Check Out Kentucky Gallahue’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kentucky Gallahue.  

Hi Kentucky, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I got Derby in 2012 from a good friend’s wife’s sister’s family. I was living in Midtown Atlanta looking to get a doodle at the time and didn’t know much about them. I found out quickly that they were expensive. My buddy told me about how his family needed to rehome their almost 1yr old doodle because with two kids and one on the way they could not pay much attention to him. All Derby knew was the backyard, the family, and the kennel. They recognized that he needed someone who had time for him. He also lacked the basic training that a young pup needs. They told me he was getting to be too much for them to handle. He stole food off the counter and even ate a dress. They gave him to me for free. 

Derby lived in Tennessee so the family brought him down to Georgia. I went to pick him up and his original name, which was given by the kids, was Midas. The other sister’s family actually got his brother and his name is Nikko. 

I brought Derby home to the big city of Atlanta. I did not think he looked like a Midas so my friends on Facebook helped me name him Derby. From then on, we have been the almost inseparable team of Kentucky and Derby. I took Derby on his first walk in the big city and he was really freaked out. I don’t think he understood that there were other people and dogs in the world. Car doors slamming and grates on the sidewalk really scared him. Also, when meeting new people, he was really shy and wouldn’t walk up to anyone. I knew I had to introduce him to everything in the world to get his confidence up and so he would be able to have more fun and really like new experiences. I had a mohawk at the time, so I took him to a groomer and gave Derby one too. All the way down his back. 

During our time in Atlanta, I took Derby everywhere. We went to the bar where I worked, the stores, dog parks, and restaurants. Everywhere. As the years went by, Derby learned to trust me more and started to open up. We even went to an Atlanta Braves baseball game and he loved it. 

I quickly realized Derby was really smart. He picked up the basic commands right away. Sit, stay, lie down, paw, roll over, fetch, and even catching the Frisbee. I even taught him to pick things off the ground for me, get the remote, and get a beer out of the refrigerator. 

I took Derby to my friend’s pool and he did not like water at all. I encouraged him to get in with me and we swam around together. After that, I could not keep him out of the water. 

I said before I was working at a bar/nightclub and for a long time I owned/built/bartended at nightclubs. I had gotten a divorce a few years before I got Derby so I was just living the single and party nightlife. I was burning the candle at both ends and drugs and alcohol were a big part of that nightlife. Around 2015, drugs and alcohol had really taken over my life. I lived in an apartment by myself and after a weekend of bartending and drinking and drugs, I would sink into a deep depression for the rest of the week until the next weekend came around and it was time to do it again. Sitting in my apartment not leaving the couch. Not knowing what to do with my life. Feeling worthless. The only thing constant in my life was Derby. He was the reason I left my apartment to take him out. He would lie there beside me as I drifted away. Once after a hard weekend bartending and partying I remember waking up on my couch and my gun was on my coffee table. I vaguely remember seriously contemplating ending my life the night before. This was the moment I realized I needed to change my lifestyle and that I couldn’t leave Derby with no one. I wanted to live partly for Derby, but I didn’t know how to make my life better. So, I decided to move away but I didn’t know where to go. My Sister Leilani lived in San Diego and said Derby and I was welcome to come live with her and her husband in their spare room. I saved up some money and loaded up my truck. If it didn’t fit on my truck I either sold it or gave it away. Derby and I packed my tools, and my clothes and headed to California. 

The trip across the country was very scary to me. Not knowing what to expect and leaving a life and friends I had known for so long. Derby was there getting me through it. To this day I don’t think I would have left Atlanta if Derby had not been there with me. 

Getting to San Diego and seeing the ocean I realized this would be our new home. Derby had never been to the beach before but he loved the sand, the water, and the waves. The first thing I wanted to do in California was learn how to surf. I got my first beginner surfboard and took Derby to the dog beach, and thinking that he would stay on the beach while I learned to surf. That was not the case. He always wants to do whatever I am doing. Derby kept swimming out to me. I got fed up and put him on the board, pushed him into a wave and he rode the board all the way to the beach. As unbelievable as it may sound, Derby learned how to surf before I did. I was really amazed and proud of him but kind of jealous that he picked up surfing before me. After that, we just kept practicing. One day, a guy saw us and told me that they have competitions for dog surfing. I looked it up and signed Derby up immediately. During this time, I met a young lady who was handing out her business card in the parking lot of the dog beach for pet grooming. She loved Derby’s mohawk and even mentioned that she could dye it. She dyed Derby’s mohawk blue and it was awesome. She still grooms Derby to this day. 

Then come the sunglasses. While living in San Diego, I realized that during the summer there were always dog festivals every weekend. Each festival emphasized some charity or cause. We would attend all of them and help with the charities any way possible: raising money or even entering costume contests. At one festival we met a guy selling human sunglasses with harnesses meant for dogs. I bought one and Derby loved it, so I started making his own sunglasses with a harness. He probably has had over 60 pairs of sunglasses that I have made for him. Everywhere we go, lots of people want to take pictures with Derby in his sunglass. Everyone loves Derby. Little kids to adults stop us all the time. He doesn’t mind how many times we stop and let people hug him or just stand next to him for their pictures. 

Back to the surf competition. The first one was in 2016 at Imperial Beach. I had never been to a surf competition before. This was all new to the both of us. I watched how the other competitors surf with their dogs. With Derby and I both sporting mohawks, his was blue, and wearing matching sunglasses, we kind of stuck out. We did really well in our first competition and everyone wanted to meet us and was curious as to how long we had been surfing. I told them six weeks. We have made so many new friends through surfing. At each surf competition, there is a charity or organization that sponsors it to raise awareness and money for their cause. We do not win any money at these competitions but the smiles on the people and children are worth it. Now every year we can’t wait for the competitions to start so we can see our surf family again 

One of the things I always wanted to do with Derby is to go on as many adventures together and ride as many modes of transportation as we can. We’ve started! 

We have ridden: 

Cars 

Boats 

Canoes 

Kayaks 

Trains 

Planes 

Helicopters 

ATV 

Motorcycles 

Bicycles 

Paddleboards 

Surfboards 

Scooters 

Skateboards 

Gondola Lifts 

Construction Equipment 

Tractors 

I have a motorcycle with a sidecar that I built so Derby and I can ride everywhere. We also have a bicycle with a sidecar 

Through all this Derby has always been my ride-or-die partner and has made starting a new life easy for me. I love to share what joy Derby brings to me. So, if someone sees us two goof balls that look alike doing crazy things and it puts a smile on their face, then it was all worth it. 

We have just written a children’s book called The Adventures of Derby California – Derby Learns to Surf. We can’t wait to read it to schools and hospitals now that we have become a Therapy Dog Team. We want to start visiting schools and hospitals all over San Diego and the US

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Challenges would be leaving Atlanta to live in San Diego and starting our lives over. 

We finally finished our children’s book after working on it for almost 3 years.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work as a handyman in the Point Loma area and also run our online store Derbycalifornia.com where we sell derby California merch like shirts and cups and also tie-dye hoodies for you and your dog to match. Our children’s book will also be sold on the site. 

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are a therapy dog team 

We were on a show on Amazon Prime called The Pack where we traveled the world and did amazing adventures. We traveled to Mexico, Costa Rica, Austria, Switzerland, Paris, London 

We have been on a Netflix show called Pet Stars for dog surfing 

Just wrote a children’s book about Derby Learning to surf 

We were on a show on DogTV called Road Dogs where we traveled across the US in an RV with 6 of friends and their dogs from 

the show The Pack where we met fans. Derby got married to his girl Snow in Las Vegas at the little white wedding chapel with an Elvis impersonator efficient. 

We ride around San Diego in our motorcycle sidecar 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Derbycalifornia.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/derbycalifornia  & www.Instagram.com/kentuckygallahue
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/derbycalifornia & www.facebook.com/kentuckygallahue
• Youtube: Derby California