September 13, 2025 • 16 mins
September is Suicide Awareness Month, and veterans are at especially high risk as they try to transition back into civilian life while dealing with stress, anxiety, and trauma they may have developed during their time in the service. A Danvers non-profit, Company 2 Heroes, is working with veterans and furry friends to help those vets regain their independence and ease their pain. Founder Kate van Aucken talks with Nichole this week about the power of loving dedication that only a dog can provide, and how they're working with veterans to help train their very own support dogs.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. It's great to have
you back with us this weekend. I'm Nicole Davis. September
is suicide Awareness month and veterans are at especially high
risk as they try to transition back into civilian life.
(00:28):
They're dealing with stress, anxiety, and trauma from their time
in the service, and they are trying to figure out
what comes next as well. And North Shore Nonprofit is
working with veterans and furry friends to help those vets
regain their independence, ease their pain, and receive the dedicated
support that only a good dog could provide. Kate Vanawkin
is the founder of Company to Heroes in Danvers. She's
(00:51):
here with us now. Kate, thank you for being here,
and I'd like to start by talking about you and
your story and how you got into training these dogs
in the first place.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I retired after twenty years with the Military Reserve Army
Reserves in twenty seventeen. I had adopted a few years
earlier a retired US Marine Corps war dog Sergeant Ray,
and I had struggled to find a way to get
her to be my service dog because you know, nobody
(01:22):
trains your own service dog. They only have these large
reader programs where you know, they pick out puppies and
then train them, you know, the large, large organizations like that.
So nobody. Everybody's like, well, you can't do that. I'm like, well,
why can't I She's really well trained and she does
great stuff, and you know, why do I want to
(01:43):
be on a waiting list for two or three years?
So when I moved to Massachusetts. I was in Pennsylvania
at the time. But when I moved to Massachusetts, my neighbor,
like lifelong neighbors across from the street from my parents
were dog trainers, and They're like, you got to you
gotta do this. I'm like, well, help me train Ray
and then we'll do it. So they worked with me
(02:05):
and and then said, okay, you're going to start company
Heroes and or you know, you gotta start your own
dog veteran dog program. I go, I don't know, but
then you know, I was out and about it. My
VA appointments in uh, you know, in Bedford and Jamaica,
plane and people were like, where'd you get your dog?
(02:25):
And I'm like, I trained her myself, and they're like,
well you can't do that, can you. Wow? That's cool.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Started getting a lot of questions and people are like, well,
I have a dog at home and she's really well
trained or he's really well trained, but you know, I
can't make her a service dog, I don't think. And
I'm like, well, just all that interaction, you know, really
got me thinking. I'm like, okay, fine, I'll do it.
(02:51):
So Veterans Day of twenty seventeen, I created a website,
drafted up a couple of brochures and business cards, and
hit a couple of the Veterans Day events in the
North Shore area and got like five people to say
I absolutely want to do this. And I'm like, oh
my god, that was real.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's amazing. I mean, feeling that feeling in the moment,
realizing this is becoming a reality. Being with a service
dog tell me a little bit about how important it
is for veterans to have that service dog by their side,
especially if they've seen combat. I'd imagine that it's even
more important for healing and for kind of getting back
(03:31):
into society.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, well I didn't realize, you know, how beneficial they
can be. I mean, once I got Ray. Ray was
retired earlier yere early from Marine Corps service, about eight
years old. They would have kept her longer, but you know,
she had been in an IED incident. I was in
an IED incident. So I'm like, hey, we got something
(03:54):
in common. And we both have little you know, nightmares
and night rs. And she got me off the couch,
out of my funk, not caring about myself. So when
a veteran is, you know, kind of self medicating, drinking,
taking their prescriptions, the cocktail of prescriptions to you know,
(04:16):
feel better and you know, take away the pain, you
don't care about yourself, so you can just sit there
on the couch and not do anything. But once you
have a service dog, that dog get gets you out
of that. You now have a partner that you have
to take care of and they rely on you, and
you don't realize you're doing it, but you're like, all
(04:37):
of a sudden, you're feeding your dog and you're like,
well maybe i'll eat too, and you know, and you
start taking better care of yourself and you're walking the
dog and all of a sudden, you know, you're getting
fresh air and exercise and you all of a sudden
realize I could do stuff. So, Okay, I'm going to
go out now to the grocery store and buy food,
(04:58):
and I'm going to go to my doctor's appointments. But
I'm not going to have anxiety because I got this
little you know, pop to keep me calm. And then
for veterans that are you know, have anger management issues
and are just you know, so into themselves and afraid
to go out, you know, have severe anxiety in the public.
We have several veterans like that, and their dog is
(05:21):
that ticket to engaging the public again. People say, oh,
what a nice dog, What is it for, you know,
and you start having a conversation with people you'd be
ignoring and running away from if you were out in
public by yourself. So and also feel veterans. Veterans have
a really close relationship with each other. I mean, you
(05:43):
can have high school friends, you can have elementary school
friends that you've stayed in touch with forever and they're friends.
But when you have combat loyalty and friendships and bonds,
it's way deeper and way more meaningful. Not to take
anything away from all my friends out there. But it's
(06:03):
just a different kind of depth in a relationship that
you know, you don't even have with your family or
your you know, brothers, sisters. You just don't have it.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
No. I mean, you've come close to seeing death, or
you have seen death, and you've been through literal hell
if you've been in combat, so of course you're going
to have those closer connections with people. And I can't
imagine that when you come home from such a high
stakes and high stress environment, you kind of wonder what
is next for me? What's my purpose here?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Absolutely, because you know, everybody's like, oh, we need this
dead this deadline, it's urgent, and you're like, there's nothing
urgent about your dead lote, right right? You know? You know.
But I feel like most people can understand. I mean,
I don't think people can understand that kind of bond.
They can appreciate it, but they can't understand it until
(06:53):
you actually compare it to the loyalty and bond that
you have with an animal that dog. People people more
in the loss of their dogs because there's that deeper,
deeper sense of relationship because there's that loyalty. I don't
care what you did, or who you did it to
or what you know, what you are today. You know
(07:14):
I am with you no matter what you know. And
there's that so a dog almost mimics that that loyalty,
that combat veteran you know, guy on my left or
all on my right relationship where you know I've got
your back, you know we can do this together kind
of thing. And you know, I think that I know
(07:37):
the public can certainly you know, agree with that. You know,
most people are like, oh my pet, it's you know,
I cried it, my pet. But you know, when my
uncle died, it was it was okay, you know, it
was you know.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Uncle Jimmy was okay. But when Spot died, my world.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
N o, my god my, you know, my little my
little lab or my little Golden retriever.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
My little papalon. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So it's just a really nice and for our veterans,
you know, you've got that four legged battle buddy. I mean,
we miss our battle buddies with the two legs that
you know we left. Some of us had to deploy
home before others, some stayed longer, and you missed that
bond and that that purpose that you built together, like
(08:23):
you said, and now the veterans are getting a four
legged battle buddy. Somebody is not going to leave their side.
Somebody is always going to have their back, and that's
kind of what a service dog does for our veterans.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Now, every dog is a good dog. I want to
make that very clear. We're not, you know, discriminating against
dogs here. But are there some pups that are better
I guess aligned to be a veteran service dog? Or
can you take a peppy on for example, or like
a little beagle and who might be loud, but you know,
could you make them a good service dog too.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yes, we're not. We're not. We're not breed stops there.
You know, clearly there are breeds that are you know,
if you did any research and you're trying to find
a dog for the family or trying to find a
dog for protection, you know, things like that, there are
certain breeds that are better for each of those purposes.
We don't, we're not kind of you know, we don't
have any breed criteria. We just need that dog to
(09:22):
have the right temperament and personality to be a service dog.
And also, you know we do this with you know,
we train the dogs with positive reinforcement. We don't. We
don't use choke collars, prong callers, things like that. People
are like, well, you have to be the alpha, not
if you want it to be a service dog. If
you want it to be a service dog, there is
(09:43):
no alpha your dog. You're ruin your relationship with your dog.
Your dog will be with you and like you because
he fears you or he fears you know, you know,
the tug of the leash and they're doing it because
they have to, not because they want to. So when
you want a dog, through your service dog, to to
key in on triggers that are you know, affecting you,
(10:06):
you have to have that relationship with your dog that
goes a little bit deeper. But we have we have
American Copper Spaniels, we have labs, we have Belgian Malawa,
we have Shepherds, Goldens, coonhounds. I'm trying to think huskies.
A lot of labs and Goldens just because you know
(10:26):
they're they're just known. That's what a lot of service
dog organizations use and breed a lot of mixes, so
you know lab in pity mix or even a Pomeranian Husky,
a palm Ski so you know, so it's like a
little baby fluffy husky. We have our smallest one of
(10:49):
the Yorkie and we've we had a teacup poodle, uh
in our earlier days. She's she's moved on but uh
to another state. But that teacup poodle was able to
detect the the change in her breath for diabetes. So wow,
(11:10):
she was able to like, you know, wake her up
in the middle of the night and stuff like that.
So I mean, now some things that we train our
service dogs to do aren't necessary, right. You know, we
used to have the dogs go in and clear you know,
turn on the light and clear the clear the room
before you walk in, you know, your house before you
walk in, turn on lights. Our dogs all you know,
trained to do that. But now you know, technology is over,
(11:33):
you know, overtaken that you can now walk in with
your cell phone and your cell phone talks to your house,
and your house turns on everything that you need to
be turned on. The diabetes you know clearly that dog
saved her life several times. But you know now we
have uh those those uh those permanent things that they
can wear and then it can you know, trigger your
(11:54):
phone to ring and then it wakes you up and
it tells you, hey, your blood sugar is low and
are dangerously low or high or whatever. So, yeah, technologies
changing things, but nothing can you know, really replace you know, that.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Bond they have the dog, or you can help them
connect to the dog. How do you help with the
training and what sort of reference, what sort of resources
do you provide to veterans who want to get involved
with the service dog.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, so there are wonderful programs out there that provide
service dogs from puppies and then they train them for
two years and then you know, source them to veterans.
But veterans aren't the only group that they you know,
train dogs for. There's hearing and vision impairments. There's seizure
(12:44):
alert dogs, autism dogs. You know, all kinds of dogs
out there that are you know, pulling at the group
of dogs that are available to people that need them.
And that's you know, you've got needs. You've got canine companions,
you got vet dogs, You've got all kinds of operation
delta dogs. You've got all kinds of programs out there
(13:05):
that are training you know, they have professional trainers and
house the dog and kennel them and train them. Except
the problem with that is, you know, the long waiting periods.
It's a two to three year waiting period, and less
than forty percent of veterans ever seek or you know,
help or treatment. And so if a veteran finally says,
(13:28):
you know what, I'm going to get a service dog,
and they fill out the application and they hand it
in and they go, okay, when can I get my dog?
And they, you know, to be honest, they have to
say it'll be probably you know, a couple of years.
And then the veterans like, well, then forget it, you know,
so they finally they finally stepped up realized I need help.
(13:49):
Veterans don't typically do things for themselves. They will rally
around any other veteran or purpose or cause in their community,
but they rarely ever say oh I think I need
I need something, And for them to actually fill out
an application say okay, I think I need a dog,
and then for it to be a two year waiting
(14:10):
period in some cases three, just because there's so much demand.
Now it's you know, a lot more people are seeing
service dogs out there. They're understanding what they are and
and their multipurposes. That they have that it's it's grown
two to three years, which is for a veteran who's struggling,
you know, they're going to check out, they're going to
(14:32):
give up, they're going to spiral. So companies and heroes
when we when we get an email or a phone
call and they say, hey, I'd like to know more
about your program. What is it? You know, we can
fill that critical gap in the service dog availability for veterans.
We can get you. If you have a dog, hey,
bring it in. We'll start training with it, and we'll
let you know if it's you know, not the right
(14:53):
temperament or if it is, or let's work with it
for a while and see what we can do. Some
some veterans that are like, yeah, I didn't think I
didn't think my dog was going to work out too well.
You know, they had just so many bad habits. But
they're willing to get another dog and that dog be
their service dog and keep their other dog as their pet.
So so that's kind of how we try and fill
(15:15):
that that critical gap and service dog availability for veterans
and veterans. Also, you know, they don't want to take
away a dog from you know, a kid who needs
it to go, you know, to go to school, and
he has autism or seizure alert dog. You know, they're like, yeah,
that's okay.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, they're so used to putting everybody before themselves. And
that's the whole point here is that they are just
as if not more so.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yep, they put country cloth and and their battle buddies
before themselves for sure. And then when they come home,
you know, they're definitely if they're part of their community,
they're going to do that motorcycle ride and and that
fundraiser to help. We have a we have a sign
up on our all kinds of links on our company
to heroes Facebook, So it's company with the number two
(16:03):
Heroes h E. R O Ees on Facebook. You'll find
us to see all kinds of links and things to
click on.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Okay, well, Kate, it's just great to have you here.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I appreciate it. And what we say here is a
man's best friend, right he is a veteran's best medicine.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week right here we come
together we talk about all the topics important to you
and the place where you live. It's great to have
you back with us this weekend. I'm Nicole Davis. September
is suicide Awareness month and veterans are at especially high
risk as they try to transition back into civilian life.
(00:28):
They're dealing with stress, anxiety, and trauma from their time
in the service, and they are trying to figure out
what comes next as well. And North Shore Nonprofit is
working with veterans and furry friends to help those vets
regain their independence, ease their pain, and receive the dedicated
support that only a good dog could provide. Kate Vanawkin
is the founder of Company to Heroes in Danvers. She's
(00:51):
here with us now. Kate, thank you for being here,
and I'd like to start by talking about you and
your story and how you got into training these dogs
in the first place.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I retired after twenty years with the Military Reserve Army
Reserves in twenty seventeen. I had adopted a few years
earlier a retired US Marine Corps war dog Sergeant Ray,
and I had struggled to find a way to get
her to be my service dog because you know, nobody
(01:22):
trains your own service dog. They only have these large
reader programs where you know, they pick out puppies and
then train them, you know, the large, large organizations like that.
So nobody. Everybody's like, well, you can't do that. I'm like, well,
why can't I She's really well trained and she does
great stuff, and you know, why do I want to
(01:43):
be on a waiting list for two or three years?
So when I moved to Massachusetts. I was in Pennsylvania
at the time. But when I moved to Massachusetts, my neighbor,
like lifelong neighbors across from the street from my parents
were dog trainers, and They're like, you got to you
gotta do this. I'm like, well, help me train Ray
and then we'll do it. So they worked with me
(02:05):
and and then said, okay, you're going to start company
Heroes and or you know, you gotta start your own
dog veteran dog program. I go, I don't know, but
then you know, I was out and about it. My
VA appointments in uh, you know, in Bedford and Jamaica,
plane and people were like, where'd you get your dog?
(02:25):
And I'm like, I trained her myself, and they're like,
well you can't do that, can you. Wow? That's cool.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
You know.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Started getting a lot of questions and people are like, well,
I have a dog at home and she's really well
trained or he's really well trained, but you know, I
can't make her a service dog, I don't think. And
I'm like, well, just all that interaction, you know, really
got me thinking. I'm like, okay, fine, I'll do it.
(02:51):
So Veterans Day of twenty seventeen, I created a website,
drafted up a couple of brochures and business cards, and
hit a couple of the Veterans Day events in the
North Shore area and got like five people to say
I absolutely want to do this. And I'm like, oh
my god, that was real.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
That's amazing. I mean, feeling that feeling in the moment,
realizing this is becoming a reality. Being with a service
dog tell me a little bit about how important it
is for veterans to have that service dog by their side,
especially if they've seen combat. I'd imagine that it's even
more important for healing and for kind of getting back
(03:31):
into society.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, well I didn't realize, you know, how beneficial they
can be. I mean, once I got Ray. Ray was
retired earlier yere early from Marine Corps service, about eight
years old. They would have kept her longer, but you know,
she had been in an IED incident. I was in
an IED incident. So I'm like, hey, we got something
(03:54):
in common. And we both have little you know, nightmares
and night rs. And she got me off the couch,
out of my funk, not caring about myself. So when
a veteran is, you know, kind of self medicating, drinking,
taking their prescriptions, the cocktail of prescriptions to you know,
(04:16):
feel better and you know, take away the pain, you
don't care about yourself, so you can just sit there
on the couch and not do anything. But once you
have a service dog, that dog get gets you out
of that. You now have a partner that you have
to take care of and they rely on you, and
you don't realize you're doing it, but you're like, all
(04:37):
of a sudden, you're feeding your dog and you're like,
well maybe i'll eat too, and you know, and you
start taking better care of yourself and you're walking the
dog and all of a sudden, you know, you're getting
fresh air and exercise and you all of a sudden
realize I could do stuff. So, Okay, I'm going to
go out now to the grocery store and buy food,
(04:58):
and I'm going to go to my doctor's appointments. But
I'm not going to have anxiety because I got this
little you know, pop to keep me calm. And then
for veterans that are you know, have anger management issues
and are just you know, so into themselves and afraid
to go out, you know, have severe anxiety in the public.
We have several veterans like that, and their dog is
(05:21):
that ticket to engaging the public again. People say, oh,
what a nice dog, What is it for, you know,
and you start having a conversation with people you'd be
ignoring and running away from if you were out in
public by yourself. So and also feel veterans. Veterans have
a really close relationship with each other. I mean, you
(05:43):
can have high school friends, you can have elementary school
friends that you've stayed in touch with forever and they're friends.
But when you have combat loyalty and friendships and bonds,
it's way deeper and way more meaningful. Not to take
anything away from all my friends out there. But it's
(06:03):
just a different kind of depth in a relationship that
you know, you don't even have with your family or
your you know, brothers, sisters. You just don't have it.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
No. I mean, you've come close to seeing death, or
you have seen death, and you've been through literal hell
if you've been in combat, so of course you're going
to have those closer connections with people. And I can't
imagine that when you come home from such a high
stakes and high stress environment, you kind of wonder what
is next for me? What's my purpose here?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Absolutely, because you know, everybody's like, oh, we need this
dead this deadline, it's urgent, and you're like, there's nothing
urgent about your dead lote, right right? You know? You know.
But I feel like most people can understand. I mean,
I don't think people can understand that kind of bond.
They can appreciate it, but they can't understand it until
(06:53):
you actually compare it to the loyalty and bond that
you have with an animal that dog. People people more
in the loss of their dogs because there's that deeper,
deeper sense of relationship because there's that loyalty. I don't
care what you did, or who you did it to
or what you know, what you are today. You know
(07:14):
I am with you no matter what you know. And
there's that so a dog almost mimics that that loyalty,
that combat veteran you know, guy on my left or
all on my right relationship where you know I've got
your back, you know we can do this together kind
of thing. And you know, I think that I know
(07:37):
the public can certainly you know, agree with that. You know,
most people are like, oh my pet, it's you know,
I cried it, my pet. But you know, when my
uncle died, it was it was okay, you know, it
was you know.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Uncle Jimmy was okay. But when Spot died, my world.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
N o, my god my, you know, my little my
little lab or my little Golden retriever.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
My little papalon. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
So it's just a really nice and for our veterans,
you know, you've got that four legged battle buddy. I mean,
we miss our battle buddies with the two legs that
you know we left. Some of us had to deploy
home before others, some stayed longer, and you missed that
bond and that that purpose that you built together, like
(08:23):
you said, and now the veterans are getting a four
legged battle buddy. Somebody is not going to leave their side.
Somebody is always going to have their back, and that's
kind of what a service dog does for our veterans.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Now, every dog is a good dog. I want to
make that very clear. We're not, you know, discriminating against
dogs here. But are there some pups that are better
I guess aligned to be a veteran service dog? Or
can you take a peppy on for example, or like
a little beagle and who might be loud, but you know,
could you make them a good service dog too.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yes, we're not. We're not. We're not breed stops there.
You know, clearly there are breeds that are you know,
if you did any research and you're trying to find
a dog for the family or trying to find a
dog for protection, you know, things like that, there are
certain breeds that are better for each of those purposes.
We don't, we're not kind of you know, we don't
have any breed criteria. We just need that dog to
(09:22):
have the right temperament and personality to be a service dog.
And also, you know we do this with you know,
we train the dogs with positive reinforcement. We don't. We
don't use choke collars, prong callers, things like that. People
are like, well, you have to be the alpha, not
if you want it to be a service dog. If
you want it to be a service dog, there is
(09:43):
no alpha your dog. You're ruin your relationship with your dog.
Your dog will be with you and like you because
he fears you or he fears you know, you know,
the tug of the leash and they're doing it because
they have to, not because they want to. So when
you want a dog, through your service dog, to to
key in on triggers that are you know, affecting you,
(10:06):
you have to have that relationship with your dog that
goes a little bit deeper. But we have we have
American Copper Spaniels, we have labs, we have Belgian Malawa,
we have Shepherds, Goldens, coonhounds. I'm trying to think huskies.
A lot of labs and Goldens just because you know
(10:26):
they're they're just known. That's what a lot of service
dog organizations use and breed a lot of mixes, so
you know lab in pity mix or even a Pomeranian Husky,
a palm Ski so you know, so it's like a
little baby fluffy husky. We have our smallest one of
(10:49):
the Yorkie and we've we had a teacup poodle, uh
in our earlier days. She's she's moved on but uh
to another state. But that teacup poodle was able to
detect the the change in her breath for diabetes. So wow,
(11:10):
she was able to like, you know, wake her up
in the middle of the night and stuff like that.
So I mean, now some things that we train our
service dogs to do aren't necessary, right. You know, we
used to have the dogs go in and clear you know,
turn on the light and clear the clear the room
before you walk in, you know, your house before you
walk in, turn on lights. Our dogs all you know,
trained to do that. But now you know, technology is over,
(11:33):
you know, overtaken that you can now walk in with
your cell phone and your cell phone talks to your house,
and your house turns on everything that you need to
be turned on. The diabetes you know clearly that dog
saved her life several times. But you know now we
have uh those those uh those permanent things that they
can wear and then it can you know, trigger your
(11:54):
phone to ring and then it wakes you up and
it tells you, hey, your blood sugar is low and
are dangerously low or high or whatever. So, yeah, technologies
changing things, but nothing can you know, really replace you know, that.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Bond they have the dog, or you can help them
connect to the dog. How do you help with the
training and what sort of reference, what sort of resources
do you provide to veterans who want to get involved
with the service dog.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, so there are wonderful programs out there that provide
service dogs from puppies and then they train them for
two years and then you know, source them to veterans.
But veterans aren't the only group that they you know,
train dogs for. There's hearing and vision impairments. There's seizure
(12:44):
alert dogs, autism dogs. You know, all kinds of dogs
out there that are you know, pulling at the group
of dogs that are available to people that need them.
And that's you know, you've got needs. You've got canine companions,
you got vet dogs, You've got all kinds of operation
delta dogs. You've got all kinds of programs out there
(13:05):
that are training you know, they have professional trainers and
house the dog and kennel them and train them. Except
the problem with that is, you know, the long waiting periods.
It's a two to three year waiting period, and less
than forty percent of veterans ever seek or you know,
help or treatment. And so if a veteran finally says,
(13:28):
you know what, I'm going to get a service dog,
and they fill out the application and they hand it
in and they go, okay, when can I get my dog?
And they, you know, to be honest, they have to
say it'll be probably you know, a couple of years.
And then the veterans like, well, then forget it, you know,
so they finally they finally stepped up realized I need help.
(13:49):
Veterans don't typically do things for themselves. They will rally
around any other veteran or purpose or cause in their community,
but they rarely ever say oh I think I need
I need something, And for them to actually fill out
an application say okay, I think I need a dog,
and then for it to be a two year waiting
(14:10):
period in some cases three, just because there's so much demand.
Now it's you know, a lot more people are seeing
service dogs out there. They're understanding what they are and
and their multipurposes. That they have that it's it's grown
two to three years, which is for a veteran who's struggling,
you know, they're going to check out, they're going to
(14:32):
give up, they're going to spiral. So companies and heroes
when we when we get an email or a phone
call and they say, hey, I'd like to know more
about your program. What is it? You know, we can
fill that critical gap in the service dog availability for veterans.
We can get you. If you have a dog, hey,
bring it in. We'll start training with it, and we'll
let you know if it's you know, not the right
(14:53):
temperament or if it is, or let's work with it
for a while and see what we can do. Some
some veterans that are like, yeah, I didn't think I
didn't think my dog was going to work out too well.
You know, they had just so many bad habits. But
they're willing to get another dog and that dog be
their service dog and keep their other dog as their pet.
So so that's kind of how we try and fill
(15:15):
that that critical gap and service dog availability for veterans
and veterans. Also, you know, they don't want to take
away a dog from you know, a kid who needs
it to go, you know, to go to school, and
he has autism or seizure alert dog. You know, they're like, yeah,
that's okay.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Well, they're so used to putting everybody before themselves. And
that's the whole point here is that they are just
as if not more so.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yep, they put country cloth and and their battle buddies
before themselves for sure. And then when they come home,
you know, they're definitely if they're part of their community,
they're going to do that motorcycle ride and and that
fundraiser to help. We have a we have a sign
up on our all kinds of links on our company
to heroes Facebook, So it's company with the number two
(16:03):
Heroes h E. R O Ees on Facebook. You'll find
us to see all kinds of links and things to
click on.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Okay, well, Kate, it's just great to have you here.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
I appreciate it. And what we say here is a
man's best friend, right he is a veteran's best medicine.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole
Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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