January 6, 2026 • 20 mins
From happy moments to times of reflection, here are a few of the biggest moments from Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.
K9s For Warriors joins us with two furry friends to honor their mission: matching Veterans with service dogs! Plus, an emotional surprise for Froggy!
OG Air Date November 12th, 2025.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
And now another grave moment from twenty twenty five Alvis
Duran in the Morning Show yesterday.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Of course, with Veterans Day, we have a firm belief
that every day should be Veterans Day, just saying, just saying,
you know, yesterday in Jacksonville, Froggy was that to this amazing,
amazing event for canines for warriors.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
You want to talk about it.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Yeah, we raised one point two million dollars yesterday for
service animals for our veterans and had the chance to
talk to some veterans, had the chance to make some
puppy dog friends, which is always a good time. I
made the best friend with this service dog named Ben.
He just had this look in his eyes and he
crawled up in my lap, seventy eight pounds Golden Retriever
(00:48):
and he just cuddled with me and I hugged his
little head in his face. He was so sweet. And
then to watch them work, and that's what they're doing
when they put the vests on, the animals are at
work and when their warrior tells them make a friend,
know that it's okay to be pet And it is
incredible to watch how smart these animals are and what
they do while the word is speaking to us. The
animal gets kind of behind them and watches their six
(01:10):
as they call it, their blind side, because that's what
they're doing. They are working, and they are there to
help the veteran live their life that they have not
been able to because of things that have happened in
the military.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I learned a long time ago in the world of
dogs that dogs love many things. One thing, one thing
they really truly love is having a job. It's true.
I mean, you have dogs that are at airports running
birds off the runways to keep the planes from crash.
You have dogs sniffing, sniffing through all sorts of tragedy, looking.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
For life on a farm, hurting everybody.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Absolutely, absolutely, my dogs, my dogs have jobs. The Schnauzers,
they just crap on the floor.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
That's all they do. Oh, mine has the same job.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So walking in the room right now is a User
Force veteran Adam and his dog Cooper. Come on over, guys,
and a trainer from Canine for Warriors. Hannah is here
with Raven.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Hi Raven. Oh my god, we made friends on Thank
you guys for coming in. I do appreciate this.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
Absolutely. We're so happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And we're just talking to Froggy who's in Jacksonville now
about There are a big Canine for Warriors event in
Jacksonville yesterday. It was pretty wild. I will read you
a couple of stats. Every single day in the US,
roughly twenty twenty veterans die by suicide, and at the
(02:33):
same time, every day in America, over one thousand dogs
are euthanized. Oh and you'd wonder, if you're just turning
us on right now, well, what do these two have
in common? We're talking about veterans and dogs, absolutely so
knowing that there needs to be an end to veterans suicide,
Canines for Warriors is providing highly trained service dogs, many
(02:57):
of them rescues being saved themselves to military veterans nationwide
suffering from the wounds of war PTSD traumatic brain injuries,
military sexual trauma.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
The list goes on, as they call it, saving lives
at both ends of the leash.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I just I love that it's true. So, Adam, Adam,
you were with US Air Force how long?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Twelve years?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Twelve years and when you got out you got hit
with PTSD Hardah, right, just describe if you want, like
what happened about eighteen months after I had come home.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I started experiencing all these different symptoms. Mostly started it
started revolving around sleep, and from there it snowballed into
panic attacks. Its snowbolled into putting a lot of restrictions
on myself because I started getting nervous by going out
in public, and you know, that path led into a
(03:52):
very dark, dark place where I found myself on the
verge of committing suicide.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Right And.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I had gone to an event and there were some
service dogs there. It was an NFL thing, and I
had gone over and asked the folks who had their dogs,
and I just asked them. I was like, is it
as great as they say? It's meeting dogs helping people.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Right exactly?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And it was a very short answer, and it's like absolutely.
And so I want to say it's maybe a month later,
after learning more about the foundation, that I took the
step and I applied, and quickly after that I was approved.
And that's when I guess you can say that the
healing really started beginning.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And it's a miracle how it happens, right, Absolutely, And
I've heard many different people in your position and close
to your position. Tried to describe how it worked, and
no one could really put it into words. How there's
no way to describe it. In some ways, it just
trust me, it works absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
You know, become a team and you know that's two ways, right,
So we both have to look after each other, right,
and and it just strengthens that bond so much.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
That's an honor to have you here with Cooper. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
How long have you been with Cooper? Two years almost
to the day, right? Have you ever had dogs before
me you're growing up or yeah? Yeah, yeah, but did
you ever look at a dog at that point in
your life to be a healer in your life? You
just you always knew life was better with a dog around,
of course, without doubt. Of course, I can be honest
with I love each and every one of you here.
I'd rather be home with my dogs.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
No offense.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I'd with your dogs, yeah, Danielle.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
So can you tell us a little bit about what
Cooper actually does for you?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (05:27):
So?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Cooper is my lifeline. So we were able to go
out in public together. I don't have a lot of
those you know, those fears that inevitably cause a lot
more of those symptoms when you're in public, you know,
the fear of having a setback or a panic attack
in public, right, it after a while, it keeps you home.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And so this was a way for me to start
get back and reclaiming a lot of those freedoms that
I had taken away from myself.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So Cooper looks after him. Yeah, I love that Cooper
sees things we don't see.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
And so if Cooper sees you getting all nervousness a
situation or having anxiety, Cooper rolls in and goes, Okay,
exactly is it likely?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
I watched on Instagram these dogs that like if someone
needs medication or the dog can sense if someone's about to,
you know, have a medical emergency, and the dog like
opens the door for them or grabs their medication.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yeah, right, if you don't see it, but Cooper is
wrapped around Adam's yeah ankles, right, is so cute?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Cut?
Speaker 6 (06:23):
How How I know that?
Speaker 7 (06:24):
He says, please don't touch me, I'm a service dog.
How many people ignore that and come.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Touch the dog?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It's it's unbelievable how many people just ignore it and
she's offender.
Speaker 7 (06:38):
And then I was told I was allowed to make
a friend.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, you can put as many patches on a dog's
best as you want to you, but there are people
just come by like, who doggy so cute?
Speaker 7 (06:48):
But how detrimental is that to the dog?
Speaker 1 (06:51):
She learns to be resilient to it, you know, more
more times than not. I pull her away right away, okay,
And so yeah, she she kind of is like, all right, well,
you know, let's move on that kind of wow.
Speaker 7 (07:02):
Can I make a friend with Cooper later?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Okay, thanks for asking. You should here at a zoo
with wild tigers. You really should have ask.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
It looks like a friend is getting.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
If you're just turning us on. If you're just turning
us on.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
We are talking about Canines for Warriors and uh Adam
of course is here with his his his friend Cooper,
and Hannah the trainer is here with Rocky Raven and
uh Canine for Warriors. Elena is here too, Elena, what
do you do with Canons for Warriors?
Speaker 6 (07:30):
I am their public relations manager, so I recently started
last week. Oh yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
What an incredible organization to be amazing and I want
to talk to Hannah about training these dogs in a second,
but there's something I've got to do.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
So, Froggy, you were at the big event yesterday, right, correct.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Yeah, where we raised one point two million dollars, which
I'm just I'm so proud of people that just want
to give back and help such an incredible organization.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You were the one that said, by the way, Elvis,
you you have. You have contributed to two dogs being
trained and saved. You have, and you never named them.
I'm like, uh, those animals need names. Yes, we must,
we must, so we have to name at least one today.
If you have two names, we'd be great, But we
have one. So, I mean I would choose a name
like Puddles or something stupid. We shouldn't use puddles. Hanna's
(08:19):
Puddles a bad name.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Froggy. I want to show you something. Okay, I'm gonna
read this to you. There's a plaque here.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
It says, we proudly bestow names upon two canine for warriors,
especially trained service dogs, so that they may now share
their love and healing with two of our nation's veterans.
So in memory of Rocky and in honor of your Rex,
(09:01):
with love, two dogs named for canins for Warriors so
I don't know if you even know of it. Uh Rocky,
Rocky left, uh Froggy and Lisa not too long ago,
and I was thinking, all the work you do with
Canines for Warriors, what an incredible, incredible thing we could
(09:22):
do to name one Rocky and Rex, who is still
alive and doing great. We'll find it. We'll find a
dog for Rex as well. So congratulations. Oh my god,
we love you frogs.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Thank you, Rocky bit everything.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Does I know it's been one hundred and one days
since he loved us, and to do this, it's just
oh my god.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well yeah, I know, thank you, I know, I know.
Canines for Warriors you you brought them to us, and
now we understand the importance of this incredible organization and
people like Adam and Hannah and Elena and everyone at
the organization to be We're so honored to be to
be aligned with you and doing everything we can to
help out.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
And today we know it's it's it's not a it's not.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
An easy task to train these dogs, Hannah, and to
get them done, get them through the system. It's expensive too.
We would we would like to contribute for two more dogs. Wow,
oh wow, Okay, now, remind okay, remind me the price
tag again.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
It is twenty five thousand dollars for animals start to finish.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Okay, well, service.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Dogs, that one dog, that one dog's gonna be great, happy.
So we want to do we we definitely want to
contribute and get two more dogs in the system. We
want to save two dogs and save two veterans. Is
that okay with you?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Guys?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
That is saying no, So Raven is down here?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Do you want to talk about Raven?
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Absolutely so. Raven is one of our service dogs in training.
She is now Rocky.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Of course we've named Rocky. Do you want to do?
Speaker 7 (11:04):
You want to She's so pretty frog?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Do you want to do? You want to see Raven?
I do want to see Raven. How do we do this?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You have to bring that down here. This is gonna
be kind of wild. You're now seeing Rocky. This, this
is Rocky.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Oh so sweet, I'm telling you, and I always say this,
and everybody loves their dog. Rocky was the greatest dog
I ever had in my whole life, and so for
for that to be Rocky means everything to me. And
Rocky really Rocky would have been a great service dog. Rex, oh,
Rex not so much fabulous. So to be able to
(11:44):
carry on Rocky's name and know that he is going
to help someone means just you have no idea how
much that means.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Wow, God, Lista is going to be so thrilled.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Oh, it is such an honor Froggy. We are so
so happy to name her in honor of your dog.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Thank you so much. I have a question.
Speaker 7 (11:59):
Yeah, yeah, So she's been trained for a while and
she's been trained as Raven. So how does she transition
now to Rocky?
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Great question. So we do a game called name Wreck. Basically,
it's a lot of back and forth. There's a lot
of treats involved. You use their new name as they
are coming towards you. You reinforce that, and then you
kind of move into a different type of focus game
where you say their name. If they look up at you,
you say our marker, which is called yes, and then
you reinforce with a treat. Usually with most dogs, it's
(12:27):
within a couple of days. They'll pick up on it
because you know, they of course love the cookies. That
makes it much easier, and you know, for the dogs
that struggle a little bit more with it. It's really
only up to just a couple of weeks. So we
like to sponsor them about two months or so before
they go to class, so we make sure we have
enough time to really set that name in. You know,
(12:48):
we send you, guys, lots of sponsor updates, so you'll
hear from Raven, you'll get some photos from us.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, so his name is Scary.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
That's his name.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
They've been crazy about it. If we got a Hamburger,
if you start training, can't we just name him Carl.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
I don't think it would take much for him.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So I mean, so, Hannah, here's pie. That'll work.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
So, Hannah, working with these dogs, do you also work
with the veterans as well to line them?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
For instance?
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Adam, I mean, was it a lot of work to
really get to know Cooper and understand how to drive Cooper?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I don't know. Yeah, I mean the instruction manual must
be thinking, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, but they prepare you. They do a very good
job of preparing you for what's to come.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Excuse me.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
You know, once you get off that bus, right and
it's just you and the dog, you know, that's when
the bonding really really starts. You know, they bring for
three weeks, they bring you down there and they introduce you,
and there was a really intense bonding process every day,
multiple hours, eight hours a day. You're just and you
always have the dog attached to you no matter where
you are.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, this is a.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Lot of work for everyone, it is, including the dog
its and just naturally over time, as you guys become
more and more of a team, the bond just grows.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
You start feeding off each other, reading each other.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Wow. It's insanely fascinating.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I mean, the science behind it, but it's really the
science is a warmth and I love.
Speaker 7 (14:20):
Yeah, what's the process for someone actually getting a dog?
If somebody feels like they need one right now, how
do they get into this program?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, you start by going onto Knine fourriers dot org
and that's where you'll have your your application process. It
didn't take very long for them to get back to
me with mine, So yeah, that's that's the first step.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Okay, how many dogs have you trained?
Speaker 6 (14:42):
I am on number I believe thirty two?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Wow?
Speaker 6 (14:45):
Yeah, how many do you keep?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Though?
Speaker 6 (14:52):
I want to take all of them home? It's really
that's one of the toughest parts is having to give
them up. You definitely give a little piece of your
heart with every dog. It is so incredibly worth it.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Well, were there any that you were like, yeah, this
one I may have to ape right now.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I'm sure there are people. Absolutely, you're still great dogs,
which is not for this job.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
See, you just said something, Hannah, and I'm sure Adam
will agree and Froggy as well.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
You guys too.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You just said a little piece of your heart goes
with them. That has to be a major part of
this training process. It's not just you know, if light's green,
you'd walk, if light's red, you stop. No, no, no,
You're talking about human beings, emotions, breathing, living people and
the connection with a dog that's going to save them
(15:37):
and they're going to save each other. That must be
an amazing, amazing day at the office for you.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
It is.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
It is so incredible And the amount of effort we
put into properly pairing these dogs with our veterans is immense.
I mean, they go through the application process and they
send us their profile, so they give us everything about
their life. When they come into the campus that we
have for them to come stay at, we do another
interview process with them, so we get to talk to
(16:04):
them one on one basically asking any questions of has
anything changed in your life, what are your goals with
your service dog? You know, obviously each dog has their
own personality, has their own strengths and weaknesses, So we
want to make sure that we are pairing the dog
best with the warrior that is going to suit their lifestyle.
So I think that that is really really important and
(16:24):
that bond just comes so much quicker with that amount
of effort. And if I may, I'll explain some science
behind it. Yes, please do so if you notice you
started tearing up a little bit, Miss Raven wanted to
go say hi to you. So the science behind a
service dog is our cortisol levels are our stress hormones.
They can actually smell the changes and those levels. So
(16:45):
in a PTSD episode or an anxiety attack, when our
warriors are in public, their cortisol levels shoot through the roof.
When that happens, the dog actually smells it, so they'll
immediately go into action. And a lot of the time,
you know, once they've been graduated and we're atom is
right now with they really start to get to know
their warrior.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And what they need.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
So if they're shopping at a grocery store and they
feel that cortisol level go up and you know the
person is standing up, they're shopping at an aisle, they're
going to put themselves into a look queue, which they
will sit on the opposite side here and watch their
warriors back. If they are sitting down somewhere and they
are starting to feel like that, they will instantly put
themselves into my lap. That is our pressure therapy queue.
(17:27):
It works similar to a weighted blanket, so they'll put
all of their weight with their forearms onto your lap
and it helps bring our warriors back to the present moment.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Right, and it just happens, Yeah, you made it. You
don't even know that you're you're entering a danger zone. Right,
But the dog does she Dooper's in right.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, There's been a couple of times where she's literally
just pulled me out of a room, you know, I
mean literally just you're coming with me and I'm in
charge for the moment.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Mad Hannah, can you treat teach people to do this?
That's why Rocky was so nice to me, because I
work with you people, I'm all stressed. Well, this is amazing.
Now there are several things I want you to know
you can donate. Look, you know, we rolled it out
and we're now going to contribute for two dogs to
get in there and get working. You can do whatever
(18:16):
you can. If you go to Knines for Warriors. What's
the website, Elena, it's you kin warriors dot.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Org, Kin Warriors dot work.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
There you go, Knines. It's a K and A nine
in an S. Yes, so Knines does not c A.
It's K and K nine S four warriors dot org.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Donate whatever you can and there's also places on that
website if you know someone or if you want to
look further into this, it's right there for you and
they'll call you back and talk to you about it.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
This is incredible, amazing. I'm so happy you came in. No, Yes, Adam,
what's up.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I just wanted to take a moment and say, on
behalf of over the one thousand veterans that have made
it through this program. I just want to thank you
from the bottom of my heart. I know SPA for
all of them and your continued support is just it's
just so wonderful and we're just so grateful.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
We have many veterans and many dogs we need to
get to so let's get work and listen. We love
you guys, and you always have a home with us here.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Any more questions.
Speaker 6 (19:17):
That was so emotion I felt.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
This is so emotional. Sorry about that, Robby. Are you good? Frog?
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Yes, I'm all good, Elvis, thank you. I can't wait
to go down to the facility and meet Rocky.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
I can't. I cannot wait. Right, Rocky is going to
Jackson me.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Yeah, she's so excited to meet you.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
That's that's crazy. The whole things is mind blowingly fantastic.
Thank you all these things in the world that disappoint us.
It's so great to come across something that feeds our souls.
And this is again cane Ies for Warriors K nine
s Canines for Warriors dot org. Just go there now.
All your questions will be answered, and thank you guys
(19:54):
for coming in. Thank you for absolutely Hey, Cooper, Rocky.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Thank you, thank you. They're so happy. The room smells
like mate.
And now another grave moment from twenty twenty five Alvis
Duran in the Morning Show yesterday.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Of course, with Veterans Day, we have a firm belief
that every day should be Veterans Day, just saying, just saying,
you know, yesterday in Jacksonville, Froggy was that to this amazing,
amazing event for canines for warriors.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
You want to talk about it.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Yeah, we raised one point two million dollars yesterday for
service animals for our veterans and had the chance to
talk to some veterans, had the chance to make some
puppy dog friends, which is always a good time. I
made the best friend with this service dog named Ben.
He just had this look in his eyes and he
crawled up in my lap, seventy eight pounds Golden Retriever
(00:48):
and he just cuddled with me and I hugged his
little head in his face. He was so sweet. And
then to watch them work, and that's what they're doing
when they put the vests on, the animals are at
work and when their warrior tells them make a friend,
know that it's okay to be pet And it is
incredible to watch how smart these animals are and what
they do while the word is speaking to us. The
animal gets kind of behind them and watches their six
(01:10):
as they call it, their blind side, because that's what
they're doing. They are working, and they are there to
help the veteran live their life that they have not
been able to because of things that have happened in
the military.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
I learned a long time ago in the world of
dogs that dogs love many things. One thing, one thing
they really truly love is having a job. It's true.
I mean, you have dogs that are at airports running
birds off the runways to keep the planes from crash.
You have dogs sniffing, sniffing through all sorts of tragedy, looking.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
For life on a farm, hurting everybody.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Absolutely, absolutely, my dogs, my dogs have jobs. The Schnauzers,
they just crap on the floor.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
That's all they do. Oh, mine has the same job.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So walking in the room right now is a User
Force veteran Adam and his dog Cooper. Come on over, guys,
and a trainer from Canine for Warriors. Hannah is here
with Raven.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Hi Raven. Oh my god, we made friends on Thank
you guys for coming in. I do appreciate this.
Speaker 6 (02:11):
Absolutely. We're so happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And we're just talking to Froggy who's in Jacksonville now
about There are a big Canine for Warriors event in
Jacksonville yesterday. It was pretty wild. I will read you
a couple of stats. Every single day in the US,
roughly twenty twenty veterans die by suicide, and at the
(02:33):
same time, every day in America, over one thousand dogs
are euthanized. Oh and you'd wonder, if you're just turning
us on right now, well, what do these two have
in common? We're talking about veterans and dogs, absolutely so
knowing that there needs to be an end to veterans suicide,
Canines for Warriors is providing highly trained service dogs, many
(02:57):
of them rescues being saved themselves to military veterans nationwide
suffering from the wounds of war PTSD traumatic brain injuries,
military sexual trauma.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
The list goes on, as they call it, saving lives
at both ends of the leash.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
I just I love that it's true. So, Adam, Adam,
you were with US Air Force how long?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Twelve years?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Twelve years and when you got out you got hit
with PTSD Hardah, right, just describe if you want, like
what happened about eighteen months after I had come home.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I started experiencing all these different symptoms. Mostly started it
started revolving around sleep, and from there it snowballed into
panic attacks. Its snowbolled into putting a lot of restrictions
on myself because I started getting nervous by going out
in public, and you know, that path led into a
(03:52):
very dark, dark place where I found myself on the
verge of committing suicide.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Right And.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I had gone to an event and there were some
service dogs there. It was an NFL thing, and I
had gone over and asked the folks who had their dogs,
and I just asked them. I was like, is it
as great as they say? It's meeting dogs helping people.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Right exactly?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
And it was a very short answer, and it's like absolutely.
And so I want to say it's maybe a month later,
after learning more about the foundation, that I took the
step and I applied, and quickly after that I was approved.
And that's when I guess you can say that the
healing really started beginning.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And it's a miracle how it happens, right, Absolutely, And
I've heard many different people in your position and close
to your position. Tried to describe how it worked, and
no one could really put it into words. How there's
no way to describe it. In some ways, it just
trust me, it works absolutely.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
You know, become a team and you know that's two ways, right,
So we both have to look after each other, right,
and and it just strengthens that bond so much.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
That's an honor to have you here with Cooper. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
How long have you been with Cooper? Two years almost
to the day, right? Have you ever had dogs before
me you're growing up or yeah? Yeah, yeah, but did
you ever look at a dog at that point in
your life to be a healer in your life? You
just you always knew life was better with a dog around,
of course, without doubt. Of course, I can be honest
with I love each and every one of you here.
I'd rather be home with my dogs.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
No offense.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Yeah, I get it.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
I'd with your dogs, yeah, Danielle.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
So can you tell us a little bit about what
Cooper actually does for you?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (05:27):
So?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Cooper is my lifeline. So we were able to go
out in public together. I don't have a lot of
those you know, those fears that inevitably cause a lot
more of those symptoms when you're in public, you know,
the fear of having a setback or a panic attack
in public, right, it after a while, it keeps you home.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And so this was a way for me to start
get back and reclaiming a lot of those freedoms that
I had taken away from myself.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
So Cooper looks after him. Yeah, I love that Cooper
sees things we don't see.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
And so if Cooper sees you getting all nervousness a
situation or having anxiety, Cooper rolls in and goes, Okay,
exactly is it likely?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
I watched on Instagram these dogs that like if someone
needs medication or the dog can sense if someone's about to,
you know, have a medical emergency, and the dog like
opens the door for them or grabs their medication.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yeah, right, if you don't see it, but Cooper is
wrapped around Adam's yeah ankles, right, is so cute?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Cut?
Speaker 6 (06:23):
How How I know that?
Speaker 7 (06:24):
He says, please don't touch me, I'm a service dog.
How many people ignore that and come.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Touch the dog?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It's it's unbelievable how many people just ignore it and
she's offender.
Speaker 7 (06:38):
And then I was told I was allowed to make
a friend.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, you can put as many patches on a dog's
best as you want to you, but there are people
just come by like, who doggy so cute?
Speaker 7 (06:48):
But how detrimental is that to the dog?
Speaker 1 (06:51):
She learns to be resilient to it, you know, more
more times than not. I pull her away right away, okay,
And so yeah, she she kind of is like, all right, well,
you know, let's move on that kind of wow.
Speaker 7 (07:02):
Can I make a friend with Cooper later?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Okay, thanks for asking. You should here at a zoo
with wild tigers. You really should have ask.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
It looks like a friend is getting.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
If you're just turning us on. If you're just turning
us on.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
We are talking about Canines for Warriors and uh Adam
of course is here with his his his friend Cooper,
and Hannah the trainer is here with Rocky Raven and
uh Canine for Warriors. Elena is here too, Elena, what
do you do with Canons for Warriors?
Speaker 6 (07:30):
I am their public relations manager, so I recently started
last week. Oh yeah, so.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
What an incredible organization to be amazing and I want
to talk to Hannah about training these dogs in a second,
but there's something I've got to do.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
So, Froggy, you were at the big event yesterday, right, correct.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Yeah, where we raised one point two million dollars, which
I'm just I'm so proud of people that just want
to give back and help such an incredible organization.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You were the one that said, by the way, Elvis,
you you have. You have contributed to two dogs being
trained and saved. You have, and you never named them.
I'm like, uh, those animals need names. Yes, we must,
we must, so we have to name at least one today.
If you have two names, we'd be great, But we
have one. So, I mean I would choose a name
like Puddles or something stupid. We shouldn't use puddles. Hanna's
(08:19):
Puddles a bad name.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Froggy. I want to show you something. Okay, I'm gonna
read this to you. There's a plaque here.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
It says, we proudly bestow names upon two canine for warriors,
especially trained service dogs, so that they may now share
their love and healing with two of our nation's veterans.
So in memory of Rocky and in honor of your Rex,
(09:01):
with love, two dogs named for canins for Warriors so
I don't know if you even know of it. Uh Rocky,
Rocky left, uh Froggy and Lisa not too long ago,
and I was thinking, all the work you do with
Canines for Warriors, what an incredible, incredible thing we could
(09:22):
do to name one Rocky and Rex, who is still
alive and doing great. We'll find it. We'll find a
dog for Rex as well. So congratulations. Oh my god,
we love you frogs.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Thank you, Rocky bit everything.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Does I know it's been one hundred and one days
since he loved us, and to do this, it's just
oh my god.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Well yeah, I know, thank you, I know, I know.
Canines for Warriors you you brought them to us, and
now we understand the importance of this incredible organization and
people like Adam and Hannah and Elena and everyone at
the organization to be We're so honored to be to
be aligned with you and doing everything we can to
help out.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
And today we know it's it's it's not a it's not.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
An easy task to train these dogs, Hannah, and to
get them done, get them through the system. It's expensive too.
We would we would like to contribute for two more dogs. Wow,
oh wow, Okay, now, remind okay, remind me the price
tag again.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
It is twenty five thousand dollars for animals start to finish.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Okay, well, service.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Dogs, that one dog, that one dog's gonna be great, happy.
So we want to do we we definitely want to
contribute and get two more dogs in the system. We
want to save two dogs and save two veterans. Is
that okay with you?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Guys?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
That is saying no, So Raven is down here?
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Do you want to talk about Raven?
Speaker 5 (10:55):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (10:55):
Absolutely so. Raven is one of our service dogs in training.
She is now Rocky.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Of course we've named Rocky. Do you want to do?
Speaker 7 (11:04):
You want to She's so pretty frog?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Do you want to do? You want to see Raven?
I do want to see Raven. How do we do this?
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
You have to bring that down here. This is gonna
be kind of wild. You're now seeing Rocky. This, this
is Rocky.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Oh so sweet, I'm telling you, and I always say this,
and everybody loves their dog. Rocky was the greatest dog
I ever had in my whole life, and so for
for that to be Rocky means everything to me. And
Rocky really Rocky would have been a great service dog. Rex, oh,
Rex not so much fabulous. So to be able to
(11:44):
carry on Rocky's name and know that he is going
to help someone means just you have no idea how
much that means.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Wow, God, Lista is going to be so thrilled.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Oh, it is such an honor Froggy. We are so
so happy to name her in honor of your dog.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Thank you so much. I have a question.
Speaker 7 (11:59):
Yeah, yeah, So she's been trained for a while and
she's been trained as Raven. So how does she transition
now to Rocky?
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (12:06):
Great question. So we do a game called name Wreck. Basically,
it's a lot of back and forth. There's a lot
of treats involved. You use their new name as they
are coming towards you. You reinforce that, and then you
kind of move into a different type of focus game
where you say their name. If they look up at you,
you say our marker, which is called yes, and then
you reinforce with a treat. Usually with most dogs, it's
(12:27):
within a couple of days. They'll pick up on it
because you know, they of course love the cookies. That
makes it much easier, and you know, for the dogs
that struggle a little bit more with it. It's really
only up to just a couple of weeks. So we
like to sponsor them about two months or so before
they go to class, so we make sure we have
enough time to really set that name in. You know,
(12:48):
we send you, guys, lots of sponsor updates, so you'll
hear from Raven, you'll get some photos from us.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, so his name is Scary.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
That's his name.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
They've been crazy about it. If we got a Hamburger,
if you start training, can't we just name him Carl.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
I don't think it would take much for him.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
So I mean, so, Hannah, here's pie. That'll work.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
So, Hannah, working with these dogs, do you also work
with the veterans as well to line them?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
For instance?
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Adam, I mean, was it a lot of work to
really get to know Cooper and understand how to drive Cooper?
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I don't know. Yeah, I mean the instruction manual must
be thinking, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Yeah, but they prepare you. They do a very good
job of preparing you for what's to come.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Excuse me.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
You know, once you get off that bus, right and
it's just you and the dog, you know, that's when
the bonding really really starts. You know, they bring for
three weeks, they bring you down there and they introduce you,
and there was a really intense bonding process every day,
multiple hours, eight hours a day. You're just and you
always have the dog attached to you no matter where
you are.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, this is a.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Lot of work for everyone, it is, including the dog
its and just naturally over time, as you guys become
more and more of a team, the bond just grows.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
You start feeding off each other, reading each other.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Wow. It's insanely fascinating.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
I mean, the science behind it, but it's really the
science is a warmth and I love.
Speaker 7 (14:20):
Yeah, what's the process for someone actually getting a dog?
If somebody feels like they need one right now, how
do they get into this program?
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, you start by going onto Knine fourriers dot org
and that's where you'll have your your application process. It
didn't take very long for them to get back to
me with mine, So yeah, that's that's the first step.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Okay, how many dogs have you trained?
Speaker 6 (14:42):
I am on number I believe thirty two?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Wow?
Speaker 6 (14:45):
Yeah, how many do you keep?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Though?
Speaker 6 (14:52):
I want to take all of them home? It's really
that's one of the toughest parts is having to give
them up. You definitely give a little piece of your
heart with every dog. It is so incredibly worth it.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
Well, were there any that you were like, yeah, this
one I may have to ape right now.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I'm sure there are people. Absolutely, you're still great dogs,
which is not for this job.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
See, you just said something, Hannah, and I'm sure Adam
will agree and Froggy as well.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
You guys too.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You just said a little piece of your heart goes
with them. That has to be a major part of
this training process. It's not just you know, if light's green,
you'd walk, if light's red, you stop. No, no, no,
You're talking about human beings, emotions, breathing, living people and
the connection with a dog that's going to save them
(15:37):
and they're going to save each other. That must be
an amazing, amazing day at the office for you.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
It is.
Speaker 6 (15:42):
It is so incredible And the amount of effort we
put into properly pairing these dogs with our veterans is immense.
I mean, they go through the application process and they
send us their profile, so they give us everything about
their life. When they come into the campus that we
have for them to come stay at, we do another
interview process with them, so we get to talk to
(16:04):
them one on one basically asking any questions of has
anything changed in your life, what are your goals with
your service dog? You know, obviously each dog has their
own personality, has their own strengths and weaknesses, So we
want to make sure that we are pairing the dog
best with the warrior that is going to suit their lifestyle.
So I think that that is really really important and
(16:24):
that bond just comes so much quicker with that amount
of effort. And if I may, I'll explain some science
behind it. Yes, please do so if you notice you
started tearing up a little bit, Miss Raven wanted to
go say hi to you. So the science behind a
service dog is our cortisol levels are our stress hormones.
They can actually smell the changes and those levels. So
(16:45):
in a PTSD episode or an anxiety attack, when our
warriors are in public, their cortisol levels shoot through the roof.
When that happens, the dog actually smells it, so they'll
immediately go into action. And a lot of the time,
you know, once they've been graduated and we're atom is
right now with they really start to get to know
their warrior.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
And what they need.
Speaker 6 (17:04):
So if they're shopping at a grocery store and they
feel that cortisol level go up and you know the
person is standing up, they're shopping at an aisle, they're
going to put themselves into a look queue, which they
will sit on the opposite side here and watch their
warriors back. If they are sitting down somewhere and they
are starting to feel like that, they will instantly put
themselves into my lap. That is our pressure therapy queue.
(17:27):
It works similar to a weighted blanket, so they'll put
all of their weight with their forearms onto your lap
and it helps bring our warriors back to the present moment.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Right, and it just happens, Yeah, you made it. You
don't even know that you're you're entering a danger zone. Right,
But the dog does she Dooper's in right.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah, There's been a couple of times where she's literally
just pulled me out of a room, you know, I
mean literally just you're coming with me and I'm in
charge for the moment.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Mad Hannah, can you treat teach people to do this?
That's why Rocky was so nice to me, because I
work with you people, I'm all stressed. Well, this is amazing.
Now there are several things I want you to know
you can donate. Look, you know, we rolled it out
and we're now going to contribute for two dogs to
get in there and get working. You can do whatever
(18:16):
you can. If you go to Knines for Warriors. What's
the website, Elena, it's you kin warriors dot.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Org, Kin Warriors dot work.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
There you go, Knines. It's a K and A nine
in an S. Yes, so Knines does not c A.
It's K and K nine S four warriors dot org.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Donate whatever you can and there's also places on that
website if you know someone or if you want to
look further into this, it's right there for you and
they'll call you back and talk to you about it.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
This is incredible, amazing. I'm so happy you came in. No, Yes, Adam,
what's up.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I just wanted to take a moment and say, on
behalf of over the one thousand veterans that have made
it through this program. I just want to thank you
from the bottom of my heart. I know SPA for
all of them and your continued support is just it's
just so wonderful and we're just so grateful.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
We have many veterans and many dogs we need to
get to so let's get work and listen. We love
you guys, and you always have a home with us here.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Any more questions.
Speaker 6 (19:17):
That was so emotion I felt.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
This is so emotional. Sorry about that, Robby. Are you good? Frog?
Speaker 4 (19:23):
Yes, I'm all good, Elvis, thank you. I can't wait
to go down to the facility and meet Rocky.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
I can't. I cannot wait. Right, Rocky is going to
Jackson me.
Speaker 6 (19:30):
Yeah, she's so excited to meet you.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
That's that's crazy. The whole things is mind blowingly fantastic.
Thank you all these things in the world that disappoint us.
It's so great to come across something that feeds our souls.
And this is again cane Ies for Warriors K nine
s Canines for Warriors dot org. Just go there now.
All your questions will be answered, and thank you guys
(19:54):
for coming in. Thank you for absolutely Hey, Cooper, Rocky.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Thank you, thank you. They're so happy. The room smells
like mate.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.