Two Broke ThingsTwo Broke Things
Brad Orsted - Take It Outside
Brad Orsted shares how a rescued German Shepherd named Doc and work at an animal shelter reshape his understanding of trauma, grief, and long-term sobriety. The episode links dog training, trigger stacking, and gentle care to the slow work of healing after addiction and loss.
7:41•19 Aug 2026
Two Broke Things: How a Damaged Dog Helped a Man Stay Sober
Episode Overview
- Healing a traumatised dog and a traumatised person follows the same principles: slowly, consistently, without force or fear.
- Trigger stacking explains how multiple stressors can push both humans and dogs beyond their emotional limits.
- Rescue animals may arrive with deep fear and scarcity around food and safety, and need repeated proof that they are safe.
- Long-term sobriety can be supported by structure, responsibility, and caring for another vulnerable being.
- Short, focused reflections can make recovery topics easier to fit into everyday routines, like driving to the shop or heading to a trail.
“"Not the moment you rescue something. The moment it finally believes you."”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of loss, resilience, and the strange magic that happens when a human and a dog both show up broken and decide to keep going.
Brad Orsted returns to "Take It Outside" with Season Five, centred on dogs, recovery, and what happens "when two broken things find each other and just decide to keep going." Speaking from long-term sobriety and deep grief after the death of his daughter Marley, Brad shares how a German Shepherd named Doc becomes both student and teacher in his healing.
You’ll hear how Doc was rescued from an abusive breeder, starved, beaten and left with severe elbow dysplasia, before being pulled from a cardboard box by Natalie and slowly taught that "food wasn't something you had to fight for." Brad later spots Doc online at two in the morning, thinking he’s the one doing the saving. Instead, Doc drags him back into life: off the couch, onto trails, and out of the mental loop of loss.
Brad weaves in what he learned working at an animal shelter, especially the concept of "trigger stacking"—how dogs and humans alike can handle one or two stresses, but pile on enough and "the system overloads." For him, that stack included child loss, addiction, a collapsing marriage, and constant moves, all pushed past any emotional threshold.
At the heart of the episode is the idea that "healing a traumatized dog and healing a traumatized person are the same work done the same way. Slowly. With consistency. Without force.
Without fear." Short, 15-minute episodes promise honest reflections on sobriety, trauma, and nature, all seen through the eyes of a damaged shepherd who greets every day like it’s "the best day of his life." If you’ve ever felt like one more stressor might break you, this gentle, dog-filled season asks a simple question: what if healing is slower, softer, and closer than you think?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.