The MeatEater Podcast - Ep. 774: The Hunting Dog That Wouldn't Die

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Steven Rinella talks with Ronnie Boehme of The Hunting Dog Podcast. Topics discussed: A wild, near-death story involving Ron's hunting dog, Tagus.  Connect with Steve and The MeatEater Podcast Network Steve on Instagram and Twitter MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have another emergency episode of the Meat Eater podcast, where something happens of such significance that you just have to go with it live now. Fwap. Dear to I got a text from my beloved friend Ronald F. Bame 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. That, and that story's got a lot of press. Yeah, but that's an old story, and I don't know any witnesses. I don't know any witnesses to that story. And this one, 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 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 in this country of tremendous interest, possibly two or three people of tremendous interest if we can find them. Yeah, we're looking for one more puzzle piece. But first. Oh, go ahead. No, you're good. 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 yep and they're out there we're going to find them yeah we're hoping we're hoping uh but first uh meet eater live the christmas tour are headed to the south um okay we got here one sec phaithville arkansas is sold out so scratch that But we got December 17th, Birmingham, Alabama at the Lyric. December 18, 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. Me, 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. Here's some stupid slippers.

Get her tickets to the Christmas tour. Another thing. It's been out for a while, but 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 uh

we got another six pack of meat eater episodes season 13 coming out in a few weeks on october 20th with no further ado my special friend ronnie bame is going to tell us a dog story yeah 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 experiment 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 yeah yeah most people could only do one dog and uh 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 versatile hunting dogs. But, you know, the first couple dogs I had that you knew, I know why you got turned off by dogs. I've heard you talk about it before. No, because I had the world, we had, I grew up with the world's greatest dog, but go on.

Yeah, you had, Duchess or whatever. name yeah yeah rip and i didn't i had anyway so along the along the line um 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 um and it raised several litters of dogs but anyway years back in 2004 um 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 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 I saw a vehicle coming as it turned out to be a full-sized 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, Zygin 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 a pistol or something to euthanize him with, I would have 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 foopas in the test. Later on, and 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 dogs that opened 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 not antifreeze but some kind of a poison all I had them out in the woods the day before so I've had some you know and anybody's been into long enough's had this kind of luck or lack of luck these things happen to you and 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 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 about, I get out of the house about 5.30 in the morning. And it's dark out. I'm heading down south. I got to get through Indiana and Chicago and work my way up toward I-94. Yeah, Ronnie's leaving West Michigan, Muskegon County, Twin Town, Michigan.

Right. Head in south, down around the bottom end of Lake Michigan, and then you're going to head west from there. Right, exactly. And I can say that what happened next is my fault because when I was loading everything up probably about 4.30 in the morning making a final check with everything, this particular dog, 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 Tagas.

He's a wire-haired vigil. 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. Yeah, you got a dog box in a topper.

Yes, in a topper, for lack of a better, that's a perfect description. So, again, I didn't check. The door looked like it was closed. Obviously, it wasn't. Anyway, I'm proceeding to go down. I stop for a cup of coffee. I stop at another stop.

I had to pick some stuff up from somebody. And the phone rings. Now, Ronnie, can I kind of throw something in here? Because it's reminding me of a, Ronnie is one of the America's great long-distance drivers. Among the best. Well, among the best, long-distance drivers. Ronnie used to go

I don't know if you still use this strategy I mean among the best longest 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 yeah for not being a for not having a CDL license and driving a semi I'd agree with among the best he's so serious about it he'll pull in to 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 just slip one down the back of his shirt kind of and then just that motivated like he ain't stopping

Well, that's true. I drove most of the way back from the Arctic Circle to Fairbanks with you. I probably slept against the window. Well, part of it, the other part of the time, we argued about the NSA listening to phone calls. 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. Yeah. This is an 1,100-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 736.

And the person who caretakes my house in Virginia is a fellow named Bill Walters. And I was down there just a 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 a lawnmower or something. And I pick up the phone and I said, yeah, Bill, I picked 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 daughter. was hit by a car on i-94 in virginia and i'm taking you the dog i have the dog in my car oh back up she didn't say that you said i-94 in virginia oh yeah i'm sorry yes you're right um she said your dog was hit your dog was hit on i-94 in michigan that's what she and this is bill telling me what she told him bill's in virginia bills 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 ron is presenting for you people not watching ron is presenting a dog collar exhibit a orange dog collar the dog tag and a number don't dial that don't show your phone number don't dial that number you're going to get ronnie's buddy he doesn't want to hear from you 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 carhart collar this is what she's this is what he's translating to me yeah yeah 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 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'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 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 Tagas. It's Tagas.

It's who's this lady? And he says, I've got the number. I gave her your number and 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 chunk of I-94 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 it was is on 9-94. And I immediately start calling this woman's number, and it goes right to voicemail, write the 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'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 dog was hit on I-94, and I have it in my truck,

and I'm bringing it to my veterinarian in Bary in Springs, Michigan. And right now I'm in a parking lot right off the side of the highway at a gas station. And 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 I-94 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've ever seen a box floating around on a 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 so she 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 brand but she it 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 where you could normally look through someone's vehicle saw like something underneath there

and then what she saw was Tagas shoot out between the wheels of 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 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 rolled from the car. It was into 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 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 and her this is the street i told you this would take forever to tell you steve no you're doing good um

because part of me can't still i go back into this craziness of this she she does volunteer her name is christin clauson 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'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 Bary in 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 brings in, you know, rescue dogs for shots or checkups. And they tell her to head there. 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, now I might be missing the 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 Beryon 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. And 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 back where he came from.

Barry and back where he came from on the prairie. 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 phone. 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 happened so fast you're only 10 miles down the highway right she said this happened just north of Sawyer michigan and soyer michigan is exit 12 yeah 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 indiana 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. Yep.

So when I'm on my way to the vet already, she's, the dog already is at the vet. And I want 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 going to bring the dog to me on a gurney or, you know, in a body? Steve, as God is my witness, she walked that dog in on a leash and the dog's tail was wagging. Hunting big country isn't for the faint of heart. You got steep ground, long distances, and miles of crown land that aren't always easy to navigate. That's why Onex Hunt just got a serious upgrade. for hunters in Canada. Now you can get nationwide coverage

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to dig in when it's available to listen on October 14. I sent you pictures. I don't know. Is Phil going to be able to put some of those pictures? Yeah, I was going to add them in post around, but if you can be 10 seconds, I can pull them up right now. Just give me, give me a sec here. Yeah. He'll have him popped up in a minute. Then he can

extra add him in post. 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. I'm moving it. There is. 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 above his eye and on the left side of his eye and yeah it looks like if you took a uh iron yeah

Like a branding iron and laid it across his forehead. Yep. Yep. And I can't picture what did that. I can't picture what did that. And 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 asked the vet tech, I said, how? And she says, I have no idea. I said, but it, it, it, it 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 don't know. And this part is almost comical. She said, we gave them a full exam. And if anybody's ever had their dog in an exam, when there's a limp or a problem or they've been hit or 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? She said, from what we can tell, that's his only problem. And I'm just, I don't even, I felt, I kept feeling like I was in a dream and that I'm going to wake up. And I'm like, I'm two hours late for getting on the road when I wanted to. because this can't happen, Steve.

No, to spill out of a moving truck at 72 miles an hour on a highway, get rolled under another truck, and all you got is an ear infection. An ear infection and a curling iron burn. It's not, 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 you so close it almost moves your vehicle

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 along the busy roads yeah and every truck just rocks their world man like with that wind gusts oh yeah hate that feeling 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 yep I don't know well not a mile well I don't know that's why you we need to find right someone in America was driving they're like someone in America's been telling their friends he'll never guess what I watched a dog come flying out of a truck and they well they think the dog's

dead right right and I even yeah Yesterday, I called the non-emergency number for that county, and I gave her the time and date, and she got back with me in about 10 minutes, and she had no 911 call. Nobody called that dog coming out of the window. But 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. Exactly. Yeah, just time doesn't stop. It, like denudes flesh. Is that a word?

I mean, it's a word, but does that apply? I don't know, but I know what you're trying to say. Removes it. It would. And so I'm still in a vet, and I'm still trying to get my, wrap my arms around this. And the vet comes out to me now, and I ask 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 is a reference 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 um 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 the x-ray is head first because I got charged for two x-rays.

The first view and an additional view, I've got 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 legs. So I'm assuming the first was the head x-ray because of the head damage. Yeah. 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 obscures the x-ray yeah 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 carprofen for pain, and they give me tracetone 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, like a down. No, I understand. And I never ended up giving him any trapezoan, trezidone. I did give him by prescription to caraprofen. I gave him that half a pill once, twice a day. I did that for about three days for pain because the other analogy, 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 you got hit by a truck. Yeah. But 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 guess if the dog was flat on its side. It had to be flat because your dog's 65 pounds, man. Some bitch is way higher than the wheel hook. Oh, yeah. It would have to be flat with his end. It's way higher than the transfer cases and all that stuff. 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 them. And I'll show him to you in a little bit. There is not a mark on his body except 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 going to see if anybody was on I-94. It was June 18th, a Thursday.

southbound on 994 roughly i'm going to say anywhere from 715 to 730 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 you know hey ronnie jump phil's going to put those pictures jump to like yeah jump to it real quick jump to how like like how the dog could have gotten out right because he's in a top or in a dog box okay if phil can go to the picture on the inside we got the exterior right now right there it is that's the inside of the truck tailgate is up the hatch is up right now that that dog kennel is i don't think it's ronnie's truck because there'd be empty shell casings and empty beer cans everywhere

they're they're they're not in the picture steve trust me mixed mixed gauges you're right many brands many gauges and brands but just one kind of beer can so that is a fact steve traveled with me i put them all in the door pockets of the truck and it drives them crazy um but i i reenacted this this morning to because I didn't take a picture when it happened. This is how the kennels mounted up there permanently. Yep. So he got out of there and started roaming around the truck.

In the front of the other kennel, there's about four or eight 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. And it wasn't going to be hot, but it gets hot. Everything's been hot lately.

So I wanted full ventilation for the dogs. Yep. And so that glass window was opened 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 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 I, why am I, why aren't he in a kennel? Yeah, yeah, just roaming around back there.

He's roaming around. The other two dogs below are probably like, hey, how'd you get out, you know? You know, and. You son of a bitch. How'd you do that? He 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.

Yeah. 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 surmised that he leaned on that screen and the screen gave out. And that other picture, again, I want people to know I did this this morning because I didn't do it on the highway. That is exactly how that screen looked

when I opened the tailgate and then looked at the screen and my heart fell down to my knees in my feet. And all I could think about was this, you know, you can, you picture it, you know, the worst thoughts of anything. You've seen road kills, deer kills, dogs, cats, Kyle, it looked like. You know what Ronnie liking this to me?

He says his daughter, this whole thing. He says his daughter felt like, you know, in a wonderful, it's a wonderful life when Jimmy Stewart's there fixing to jump off the bridge. And they send Clarence down. 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. Well, if you can explain how a dog doesn't get road rash at 72 miles an hour, I'll take another explanation. You're open for suggestions. I'm wide open, Steve. I'm hoping that three people call and says, no, it happened to me too. It happens all the time.

It's all the time. It's incredible. 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 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. 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 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. I'd think to myself, man, my kids are going to be worked up about this. 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 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 I don't say anything to people who 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 him at Fescent Fest, you know, like, hey, how's Bravo? And I saw he passed away last year. I just, that's just part of me.

And it's something you sign up for when you get a dog and you, that's your thing. And that's how I handle it. So I fully, when I was driving to that vet, 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. Yeah, Ronnie's referring to the Hunting Dog podcast.

Yes, which thanks to you, we started on the same day in January 2015. Hmm, wow. 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 and bought recording equipment. Hey, I just got, you know what's funny, man. I just got two, I drew a crane tag here,

and I just got my second crane yesterday morning. You allowed two cranes when you draw a crane tag here. We still don't have it in Michigan, Steve. That's a great, one of the great travesties. We'll get it sorted out. So, yeah, I started that just to tell stories about hunting trips and dogs and blah, blah, and it's turned in. I'm still doing it to this day.

But I'll get, I'm going to put this camera down. Oh, is there a, no, that's the only two pictures that are important. Yeah, let's see the dog. Yeah, let's see the dog. Then we'll, we'll say goodbye. We'll reissue a call for anyone that can come in and find, 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, uh, send them our way. Or send him around his way. Cag up, come here. Can you see him?

That's Cagas. Cagas, come here. Taggis, come here. Come here. Come here. This dog is. It's Lazarus. It's the Lazarus dog. Those other dogs are pissed now.

Yeah, they're all out. So his scar is just about gone. He's starting to grow hair over his eyebrow. That's a good-looking dog, man. 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 certainly wanted to give him a break. And I fully expect it. Honestly, I just assumed there'd be some damage to his head. And if he would have, he was curled up in front of my seat for, you know, 19 hours of more driving, let them out. And I slept in a couple of rest areas. But for a nap, I didn't do the ice trick this time, Steve. But you're right.

That is a trick of mine. and I gave him a few days, but 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. He's done with the back. Well, I didn't want him to get PTSD. I mean, how would you like to be put back in that kettle? Oh, dude, yeah, I've been skeptical, man. I ain't doing this twice.

I've been down this road. And honestly, so during the week, he went right back into that truck And right back in it, 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 a dog living through something that it's impossible. Not a, other than those cuts on or those abrasions on his forehead, I don't know. If you didn't know me, Steve, would you believe this story? 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 I said. 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. No, I'll tell people. Ronnie is quicker to tell a story about himself looking bad.

Did he about himself look good? Matter of fact, Ronnie don't tell stories where Ronnie looks good. Ronnie only tells stories where Ronnie looks like an ass. You said that, you said that, Steve, on the episode that we did on the mountain grouse, you said he's the most self-deprecating buddy I know.

Yeah. And I read that narration. Yeah, he only likes stories where he looks like an idiot. Well, they're funnier. It's funnier. Well, listen, man, I'm glad the dog's alive. I'm glad you're live and happy. Steve, I want to do, I want to, in case I missed anything, I want to thank Kristen Closson.

Yep, that's the dog savior. That's the dog savior. She volunteers with animal aid of Southwest Michigan. Okay. And the clinic was two by two animal clinic in Baryon Springs. And I don't know. Oh, that's a great name. 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. I haven't done any of those things yet. Yeah, you're pretty good the way you are, man.

We'll keep you the way you are. uh all right so yeah i 94 june or september 18th somewhere around 715 in the morning southbound i 94 uh about maybe 13 14 miles north of the indiana line get a hold to us you can go to the meat eater at the meat eater podcast um subject line ronnie's dog you can get a hold of ronnie uh if you're on YouTube going to the comment section and say hey I saw that dog get hit um find ronnie at the hunting dog podcast or on a highway near you um thank you so much ronnie love you thank you i love you too steve thank you buddy 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 to 1883. tells the story of the commercial buffalo hunters who drove North America's most iconic large mammal to the brink of extinction 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 to 1883, wherever you get your audiobooks, and you'll be ready to dig in when it's available to listen on October 14. This is an IHeart podcast.