefully, bro will get to stay
with his new family and he will bring
even more happiness into this family's life.
One down, 800,000 more to go.
[mariah t.] ready?
[dramatic music playing]
[reporter] hurricane zeta as it's now being called
quickly transition from tropical storm status
to a projected category one hurricane.
[dramatic music playing]
[tia] with living in new orleans,
you battle mother nature every year,
it's just something that you do.
I'm just thinking how am I gonna do this
because I think these are three feet wide,
the crates are four by two so they're gonna stick out.
[tania] you're worried about out here?
[tia] no. This is for city.
[tania] oh.
[tia] I don't think we'll... We don't...
I don't think we'll flood out here
because it's gotten to the point where...
In the city, just a slight rain...
-[tania] yeah, I know. -[tia] ...Floods everything.
So that's my concern.
Every storm prep,
you just have to kind of mold it
to what's going on at the time.
And it does become like a mad dash
to get everything ready.
[tania] we'll probably lose power.
-[tia] maybe. -[tania] but I don't think
the wind is gonna be that bad.
I mean, I don't think it'll be that bad, we'll see.
It's not the wind I'm worried about,
-it's the water. -[tania] water.
The warehouse, it's tough.
It's a good, tough building.
But you know what?
Never say never.
You know, so we are concerned.
You know, the roof could get ripped off.
The flooding can be so bad
that it just wipes out what we have left outside.
There are always concerns.
We never say we got this.
We hope we got this, is what we say.
[thunder rumbling]
-[nikkie] aww. -[mariah t.] is this too much
for you right now? Ooh.
You're getting... Uh-oh.
He kind of growled at him at one point.
He's really overwhelmed
-right now. -[nikkie] yeah.
[mariah t.] I've never seen him like this.
This is something that I have to call my mom about
because I have no idea what to do.
[upbeat music playing]
you ready?
Today, we are in texas doing bro's adoption.
We're here.
It is gonna be different doing this with two puppies.
I'm sure they're both gonna be very excited
and all over the place.
-[nikkie] hi, guys. Yeah. -[mariah t.] hi there.
-[mariah t.] how are you? -[nikkie] come on in.
It's just exciting that today is the day
that he gets to come be part
-of our life. -[fitz] how are you?
[mariah t.] oh, you're standing back here.
[fritz] yeah, I snuck up on you.
[nikkie] we're just all excited to have him.
-All right. -Geez, he's so big.
[nikkie] I know, he's like doubled in size.
[mariah t.] hi.
Oh, my gosh.
You are so big.
[nikkie] I think it's gonna be a good thing for remington
to have a puppy with him.
You know, it's crazy how big he's gotten.
When we adopted him, he had his sister with him.
This is gonna give him a great playmate
to get some of that puppy energy off
and also to just be able to grow up together
and have a good best friend.
[mariah t.] oh, my gosh, he is gonna freak out.
[laughs]
oh, these gates already have locks on them.
Obviously, once they get bigger,
just be careful with them digging back here.
You guys never leave him alone back here, right?
-[nikkie] no. -Okay.
That's the biggest thing with me.
I don't know, once they start getting bigger
like I said just pay attention to any digging,
um, especially like down at the bottom.
He's still small and if he does,
-he can slip out really easy. -Okay.
[mariah t.] once he's a little bit bigger in his size,
it'd be a little bit harder but...
-Right. -[mariah t.] ...Um,
and you guys don't have anyone that comes back here,
like no gardeners, nothing like that?
[nikkie] no.
No. We do all of our own lawn care.
[mariah t.] um, that one has a lock on it too, right?
-[nikkie] it does. -[mariah t.] easy.
You guys made this very easy for me.
-[fritz] yeah. -And I'm jumping up especially
with those kinds and I've seen it happen
before with dogs and that's why we're so adamant
about having those locks on 'em.
The fence is perfect, they already have locks
on both of their gates, everything's sealed up
and there's plenty of space for them to run around.
You guys are gonna have your hands full now.
-[nikkie] yes. -Two girls and two puppies.
We're looking forward to see bro.
[mariah t.] do you know what you guys wanna name him?
-What do you wanna name him? -[teaghan] steel.
What is it?
-[mariah t.] I love that. -[nikkie] steel.
So we'll have remington steel.
That's amazing. [laughs]
[delaney] I'm excited to have two dogs
because remington could lay here
and steel could lay here.
Obviously, you guys have had two dogs before
but this is something my mom and I are really adamant
and I'm glad you guys have two crates.
Right now, obviously,
they're puppies and they're young.
-[nikkie] mmm-hmm. -As they start getting older,
it doesn't matter if they are raised together or not,
issues will arise.
So making sure that their food
is always separate.
They always have to eat separate.
-Mmm-hmm. -No bones.
Once they get older they have that strength
and they're gonna be bigger
to where they can hurt each other
so you need to be really vigilant
with that stuff.
They are still pit bulls and they're bigger dogs.
-[nikkie] okay. -So, why don't I go
get your new little brother?
-Wow. Are you excited? -[nikkie] are you ready?
[mariah t.] I mean, at this point all we can really do
is just let the puppies meet and see how it goes.
Hi.
Oh.
[nikkie] we're definitely excited
to have two dogs again.
The girls have grown up with having two dogs.
I think they missed having both of their old companions.
-[mariah t.] come on, buddy. -[nikkie] good job. High five.
It's just gonna be a blessing to have them,
-to have two dogs again. -[mariah t.] what is it?
[fitz] oh, she's coming around this way.
-[mariah t.] good job. -[nikkie] oh my goodness,
look at him.
[mariah t.] he hasn't grown that much.
[fitz] he's so excited.
-[nikkie] who's that? -[mariah t.] yeah.
[nikkie] aww. Say hi.
[mariah t.] oh, there we go.
[nikkie] seeing bro was unbelievable.
He is just adorable.
Just absolutely adorable.
-[mariah t.] hi. -[[fritz] hey, buddy.
Will you say hi?
[mariah t.] it's okay.
I expected bro to grow
a lot faster than he is right now
and he hasn't really grown that much.
Remington on the other hand,
he's gotten a lot bigger.
Well, once my... It's great.
It's gonna be overwhelming for a minute,
I can't believe how much bigger he is.
Remington was just being really overbearing
which is... He's excited,
but bro's a lot smaller.
So it's not two puppies
with the same size that feel comfortable.
Okay, buddy.
All right. Let's go.
I think remi was so excited
to meet another puppy
that it was just overwhelming for bro.
So I wanna take 'em on a walk
and see if that would help a little bit.
[nikkie] come on.
[mariah t.] okay. Come on.
-[nikkie] aww. -[mariah t.] is this too much
for you right now? Ooh.
Ah.
You're getting... Uh-oh.
Hey, is this too much?
I mean, I've had it happen where puppies get scared
and they get nervous but he kind of growled at him
at one point.
Is this too much for you? He's really overwhelmed
-right now. -[nikkie] yeah.
[mariah t.] I've never seen him like this.
I think just the size difference
and remington being so overwhelmed and excited.
All right here. Do me a favor, go in the backyard.
And then I'll meet you guys
-back there in a second. -[nikkie] okay.
[mariah t.] this is something that I have to call
my mom about because I have no idea what to do.
[phone ringing]
[tia speaking]
um, I'm at the adoption right now.
[tia] mmm-hmm.
It's not going like I thought it was going to.
[tia gasps]
[tia speaking]
well, bro just growled, like,
he's growled at him because he was really...
Remington's really, really excited
and like overbearing to the point
where bro's like not having it.
I don't know what to do
because I know that after a while, like,
you know how much bro loves other dogs
but the size difference right now
and bro's really overwhelmed,
I don't know what to do.
[tia speaking]
-me either. -[tia] um...
[mariah t.] like, I don't know if once
the excitement wears off
that remington will be fine but...
-[tia speaking] -I don't know.
[tia speaking]
[mariah t.] they're experienced
like they know what they're doing,
you know what I mean but I just don't...
I don't know.
Their crates are right next to each other
and I don't know if like... Seeing if...
Because I'm gonna be right up the street until tomorrow.
So why don't I do that and I'll come back...
I told them I can come back in the morning too
and work with him a little bit more of the...
You know what I mean?
[tia speaking]
well, their crates are next to each other,
so why don't I see if the excitement wears off
by tomorrow morning.
-[tia speaking] -[mariah t.] okay. Thank you.
I... Yeah, I just didn't know what to do
and I didn't wanna just completely pull out of this
because I think there's still a chance.
I'm not gonna put any dog in a position,
especially a puppy that he's gonna be scared
but I also think that this is something
that can be worked through or I wouldn't consider
leaving him here.
So here's what I'm thinking.
If you guys don't mind
-working for a minute. -[fitz] yeah.
[mariah t.] so what we should do,
don't obviously let them loose
back here together,
um, we're gonna try it for the night.
I think them being in crates next to each other,
-it'll start getting it out. -[nikkie] mmm-hmm.
[mariah t.] um, just be open-minded
that if it's not working I can...
Because I don't want him to be scared like...
[nikkie] yeah.
[mariah t.] I will come back next weekend.
-[nikkie] okay. -[mariah t.] um, so I can...
I can take him back if I have to tomorrow.
And we'll get someone that will be perfect for him,
-but we can try. -[fitz] okay.
I think they both need their moment to breathe,
to kind of digest what's happening,
uh, because it's a... It's a...
It's a lot of stimuli
that got thrown out at one moment.
So we're gonna let it breath for 24 hours
and see if they mellow.
And if they do and it's all gonna work out.
[mariah t.] come on, okay.
[fitz] we want bro.
We've gone this far in this journey
that we want that to happen,
but everybody has to be safe during the course of it.
[nikkie] oh, you are so cute.
[mariah t.] he is a cuddle bug.
This dog literally just puts his arms around you
-and he's just like... -[nikkie] aww.
Come here.
Hello.
It was reassuring with how affable
bro was when we met him.
And once remington was out of the picture
and it was just us and him,
he went to us, he came up,
and gave myself puppy kisses.
He gave the girls kisses.
And he's definitely,
I think maybe smitten with them.
I know that they're smitten with him,
so I think it's gonna be a good fit
once time tells.
Just really, really be open to the possibility
that we might have to bring him back
and no matter what we can...
My mom already said, you guys are already approved adopters,
um, and we can get someone that's more his size.
[nikkie] I was happy that mariah's
giving us the chance that we had the opportunity
to get remington and bro together
and let them have their time
and to see if this is gonna work.
[fitz] well, we wanna do what's the right thing
-for the dog. -Absolutely,
and it's for both of them, so remington has someone
that he can really play with, uh, hopefully it will be him.
This is a new situation for me,
I've never done this where I'm leaving a dog
and might be picking him up tomorrow morning.
But they're puppies and I'm willing to try.
Um, and you guys are experienced
and that's what's making me
-feel a lot better. -[nikkie] okay.
[mariah t.] any dog would be very, very lucky
to be part of this family.
So hopefully it is bro,
but right now I'm gonna give it one night
to let things kind of settle down.
Just take it slow, you guys know what you're doing.
And if you have any questions, just call us.
Come here.
And tomorrow morning, I'm gonna give them a call,
see if I need to come back and work with them.
All right. I will talk to you guys soon.
I'll call you later this afternoon, okay?
-Okay. -All right, great.
[mariah t.] all right. Bye, guys. Thank you.
[mariah t.] if anything,
I can bring bro back with me and we'll find a puppy
that can keep up with remington,
hopefully not but if that's what needs
to happen it... It's something that,
of course, we're gonna do.
Okay.
Like a girl.
[laughs] hi.
Hi, baby.
Hi, baby boy.
[suspenseful music playing]
[mariah t.] I mean, I swam out of my house
during hurricane isaac, but this was intense.
Man, this is bad.
[dramatic music playing]
[mariah t.] so yesterday, I did a home check
and I thought this was gonna be
one of the easiest adoptions that I would ever do
because it's puppies.
[nikkie] oh my goodness, look at him.
Aww, hi.
[mariah t.] but bro
just got really overwhelmed by remington.
-[nikkie] aww. -[mariah t.] is this too much
for you right now? Ooh. You're getting...
After I called my mom to ask her for advice
because I really...
I knew what I wanted to do,
but I was still just kind of unsure.
My mom along with the family decided
that we were gonna leave bro overnight
and see if we could take things slow
and if they were willing to follow our direction
and try a few things out.
If you have any questions, just call us.
Come here.
I ended up staying in texas another night
just in case things didn't work out
with the family and the family didn't think
that it was a good idea.
And if that was the case,. Then I'd bring him back.
And now that I've given him some time
to settle in, I don't wanna intrude
so I wanna give them some space.
So how's he doing?
[nikkie speaking]
[mariah t.] so the family followed our direction
and just kind of switched them up in their crates
so they could smell each other
and just take things really, really slow.
While remington was sleeping I guess,
bro got up and crawled up
next to him
which is amazing to hear.
[nikkie speaking]
yeah.
Okay. That's... I mean, I agree with you.
-[nikkie speaking] -okay.
In no way shape or form would I ever leave
a dog or a puppy
if I didn't have full confidence
that things could work.
Not only do they have experience
as pit bull owners,
but they seemed very respectful of the process
that needed to happen with getting bro
possibly comfortable with remington.
Yeah, just let me know and like I said
if we need to come back and it's like...
If something happens and we need to come back
we totally can, it's not like you guys are from us
it's only a few hours.
If a little bit of time go by
and he absolutely did not wanna be there,
I would go pick him up in a heartbeat.
I also would not have left him there
and walked away if I...
Didn't see something
being wonderful and adding substance
to remington's life and to bro's life.
Just keep me posted and if you need anything,
call us and we're not far away at all.
Obviously, the family still really needs
to take this slow
and go at bro's pace.
But as of right now, bro is staying with the family
and I will check in with them
a little bit in the future and make sure
everything is going great.
[nikkie speaking]
all right, bye.
[mellow music playing]
bella, are you excited to meet your little sister?
Mommy and daddy wanted to get you something
because we wanna make sure
that you're included in everything
that your little sister does.
All right.
Go get that from daddy.
And you can open it.
Yeah.
What is that?
[luke] it's a binder.
[mariah] what do you put in there?
-[luke] pictures. -Pictures, yep.
Okay.
See what else is in the bag.
-What is that? -[luke] a camera.
[mariah] it's, kind of, like, mommy has one of this huh?
And when you take a picture, the little...
The picture pops out immediately
so we got you this
so that you could take the pictures.
[kanani] and then when you take the pictures,
you could put the pictures
-in your little scrapbook. -[mariah] so you got
to document of all our memories,
even you can start now.
Even before she comes.
You wanna take the first picture?
-Yeah. -[mariah] do you wanna take
-a family photo first? -Yeah.
So we can put it in the front? Okay.
Should bell-bell be in it?
All right, ready?
Set, go.
-I don't know if we... -Is that a little mirror...
I don't if we all got in there.
We have to see.
[kanani] it's gonna be on the other side, babe.
[mariah] he's already a pro. [laughs]
luke is really excited
for the baby coming
and he's gonna be a really good big brother.
He's a great cousin and a great friend
and I can just tell all the qualities that he has.
He'll just be perfect and he really accept her
into our family.
Oh, look we did all get in there.
Good job, luke.
-[luke laughs] -[mariah] look at his face.
[luke] look at bell bell, look at bella.
[mariah] even though I think he'll do fine
with the transition,
it's only then us
for the past eight years.
We're all gonna do our handprints
on these little stones.
-[luke] yeah. -[mariah] and then when the baby gets here,
we can do her little hand and feet print.
You can probably get your feet on it too.
So I want to make sure that he still knows
he's really special and that she is gonna take
a lot of our attention in the beginning
but we're not gonna forget about him
and we wanna make sure he's included
throughout the whole process.
-Ready? -[luke] set...
[mariah] so when you put it in there you gotta hold it still.
Okay. I'm ready.
-Oh, it feels weird. -Okay. Hold on. Hold on.
-It feels like sand. -Let me push it in.
Slowly pick it up.
Oh, look at that.
You wanna decorate it now?
[luke] I'm feeling kind of scared,
kind of happy, kind of weird.
It's all kind... It's really weird
because I never had a baby sister or baby brother.
So I don't know how it's gonna go.
But I know it's gonna go good.
-All right, we good? -[luke] that's good.
[mariah] okay. Now we gotta set it off to the side so it'll dry.
You guys keep saying you're good
and then you keep sticking more on.
All right, one more and that's it, both of you.
-[luke] okay. -All right, we're done.
[kanani] wait, you said one more.
That was your one more.
[luke] [laughs] daddy.
[kanani] look at that.
[luke] look how beautiful that is.
Okay.
Luke, maybe you should take pictures of us
doing this with your polaroid.
Okay, mom. I'm ready.
Okay. Let me see.
Oh, look at that.
[mariah] okay. Mommy is gonna do bella's foot,
you wanna a take a picture of me doing it?
-Yeah, you... -All right, ready?
[luke] wait, wait, wait, wait, I'm gonna get a good shot.
-[mariah] okay, ready? -[luke] watch, set, go.
[mariah] all right, bella, we can do one more.
I got bella about a year
before I got pregnant with luke.
And when luke came out,
she became very protective over him
because she was always very protective over me.
Oh, look, that one came out good.
Definitely, gonna be interesting to see
how she acts again
with another new baby in the house.
Perfect. All right.
Mommy's is done like, uh, belly's paw prints
-[luke laughs] -bella, you're on the stone.
Are you mad? You're mad?
-She's mad. -[luke laughs]
she's like, "why do you have to do that?"
daddy is just making his like perfecto.
[luke] oh, no.
My dad's going pro.
[kanani] I'm feeling a little nervous right now
because we're so close to having her...
Trying to hold it together right now but,
like, I'm ready for it happen
but am I really gonna be ready?
So I just wanna really be on my toes.
[mariah] well, you gotta make sure you gotta push.
-Push, daddy. -[luke] daddy...
Not too much, luke, not too much.
Just enough to make a little indention.
-[luke] now pull it up slow. -Okay.
Very slowly.
-Very slowly. -Very slowly.
Daddy's hand almost takes the whole stone up.
It was really nice to be able to do something
with the family today.
That's a good one, daddy.
[kanani] yeah, it is a good one.
[mariah] we have really chaotic and busy lives
and we're not gonna have a lot of free time
to do little things like this once the baby comes.
[kanani] all right. I'm done.
[mariah] it's gonna be even more hectic
so I really enjoyed it.
[like] d-a...
Mom, look at that.
Look at that perfect handwriting.
[mariah] no, it looks good.
Her little paw prints are so cute.
[laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
[tia] come on. They're both so sweet.
[woman] come on.
[tia] it's been a couple of weeks since
tania and I picked up cozy and nina
from the kendall county animal shelter in texas.
So it was kind of cute.
Tania's named her cozy
because she said the shelter
was in the town of comfort.
Comfort, texas.
Comfort, cozy.
It was cute.
Hi nini.
-[mariah t.] she's so cute. -You look fatter now.
Oh, my goodness.
Come here. It's okay.
She looks a bit better that short time.
Wow.
[tia] yeah, they look good.
No, she doesn't like you.
Oh.
[laughs]
[woman speaking]
-hi mom. -[woman speaking]
-yes, yeah. -[woman speaking]
-[tia] hmm. -[woman speaking]
oh, they were?
Really?
[tia] wow.
And, um...
[tia] yeah.
[mariah t.] yeah, I can see it right here.
[tia] yeah, she's the one that was more nervous.
-[mariah t.] no, no dog. -[tia] hot stuff.
-Oh, yeah. -[woman] I mean, they were, like, friendly.
It was just something like the needle.
That's what lucy said too like the dogs too.
[mariah t.] let's go this way.
[tia] so... In getting to know more
about nina and cozy,
the two dogs got along per se
but not really, you know,
which explains now why we had them
in two separate crates.
Nina just like bounced right back
like personality-wise, temperament-wise,
she was just happy-go-lucky,
couldn't wait to meet everybody.
It's okay. I know you're nervous.
She's more like traumatized,
like the dog's keeps getting scared
-and, like, going into me. -Yeah.
Cozy on the other hand is just a little bit more shy.
[mariah t.] they're both sweet.
Yeah, she just doesn't like other dogs.
[woman] she was like a little bit shy though.
[mariah t.] that's what I'm saying. She keeps...
She keeps leaning on my leg and like...
Yeah, she was fine.
[mariah t.] no pun intended but cozy up too.
[tia] but the one thing that is for sure
is that both dogs cannot be placed together.
Yeah, next step is... That mean they're healthy.
[mariah t.] yeah, they're both heartworm negative.
They're both heartworm negative, both spayed,
it's just a matter to finding the right home for them,
-you know, because she... -I mean, she'll be easy.
She'll be easy, but she's got her age.
Might be a little tough.
So can we put her on the senior thing then,
even though she doesn't look like it but her age is.
-[tia] yeah. -[mariah t.] so lisa and I
will get pictures of them
since we're on a roll right now
and then we'll get them up on the website.
Yeah, she'll be a little bit tougher just because...
[mariah t.] not dog friendly?
[tia] yeah, and she's a little bit
apprehensive with some people.
I noticed that about her.
Well, lisa and I can start socializing her more.
[tia] she's amazing. This little one...
Yeah, yeah.
This rescue situation was definitely one of...
The ones that kind of shocked me,
you know, the last time we saw nina,
she was a little puppy,
and then to see how she was dumped
along the side of this road.
The dogs were neglected.
They had had some rough times
before they were picked up by the animal shelter.
But what happened?
What happened in our adopter's life
that it came down to this?
I do believe they wanted them to be found.
I just don't understand why didn't just drive
a little bit further to the animal shelter.
I don't know.
A lot of unanswered questions
and we may not ever get the answers.
[mariah t.] come on, cozy.
[tia] but they're happy now.
And, um, next... It's all that matters.
They're happy and they're safe.
-[tia] all right. -Come on, honey.
This is randy. We've had him for about six years.
He came to us from the assumption parish jail
actually when he was around a year old.
Woo-hoo!
There we go.
Even though randy doesn't get along with other dogs,
he is wonderful with people, children, everyone.
Randy is one of the dogs
that's on our tours here at villalobos,
so he is around new people all day, every day
and he is the one of the most
well-behaved tour dogs that we have.
If you're interested in adopting randy,
any other villalobos dog,
or donating to villalobos,
go to animalplanet.Com/pitbulls.
Hi, buddy.
[thunder rumbling]
[tia] we are unfortunate
but fortunate at the same time
to have endured pretty much
every natural disaster
that mother nature can throw at you.
[waves crashing]
[tia] yeah, there's no way to predict
what this hurricanes do.
The weather can be so extreme
and at a snap of a finger.
[thunder rumbling]
[barking]
[mariah t.] we just keep barely getting this
with hurricanes and at some point,
it's not gonna miss you.
And this one feels like
it's gonna hit and gonna hit hard.
[dogs barking]
[mariah t.] there's two different types of hurricanes.
You have flooding or you have really high winds
and it's like pick your poison.
[thunder rumbles]
[dogs barking]
[mariah t.] I mean, I swam out of my house
during hurricane isaac but this was intense.
I was trying to stay strong
because it was me and, you know,
some of the guys at claiborne.
Normally, it's the flooding that gets really bad.
This one, the wind was moving so fast,
it was terrifying.
One of the big metal fans that are in our house
was moving so fast that sparks were flying everywhere.
We ended up losing complete power in the warehouse
during the hurricane.
The front of the roof here fell off
and then someone that works for us,
a tree fell on their roof.
We had a few wooden windows
on either side fly in through towards the dogs.
It was not fun.
Part of the roof flew off.
That big beautiful iron gate,
the wind I guess just speeded it up so much
that it just fell.
So I had to call my brother in the middle of the night
because we can't leave that open if a dog gets loose
so he had to rush over after the storm
and put up just a little temporary fence.
That gate is a really staple part
of what people see when they come to visit us.
And just having half of it just [make sound]
I don't know. I think that's how I felt.
I just wanted to flop over at that point too.
[thunder rumbles]
[tia] I know we can't get everybody here
at the same time,
which brings me up to why I'm here.
I don't know what else to do at this point
but something needs to change.
I've done some pretty extreme things in my life
but this is another... One of those extreme ideas.
[dramatic music playing]
[sirens blaring]
[dramatic music playing]
[tia] this last storm, this last hurricane
did actually hit new orleans.
The main building itself handled it.
Wow.
We did have some outside damage.
We had some kennels get ripped out of the ground,
twisted around like pretzels,
which is to be expected.
Oh, my god.
The thing that really hit home
and it was kind of emotional was seeing
that our big, black wrought iron gates,
you know, the villalobos gates.
The infamous villalobos gates got ripped to pieces,
you know, and half of them got blown away.
My god.
It bothered me seeing the gate like that,
like it wasn't like a severe thing,
it wasn't like everything was mangled
and just, you know, unfixable but that's like us, right?
That represents us, that big black gate.
That bothered me.
And it's kind of not... It's not setting with me well.
I don't know if it's a sign for something
but it's got me thinking.
After being at this location for about 10 years now,
I mean, it has been home to us, to the dogs,
to the employees, to the parolees.
But that being said,
[sighs] it's getting hard.
It's getting hard being there.
Between the weather, getting...
It feels like it's getting more severe.
There's a lot of repairs to make.
There's a lot of reconstruction
that needs to be done.
So something needs to change.
Not quite sure what yet but something needs to change.
[country music playing]
[ringing]
-hi there. -Hi. How are you guys?
-[nikkie] we're all right. -[fitz] we're all right.
[mariah t. ] so bro has been living with the family
for a little while now.
And we wanted to do a skype call
and just see how everything is going.
How have things been? How did things start adjusting?
Well, first of all, as soon as I opened the video,
remington and... His name is steel now, not bro.
Both of them are loose and bro's body language
was so comfortable with remington.
And that's what I was hoping to see.
Does steel play with remington now
or is he still like getting adjusted?
I'm glad we made that decision to...
Good for you guys for sticking it out.
[laughs]
I am really glad
that family had the experience that they had,
so that we got to make a decision that we did.
Are you guys happy and comfortable
with the decisions?
Good. I see her shaking her head.
[laughs]
I wouldn't have been able to just leave bro
in that situation to try with just any adopters.
And they really knew what they were doing
and thankfully, we all took a chance
and decided to just try it
because now bro... Steel and remington
can live their lives happily together
and hopefully bring happiness to the family.
I am a so glad that everything worked out
the way that it did.
Oh, my gosh. [laughs].
I had a feeling things would get better,
you know, um, and it was worth a try
and it worked out.
The little girls, they were so excited that he stayed
and hearing that he's going down the slides with them,
it's just that all-american thing in your head
of little girls running around with their pit bulls
and... I don't know.
It's a pretty cute adoption for me
and I'm really glad I got to do it.
Well, good night, girls. Have fun with your brothers.
Bye, guys.
Sweet steel.
[laughter]
[suspense music playing]
[tia] I don't look at the storms
and the hurricane season
and having near misses as, "wow, we're on borrowed time."
I look at it as like, "wow, thank you mother nature
for giving us a break."
okay. I know we can't get everybody here
at the same time.
Everybody's in different locations.
[man] yeah, yeah, they're all over the place.
Which brings me up to why I'm here.
[man speaking]
quite the opposite actually.
We knew what we signed up for when we moved here.
It's home for our dogs, it's home for us.
You know, I don't know what else to do at this point
but something needs to change.
I've done some pretty extreme things in my life
but this another... One of those extreme ideas.
So I've decided that once again,
we are going to move.
So I've decided that once again,
we are going to move.
[man] what? Like the whole building move?
Don't everybody attack me at once.
-[laughs] -[man] like move...
I believe in signs, I do.
And I think for me,
it was watching our gate get ripped off the hinges.
And I don't mean that because of, like...
Because of the weather.
I mean, it was just like someone was saying,
"come on, let's start tearing this down."
she served you well, you know.
So what I'm doing is this.
Um, you learn from the past
and having this warehouse even though...
It's been here for us.
We can consolidate.
I've been scoping out different locations.
We need to consolidate.
I want... Our other smaller little locations that we have
all under one roof.
I want the employees to be more together.
I want to get us on higher ground
to address the flooding.
And we need to feel like we're safer now.
We need to feel like our dogs are safer.
So I have to believe the new villalobos rescue center
is out there somewhere.
And I'm actively trying to find the right place.
-[man] I'm ready to move. -I know.
Trust me, I've been thinkin'
and it's like we're just sitting here, you know.
And it's like between here
and then dealing with the stuff at assumption,
-with dulce, and then texas. -We can put all that bull [bleep] under one roof.
Yeah.
I want this move to be...
Exciting,
new times ahead.
Is it gonna be stressful? Yes.
But number one are the dogs.
We have to do better for them.
And then secondly, is the employees.
I need to give them a better working environment,
a safer working environment.
Moving an organization as large as ours
is gonna be a lot of work.
I know because I've already done it once.
Um, so that being said,
I would not be doing it
if it wasn't for the betterment of everybody.
And that's what I'm doing this for,
to make it better for everybody.
-That's it. -That's some good news.
-That's it. -Yeah.
Back to work.
We had to close down our restaurant,
we had to close down our shop, our retail shop.
I mean, it's... Everything's gone.
And to be able to have everything together,
to be able to share that with our supporters, our donors,
I want that feeling,
especially in times like now, with covid,
just with everything. It's...
There's a lot of unhappiness in the country right now.
And I want to create a place
that when people walk through the gates,
they forget the rest of the world exists.
And it's just...
Doggy happiness.
In moving wherever it is,
it's gonna be for the betterment of the dogs
and the people of villalobos rescue center.
We have to do...
I have to do something better for these dogs
and our employees.
It's my responsibility.
[dramatic music playing]