♪ Always be strong ♪ - She was determined.

Determined to live.

- She was cancer-free.

(upbeat music) - I feel like I was in really good hands, and I can't say enough about the treatment that I got.

- Things do change, nothing stays static.

A new day will come.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to "Hope Is Here."

I'm Carla Hill.

The way to healing can take on different forms.

Little seven-year-old, Leanor, was suffering from a very rare cancer, when it was decided that she needed an uplifting project to give her hope.

What better medicine than an endearing song that was created from Leanor, and her sister, Dot's imagination, And a ridiculously cute dog, named "Doug the Pug."

Here's how a famous dog, creativity, and a group of caring individuals came together, to give a little girl a world of hope to carry on.

(upbeat music) - So Leanor is seven year's old, and Dot is 10.

She's in fifth grade.

(gentle music) Leanor, she would wake up in the middle of the night with some pain in her leg.

- [Nathan] We thought it was just at first, "Oh, she bumped her shin, it's bruised."

Give it a couple of days.

But she kept complaining about it.

- [Aimee] It was right before Thanksgiving break.

She hopped off of the school bus with Dot, and she was in tears.

She didn't want to walk across the street.

We knew that something was clearly not right.

(gentle music) She had a biopsy.

It confirmed that she had Ewing Sarcoma.

(gentle music) (gentle music) They wanted absolutely to get started as fast as possible.

In getting chemotherapy her way.

- They're like, "As soon as we can do it, "we're doing it."

- Yeah, basically.

- Actually it was really scary.

- What was the scariest?

- Mm...probably the idea of having so many needle pokes.

- That was a scary time, I think, for all of us.

But she did have a successful limb salvage surgery.

They removed about a nine inch section of bone from her left leg.

(gentle music) - She took chemo hard, and after a chemo cycle she would take sometimes two, or three, or even five weeks to rebound.

(gentle music) - Doug the Pug, first and foremost, is our baby.

He's like our literal child.

But he is one of the most famous dogs in the world with over 18 million followers across all the social media accounts.

He's won two People's Choice Awards.

Has been in a Super Bowl commercial.

Has met every celebrity that you could ever think of.

- Leanor got to meet Doug the Pug.

It was like a virtual pet therapy visit.

Leanor, would it be safe to say that was one of the best days of your hospital life?

- Yeah, I met a famous pug.

(gentle music) - My favorite part of Doug the Pug, and the brand we built around Doug, is that we now have the Doug the Pug Foundation.

Which helps kids with childhood cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.

- It's been really amazing to kind of blend the two worlds of Doug the Pug, and our musical interests.

(gentle music) - Leanor was just the absolute perfect fit for a "Sing Me a Story" collaboration.

She's probably the biggest animal lover I've ever met.

- [Rob] And pug lover.

- [Leslie] And pug lover.

(gentle music) - So your story that you wrote, what does that story mean to you?

- It's just something that I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Because when I was able to move on my own, we imagined everything was like awesome.

It was full of imagination.

- We noticed Leanor's personality definitely right off the bat.

It was such a bright light coming from her.

(upbeat music) - We really wanted to make sure it was a song, not only that captured the essence of her creation, her story, but it was something that she actually want to listen to.

Even if Leanor is having one of those hard days.

That it would just be something to make them super-happy, and have a lot of fun.

(dominos clicking) - I hope Leanor and Dot just recognize the power of their joy and positivity.

Even though they have faced the major uphill battles, I hope they keep that, and I hope they see the power and the impact it has on the people around them.

(gentle music) (Leanor giggling) - Yeah!

(all chuckling) - Doug, Leslie and Rob's song, "Quest for the Golden Pearl."

I'm sending it your way now.

(glittery music) (gentle music intro) - Doug!

♪ Leanor and Dot ♪ ♪ Wrote a story for the ages ♪ ♪ The quest for the golden pearl ♪ ♪ A galactic dogs and cats adventure ♪ ♪ Traveling around the world ♪ ♪ In space ♪ ♪ This is a galaxy where dogs can talk ♪ ♪ And the magic castle reigns ♪ ♪ The flower gave power to all of the kingdom ♪ ♪ Princess Lilly's flowers says ♪ ♪ Be golden, golden ♪ ♪ Shine and sparkle like the planets ♪ (girls chuckling) - I don't know if I heard them laugh quite this much in a long time.

So, it just makes my heart happy.

♪ When you've got a friend by your side ♪ - Music is healing.

It connects all of us on a human level.

- I honestly didn't even know something this perfect could exist, where we would be able to connect with an amazing family.

And with amazing organizations like Sing Me A Story, while also making music.

♪ Hopin', hopin' ♪ - We love you!

- We love you guys!

- Thank you!

♪ Just fine ♪ ♪ When you got a friend by your side ♪ (guitar strums) - There we go, Doug, we got a song.

- Leanor, her sister Dot, and her mom, Aimee.

Welcome to "Hope is Here."

- Hello.

- Hi, there.

- Hi, there.

How are you today?

I'm so happy.

(Leanor barking) Oh, so happy, good bark!

I'm so happy to meet y'all.

I read the story, and I want to get right into the story.

Aimee, I want you to go back a little.

And let's get a little more information about Leanor's illness.

Did the news of her cancer come as a huge shock?

- Absolutely.

Leanor had nothing but well child visits, as she grew up.

So, she was just a perfectly healthy little kid.

And she had a little accident during recess, and we thought maybe she had broken or sprained something.

So the last thing that we expected was to hear that she had cancer when we took her in for follow-up visits.

- And especially, a very rare cancer.

- Right.

- So you know, Leanor, you're jumping in at the right time.

Tell me what you remember about that time, Leanor?

- I mean it kind of just went by very quickly.

It was like some checkups with our normal doctor.

Then, my dad brought me to, I think, a clinic.

That was near his job, and they did x-rays, and they found something that- - A tumor.

- That, I don't think they quite knew what it was.

- Okay.

- But they knew that it was something that shouldn't be there.

- Something that shouldn't- - It might be abnormal in your bones, it probably shouldn't be there.

- This is true.

Yeah, this was like a bad period in all of your lives.

There was COVID, you had this rare cancer you were diagnosed.

But something happened that let's say, got your mind off your pain.

So, what did you do, Leanor?

I hear that you love dogs, too.

And what particular dog have you always been crazy about?

- Pugs!

Pugs!

(Carla laughing) - I'm kind of a pug fan, too.

Their scrunchy faces, and their snoring.

They are really cute.

I wanna bring in...Oh, look at that!

I wanna bring in someone who kind of looks like that.

First let me introduce this celebrity dog.

Doug has many accolades.

I mean, he's a best-selling author.

He's a two-time People's Choice award winner and has millions of followers on his social media platforms.

So please, everyone, welcome Doug.

And his parents Leslie Mosier, and Rob Chianelli.

Congratulations on your child.

- Yay!

(Carla laughing) - Hi, Doug?

Is he there, is he gonna give us a little wink?

- Thank you.

- He makes us proud, for sure.

You have some folks fan girling there already.

So certainly Doug is famous.

But he's also a therapy dog.

Who possesses very compassionate traits.

Can you tell us how Doug ended up comforting sick children?

Because this is certainly a gift.

Not every dog can be a therapy dog.

- Absolutely.

So when Doug started gaining social media fame, I had this deep gut feeling that there was something more than we wanted to do, than just be posting online and spreading smiles that way.

And so, we got in touch with the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital here in Nashville.

We live in Nashville, Tennessee.

And the Seacrest Studios invited us one day to bring Doug to the Children's Hospital.

And it was an immediate knowing that Doug is very special.

He's meant to do this.

And seeing the kid's smiles was something that I'll never forget.

And so since then, we've created a foundation, Doug the Pug Foundation.

We've gotten to visit St. Jude Hospital in Memphis.

And of course, work with amazing families.

And meet beautiful little souls like Leanor and Dot.

And just use his celebrity-dom, to do some good.

- And you know, to help us understand, and to help our audience understand, what is Doug the Pug's personality?

When he gets around these children, or people who just need some comfort?

What is he like?

- I mean, he is funny.

He can make anyone laugh, because he is snorty.

He makes funny noises.

- He struts his stuff when he walks into the room.

And he just demands the attention.

- But also just gives a lot of love to the people who need it.

- Yes.

- He has this snugly like bear quality, where you just wanna hold him, and feel his cozy rolls.

And he just makes us laugh all day, every day.

And that also translates to children.

- Well, I can see his fam girl club there with Leanor, and Dot there; they are just so smitten.

Let's go back to how it all came together for this project.

Sing Me A Story was involved.

And I wanna introduce Austin Atteberry, the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sing Me A Story.

This was a perfect matchup it seems.

Tell me how this all came together with Doug the Pug, Leanor, and Dot.

- You bet.

Well, thank you so much for having us, Carla.

We really appreciate it.

So, we are Sing Me A Story.

We give kids in need all over the world, the chance to write and illustrate stories about whatever they want.

And then, we give them to song writers who turn them into songs, and send them back to the kids.

So, we are fortunate enough to work very closely with Horizon Therapeutics.

And with their help, we created what we call their Rare Is play-list.

Which consists of a lot of projects that we work on together.

But, one day somebody from their team reached out to me, and he happens to be a pug owner, and said, "Hey, do you know who Doug the Pug is?"

And I must of been living under a rock for the last several many years.

But I said, "No, I don't."

And he said, "Well, check this out."

Long story short, we reached out, and said "Hey, we would love to, with the help of Horizon, "build a video project around the Doug the Pug Foundation."

And Horizon's various play-list.

And that's what we did.

- Leslie and Rob, what a beautiful match that you have.

A little girl that was over the moon in love with pugs.

And then, Doug the Pug comes along.

And is not only famous, but is also a therapy dog.

And then on top of that, you're song writers and musicians.

I mean, it couldn't be more perfect.

So how, tell us about how this all came together.

- It was just the most amazing process from start to finish.

Like you said, we are song writers.

And Rob is a producer.

And so, it was not difficult to write a song to the story that these two created.

Because they gave us such incredible and creative material.

And it was an honor to be able to put it into a song.

And to give it a different life.

And we just had such a fun time doing it.

- Leslie, tell us about the song.

Tell us more about the words that you've heard from Leanor and her sister, Dot.

- Yeah, so the song, "The Quest for the Golden Pearl," I think it's incredible, because it sort of mirrors Leanor and Dot's relationship.

And so, you're on this quest, and you're getting helped out by the ones you love.

And it's all about sticking together, and having hope, and it's one of those songs where you listen to it, and you can't help but smile.

- Yeah.

- Agreed.

- We just want to be golden.

- You do want to be golden.

(everyone chuckling) Leanor, I understand you wrote the story that inspired Doug's song.

But you were actually given the song as a surprise.

So what did you think of the song the first time you heard it?

Especially, with Doug the Pug as the main character in the song that you inspired?

- You were smiling!

You were laughing, too.

You were excited, and you loved all the puppies.

(Leanor funny giggling) - (chuckling) What part do you remember of the song?

- I can pretty much sing the whole song.

But I won't.

- But what's the chorus, though?

What's the chorus that got you?

♪ Be golden, golden ♪ ♪ Shine and sparkle like the planets ♪ ♪ 30 more times ♪ (kids giggling) - I love it!

Brava!

Brava!

Brava!

I want to go back to Leslie for a moment.

You wrote the song, and when you were writing it, how did you get your inspiration?

I mean, certainly you were going off of Leanor and Dot's story, but what else guided you for your song?

- I mean, it was quite simple.

They actually provided us with their original illustrated book.

And so, Rob and I sat, we have a home studio.

And we just sat in our studio, and went through all of their amazing illustrations and their lyrics, and it kind of just came to us.

And put ourselves into their shoes, as much as possible.

And thought, what would we want to hear if we were them?

And had a friend by our side through this turbulent time.

And yeah, it came together really easily.

- We wanted it to feel like, when the chorus hit that it just kind of lifts you up.

And just gives you a big smile on- - Makes you wanna dance.

- Yeah, makes you wanna dance.

And it just gives you a big smile.

And we used all the happiest chords you could think of to create that moment.

- Well you know, this project was not only partnered with Leslie and Rob, and the Sing Me A Story Foundation.

But also the Horizon's Therapeutic #rareisprogram So, I wanted to introduce now Michelle Rivas who is Senior Manager of Product Communications at Horizon Therapeutics.

Hi Michelle, how are you?

- Hi, I'm doing great.

Thanks so much for having me.

- It's really our pleasure.

Michelle, please tell me about your program.

And why do rare diseases get your attention?

- Absolutely, so Horizon Therapeutics is a biotechnology company in Illinois, focused on rare autoimmune, and severe inflammatory diseases.

So my job at Horizon is really building awareness through the Rare Is Program.

So bringing together communities to, and through Rare Is, bringing them together to elevate the voices, faces, and the experiences of folks that are living with rare diseases.

- And why was the Sing Me A Story project so important to Horizon, Michelle?

- It's so important because there are children like Leanor who are living with rare diseases all around the world, who need something uplifting.

They need something exciting that's just for them.

And so, this partnership with Doug the Pug Foundation and with Sing Me A Story, allowed us to come together as a community, and really build something special.

So we had put together a social media challenge, allowing people to make their own song on Instagram.

So we saw a lot of different folks making a video themselves, using the song to bring joy to Leanor and kids like Leanor, who needed something positive.

Especially during that time.

- Absolutely!

Your foundation, everyone, really on the show today is doing exactly what the internet should be doing, bringing happiness to everyone.

So Mom, Aimee, how did this song starring Doug the Pug help Leanor?

If nothing but to just make her laugh?

Do you believe in the power of music with your child, or in any situation?

(Leanor silly giggling) - Absolutely.

Music is really transformational.

It can, it just made such a difference for her.

And for Dot.

We had a little anthem that we could listen to on our way to the hospital and back.

And she has memory issues from chemo.

So, she doesn't remember the minute details of her experience in the hospital.

But she absolutely remembers this experience as a whole.

It's a great way to distract from the day to day of cancer treatment, which honestly I know, it doesn't matter how old you are, when you're going through medical emergency, it's no fun.

But when you're a little kid, and you feel powerless, literally, any little thing can make a big difference.

- Well, I think in this case, we had a small idea that turned into a really big thing.

So congratulations.

I wanna bring Austin back into our conversation.

And I know you bring so many songwriters together to write the songs that inspire the children's stories who are going through such serious health problems.

But what makes this Doug the Pug story special to you?

- So often, the stories that come out of these kids, have nothing to do with what's going on.

And they're so far from being sad, I mean "The Quest for the Golden Pearl," for goodness sakes, was a really hopeful, and beautiful, and fun song, and silly!

You were just sitting here watching these girls giggle and ogle over Doug.

It clearly brought a lot of joy.

And at the end of the day, that's what it's about at Sing Me A Story.

David Crosby recently left us, and I saw a book from him.

And he said "Music is love."

And that couldn't be more true.

Going to kind of what Aimee was saying, it really can be such a healing thing.

And such a bridge.

- Indeed, we couldn't of said it any better.

"Music is love."

Thank you for sharing that quote from the great David Crosby.

So Doug, I wanna know, what's on Doug the Pug's agenda for this year, in terms of continuing his role?

Doug, I'm talking to you.

What are you gonna do in continuing your role for foundations, and caring for kids in your special pugly way?

- What did you say, Doug?

- What do you think, Doug?

- Ah-ha.

- Ah-ha.

- Yep.

- Yep.

- Okay, tell 'em.

- Yeah, we just plan to keep on finding amazing families and children in need, and using Doug's platform to raise money, and just do all we can with the platform that he has to make a difference- - Spread joy.

- And spread joy.

- I appreciate that.

Is that his sister or brother in the back, there?

- This is Teddy, his brother.

- Teddy, his brother.

- Yep.

- Got it.

So we got Doug the Pug and Teddy.

We got a little animal farm.

- Whoop!

- Caring animals.

- Yep, Teddy's not in the spotlight.

It's okay.

Aimee, what is some advice that you can give families going through cancer?

- Gosh, just take time to breathe.

And don't be afraid to ask for help.

You know, whether it's social workers at the hospital, or child life specialists.

Every support that we received outside of our family and friends, and our church community came through the amazing people at the hospital.

Nurses, and child life specialist who connected us to people and organizations like Sing Me A Story.

- (indistinct).

- All sorts of organizations.

- A kid again.

- Yes.

- Just all sorts of organizations are out there.

And you don't know what you don't know.

So, take the time to sit down, think about what you need.

And tell someone that you need that help.

Because, people will help you.

It's kind of magical.

- Thank you for that.

And Leanor and Dot, what about your advice to families who are going through something similar?

That you went through.

What would you say to someone looking at this show, who might need some advice.

- Hm.

I mean, do some like fun things.

Even if you're in the hospital, you can still do fun stuff.

There's Legos, there's games.

- Everywhere there's TV- - There's paper, - there's crafts.

- In every single room.

- You can do lots of fun things, still.

- You can.

- When you're doing fun things, you're kind of not really thinking about anything else, so.

- The message I hear from both you and Dot is have fun, and don't be afraid.

So last word, Leanor, any final message that you want to send to your friend, and inspiration, Doug the Pug.

He's right here.

- Oh my gosh, he's so cute.

(Leanor squealing) - You are adorable.

(all chuckling) - Look at little Dougie, he's- - He misses you!

(Leanor squealing) - Oh my goodness!

Thank you, thank you, everyone.

Does anything heal and offer hope like a great song of encouragement?

And the warmth of compassion of a cuddly dog?

I thank you all for sharing this beautiful story.

And thank you for joining us for "Hope is Here."

♪ Robots and giant fish, sure no match ♪ ♪ For the power of galactic cats and dogs ♪ ♪ Be golden, golden ♪ ♪ Shine and sparkle like the planets ♪ ♪ Keep hoping, hoping ♪ ♪ Everything will be just fine ♪ ♪ When you've got a friend by your side ♪