They say you can’t teach old dogs new tricks, but Bobby Humphrey shows that we’re all capable of change.
Humphrey is the ‘big guy’ behind Big Guy Littles World Sanctuary, which rehomes chihuahuas who have faced a difficult life.
But only a few years ago, Humphrey used to make fun of people who owned party-sized dogs. Humphrey’s breed of choice was Rottweilers, and he found small dogs like chihuahuas absolutely ridiculous.
But this was all about to change.
After Humphrey’s 17-year-old marriage ended, he was feeling lost in the world. He grew depressed and it got so bad that he even thought about ending his own life.
But his friend Connie stood by his side and refused to let him go down that path. She supported him in his darkest moments and stayed by his side no matter what. Thanks to Connie, Humphrey regained some faith in life.
So, when Connie came to him for a favour, Humphrey felt like it was only right for him to lend a helping hand.
Connie was moving and could not take her Chihuahua Lady with her. She asked Humphrey if he could foster Lady and take care of her for some time.
The prospect of caring for Lady didn’t exactly excite Humphrey. Not only was she one of those tiny dogs he used to mock, but she was also bit of a handful. Lady was known to be unfriendly, and ever since she’d miraculously survived accidentally eating some chemotherapy medication, she had seemed a bit strange and ‘off’ somehow.
But Humphrey, forever thankful to Connie for her support, agreed to take Lady in. Then, Lady surprised him. The infamously unfriendly dog immediately took to him and would curl up in his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The two became close friends and Lady helped Humphrey work through the last of his depression. Though Connie had been of great help, Humphrey was still struggling and working through his emotions, and now Lady was there to love and support him. She saved him from walking down that dark path again.
But Lady couldn’t stay with Humphrey forever. He knew that she’d eventually return to live with Connie and her son. But Humphrey had gotten used to having a tiny friend in his home, so he decided to find himself his own Lady.
That’s how he met Kira. A little brown chihuahua with a fiery temperament.
Kira was living under horrible conditions and had an equally horrible temperament when Humphrey first met her. She was a little ball of rage. But instead of leaving her behind and continue looking for a different dog, Humphrey decided to take her. He was afraid that nobody would ever want to adopt such an aggressive little dog, and he didn’t want her to end up alone.
Perhaps Kira sensed Humphrey’s compassion because by the time they got back to Humphrey’s home she had already thawed and started cuddling him. Slowly, Humphrey would teach her how to trust again.
Kira was already a year old when Humphrey found her, and he wanted to raise a dog from puppyhood, so after adopting Kira, Humphrey’s search continued.
He found a little puppy called Harley and decided to adopt both Harley and his sister Quinn after he realized that they were living under awful conditions. The two pups were very fragile as a result of inbreeding, and Humphrey started to realize that the world was full of mistreated pups in need of help.
And that’s how it all started. Humphrey discovered more and more chihuahuas who needed his help, and he knew he had to rescue them.
He started Big Guy, Littles World Sanctuary and has now rescued numerous chihuahuas. Humphrey has rehomed some of the chihuahuas into caring, responsible forever homes, but he still has over 30 chihuahuas staying at his home, and that number is expected to grow.
Every day he is showered in love from thankful little pups and it seems unbelievable that he ever used to feel anything but love for the tiny dogs of the world.