Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Tucker.
Crystal, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When my daughter Kelcey turned 12, she started begging to volunteer at our local animal shelter.
I kept putting her off.
She has always had the softest heart, and I knew what would happen — she would fall in love with every single dog and want to bring them all home. And if I’m honest, I wasn’t sure I could handle it either. I worried it would be too sad. Too heavy. Too much.
But eventually we attended a volunteer orientation.
And she was hooked.
Because of her age, I had to volunteer alongside her. What I didn’t expect was that I would fall in love too.
Before long, my son Lantz also joined us at the shelter. Our weekends belonged to the shelter. We walked dogs. We cleaned kennels. We sat on cold floors with frightened souls who just needed someone to see them. We played fetch. We whispered encouragement. We tried to make their days a little brighter in a world that had not been kind to them.
That volunteer work led us to foster our first dog.
And that’s when something shifted in me.
Opening our home — not just our time — changed everything. For the first time in my life, I felt like my soul had settled into exactly where it was meant to be. I found a passion I didn’t know I was searching for. I didn’t just want to help occasionally. I wanted this to be our life.
In August of 2015, we started Pawsitive Tails Dog Rescue.
I am exceptionally blessed with a family that stands behind this mission — especially my husband, Joe, who very never asks, “Why is there another dog here?” and instead just opens the door a little wider, he welcomes them in, and tells them he loves them.
Rescue became our heartbeat.
Then in March of 2020, life dealt our family a blow so devastating it stole the air from our lungs. Our son, Lantz, died suddenly at just 22 years old.
Lantz was my number one volunteer.
My biggest cheerleader.
The first to jump in when we needed help.
So proud of the work we were doing.
Losing him was the most insurmountable mountain I have ever faced.
There were days I did not know how I would survive the next hour, let alone the next day. The grief was crushing. Paralyzing.
And so I did the only thing I knew how to do.
I poured everything I had into the dogs.
I showed up.
I worked harder.
I loved deeper.
I kept saving lives.
I thought I was the one rescuing them.
But in truth, they were rescuing me.
The dogs gave me purpose when I felt hollow.
They gave me structure when I was unraveling.
They gave me a reason to get out of bed when grief told me to stay there.
Through rescue, Lantz’s spirit lives on. His compassion, his pride, his belief in what we were building — it continues in every dog we save, every family we unite, every life we fight for.
Pawsitive Tails isn’t just a rescue.
It’s how we heal.
It’s how we honor.
It’s how we survive.
Pawsitive Tails is my life’s purpose.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No. It has never been a smooth road. Rescue is beautiful — but it is brutal.
There are days that feel like miracles. The moment a terrified dog finally wags their tail. The first time a shut-down puppy chooses to trust you. The adoption photo where that baby you poured your heart into is wrapped in the arms of their forever family, already spoiled and adored.
Those moments are pure joy. They are the fuel.
But there are also days that break you.
There are the emergency calls in the middle of the night. The medical cases with price tags that make your stomach drop. The fosters who are exhausted. The hard behavioral decisions. The goodbyes that come too soon. The losses that sit heavy on your chest long after everyone else has gone to sleep.
And right now, rescue is harder than I have ever seen it.
We are seeing record numbers of animals being surrendered to shelters and rescues — numbers that feel impossible. Healthy dogs. Puppies. Seniors. Entire litters. Families who love their pets but can’t afford housing, vet care, or food. Shelters overflowing. Kennels stacked. Time running out.
The hardest part isn’t the work.
It’s the ones we can’t say yes to.
It is incredibly overwhelming to constantly be asked for help and have no safe place to put the animals in desperate need. I see their faces. I read their stories. I know their names. Some of them haunt my sleep — knowing I couldn’t get to them in time. Knowing there simply wasn’t space.
That is the part people don’t always see.
Rescue is not just saving lives.
It is carrying the weight of the ones you couldn’t save.
But even in the heartbreak, we keep going. Because for every loss, there is a life changed. For every sleepless night, there is a tail wagging in a warm home. For every “no” that breaks me, there is a “yes” that saves someone.
It has never been smooth.
It has been messy. Emotional. Exhausting. Overwhelming.
But it has also been the most meaningful, soul fulfilling work of my life.
As you know, we’re big fans of Pawsitive Tails Dog Rescue. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Pawsitive Tails Dog Rescue was founded in August of 2015 with one simple mission: to save the dogs who need us most and give them a real chance at life. We thought that even if we failed and only saved one dog, that dog would still be better off than if we’d not tried.
Since then, we’ve saved 8,064 dogs from shelters and owner surrenders — but we have never lost sight of why we started.
We are a 100% foster-based, volunteer-run rescue. That means every dog in our care lives inside a home, not a facility. They learn what couches feel like. They learn routines. They learn how to trust people again. They heal — physically and emotionally — in real family environments. This enables us to learn all about them and their needs so that we can place them in the very best home for them.
What We Do
We rescue dogs from:
Overcrowded and high-kill shelters
Owner surrenders in crisis
Neglect and hoarding situations
Emergency medical cases
We provide:
Full veterinary care (often extensive and complex)
Behavioral support and training
Foster placement and oversight
Thoughtful, thorough adoption matching
Ongoing adopter support
We are not just moving dogs from Point A to Point B. We are stabilizing, and preparing them for long-term success.
What We Specialize In:
Medical dogs.
Mommas and litters.
Mommas left behind.
Orphaned puppies, or “bottle babies”
Urgent, last-minute pulls.
We also place a strong emphasis on education and responsible rescue. We are transparent about behavioral needs. We support our fosters closely. We match intentionally. We don’t just adopt to the first application — we adopt to the right home.
What Sets Us Apart
What truly sets Pawsitive Tails apart is heart paired with structure.
We operate with compassion — but also with systems.
We move fast — but we don’t cut corners.
We say yes boldly — but we stand behind our decisions.
We are deeply community-driven. Our fosters, volunteers, adopters, donors, and sponsors are not just supporters — they are family. We communicate openly. We celebrate wins loudly. We show the hard moments honestly.
What We’re Most Proud Of (Brand-Wise)
Brand wise, I am most proud that Pawsitive Tails stands for:
Integrity
Partnership
Relentless advocacy
Community
Heart
We are also proud of the culture we’ve built — one where fosters are supported, adopters feel connected, and donors know exactly where their dollars go.
What I Want Readers to Know
Rescue is hard right now. Shelters are overflowing. The need is constant. The requests never stop.
But when you support Pawsitive Tails — whether by fostering, adopting, donating, volunteering, or sharing a post — you are directly saving lives. You are creating second chances. You are helping dogs who would otherwise be overlooked.
We are not the biggest rescue.
We are not the flashiest rescue.
But we are relentless.
And we will keep showing up — one dog, one foster, one family at a time.
What matters most to you?
What matters to me most is impact.
Not attention. Not numbers for the sake of numbers. Not being the biggest rescue. Not having the most money. But our impact.
It matters to me that the dog who was terrified in the back of a kennel learns what safety feels like.
It matters to me that the family who adopts from us feels supported for the lifetime of that dog.
It matters to me that our fosters feel appreciated and never alone.
It matters to me that our volunteers know how important and appreciated they are.
It matters to me that donors know their dollars are changing something real.
What matters most is that we do this the right way.
Integrity matters to me. Transparency matters to me. Standing behind our decisions — even the hard ones — matters to me. Rescue is emotional, but it has to be responsible. We cannot save them all, but the ones we commit to deserve everything we have.
And underneath all of it, what matters most is legacy.
After losing Lantz, everything shifted. Life became very clear, very quickly. Time is not promised. The only thing we truly leave behind is how we made people — and animals — feel.
Rescue became more than saving dogs. It became a way to honor compassion. A way to channel grief into goodness. A way to make sure something beautiful grows out of something devastating.
I care deeply about building something that lasts.
Something rooted in heart but built with strength.
Something that reflects who we are as a family — resilient, compassionate, and unwilling to look away from suffering.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pawsitivetailskc.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pawsitivetailsdogrescue/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pawsitivetails
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pawsitivetailsdogrescue
