November 1, 2023 • 61 mins
How often do we get an opportunity to peek into the life of a military veteran who, after serving in places like Afghanistan, comes home to serve his community in an equally exceptional way? Meet Sam Daly, the founder and former executive director of Believet Canine Service Partners. He's been in the trenches and knee-deep in the Afghan dirt training dogs for bomb detection, and now, he's channeling his expertise into training service dogs to help his comrades—our disabled veterans. His story is one of passion, commitment, and an unyielding spirit to serve.
Sam walks us through the rigorous process of training these furry partners, the challenges he faces, and the immense satisfaction of seeing them bring life-changing benefits to veterans. The process isn't just about picking a cute puppy and training it to fetch; Sam and his team go above and beyond to ensure these service dogs are customized to match the unique needs and environments of their veteran partners. Hear all about Sam's personal experiences and the inspiring stories of veterans whose lives have been transformed by these canine companions.
But, it's not all about the dogs. It's about the veterans they serve, and how organizations like Believet Canine Service Partners are helping them rebuild their lives. Sam sheds light on the support process for veterans to be part of this program and how we, as a community, can contribute to this noble cause. This is more than just a podcast episode; it's an invitation to honor our military service members, veterans, and first responders through understanding, empathy, and action. Join us on this heartwarming journey where courage meets compassion, and service takes on a whole new meaning.
Produced by Phil Ewert Productions
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the land of 10,000 lakes, a remarkable movement
was born.
Welcome to Hometown HeroOutdoors.
We are dedicated to honoringour military service members,
veterans and first responders byproviding them with
unforgettable outdoorrecreational opportunities.
We believe those who haveserved and sacrificed so much
(00:25):
for our country and communitiesdeserve a chance to reclaim
their spirit and find healing inthe great outdoors.
This is Hometown Hero Outdoors.
Welcome to the Hometown HeroOutdoors podcast.
(00:50):
Here is your host, chris Taitro.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And welcome back to our Hometown Hero Outdoors
listeners.
We have another Wednesday herewith the podcast.
It's been an exciting week, ora couple of weeks going on
around the organization.
Just to give you a littleupdate, you know there's things
going on all over the country.
You know, a couple of weeks ago,we had the Hometown Hero
Outdoors Texas chapters banquetdown there.
That was pretty phenomenal.
Phil was gracious enough to doa sit-in for me from one of the
(01:30):
podcasts I was spending.
It was a very long couple ofdays, that weekend especially,
and Phil came in clutch andhelped me out with helping out
Pete Rittmasters.
So thank you, phil, Iappreciate you there.
And then this past weekend wasreally busy as well.
Just here in Minnesota alonethere's a handful of different
events, and throughout thecountry there was more.
So we've been busy and we're inthe depths of the fall and
(01:52):
hunting season and a lot ofpeople are still fishing at that
.
So this past weekend was kindof interesting.
It was a very busy weekend formyself as well, as well as the
Minnesota team, and just wantedto talk real quick about what we
experienced this past weekend.
Well, first I had theopportunity to head down to
Worthington, minnesota, do apheasant hunt with our Nobles
County chapter, pheasantsForever, jackson County
(02:14):
Pheasants Forever and Round LakeSportsman's Club, and it was a
very awesome and uniqueexperience where we had 15
veterans that were able to getin the outdoors and go pheasant
hunting with these phenomenalindividuals, with all expenses
provided and paid for for ourveterans, so it was awesome.
But one of the things I wantedto talk about, though, is the
speech that I gave to theseindividuals this past weekend
about how important our missionis and what they do for it.
(02:35):
Without them, we can't do whatwe do, we cannot take
individuals into the outdoors,and how to give them that mental
health feeling that theyreceive when they're in outdoors
.
So it was very vital for themto hear that, and one of the big
reasons that I bring that up isthe camaraderie that is built
on.
These trips are built throughthese adventures that they're in
(02:55):
the outdoors, getting in allthese people being able to
relate, create theserelationships that last a
lifetime, outside of the serviceor as a first responder, which
brings me to that morning beforeI went to Nobles County,
worthington area, which was theCol J Lutz Memorial Suicide
Awareness Prevention Walk.
This is our ultimate goal isour mental health, to keep
people alive, keep people onthis planet that can create,
(03:16):
continue their relationshipswith their families, friends,
community, as well as enjoytheir life.
So the trips that we go on,such as the Nobles County
Pheasants Forever Hunting Trip,was very vital to our
organization, and trips alike inorder to create those bonds,
have this walk, raise awarenessand tell people that it's okay
to not be okay.
(03:37):
Just don't stay there.
So, as we continue throughoutthe organization and doing what
we do, I just want to give a bigshout out and thank you to
everyone who has helped providea trip, take people in the
outdoors, and I hope to see moreof that happening and
continuing to happen.
And then, on top of that, wealso had a sturgeon trip on the
Sanctuary River here with somelaw enforcement officers a group
of five and we were verygracious.
We were able to have aMinnesota-bound film crew come
(04:00):
out and talk to everyone.
So, but yeah, I just wanted tosay thank you to everyone and
just please keep these tripscoming in and helping our
individuals out.
They really need it and theymatter, and a lot of them are
feeling some stressors with ourveterans when it comes to what's
happening overseas betweenIsrael and Ukraine.
So it's very important for usto ensure that these trips are
occurring and we're able to helpthem out.
(04:20):
So it was a very eventfulweekend.
So, again, thank you very mucheveryone.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
But today we have an awesome podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Here we have Sam Daly with Believe it canine service
partners.
We will read his bio here in amoment, but I have my co-host
here, Phil Eward, as well.
Thank you, gentlemen, for beinghere today.
So Sam?
Sam is the founder and formerexecutive director of Believe it
canine, located in Northfield,Minnesota.
Owner of Northfield Kennels Inc.
Served two deployments toHelmand Province, Afghanistan,
(04:48):
in 2012 and 2013.
Attached the US Marine 2ndBattalion, 5th Marines and the
2nd Marine Expeditionary Force,respectively as a civilian bomb
dog trainer and forward supportrepresentative.
After this assignment, Believeit was found.
So I could Sam could continueto serve his country, to serve
(05:09):
injured military veterans andimprove the greater community In
rural Northfield Minnesota,with my wife, Deborah, and five
Labrador Retrievers.
He enjoys running and judgingthe AKC performance events for
Retrievers, songwriting, playingthe guitar and shooting, sports
hunting, fishing andwoodworking.
So, Sam, thank you very muchfor being here today.
It feels like you have a prettycolorful history and you've
(05:32):
been through some thingsyourself and looks like you're
continuing to do things andenjoy life.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
No, it's awesome that you're here.
So how we got connected wasthrough Phil, and Phil is here
with my co-host tonight.
Thank you, phil, for making theconnection I want to say to the
listeners and tell us a littleabout your connection with Sam.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, I have not met Sam until tonight, but one of my
coworkers is friends with Sam.
We have a mutual friend namedTodd Fuchs.
Todd's in IT.
He works for the same companythat I do and we got to talking
about dogs as Todd is a trainerof hunting dogs and he had
(06:12):
mentioned to me that he had agood friend of his who had this
organization.
When I told him about ourpodcast and I thought what a
perfect marriage, I guess, oftwo organizations where hometown
hero outdoors takes people intothe outdoors veterans, law
enforcement first responders andSam trains dogs to help those
(06:37):
veterans who might need help,you know, some sort of help with
a dog as far as that with thatmental health.
So just figured we'd have himon and kind of talk about what
he's doing.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
That's awesome.
Yeah, I know.
Thanks for the connection.
It's very exciting, especiallybecause you have served Sam and
you have quite the experiencewith dogs and being a civilian
bomb to bomb dog trainer.
That's pretty phenomenal.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about yourself?
Where are you from, where yougrew up, where you, where you
hail from, you know where, wheredid you grow up and how did you
get the being so connected withour canine friends?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Sure.
So I grew up in NorthfieldMinnesota, went to school there,
lived briefly in SouthwestWyoming and moved back home
until I took the assignment youmentioned with the bomb dogs,
where I moved to North Carolina,southern Pines, north Carolina.
It's about 40 minutes from FortBragg and this was a.
(07:42):
It was a good.
It was a good opportunity and agood time for me to do that and
it was ended up being sort of asurreal life changing
experience.
So we we trained over 600 bombdogs in about a 60 year period
there.
I personally was in on in theneighborhood of 60 of those.
(08:07):
And then the marine the Marineswould actually come to our
location in North Carolina,train with us for five weeks and
then we would go to their basesand train with them, you know,
on their turf, and one thingsort of led to another.
As a trainer I never imaginedthat I would end up being
(08:27):
deployed, but that opportunitywas available and I gladly
accepted.
I have spent my life campingand hunting and certainly no
stranger to the outdoors, and soit was like the worst camping
trip I've ever been on.
(08:47):
But I was also pretty wellprepared, you know, for those
conditions Because I lived withthe Marines, I trained with the
Marines, traveled with them, youknow ate, slept in the dirt
with them and and was in youknow, stressful situations with
them.
(09:09):
The dogs that we trained wereall laboratory retrievers.
It was the first time they hadever used a dog off leash for
bomb detection and the advantagethere, of course, is standoff.
So rather than having humanpersonnel on a six foot leash
with a dog who's at riskobviously of injury or death,
(09:31):
the dog could be sent in fromextreme distances.
I mean, you know, two to 500meters is not an exaggeration,
depending on the environment, onthe situation.
But the dogs also quartered,quartered fields, quartered
roads, ditches, bridges,culverts, vehicles, all kinds of
things, as a pheasant dog would.
(09:51):
And then they ran what theycalled with the Marine Corps,
called point to points which waswould be a blind retrieve for,
you know, for a hunter, for aduck hunter or a field trailer,
and so the dog could be sentlong distances, check for
(10:13):
threats, and they would actaround the explosive the same
way they would act around a bird, the only difference is that
they don't fetch it.
They are taught to give apassive response, which is to
lay down and indicate itslocation, and then they're
called back from that and thengiven a reward, which in our
(10:34):
case was a rubber Kong toy, andso to them obviously it's
serious business to us, but tothem it was really just another
game.
And so they were very good atthis and we found stuff
basically every week, sometimesevery day, and they saved a lot
of limbs and a lot of lives inthat environment.
(10:58):
And so it was is from thatexperience when I, when we came
home, I was tell a story becauseit's kind of apropos, I guess,
but the, the dogs wereheartbreakers for the Marines.
Okay, I mean, they lived withthem for a long time, they'd
trust them with their lives,they had slept with them in
their cops and and to and tocome back from deployment and
have them go back into trainingand be assigned to a different
handler was very tough for formost of them.
And so I always say that theywanted to adopt all their dogs
(11:19):
and they couldn't becausethey're still Marines and I
wanted to adopt.
I wanted to adopt all theMarines.
And so I always say that theywanted to adopt all their dogs
and they couldn't becausethey're still Marines and I
wanted to adopt.
I wanted to adopt all theMarines because and I couldn't
either because we're very close.
So, yeah, anyway, it was agreat experience, so many
(11:46):
friends and contacts, you know,through that experience, and it
was a life changer for me.
So after I came back, well, Iwas overseas seven months, back
six months and then overseasseven months, and so after
coming back the second time, Ireturned to Minnesota and was
still kind of in the fog of war.
(12:08):
Frankly, I didn't have nointerest in really hunting or
training hunting dogs, certainlynot family dogs.
Everything seemed very trivialto me.
And I spoke at a rotary clubmeeting and there was a
gentleman there that said haveyou ever considered training,
(12:31):
you know, service dogs forveterans?
And we had just been talkingabout this at that at our
training center and we're like,yeah, I wonder, you know, wonder
how we do this.
I wonder if we would be good atit.
I wonder, you know, just Iwonder.
And.
And so I said, well, I, I don'tknow, I don't know, I don't
know, I don't know, I wonder,you know, wonder how we do this,
I wonder if we would be good atit.
(12:51):
I wonder, you know, just Iwonder, and.
And so I said, well, I, I don'tthink I'll be able to set up
that business.
And he said Well, I've set upmany businesses.
I'd be happy to set thebusiness up for you if you would
do it.
And so that's how we started.
It was really just through aspeaking engagement, talking to
(13:13):
a local group of Rotarians thatwere interested in the, you know
, in the experience and theassignment that I had with the
Marine Corps, and and for me itwas therapy in a way too,
because when I first came back Iwas pretty raw about many
things.
You know, thinking about manyof the experiences we had with,
(13:35):
you know was emotional for me,and it still can be.
But through going, you know,going through this experience,
and now we're nine years intotraining these service dogs for
disabled military veterans, it'sgotten much easier, much better
.
I have a different perspectiveon it and we're continuing to
(13:56):
serve our country and serve ourveterans, improve our community.
I mean, these are all pretty,you know, pretty good
experiences to have.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Well, first of all, sam, thank you very much for
your service.
You did provide a veryimportant service to the Marines
and you know, especially withthe bombs, dipping dogs, and
also I think that's great thatyou found something you're
passionate about that you canstill serve.
You know you might not beactive, you might not be
(14:27):
directly supporting, but youknow, as we're all in this same
thing together when it comes tomental health awareness,
especially for our veterans, Iguess we're just really
appreciative that there'ssomeone like you out there.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Yeah, thank you very much.
You know, the most of theveterans that we serve well
frankly, are suicidal and andhave had attempts in the past.
They may have had addictionissues to alcohol or other
substances.
They've gone through a lot andso we make sure that they're
stable and well enough to gothrough our program.
But it's such a relief to themthat they don't have somebody
(15:10):
else, another person, feedingthem medication.
So that is kind of the go-tostrategy for treatment for
mental health.
For, say, major depressivedisorder, anxiety, is to
prescribe medications and as youall know you know, I mean, as
(15:30):
we all know there can be manyside effects from that.
Many times they're takingsomething to help them sleep
because they have sleepingissues, and the veterans then
some can have trouble waking upand getting to a job or do some
of the things that would bemaybe what we would consider
normal in a society for ayounger person to do.
(15:53):
And so it gets difficult whenthe medication interferes, and
certainly addictive medicationthat would interfere with normal
activity.
Most of our veterans, you know,they they frankly don't trust
their own judgment and sosometimes they're quick to anger
(16:14):
, and in small things, like ifsomebody cuts in front of you or
I at the grocery store.
We may think they're rude orsomething to that effect, but it
may be a lot more personal tosomebody that has post-traumatic
stress and their anger canescalate quickly and rather than
(16:35):
saying something or doingsomething that becomes an issue,
it's easier for most of theseveterans to just isolate, stay
home, don't have a lot ofinteraction with people, because
you never know how things mightcome out.
You know, we had one personthat went into a convenience
(16:56):
store early in the morning fiveo'clock, five thirty or
something in the morning andthere was a guy that was having
a bag from the night before andhe went up and started bear
hugging the guy's dog and heasked him not to touch his dog,
not to pet his dog, and then itwas well, what's your effing
problem?
And then it escalated and thisand this guy I mean he, I mean
(17:20):
he thought it was he was goingto jail after that.
I mean he thought that becauseof this interaction, that his
own behavior was going to be thebiggest issue of the day there.
And so, rather than risk beingin those unpredictable behaviors
or those situations where theirbehaviors can escalate, they
(17:40):
tend to isolate.
Well, when you have a servicedog.
Well, for one thing there's nomedication right, so a lot of
most all of our veterans canreduce or even eliminate many of
their medications.
And then the second thing isthat the dog keeps them on a
schedule.
So now they have to get up inthe morning because we have to
(18:03):
get fed and we have to go pottyand we have to get some exercise
, and so those are all reasonswhy the dog can be a real
changing force that is totallyorganic and not like anything
else.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
So I want to rewind you just a little bit.
Thank you for that explanation.
That actually helps.
Can you talk to us aboutBelieve it or Believe that?
However you say it?
How did you come up with thatname, first of all, and then
walk us through?
You had already mentioned thatsomebody said they'd help you
(18:44):
start it as a company, but ifyou could walk us through the
beginning stages of how that allstarted.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Sure, yeah.
So our IRS registered name isCanine Service Partners
Incorporated and that's the501C3 Charity.
And we then adopted a trademarkname that's Believe it, and
(19:11):
it's kind of a play on words,right, Believe it.
But we took the word Believeand the word Veteran and we just
combined the two and then wetrademarked that name.
Yeah, I like it.
Yeah, so that was the origin ofthat.
The origin of the starting ofthe company was my friend, john
(19:34):
Sinning, who was thatbusinessman that was in the room
when I delivered that speakingengagement at the Rotary Club
and he came and said I've set upmany businesses, I'd be happy
to set up your 501C3, which iswhat he did.
He organized a lot of theadministration aspects of it and
(19:57):
got us on some sort oftrajectory in terms of what we
were going to look at in termsof fundraising and personnel and
things like that.
Now, as a dog trainer based inNorthfield, I already had a
facility and I also already hadstaff experienced staff and so
(20:18):
it was really like a turnkeyovernight process where we just
said we're going to get togetherand do this and we're going to
learn as much as we can about it.
And so while John Sinning washandling all the administration,
part of it, all of ourregistrations and all those
things that you do in a newbusiness, then we went to work
(20:40):
on learning what our role needsto be and, similarly to the bomb
dog training with the MarineCorps, there isn't a lot of
difference between what ahunting dog does chasing
pheasants or retrieving ducksthan what that bomb dog does.
It's just a different odorsource in the end, a different
(21:01):
target, and there are manysimilarities also between those
types of training and servicedog work.
So many of the things we werealready capable of doing.
There were just some otherelements that, frankly, we just
needed some experience on.
(21:21):
So we had another gal fromNorthfield and she came in with
some experienced trainingservice dogs for Canadian
Companions for Independence,which is the largest service dog
training organization in thecountry, and so, as she came in,
shared what she knew and then,hopefully, we shared what we
(21:42):
knew with her.
We came up with a program thatis, that's effective and, like I
say, now we're nine years intoit.
But without those people andwithout that early organization
we would still be kind offlailing, I think, at this point
.
So, yeah, so is that kind ofanswering your question about
(22:06):
the origin, or was there partmissing there?
Speaker 1 (22:09):
No, I hope that does.
Thank you for that explanation.
Just wanted to give somebackground for our listeners.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
So yeah, and I kind of want to talk about your
introduction to the militaryside of things when you were
approached to do canine trainingfor the military, what did that
look like?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
So well, first off I would say both my parents were
in the Navy at the end of WorldWar Two.
They met in San Diego andeventually went to college on
the GI Bill at Carleton College,located in Northfield, and they
had 10 kids and they bought afarm and raised this all.
(22:46):
And it's a great American story, you know, it really is.
But for me, growing up hunting,I always wanted that hunting
dog with me when I was hunting,because what there's nothing
worse than to have a pheasantrun away and you can't find it
when it's got a broken wing.
And so I used to borrow myneighbor's German Shepherd and I
(23:11):
literally shot my firstpheasant over a German Shepherd.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
And that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah, the dog didn't retrieve it, but it did find it
for me and so I knew that.
As I, you know, I got older andhunting especially expanded so
much for me that I really wantedto have my own dog.
But at the time I was going tocollege at that point, St Claude
State University my roommateand I would run out to them and
(23:39):
the last like wow, they'dmanagement area and hunt, grouse
, and so you know, but I didn'thave a dog to pick them up.
And as soon as I got out ofcollege I put a deposit on a
puppy with Tom Doc and down inNorthfield and and then I went
back to Tom Doc and for somelessons, and so I read
(23:59):
everything I could on trainingand practiced all these things
on my new puppy.
And then one day I was at asports show and Tom asked me if
I would consider coming to workfor him, and so I did that.
So I worked for Tom for fouryears and also started in the
fall.
There weren't many dogs totrain, so I started guiding for
(24:20):
hunting lodges out in SouthDakota and, you know, and it was
just a natural progression tostart my own kennel after that.
So remind me, Chris, what wherewe were going with this about
how you got to got into trainingfor military.
Got it, yeah so.
(24:40):
So then in in 2009, I had afriend of mine who was actually
already working for this companyout in Southern Pines, north
Carolina, and they were lookingfor trainers.
They were looking for retrievertrainers and so they recruited
me.
They called and said would yoube interested in doing this?
I said sounds very interesting,I'd like to learn more.
(25:01):
And there were some delays atthe beginning and finally, 2010,
they pulled the trigger andsaid all right, come on out.
So with my wife's blessing Ihave a good wife, by the way of
28 years but with her blessing,I moved to Carthage, north
(25:21):
Carolina, just north of SouthernPines.
There and started training dogsand, like I said, I was a
trainer.
I could handle the volume.
You know have 18 or 20 dogs ona trailer.
I knew how to handle that kindof volume, the skills that they
needed to learn in terms ofquartering a field or quartering
an area and running point topoint, that is, running blind
(25:46):
type retrieves.
Those were right, you know,right in my wheelhouse.
So that part was was, you knowwas not difficult.
But what that spiraled into orblossomed into was when they
asked me if I would consider togo overseas and be deployed with
the Marine Corps.
(26:06):
That was a big day, I mean,obviously, and I told them, you
know, I'm honored to do that andthankful that they would think
of me in that regard and Iwasn't just doing, you know, the
humble pie thing, I mean, I wasseriously struck in that way,
(26:27):
and so I just tried to make surethat I was an asset to the unit
, especially the 2nd Battalion,5th Marines, going on a combat
deployment.
I, you know, I wanted to makesure I could, you know, handle
my own gear, get myself around,make sure that I wasn't holding
anybody up and wasn't in someway a distraction, and the same
(26:51):
for the program.
So we had 34 dogs with thatbattalion in country and we had
31 handlers.
So we had three dogs that werereplacement dogs for dogs that
may be killed or injured, andand we did utilize one of those,
but and then then the dogs wereset up all over the AL, so we
(27:13):
had, you know, five, five or sixdifferent operating forward,
operating basis where they were,those 31 dogs were divided
between.
But it all went back, you know,to the original phone call where
, you know, hey, we, somebodybrought your name up and we, you
know, we wondering if you'd beconsidered doing this, and if
you remember what 2008 and ninewere like for the economy, you
(27:38):
can probably get kind of a senseto what a big opportunity this
was.
So for a small business guy, Imean, sometimes I always say
that people will spend more onwhat they want rather than what
they need, but dog training wasslow, travel was slow, so we
didn't do a lot of boardingeither at the canal, and so my
(27:59):
receipts, my sales were down andit was just a, you know, a
fortuitous blessing that I wasable to, you know, to step up
there.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
So what did that conversation look like with your
wife and family when that cameup?
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah.
So I mean, I guess I would saythat, you know, my wife and I do
not have any children, so thatwas, you know, that was off the
table.
And, like I said, when I firststarted training dogs, there
were no dogs to train in thefall because they all went
hunting.
And so, in order to earn somemoney and earn income and stay
(28:36):
busy in the fall, I startedworking for these hunting lodges
in the fall in South Dakota,and so I already had a little
bit of a track record of, youknow, disappearing for extended
periods of time, but nothinglike three years, you know, or
you know, three plus years, andI, you know, I decided to get
(28:56):
leave and I was able to get homeon a few occasions, but yeah, I
mean, it was.
It was obviously a big decision.
I really, really wanted to doit.
As soon as I learned about theprogram, I surprisingly found
the, the what they called theIDD, the improvised, explosive,
explosive device detection dogtraining manual.
(29:18):
That was online.
So I printed it off, put it ina book, read everything about it
.
So when I got there, I franklyI had more of a sense of what
the program was than a lot ofother people did, but again, it
was in my wheelhouse, so it wasnot uncomfortable or or awkward
in any way.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
That's pretty interesting.
That's so the bonds that havebeen built with the Marines when
you went over there toobviously those are.
You looted that earlier.
You know you want to adopt them.
So when you were overseas withthem and embedded with them,
essentially Were you goingoutside the wire and working
with the dogs outside the wirewith them?
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Yeah, so I was technically not allowed outside
the wire, but we did get outsidethe wire and yeah, in fact,
probably I don't know if it'sthe most important or not, but I
would say definitely ourlargest find of the deployment
was outside the wire.
And so, yeah, it was a car bomband we didn't see.
(30:23):
We found a lot of fairly crude,homemade devices that were
obviously still very dangerous,but we weren't seeing a lot of
modern explosives.
We weren't seeing a lot ofremote controlled detonations.
Things were homemade woodenpressure plates and pull strings
and things that were availableto the local people at the time
(30:47):
to use to make explosives.
And so, when we this was April15th 2012,.
Of course I'll never forget thedate, but yeah, so we had a car
and the dog indicated on a car.
Well, we always had bulletinsabout white Toyota Corolla and
like, be on a lookout for apossible VA.
(31:09):
You know V-Bid, pretty commonvehicle, yeah right, and this
was a white Toyota Corolla.
But you know, we kind of tookthat with a grain of salt,
because every day there was thatkind of bulletin on that.
Well, the dog hit on the car,got excited around it, just like
it would around a wad of cattails that's got a pheasant in
(31:30):
it, gets excited, figures outexactly where it's located in
the car and then lays down andstares at it.
And so we called the dog backand the handler's paying what we
call paying the dog with thiscon and I'm like, what are you
paying?
What are you paying this dogfor?
Cause I didn't see him.
I didn't see him go in there.
(31:51):
And he said, well, he indicatedon this car and I'm like, holy,
you know what.
And so then we sent in thesecond dog and the second dog
also indicated in the exact samespot.
And so we knew something wasvery shady about that car.
And eventually you made it safeand they pulled it out into a
(32:16):
dried river bed and detonated it.
But there were a dozen Marinesstanding around it.
I was standing around it,there's an eight or 10 Afghan
national police standing aroundit.
It would have been devastatinghad it gone off there.
So that was a big, big day.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
No, that's pretty incredible when you think about
these creatures of God on earththat are able to help, work
alongside you and be able todetect something that could
potentially kill you all, andthat's just amazing, and I'm
glad there's individuals likeyourself out there that have
that knowledge and ability to beable to pass that training
(32:56):
abilities on to these animalsbut also use them for a greater
cause and good, so that's prettyawesome of you, yeah, and I was
like you said.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I was very blessed because our battalion command
took the asset seriously,implemented the program and
utilized them in a way that somedid not, and so I had a lot of
support from the command in thatregard, which made it easier
(33:24):
for everyone.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Well, dogs are very integrated into our homeland
security, you know.
I mean you can't go to anairport without seeing them.
Or you know several events thatare housed, that are large
scale events across the country,that you know we have canines
that protecting our people, youknow, and so why not have them
over there?
So why not have them overseasprotecting our soldiers too?
Right?
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Absolutely.
We'll return to the podcast injust a moment, but first,
hometown hero outdoors wouldlike to thank Relentless
Defender for supporting ourpodcast.
Founded in 2014 by a lawenforcement officer, relentless
Defender set out to design andsell clothing apparel that the
police officers could wear withpride.
(34:06):
Go to relentlessdefendercom tosee their current inventory.
Now back to our podcast.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
So let's talk a little bit about your training
team.
I'm looking at your websiteright now, and so you got a
robust crowd of people that arehelping you volunteers, or yes,
yeah, so we do have some.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
So Northville Kennels you know my original business
had this staff.
We had skilled and experiencedtrainers and so they have run
dogs at all the AKC performanceevent levels so junior, senior,
master level and they train alot of gun dogs.
(34:53):
We fix a lot of problems,frankly, so we don't get in high
caliber talent that we can thenmold into some sort of winner.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
We usually are getting in dogs.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
GSP.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Dogs, pardon me, I can send you my GSP and we'll
see if that works.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Well, like I say, we're getting dogs off the
street that usually haveproblems and so we're fixing
those in the ways we know how.
On the service dog side we havea very high standard.
I wouldn't say to you, to yourGerman short here is not very
(35:35):
birdie, won't go in the waterand has a problem.
What I would do is I'd just tryto level with you in terms of
the limitations of your dog andsay we're gonna do everything we
can to pump them up and makesure their attitude's good and
they're having fun, and thenwe're gonna try to get as much
(35:56):
obedience and control to goalong with that.
But we're, you know, in the endof the day, if he's not steady
on point, but he still finds thebird and he retrieves it for
you, I mean, that's a prettygood outcome.
On the other hand, ifsomebody's put so much pressure
on him that he's afraid of thebird and blinks it or is
(36:17):
repulsed by it, which happenssometimes or the dog won't
retrieve, go to the bird andretrieve, well, that's not as
good of an outcome.
So it's always sort of a tradeoff.
What can you get out of them?
What do you have to sacrifice?
Or in terms of lowering yourstandard.
So with the service dogs thereis no lowering of the standard.
(36:42):
If there's any reason that thedog is not suitable as a service
animal, we will release themfrom the program, and so it's
probably 30% of our dogs thatwe're doing that with for one
reason or another.
So maybe we were at the grocerystore and the dog growled at a
child, or maybe they have abarking compulsion that we
(37:08):
cannot get in front of, or maybethere's a physical issue.
They've got hips or eyes orelbows or something which are
gonna be problematic for anowner.
We don't wanna sock somebodywith a golden doodle, with skin
problems, because they're nevergonna get over their skin
problems.
They're gonna have to maintainit and treat it their whole life
(37:30):
and that's not what we wannaput them in that situation.
So there are many of those dogsthat 30% are totally adequate
and acceptable family dogs andcompanion dogs, but they're not
gonna get on an airplane and flysomeplace or go to somebody's
workplace every day and be thatservice animal.
(37:53):
So, yeah, so we do have apercentage of dogs that we
release because we have a highstandard, but we're not gonna.
We don't do trade offs, wedon't do compromises.
We don't.
You know.
We have a high standard and westick to it, because these dogs
are not being handled bysomebody like myself who's a
(38:15):
professional handler who can doa lot of things in a lot of
different ways.
These are fleas.
Folks are just regular peopleand some have never owned a dog
before.
So as they are challenged withthe handling responsibilities of
the dog, they're gonna have to.
You'll have something that'spretty malleable, something
(38:36):
that's pretty easy to handle andcooperative.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (38:42):
It does.
Sam, can you walk us throughthe process you use to train
these dogs?
I mean, obviously I know it's along process.
It's very.
It takes, you know, over a year.
But can you give us anabbreviated version of what that
process looks like?
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Sure, yeah.
The abbreviated version is thatwe'll take a puppy or a young
dog whether we adopt that from ashelter or a rescue dog that we
, you know, we're going to takethe chance on, take a risk on
and say we think this dog lookspretty darn good for what our
program is, or a puppy that'sdonated to us.
(39:22):
You know, we've had breedersall over donate puppies to us
and they don't of course theydon't all make it either but
we'll take that puppy that'sseven or eight or nine weeks old
and we'll put it in a fosterhome.
So for about six to eightmonths that puppy's going to be
(39:43):
being potty, trained, startedobedience and been around kids
and going to lots of places, carrides and all the experiences
that a young dog can besocialized into.
And then at that point, maybethat nine to 11 month old young
dog will come into the trainingcenter full time and that means
(40:05):
and what full times means isthat we train them five days a
week and on the weekends theirfull time foster now becomes a
weekend foster.
So rather than sitting thereand staring at the walls all
weekend, they get picked up.
On Friday they get to go home,be with the family that they
already know, and they come backon Sunday night or Monday
(40:25):
morning to start their trainingweek again, and so that goes on
for quite some time.
That I mean that's, that's a,you know, close to a year right
there.
So now they're almost a yearold.
Now they're going to be intraining for a year and now the
dog is getting pretty close, 90%close to finished.
We're going to start selecting aveteran handler for that dog
(40:49):
and typically what we do ismatch the dog to the person,
that is, if somebody is maybeyounger, high energy, wants to
go hike the mountains, we'regoing to give them a dog,
prepare them with a dog that issimilarly, you know, with that
disposition.
And if we have a Vietnamveteran who's 75, and really
(41:13):
needs more of some of the helpembrace to steady him, to help
him get up out of a chair, toretrieve, drop to items, things
like that, and they need aquieter dog that's not going to
pull on them ever, then we'regoing to select a dog that meets
that criteria and match them uptogether so that it and I think
(41:36):
you know, in nine years I thinkwe've gotten it wrong twice.
So I mean, our people arereally good at pairing up those
dogs with the veterans and so,and with the two that we didn't
pair up appropriately, werepaired them with a different
animal.
That was successful, so, butit's all a learning process,
(41:59):
right?
So there's a lot of basic skills, the same things, the same
things your hunting dogs use.
You know he'll sit, stay, comedown, that kind of thing, go,
stop and come.
Essentially, go would be if Ineeded him to fetch something.
I had to tell him to go overthere and get my medicine bottle
or my car keys or my phone thatI dropped in the snow and can't
(42:21):
find that.
You know, the dog can huntthose things and retrieve.
If I had.
They just have to be obedientwhen I tell them to go.
Do that and then also go, withan example of go would be like
getting into the car, not whenyou feel like it, not not when
you get around to it, but I meanyou need to get in there now
(42:44):
and so, again, those are allthings that are applicable to
both the hunter and hunting dogand the and, frankly, the bomb
dog too, but also the servicedog, certainly, and so the main
thing that we're doingdifferently is customizing the
service skills.
So if somebody maybe has aspinal injury and has some
(43:09):
paralysis, we're going to traina dog that might need to pull a
wheelchair or stop a wheelchairand certainly retrieve dropped
items.
Many other things pushhandicapped buttons to get into
buildings, and so that's goingto be specifically customed for
that individual, just as itwould for a more psychiatric
(43:30):
geared patient, like like a posttraumatic stress situation,
military sexual trauma veryprevalent, and so on the
psychiatric side we're going tobe teaching that dog to respond
to two emotions a lot.
So signs of sadness, signs ofevent of anxiousness, anxiety.
(43:56):
As someone gets angry, their,their, the cadence of their
voice may change, the pitch ofit may change, certainly, the
volume may change.
They may emit an odor, a sweattype odor.
So so it is based on theindividual.
Some and everyone has differenthobbies and they live in
(44:18):
different situations.
So if it's if the dogs in theliving apartment versus live in
a house versus live on acreage,and so all those things are
taken into account when we'retrying to customize that dog for
that particular environment,and then their workplace would
be the same.
(44:38):
So some people are going towork in an office, maybe a
building where they have to ridean elevator, some people may
work in a warehouse wherethere's loud noises and
machinery.
So all those things are customtrained per individual.
So that that's really thebiggest way it differs.
And I guess you could say thatwith your hunting dog too.
(44:58):
You know that if you'restrictly a duck hunter or
strictly a field trial or, forexample, you're probably never
going to upland hunt your dogbecause it kind of goes against
what field trialers are doing,and so it might be similar that
way where you would.
You'd certainly.
You know, if a Labrador pointsa bird, that might be sort of a
bonus, but it's not really, youknow, top on the list.
(45:20):
The main thing is, will theyget in that cold water and bring
me my bird back so I don't haveto?
And so you know there are someparallels specifically for their
task.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
How many dogs have you trained so far?
Speaker 3 (45:37):
We just placed our 62nd team, so that's a veteran
and a dog team.
That was this summer and wejust had.
We had a graduation just lastmonth, also over in Chakapea,
minnesota.
But congratulations.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
Yeah, when you look at, when you look at the amount
of time it takes you to trainthese dogs and you've been at,
you know, for the years you'vebeen doing this that's a lot of
dogs in what?
Nine years.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
Right, nine years, yeah, and we didn't do any the
first year, of course, and weonly did one the second year.
So so, yeah, we've, you know.
But you know that's because ittakes.
It takes time to, you know, todo this.
You can't just, it's not like atool, you can bolt together and
you have it ready.
You know it's a, it takes timeto do it.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
So yeah, tell me about this, Tell me about the
selection process.
Then, for the veteran, yeah,how do you select who is
eligible for this program?
Speaker 3 (46:38):
Yeah, good question.
So the first thing that we dois we get an eligibility survey
submitted to us.
So on our website, underveterans, you can, you can
choose eligibility survey.
Takes about five minutes tofill it out, just, it's all the
contact information and thingsthat, so that we can, you know,
communicate back and forth.
(46:58):
And then we have to, of course,we have to determine that
they're actually who they saythey are and that they're
actually a veteran.
So we we get a DD 214 copy andwe have some very basic
questions like do you, do youunderstand the responsibility of
having a dog, do you know thatthere's going to be some, some
expense in having a dog?
(47:20):
And and do you agree to thosethings?
And then, on the mental healthside, we ask you know, are you
engaged with the therapist orcounselor and do you agree to
continue to be engaged with yourtherapist and counselor?
That's, that's about as simpleas it gets right there.
And then, once we get theeligibility survey, and then we
(47:41):
will, as long as everythingchecks out in a satisfactory way
which which we haven't hadanyone try to, you know get by
with it.
Anything now up to this point,but we'll, then we'll send them
the full, a full application,and that's a little more
involved, as you might imagine.
So we're going to get letters ofrecommendation from their
(48:02):
healthcare professionals.
That can be the hardest thingbecause they don't respond to
them.
The healthcare professionalsare difficult to get a hold of
and difficult to get a responsefrom, and these are typically VA
health health care providers.
We're going to get a list oftheir medications, the reasons
for taking their medications,and get also get an idea of
(48:23):
their living environment.
So that, did they have a fencedyard?
Do they, you know, do theyactually have an appropriate
place where they can keep a dog?
Once we have all thatinformation back in, then we
actually have a committee.
We're very lucky I know otherorganizations that really are
just flipping a coin frankly,and we have, we actually have a
(48:46):
committee of healthcareprofessionals that are that are
experienced in post traumaticstress counseling and the
medical fields.
So those folks then go throughthe applications and say we'd
really like to look at thesepeople.
So the reasons that we wouldreject one or not pursue an
(49:07):
applicant is usually becausethey either have an addiction
issue or they haven't beenthrough treatment for that
addiction issue.
And so you know, I certainly,as a dog trainer, I certainly
can't determine who is seriousabout recovery and who is not,
(49:28):
and so that's why we have thosehealthcare professionals that go
through those things and knowhow to, how to read this, this
kind of thing, so that we canget people in the door who we
really want to have on ourcampus, that we can really help
and and are appreciative of whatwe do.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
I really appreciate that you do that.
Yeah, if people want to helpyou, how can they do that?
What can people do that maybeare not in the dog world?
What can they do to supportyour organization?
Speaker 3 (50:05):
Yeah, so I talked a little bit earlier about some of
our employees.
Their Norfolk Kennel'semployees Believe it is just
starting to get into a positionwhere they can have their own
employees, frankly.
So most of the things that wedo are volunteer.
I'm a 100% volunteer.
(50:26):
I don't get paid and thevolunteers we could not do what
we do without the volunteers.
So in some regards they give uscredibility because it brings
the veterans out of the woodworkto a place in a beautiful rural
setting where they feelcomfortable and like they can
(50:49):
trust the people around them.
And then the veterans come inand help us.
They appear at events and atspeaking engagements, state fair
, any number of things.
They get involved in terms offostering our puppies, finding
other fosters for the puppies,transportation dog has to go to
(51:13):
the vet or a veteran needssomething someplace, and it's
just a tremendous help.
And one thing I would say thatpeople should know about us is
that our program, our name, isCanine Service Partners.
It's really not about the dogs,frankly, it's about people.
(51:35):
So, yeah, we do certainly do anawful lot with the dogs and
they're the biggest part, andit's really about the people,
about changing someone's lifefrom being isolated to being
free to living a morefreedom-filled life, to doing
the things that they used to do,that they thought they would
(51:58):
never do again, like it could besimple as having a strong
relationship, having childrenchildren maybe someday, having a
job that is steady and thatmeets their needs.
Maybe it's hunting okay,hunting and fishing.
We have a lot of guys who andgals who used to do this with
(52:23):
grandpa or with dad and theyhaven't done it since they were
12 or 14 years old and theyreally never thought they would
do it again.
But now that they have this dog, they think what would it take
to get this dog gun broke, whatwould it take to get this dog on
a few pigeons where he or shewould know what's going on out
there, and it'd be pretty fun todream, be pretty fun to dream
(52:46):
again and have hope about doingthose things.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
Is there somewhere people can donate to help you
out?
Speaker 3 (52:54):
Yeah, certainly on our website is a great way.
They have give to the max daysand all those kinds of things.
But those organizations take apretty good percentage of the
donated amount.
So, frankly, writing us a checkor making a donation in another
way, we've had people donatestock to us or host events for
(53:17):
us.
So, whether it's a dinner orsome kind of musical, we've done
plays and concerts and othertypes of speaking engagements
and they've been to benefit us.
So why are you doing your garagesale this week?
Well, we're doing it to benefit, believe it.
(53:38):
But it helps us get outawareness of this issue, right,
because Minnesota alone losesaverage two veterans a week to
suicide.
It's about 100 a year just inMinnesota, and so that awareness
has to be out there.
What we are doing.
It absolutely affects theveterans who have been suicidal
(54:05):
or have thought about beingsuicidal.
We save lives.
I mean, I can hardly get myselfto say that because it just
seems like I'm bragging, but ifit motivates someone else to
learn about what we do and toappreciate the issues involved
here with veterans, then it'sworth it.
(54:26):
But, yeah, certainly donatingon our website, hosting an event
for us, even coming and helpingus with one of our events, our
golf tournament or spring galaor any of the other events that
we do throughout the year Inviteus to come talk to your groups,
your businesses, your communitygroups, your churches, your
(54:48):
schools.
We've been in all these placesand it just helps create the
awareness of what we're doingand why we're doing it.
And, of course, the dogs arealways a big hit.
Yeah, I'll come in and theywon't remember my name, but
they'll remember my dog, taffy.
But so, yeah, we definitelybring the dogs along.
(55:09):
But those are the things thatyou know.
We have a new building plannedright now.
We have a site which is rightnext door to our current
training center for a 13,000square foot training center with
our own veterinary clinic, 109dog capacity, and obviously it's
(55:34):
a very big and expensive, youknow, project.
But those are our dreams.
Everybody has to have audaciousgoals and so we intend to in
some year probably not threeyears, maybe five, definitely 10
, we're going to arrest that 100veterans a year in Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (56:00):
That's awesome.
No, that's a really good goaland just do you have a new good
work and I really appreciatethat.
You know there's lots to besaid about, like I said, the
Canadian partners and oursoldiers and our veterans, and
what kind of bond that cancreate and help save these lives
.
So, no, I really appreciateeverything you guys are doing,
so it's a very good program andit's a cool part here in
(56:22):
Minnesota, here, and so we'realso in other states, but this
is our home state.
So, no, thank you, sam, foreverything you're doing.
Where are you today?
Are you out in the hunting campI am.
Speaker 3 (56:33):
I'm in Gregory, South Dakota, in the beautiful, yeah,
kind of butte country in the inthe golden triangle or whatever
they call it here.
But yeah, so I'm out at BuffaloButte Ranch in Gregory, South
Dakota and it's been great, butwe're going to get some cold
weather coming up here quitesoon.
Speaker 2 (56:55):
Yeah, you're not kidding.
So no, thank you for takingtime with us tonight, with you
being on your hunting trip andeverything since spectacular
doing that.
So our listeners want to getahold of you or find you.
How can they find you on socialmedia website?
Speaker 3 (57:08):
Yes, certainly Facebook.
Certainly our website,wwwbelieveitorg.
If you just search service dogsMinnesota, certainly service
dogs for veterans Minnesota, itwill come up.
And yeah, certainly that way wealso have.
Yeah, I'm not big on socialmedia because I'm over 50, but
(57:31):
yeah, like I told Phil in theemail, I still have an eight
track tape stereo.
Speaker 1 (57:38):
But I still got a record player.
I'm over 52.
Speaker 3 (57:42):
Yeah yeah, so we have , yeah, we.
I don't know if we have Twitter, what we have, but I mean we're
out there, we're not that hardto find anymore.
Speaker 2 (57:50):
That's awesome.
Yeah, no, thank you very much.
I really appreciate you beinghere tonight.
And do you have any finalcomments before we start
wrapping up or coming up in anhour here?
Speaker 3 (57:58):
This is the first podcast I've ever done or ever
even maybe heard of, so I knowit was easy, as it was easy, as
can be, and the awareness ofwhat we're doing is the real key
.
I mean, it'd be great to have alot of money in the bank and
build what we want to build andhave that all buttoned up, but
(58:20):
that's not how most placesoperate and we're certainly no
different.
The awareness if you knowsomebody, tell them.
If you know, if you knowsomebody that can use our
services, tell them.
Tell them about us, because weare not far away and it's 100%
(58:42):
free.
The only thing, the only thingthe veteran is responsible for
is getting themselves there, sothere's no cost to the veteran
for the for their service dog.
Their skin in the game, frankly, is that they have to do 120
hours of team training, one onone with our trainers.
It usually takes two to threemonths to knock out that 120
(59:07):
hours and then we'll, at thatpoint you know you're really on
your way.
So, yeah, if you know somebodythat can use our help, tell them
about us, please.
Speaker 2 (59:20):
Absolutely yeah.
Our listeners will definitelyspread the word.
Thank you very much, Phil.
Do you have any final comments?
Speaker 1 (59:28):
No, I just want to thank Sam again for coming on
and being able to, like I said,share with our audience, because
we do have a similar mission.
We're all about saving people'slives, right?
You know, it's about thatnumber and regardless if it's
the 22 a day across the countryor if it's two a day, two a week
(59:51):
in Minnesota, like youmentioned, it's too many.
Your mission, for yourorganization, the mission of
hometown hero outdoors, is themental health awareness, like
Chris says, keeping people onthe planet.
So I appreciate and we thankyou for what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
Yeah, thanks again, sam.
I really appreciate you and forour listeners.
We're at Believe it, the K9training program that's based
out of Northfield, minnesota,and we thank you for joining us
tonight and for our listeners.
In the event you find yourselfin a dark place, there's a lot
of people that are here for you.
Like I talked about it in thepodcast, there are people out
there that believe in you andwant you here.
(01:00:30):
But if you're feeling yourselfin a dark time, our field staff
are trained and applied suicideintervention skills training.
It's a CIS program crisisintervention and we are here to
listen.
We have a list of individualsthat engage or have been trained
and assist, and please reachout to us on any social media
emails.
Whatever you can do to find us,please find us, but if you
(01:00:52):
can't and you're having issues,you can call 988.
Text, or call 988 for thecrisis suicide prevention line.
So we want you here.
Find another day and be herefor your loved ones in the
future and enjoy your life.
For today.
That is all we have on thepodcast.
I want to thank we'll leave itto Sam Daly here for giving
their time while he's out on aphenomenal pheasant hunting trip
(01:01:13):
, and I appreciate everyone thatjoined us.
Thank you, phil, and until nextweek we will see everyone on
the podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theHometown Hero Outdoors podcast.
For more information, visit ourwebsite at
hometownherooutdoorsorg.
In the land of 10,000 lakes, a remarkable movement
was born.
Welcome to Hometown HeroOutdoors.
We are dedicated to honoringour military service members,
veterans and first responders byproviding them with
unforgettable outdoorrecreational opportunities.
We believe those who haveserved and sacrificed so much
(00:25):
for our country and communitiesdeserve a chance to reclaim
their spirit and find healing inthe great outdoors.
This is Hometown Hero Outdoors.
Welcome to the Hometown HeroOutdoors podcast.
(00:50):
Here is your host, chris Taitro.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
And welcome back to our Hometown Hero Outdoors
listeners.
We have another Wednesday herewith the podcast.
It's been an exciting week, ora couple of weeks going on
around the organization.
Just to give you a littleupdate, you know there's things
going on all over the country.
You know, a couple of weeks ago,we had the Hometown Hero
Outdoors Texas chapters banquetdown there.
That was pretty phenomenal.
Phil was gracious enough to doa sit-in for me from one of the
(01:30):
podcasts I was spending.
It was a very long couple ofdays, that weekend especially,
and Phil came in clutch andhelped me out with helping out
Pete Rittmasters.
So thank you, phil, Iappreciate you there.
And then this past weekend wasreally busy as well.
Just here in Minnesota alonethere's a handful of different
events, and throughout thecountry there was more.
So we've been busy and we're inthe depths of the fall and
(01:52):
hunting season and a lot ofpeople are still fishing at that
.
So this past weekend was kindof interesting.
It was a very busy weekend formyself as well, as well as the
Minnesota team, and just wantedto talk real quick about what we
experienced this past weekend.
Well, first I had theopportunity to head down to
Worthington, minnesota, do apheasant hunt with our Nobles
County chapter, pheasantsForever, jackson County
(02:14):
Pheasants Forever and Round LakeSportsman's Club, and it was a
very awesome and uniqueexperience where we had 15
veterans that were able to getin the outdoors and go pheasant
hunting with these phenomenalindividuals, with all expenses
provided and paid for for ourveterans, so it was awesome.
But one of the things I wantedto talk about, though, is the
speech that I gave to theseindividuals this past weekend
about how important our missionis and what they do for it.
(02:35):
Without them, we can't do whatwe do, we cannot take
individuals into the outdoors,and how to give them that mental
health feeling that theyreceive when they're in outdoors
.
So it was very vital for themto hear that, and one of the big
reasons that I bring that up isthe camaraderie that is built
on.
These trips are built throughthese adventures that they're in
(02:55):
the outdoors, getting in allthese people being able to
relate, create theserelationships that last a
lifetime, outside of the serviceor as a first responder, which
brings me to that morning beforeI went to Nobles County,
worthington area, which was theCol J Lutz Memorial Suicide
Awareness Prevention Walk.
This is our ultimate goal isour mental health, to keep
people alive, keep people onthis planet that can create,
(03:16):
continue their relationshipswith their families, friends,
community, as well as enjoytheir life.
So the trips that we go on,such as the Nobles County
Pheasants Forever Hunting Trip,was very vital to our
organization, and trips alike inorder to create those bonds,
have this walk, raise awarenessand tell people that it's okay
to not be okay.
(03:37):
Just don't stay there.
So, as we continue throughoutthe organization and doing what
we do, I just want to give a bigshout out and thank you to
everyone who has helped providea trip, take people in the
outdoors, and I hope to see moreof that happening and
continuing to happen.
And then, on top of that, wealso had a sturgeon trip on the
Sanctuary River here with somelaw enforcement officers a group
of five and we were verygracious.
We were able to have aMinnesota-bound film crew come
(04:00):
out and talk to everyone.
So, but yeah, I just wanted tosay thank you to everyone and
just please keep these tripscoming in and helping our
individuals out.
They really need it and theymatter, and a lot of them are
feeling some stressors with ourveterans when it comes to what's
happening overseas betweenIsrael and Ukraine.
So it's very important for usto ensure that these trips are
occurring and we're able to helpthem out.
(04:20):
So it was a very eventfulweekend.
So, again, thank you very mucheveryone.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
But today we have an awesome podcast.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Here we have Sam Daly with Believe it canine service
partners.
We will read his bio here in amoment, but I have my co-host
here, Phil Eward, as well.
Thank you, gentlemen, for beinghere today.
So Sam?
Sam is the founder and formerexecutive director of Believe it
canine, located in Northfield,Minnesota.
Owner of Northfield Kennels Inc.
Served two deployments toHelmand Province, Afghanistan,
(04:48):
in 2012 and 2013.
Attached the US Marine 2ndBattalion, 5th Marines and the
2nd Marine Expeditionary Force,respectively as a civilian bomb
dog trainer and forward supportrepresentative.
After this assignment, Believeit was found.
So I could Sam could continueto serve his country, to serve
(05:09):
injured military veterans andimprove the greater community In
rural Northfield Minnesota,with my wife, Deborah, and five
Labrador Retrievers.
He enjoys running and judgingthe AKC performance events for
Retrievers, songwriting, playingthe guitar and shooting, sports
hunting, fishing andwoodworking.
So, Sam, thank you very muchfor being here today.
It feels like you have a prettycolorful history and you've
(05:32):
been through some thingsyourself and looks like you're
continuing to do things andenjoy life.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah, thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
No, it's awesome that you're here.
So how we got connected wasthrough Phil, and Phil is here
with my co-host tonight.
Thank you, phil, for making theconnection I want to say to the
listeners and tell us a littleabout your connection with Sam.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, I have not met Sam until tonight, but one of my
coworkers is friends with Sam.
We have a mutual friend namedTodd Fuchs.
Todd's in IT.
He works for the same companythat I do and we got to talking
about dogs as Todd is a trainerof hunting dogs and he had
(06:12):
mentioned to me that he had agood friend of his who had this
organization.
When I told him about ourpodcast and I thought what a
perfect marriage, I guess, oftwo organizations where hometown
hero outdoors takes people intothe outdoors veterans, law
enforcement first responders andSam trains dogs to help those
(06:37):
veterans who might need help,you know, some sort of help with
a dog as far as that with thatmental health.
So just figured we'd have himon and kind of talk about what
he's doing.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
That's awesome.
Yeah, I know.
Thanks for the connection.
It's very exciting, especiallybecause you have served Sam and
you have quite the experiencewith dogs and being a civilian
bomb to bomb dog trainer.
That's pretty phenomenal.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about yourself?
Where are you from, where yougrew up, where you, where you
hail from, you know where, wheredid you grow up and how did you
get the being so connected withour canine friends?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Sure.
So I grew up in NorthfieldMinnesota, went to school there,
lived briefly in SouthwestWyoming and moved back home
until I took the assignment youmentioned with the bomb dogs,
where I moved to North Carolina,southern Pines, north Carolina.
It's about 40 minutes from FortBragg and this was a.
(07:42):
It was a good.
It was a good opportunity and agood time for me to do that and
it was ended up being sort of asurreal life changing
experience.
So we we trained over 600 bombdogs in about a 60 year period
there.
I personally was in on in theneighborhood of 60 of those.
(08:07):
And then the marine the Marineswould actually come to our
location in North Carolina,train with us for five weeks and
then we would go to their basesand train with them, you know,
on their turf, and one thingsort of led to another.
As a trainer I never imaginedthat I would end up being
(08:27):
deployed, but that opportunitywas available and I gladly
accepted.
I have spent my life campingand hunting and certainly no
stranger to the outdoors, and soit was like the worst camping
trip I've ever been on.
(08:47):
But I was also pretty wellprepared, you know, for those
conditions Because I lived withthe Marines, I trained with the
Marines, traveled with them, youknow ate, slept in the dirt
with them and and was in youknow, stressful situations with
them.
(09:09):
The dogs that we trained wereall laboratory retrievers.
It was the first time they hadever used a dog off leash for
bomb detection and the advantagethere, of course, is standoff.
So rather than having humanpersonnel on a six foot leash
with a dog who's at riskobviously of injury or death,
(09:31):
the dog could be sent in fromextreme distances.
I mean, you know, two to 500meters is not an exaggeration,
depending on the environment, onthe situation.
But the dogs also quartered,quartered fields, quartered
roads, ditches, bridges,culverts, vehicles, all kinds of
things, as a pheasant dog would.
(09:51):
And then they ran what theycalled with the Marine Corps,
called point to points which waswould be a blind retrieve for,
you know, for a hunter, for aduck hunter or a field trailer,
and so the dog could be sentlong distances, check for
(10:13):
threats, and they would actaround the explosive the same
way they would act around a bird, the only difference is that
they don't fetch it.
They are taught to give apassive response, which is to
lay down and indicate itslocation, and then they're
called back from that and thengiven a reward, which in our
(10:34):
case was a rubber Kong toy, andso to them obviously it's
serious business to us, but tothem it was really just another
game.
And so they were very good atthis and we found stuff
basically every week, sometimesevery day, and they saved a lot
of limbs and a lot of lives inthat environment.
(10:58):
And so it was is from thatexperience when I, when we came
home, I was tell a story becauseit's kind of apropos, I guess,
but the, the dogs wereheartbreakers for the Marines.
Okay, I mean, they lived withthem for a long time, they'd
trust them with their lives,they had slept with them in
their cops and and to and tocome back from deployment and
have them go back into trainingand be assigned to a different
handler was very tough for formost of them.
And so I always say that theywanted to adopt all their dogs
(11:19):
and they couldn't becausethey're still Marines and I
wanted to adopt.
I wanted to adopt all theMarines.
And so I always say that theywanted to adopt all their dogs
and they couldn't becausethey're still Marines and I
wanted to adopt.
I wanted to adopt all theMarines because and I couldn't
either because we're very close.
So, yeah, anyway, it was agreat experience, so many
(11:46):
friends and contacts, you know,through that experience, and it
was a life changer for me.
So after I came back, well, Iwas overseas seven months, back
six months and then overseasseven months, and so after
coming back the second time, Ireturned to Minnesota and was
still kind of in the fog of war.
(12:08):
Frankly, I didn't have nointerest in really hunting or
training hunting dogs, certainlynot family dogs.
Everything seemed very trivialto me.
And I spoke at a rotary clubmeeting and there was a
gentleman there that said haveyou ever considered training,
(12:31):
you know, service dogs forveterans?
And we had just been talkingabout this at that at our
training center and we're like,yeah, I wonder, you know, wonder
how we do this.
I wonder if we would be good atit.
I wonder, you know, just Iwonder.
And.
And so I said, well, I, I don'tknow, I don't know, I don't
know, I don't know, I wonder,you know, wonder how we do this,
I wonder if we would be good atit.
(12:51):
I wonder, you know, just Iwonder, and.
And so I said, well, I, I don'tthink I'll be able to set up
that business.
And he said Well, I've set upmany businesses.
I'd be happy to set thebusiness up for you if you would
do it.
And so that's how we started.
It was really just through aspeaking engagement, talking to
(13:13):
a local group of Rotarians thatwere interested in the, you know
, in the experience and theassignment that I had with the
Marine Corps, and and for me itwas therapy in a way too,
because when I first came back Iwas pretty raw about many
things.
You know, thinking about manyof the experiences we had with,
(13:35):
you know was emotional for me,and it still can be.
But through going, you know,going through this experience,
and now we're nine years intotraining these service dogs for
disabled military veterans, it'sgotten much easier, much better
.
I have a different perspectiveon it and we're continuing to
(13:56):
serve our country and serve ourveterans, improve our community.
I mean, these are all pretty,you know, pretty good
experiences to have.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Well, first of all, sam, thank you very much for
your service.
You did provide a veryimportant service to the Marines
and you know, especially withthe bombs, dipping dogs, and
also I think that's great thatyou found something you're
passionate about that you canstill serve.
You know you might not beactive, you might not be
(14:27):
directly supporting, but youknow, as we're all in this same
thing together when it comes tomental health awareness,
especially for our veterans, Iguess we're just really
appreciative that there'ssomeone like you out there.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Yeah, thank you very much.
You know, the most of theveterans that we serve well
frankly, are suicidal and andhave had attempts in the past.
They may have had addictionissues to alcohol or other
substances.
They've gone through a lot andso we make sure that they're
stable and well enough to gothrough our program.
But it's such a relief to themthat they don't have somebody
(15:10):
else, another person, feedingthem medication.
So that is kind of the go-tostrategy for treatment for
mental health.
For, say, major depressivedisorder, anxiety, is to
prescribe medications and as youall know you know, I mean, as
(15:30):
we all know there can be manyside effects from that.
Many times they're takingsomething to help them sleep
because they have sleepingissues, and the veterans then
some can have trouble waking upand getting to a job or do some
of the things that would bemaybe what we would consider
normal in a society for ayounger person to do.
(15:53):
And so it gets difficult whenthe medication interferes, and
certainly addictive medicationthat would interfere with normal
activity.
Most of our veterans, you know,they they frankly don't trust
their own judgment and sosometimes they're quick to anger
(16:14):
, and in small things, like ifsomebody cuts in front of you or
I at the grocery store.
We may think they're rude orsomething to that effect, but it
may be a lot more personal tosomebody that has post-traumatic
stress and their anger canescalate quickly and rather than
(16:35):
saying something or doingsomething that becomes an issue,
it's easier for most of theseveterans to just isolate, stay
home, don't have a lot ofinteraction with people, because
you never know how things mightcome out.
You know, we had one personthat went into a convenience
(16:56):
store early in the morning fiveo'clock, five thirty or
something in the morning andthere was a guy that was having
a bag from the night before andhe went up and started bear
hugging the guy's dog and heasked him not to touch his dog,
not to pet his dog, and then itwas well, what's your effing
problem?
And then it escalated and thisand this guy I mean he, I mean
(17:20):
he thought it was he was goingto jail after that.
I mean he thought that becauseof this interaction, that his
own behavior was going to be thebiggest issue of the day there.
And so, rather than risk beingin those unpredictable behaviors
or those situations where theirbehaviors can escalate, they
(17:40):
tend to isolate.
Well, when you have a servicedog.
Well, for one thing there's nomedication right, so a lot of
most all of our veterans canreduce or even eliminate many of
their medications.
And then the second thing isthat the dog keeps them on a
schedule.
So now they have to get up inthe morning because we have to
(18:03):
get fed and we have to go pottyand we have to get some exercise
, and so those are all reasonswhy the dog can be a real
changing force that is totallyorganic and not like anything
else.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
So I want to rewind you just a little bit.
Thank you for that explanation.
That actually helps.
Can you talk to us aboutBelieve it or Believe that?
However you say it?
How did you come up with thatname, first of all, and then
walk us through?
You had already mentioned thatsomebody said they'd help you
(18:44):
start it as a company, but ifyou could walk us through the
beginning stages of how that allstarted.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Sure, yeah.
So our IRS registered name isCanine Service Partners
Incorporated and that's the501C3 Charity.
And we then adopted a trademarkname that's Believe it, and
(19:11):
it's kind of a play on words,right, Believe it.
But we took the word Believeand the word Veteran and we just
combined the two and then wetrademarked that name.
Yeah, I like it.
Yeah, so that was the origin ofthat.
The origin of the starting ofthe company was my friend, john
(19:34):
Sinning, who was thatbusinessman that was in the room
when I delivered that speakingengagement at the Rotary Club
and he came and said I've set upmany businesses, I'd be happy
to set up your 501C3, which iswhat he did.
He organized a lot of theadministration aspects of it and
(19:57):
got us on some sort oftrajectory in terms of what we
were going to look at in termsof fundraising and personnel and
things like that.
Now, as a dog trainer based inNorthfield, I already had a
facility and I also already hadstaff experienced staff and so
(20:18):
it was really like a turnkeyovernight process where we just
said we're going to get togetherand do this and we're going to
learn as much as we can about it.
And so while John Sinning washandling all the administration,
part of it, all of ourregistrations and all those
things that you do in a newbusiness, then we went to work
(20:40):
on learning what our role needsto be and, similarly to the bomb
dog training with the MarineCorps, there isn't a lot of
difference between what ahunting dog does chasing
pheasants or retrieving ducksthan what that bomb dog does.
It's just a different odorsource in the end, a different
(21:01):
target, and there are manysimilarities also between those
types of training and servicedog work.
So many of the things we werealready capable of doing.
There were just some otherelements that, frankly, we just
needed some experience on.
(21:21):
So we had another gal fromNorthfield and she came in with
some experienced trainingservice dogs for Canadian
Companions for Independence,which is the largest service dog
training organization in thecountry, and so, as she came in,
shared what she knew and then,hopefully, we shared what we
(21:42):
knew with her.
We came up with a program thatis, that's effective and, like I
say, now we're nine years intoit.
But without those people andwithout that early organization
we would still be kind offlailing, I think, at this point
.
So, yeah, so is that kind ofanswering your question about
(22:06):
the origin, or was there partmissing there?
Speaker 1 (22:09):
No, I hope that does.
Thank you for that explanation.
Just wanted to give somebackground for our listeners.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
So yeah, and I kind of want to talk about your
introduction to the militaryside of things when you were
approached to do canine trainingfor the military, what did that
look like?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
So well, first off I would say both my parents were
in the Navy at the end of WorldWar Two.
They met in San Diego andeventually went to college on
the GI Bill at Carleton College,located in Northfield, and they
had 10 kids and they bought afarm and raised this all.
(22:46):
And it's a great American story, you know, it really is.
But for me, growing up hunting,I always wanted that hunting
dog with me when I was hunting,because what there's nothing
worse than to have a pheasantrun away and you can't find it
when it's got a broken wing.
And so I used to borrow myneighbor's German Shepherd and I
(23:11):
literally shot my firstpheasant over a German Shepherd.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
And that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah, the dog didn't retrieve it, but it did find it
for me and so I knew that.
As I, you know, I got older andhunting especially expanded so
much for me that I really wantedto have my own dog.
But at the time I was going tocollege at that point, St Claude
State University my roommateand I would run out to them and
(23:39):
the last like wow, they'dmanagement area and hunt, grouse
, and so you know, but I didn'thave a dog to pick them up.
And as soon as I got out ofcollege I put a deposit on a
puppy with Tom Doc and down inNorthfield and and then I went
back to Tom Doc and for somelessons, and so I read
(23:59):
everything I could on trainingand practiced all these things
on my new puppy.
And then one day I was at asports show and Tom asked me if
I would consider coming to workfor him, and so I did that.
So I worked for Tom for fouryears and also started in the
fall.
There weren't many dogs totrain, so I started guiding for
(24:20):
hunting lodges out in SouthDakota and, you know, and it was
just a natural progression tostart my own kennel after that.
So remind me, Chris, what wherewe were going with this about
how you got to got into trainingfor military.
Got it, yeah so.
(24:40):
So then in in 2009, I had afriend of mine who was actually
already working for this companyout in Southern Pines, north
Carolina, and they were lookingfor trainers.
They were looking for retrievertrainers and so they recruited
me.
They called and said would yoube interested in doing this?
I said sounds very interesting,I'd like to learn more.
(25:01):
And there were some delays atthe beginning and finally, 2010,
they pulled the trigger andsaid all right, come on out.
So with my wife's blessing Ihave a good wife, by the way of
28 years but with her blessing,I moved to Carthage, north
(25:21):
Carolina, just north of SouthernPines.
There and started training dogsand, like I said, I was a
trainer.
I could handle the volume.
You know have 18 or 20 dogs ona trailer.
I knew how to handle that kindof volume, the skills that they
needed to learn in terms ofquartering a field or quartering
an area and running point topoint, that is, running blind
(25:46):
type retrieves.
Those were right, you know,right in my wheelhouse.
So that part was was, you knowwas not difficult.
But what that spiraled into orblossomed into was when they
asked me if I would consider togo overseas and be deployed with
the Marine Corps.
(26:06):
That was a big day, I mean,obviously, and I told them, you
know, I'm honored to do that andthankful that they would think
of me in that regard and Iwasn't just doing, you know, the
humble pie thing, I mean, I wasseriously struck in that way,
(26:27):
and so I just tried to make surethat I was an asset to the unit
, especially the 2nd Battalion,5th Marines, going on a combat
deployment.
I, you know, I wanted to makesure I could, you know, handle
my own gear, get myself around,make sure that I wasn't holding
anybody up and wasn't in someway a distraction, and the same
(26:51):
for the program.
So we had 34 dogs with thatbattalion in country and we had
31 handlers.
So we had three dogs that werereplacement dogs for dogs that
may be killed or injured, andand we did utilize one of those,
but and then then the dogs wereset up all over the AL, so we
(27:13):
had, you know, five, five or sixdifferent operating forward,
operating basis where they were,those 31 dogs were divided
between.
But it all went back, you know,to the original phone call where
, you know, hey, we, somebodybrought your name up and we, you
know, we wondering if you'd beconsidered doing this, and if
you remember what 2008 and ninewere like for the economy, you
(27:38):
can probably get kind of a senseto what a big opportunity this
was.
So for a small business guy, Imean, sometimes I always say
that people will spend more onwhat they want rather than what
they need, but dog training wasslow, travel was slow, so we
didn't do a lot of boardingeither at the canal, and so my
(27:59):
receipts, my sales were down andit was just a, you know, a
fortuitous blessing that I wasable to, you know, to step up
there.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
So what did that conversation look like with your
wife and family when that cameup?
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah.
So I mean, I guess I would saythat, you know, my wife and I do
not have any children, so thatwas, you know, that was off the
table.
And, like I said, when I firststarted training dogs, there
were no dogs to train in thefall because they all went
hunting.
And so, in order to earn somemoney and earn income and stay
(28:36):
busy in the fall, I startedworking for these hunting lodges
in the fall in South Dakota,and so I already had a little
bit of a track record of, youknow, disappearing for extended
periods of time, but nothinglike three years, you know, or
you know, three plus years, andI, you know, I decided to get
(28:56):
leave and I was able to get homeon a few occasions, but yeah, I
mean, it was.
It was obviously a big decision.
I really, really wanted to doit.
As soon as I learned about theprogram, I surprisingly found
the, the what they called theIDD, the improvised, explosive,
explosive device detection dogtraining manual.
(29:18):
That was online.
So I printed it off, put it ina book, read everything about it
.
So when I got there, I franklyI had more of a sense of what
the program was than a lot ofother people did, but again, it
was in my wheelhouse, so it wasnot uncomfortable or or awkward
in any way.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
That's pretty interesting.
That's so the bonds that havebeen built with the Marines when
you went over there toobviously those are.
You looted that earlier.
You know you want to adopt them.
So when you were overseas withthem and embedded with them,
essentially Were you goingoutside the wire and working
with the dogs outside the wirewith them?
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Yeah, so I was technically not allowed outside
the wire, but we did get outsidethe wire and yeah, in fact,
probably I don't know if it'sthe most important or not, but I
would say definitely ourlargest find of the deployment
was outside the wire.
And so, yeah, it was a car bomband we didn't see.
(30:23):
We found a lot of fairly crude,homemade devices that were
obviously still very dangerous,but we weren't seeing a lot of
modern explosives.
We weren't seeing a lot ofremote controlled detonations.
Things were homemade woodenpressure plates and pull strings
and things that were availableto the local people at the time
(30:47):
to use to make explosives.
And so, when we this was April15th 2012,.
Of course I'll never forget thedate, but yeah, so we had a car
and the dog indicated on a car.
Well, we always had bulletinsabout white Toyota Corolla and
like, be on a lookout for apossible VA.
(31:09):
You know V-Bid, pretty commonvehicle, yeah right, and this
was a white Toyota Corolla.
But you know, we kind of tookthat with a grain of salt,
because every day there was thatkind of bulletin on that.
Well, the dog hit on the car,got excited around it, just like
it would around a wad of cattails that's got a pheasant in
(31:30):
it, gets excited, figures outexactly where it's located in
the car and then lays down andstares at it.
And so we called the dog backand the handler's paying what we
call paying the dog with thiscon and I'm like, what are you
paying?
What are you paying this dogfor?
Cause I didn't see him.
I didn't see him go in there.
(31:51):
And he said, well, he indicatedon this car and I'm like, holy,
you know what.
And so then we sent in thesecond dog and the second dog
also indicated in the exact samespot.
And so we knew something wasvery shady about that car.
And eventually you made it safeand they pulled it out into a
(32:16):
dried river bed and detonated it.
But there were a dozen Marinesstanding around it.
I was standing around it,there's an eight or 10 Afghan
national police standing aroundit.
It would have been devastatinghad it gone off there.
So that was a big, big day.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
No, that's pretty incredible when you think about
these creatures of God on earththat are able to help, work
alongside you and be able todetect something that could
potentially kill you all, andthat's just amazing, and I'm
glad there's individuals likeyourself out there that have
that knowledge and ability to beable to pass that training
(32:56):
abilities on to these animalsbut also use them for a greater
cause and good, so that's prettyawesome of you, yeah, and I was
like you said.
Speaker 3 (33:04):
I was very blessed because our battalion command
took the asset seriously,implemented the program and
utilized them in a way that somedid not, and so I had a lot of
support from the command in thatregard, which made it easier
(33:24):
for everyone.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Well, dogs are very integrated into our homeland
security, you know.
I mean you can't go to anairport without seeing them.
Or you know several events thatare housed, that are large
scale events across the country,that you know we have canines
that protecting our people, youknow, and so why not have them
over there?
So why not have them overseasprotecting our soldiers too?
Right?
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Absolutely.
We'll return to the podcast injust a moment, but first,
hometown hero outdoors wouldlike to thank Relentless
Defender for supporting ourpodcast.
Founded in 2014 by a lawenforcement officer, relentless
Defender set out to design andsell clothing apparel that the
police officers could wear withpride.
(34:06):
Go to relentlessdefendercom tosee their current inventory.
Now back to our podcast.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
So let's talk a little bit about your training
team.
I'm looking at your websiteright now, and so you got a
robust crowd of people that arehelping you volunteers, or yes,
yeah, so we do have some.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
So Northville Kennels you know my original business
had this staff.
We had skilled and experiencedtrainers and so they have run
dogs at all the AKC performanceevent levels so junior, senior,
master level and they train alot of gun dogs.
(34:53):
We fix a lot of problems,frankly, so we don't get in high
caliber talent that we can thenmold into some sort of winner.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
We usually are getting in dogs.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
GSP.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Dogs, pardon me, I can send you my GSP and we'll
see if that works.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Well, like I say, we're getting dogs off the
street that usually haveproblems and so we're fixing
those in the ways we know how.
On the service dog side we havea very high standard.
I wouldn't say to you, to yourGerman short here is not very
(35:35):
birdie, won't go in the waterand has a problem.
What I would do is I'd just tryto level with you in terms of
the limitations of your dog andsay we're gonna do everything we
can to pump them up and makesure their attitude's good and
they're having fun, and thenwe're gonna try to get as much
(35:56):
obedience and control to goalong with that.
But we're, you know, in the endof the day, if he's not steady
on point, but he still finds thebird and he retrieves it for
you, I mean, that's a prettygood outcome.
On the other hand, ifsomebody's put so much pressure
on him that he's afraid of thebird and blinks it or is
(36:17):
repulsed by it, which happenssometimes or the dog won't
retrieve, go to the bird andretrieve, well, that's not as
good of an outcome.
So it's always sort of a tradeoff.
What can you get out of them?
What do you have to sacrifice?
Or in terms of lowering yourstandard.
So with the service dogs thereis no lowering of the standard.
(36:42):
If there's any reason that thedog is not suitable as a service
animal, we will release themfrom the program, and so it's
probably 30% of our dogs thatwe're doing that with for one
reason or another.
So maybe we were at the grocerystore and the dog growled at a
child, or maybe they have abarking compulsion that we
(37:08):
cannot get in front of, or maybethere's a physical issue.
They've got hips or eyes orelbows or something which are
gonna be problematic for anowner.
We don't wanna sock somebodywith a golden doodle, with skin
problems, because they're nevergonna get over their skin
problems.
They're gonna have to maintainit and treat it their whole life
(37:30):
and that's not what we wannaput them in that situation.
So there are many of those dogsthat 30% are totally adequate
and acceptable family dogs andcompanion dogs, but they're not
gonna get on an airplane and flysomeplace or go to somebody's
workplace every day and be thatservice animal.
(37:53):
So, yeah, so we do have apercentage of dogs that we
release because we have a highstandard, but we're not gonna.
We don't do trade offs, wedon't do compromises.
We don't.
You know.
We have a high standard and westick to it, because these dogs
are not being handled bysomebody like myself who's a
(38:15):
professional handler who can doa lot of things in a lot of
different ways.
These are fleas.
Folks are just regular peopleand some have never owned a dog
before.
So as they are challenged withthe handling responsibilities of
the dog, they're gonna have to.
You'll have something that'spretty malleable, something
(38:36):
that's pretty easy to handle andcooperative.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (38:42):
It does.
Sam, can you walk us throughthe process you use to train
these dogs?
I mean, obviously I know it's along process.
It's very.
It takes, you know, over a year.
But can you give us anabbreviated version of what that
process looks like?
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Sure, yeah.
The abbreviated version is thatwe'll take a puppy or a young
dog whether we adopt that from ashelter or a rescue dog that we
, you know, we're going to takethe chance on, take a risk on
and say we think this dog lookspretty darn good for what our
program is, or a puppy that'sdonated to us.
(39:22):
You know, we've had breedersall over donate puppies to us
and they don't of course theydon't all make it either but
we'll take that puppy that'sseven or eight or nine weeks old
and we'll put it in a fosterhome.
So for about six to eightmonths that puppy's going to be
(39:43):
being potty, trained, startedobedience and been around kids
and going to lots of places, carrides and all the experiences
that a young dog can besocialized into.
And then at that point, maybethat nine to 11 month old young
dog will come into the trainingcenter full time and that means
(40:05):
and what full times means isthat we train them five days a
week and on the weekends theirfull time foster now becomes a
weekend foster.
So rather than sitting thereand staring at the walls all
weekend, they get picked up.
On Friday they get to go home,be with the family that they
already know, and they come backon Sunday night or Monday
(40:25):
morning to start their trainingweek again, and so that goes on
for quite some time.
That I mean that's, that's a,you know, close to a year right
there.
So now they're almost a yearold.
Now they're going to be intraining for a year and now the
dog is getting pretty close, 90%close to finished.
We're going to start selecting aveteran handler for that dog
(40:49):
and typically what we do ismatch the dog to the person,
that is, if somebody is maybeyounger, high energy, wants to
go hike the mountains, we'regoing to give them a dog,
prepare them with a dog that issimilarly, you know, with that
disposition.
And if we have a Vietnamveteran who's 75, and really
(41:13):
needs more of some of the helpembrace to steady him, to help
him get up out of a chair, toretrieve, drop to items, things
like that, and they need aquieter dog that's not going to
pull on them ever, then we'regoing to select a dog that meets
that criteria and match them uptogether so that it and I think
(41:36):
you know, in nine years I thinkwe've gotten it wrong twice.
So I mean, our people arereally good at pairing up those
dogs with the veterans and so,and with the two that we didn't
pair up appropriately, werepaired them with a different
animal.
That was successful, so, butit's all a learning process,
(41:59):
right?
So there's a lot of basic skills, the same things, the same
things your hunting dogs use.
You know he'll sit, stay, comedown, that kind of thing, go,
stop and come.
Essentially, go would be if Ineeded him to fetch something.
I had to tell him to go overthere and get my medicine bottle
or my car keys or my phone thatI dropped in the snow and can't
(42:21):
find that.
You know, the dog can huntthose things and retrieve.
If I had.
They just have to be obedientwhen I tell them to go.
Do that and then also go, withan example of go would be like
getting into the car, not whenyou feel like it, not not when
you get around to it, but I meanyou need to get in there now
(42:44):
and so, again, those are allthings that are applicable to
both the hunter and hunting dogand the and, frankly, the bomb
dog too, but also the servicedog, certainly, and so the main
thing that we're doingdifferently is customizing the
service skills.
So if somebody maybe has aspinal injury and has some
(43:09):
paralysis, we're going to traina dog that might need to pull a
wheelchair or stop a wheelchairand certainly retrieve dropped
items.
Many other things pushhandicapped buttons to get into
buildings, and so that's goingto be specifically customed for
that individual, just as itwould for a more psychiatric
(43:30):
geared patient, like like a posttraumatic stress situation,
military sexual trauma veryprevalent, and so on the
psychiatric side we're going tobe teaching that dog to respond
to two emotions a lot.
So signs of sadness, signs ofevent of anxiousness, anxiety.
(43:56):
As someone gets angry, their,their, the cadence of their
voice may change, the pitch ofit may change, certainly, the
volume may change.
They may emit an odor, a sweattype odor.
So so it is based on theindividual.
Some and everyone has differenthobbies and they live in
(44:18):
different situations.
So if it's if the dogs in theliving apartment versus live in
a house versus live on acreage,and so all those things are
taken into account when we'retrying to customize that dog for
that particular environment,and then their workplace would
be the same.
(44:38):
So some people are going towork in an office, maybe a
building where they have to ridean elevator, some people may
work in a warehouse wherethere's loud noises and
machinery.
So all those things are customtrained per individual.
So that that's really thebiggest way it differs.
And I guess you could say thatwith your hunting dog too.
(44:58):
You know that if you'restrictly a duck hunter or
strictly a field trial or, forexample, you're probably never
going to upland hunt your dogbecause it kind of goes against
what field trialers are doing,and so it might be similar that
way where you would.
You'd certainly.
You know, if a Labrador pointsa bird, that might be sort of a
bonus, but it's not really, youknow, top on the list.
(45:20):
The main thing is, will theyget in that cold water and bring
me my bird back so I don't haveto?
And so you know there are someparallels specifically for their
task.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
How many dogs have you trained so far?
Speaker 3 (45:37):
We just placed our 62nd team, so that's a veteran
and a dog team.
That was this summer and wejust had.
We had a graduation just lastmonth, also over in Chakapea,
minnesota.
But congratulations.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
Yeah, when you look at, when you look at the amount
of time it takes you to trainthese dogs and you've been at,
you know, for the years you'vebeen doing this that's a lot of
dogs in what?
Nine years.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
Right, nine years, yeah, and we didn't do any the
first year, of course, and weonly did one the second year.
So so, yeah, we've, you know.
But you know that's because ittakes.
It takes time to, you know, todo this.
You can't just, it's not like atool, you can bolt together and
you have it ready.
You know it's a, it takes timeto do it.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
So yeah, tell me about this, Tell me about the
selection process.
Then, for the veteran, yeah,how do you select who is
eligible for this program?
Speaker 3 (46:38):
Yeah, good question.
So the first thing that we dois we get an eligibility survey
submitted to us.
So on our website, underveterans, you can, you can
choose eligibility survey.
Takes about five minutes tofill it out, just, it's all the
contact information and thingsthat, so that we can, you know,
communicate back and forth.
(46:58):
And then we have to, of course,we have to determine that
they're actually who they saythey are and that they're
actually a veteran.
So we we get a DD 214 copy andwe have some very basic
questions like do you, do youunderstand the responsibility of
having a dog, do you know thatthere's going to be some, some
expense in having a dog?
(47:20):
And and do you agree to thosethings?
And then, on the mental healthside, we ask you know, are you
engaged with the therapist orcounselor and do you agree to
continue to be engaged with yourtherapist and counselor?
That's, that's about as simpleas it gets right there.
And then, once we get theeligibility survey, and then we
(47:41):
will, as long as everythingchecks out in a satisfactory way
which which we haven't hadanyone try to, you know get by
with it.
Anything now up to this point,but we'll, then we'll send them
the full, a full application,and that's a little more
involved, as you might imagine.
So we're going to get letters ofrecommendation from their
(48:02):
healthcare professionals.
That can be the hardest thingbecause they don't respond to
them.
The healthcare professionalsare difficult to get a hold of
and difficult to get a responsefrom, and these are typically VA
health health care providers.
We're going to get a list oftheir medications, the reasons
for taking their medications,and get also get an idea of
(48:23):
their living environment.
So that, did they have a fencedyard?
Do they, you know, do theyactually have an appropriate
place where they can keep a dog?
Once we have all thatinformation back in, then we
actually have a committee.
We're very lucky I know otherorganizations that really are
just flipping a coin frankly,and we have, we actually have a
(48:46):
committee of healthcareprofessionals that are that are
experienced in post traumaticstress counseling and the
medical fields.
So those folks then go throughthe applications and say we'd
really like to look at thesepeople.
So the reasons that we wouldreject one or not pursue an
(49:07):
applicant is usually becausethey either have an addiction
issue or they haven't beenthrough treatment for that
addiction issue.
And so you know, I certainly,as a dog trainer, I certainly
can't determine who is seriousabout recovery and who is not,
(49:28):
and so that's why we have thosehealthcare professionals that go
through those things and knowhow to, how to read this, this
kind of thing, so that we canget people in the door who we
really want to have on ourcampus, that we can really help
and and are appreciative of whatwe do.
Speaker 1 (49:48):
I really appreciate that you do that.
Yeah, if people want to helpyou, how can they do that?
What can people do that maybeare not in the dog world?
What can they do to supportyour organization?
Speaker 3 (50:05):
Yeah, so I talked a little bit earlier about some of
our employees.
Their Norfolk Kennel'semployees Believe it is just
starting to get into a positionwhere they can have their own
employees, frankly.
So most of the things that wedo are volunteer.
I'm a 100% volunteer.
(50:26):
I don't get paid and thevolunteers we could not do what
we do without the volunteers.
So in some regards they give uscredibility because it brings
the veterans out of the woodworkto a place in a beautiful rural
setting where they feelcomfortable and like they can
(50:49):
trust the people around them.
And then the veterans come inand help us.
They appear at events and atspeaking engagements, state fair
, any number of things.
They get involved in terms offostering our puppies, finding
other fosters for the puppies,transportation dog has to go to
(51:13):
the vet or a veteran needssomething someplace, and it's
just a tremendous help.
And one thing I would say thatpeople should know about us is
that our program, our name, isCanine Service Partners.
It's really not about the dogs,frankly, it's about people.
(51:35):
So, yeah, we do certainly do anawful lot with the dogs and
they're the biggest part, andit's really about the people,
about changing someone's lifefrom being isolated to being
free to living a morefreedom-filled life, to doing
the things that they used to do,that they thought they would
(51:58):
never do again, like it could besimple as having a strong
relationship, having childrenchildren maybe someday, having a
job that is steady and thatmeets their needs.
Maybe it's hunting okay,hunting and fishing.
We have a lot of guys who andgals who used to do this with
(52:23):
grandpa or with dad and theyhaven't done it since they were
12 or 14 years old and theyreally never thought they would
do it again.
But now that they have this dog, they think what would it take
to get this dog gun broke, whatwould it take to get this dog on
a few pigeons where he or shewould know what's going on out
there, and it'd be pretty fun todream, be pretty fun to dream
(52:46):
again and have hope about doingthose things.
Speaker 1 (52:51):
Is there somewhere people can donate to help you
out?
Speaker 3 (52:54):
Yeah, certainly on our website is a great way.
They have give to the max daysand all those kinds of things.
But those organizations take apretty good percentage of the
donated amount.
So, frankly, writing us a checkor making a donation in another
way, we've had people donatestock to us or host events for
(53:17):
us.
So, whether it's a dinner orsome kind of musical, we've done
plays and concerts and othertypes of speaking engagements
and they've been to benefit us.
So why are you doing your garagesale this week?
Well, we're doing it to benefit, believe it.
(53:38):
But it helps us get outawareness of this issue, right,
because Minnesota alone losesaverage two veterans a week to
suicide.
It's about 100 a year just inMinnesota, and so that awareness
has to be out there.
What we are doing.
It absolutely affects theveterans who have been suicidal
(54:05):
or have thought about beingsuicidal.
We save lives.
I mean, I can hardly get myselfto say that because it just
seems like I'm bragging, but ifit motivates someone else to
learn about what we do and toappreciate the issues involved
here with veterans, then it'sworth it.
(54:26):
But, yeah, certainly donatingon our website, hosting an event
for us, even coming and helpingus with one of our events, our
golf tournament or spring galaor any of the other events that
we do throughout the year Inviteus to come talk to your groups,
your businesses, your communitygroups, your churches, your
(54:48):
schools.
We've been in all these placesand it just helps create the
awareness of what we're doingand why we're doing it.
And, of course, the dogs arealways a big hit.
Yeah, I'll come in and theywon't remember my name, but
they'll remember my dog, taffy.
But so, yeah, we definitelybring the dogs along.
(55:09):
But those are the things thatyou know.
We have a new building plannedright now.
We have a site which is rightnext door to our current
training center for a 13,000square foot training center with
our own veterinary clinic, 109dog capacity, and obviously it's
(55:34):
a very big and expensive, youknow, project.
But those are our dreams.
Everybody has to have audaciousgoals and so we intend to in
some year probably not threeyears, maybe five, definitely 10
, we're going to arrest that 100veterans a year in Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (56:00):
That's awesome.
No, that's a really good goaland just do you have a new good
work and I really appreciatethat.
You know there's lots to besaid about, like I said, the
Canadian partners and oursoldiers and our veterans, and
what kind of bond that cancreate and help save these lives
.
So, no, I really appreciateeverything you guys are doing,
so it's a very good program andit's a cool part here in
(56:22):
Minnesota, here, and so we'realso in other states, but this
is our home state.
So, no, thank you, sam, foreverything you're doing.
Where are you today?
Are you out in the hunting campI am.
Speaker 3 (56:33):
I'm in Gregory, South Dakota, in the beautiful, yeah,
kind of butte country in the inthe golden triangle or whatever
they call it here.
But yeah, so I'm out at BuffaloButte Ranch in Gregory, South
Dakota and it's been great, butwe're going to get some cold
weather coming up here quitesoon.
Speaker 2 (56:55):
Yeah, you're not kidding.
So no, thank you for takingtime with us tonight, with you
being on your hunting trip andeverything since spectacular
doing that.
So our listeners want to getahold of you or find you.
How can they find you on socialmedia website?
Speaker 3 (57:08):
Yes, certainly Facebook.
Certainly our website,wwwbelieveitorg.
If you just search service dogsMinnesota, certainly service
dogs for veterans Minnesota, itwill come up.
And yeah, certainly that way wealso have.
Yeah, I'm not big on socialmedia because I'm over 50, but
(57:31):
yeah, like I told Phil in theemail, I still have an eight
track tape stereo.
Speaker 1 (57:38):
But I still got a record player.
I'm over 52.
Speaker 3 (57:42):
Yeah yeah, so we have , yeah, we.
I don't know if we have Twitter, what we have, but I mean we're
out there, we're not that hardto find anymore.
Speaker 2 (57:50):
That's awesome.
Yeah, no, thank you very much.
I really appreciate you beinghere tonight.
And do you have any finalcomments before we start
wrapping up or coming up in anhour here?
Speaker 3 (57:58):
This is the first podcast I've ever done or ever
even maybe heard of, so I knowit was easy, as it was easy, as
can be, and the awareness ofwhat we're doing is the real key
.
I mean, it'd be great to have alot of money in the bank and
build what we want to build andhave that all buttoned up, but
(58:20):
that's not how most placesoperate and we're certainly no
different.
The awareness if you knowsomebody, tell them.
If you know, if you knowsomebody that can use our
services, tell them.
Tell them about us, because weare not far away and it's 100%
(58:42):
free.
The only thing, the only thingthe veteran is responsible for
is getting themselves there, sothere's no cost to the veteran
for the for their service dog.
Their skin in the game, frankly, is that they have to do 120
hours of team training, one onone with our trainers.
It usually takes two to threemonths to knock out that 120
(59:07):
hours and then we'll, at thatpoint you know you're really on
your way.
So, yeah, if you know somebodythat can use our help, tell them
about us, please.
Speaker 2 (59:20):
Absolutely yeah.
Our listeners will definitelyspread the word.
Thank you very much, Phil.
Do you have any final comments?
Speaker 1 (59:28):
No, I just want to thank Sam again for coming on
and being able to, like I said,share with our audience, because
we do have a similar mission.
We're all about saving people'slives, right?
You know, it's about thatnumber and regardless if it's
the 22 a day across the countryor if it's two a day, two a week
(59:51):
in Minnesota, like youmentioned, it's too many.
Your mission, for yourorganization, the mission of
hometown hero outdoors, is themental health awareness, like
Chris says, keeping people onthe planet.
So I appreciate and we thankyou for what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
Yeah, thanks again, sam.
I really appreciate you and forour listeners.
We're at Believe it, the K9training program that's based
out of Northfield, minnesota,and we thank you for joining us
tonight and for our listeners.
In the event you find yourselfin a dark place, there's a lot
of people that are here for you.
Like I talked about it in thepodcast, there are people out
there that believe in you andwant you here.
(01:00:30):
But if you're feeling yourselfin a dark time, our field staff
are trained and applied suicideintervention skills training.
It's a CIS program crisisintervention and we are here to
listen.
We have a list of individualsthat engage or have been trained
and assist, and please reachout to us on any social media
emails.
Whatever you can do to find us,please find us, but if you
(01:00:52):
can't and you're having issues,you can call 988.
Text, or call 988 for thecrisis suicide prevention line.
So we want you here.
Find another day and be herefor your loved ones in the
future and enjoy your life.
For today.
That is all we have on thepodcast.
I want to thank we'll leave itto Sam Daly here for giving
their time while he's out on aphenomenal pheasant hunting trip
(01:01:13):
, and I appreciate everyone thatjoined us.
Thank you, phil, and until nextweek we will see everyone on
the podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theHometown Hero Outdoors podcast.
For more information, visit ourwebsite at
hometownherooutdoorsorg.
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