Here's to the things that most inspire us. Clearing a path and helping shape our future.  The journey here was tough. I laughed, I cried, I prayed. As hard as it was, it was all worth it in the end. Here's my story and the Savvy Dogs inspiration:

first let me introduce myself. Savannah Hagenbeck, Founder of Savvy dogs

I knew, even at a young age that I would someday be working with animals. After moving from Minnesota to Texas, I was given the opportunity to make this dream a reality. I was offered a job working and training contraband detection canines. During that time I spent almost 6 years refining my professional dog training skills and working with high drive, high energy, rescue dogs.  It was extremely gratifying knowing that the company I was working for, would rescue certain dogs that others had given up on, and gave them a new lease on life. This is how I met Rusty.

Rusty's inspiration

During my time at Interquest Detection Canines, I worked with many different dogs. But none could ever compare to Rusty. Rusty was a shelter dog who had been returned to the shelter by three different families who could not handle his behavior. He was soon scheduled to be put down. With just a couple hours left, Rusty's life was spared due to the fast action of one of my coworkers. The shelter held off putting him down in order to allowed us to evaluate him. Which led to us bringing him back to start his new life as a contraband dog.

That was the moment both our lives would change forever. He became my best friend, I became his world. The bond between us was that of other handlers dreams. It was me and him against the world! This dog who was given up on by so many people, became the most amazing contraband dog who was out there. Keeping our kids safe while they were at school. I could go on and on about all the amazing things he did, and how many lives he touched.  I would look at him on a daily basis and think, "How could that many people give up on him? How could they not see this amazing soul? How in the world did I get so lucky?".  I still wonder to this day how I got so lucky to have this amazing being cross my path.

your wings were ready, but my heart was not.

On April 1, 2016 my whole world came crashing down. A few days prior, my partner in crime fell ill while we were out working. It all came on so sudden. This selfless creator, who had recently saved my life, was now fighting for his own. And there was nothing I could do to help. My sweet boy Rusty passed away that Friday morning from sudden kidney failure. I lost my best friend just like that. He meant the world to me and now I was faced with the reality of having to go on with life without him. Or did I?

Rusty made such an impact on my life in such a short amount of time. He was truly a diamond in the rough. But none of his previous families could see past his bad behavior. They gave up on something that was truly beautiful without even knowing it. Rusty's life is the prime example of not knowing what you've got until its already gone. After losing him my priorities changed. As much as I loved working and training contraband dogs, I felt like my true calling was to help more dogs like Rusty. I started Savvy Dogs in order to strip each dog of their labels that were just holding them back from being the true dog that they really are. As well as giving the owners the opportunity to see past the bad behavior before giving up on their diamond in the rough. So today along with everyday in Rusty's memory we pledge to help as many dogs as possible show their owners what amazing dogs lie beneath that wild crazy outer core of a dog.