From Asshole to Advocate: The Transformative Power of Canine Love

What would you sacrifice for the animals you love? Drew Glick's journey from self-described "asshole" to compassionate human forms the emotional core of his tearjerker memoir, "The Wheelhouse." This raw conversation delves into the profound bond Drew formed with his two dogs—Sasha, a petite American boxer with a devilish spirit, and Gabbie, a gentle golden retriever who faced a devastating cancer diagnosis.

Drew never intended to become an author. The book began as therapy, a way to process the intense experiences of caring for his beloved companions through incredible challenges. When Gabbie was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) just six months after joining his family, Drew made decisions that many wouldn't understand—sacrificing his career, savings, and relationships to save her life. Through this struggle, he discovered something transformative: "It wasn't so much me doing anything for them, it was them doing it for me."

The conversation explores profound questions about the nature of compassion, love, and purpose. Drew reflects on how his dogs taught him to love authentically; beyond the superficial ways humans often express it. His story challenges us to consider our connections to all living beings and reminds us that sometimes our greatest struggles become our greatest teachers. As Drew beautifully puts it, "Not all good things are good, and not all bad things are bad." This perspective allowed him to see Gabbie's cancer not as a tragedy but as something that ultimately made her embrace life more fully—a lesson he carries with him today.

Drew's story continues in his upcoming book, "The Wheelhouse: The Last Day." His ultimate hope is that readers will connect with Sasha and Gabbie's journey and perhaps reflect on their own lives and relationships. Through their story, we're reminded that sometimes the most profound life lessons come from unexpected sources, teaching us to be better humans in the process.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Drew Glick and The Wheelhouse
• 2:21 Sasha and Gabbie: Different Dogs, One Purpose
• 3:57 Learning Compassion Through Canine Hardship
• 6:49 The Truth About Love and Self-Discovery
• 10:37 Finding Purpose in the Journey
• 13:54 The Next Chapter: The Wheelhouse Continues

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hello everybody, I have the absolute honor of sitting here with Drew Glick. He is the author of the Wheelhouse, the true story about a boy and his dogs. Can you tell us about your book?

Speaker 2: 0:14

It follows the exploits, I would say, of myself and my two dogs, sasha and Gabby. I won't lie, it's not an easy read for a lot of people. There's a lot of dark times. Really, the book kind of delves into like bridging the gap between a human being and the love they have for their animals, and how that transcends into like a love that humans have for another human being.

Speaker 1: 0:39

Yeah, so they definitely have a box of tissues handy, right.

Speaker 2: 0:43

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was said to me that it's a tearjerker. It was one of those things that I never really meant to write, but, as my cousin Steven will say, it was therapy for me. So I guess you could say that being an author was kind of like an accidental career.

Speaker 1: 0:59

And was that what you would say? Inspired. Your book Is your experience with your dogs.

Speaker 2: 1:04

You know, inspirational. Wise, I would have to say that it was more, not so much with Sasha and Gabby and that story, but just the people that said, hey, you're never going to write a book, drew, never going to happen. And I think that motivated me in a lot of ways to kind of you know, kind of follow through on things that I wanted to do. I think that you know I mean, I think I'm sure anybody can relate to that Like when you're told you can't do it, you just become more determined to do it. Most people that know me will say that the more that Drew hears no, the more determined he becomes.

Speaker 2: 1:35

I do appreciate people that you know wanted to kind of keep me down and, you know, mock me. And now that it's actually been done and it's out there and it's an audio book now and a lot of other things are happening because of this book, it's kind of changed people's understanding and I'm glad that my family now knows what I really did go through in terms of having Sasha and Gabby in my life and how important they really are to me, because without them I probably wouldn't be breathing today.

Speaker 1: 2:02

And our listeners and our viewers are getting to see a picture of Sasha and Gabby right now.

Speaker 2: 2:06

You know I have them, both tattooed on my own. By the way, sasha was a purebred American boxer, not the average looking boxer. She was a very petite, thin, slimline boxer. I often refer to her as like a little devil. I didn't know that, going into having Sasha, I want a dog, you know. I mean, hey, she's cute, I'll get that.

Speaker 2: 2:27

Gabby is a purebred golden retriever and you can kind of say I had the best of both worlds because I had Sasha, who was always causing trouble and driving me out of my skull, and then you had Gabby who was more just like docile, didn't really care, laid around, you know, did her own thing. But there was a lot of trials and tribulations, pretty much from day one. In many regards I think it was those how do I say this the right way, like it was the bad times that made it good. For instance, I'll give you an example Very early on, I think, maybe six months into having Gabby, she got diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which is bone cancer. I think it was those challenges that really in a way defined me and defined the what's the word? Like the rationale why it was so important for me to have Sasha and Gabby, because it showed me a different side of compassion, like what does compassion really mean when it comes to the human psyche? Understanding that, like we all want to be compassionate towards somebody, but who would give up, like essentially like their life savings, their job, their career, basically just to save a dog from cancer? It sounds funny to say it, but life was definitely different and more interesting back then than it is now. I felt like I had a purpose, like I had something I had to do, like there was a reason why I was put in that position with Sasha and Gabby. But then, as I look back on it now, it wasn't so much me doing anything for them, it was them doing it for me.

Speaker 2: 3:58

I think I needed that connection in my life back then because I was kind of like a I mean, I've always been a loner. At that point in my life, I was not into girls, I really didn't care, I didn't want to get married, I didn't want kids, and I just think that that showed me a different, different approach to life, if you want to put it that way. Like there's more to life than just when we wake up, have our coffee, go to our job and we're all connected is what I'm trying to get at Like, whether it be a dog, another human, we all have that universal consciousness and we're here for each other and, as the wise man once said, that the only life worth living is a life lived for others. So I kind of feel that that's like my motivation to keep going forward and, you know, overcoming all these challenges and struggles, and you know using my tragedy as my triumph, as they say.

Speaker 1: 4:49

Do you have anything else that you want to share with the listener and the viewer today?

Speaker 2: 4:52

There's a lot that I want to share with the listener and viewer. But if I do that, then I inadvertently ruin the book and any forthcoming books that will come. And I learned how to love through my dogs, people. How do I say this without insulting anybody? Like people will say they love you, but it's just, it's like, it's like a reaction, and since these experiences I truly come to understand what that means. And I've dedicated my life to you. Know helping or, as people will say, like teaching other people about compassion, about you know forgiveness.

Speaker 2: 5:24

And I'm not perfect. I mean I have I have. I have my moments of weakness. Don't get me wrong. You know I think if you're true to yourself, you can be true to somebody else. And again, I say a lot of this in the books. I don't want to, I don't want to take it out of the book, but I think if people can genuinely and honestly you know from their heart find something to that drives them to strive to be better, I think the world will be a better place. I don't think we'd have all this craziness going on the world being on fire and whatever the case may be. But yeah, I just think that genuinely, my, my end game, or my goal rather, with the book was just to kind of bridge that gap like what it means to be human and then how outside influences can make you a better human being, and I hope that makes sense absolutely absolutely okay.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Well, thank you so much, I won't lie to you and forgive me.

Speaker 2: 6:11

Forgive me, you can edit this out if you want, but forgive me. Before Sasha and Gabby, I was a real asshole, all right. And a lot of people, even today, will say, yeah, drew's a great guy, he's the sweetest asshole you'll ever meet. But you know, in today's world, like I realized, like you know you got to and I hate to say it this way, but you gotta protect yourself. It's gotta be you and then everybody else. And it sounds like a contradiction to what I just said. In some ways it is, but in other ways it's not.

Speaker 2: 6:38

And I think that if people just I think it's just about being true to yourself, you know, and as much as I fought with my family, my dad and whoever telling me give up your dogs, you can't take care of them. You know and, believe me, you know, if you should ever read the book or listen to it, you're going to say, man, this, this drew guy I. This can't possibly be true, because it's like, why would somebody, you know, give up their life, like they're, essentially, give up their humanity in some ways, to just care for two dogs? You know who can't talk. You know and you know who who costs an arm and a leg, I mean that's, that's a given. Any dog will cost you hundreds of dollars a month. But I, you know and it's a hard question to answer because it just I just felt like this was again, like I had to do this, and I think if more people would like I said just true to themselves and follow their path and trusted their struggle and, by the way, I own the copyright on that. Trust your struggle, that's mine. I have the copyright on that. It's 10 cents every time someone says it, like Donald Trump, I own that. No, I'm only playing, I'm just kidding.

Speaker 2: 7:42

But you know, I do believe that things happen for a reason and that you know, as a person, you have to. You know, like I'm sure most people have heard this before like sometimes you have to endure hell to get to heaven and that's a big driving force behind the book. Like you people, like myself and others, you have to ask, like, would drew be where he is today if these things never happen? You know, would he be better off? Would he be worse off? Would he be, you know, married three kids, hating his life, waking up to a wife he doesn't love anymore?

Speaker 2: 8:14

So you have to look at the reasons behind what happens, and I say it in the book that not all good things are good and not all bad things are bad.

Speaker 2: 8:24

So, for instance, gabby losing her leg, life is a matter of perspective.

Speaker 2: 8:29

So was that bad that that happened to Gabby, or did that make Gabby stronger, you know, was she able to become? I think personally, like I say in the book, that that made her a better dog. I mean, granted, she never told me because, you know, we never were able to exchange words, but just from how she came out of that and how she just grew and she loved life, you know, and you know, having three legs, you you know, whether she knew it or not, I mean she just loved being a dog and and she and I know she loved me because, again, I'm not gonna ruin it but you know, I think there was some kind of unconscious understanding that, like I saved her and she saved me wow I hate to use the word saved again, and I I don't know if it was just inbred in me and I just didn't realize at the time, but I don't know if I've always been that way, but, and maybe it's true, maybe sasha and gabby brought that out of me.

Speaker 2: 9:27

I mean, they were like velcro to me. So having them attached to me every day, all day, I I really think was a blessing again. You know how many people would put their, you know. You know have their. Many people would put their, you know, have their dog sleeping in the bed with them and the girlfriend on the couch.

Speaker 2: 9:43

My dogs were, quote unquote, always the problem. You know, whatever I'm going to keep my mouth shut on that one too. So I'm just, I'm just trying to and I'm not to be repetitive. I know that you always want more than less, so I'm trying to just kind of keep it going, but than less. So I'm trying to just kind of keep it going.

Speaker 2: 10:00

But you know, I just think that all life is special and precious and the sooner that we as human beings understand that. You know, like stepping on an ant may seem, like you know, infantismal in the grand scope of things, but I think that all life is precious and I think that once we begin to understand that, even like a dog's life, I think that we as a species will get beyond our petty differences. And, you know, all of this nonsense that we're dealing with now and not that it's nonsense, okay there, there is legitimacy behind a lot of it but I think that we have to start to realize that our purpose here, you know, on on this planet, is far greater than we can ever know. We're never going to get there unless we have a spiritual awakening. I think in a lot of ways I'm trying to do that in the book.

Speaker 2: 10:47

Again, forgive me for cursing, you want to censor it out, do what you got to do, but I try to be an asshole to people because I try to get people to look back and reflect on their own life and their actions and whether it's good or bad and whether people you know will kind of feel guilty, because I feel guilty about a lot of stuff that I did I write about in the book. I have to give people something to relate to, because I know I'm not the only one out there that's ever gone through this kind of stuff, and I'm sure there's somebody else saying the same thing right now. So I want to get that connection and I want people to realize like you're not alone in this world and the sooner that you can find that you know, quote unquote soulmate, if that even exists, happier your life will be. Even if your life is hard, you're going to be happy Because even as much crap as Drew went through and as much as he lost his family turning on him, girlfriends leaving he was happy. And that's really what the book is about.

Speaker 2: 11:44

And you know, as the series goes on, I will say, and as readers and listeners will look back on the earlier books in the series, they will come to realize that if Drew didn't do what he did, he would never have gotten his dream job. He wouldn't have, you know, people around the globe praising his work. I wouldn't be here sitting with you right now talking and talking about the book. Again, like I heard it the other day, there's a saying that goes like if you don't risk anything, then you risk everything. So you need to, you need to go out there, you know, like guns blazing, you know, take the bull by the horns. And I really hope that this book will show people that and I hate to keep using these like analogies and and and quotes, but I think people will relate to it better.

Speaker 2: 12:29

You know, it's not the desk, it's not the destination, it's the journey that matters. So if you can learn something along the way, to me, it's worth it. If I can become a better person and mature spiritually and be able to be a quote, unquote teacher. I never want to be a teacher to people, but if they see me as a teacher which they do and they can learn from me, then all of this crap I went through 10 years ago, everything Sasha and Gabby went through, it wasn't in vain and it had a reason. And that's all I'm hoping to. I'm all I'm hoping that I hope that's true. I really hope there's a reason, because sometimes I've been like, is it, you know?

Speaker 2: 13:05

like a drew click everybody and and I'm sorry to interrupt you but I know a lot of people may may do the say the opposite of that, like it's the destination whatever. But I think that it you know we we got to learn as human beings. I think it's important to grow and learn and you can only do that if you just again trust your struggle and people. That's copyrighted people, remember that. Don't use that. That's not my permission.

Speaker 1: 13:30

I was tempted to use it, but I didn't want to have to send you a check for 10 cents Exactly. Drew, thanks so much for meeting with me today, man. I've left truly inspired and eager to see all your success.

Speaker 2: 13:43

Great, and I will say the next book and that one's called the Wheelhouse the Last Day. It's essentially a turning point. We'd love for people to check it out. Keep following the series, follow the story of Sasha and Gabby. That would just be so inspiring for me if people could keep following their story Not so much mine, but theirs. Pleasure always.

Speaker 1: 14:03

Thank you, drew, really enjoyable. We hope that you have a great afternoon.