They say that life is about the journey, not the destination. But when the journey ends with a new life with a new family on a sprawling ranch (and 35 or so barn cats to chase around), the destination itself is pretty, pretty sweet. Especially when that journey began with two broken legs on the streets of Rochester, New York.
This is the story of Leo the Dog’s journey from there to here.
From the Mean Streets to the Peaceful Pastures
Leo, like many large pit bull mixes, found himself at a rescue shelter. He’d been a street dog in Rochester, New York, severely injured at some point in his young life. Those injuries never quite healed properly, so he walked with a bow-legged limp. It’s a common issue in urban strays; they run through the city and often get their fast-moving feet caught in storm grates. Leo was lucky. His broken feet had healed, though he’d never walk properly and would need rehab for his entire life.
Not that he did much walking at the shelter. Leo was shy, always hunkered in a corner of a small pen, jittery and scared. Clearly a big dog, his emaciated frame weighed only about 40 pounds. And when volunteers could coax him out for walks, his injured front legs wouldn’t get him very far. Leo’s story so far wasn’t a happy one.
Enter Ames, a caring volunteer. Ames took pity on an obviously sad dog. “I just had a feeling that if I didn’t take Leo home with me, he wasn’t going to make it,” they told friends. “He was a big pit bull mix with an injury history. No one was going to adopt him.”
When Ames adopted Leo, the veterinarian estimated that the dog was eight or nine months old. He might add “a few more pounds” with a healthy diet, but he was nearly full grown. Forty-five pounds later, Leo was a happy, healthy 90-pound dog with a caring owner and a home to call his own. They walked a lot, but Leo’s exercise mainly came from swimming, which eased the pain of his mis-healed bones. The journey was over; Leo had found his destination.
But after a few happy years, disaster struck as hard as an ill-placed storm grate. Ames took ill and could suddenly no longer give Leo the care or exercise he needed. Finding it predictably difficult to re-home a large, energetic pittie, Ames turned to the place where so many stories begin these days: social media.
Insta-help from Instagram
Ames, a wood craftsman and painter, put the word out to their tight-knit social family of woodworkers. Leo needed a home, and quickly. Without the magic of social media, help might never have come calling, and certainly not from the nowhere of central Texas. But call it did, and from separate rooms of the same house.
“My husband and I came to the exact same conclusion at the exact same time,” says Sarah Thigpen. “I was running into his office to show him a picture of Leo, and he was running into mine at the exact same time.”
You really can’t write a plot point like that.
“The timing was perfect,” Sarah says. “We’d recently lost our dog, and while we weren’t actively looking, we knew there was a hole to fill. Leo filled it and then some.”
Leo Gets a Little Texas Heritage
The second rescue of Leo’s long journey had one major roadblock: 1,700 miles. “This was in 2019, and we’d recently started a full-time business,” Sarah says. “We couldn’t find the time to get all the way to New York.” Ames, however, was as determined to make sure that Leo found the perfect new home, and Texas Heritage Woodworks, Sarah and her husband Jason’s spread in Menard, Texas, was the ideal destination. So despite their combined health issues, the duo set out on a six-day road trip.
Sarah and Jason started Texas Heritage Woodworks out of their small home near Austin, Texas, about 11 years ago. Jason was a hobbyist woodworker who had fashioned himself a leather apron to keep wood shavings off his clothes and posted photos of his creation on, you guessed it, Instagram. People asked if he could make aprons for them, and a business was born. It was a side gig for a few years, but it became the couples’ full-time job in 2015. It had outgrown the little house near Austin, so they moved their small family — at the time they had three young boys — to Sarah’s family ranch near Menard, about 3 hours west of Austin. The 145-acre spread would be perfect for the kids as well as the business.
And, it turns out, perfect for a 5-year-old pit bull mix in need of a home.
Lazy Texas Days
Today, everyone and everything at Texas Heritage Woodworks is thriving. Leo has found a comfortable place among the Thigpen’s three boys (ages 8, 10 and 14), two other dogs, four donkeys, 9 chickens, 27 goats and, yes, those 35 barn cats. He spends a lot of time indoors on the couch, but when it’s extra hot, Leo passes time just like he did in Rochester: swimming.
“At first we were a little concerned about whether he could acclimate to the Texas weather,” Sarah recalls. “It’s hot here, especially compared with New York.” But warm weather means more chances to swim, and the ranch’s 40,000 gallon cistern is exactly what the dogtor ordered, especially for a dog in need of exercise that isn’t hard on the legs. Leo spends hours upon hours floating in the cool waters that eventually saturate the gardens and fill the troughs at Texas Heritage.
Emotional Support Leo
While the other two dogs at the ranch spend the majority of their time outdoors doing “jobs” like herding goats and patrolling the property, Leo is more of the housepet; the buddy to the kids. In fact, the youngest Thigpen leans on Leo for support when he’s having a tough go. “Leo’s always been great with the boys,” Sarah says. “When they cry, he is right there, immediately. And he’ll sit there until everyone feels better.” The youngest boy is now eight, and Leo has forged a special bond with him.
“We homeschool,” Sarah explains. “So our eight-year-old gets kind of frustrated with things sometimes. And I asked him the other day, ‘What do you think would help you when you’re getting really angry, and you don’t want to talk and you don’t want to do anything?’”
He answered Sarah with “Tell me hey dog, hey dog.”
Confused, Sarah asked, “What does that mean?”
He said, “You tell me ‘Hey dog,’ and I’ll go and I’ll give Leo a hug. And then I’ll know that I’ll be better.”
“We’ve used it a couple of times and it totally works,” Sarah says. “So whenever he gets angry I’ll just say, ‘Hey dog,’ and he looks at me and he’ll kind of crack a smile and have to go and find Leo, wherever he is.”
And a Food Allergy to Boot
Before Leo ever made his way to Texas, Ames discovered that he had a food allergy. Or, food allergies. Peanuts and grains are Leo’s no-no foods. When exposed, Leo’s toes become inflamed and red. He gets itchy and scratches constantly, and he starts to smell a bit yeasty. It’s extremely uncomfortable for everyone.
“It’s hard, because peanut butter is everything to some dogs,” Sarah says. “But we closely monitor what he eats.” Ames offered Leo a lot of organic foods to supplement his dog food; fresh broccoli, pumpkin, green beans and eggs. The Thigpens keep that routine up, in addition to his regular diet from Diamond Pet Foods.
“He does well on all of it,” Sarah says. “We rotate formulas regularly, but he’s never turned it down. Currently he’s enjoying the Diamond Naturals Beef & Rice Formula, and it’s actually helped him slim down a bit.” Leo had recently pulled a muscle getting out of his pool and was being much less active, which led to a gradual weight gain. By strictly monitoring his diet and helping him rehab his leg, the Thigpens slimmed Leo by more than 20 pounds. He’s back down to his prime weight at 90 happy, fluffy pounds.
Destination: Home
At ten years old, Leo has slowed down a bit. He’s less likely to chase the cats and can be found sleeping on the couch more than swimming in the pool. But he still loves to lie out in the warm sun and hang out with the boys, and regular swims are always on the table.
Ames gets pictures nearly every day, documenting Leo’s life so far away.
Because the journey continues, and you never know where it might lead.
For more of Leo’s adventures check out Texas Heritage Woodworks on Instagram.
To see everything Texas Heritage Woodworks has to offer, visit the company’s webstore.