Live Like Roo

May 06, 2016

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Today’s guest blogger is Sarah Lauch. She’s the co-founder of the Live Like Roo Foundation. Even though, Roo, crossed over the rainbow bridge in September, Sarah still honors Roo’s legacy ! Here’s their story…

We created a Foundation and I had NO IDEA how many people and dogs would need us. It is pretty unbelievable, to say the least.

Roosevelt (Roo) came into our lives on Easter 2015. We were not searching for a dog specifically like him, but we knew that we had to save him. His owner surrendered him because he had trouble urinating. We figured a neuter and some antibiotics would help. They didn’t. During a routine dental, Roo’s amazing vets,Dr. LaVigne and Dr. Damiana noticed something wrong in his groin area. It was bone cancer and it was not good. Kelly (co-adopter and co-founder of the Foundation) called me with the news and my heart just dropped. He had weeks, months, years…who knew. We decided that we would not do chemo and that we would let him enjoy whatever time he had left.

A loyal social media follower Judie coined the term “#LiveLikeRoo” once we started to post his adventures and from there, he became somewhat of a sensation. We wanted to make the most of our time with him, but many begged for more….a Facebook page, newspaper articles, TV features followed….people from all over the World latched on to the pit bull living like there was no tomorrow. We thought it was absolutely great exposure for the “pit bulls” that we both fight for on a daily basis. The message was much grander than that. We all should be living like Roo. It touched a lot of people and sent an important message. We had no idea that it would get as big as it did.

Roo never seemed sick. Ever. Until the end. I just knew. He wasn’t eating. He could not urinate-at all. We spent hours at the ER vet on a Sunday. Everything in his system was backing up and he was not himself. He rested his head on my leg on the waiting room floor. It was the worst feeling in the world. Helpless. Hopeless. We went to the vet together the next day and let him go. I cannot remember being more heartbroken in my life.

He lived for 5 months after his cancer diagnosis. It was a great run and we had so much fun with him. His followers (we like to call them friends) were heartbroken and wanted more. I think both of us knew it would be natural to create a cancer foundation to help other dogs in Roo’s honor. So, here we are. “Live Like Roo Foundation” is now an official 501c3 and we are sending care packages and monetary donations to dogs with a cancer diagnosis. What has come out of this more than anything, is a shoulder to cry on and an ear for people that need a sounding board. While our lives stretched so thin, I ALWAYS take time to answer everyone that has a question or needs to vent or cry. ALWAYS. Because we have been there and I know how much it hurts. Losing a dog to cancer is just really tough. Our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter friends are ALWAYS there, too….whenever we post about a dog that needs our thoughts or donations or shares or anything, they always respond. In this day and age, that is pretty special and we are forever grateful.