Texas Dog Takes Edina Women from Rags to Riches

Four years ago, one lost little pup began a journey that would take her from the barren oil fields of West Texas to the comforts of Edina. More recently, through the telling of the story of a charming dog called Rags, two longtime friends began a journey of their own.  

A Story that Begged to be Told

At a time when Carey McKeon Pearson’s daughter Colleen was studying at Texas Christian University and Colleen’s boyfriend had an internship with an oil company that was sending him out to canvas the West Texas oil fields, a young little dog—part Boston Terrier, part mystery—who would later be known as Rags was wandering the desolate landscape, struggling to make it on her own. Colleen’s boyfriend would soon befriend the dog and take her back to Forth Worth with him. But when the pup met Colleen, it was kismet. The two have been inseparable ever since—moving from Texas back home to Edina after college, and from there to South Minneapolis (though we’re told Rags still makes the walk to the at 50th & France regularly).

So goes the story of Rags, the dog with an uncertain start who finally found her way to a home and a friend. And Pearson, a psychologist who had never set out to be a children’s book author, suddenly found herself compelled to write. 

“Her story was begging to be told,” Pearson said.

Pearson contacted her good friend Patti Nero Kivestu, who works as a writer and editor, and together the two set about telling the true story of Rags to Riches: A Dog’s Tale of Hope and Friendship.

Well, mostly true, at least. The first portion of the book chronicles Rags’ time in West Texas and the interesting animals she meets, and is, by necessity, fictional.

Rags to Riches—But Not Snobbery

It was Colleen who came up with the name Rags to Riches, and Pearson confesses she first thought it was “a little pompous, a little mundane.” That is, until her daughter explained to her the reason behind it. “Riches” does not refer to the pup’s new lavish lifestyle in Edina, but to the fortune of finding a friend.  

Rags—who Pearson notes has the “battle scars of being alone,” with a missing canine tooth and a bite out of her ear—has an early history that one can only guess at. What is clear, though, is that she didn’t let it bring her down. 

"She was moving toward something; she was proactive," Pearson said. "She was searching for something and she didn’t give up."

"That’s why hope and perseverance were really key themes for this book, and I think that’s part of the reason why people have really related to it,” Kivestu added. “Because, whether you’re an adult or a child, all of us know what it is like to really want a friend and to not be alone. We’re all sort of lost and searching until we find our place and the people who give us that unconditional love.”

Now, in only a year’s time, two friends—each with different careers and grown children—have written a children’s book, launched a website, produced an iBook and promoted their own product. In addition to receiving a nomination for the Minnesota Book Awards and being placed in all branches of the Hennepin County Library, the duo's tender tale recently won three Mom's Choice Gold Awards.

Pearson and Kivestu make no attempt to hide how much they’ve been enjoying themselves through it all, from penning the book over hot chocolates and coffees to working with local illustrator Sarah Thornton, calling the book a labor of love. 

“It’s never too late to embark on a new journey,” Kivestu said. “Rags took her journey, and now Carey and I have embarked on an adventure of our own.”

Find Rags

Rags to Riches is available at area bookstores, including Wild Rumpus and Magers and Quinn, as well as online at BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.