A dog’s bucket-list adventure has become an Instagram sensation.
When Poh, a 15-year-old dog from New York, received a terminal diagnosis, his owner, Neil Rodriguez, decided to make the most of his furry friend’s final days.
“We had a choice: either we just wait at home for the inevitable or we try to give him one last big adventure,” Rodriguez said.
Poh’s veterinarian found a softball-sized tumor on his liver and multiple tumors in his kidneys. The vet told Rodriguez that Poh’s time was limited so, together with his fiancée, he took Poh on the road, chronicling their travels to landmark destinations on Instagram.
“What's better than having him walk around a beach, take a nap with the sun on his snout, the wind breezing through his ears,” Rodriguez said. “Nothing better.”
Perhaps that’s why Poh has lived beyond the original diagnosis of just “days” to live. Poh has been traveling across the country for four months now.
Along the way, Poh — believed to be part pit bull, part Labrador retriever — has posed at the White House, pranced along the Las Vegas strip and sunk his paws in the water along the California coast.
“He’s just a survivor,” Rodriguez said about the former shelter dog. “He’s the Energizer Bunny of dogs.”
Some people have criticized Rodriguez for hauling a sick and old dog all over the country, but he says he can see a positive change in Poh when they are on the road.
“When he would be home, he would degrade a little bit and when we would bring him back out, his spirits would be back up.”
Poh’s Instagram account now has more than 100,000 followers, and Rodriguez is encouraging fans to adopt a shelter dog of their own.
“I love my dog as much any person would love their family member, as much as they would love their child,” Rodriguez said. “I love my dog infinitely.”
While the end of the road may be near, these two are proof that life is all about the journey.
