September 11, 2023 • 17 mins
Jason Johnson is a globally recognized subject matter expert in the International K-9 Community. As the Founder and CEO of Project K-9 Hero, Jason has dedicated his career to making sure retired Police K-9s and Military Working Dogs receive the medical care, rehabilitation, or rehoming that they deserve once their service to our country is complete. He is a former Field Canine Coordinator for the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program with Department of Homeland Security, Lead Instructor and Course Developer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives National Canine Training Center, Kennel Master and K-9 Handler for the U.S. Department of State in Iraq and Afghanistan, Police Narcotics K-9 Handler and Trainer, and a U.S. Army Military Police Officer. Jason holds a Master’s Degree in Security Management, is a published author, and a executive producer of television and film.
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(00:00):
CEOs you should know. Powered byiHeartMedia Providence. We're talking with Jason Johnson,
CEO of Project Canine Hero. Istarted in the United States Army nineteen
ninety three. I was a militarypolice officer and when I came in the
military, I didn't even know thatworking dogs really existed. I didn't know
as a profession. I didn't knowthat was something you could do. And
(00:24):
when I started learning more about theworking dogs and what they do for the
military, it was something I kindof set my sights on to be a
part of. So it wasn't untilafter I got of the military. I
started working with the police Department CivilianPolice Department, and my goal there was
to become a canine haidler and acanine trainer, and that's what I did.
And when I became that, Ireally started learning more about the impact
(00:47):
that you can put on lives inthe community and things like that that really
just not only hands us the safetybut the role model that canines and their
handler's plague and I call it themost honorable profession in the world. Talk
to me about that relationship between ahandler and their service dog. What is
(01:07):
that like? It's a bond likeno other. When you have a canine
partner and they're with you twenty fourseven. A lot of times you're closer
to your canine partner, like whenI have my dog Flash, than you
are your family. They go towork with you, they come home with
you, they go to vacation withyou, they go on vacation with you,
and they do other things that you'rejust an inseparable and inseparable and it's
(01:34):
just it's just a bond that youcan't really describe. And that's why when
I found it Project Canine Hero.It's so important to me to make sure
that these shoes are being looked afterin their retirement. And you know,
we'll talk a little bit about whythat is, but they mean so much
to their handlers, and we wantto make sure that they're living in the
fullest and most productive and happy lifethat they can. So, before you
(01:57):
started Project Canine Hero, what thelife of some of these service dogs look
like once they were retired, Oncethey've done their full tour of service,
whether it be for police dogs ormilitary dogs, what happens after they retire.
Well, currently, we've gotten alot better as a society where we're
not leaving dogs behind the war zonesas much. We're not seeing them put
(02:19):
down like they were in the VietnamWar. So we've made great strides in
that and passing laws in legislation.However, most of the dogs today get
to stay with their handler, andpeople think that's great, but a lot
of them are having cancer when foma. We have a dog in the er
today with a chemotherapy or maybe anamputation from a bone cancer. So in
(02:43):
no way as a first responder,a police officer, a soldier, airman,
marine capable of paying for those expensivesurgeries, medications office visits sometimes five
thousand, ten thousand, or fifteenthousand dollars or more. So that's on
the handler. That's their responsibility oncethey adopt to cover all of the health
issues that happen with these dogs.Yes, so specifically in the United States
(03:07):
military and the federal government, there'sjust no program inplace. Some of the
local agencies have some funds where youknow it may they get a stipend so
much per month, so much peryear, but in no way does that
really help with any a serious issue. It might help pay for some food,
it may help with some prescriptions,but it's not going to help with
(03:30):
a major surgery. I mean Ican speak as an owner of a senior
dog. Those bills add up,and they add up quickly. And you
never want to be in a positionwhere you have to make the decision between
healthcare of a family member. Right, And this is this is you know,
a civilian dog, right, We'renot talking about dogs who have been
in action or have you know,served at the side of some of our
(03:52):
first responders. What is that likeas a burden on their handlers who do
choose to adopt that. It's ahuge burden because two things happen without the
help of an organization like Project Kingon hero. Either they go into extreme
personal debt. They have to puton their credit cards. When you go
into these vet places for emergency,you have to put the credit card down
(04:14):
right at that moment, and thatmight be five thousands, ten thousand dollars.
Let's say it's blow. We're allkind of familiar with a blow.
I mean, those surgeries are expensive. Drop that credit card, or they
have a nice hair credit something thathas interest rate that jumps up after so
much time, Right, and soyou know, either they go into financial
debt or the dog simply goes without. So when I found a Project Knon
(04:38):
Hero, those are the things Iwant to avoid. I wasn't a former
military police officer. I was aformer police officer. I was in the
federal service. So it's important tome to make sure they don't go in
debt because I know they're not gettingpaid any extra money out there. And
some of our soldiers, specifically policeofficers, they don't have the ability to
get a second job. They can'tgo out and work part time somewhere.
(04:59):
That's their jobs don't even allow forthat. So and then most importantly,
we don't want to see the doggo without because that's what used to happen.
The dog would simply go without orhave to be euthanized because someone just
couldn't pay the bill. So thisisn't like this isn't you doing this for
fun. You have dedicated your life, your career to this. Talk to
me about how you made that transitionfrom you know, being a service member
(05:21):
into dedicating your life to Project CanineHero. Yeah, it was. It
was a hard choice for me atthe time, but now it's one where
I look back on it. I'mso glad I did because you can really
never grow as a nonprofit until youfully dedicate your time to it, you
know, And a lot of peoplelook at how nonprofits ran, and you
know, we did really great lastyear with eighty eight percent program services only
(05:45):
five percent or administration, which isgreat. And so now I'm able I'll
do this for a living. Butyou know, at the time when I
left, when I started in twothousand and sixty, I was still a
full time government employee. And thegovernment doesn't really want you to talk about
your nonprofit when you're at work oroutside of work or certain things, right
they want you to focus on yourgovernment job. And I wasn't. I
was working in the canine program forthe United States, like the dogs you
(06:08):
see at the airport that's sniff forpasseng years for explosives. I worked in
that program, and you know,I thought, we're never going to get
to the level I want to beif I don't just do this full time.
And I took five hundred dollars inmy pocket that year in twenty and
sixteen and started this organization. Andthis year we hope to raise over five
million dollars. How do we helpyou raise that money? Well, donations
(06:30):
obviously help. We have over fivehundred dogs pending application. We're committed to
putting in fifty two new dogs ayear, so that's one Hero week and
each week we put that new heroin, we're committing I used to make
between twenty and twenty five thousand dollarsin the lifetime of that dog. They
might be in for a year,they might be in for five years.
Some dogs are still fairly young whenthey come in, but the financial helps.
(06:51):
And for the dogs who can't staywith their handlers, we have one
hundred and seventy seven acre rehabilitation REHOMIfacility in Tennessee, and the ones are
going to be euthanized otherwise, whetherthey have aggression issues or they just run
out of a place to stay becausea family situation, it could be anything.
We have that available for them.And everything can be doneat on Project
(07:12):
cana and hero dot org and wehave a donate button. We have ways
that you can People sometimes leave usestates. Sometimes people do four oh and
k transfers. We're set up forthat. We have a shop on a
Project canaan hero dot org which hasour apparel. Is the sweet sweatshirt that
you're wearing this hoodie that you goton today. This is the military working
dog Rosso hoodie. Rosso had surgerythis week forty two. Who is Rosso?
(07:38):
Tell me about Rosso? Rosso isone of our ambassadors. Over two
years ago he was going to beeuthanized from the Air Force. He protected
the last two presidents, He protectedthe President Japan, served overseas and Operation
Inherent Resolve and Operations Spartan Shield,over ten secret service missions around the world.
And when his time was up,he was just too aggressive to be
(07:59):
adopted. And why he had ahandler that loved him. That handler had
a six month old child. Yeah, and while he's still active duty and
can still deploy working on the presidentialdetails and other things, how is his
spouse equipped with a newborn to handleaggressive military working dog? Right? And
I can't imagine when you're when youchoose a career path as a handler,
that you know that's that's part andparcel. You know that that's part of
(08:22):
the right. And so, uh, the kennel master there reached out to
me. I drove all the wayto Washington State, I picked up Rosso,
drove him back. That was Decemberof twenty twenty one. He's still
alive. He had he had emergencysurgery this week, but he's doing well.
He's recovering. And you know,it's just a good example of a
military working dog who was trained tobe like this, right if it was
(08:45):
selected to ask a top dog he'sI mean, you're protecting the president at
that level, it's like servant andhe protected Air Force bass and security.
So yes, he's supposed to beaggressive. He's supposed to be fierce,
but he's also loyal and he's verylow with his handler. It was never
a problem with his handler. Wasanyone who came around that wasn't his hand?
(09:05):
Yeah, I know, I owna little bit about that. And
you know, so Rosso, that'shis that's his personality, but that doesn't
mean that he should be put downafter a service. So he lives out
at one hundred and seventy seven acreRehabilitation Rehoming Center in Tennessee and he's doing
on the police thirteen and uh.You know, this is a Rosso sweat
shirt and we have a lot ofa lot of different apparel. Project came
(09:28):
on hair dot org that has otherdogs on it. We have a Duke
one and an Arlow one and wehave one with with Flash. Who uh
you know, I wanted to getinto Flash because Flash was about She's cannon
that helped me start this program.Who's Flash? Well, Flash was my
police canine when I when I workedin Yakima, Washington, and we were
there together until I went overseas intwo thousand and eight and I had she
(09:50):
had to stay. I took ajob protecting the Ambassador United States. How
do you explain that too? Howdo you explain Some people say they would
never leave their dog beyond, ButI was given an opportunity. And I
will tell you that I wouldn't bethe founder of this organization if I hadn't
made these career moves in my life. So protecting the ambassador and I rack
in Afghanistan as a dog handler wasa big deal to me. It was
(10:11):
an opportunity I just really couldn't passus. And Flash had to stay and
she worked with two additional handlers.But when she retired in twenty thirteen,
I was an instructor outside the DCarea for the federal government and I was
given the call to get her back, and I got her back in retirement
and she had lyme disease. Shehad over three thousand deployments rough on her
body. And I noticed then eventhough she had seized millions and millions of
(10:33):
dollars of assets in cash and narcoticrelated currency and things, none of that
can help with her retirement. Sowe have a lot of dogs in our
program like that who might work inborder patrol or might work, you know,
on a local drug task force,and they and they do all these
great things, but none of thosefunds go up to their retirement. So,
you know, she really opened myeyes to what it was like as
(10:56):
a hero. In twenty eighteen,she was named the lawn Forcement Dog of
the Year in America. We wereon We're in Beverly Hills. That was
through the American Humane we'reund the HallmarkChannel, and it was just it was
it was amazing. And so shegot her recognition. And we have two
children's books that I wrote, oncecalled Canine Flash Becomes a Hero and the
(11:18):
other's Canine Flash a Hero's Hero andthe true stories about our life and how
we started Project Kanine Hero and howwe're helping dogs all across the nation,
and both of those can be purchasedon our website of Project knan Hero dot
org. Do you think these dogsknow that they're heroes? Do you think
that? I mean, you know, you know when you have a special
dog, right one that obviously you'reconnected to, and you think the world
of them. But do you thinkthese dogs who have done so much service
(11:39):
for us and for our public servants, that they also know that they're there's
something extra special? I think theydo. I think the way they're treated
like celebrities and superstars. If youlook at pictures of Flash, he's on
the red carpet there at the BeverlyHilton. You know, there's pictures of
our online, any of our ambassadors, they all get the special treatment,
(12:00):
and they should. These dogs puttheir lives on the line for us.
They specifically the ones in the militaryand the police that we help without question,
without hesitation. They don't ask questions. They do what's expected to them,
and they love to do it.And for that, you know,
I always say, you know,one of our taglines is protecting those who
(12:22):
protected us, and that's what wedo at Projecting and Hero We protect those
who protected us. When you starteddipping your toe into this life's work that
you're doing, I mean, youare a CEO of a nonprofit that has
got to keep you up at night. I mean, do you ever wake
up in the middle of the nightand go, what am I doing?
(12:43):
What am I doing right now?Well, to wake up in the middle
of night, you'd have to sleep. Well, that's true. No,
it's super important. Hardest part ofmy job. Applications coming every day.
I know, financially we only canput in one hero a week, so
we may get up to fifteen twentyAsians, and I have to choose which
one we're going to change the livesof. Now people think a project can
(13:03):
and Hero helping the docks. True, but we're not just helping the docks.
When we pay that medical bill,or we take them in for life
and pay all their medical bills,that's helping the first responder, the soldier,
the airmand the marine, and that'schanging lives of their family. That's
that's now that their kids can goto college, they don't have to pay
that ten thousand dollars there, theycan take their family on that vacation like
any other working American can do,because if not, they were going to
(13:26):
spend that money on their dock.And I just feel that, you know,
we're working with Congress. I've beenin DC here recently, good and
we're working with Congress to change thatto help nonprofits like ours get funding to
help these retired heroes, just tomake sure they get the medical care they
deserve. Do you think as youwere doing this, there was anything that
(13:46):
surprised you about running your own nonprofit? I mean, coming from your background
in the service you've you've given toour country, is there anything that like,
you know, surprised you about runninga nonprofit. It's probably a lot
more work than anyone that would everthink it would be. You know,
we're in a good spot because weget a lot of great pr and people
(14:07):
kind of understand. Most people wholike us like police and military, but
not everybody does. And you knowthere's every day I have to elite comments
or deal with people who are negativetowards police and military dogs and I don't
really see a reason for that.But you know, I understand that not
everybody supports them. Maybe they hada bad encounter with them, but I
(14:28):
think the general public really does,really does get behind what we do.
And for me, you know,trying to get our facility belts where we
need the most help, you know, donating financially in our line is great,
but I'm looking for corporations who wantto partner with us to get that
rehab rehoming facility belt. We havedogs in waiting that are going to be
euthanized otherwise because I don't have roomfor him. We have the space,
(14:50):
we have one hundred and seventy sevenacres, but we have plans to build
a fourteen a new fourteen run kennel, indoor play area, adoption cabins,
all of these things. I'm lookingfor corporations who want to put their name
on them, who want to getinvolved, and whatever their company name is,
we can put their name on themand help us build those. So
hopefully someone's listening who wants to getinvolved and put their name on a rehab
(15:13):
rehoming center and the plans we haveit will be the most comprehensive that I
know of in the world. Andwe'll take police canines and multiwreking dogs and
from all over the nation. Andwe have one there from Vancouver, British
Columbia right now, so we're internationaland names canine Blitz. He's at our
facility, so we're working internationally nowand so I just I just hope because
when when people donate to our cause, and we did lower four million last
(15:37):
year, I hope to do overfive million this year. And with that
eighty eight percent program services and stuff, they want to see it go right
to that bill and they want tosee it go right into the dog food
or the prescription or the medicine,right, which is great. But when
you're building a building and you gotto bring a water line in off the
road and you gotta worry about theseptic of the kennels, Okay, nobody,
nobody, nobody really takes that accountthat I'll cost them money too as
(15:58):
part of the program. So Ithink some of the biggest hold up for
me has just been getting that helpget those buildings built, and that's where
we really could use it the most. So Jason, why don't you tell
us again if you are a businessthat's hearing this and you'd like to be
a part of the cause, orif you're an individual donor who wants to
help out, or if you justwant more information about the program, where
(16:18):
can they find that information? Yeah, it's Project Knine hero dot org.
It's a project letter K number nine, hero dot org. And we have
a contact us on there. Ianswered every email personally, hundreds of emails
a day, but you know,I'll make sure I see it. And
yeah, we're really thankful for thesupport that we do get, you know,
organizations like iHeartRadio. Who wants toget out there and promote what we
(16:41):
do and promote you know, ourmission to the world. It's super important.
And I'm again I'm hoping that someonewho's listening wants to help support by
putting their name on a building andhelping us get these because it's sad to
me to know that I have thespace but I don't as in the acreage,
but I don't have the facilities rightnow to save lives of heroes that
(17:04):
served our country. And you know, I say all the time that they
spent their career protecting us, andI'm want to spend the rest of mine protecting them
CEOs you should know. Powered byiHeartMedia Providence. We're talking with Jason Johnson,
CEO of Project Canine Hero. Istarted in the United States Army nineteen
ninety three. I was a militarypolice officer and when I came in the
military, I didn't even know thatworking dogs really existed. I didn't know
as a profession. I didn't knowthat was something you could do. And
(00:24):
when I started learning more about theworking dogs and what they do for the
military, it was something I kindof set my sights on to be a
part of. So it wasn't untilafter I got of the military. I
started working with the police Department CivilianPolice Department, and my goal there was
to become a canine haidler and acanine trainer, and that's what I did.
And when I became that, Ireally started learning more about the impact
(00:47):
that you can put on lives inthe community and things like that that really
just not only hands us the safetybut the role model that canines and their
handler's plague and I call it themost honorable profession in the world. Talk
to me about that relationship between ahandler and their service dog. What is
(01:07):
that like? It's a bond likeno other. When you have a canine
partner and they're with you twenty fourseven. A lot of times you're closer
to your canine partner, like whenI have my dog Flash, than you
are your family. They go towork with you, they come home with
you, they go to vacation withyou, they go on vacation with you,
and they do other things that you'rejust an inseparable and inseparable and it's
(01:34):
just it's just a bond that youcan't really describe. And that's why when
I found it Project Canine Hero.It's so important to me to make sure
that these shoes are being looked afterin their retirement. And you know,
we'll talk a little bit about whythat is, but they mean so much
to their handlers, and we wantto make sure that they're living in the
fullest and most productive and happy lifethat they can. So, before you
(01:57):
started Project Canine Hero, what thelife of some of these service dogs look
like once they were retired, Oncethey've done their full tour of service,
whether it be for police dogs ormilitary dogs, what happens after they retire.
Well, currently, we've gotten alot better as a society where we're
not leaving dogs behind the war zonesas much. We're not seeing them put
(02:19):
down like they were in the VietnamWar. So we've made great strides in
that and passing laws in legislation.However, most of the dogs today get
to stay with their handler, andpeople think that's great, but a lot
of them are having cancer when foma. We have a dog in the er
today with a chemotherapy or maybe anamputation from a bone cancer. So in
(02:43):
no way as a first responder,a police officer, a soldier, airman,
marine capable of paying for those expensivesurgeries, medications office visits sometimes five
thousand, ten thousand, or fifteenthousand dollars or more. So that's on
the handler. That's their responsibility oncethey adopt to cover all of the health
issues that happen with these dogs.Yes, so specifically in the United States
(03:07):
military and the federal government, there'sjust no program inplace. Some of the
local agencies have some funds where youknow it may they get a stipend so
much per month, so much peryear, but in no way does that
really help with any a serious issue. It might help pay for some food,
it may help with some prescriptions,but it's not going to help with
(03:30):
a major surgery. I mean Ican speak as an owner of a senior
dog. Those bills add up,and they add up quickly. And you
never want to be in a positionwhere you have to make the decision between
healthcare of a family member. Right, And this is this is you know,
a civilian dog, right, We'renot talking about dogs who have been
in action or have you know,served at the side of some of our
(03:52):
first responders. What is that likeas a burden on their handlers who do
choose to adopt that. It's ahuge burden because two things happen without the
help of an organization like Project Kingon hero. Either they go into extreme
personal debt. They have to puton their credit cards. When you go
into these vet places for emergency,you have to put the credit card down
(04:14):
right at that moment, and thatmight be five thousands, ten thousand dollars.
Let's say it's blow. We're allkind of familiar with a blow.
I mean, those surgeries are expensive. Drop that credit card, or they
have a nice hair credit something thathas interest rate that jumps up after so
much time, Right, and soyou know, either they go into financial
debt or the dog simply goes without. So when I found a Project Knon
(04:38):
Hero, those are the things Iwant to avoid. I wasn't a former
military police officer. I was aformer police officer. I was in the
federal service. So it's important tome to make sure they don't go in
debt because I know they're not gettingpaid any extra money out there. And
some of our soldiers, specifically policeofficers, they don't have the ability to
get a second job. They can'tgo out and work part time somewhere.
(04:59):
That's their jobs don't even allow forthat. So and then most importantly,
we don't want to see the doggo without because that's what used to happen.
The dog would simply go without orhave to be euthanized because someone just
couldn't pay the bill. So thisisn't like this isn't you doing this for
fun. You have dedicated your life, your career to this. Talk to
me about how you made that transitionfrom you know, being a service member
(05:21):
into dedicating your life to Project CanineHero. Yeah, it was. It
was a hard choice for me atthe time, but now it's one where
I look back on it. I'mso glad I did because you can really
never grow as a nonprofit until youfully dedicate your time to it, you
know, And a lot of peoplelook at how nonprofits ran, and you
know, we did really great lastyear with eighty eight percent program services only
(05:45):
five percent or administration, which isgreat. And so now I'm able I'll
do this for a living. Butyou know, at the time when I
left, when I started in twothousand and sixty, I was still a
full time government employee. And thegovernment doesn't really want you to talk about
your nonprofit when you're at work oroutside of work or certain things, right
they want you to focus on yourgovernment job. And I wasn't. I
was working in the canine program forthe United States, like the dogs you
(06:08):
see at the airport that's sniff forpasseng years for explosives. I worked in
that program, and you know,I thought, we're never going to get
to the level I want to beif I don't just do this full time.
And I took five hundred dollars inmy pocket that year in twenty and
sixteen and started this organization. Andthis year we hope to raise over five
million dollars. How do we helpyou raise that money? Well, donations
(06:30):
obviously help. We have over fivehundred dogs pending application. We're committed to
putting in fifty two new dogs ayear, so that's one Hero week and
each week we put that new heroin, we're committing I used to make
between twenty and twenty five thousand dollarsin the lifetime of that dog. They
might be in for a year,they might be in for five years.
Some dogs are still fairly young whenthey come in, but the financial helps.
(06:51):
And for the dogs who can't staywith their handlers, we have one
hundred and seventy seven acre rehabilitation REHOMIfacility in Tennessee, and the ones are
going to be euthanized otherwise, whetherthey have aggression issues or they just run
out of a place to stay becausea family situation, it could be anything.
We have that available for them.And everything can be doneat on Project
(07:12):
cana and hero dot org and wehave a donate button. We have ways
that you can People sometimes leave usestates. Sometimes people do four oh and
k transfers. We're set up forthat. We have a shop on a
Project canaan hero dot org which hasour apparel. Is the sweet sweatshirt that
you're wearing this hoodie that you goton today. This is the military working
dog Rosso hoodie. Rosso had surgerythis week forty two. Who is Rosso?
(07:38):
Tell me about Rosso? Rosso isone of our ambassadors. Over two
years ago he was going to beeuthanized from the Air Force. He protected
the last two presidents, He protectedthe President Japan, served overseas and Operation
Inherent Resolve and Operations Spartan Shield,over ten secret service missions around the world.
And when his time was up,he was just too aggressive to be
(07:59):
adopted. And why he had ahandler that loved him. That handler had
a six month old child. Yeah, and while he's still active duty and
can still deploy working on the presidentialdetails and other things, how is his
spouse equipped with a newborn to handleaggressive military working dog? Right? And
I can't imagine when you're when youchoose a career path as a handler,
that you know that's that's part andparcel. You know that that's part of
(08:22):
the right. And so, uh, the kennel master there reached out to
me. I drove all the wayto Washington State, I picked up Rosso,
drove him back. That was Decemberof twenty twenty one. He's still
alive. He had he had emergencysurgery this week, but he's doing well.
He's recovering. And you know,it's just a good example of a
military working dog who was trained tobe like this, right if it was
(08:45):
selected to ask a top dog he'sI mean, you're protecting the president at
that level, it's like servant andhe protected Air Force bass and security.
So yes, he's supposed to beaggressive. He's supposed to be fierce,
but he's also loyal and he's verylow with his handler. It was never
a problem with his handler. Wasanyone who came around that wasn't his hand?
(09:05):
Yeah, I know, I owna little bit about that. And
you know, so Rosso, that'shis that's his personality, but that doesn't
mean that he should be put downafter a service. So he lives out
at one hundred and seventy seven acreRehabilitation Rehoming Center in Tennessee and he's doing
on the police thirteen and uh.You know, this is a Rosso sweat
shirt and we have a lot ofa lot of different apparel. Project came
(09:28):
on hair dot org that has otherdogs on it. We have a Duke
one and an Arlow one and wehave one with with Flash. Who uh
you know, I wanted to getinto Flash because Flash was about She's cannon
that helped me start this program.Who's Flash? Well, Flash was my
police canine when I when I workedin Yakima, Washington, and we were
there together until I went overseas intwo thousand and eight and I had she
(09:50):
had to stay. I took ajob protecting the Ambassador United States. How
do you explain that too? Howdo you explain Some people say they would
never leave their dog beyond, ButI was given an opportunity. And I
will tell you that I wouldn't bethe founder of this organization if I hadn't
made these career moves in my life. So protecting the ambassador and I rack
in Afghanistan as a dog handler wasa big deal to me. It was
(10:11):
an opportunity I just really couldn't passus. And Flash had to stay and
she worked with two additional handlers.But when she retired in twenty thirteen,
I was an instructor outside the DCarea for the federal government and I was
given the call to get her back, and I got her back in retirement
and she had lyme disease. Shehad over three thousand deployments rough on her
body. And I noticed then eventhough she had seized millions and millions of
(10:33):
dollars of assets in cash and narcoticrelated currency and things, none of that
can help with her retirement. Sowe have a lot of dogs in our
program like that who might work inborder patrol or might work, you know,
on a local drug task force,and they and they do all these
great things, but none of thosefunds go up to their retirement. So,
you know, she really opened myeyes to what it was like as
(10:56):
a hero. In twenty eighteen,she was named the lawn Forcement Dog of
the Year in America. We wereon We're in Beverly Hills. That was
through the American Humane we'reund the HallmarkChannel, and it was just it was
it was amazing. And so shegot her recognition. And we have two
children's books that I wrote, oncecalled Canine Flash Becomes a Hero and the
(11:18):
other's Canine Flash a Hero's Hero andthe true stories about our life and how
we started Project Kanine Hero and howwe're helping dogs all across the nation,
and both of those can be purchasedon our website of Project knan Hero dot
org. Do you think these dogsknow that they're heroes? Do you think
that? I mean, you know, you know when you have a special
dog, right one that obviously you'reconnected to, and you think the world
of them. But do you thinkthese dogs who have done so much service
(11:39):
for us and for our public servants, that they also know that they're there's
something extra special? I think theydo. I think the way they're treated
like celebrities and superstars. If youlook at pictures of Flash, he's on
the red carpet there at the BeverlyHilton. You know, there's pictures of
our online, any of our ambassadors, they all get the special treatment,
(12:00):
and they should. These dogs puttheir lives on the line for us.
They specifically the ones in the militaryand the police that we help without question,
without hesitation. They don't ask questions. They do what's expected to them,
and they love to do it.And for that, you know,
I always say, you know,one of our taglines is protecting those who
(12:22):
protected us, and that's what wedo at Projecting and Hero We protect those
who protected us. When you starteddipping your toe into this life's work that
you're doing, I mean, youare a CEO of a nonprofit that has
got to keep you up at night. I mean, do you ever wake
up in the middle of the nightand go, what am I doing?
(12:43):
What am I doing right now?Well, to wake up in the middle
of night, you'd have to sleep. Well, that's true. No,
it's super important. Hardest part ofmy job. Applications coming every day.
I know, financially we only canput in one hero a week, so
we may get up to fifteen twentyAsians, and I have to choose which
one we're going to change the livesof. Now people think a project can
(13:03):
and Hero helping the docks. True, but we're not just helping the docks.
When we pay that medical bill,or we take them in for life
and pay all their medical bills,that's helping the first responder, the soldier,
the airmand the marine, and that'schanging lives of their family. That's
that's now that their kids can goto college, they don't have to pay
that ten thousand dollars there, theycan take their family on that vacation like
any other working American can do,because if not, they were going to
(13:26):
spend that money on their dock.And I just feel that, you know,
we're working with Congress. I've beenin DC here recently, good and
we're working with Congress to change thatto help nonprofits like ours get funding to
help these retired heroes, just tomake sure they get the medical care they
deserve. Do you think as youwere doing this, there was anything that
(13:46):
surprised you about running your own nonprofit? I mean, coming from your background
in the service you've you've given toour country, is there anything that like,
you know, surprised you about runninga nonprofit. It's probably a lot
more work than anyone that would everthink it would be. You know,
we're in a good spot because weget a lot of great pr and people
(14:07):
kind of understand. Most people wholike us like police and military, but
not everybody does. And you knowthere's every day I have to elite comments
or deal with people who are negativetowards police and military dogs and I don't
really see a reason for that.But you know, I understand that not
everybody supports them. Maybe they hada bad encounter with them, but I
(14:28):
think the general public really does,really does get behind what we do.
And for me, you know,trying to get our facility belts where we
need the most help, you know, donating financially in our line is great,
but I'm looking for corporations who wantto partner with us to get that
rehab rehoming facility belt. We havedogs in waiting that are going to be
euthanized otherwise because I don't have roomfor him. We have the space,
(14:50):
we have one hundred and seventy sevenacres, but we have plans to build
a fourteen a new fourteen run kennel, indoor play area, adoption cabins,
all of these things. I'm lookingfor corporations who want to put their name
on them, who want to getinvolved, and whatever their company name is,
we can put their name on themand help us build those. So
hopefully someone's listening who wants to getinvolved and put their name on a rehab
(15:13):
rehoming center and the plans we haveit will be the most comprehensive that I
know of in the world. Andwe'll take police canines and multiwreking dogs and
from all over the nation. Andwe have one there from Vancouver, British
Columbia right now, so we're internationaland names canine Blitz. He's at our
facility, so we're working internationally nowand so I just I just hope because
when when people donate to our cause, and we did lower four million last
(15:37):
year, I hope to do overfive million this year. And with that
eighty eight percent program services and stuff, they want to see it go right
to that bill and they want tosee it go right into the dog food
or the prescription or the medicine,right, which is great. But when
you're building a building and you gotto bring a water line in off the
road and you gotta worry about theseptic of the kennels, Okay, nobody,
nobody, nobody really takes that accountthat I'll cost them money too as
(15:58):
part of the program. So Ithink some of the biggest hold up for
me has just been getting that helpget those buildings built, and that's where
we really could use it the most. So Jason, why don't you tell
us again if you are a businessthat's hearing this and you'd like to be
a part of the cause, orif you're an individual donor who wants to
help out, or if you justwant more information about the program, where
(16:18):
can they find that information? Yeah, it's Project Knine hero dot org.
It's a project letter K number nine, hero dot org. And we have
a contact us on there. Ianswered every email personally, hundreds of emails
a day, but you know,I'll make sure I see it. And
yeah, we're really thankful for thesupport that we do get, you know,
organizations like iHeartRadio. Who wants toget out there and promote what we
(16:41):
do and promote you know, ourmission to the world. It's super important.
And I'm again I'm hoping that someonewho's listening wants to help support by
putting their name on a building andhelping us get these because it's sad to
me to know that I have thespace but I don't as in the acreage,
but I don't have the facilities rightnow to save lives of heroes that
(17:04):
served our country. And you know, I say all the time that they
spent their career protecting us, andI'm want to spend the rest of mine protecting them
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