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- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
B
When the temperatures drop and the rut heats up, your system needs to hold up. This is where first lights, core and thermic kits come in. The core kit adds warmth without bulk. Perfect for all day. Sits during shifting weather. And the thermic kit, it's built for the brutal, cold, silent, durable, and designed for hunters who don't head back to the truck when the forecast turns. Because late October isn't forgiving. So cheap gear folds, bulky layers get noisy. First light helps you stay focused when everything else is working against you. There's no shortcuts, no compromise. The long sit starts here. Head over to first light.com and get cold front ready. That's first light. L I t e.com okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have another emergency episode of the Meater podcast. Something happens of such significance that you just have to go with it live now.
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A
Fwop.
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B
The other day, I got a text from my beloved friend Ronald F. Bane. He says, is there a time, a day or two of the week that we could have a conversation? I have a story. When I tell you the story, you will not believe it, but it's going to take some time. I'm intrigued, he replies. I say I'm intrigued, he replies. I would put it on a scale of Jesus was buried and rose again three days later. Well, that. And that story's got a lot of press.
- [01:41]
A
Yeah, but that's an old story. And I don't know any witnesses. I don't know any witnesses to that story.
- [01:49]
B
Well, this one, there's a witness that we. This story, there's a witness, and we need to find them. That's the objective. So if you're. If you're listening or watching, pay special attention to this story. It's a story about the salvation of a dog, the resurrection of a dog, and there's a person. There's a person in this country of tremendous interest, possibly two or three people of tremendous interest if we can find them.
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A
Yeah, we're looking for one more puzzle piece, but first.
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B
Oh, go ahead. No, you're good.
- [02:23]
A
No, yeah, I said we're looking for one more. I've got as much of the story as it could be accumulated, but I just wanted to figure maybe in your audience somebody saw something or got home and said, you won't believe what I saw today.
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B
Yep. And they're out there. We're gonna find them.
- [02:40]
A
Yeah, we're hoping. We're hoping.
- [02:42]
B
But first, me either live the Christmas tour headed to the south. Okay. We got here one sec, Fayetteville, Arkansas is sold out, so scratch that. But we got December 17th, Birmingham, Alabama at the Lyric. December 18th, Nashville, Tennessee at Marathon Music Works. December 19th, Memphis, Tennessee at Minglewood Hall. The 20th is Fayetteville, but it's too late. 21st, Dallas, Texas, Texas Theater. December 22nd, Austin, Texas at Paramount. Merchant, the Latvian Lover, Clay Newcomb, Brent Reeves, Dr. Randall, all headed out, hitting the road. A lot of laughs, give away a lot of prizes, music. Very entertaining night. So get your girlfriend what she actually wants. There's some stupid slippers. Get her tickets to the Christmas tour. Another thing, it's been out for a while, but I, I haven't mentioned this yet. We got a new meat eater store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Stop in there. It's open right now. We had the opening. It was great. Tons of people came out. It's still there. It'll be there in perpetuity, the meat eater store in Milwaukee. So if you're in that region, go check that out. Another thing is, we got another. We got another six pack of Meat Eater episodes, season 13 coming out in a few weeks on October 20, with no further ado, my special friend Ronnie Bain is going to tell us a dog story.
- [04:24]
A
Yep.
- [04:25]
B
And, Ron, if you want to set it up with a little, like, if you want to set it up with a little bit of dog history about your dogs, you were the first guy I knew who got serious about dogs. I mean, like, really serious that would have gangs of them and be messing with them and experimenting with them and not just like a dog that you had and then that dog dies and you get another one. It's kind of how dog ownership generally went in our area.
- [04:49]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Most people could only do one dog and I, I kind of jumped with both feet into it and started, you know, I got involved with a versatile dog club. I apprenticed and became a judge and a senior judge for, For Versal hunting dogs. But, you know, the first couple dogs I had that you knew, I, I know why you got turned off by dogs. I've heard you talk about it before.
- [05:16]
B
And my, my, no, because I had the world. We had. I grew up with the world's greatest dog. But go on.
- [05:21]
A
Yeah. You had Duchess or whatever her name.
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B
Yeah, yeah, Rip.
- [05:25]
A
And I didn't. I had. Anyway, so along the, along the line, if you own enough dogs, and I think I, I got a list of them somewhere. I think I've had 23 dogs and someone at my age might have, you know, six if they go one by one. And I raised several Litters of dogs. But anyway, Years back in 2004, yeah, 2004, on Memorial Day weekend, I was living in Virginia and I was still living in a hotel at the time. And I would take my dogs, I always traveled with at least a couple dogs and I had two of them out in the wood in the far back of a parking lot of this hotel. And I would let them free range so they could poop and pee before I put them back in the truck. And it was like a ritual every night. And I never knew there was a live entrance to this parking lot and, and I saw a vehicle coming, as it turned out to be a full size delivery van. And both of my dogs were still over this berm and I made the grave mistake, maybe it was the grave mistake of whistling for him, thinking I'd get them in, you know, I'd get them rounded up before this vehicle came toward me. And lo and behold, Zygon came right up across that road in front of my eyes and got smacked by a full size. It was a Ford delivery van and I estimated it to be maybe about 30, 40, maybe 45 miles an hour. And I watched this happen. I watched this dog get broadsided, rolled underneath the truck. He was laying on his back, urinating on the ground, bleeding out of his mouth. And had, I had, I had a pistol or something to euthanize them with. I would, because of what I saw and what I saw on the ground, it was, it was not going to be able to make it anyway. Called one of the guys that worked for me, he came and helped me put him in the truck. He was about a 75 pound dog and went to an all night vet that was in not far away in the town. They kept the dog till six o' clock in the morning. He was still miraculously alive. Cracked ribs on one side of his body, blood in his blood around his heart, lungs, liver, spleen, not good, fortunately not broken legs, all broken ribs. And he ended up going to a place, a critical care place in Richmond, Virginia. He spent seven days there and I got him back. And two months later, maybe two and a half months later, I actually ran him in a high level test. We didn't pass, but it wasn't because of his physical problems, it was just because we had a couple little FAs in the test later on. And you, you dedicated this. In fact, anytime I've watched the episode that you and I did on sage grouse, I was at a state park in Indiana maybe 10 years later and opened the dog, the Open the kennels on my three dog kennel and two of my dogs were stone cold dead. Turned out they got into some kind of a poison or a, a not antifreeze, but some kind of a poison while I had them out in the woods the day before. So I've had some, you know, and anybody's been in it long enough's had this kind of luck or lack of luck. These things happen to you and you just, you just move forward and that's kind of one of the reasons there's always more dogs that have to be fed. I can't, I can't stop and, and go. But. So I've had a pretty good stretch now without anything happening until Thursday, the 18th of this month, I took off for North Dakota and I had four dogs in my truck. I had a small kennel in the back seat of my truck. For my cocker spaniel I have built in stainless steel and aluminum dog box that each has one dog in it and a transportation kennel that you can take in and out of a truck mounted on top of those dog kennels and bolted down so I'm dry. I get above, I get out of the house about 5:30 in the morning, it's dark out. I'm heading down south. I got to get through Indiana and Chicago and work my way up toward I94.
- [10:01]
B
Yeah, Ronnie's leaving West Michigan, Muskegon County, Twin Town, Michigan.
- [10:06]
A
Right.
- [10:08]
B
Heading south down around the bottom end of Lake Michigan. And then you're going to head west from there.
- [10:13]
A
Right, exactly. And, and I can say that what happened next is my fault because when I was loading everything up probably about 4, 4:30 in the morning, making a final check with everything. This particular dog, he, he kennels like if I point at something he kennels, it could be a cardboard box, he'll jump in it. And his name is Tagus, he's a wire haired vizula. And I opened that kennel door and he jumped up in there and I closed the door. The door appeared to be closed, but I didn't pull on it. It even has additional safety latches. But this is an enclosed camper. Like a cap.
- [10:59]
B
Yeah. You got like.
- [11:00]
A
Yeah.
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B
You got a dog box in a topper?
- [11:03]
A
Yes, in the topper. For, for lack of a better. That's a perfect description. So again I, I didn't check the door. Looked like it was closed. It, it obviously it wasn't. Anyway, I'm proceeding to go down. I stopped for a cup of coffee. I stop at another stop I had to pick some stuff up from somebody. And the phone rings. Now the Ronnie.
- [11:27]
B
Can I, Can I throw something. Can I throw something in here? Because it's reminding me of a. Ronnie is one of the America's great longdistance drivers. Among the, among the best. Well, among the best long distance drivers. Ronnie used to go, I love you still use this strategy. I mean, among the best long distance. I mean, bad driver, he's not a great driver. But in terms of like long haul, let's just drive to Florida right now and not stop. Kind of like driving like among America's best.
- [12:06]
A
Yeah. For not being a. For not having a CDL license and driving a semi.
- [12:10]
B
I'd agree with among the best. He's so serious about it. He'll pull into a gas station and get a cup of ice and then sit there and just drop those ice cubes down the back of his shirt. That motivated you? Slip one down the back of his shirt kind of. And then just that motivated, like, he ain't stopping.
- [12:41]
A
Well, that's, that's true. I. I drove most of the way back from the Arctic Circle to Fairbanks with you.
- [12:50]
B
I probably slept against the window.
- [12:53]
A
Well, part of it. The other part of the time we argued about the NSA listening to phone calls.
- [13:01]
B
Okay, so go on. Sorry you stopped. You got a coffee. I just had to throw that in there because I was wondering if you got a bucket of ice too.
- [13:07]
A
Yeah. This is a 1100 mile trip I'm on and I'm not, I'm not planning on stopping. So I'm fueled up, I'm coffeeed up. My phone rings. It was about 7:30. I looked it up in a call log. It was 7:36. And the person who care takes my house in Virginia is a fellow named Bill. Bill Walters. And I was down there just the week before. We can have four dove hunting. And he doesn't usually call me in the morning. He usually calls me if there's a problem with the lawnmower or something. And I, I pick up the phone and I said, yeah, Bill. I didn't pick up. I answered it on my dashboard and I said, yeah, Bill, what's up? He says, ron, I just got the strangest call from a California number from a woman. Now, Bill can take a long time to tell a story. I said, what's up? He said, she said, sir, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your dog was hit by a car on I94 in Virginia. And I'm taking the dog. I have the dog in my car.
- [14:16]
B
Back up. She didn't say that. You said I 94 in Virginia.
- [14:22]
A
Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Yes, you're right. She said your dog was hit, your dog was hit on I94 in Michigan. That's what she. And this is Bill telling me what she told him.
- [14:32]
B
Bill's in Virginia.
- [14:33]
A
Bill's in Virginia at his kitchen table. And he answers the phone. That's what the lady tells him. And he says, well, ma', am, my dog is sitting by my feet. And he said, so I don't know what to tell you. And she says, well, it has your phone number. I've got it right here. It has your phone number on a military type dog tag, but no name. I don't know if you can see that.
- [15:01]
B
Ron is presenting for you. People not watching. Ron is presenting a dog collar exhibit. A orange dog collar with a dog tag and a number. Don't dial, don't dial. Don't show your phone number. You're gonna get ro his body. He doesn't want to hear from you.
- [15:20]
A
He doesn't want to hear from me. So he said, well, ma', am, I, I don't know what to tell you. And then she said, it's an orange Carhartt collar. This is what she's, this is what he's translating to me.
- [15:35]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [15:35]
A
The whole time I'm saying, bill, well, that's impossible. It's just one of those tags you order at the front counter, and somebody's probably got the number wrong. He goes, yeah, but I lent you that collar when you were here dove hunting. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. I needed a different collar. The one he had on was all just getting gnarly. And I asked Bill if he had an extra collar. And the minute that hit me, I, I started, like, hyperventilating and I, or not breathing. And from 72, I keep my, my speedometer at 72 on cruise control. I pulled over like, as quick as I could without locking up the brakes, even got into the grass a little bit on the shoulder of the road. And I, I'm getting a little emotional now, and I jump out of the car and I open up the back hood, the back door like you would on any cap. And there I see the dog kennel door open and the window, the screen on this sliding window halfway hanging out of the, the, the vehicle, and I just lose it. I, I, I, I mean, I'm just, I don't even know if, I don't know if I stood there for two minutes. I don't know if I was crying. I know I couldn't walk. And I got right back in the truck, and I called Bill back, and I was. I know I was crying. And I said, bill, it's tag us. It's tag us. It's. Who, who's. Who. Who's this lady? And he says, I've got the number. I gave her your number, and I'll. I'll send you her number. And I'm about. At this point, I'm about two miles from the Indiana line, and I got to turn around and get an exit and go back, but I don't know where I'm going back to. And, Steve, you know that. That chunk of I94 that we come from, our house in Twin Lake, you're only on 94 for about 35, 36 miles or 40 miles now. So all I know was, is on 994. And I. I immediately start calling this woman's number, and it goes right to voicemail, right to voicemail. And I call again, and I'm. I'm yelling at my dashboard for this lady to answer. I don't know her name even yet. And I'm. I. I'm driving north, and I'm thinking, I don't know where to go, so I just pull off the next exit because I'm like, I don't want to go all the way to Benton harbor if it was in wherever. And finally she calls me up and. And I said, oh, thank God. I said. And I said, my name is Ron. She says, my name is Kristen. And she said, yeah, your. Your dog was hit on i94. And I have it in my truck, and I'm bringing it to my veterinarian in Berrien Springs, Michigan. And I'm. Right now, I'm in a parking lot right off the side of the. Of the highway at a gas station. And I. I'm shaken. And I finally said. I said, I think. I said, I'm sure he's dead or how bad is it? And she said, I don't know how to tell you this, but I was driving southbound on I94 this morning, and I saw what I thought was a cardboard box up ahead on the shoulder of the road or in the left lane of the road. At this point, 94 is three lanes wide. And Steve, you ever seen a box floating around on the road? You're afraid something's in there or it's going to get stuck under your car? You know, when you see a. You've seen that?
- [19:20]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [19:21]
A
So She. I, I don't know if she slowed down or she just noticed it, but she noticed it going in front of a semi truck. And then the semi truck was in the middle lane. I went over this with her again this morning. Semi truck was in the middle lane. There was an suv. She didn't describe the. The brand, but she was. She said an SUV was in the right lane, the slow lane, as. As was she. And she saw this brown object get missed by the truck. And then with the suv, what she saw was darkness underneath between. It was daylight out. Now, the. Where you could normally look through someone's, you know, vehicle.
- [20:10]
B
Yep.
- [20:12]
A
Like something underneath there. And then what she saw was Tagus shoot out between the wheels of the, the rear of the vehicle. And this is at full highway speed and start rolling high speed over and over and over and over and over. She said like a, like a can rolling down the road. And then she thought it was a deer because he's like that red brown color. And then it stood up. She said it stood up. It. It rolled from the car. It was in the slow lane, rolled onto the shoulder just about to the grass, and it stood up. And all the while she's stopping. She's getting. She's starting to stop. And she said it stood up and it just stood there. And then she pulled off. Only got her nose. She told me this this morning because I wanted more detail. She only put the nose of her car, the front wheels into the shoulder of the road, kind of pointing at the grass. And she opened the door, and the dog started walking back out into the slow lane. And she. I think she. She said she left the door open and she started calling the dog, calling the dog. And he was kind of confused, kind of walking around in a circle, but still heading back into the traffic. And then she just went up to him and grabbed him by the collar, and she had an additional collar in her. This is just. I. I told you this would take forever to tell you, Steve.
- [21:45]
B
No, you're doing good.
- [21:48]
A
Because part of me can't still. I go back into this craziness of this. She. She does volunteer name is Kristen Claussen, and she literally does volunteer work for a group called Animal Aid of Southwest Michigan. And her friends have told her, like, they've been in the car with her, and she'll see a stray dog or a loose dog with no owner. She keeps leashes and collars in her back seat where if she sees a dog, and her friends have told her, kristen, you are going to get hurt or Killed doing this. You gotta, you've got to just call this. There's something about this woman that if she sees a dog, she's got to help. And so she gets the dog into her front seat of her car. She had to pick it up, and she put it on the front seat of the car and immediately calls her vet. And that's a veterinarian clinic in Berrien Springs called Two by two Animal Hospital. Well, it's not open yet. And she calls the after hours emergency number. They know her because she, she brings in, you know, rescue dogs for shots or checkups and they tell her to head there. It'll be open. If she gets there before 8 o', clock, there'll be people there waiting for. And so when she calls me and tells me this, she is. I might be missing a timeline. She's telling me that she's already been to the clinic. She's on her way to work now, the dog is at the clinic. And now I've got about a 15 mile drive to Berrien Springs. And I'm still just. The only thing I can think of is that I got this dog four years ago from the same town that I stay in in North Dakota. I'm going to have to, if the dog isn't already dead, that I'm going to have to, you know, tell the veterinarian to euthanize it. And I know this sounds really bizarre, but maybe dog owners and dog lovers and hunters would understand. My intention was not to turn around and go home. My intention was to put a bag of ice on him in the kennel and bury him as soon as I got to North Dakota. Now, that's kind of weird, but that's where my head was like, bury him.
- [24:07]
B
Back where he came from area, back.
- [24:08]
A
Where he came from on the prairie. And. And so I'm in traffic and I'm trying to get there and it's a 15 minute drive. Now I get there and there's a woman on the phone at the reception desk and I want to grab the.
- [24:25]
B
Hold up real quick. This all is happening so fast that when you get the call from Bill, right. You're how many miles from where she. Like this happens so fast. You're only 10 miles down the highway.
- [24:41]
A
Right. She said this happened just north of Sawyer, Michigan. And Sawyer, Michigan is exit 12.
- [24:49]
B
Yep.
- [24:50]
A
So the exit she got off at to turn around was exit 12. So this happened somewhere, you know, north of, you know, 13 miles north of the Indian lineup, 14 miles north, something like that. So when I Get the call from Bill. I'm two miles from Indiana. So she got that dog in the car, called the vet, got that done, and then called Bill in the space of about 10 minutes.
- [25:14]
B
Yep.
- [25:16]
A
So when I'm on my way to the vet already, she's the. The dog already is at the vet, and I'm going to save this part for later. So I just get to the vet clinic, and the receptionist is on the phone, and I'm trying not to be like that guy. And I. And I just like, okay, whatever it is, it is. So whoever's on the phone's got something important going on too. And finally she hangs up and says, can I help you? And I said, yeah, I'm the guy that had the dog hit on the interstate today. And she goes, oh, come with me. And she brings me over to this waiting room five. And I said. And then a vet tech walks in with her. And I said, could I just go see the dog instead of going here? And she says, no, we'll bring the dog into you. And that. I sit down and I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, what do you mean? You're gonna bring the dog to me on a. On a gurney or, you know, in a body? I. Steve, as God is my witness, she walked that dog in on a leash, and the dog's tail was wagging.
- [26:20]
B
Our crew at Meat Eater has centuries worth of collective experience procuring and preparing meat. Hunting, butchering, preserving, cooking it for ourselves and our families. I've chased it from one end of the world to the other. Grilling caribou steaks in the Arctic, butchering elk in the high country of the Rockies, drying fish in the headwaters of the Amazon. The main thing I've learned is, is that there's nothing better than knowing where your meat comes from. So when we set out to make jerky and sticks with our own recipes perfected on wild game, I wanted to start with the American buffalo, an iconic North American native that's fed this continent for thousands of years. These are recipes I use in my own kitchen. Not meant to mimic what's already out there. They're meant to showcase everything I've learned about good meat from the wilds or from the ranch. This ain't your typical phony gas station jerky. It's American buffalo done right. And it's just the beginning. Meat Eater snacks from folks who know meat.
- [27:27]
A
I sent you pictures. I don't know, is Phil gonna be able to put.
- [27:29]
B
Yeah, Phil's here. Yeah, I was Gonna add them in post, Ron, but if you give me 10 seconds, I can pull them up right now.
- [27:34]
A
Just give me.
- [27:34]
B
Give me a sec here. Yeah, he'll have them popped up in a minute.
- [27:37]
A
Yeah.
- [27:38]
B
Then he can. Extra. Adam, if you're in post. If you're post, post. How am I trying to explain this? Phil. No, not that picture, Phil. I know.
- [27:46]
A
I'm moving it.
- [27:47]
B
There.
- [27:48]
A
Yeah, right there. Okay. That is what my dog looked like when I walked into the vet. And he came up to me, and I, you know, it's. It's not even a cut. It's actually like an abrasion across his middle of his brow.
- [28:08]
B
Yeah.
- [28:08]
A
Above his eye and on the left side of his eye. And.
- [28:13]
B
Yeah. It looks like if he took a iron. Yeah, like a branding iron and laid it across his forehead.
- [28:19]
A
Yep. Yep. And I can't picture what did that. I can't picture what did that. And the. The weirdest part of it is like, I'm still looking at this dog, and I'm crying because he's. His tail is wagging. He's right between. I'm sitting down. He's right between my legs. And I. I asked the vet tech, I said, how? And she says, I have no idea. I said, but got out of my truck on the interstate. And she said, I know, but I said, well, how can this be? And she says, we don't know. We. We don't know. And this. This part is almost comical. She said, we gave him a full exam, and if anybody's ever had their dog in an exam, when there's a limp or a problem or. Or they've been hit or, you know, fell off of something, they do a real extensive leg pull. Like, they pull the front leg, and they do a complete range of motion on all four legs. And apparently he didn't have any reaction to that. And so I'm just beside myself. I'm sitting there with tears in my eyes, petting him. And she said, the only thing we found that we'd like to address right now is he has an ear infection. I looked at her, I said, isn't that the least of my problems? He said. She said, from what we can tell, that's his only problem. And. And I. I'm just. I, I. I don't even. I felt. I kept feeling like I was in a dream and that I'm gonna wake up, and I'm like, I'm two hours late for getting on the road when I wanted to, because it. This can't happen. Steve.
- [30:10]
B
No, just spill out of a moving truck at 72 miles an hour on a highway. Get rolled under another truck and. No. And you got. All you got is a ear infection.
- [30:22]
A
An ear infection and a. And a curling iron burn. It's. It's. It's not. I have been through this a hundred times. Maybe. I mean, you're good at thinking about things. The only thing you ever have a semi go by is so close it almost moves your vehicle.
- [30:43]
B
Oh yeah, dude. That's why I can't. I don't understand those people that like to ride that like to do those bike rides down the long. The busy roads.
- [30:51]
A
Yeah.
- [30:52]
B
And every truck just rocks their world, man. Like with that wind gust. Oh yeah. Hate that feeling.
- [30:59]
A
So I have to assume that I was in front of the semi or somewhere. Obviously I was in front of the semi, but I don't know how far. Whether it was a mile or.
- [31:09]
B
Yep.
- [31:10]
A
I don't know.
- [31:11]
B
Well, not a m. Well, I don't know. That's why we need to find like someone in America was Dr. They're like someone in America's been telling their friends, you'll never guess what. I watched a dog come flying out of a truck and they. Well, they think the dog's dead.
- [31:30]
A
Right. Right. And I. Even yesterday I called the non emergency number for that county and I gave her the. The time and date and she got. She got back with me in about 10 minutes and she had no 911 call.
- [31:44]
B
So nobody, nobody recorded that dog coming out of the window. But yeah, you think like just for. I mean, I'm going to state the real obvious for people. If you fall from a 72 mile an hour pickup, when you hit the ground, you're going 72 miles an hour.
- [31:59]
A
Exactly. Yeah. Just time.
- [32:01]
B
Doesn't it like denudes it like denudes flesh. Is that a word? I mean it's a word, but does that apply?
- [32:09]
A
I. I don't know. But I know what you're trying to say. Removes it if we knew it would. And so I'm still in the vet and I'm. I'm still trying to get my. Wrap my arms around this. And the vet comes out to me now and I asked her the same question. How is this possible? And she says, I don't know. But the name of the vet clinic is two by two as a reference in the. On their logo as an arc. And she just kind of. She says, I can't tell you. And I'm like this, this is. I mean it's a. It's a miracle. He I'll get him out in a minute and I'll move my camera down to a chair. But all these other things are in my head, and I'm probably messing this up because I'm kind of, like, reliving it. So the vet says, I'd like to take some more X rays. And X rays can also see if there's blood around organs. And I don't know. I think they X rayed his head first because I got charged for 2x rays, the first few, and an additional view. I've got the. The report here from two by two. So I said, yes, please do it. And then she comes back and she says, no broken ribs, nothing in the. Nothing in the legs. So I'm assuming the first was a head X ray because of the. The head damage.
- [33:37]
B
Yeah.
- [33:39]
A
No fracture in the skull, no broken bones, no bleeding on the organs. Now, to go back to that first dog that I brought to a clinic by Richmond on X rays, because they didn't do an MRI on X rays. They showed me the blood around the heart, the blood around the liver, the. It. It obscures the X ray.
- [33:59]
B
Yeah.
- [34:00]
A
They can tell when there's fluid inside of a dog's body. Yeah, there's nothing inside this dog's body, Steve. And so I. I'm sitting there with them, and they give me. They give me. They give me the ear drops, and they give me the instructions for the ear drops, and they give me. They give me carprofen for pain, and they give me trap Trazodone for anxiety, in case he gets anxious or starts walking around or gets confused. That's. That's kind of like a. Not a painkiller. Something to calm a dog down. Yeah, like a down.
- [34:40]
B
I understand.
- [34:41]
A
And I never ended up giving him any trauma. Trapezone. Trazodone. I did give them by prescription, the carprofen. I gave him that for half a pill once, twice a day. I did that for about three days for pain. Because my. The other analogy, she. She said, well, I know he appears fine right now, but he's probably going to be like a person falling off a ladder, getting back on the ladder, and then getting out of bed in the morning and be completely stiff like he got hit by a truck.
- [35:12]
B
Yep. But.
- [35:14]
A
So one of the other weird parts about this story is had this not happened and had this lady Kristen not been on that road that day, there's two other scenarios, obviously. Either God himself did this, or there's some. I don't care. God did it. Got somebody. Somebody did it. But my. My mechanical thought was this dog got caught up in the suction of the semi truck and maybe flattened out and spun. And could a vehicle straddle a dog without hitting it? I. I guess if the dog was flat on its side, it had to.
- [35:57]
B
Be flat because your dog's 65 pounds, man. Some is way higher than the wheel hub. Yeah.
- [36:02]
A
Oh, yeah. It would have to be flat with his.
- [36:05]
B
Sorry. Way higher than the transfer cases and all that stuff.
- [36:08]
A
Yeah, exactly. The rear end differential or a shock mount or the muffler. You know, any of these things would have sliced them open or killed him. And I'll show them to you in a little bit. There is not a mark on his body except a little. A little patch about the size of a quarter on his rear elbow. So this dog slid on the highway, vacuumed up by a truck. I don't know. So that's one of the things we're gonna see if Anybody was on I94. It was June 18th, a Thursday, southbound on I94. Roughly, I'm gonna say anywhere from 7:15 to 7:30 in the morning. If you saw a dog on the road or if you saw. Or if you were the person that said, I think I just ran over a deer, but I didn't feel anything. I don't know.
- [37:03]
B
You know? Hey, Ronnie, jump. Phil's gonna put those pictures. Jump to, like. Yeah, jump to it real quick. Jump to how. Like how the dog could have gotten out. Right. Because he's in a topper in a dog box.
- [37:17]
A
Okay. If Phil can go to the picture.
- [37:19]
B
On the inside, we got the exterior right now.
- [37:22]
A
Right? I.
- [37:24]
B
There it is.
- [37:26]
A
That's the inside of the truck. Tailgate is up. The hatch is up. Right now that. That dog kennel is. I don't.
- [37:32]
B
I don't think it's Ronnie's truck because there'd be empty shell casings and empty beer cans everywhere.
- [37:37]
A
They're. They're. They're not in the picture, Steve. Trust me. Trust me.
- [37:43]
B
Mixed gay. Mixed gauges.
- [37:47]
A
You're right.
- [37:48]
B
Many brands. Many gauges and brands, but just one kind of beer can.
- [37:55]
A
So that is a fact. Steve's traveled with me. I put them all in the door pockets of the truck, and it drives them crazy. But I. I reenacted this this morning because I didn't take a picture when it happened. This is how the. The kennel's mounted up there permanently.
- [38:11]
B
Yep. So he got out of there and started roaming around the truck.
- [38:16]
A
And on the. In the front of the other kennel, there's about 4 or, you know, 8 square feet of floor. That cooler that you see was on that shelf. That shelf is 13 inches wide. And that window is a glass window with a screen. And that morning I slid that window open. It wasn't going to be hot, but it gets hot. Everything's been hot lately. So I wanted full ventilation for the dogs.
- [38:41]
B
Yep.
- [38:43]
A
And so that, that glass window was open by design. The screen was in place, but it's just a little pop in screen. When I opened the tailgate, when I pulled over quick, that's what I saw. I saw that cooler sitting there and there's another toolbox there that had my, my dog first aid kit that was all up on that shelf. I'm surmising that because I didn't double check that. That latch. Probably he could have been out all the way from Twin Lake, just sitting on the bottom, you know, kind of antsy like, you know, why am, why am I, why am I. Why aren't in a kennel?
- [39:24]
B
Yeah, yeah. Roaming around back there.
- [39:27]
A
He's roaming around. The other two dogs below are probably like, hey, how'd you get out? You know.
- [39:33]
B
You know, and you son of a.
- [39:35]
A
How'd you do that? He never lets us out on a trip. And I'm surmising that when I changed lanes or got back on the highway, that that cooler in that toolbox fell onto the space where he was.
- [39:49]
B
Yeah.
- [39:50]
A
And he jumped back up onto that shelf, but the door wasn't open. And possibly he just. Dogs will lean or sit or try to prop themselves up on something to sit down. And I surmise that he leaned on that screen and the screen gave out. And that other picture again, I, I want people to know I, I did this this morning because I didn't do it on the highway.
- [40:16]
B
Yep.
- [40:16]
A
That is, that is exactly how that screen looked when I opened the tailgate and then looked at the screen and my heart felt down to my, my knees, in my feet, and all I could think about was this. The, you know, you can you picture it? You know, the worst thoughts of anything. Just you've seen road kills, deer kills, dogs, cats look like.
- [40:41]
B
You know what Ronnie? What? Ronnie likened this to me. He says his daughter. This whole thing.
- [40:47]
A
Yeah.
- [40:47]
B
He says his daughter felt like.
- [40:51]
A
You.
- [40:51]
B
Know, in a wonderful. It's a Wonderful Life when Jimmy Stewart's there fixing to jump off that.
- [40:57]
A
Jump off the bridge and they send Clarence down.
- [41:01]
B
Yeah. And that Clarence heads down there. Ronnie thinks it was Clarence. A Clarence like creature guided his dog to the ground and guided his Dog to that woman's hands.
- [41:16]
A
Well, if you can explain how a dog doesn't get road rash at 72 miles an hour, I'll take another explanation.
- [41:24]
B
You're open for suggestions?
- [41:26]
A
Yeah, I'm wide open, Steve. I, I'm hoping that three people call in and says, no, it happened to me too. But.
- [41:37]
B
All the time.
- [41:39]
A
All the time.
- [41:41]
B
And it's incredible.
- [41:43]
A
It so. And then there's two other scenarios that could have played out, which would have been in this case, now that he's alive, that could have been worse because I. These are all dogs that are used to traveling. I won't stop and let the dogs out or check on them until I need a tank of gas. My. From Michigan, I would get all the way to Madison, Wisconsin. I do this route a lot. And somewhere around Madison, I would have stopped, fueled up and taken all the dogs out and I would have opened that kennel, I would have opened that door and I would have had six hours of. Yeah, of what the hell, what the hell. I don't even know if I could have drove back. The other scenario is I could have looked in my side view mirror to change lanes. I could have witnessed him fall out and I probably would have crashed. I mean, what would you do if you saw your dog fall out of your car on a highway while you were driving? I don't think you could.
- [42:47]
B
I'd think to myself, man, my kids are gonna be worked up about this.
- [42:52]
A
Yeah, well, and I thought about that too. I thought about. This is the truth. I thought about how I'm not a guy who posts. You know, I've lost out of all those dogs I've had. And those are dogs that I've kept for years at a time. Not dogs that I've had for a year and didn't work out or, or gave to somebody who needed a dog and I had extra pups. Dogs that I've had and hunted. I've never put a post up on Facebook and, and I don't say anything to people do because they're good friends of mine to do it. I never post anything about one of my dogs dying. People find out it either through my podcast or when I talk to them at Pheasant Fest, you know, like, hey, how's Bravo? And I saw he passed away last year. I, I just, that's, that's just some, that's just part of me and it's something you sign up for when you, when you get a dog and you, that's your, that's your thing. And that's how I handle it. So I fully. When I was driving to that vet, I had, I had no intention on telling anybody about this except my friends on the hunting trip and the people I know there that I got the dog from, actually. And I would have probably told my listeners at some point or something. I don't know. I don't know how I would have handled it.
- [44:09]
B
But, yeah, Ronnie's. Ronnie's referring to the hunting dog podcast.
- [44:14]
A
Yes. Which thanks to you, I, we started on the same day in January 2015. We did, we did that podcast at the kitchen table in Texas. And when I said, you mean you can do this in the kitchen? I went home. I went home and bought recording equipment.
- [44:35]
B
And hey, I just got. You know, it's funny, man. I just got two. I drew a crane tag here and I just got my second crane yesterday morning. You're allowed two cranes when you draw a crack. Crane tag here.
- [44:44]
A
We still don't have it in Michigan, Steve.
- [44:47]
B
That's the great. One of the great travesties. We'll get it. We'll get it sorted out.
- [44:53]
A
So, yeah, I, I started that just to tell stories about hunting trips and dogs and blah, blah, blah. And it's turned and I'm still doing it to this day, but I'll get. I'm gonna put this camera down. Oh, is there. No, that's the only two pictures that are important.
- [45:08]
B
Yeah. Let's see. Let's see the dog. Yeah, let's see the dog. Then we'll, we'll, we'll say goodbye. We'll reissue a call for anyone that can and find. If, if you heard a story where, like you heard a story from someone that told a story about watching a dog come out of a truck, or someone thinks they hit and killed a dog and they come home and they're all sad about hitting and killing a dog. Anything like that, send them our way. Or send him around his way.
- [45:40]
A
Up. Come here. Can you see him? That's Daggers. Tag us. Come here, come here, come here. This dog is Lazarus.
- [45:58]
B
It's the Lazarus dog. Those other dogs are pissed now.
- [46:03]
A
Yeah, they're all out. So his, his scar is just about gone. He's starting to grow hair over his eyebrow.
- [46:12]
B
That's a good looking dog, man.
- [46:15]
A
There is not a mark on his. Didn't break a nail, didn't chip a tooth. He's. Huh. And his person. And four days later, I, you know, I certainly wanted to give him a break and I, I fully expected. Honestly, I just assumed there'd be Some damage to his head and Yep, yep, if he would have. He was curled up in front of my seat for, you know, 19 hours of more driving, letting them out. And I slept in a couple rest areas. But for a nap, I didn't do the ice trick this time, Steve. But you're right, I, that is a trick of mine. And I gave him a few days, but he. When I was at the vet and they gave me a leash, I walked into my truck and he jumped up into the front seat of my truck.
- [47:05]
B
He's done with the bag.
- [47:07]
A
Well, I, I didn't want him to get ptsd. I mean, could you. How would you like to be put back in that kettle?
- [47:15]
B
Oh, dude, yeah, I've been skeptical, man.
- [47:18]
A
I ain't doing this twice. I, I've been down this road and honestly. So during the week that's. He, he went right back into that truck and right back in. You know, I triple check the latches and I'm actually going to install on the lower kennels, I'm going to install some extra secondary hatch because this kennel has secondary latches. And I want everybody who's saying under their breath, it's your Fault, Ronnie, they're 100. Right. I should have double checked that door and hit the appropriate extra latch. And I wouldn't be on this store to show today with you, but it's going to be one of the great all time stories of, of a dog living through something that it's impossible. Not a. Other than those, those cuts on or those abrasions on his forehead. I don't know. If, if you didn't know me, Steve, would you believe this story?
- [48:17]
B
No, I would. If I didn't know you, I'd say I think the dog got out somewhere else like at the rest stop or I don't know what the hell.
- [48:25]
A
And something looked like that. And then the story was like, no, I saw it. And then somebody else told the story. And some pretty soon the story is, no, I saw the dog jump out of a truck.
- [48:34]
B
No, I'll tell people. Ronnie's. Ronnie is quicker to tell a story about himself looking bad himself look good. Matter of fact, Ronnie don't tell stories where Ronnie looks good. Ronnie only tells stories around.
- [48:48]
A
Yes, I. You said that. You said that, Steve, on the episode that we did on the mountain grouse, you said he's self, he's the most self deprecating buddy I know.
- [49:02]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [49:03]
A
And that. I remember that narration.
- [49:05]
B
But yeah, he only likes stories where he looks like an idiot.
- [49:09]
A
Well, they're funnier. They're funnier.
- [49:12]
B
Well, listen, man, I'm glad the dog's alive. I'm glad you're live and happy, Steve.
- [49:18]
A
I want to do. I want to. In case I missed anything, I want to thank Kristen Claussen.
- [49:23]
B
Yep, that's the Dog Savior.
- [49:25]
A
That's the Dog Savior. She volunteers with Animal Aid of Southwest Michigan.
- [49:30]
B
Okay.
- [49:31]
A
And the clinic was 2x2 animal clinic in Baran Springs. And I don't know.
- [49:37]
B
Oh, that's great.
- [49:38]
A
I guess. Yeah, no kidding. One fact I forgot to tell you is when she pulled up to the vet clinic, they were aware that she was coming, and they rolled a gurney out to her car. She opened the door and walked the dog out onto the sidewalk. So I've been told to play the lottery. I've been told to start going back to church. I've been told to quit drinking, and I've been told to quit smoking, but I haven't done any of those things yet.
- [50:12]
B
But, yeah, you're pretty good the way you are, man. We'll keep you the way you are.
- [50:17]
A
All right, so, yeah, i94, June or September 18th, somewhere around 7:15 in the morning, southbound i94, about maybe 13, 14 miles north of the Indiana line.
- [50:36]
B
Get a hold of us. You can go to the mediator at the Mediator podcast subject line, Ronnie's dog. You can get a hold of Ronnie. If you're on YouTube. Go into the comment section, say, hey, I saw that dog get hit. Find Ronnie at the Hunting Dog podcast or on a highway near you. Thank you so much, Ronnie. Love you.
- [51:00]
A
Thank you. I love you too, Steve.
- [51:01]
B
Thanks, buddy.
- [51:02]
A
Sam.
- [51:29]
B
Mega important announcement. In fact, the most important announcement you ever heard. The third volume in our Meat Eaters American History audiobook series is available for pre order right now. Meat Eaters American History The Hide Hunters, 1865-1883 tells the story of the commercial buffalo hunters who drove North America's most iconic large mammal to the brink of extinction. To in the years after the Civil War, you'll learn all about these guys, guys like Dirty Face Jones, Skunk Johnson and Charles Squirrel Eye Emery. How they organized their hunting expeditions, what they took with them, how they hunted, what rifles they shot, how they processed their kills, how they suffered and died in the field, and the true stories of what drove them to do it in the first place. You'll also learn about the economic factors that made this a viable profession and what happened to those millions of buffalo skins once they were shipped east. And like we do in all of our meat Eaters American History projects. You'll hear a ton of wild stories and bizarre details from this era. And don't worry, we didn't leave out any of the gory details. Pre Order Meat Eaters American History The Hide Hunters 1865-1883 Wherever you get your audiobooks and you'll be ready to dig in when it's available to listen on October 14th. This is an iHeart podcast.