March 13, 2025 • 67 mins
Beyond the Vest: The Real Impact of Service Dog Partnerships
What does it take to transform a puppy into a life-changing service dog for a veteran? Susan and Brandon pull back the curtain on this remarkable journey at Assistance Dogs of the Heartland (ADH), a Nebraska-based nonprofit with a powerful mission. Inspired by her family’s military service, Susan founded the organization to give back to those who have served. Brandon, his sister Grace, and other dedicated board members work tirelessly to match specially trained service dogs with veterans in need.
Susan and Brandon share personal stories about Susan’s military father, reflecting on how his experiences shaped their deep respect for veterans. When Susan and her late husband, Andy, acquired Bonafide Dog Academy in 2019, they saw an opportunity to expand their nonprofit arm specifically to support veterans through service dog partnerships.
This conversation reveals the meticulous process behind training service dogs like Hope, Harper, and Skye—dogs currently preparing for veteran placement. The selection process is rigorous, ensuring that each dog has the right temperament and health background. Training is intensive, costing approximately $20,000 per dog, and involves an innovative puppy raiser program where community volunteers help nurture future service dogs.
What stands out most is their commitment to thoughtful matching. These aren’t just dogs being handed out—they are carefully paired with veterans based on lifestyle compatibility and mutual benefit. The dogs learn specialized skills such as deep pressure therapy and develop an intuitive understanding of their handler’s needs. As Susan beautifully explains, “The thing that sums up a dog best is unconditional love... It doesn’t care what car you drive, it doesn’t care what job you have. It cares about you.”
ADH relies on community support to sustain its mission—whether through donations, volunteering as a puppy raiser, or spreading awareness. The goal is to build a sustainable pipeline of service dogs for veterans who might otherwise wait years for assistance through other programs. If you’re inspired by their mission to create life-changing partnerships, visit assistancedogsne.org to apply, or learn how you can help transform a veteran’s life through the extraordinary power of canine connection.
Enhancing Lives Through Canine Companions
At Assistance Dogs of the Heartland, our mission is to transform lives through the power of specially trained service dogs. We are dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals with disabilities, veterans, and those facing significant challenges by providing them with loyal, highly skilled canine companions. Our service dogs offer essential support, fostering greater independence, confidence, and a sense of security for our clients.
We believe in the extraordinary bond between humans and dogs, and our goal is to harness this connection to create positive, life-changing experiences. Each dog in our program undergoes rigorous training to ensure they meet the highest standards of performance and reliability. Our training process is tailored to address the unique needs of our clients, ensuring that every service dog is perfectly matched to provide the support and co
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:11):
connecting the dots, connecting his guests to the
world, creating more connections.
Welcome to the connection.
Meet your host.
Author, coach.
Air coach, air Force veteranJay Morales.
Jay (00:31):
Thank you for joining in and, as always, the connection.
I love talking about how I getconnected to the right people,
to good people.
Sometimes it takes three tofour times to hear the message.
Sometimes the connection getslost by distractions in the
world.
But the next two guests I haveare mother and son team.
(00:51):
What a great story about whatthey do for veterans, but just
what they do in general, thehistory of their family.
We'll talk about adoption,international adoption.
We'll talk about the businessand then we'll talk about what
impact they want to make.
So today I have Susan, elPresidente and Madre, and we
(01:12):
have Brandon, and they're withAssistance Dogs right here,
assistance Dogs of the Heartland.
I'm going to put the actual.
You can see there there's thewebsite.
Actual, you can see there,there's the website.
So check outassistancedogsneorg and you'll
be able to see it in the shownotes as well.
So, with that being said,brandon, who reached out to who
(01:37):
or how did we connect?
Oh yeah, you know Dr JamieSeaman, dr Fit and Fabulous.
You know her from school.
Brandon (01:51):
Take me to the tailgate .
Well, I've known Jamie since Iwould have been in fifth grade,
so known her a long time.
Her older brother is in myclass.
I graduated from Waverly highschool back in 2001 and so I've
known the both of them for years.
(02:12):
Um, jamie has got involved in somany cool things, uh, as she's
progressed in her career, and um, I've, I've, I've still going
to annual golf trip with herbrother.
Um, you know they've beenhosting a tailgate for years.
Um, she's been on shows, she'suh, mrs, uh nebraska, so a lot
(02:38):
of things.
So, and I know she's involvedin fifth of march, yeah, uh,
which I thought could be a greatconnection for what we do.
And so, um, yeah, and I I'vereached out to her.
I talked to her a little bitabout it last fall and um kind
of made a more serious push onit um, recently.
(02:59):
So, and luckily she said so,and luckily she said, well, I
know some people, let's connectthe dots per your intro, and
yeah.
And then we started talkingabout a couple of weeks ago,
about what we do and what 55March does.
Jay (03:16):
That's awesome, so that's perfect, because I'm going to
keep everyone on the cliffhanger.
Everyone's going to go.
What is it?
What is it?
What is it?
Susan?
I met you at coffee, but wehave crossed paths before, again
, mission briefings and thingsat the 50 mile march, but again,
sometimes we just we as peopledon't listen very well.
(03:37):
I should say I, susan, tell mewhat your business is, tell me
what your nonprofit is, and thenbring us to where we sat for
coffee, all the way from us towhere we sat for coffee, all the
way from there to where we satfor coffee, and then Brandon
will come back.
Susan (03:51):
Yes, so my business is Bonafide Dog Academy, purchased
it February 22nd 2019 from theprevious owner.
We've been involved in thebusiness training dogs through
that company for many years, sothe opportunity came for us to
(04:12):
purchase it.
So we purchased Bonafide DogAcademy and when we purchased it
, there was also a nonprofitattached to it, and that
nonprofit did raise money forpolice dogs for training
different things out in thecommunity, and we thought it
would be a really good thinglater on to use it to provide
(04:36):
service dogs to veterans.
Jay (04:39):
And you have a passion for veterans, let's both of you.
I want you to talk about dadfor a second, or husband.
So your husband was in businesswith you all the while.
Is that right?
Susan (04:53):
Yes, yes, my husband, we, yeah, we started the business,
or we purchased the business,like I said, february 2019.
And from the time we startedthe business, like I said,
february 2019.
And from the time we startedthe business, we immediately
started trying to come up with agame plan for the nonprofit.
So we visited a couple ofdifferent states and a couple of
(05:17):
different service dogorganizations to figure out what
direction we wanted to take,how we wanted to do it, if we
wanted a brick and mortar, orwhat we were going to do.
So we traveled, like I said, toseveral different places and
that brought us probably intomaybe late summer.
(05:40):
My husband even went to Texasand did a training with Service
Dogs Inc in Dripping Springs,texas, and learned how they
trained rescue dogs, came backhome and unfortunately, was
diagnosed with cancer inSeptember of 2019, and he passed
(06:03):
away November 1st 2019.
Jay (06:07):
Okay, and he served our military.
Susan (06:12):
My husband did not.
Jay (06:14):
Oh, okay, your, what is the ?
Susan (06:17):
my father did.
Jay (06:19):
Yes, your father, sorry, your father, that's right.
So, your father, can we go back?
Can we go back there too?
So tell me what you know ofyour father's service, or what
did he talk about?
Anything, anything about it.
Susan (06:34):
Sure, my father was a career military man, um his last
.
He is a young child.
I remember most him being inVietnam, um, he did two or three
different tours.
I remember as a little girlstanding um Norfolk Naval Air
(06:58):
Base, um, or the at the shipyardthey're waiting for ships to
come in.
And I remember I have manybrothers and sisters saying is
that our dad?
Is that our dad?
Because he was gone for quite along time at a time and all
these men were there and wewould try.
Is that our dad?
Is that our dad?
Intro (07:19):
And so I was one of the younger kids.
Susan (07:22):
I was one of the younger children, so probably my memory
wasn't as good as theirs, but Iremembered I was always in awe
of the just the camaraderie andbeing a part of my father used
to take him on his ship andeverybody was always so nice to
us.
He even had foreign dignitariescome to our home for dinner at
(07:50):
times.
I remember we had CaptainMatsumoto from Japan came to our
house for dinner and I remember, boy, we got briefed the kids
all got briefed on how we weregoing to act and what we were
going to do.
I bet so, yes, it was a fun.
(08:11):
It was fun but stressful, Ithink childhood I think it was
stressful.
My mom was left to bear a lotof the duties, obviously of
parenthood when my dad was gone.
A lot, yeah.
Jay (08:25):
No, and that leads me so, as time goes on, were you able
to meet your grandfather?
Brandon (08:32):
Oh, yeah, okay, yep.
So I was born on the yeah, I wasborn on the East coast and was
very close with them growing upand they were, they were very
close to uh too.
So and then when fast forward alittle bit, but when we moved
to nebraska I was in fourthgrade, but I made it back quite
(08:53):
a bit and always stayed there.
Um, so I just remember mygrandma and grandpa having
completely different schedules.
Grandma would stay up very latereading, she, she, loved to
read, and grandpa would be inbed by, like you know, nine
o'clock, up by about five.
So he was always up earlymaking coffee and just really
(09:21):
good memories.
Really good memories with him.
Jay (09:24):
So let's talk about anything service related or
anything that makes you youhaven't.
You have a affinity or you havea passion to support veterans.
Now and I heard that from youand your mom when we sat at
Story's coffee shop the otherday Tell me what that foundation
is built on or what are some ofthe experiences that shaped
(09:45):
that outlook for you, Brandon.
Brandon (09:48):
Well, I think it was both both of my grandparents, um
, both of my mom's side and mydad's side.
Um, so, uh, there wasdefinitely like a a little, uh
definitely a feeling of respecttowards towards both of them.
I was always intriguing, uh, Iwould always ask them.
A lot of respect towards bothof them, I was always intriguing
.
I would always ask them a lotof questions.
(10:12):
Didn't get a lot of answers,probably that I wanted, but
loved looking at their travels,just looking at plaques on the
wall, pictures, things like that.
I remember my dad's father, Mac.
Um, he had he was a navalaviator and he had in the
basement of their home spoonsfrom all the airlines he that he
(10:37):
frequented throughout the world, so he had 40 different spoons.
He stole the spoons, I guess.
A lot of relics, um, there werejust a lot of relics around,
and he was very worldly, uh,knew the capital to every nation
in the in the world and, um,just, uh, I had a lot of respect
for, for both of them, and so Ithink um, and my dad and my mom
(11:03):
, given you know, get kind of,given their upbringing, had that
sort of embedded, you know,throughout their lives.
Jay (11:09):
Yeah, I mean, it's very apparent when both of you talk
like there's no question andthere's no doubt in my mind of
what you think of our veteransor our military, and the why.
And now you're on a mission,you know, to truly continue to
serve in one of the mostselfless ways, right?
(11:29):
I mean we're talking aboutservice dogs, right, and that's
such a wide array and I thinktoday, I think service animals
or service dogs get kind of abad rap or not a bad rap, but
they're used as a crutch and Iwant to address that later too.
But I want to bring your visiontogether first and I want to
(11:50):
talk about what it is that youwant to make an impact with the
world with, and what yourchallenge is.
Let's talk about, not challenge, but what's the next step for
assistance?
Susan (11:59):
dogs of Nebraska of Nebraska, I would say our next
step is we do have three dogsthat we have.
So I talked a little bitearlier about kind of what
service model we were going touse when Andy and I decided that
we wanted to raise the dogs andbe puppy raisers and be active
(12:25):
and not just leave it tosomebody else to do, because
raising a puppy though it's hard, but we wanted to make sure
they got off to a greatfoundation and a great start,
and having experience in the dogtraining world, I think that
equipped us for that dogtraining world.
(12:48):
I think that equipped us forthat.
So we that's kind of been our,um been our vision is to is to
do the puppy raising.
So these dogs are um a littleum hope.
The golden retriever justturned a year old and the two
lab girls are 11 months old, sothe next step for them is we're
looking for veterans to matchthem with.
Jay (13:15):
And let's talk about that.
Just when we say veterans,right, so everyone wants a dog
Everyone's going to say I need aservice dog, everyone.
I think there's aresponsibility that that, that
people or that the recipientshave towards earning a dog.
I think there's aresponsibility.
It's not a gift, it's not something that, oh, happy birthday,
(13:40):
like.
That's not what we're doinghere.
We're matching these dogs withthe right people.
Brandon, when we were speaking,you were kind of talking about
some things that notrequirements, but talk about,
like I'm going to share here onthe screen your website and it's
going to talk about the.
It's going to talk about theapplication process.
(14:04):
So why don't you talk to meabout the application itself?
Not the process, but just theapplication.
So tell me, as a first step,obviously, tell me about that.
Brandon (14:15):
Yeah, sure.
So I mean, on the website thereis an application link, there
is a little bit of aquestionnaire.
We want to know the background,the applicant's background,
years of service, kind of whatbranch they were in a little bit
(14:36):
, a glimpse of their life alittle bit, and just get a good
feeling about whether we thinkthere's, and just get a good
feeling about whether we thinkthere's initially a need here.
I think you know we want toreally match well, we want it to
(14:58):
be something that's going tolast for a long time and the dog
and the veteran are going tobenefit greatly through their
relationship.
So, um, really we need quality,quality applicants, uh as far
as the ability to look after thedog, uh, care for the dog, uh,
attend training with the dog, uh, through the through the
(15:20):
process, um, to really mold thedog into the service dog that
they, that they need and willbenefit from, and that can be
different levels of of dependingon what the needs are for the
veteran.
Jay (15:38):
Right, and I want to talk about responsible Susan.
So you know, hey, I can balancethe checkbook.
I got a pretty decent job.
Like it takes more than that,it takes time, it takes like
this is your dog is a member ofyour family and that's how you
(16:05):
want, that's how I think thatyou know a dog owner should be
thinking about it and I thinktoo often I see mismatches just
in society with I see an ownerand I see the dog and it's got
this service dog jacket on itand I can just in my gut know
(16:29):
that this person I can't say ifthey need it or not, but their
responsibility towards the dogor their what do you call it
their relationship, theirrelationship With their pet,
with their family pet, is notthere.
You can see it and then you cansee the dog in stress.
(16:50):
So talk about ideally.
Um, you know, if Jay Moralesnow I'm just one type of person,
right If Jay Morales has astable family, one child at home
, three grown kids who are gone.
I've had dogs before and this isnot me applying, by the way I
(17:14):
had King and I told myself I'mnever going to get another
German Shepherd because I missKing too much.
Chewy is chewy.
But I promised myself like, ohyou know it's got to be the
right dog.
But you know, let's say I had acase manager.
(17:34):
Let's say I was going throughone of our program partners and
I wanted to apply for a dog.
What are some of the qualitiesin my lifestyle that that fit
the dog?
I'm not saying that this is themust have, but let's talk
ideally, right?
I mean I'm going to start firstoffense.
Like you can't have a dog withcement in an apartment.
(17:57):
I'm sorry, it just doesn't work.
Could you Maybe?
But is it more ideal forsomeone who has a fenced in area
?
Whether they rent or owndoesn't matter to me.
Simple, right, we think it's sosimple.
What else is important?
Susan (18:14):
Susan, I would say that you have the time and that
effort, that you want to put thetime in, because dogs do not
train themselves.
They will not train themselvesWeird, they won't.
(18:34):
So you have to have the time tospend with the dog.
You have to really I mean, I'ma passionate dog person.
I know you are, jay Brandon isI really believe you have to
believe in the healing power ofdogs?
I really believe that that's.
You really have to believe thatthey're not just really have to
(19:01):
believe that they're not justan animal that you feed and take
on a walk.
They will I just reallyhonestly believe they will be a
great partner for you and theywill.
I guess the thing that sums upa dog best is unconditional love
.
No matter what happens in yourday, you can walk in the door
and your dog's tail's waggingand it's excited to see you.
(19:23):
And it doesn't care what caryou drive, it doesn't care what
job you have.
It cares about you.
Jay (19:32):
That's so good, it doesn't care.
It's true, your friends carewhat kind of dog you are, what
kind of car you drive.
But I think you said somethingkey.
But we as a human Right.
So sometimes, when people sayI'm getting my dog trained, well
, there's training programs thatjust train the dog, which
that's a one way training.
I think humans need just asmuch training to learn how to
(19:55):
reciprocate to the dog, to learnhow to reciprocate to the dog.
So, brandon, let me ask youthis Is it important that you
see, how important is it for youto reciprocate time and
affection to your dog?
Brandon (20:10):
Well, I think it's.
I think the time and thededication overall, if you are
to expect results and they areto be a part of your family and
they are to you're going to getwhat you want out of them.
It takes just as much effort toput in and I've seen that with
kind of watching from afar formy mom's business.
(20:32):
I'm not involved in theday-to-day but um, and just
being involved, um, and havingdogs and growing up with dogs,
um, my dad used to spendcountless hours training um for
hunt tests, field tests,obedience, different things,
agility and um, I think anyone,I think people have this, this
(20:55):
idea I'll take them to a fewtraining classes and then I'll
bring them home and they'll justbe.
They'll be what I want them tobe and that's just so.
That's so far from the truth.
The classes and the little bitis just a tool.
It's a tool, but you have toreinforce it through the
connection with them, like overand over again, daily, daily, to
(21:16):
make things work, and I thinkthat's that connection that you
get.
You can't you know, if you putin, um the effort you're, you're
going to get a great result.
Um, but it takes, takes timeand um little bits every day.
Jay (21:32):
Absolutely, susan.
You like.
You look like you want to addto that.
Please do.
Susan (21:38):
No, it's.
You know, when we're talkingabout time, it's only snippets
of time.
A dog doesn't have a long, longattention span that you can go
on for.
And training and you probablyknow this, jay, from King or
from Chewy You're going to it'sprobably going to be a good
training session.
Um can be 15 minutes.
(22:01):
But if you do it a couple oftimes a day or 20 minutes a day,
um, you know it doesn't have tobe hours on end and you're
probably not going to get goodresults because your dog is
going to check out they're notgoing to their.
Their attention span especiallyum, a young, adolescent lab
doesn't have the greatestattention span, but over time
(22:21):
and it's just practicing all thetime.
It's just little things and youpractice it and eventually they
get it.
And being consistent that'sanother key is just being
consistent, letting the dogsknow what you expect from them.
Jay (22:39):
I want to move to the psychological effect or the
behavioral effect of a dog or ahuman towards a dog and the dog
towards human.
I am not trained, I have nobackground in this.
I have zero formal education.
Matter of fact, I probablyhaven't Googled much, but I'm
going to use some deductivereasoning.
Matter of fact, I probablyhaven't Googled much, but I'm
(23:00):
going to use some deductivereasoning.
When you show something outsideof yourself that you love it,
or you dedicate the time to showand display love, it's almost
too difficult to not share inthat yourself.
Am I right, Like if I'm lovingand I'm showing and I'm taking
(23:43):
care of?
I mean, I know people neglectthemselves, but introducing your
service dog to other people isnot just hey, this is not some
dog you just purchased at akennel and now you're just going
to feed it.
Let it go to the bathroom andlet it be in family pictures.
Bathroom and let it be infamily pictures.
This is a lifelong companionwhich I think the service animal
(24:05):
relationship is different, am Iright?
That's correct.
Yes, expand on the relationshipand all the things that they
should and shouldn't do.
When it comes to thetherapeutic part of having a dog
, because you said it is verytherapeutic and healing let's
talk about the healing.
Susan (24:30):
The dogs.
So we train our puppies fromearly on.
They are a part of our home andour family and Hope was living
with the puppy raiser and shehad the same experience and
they're very.
They've been given and shownlove.
So they give you love and theyshow you love.
(24:51):
And, yes, I let them on thecouch because that's where
probably some, a veteran isprobably going to sit and watch
TV or do whatever, so the dog isgoing to be there with them.
So, yes, the dog is on thecouch.
I sit down on the couch and oneof the labs will come up and
they constantly want to be onyou.
They want to be right up nextto you and it's I really
(25:12):
honestly believe it's early on.
That's how we were nurturing tothem and they just
automatically will come and justsit and it's amazing how you
can.
They already do like deeppressure therapy and we haven't
formally given that a cue to sayyou know or has been trained
for service dog work, press andSully will press and give you
(25:44):
pressure on your leg.
Maybe that's going to be forsomeone who has who's starting
to get anxious or whatever, andthe dog's going to press against
them and lean into them, and soit's there inherently.
It's amazing, jay, how muchthey are intuitive and they just
automatically will do thosethings.
Jay (26:06):
I know there's a connection in Brandon.
You know, have you witnessed ora part of yourself, you know, a
dog knows when you're stressedout.
I mean, is that, oh yeah, howhave you seen that?
Or have you experienced thatyourself?
Brandon (26:26):
I think a lot.
Well, I think first, firsthand.
I think, when my family was waskind of going through my dad's
illness years ago, you know hecouldn't quite do what he wanted
to do or what he was able to do, and I would, when I'd go over
(26:48):
to the house and see my family,there would always be one or two
dogs like inherently right nextto him, giving him attention in
a kind of a stressful.
And they know, they know thesituation, they know the
situation was a little off rightand and, and they knew
something was was a miss andthey were really there for him,
(27:11):
um, during just an odd, weirdkind of time, and um, um, and I
saw that kind of, and I saw thatfor shana.
We still have a couple of thosedogs today.
So, um, even the stressful, thestress of you know that my mom
goes through as a business ownerand comes home and, um, she has
(27:34):
dogs that are very attached toher, so she can tell you some
funny stories, I'm sure.
Jay (27:42):
Well, you know, susan, the other thing too is I think what
I know a service dog is not foris to talk it off a ledge, which
I mean.
There are people that arebeyond the need of a service dog
, right, I think I don't knowwhat the psychiatric or the
mental health status should be,but when someone is abusive or
(28:07):
they're going to the dog forcounseling, that is not the
right, that is not what it's for.
I think it's to be aware, it'sto spend time, it's
companionship, it is not to go.
You know what Hope.
You know what happened today,could you believe?
I mean that's and I've seen it.
I've seen them take and lashout against their dogs Like
(28:31):
caution people against.
You know, or tell me about thatwhen you see people mistreating
their service dogs.
Susan (28:42):
Thankfully, jay, I haven't seen too much of that,
but what I do see more is maybepeople who stick service dog
things on their dog and theyaren't really trained.
They they're in, jay, it'sthere is no.
(29:04):
Believe it or not, there, thereis no.
Um, well, the ADA I mean to toqualify for a service dog.
It's through the ADA and um,people have rights and dogs have
rights, but it is not.
(29:28):
I mean, anybody can really puta service dog vest on their dog
and say that they're a servicedog.
There's no piece of paper thatyou can show that shows that,
yes, this is a service dog.
I will say that we train ourdogs.
They have to pass a publicaccess test, they have to go
through training, they have topass their canine good citizen.
(29:51):
They can't be aggressive towardpeople or other dogs and that's
why you know raising the dogsare so important.
You can't take these dogs to thedog park.
So people say, oh, I want toexercise my dog, I want to go
run my dog.
No, you can't take them to thedog park.
These are not dog park dogs,these dogs.
One thing happens at a dog parkto this dog and you've just
(30:14):
ruined the dog because it'snever going to, it won't recover
.
So these are.
You have to treat themdifferently than a pet dog, but
at the same token the dog is.
I would hope the dog would be apart of your family, and not
(30:34):
just for the veteran, but bethere for the other family too.
I mean, even though it's nottechnically their dog, but that
doesn't say that somebody elsecan't feed it or take it for a
walk or do something for thatdog.
But yeah, it needs to be a partof the family and everybody has
to have a buy-in.
Jay (30:55):
Yes, that's important.
That's what I was waiting for.
Everyone has to have a buy-inand the reason I'm saying that
is you can't just bring a dog inand then have an anti-dog
person in your house, right,like I'm not going to do
anything.
That's a bad match.
I think it's a recipe fordisaster.
Household is they understandthat that is Jay, it is Jay's
(31:20):
dog, it is for Jay.
But as time goes on, youintegrate the dog into your
house.
You ensure that all the familymembers respect, just like as if
you would if you had a, justlike Chewy, right?
I mean, chewy is not a servicedog, he's a.
(31:42):
I think he's a, he's a showbusiness dog, but he, he thinks
he's an actor, but it's.
I never really thought too muchabout this until you and Brandon
and I really sat down and I'vebeen really thinking about this.
I mean, I've I've known ofservice dogs, service animals,
all these, all the fights aboutthem, all the rights about them,
all the hype about them, allthe hey, let's take my dog to
(32:03):
Lowe's and slap a sticker on itand say, you know, and it's an
aggressive dog wanting to biteeverybody Like no, I think you
know people need to realize thatthey need to put as much time
into companionship andstewardship.
As much time into companionshipand stewardship, right, not
just ownership, stewardship, andthe dog's going to.
(32:24):
I mean, look, hope, here's hope, Hope is going to reciprocate.
I mean I'm not applying, I'mjust I'm not applying right now.
I'm just saying and Harper right, and Sky.
I mean saying and and Harperright, and and Sky.
I mean yes, they're cute, yes,they're adorable, but they are a
(32:47):
responsibility of the recipient.
So let's talk about this.
So, challenges that you've had.
So when I say challenges, it'snot easy just to say you got a
new car.
You know what I mean.
Like congratulations, it's anew diamond ring, whatever.
(33:08):
We're talking aboutcompatibility, matching,
temperament, responsibility,obligation, right, this is not
something.
So so what do you?
What?
How are so?
(33:28):
We talked about proceeding withthe 50 mile march.
I'm just going to forward thisa little bit.
Susan (33:32):
Sure.
Jay (33:33):
We want to expose your organization to as many people
as we can, your organization toas many people as we can, and we
talked about a process ofinterviewing people.
Right, just because you applydoesn't just get you on a
waiting list.
It might say hey, thank you,stephanie, for applying at this
time.
You're not ready, we will putyou back in the queue, which is
(33:56):
respectful, I think.
Just because she's not readytoday doesn't mean she's ready
later.
But what are some other thingslike to match or to make sure
that we find the right people,like some of the things we've
discussed?
Brandon (34:15):
Well, I think, finding, I think, through community
events, getting out there in thecommunity, exposing ourselves
to a wide ranging array ofpeople with different
backgrounds, different ages andthis is new.
Maybe this is something that aveteran has never thought about.
(34:36):
Maybe this is something thatthey've been going through
treatment, maybe they've been onmedication just to be calm, you
know, maybe this is a way toget them off their medication or
change their life in anotherway.
Or maybe they've had pets in thepast but they're not a great
(34:59):
fit for what they, what theyreally need.
So, um, we're really young, Imean, we we've we've only been
around for less than a uh launch, really less than a year,
something onto a year, yeah so,and three and three dogs, and so
really we want to do our bestto right now, fill our pipeline
with, with potential candidates,um, and build and build from
(35:23):
there and kind of figure out.
We need to figure out, like,how, what's the optimal amount
of dogs we want to have?
There's some greatorganizations who my mom's been
in talk with and, um, outside ofdes moines, that has tons of
dogs, tons of puppy raisers, bigpipeline.
Do we want to be that level?
Kind of figuring that out.
(35:43):
We need to figure out whatwe're comfortable with and but
really it's it's finding some,finding some qualified
candidates and finding some goodhomes in 2025 is the biggest
thing.
Jay (36:00):
One veteran life is enough.
One, just one.
One life impacted is more thannone.
And how do we count is morethan none?
And how do we count?
Well, let's do 75 per quart.
Like there's no magic number inmy heart that these three dogs,
(36:22):
sky, harper and Hope, are gonnachange lives.
They're gonna impact lives,period, end of story.
I don't care, and so I thinkyou're doing it the right way.
I want to talk about the behindthe scenes and maybe, if you're
comfortable, asking oranswering this oh, it's so cute.
(36:45):
Look, they're so trained.
Susan (36:47):
How much time and money goes into one adorable hope and
money goes into one adorablehope, more than what we'll ever
get out.
I mean, it's quite a dog food,Dog food is expensive.
Jay.
Jay (37:04):
Yes.
Susan (37:05):
Yeah, quality dog food.
I guess you can say it's, it'sa lot, it's it is a lot of time,
and it is and it's and it takesa community, it takes a village
, really, I haven't.
You know, we started with Hopein my home and Hope did go to a
(37:26):
puppy raiser and you know webless them because we they were.
They were somebody that hadtrained their dog through
Bonafide and they reached outand said, hey, we have other
dogs in the home but we reallyfeel like we want to give back
and so can we.
And so we interviewed him, wetalked to him and they did an
(37:48):
amazing job with Hope, takingher to training classes and
working with her.
And I mean very unselfish peoplewho puppy raise and they do it
knowing that they're not goingto keep the dog.
They do it.
They, when Hope got kennel coughand gave it to the other dogs
(38:08):
in the house, they were verykind and nice and so they, you
know, they just adjusted andthey took Hope just like they
would their own dog.
And when Hope had her heat cycleat age 10 months, which none of
us were quite expecting, theywere like I said, oh, are you
(38:28):
telling, do you need us to takeher and they're like no, we got
this, we've never dealt withthis before, but no, we're,
we're, we're doing this, and soit's been amazing just to see.
And then they're being anadvocate for hope, and then they
tell people when they're out ontheir walks what hope is doing
and why they're maybe treatinghope differently, or no, your
dog can't meet hope right now,or no, your dog can't be off
(38:51):
leash playing with Hope rightnow because we're on a mission,
we're doing loose leash walkingtraining tonight, and so it's
kind of been fun that they'vehad an opportunity to be a part
of Hope's life and they'rephenomenal people and I think
they blessed Hope and Hopeblessed them too.
Jay (39:10):
That's pretty awesome.
You know them too.
That's that's pretty awesome.
You know you're a 501c3organization, correct, correct?
So assistance dogs of Nebraska.
So here's what I want to say is, first of all, to run an
operation like to raise servicedogs is hard already, whether
(39:32):
it's for profit or nonprofit, Idon't care.
Right, we're a nonprofit.
I mean in every sense of theword, like we're a back profit
actually, right so so let's talkabout you know what are some of
the things I mean.
Are you comfortable discussingyour operating budget for years?
You've only been up and aroundfor a year.
(39:53):
How much did you raise lastyear?
Susan (40:00):
Just in hard dollars.
Brendan, our financial guy, doyou want to talk about our
fundraiser?
Brandon (40:07):
Yeah, we had a really good fundraiser in the fall.
I think we raised in thevicinity of $5,000.
Was that about right?
Yeah, at the fundraiserspecifically, but throughout the
year we did get some great.
The donors heard about us,heard about what we were doing,
(40:30):
just made some know, made somefree will donations.
We try to make it easy for thatprocess to happen.
You know, my mom didn't alludeto it, but the real dollars cost
of a service dog, by the time aveteran would get it, would
probably be in the neighborhoodof $20,000.
And that's cost of the dog.
(41:00):
Uh, raising time, um, puppy,puppy raisers have a very
important job but they don'thave to pay for anything.
Uh, we're, we're, we're footingthe bill for the dog, the care,
the vet, uh, the food, allthose things.
So every, you know, every,every bit counts.
Um, luckily we, we do have somegood resources connected with
um, with bonafide dog Academy,to get a little better rate on
(41:23):
the training aspect of it.
Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it'snot cheap and, um, we'll
continue to look for ways to getour name out there and and
fundraise as well.
That's going to be obviouslyimportant too absolutely.
Jay (41:40):
I keep, I can't, I need to correct myself assistance dogs
of the heartland, not ofnebraska.
I just keep looking at thewebsite assistance dogs of the
heartland.
So you know, I know that, again, in your first year going to
your second year, you know youhave big goals.
I want to remind you, don'tforget, I would apply to the 50
(42:00):
Mile March Foundation because 10percent of the money we raise
every year goes in the form thatpeople can apply for, like
small organization, grassrootsorganizations like yours.
You would make a big, you know,and I know you applied last
year just saying hey, but nowthat we know you, now that we're
(42:21):
here, now that we can see whatyou do, we want to, you know,
walk in step with you.
No pun intended, but we have agreat audience, you know, and
that that's and I'm probablymanifesting this more than
anything because you're a goodorganization and so are we.
I want to expose you to ourpartners, to our, our, our
(42:47):
supporters, our partners, ouraudience, the people we help,
because I know, through some ofthe guidance of the
organizations, people know whodeserve these dogs.
People will say you know, I mean, now listen, if you say who
wants a dog, everyone's going toraise their hand, right, but I
think, putting them through thepaces of a process so that they
(43:10):
can earn it and that they canprove themselves.
And when someone says, yeah,you know that step nah, forget
it.
That's too much for me.
Hey, no problem, phil, orwhatever.
Sorry, phil, if you'relistening, but you have to have
a true line and say this is whatwe want, and the only way for
(43:36):
you to make no exceptions is tohave a healthy pipeline, as
Brandon said.
Yes, Yep.
What are some of your goals inthe next year for assistance
dogs of the heartline?
Let's talk future Like.
What are some of the things youhope most Like.
Let's manifest.
Let's not be realistic.
(43:57):
Let's talk about what is itthat we wish for, that we see.
What is the vision?
Susan (44:06):
I think my vision is once we get a pipeline going.
I don't want veterans to wait.
I don't want them to wait.
I don't want them to wait solong.
I don't want.
I do have people who will come,I do.
Just recently, I've heard fromtwo different people just
through conversations withfriends and family, and one
(44:28):
person said oh, my cousin's on alist for a dog and it's going
to be another two or three years.
And said, oh, my cousin's on alist for a dog and it's going to
be another two or three years.
And that's a long time to waitfor a dog.
Maybe the veteran, I mean a lotcan happen in two and three
years.
So I don't want veterans tohave to wait so long.
(44:49):
No one likes to wait that long.
No one likes to wait foranything that long.
And so well, they say goodthings are worth waiting for.
However, I want more puppies, Iwant more.
I want, but I want puppyraisers.
I want people to step up andsee yes, you can do it.
(45:18):
People will feel like, oh, I'mnot qualified, I don't, I don't
know how to do this.
Well, we'll train you, We'll bethere, right there with you the
whole time.
You're not doing it alone.
You're doing it in conjunctionwith us, just like Hope's new
foster family.
They already have plenty ofexperience, but we're walking
alongside them and we're tellingyou know, we did a great
(45:39):
handover of.
This is what Hope knows.
This is what we need Hope towork on, and so my goal would be
to get more dogs in thepipeline, I think, and then just
finding some dogs.
I have a pretty good source,but just finding the right dog
and the right breed of dog.
(46:00):
And first and foremost, we lookfor healthy dogs.
They have to be which, yes,they're going to be a purebred
dog.
Which, yes, they cost more.
But I need assurances that thedog is healthy and that they
have a great temperament andwith those two things, today
it's going to it.
It helps along the process oftraining a dog.
Jay (46:21):
Oh my gosh, I mean so.
So, brandon, is it evenpossible that you don't have to
purchase a dog ever?
Or Susan, like, can there be?
Like, oh my gosh.
We just partnered up with Philand Phil is a professional
breeder and he's donating two tothree dogs a quarter.
(46:41):
Like, is that the hope, or isthat?
Can that even happen?
Susan (46:46):
Yes, it can, and I kind of have my eye on some breeders
that I will ask and the breederthat I have used for some labs.
They're out of North Platte andit's funny they state very
clearly on their website and topeople we do not give any of our
(47:07):
dogs to institutions.
Our dogs are only family dogs.
And when I reached out to themand had a conversation and
explained what I was doing withthese dogs, they go oh well,
that's different.
Fathers and our grandfatherswere in the middle.
They're very, very patriotic,god-loving, you know, just salt
(47:29):
of the earth, midwestern, youknow, love our country and the
veterans.
And they said oh well, we'llgive you the dog, we'll let you
do this, but maybe they're notgoing to be, you know, so it's.
But yes, I do hope down theroad that we will be able to
partner with some breeders.
Jay (47:52):
Yeah, no, I like that, Brandon.
What are some of the thingsthat the nonprofit needs right
now?
If there was a wish list, youknow, like this long right, like
if there was a sheet of paperand you said, jay, write this
down, what are some of thethings?
Besides treasure, besides right, besides money, what else are
(48:14):
the things?
Like mom just said, hey, susanjust said if we could find a
breeder, maybe three of them,right, or maybe two of them, or
let's put it out to the worldand let's start building these
relationships.
And, susan, someone watchingthis right now is going to go,
my cousin Shannon, who livesdown in Missouri.
She doesn't, like, I'm tellingyou this is someone's going to
(48:34):
find this.
I mean, brandon found methrough Jamie, right, and I'm
sure she'll apologize to youlater.
But no, brandon, seriously,like what else?
What?
Brandon (48:46):
else does it not count.
I think exposure could be hugebecause I think people in the
community could help indifferent ways.
They might know a veteran thatcould potentially apply.
They might know someone whocould be a potential donor.
They might know of a foundationthat is looking for
(49:12):
organizations in Omaha orNebraska to donate, donate to.
We alluded.
We alluded to puppy raising.
Puppy raising is a would behuge.
My mother already has too manydogs, so getting more puppies is
a bit overwhelming.
So that is an awesome way toget involved and help.
(49:34):
And, yes, um, it'll give you,you know, the ability to help,
the ability to assist.
Um, you get a dog for a littlebit.
It's sort of like rent a dog,um, but, awesome, you get the
attention of the dog.
Uh, but you get a little bit oflike hey, I helped raise this
dog that turned into a servicedog and how cool is that?
(49:58):
A lot of people don't probablymaybe want to commit.
You get a healthy lab dog.
That could be a 10, 15-yearcommitment.
Well, what if you want to helpout while they're young and
maybe you're in function?
So you get that puppy phase.
That's pretty cool.
Jay (50:13):
What is the puppy raiser?
Can we talk about that realquick, Because I'm sure
someone's like oh my gosh, thatsounds so fun.
All right, Talk about time ofcommitment, responsibilities,
ideal, just you know from a toplevel, and the responsibility to
be so.
I already know there's someoneacross the street for me would
(50:34):
Could be like oh my gosh, I'mempty nesting now.
Got a big house, got a bigbackyard, but I don't want to
have a dog forever.
I want to raise them, I don'twant to give them back.
Here you go, Brandon and Susan.
What's entailed, what's thequalifications and how do they
(50:55):
apply?
Susan (50:57):
I would say qualifications are.
It would be helpful if they'vealready puppy raised before, so
they know what they're gettingthemselves into.
Because I'll be honest with you, jay, and you probably know
this too puppies are a lot ofwork.
It's probably the hardest.
I mean are a lot of work, it'sprobably the hardest, I mean it
is.
It is a big commitment there.
(51:27):
You can't just leave them foreight hours at a time.
You have to be willing to havea time commitment of letting
them out of their kennels,having free time, but giving
them also giving themconstraints, so they're not
going to be running free in yourhouse.
We don't want that either.
So I would say that the biggestthing is just a time commitment
, not minding getting up for thefirst.
(51:51):
Most of the time the puppies areeight to 10 weeks old.
So, yeah, they're going to havea couple, probably maybe four
or five weeks, that they're notgoing to sleep through the night
, that you have to get up andthat you have to let them go to
the bathroom and things.
So, um, you have to take,you'll have to take them to the
vet, um, which of course we willcover all the costs, but it's
um will be very helpful if thepuppy raiser could do that for
(52:16):
us and then just be, just bethere to, like I said, taking
the dog to training class,working with the dog, and it
doesn't have to be hours on end,it could be, you know, 10, 15
minutes a couple of times a dayand it all helps.
Jay (52:36):
I.
You know there's no one personright, but there's just the
right fit there's.
I see what you're talking about, so can I just recap that,
because I want to put in theshow notes and and I wish there
were some kind of.
I'm sure they can contact youthrough the website that I'm
going to put on, but, gosh,there's almost a mission there
to just if, how many, how longwill they have the dog for?
Susan (53:00):
Ideally probably, I would say maybe five, six months, and
then we would move them on toanother puppy raiser for someone
.
So maybe not everybody feelsqualified or called to do a
(53:29):
puppy, but maybe a dog that is alittle older five be somebody
who by this time the dog couldstay in a crate alone for a
couple hours at a time andthings like that.
So it it may not be the samelevel of one-on-one with the
puppy Is the is the dog gets alittle bit older.
Jay (53:50):
So it's to me.
It's not hard to find thesepeople if they know exactly what
they're looking and enoughpeople know about it.
But it's been a challenge,right, because it's hard to ask
someone.
Cindy, I know you have extratime, can you do this?
No, they've got to love, lovethat.
What do they need trainingbesides?
Or do they have a guide?
(54:11):
Or let's say, it's someone whohad a dog and never puppy
trained before Do they have togo through a class or do they
have to be trained?
Susan (54:19):
I would say they could go through a class, I mean, and we
could train them.
We would walk beside them andhelp them.
Another thing, jay, is I didwhen we were looking for puppy
raisers.
We are very, very particular.
I will be honest with you.
(54:42):
I turned a lot of people awayonly because it had to be just
the right fit and either some oftheir circumstances in their
home.
Maybe they had another dog inthe house, and that doesn't mean
it's a no-go.
It has to be a dog that isaccepting of bringing another
dog into the home andunfortunately we had a situation
where the other dog wasn't, andso I can't do that to a dog and
(55:05):
put them in a situation withanother dog in the home.
That would cause a conflict andI don't want to do that to a to
a home.
I don't want to do that to ahomeowner.
I don't want to do that to theowner of the dog either.
So I'm not saying it's a no-goif you already have a dog,
because most everyone, jayanother thing is, most everybody
I know has a dog or two orthree.
So it's hard to find people whocould do this.
Jay (55:30):
I might be perfect for this in a couple of years, though,
okay, you know, I mean maybe not, but I'm saying maybe it'd be a
good recipient.
But I'm saying, you know,there's so much that when people
listen to this podcast, I wantthem to really take this in
right and the show notes and thesummary will have it all.
But what I'm most excited aboutis I think everyone doesn't
(55:55):
peel back the layers of whatyour nonprofit does or what your
organization does.
It's really easy to say, oh,look, there's Sky, but behind
Sky is months and months andhundreds of hours.
A couple of people you brandon,um, training upon training, uh,
(56:20):
harper, learning taking, youknow the next phase and hope
like these are all things thatpeople don't think about and and
I think people like you folksdon't get enough credit for I
mean, we're just we're nottrying to give away three dogs.
It is matching these three pets, these three dogs, with the
(56:46):
right people to impact theirlife for a long time, perhaps
save someone's life by gettingtheir mind out of a dark place,
by caring for someone.
Or, like I said, I've seenpeople who are brash and rough
(57:07):
Soon as the dog comes around.
Oh my gosh, they're like theymelt right.
I mean, I think dogs are greatdiffusers.
Dogs are peacemakers.
I told you guys at Farm BureauFinancial Services, they have a
service dog and they take thedog out.
You know people could be, oh mygosh, this is such a terrible,
(57:29):
like up in Elkhorn where it blewup here.
Um, farm Bureau FinancialServices had their um disaster
response team and on theirresponse team is Molly, and
Molly, the dog, came out and Imean kids, normalcy, you know
(57:50):
parents like oh God, a quickbreak from cleaning up all the
trash and the crap.
You know I just makes me wantto apply.
But I'm saying they're gettingmore than just a dog to hang out
with.
They're getting someone to savetheir life or create a better
quality of life.
(58:11):
Right very well said, jay,absolutely I mean man, I, as we
land this, I I want finalthoughts on, because this is
going to be the first manyyou'll be at our qualifier,
april 12th, where people canmeet.
Uh, hope, purple with the redcollar and sky with the blue
(58:35):
collar, right, right, and by bythen I hope everyone can tell
them apart, because I'm going toteach the world.
We need applications to come inRight and and listen.
It's going to be a while likelet's, let's not overwhelm and
let's not start demanding.
So here's what I'm looking.
I'm looking for people to applyand be patient, because this is
(58:55):
not where we're shopping.
We are matching, we arecalibrating.
We care as much about as you aswe do for your service dog,
right, because if you get itwrong or they get it wrong, it
just doesn't work.
There's too many things to riskhere to just try.
So, as we develop this process,I hope to walk with all of you
(59:23):
through the journey of trulyhaving the world at large.
The veterans, specifically Sky,harper and Hope, find good
people and good people find them, because I think it can only be
a blessing.
Golly, like I, just you justnever know who you're going to
(59:44):
run into and Listen, there's alot of organizations out there,
I think, that say this is whatwe do, this is what we do, but I
haven't seen what they've done.
And I'm not talking about anyone.
I'm talking about anyone.
It is easier to say what yourplan is than to actually execute
(01:00:04):
and do the damn thing.
And you guys have done the damnthing.
I mean beyond Right, and I feelyour hearts and I feel your
passion and I think, I think,your blessings to the veteran
(01:00:25):
community.
I am grateful that you chosespecifically to not dilute what
you're doing and just say thisis where we're going.
And I picture these threehaving a home, you know, within
the next year or so, and Ipicture everyone go.
Oh, my God, I'm telling youit's going to be good, brandon,
(01:00:46):
any parting shots, any, any, anywords of wisdom to land the
plane and then mom Susan we'llhave El Presidente will close us
out.
Brandon (01:01:01):
No, thank you for the opportunity to come on here, and
we do have.
I just want to give a littlebit of plug to the people that
aren't on the screen, but thereare people in the background of
Assistance Dogs.
So our other board members, whoeach kind of, have their own
piece my mom, you know,carefully selected them over the
(01:01:24):
past year.
My sister is on the board.
She's been an awesome part ofthe puppy raising and is quite
close to, quite close to themand she does a lot and so she's
not much for the camera, but sheshould be there April 12th
hopefully, along with our otherboard members.
(01:01:46):
We're all put in the time.
We're all a volunteer board.
We have fun, meeting, growing,learning, and I think this can
be an awesome partnership, ifyou want to call it that, you
know, moving forward just toreally expose ourselves to the
veteran community, and we lookforward to it.
Jay (01:02:10):
Man.
That's awesome and, if you'dlike, later I'll put your board
if you want to recognize them inour show notes as well.
I think it's important you knowthat they get the recognition
too, because they are the silentpeople behind the scenes and I
know one of them's from thepolice department and they're,
they're, they're just, they'rein lockstep with you, susan.
Words of wisdom any partingshots like this is your stage.
Susan (01:02:34):
Oh, first of all I want to thank all the veterans for
the sacrifices that veteransmake and for the not not drawing
(01:03:06):
attention to themselves andsticking a lot of stuff, just
sticking it and not, um, notbeing out there saying, oh look
what I did and I did this or Idid that.
They serve silently.
Most of them, I would say,probably do and I don't know.
(01:03:26):
I just I appreciate it and thisis just a little tiny way to
give back.
Jay (01:03:33):
Oh, this is not tiny, susan , you're a little too humble, I
appreciate that, but let me tellyou there are good people who
deserve these canine companions.
Right, as it says, you know,because your mission here I love
it says enhancing lives throughcanine companions.
I mean, you couldn't be anymore clear.
You couldn't be any more clear,right?
(01:03:54):
No-transcript.
(01:04:25):
Your heart calls upon you toapply, follow the process, be
patient and and it will happen,if it was the right match and if
it's right for you, right,right.
I mean, I know, susan andBrandon, your heart's in the
right place, and I know you'vegot a process and I know many
people will help you.
I do caution those who are justwanting to get a dog because
(01:04:49):
they want a dog.
That's not what this is for.
Someone is hurting right now.
Someone is absent of a of truecompanionship right, of someone
that they can just loveunconditionally and love them
back, like you said.
I mean you could have forgot tofeed them for a day, and they'd
(01:05:11):
be like oh my God, you're thebest Right.
Let's not do that though.
Let's not do that, I'm done.
You're the best Right.
Let's not do that, though.
Susan (01:05:18):
Let's not do that, but you know these labs, they demand
, they know that they'll remindme when it's dinner time.
Jay (01:05:23):
Oh, that's good.
No, that's good, and Iencourage everyone to donate to
this organization to supportthem.
I'm going to put the thewebsite on the show notes as
well.
But Assistance Dogs ofHeartland, you are such a
blessing to the community.
You are a blessing to all theanimals and all the dogs that
(01:05:48):
you come across.
I can sense this.
There's a sense of purpose,sense of drive, and this is the
connection purpose, sense ofdrive, and this is the
connection.
The connection is your gosh,your, it's hope, and it's some
guy or gal and they're waitingout there to be connected and
(01:06:10):
something beautiful is going tohappen.
I can't wait.
I can't wait for that day tohappen.
Intro (01:06:31):
I can't wait.
Well, thank you both for beingon Again.
This is Jay Morations.
That bridge our lives.
Remember every connection hasthe power to transform.
Please subscribe, rate andreview.
Your feedback keeps us going Inthis connected world.
Let's make meaningfulconnections that enrich lives.
(01:06:52):
Now signing off until next timethe Connection, keep connecting
and let's go.
connecting the dots, connecting his guests to the
world, creating more connections.
Welcome to the connection.
Meet your host.
Author, coach.
Air coach, air Force veteranJay Morales.
Jay (00:31):
Thank you for joining in and, as always, the connection.
I love talking about how I getconnected to the right people,
to good people.
Sometimes it takes three tofour times to hear the message.
Sometimes the connection getslost by distractions in the
world.
But the next two guests I haveare mother and son team.
(00:51):
What a great story about whatthey do for veterans, but just
what they do in general, thehistory of their family.
We'll talk about adoption,international adoption.
We'll talk about the businessand then we'll talk about what
impact they want to make.
So today I have Susan, elPresidente and Madre, and we
(01:12):
have Brandon, and they're withAssistance Dogs right here,
assistance Dogs of the Heartland.
I'm going to put the actual.
You can see there there's thewebsite.
Actual, you can see there,there's the website.
So check outassistancedogsneorg and you'll
be able to see it in the shownotes as well.
So, with that being said,brandon, who reached out to who
(01:37):
or how did we connect?
Oh yeah, you know Dr JamieSeaman, dr Fit and Fabulous.
You know her from school.
Brandon (01:51):
Take me to the tailgate .
Well, I've known Jamie since Iwould have been in fifth grade,
so known her a long time.
Her older brother is in myclass.
I graduated from Waverly highschool back in 2001 and so I've
known the both of them for years.
(02:12):
Um, jamie has got involved in somany cool things, uh, as she's
progressed in her career, and um, I've, I've, I've still going
to annual golf trip with herbrother.
Um, you know they've beenhosting a tailgate for years.
Um, she's been on shows, she'suh, mrs, uh nebraska, so a lot
(02:38):
of things.
So, and I know she's involvedin fifth of march, yeah, uh,
which I thought could be a greatconnection for what we do.
And so, um, yeah, and I I'vereached out to her.
I talked to her a little bitabout it last fall and um kind
of made a more serious push onit um, recently.
(02:59):
So, and luckily she said so,and luckily she said, well, I
know some people, let's connectthe dots per your intro, and
yeah.
And then we started talkingabout a couple of weeks ago,
about what we do and what 55March does.
Jay (03:16):
That's awesome, so that's perfect, because I'm going to
keep everyone on the cliffhanger.
Everyone's going to go.
What is it?
What is it?
What is it?
Susan?
I met you at coffee, but wehave crossed paths before, again
, mission briefings and thingsat the 50 mile march, but again,
sometimes we just we as peopledon't listen very well.
(03:37):
I should say I, susan, tell mewhat your business is, tell me
what your nonprofit is, and thenbring us to where we sat for
coffee, all the way from us towhere we sat for coffee, all the
way from there to where we satfor coffee, and then Brandon
will come back.
Susan (03:51):
Yes, so my business is Bonafide Dog Academy, purchased
it February 22nd 2019 from theprevious owner.
We've been involved in thebusiness training dogs through
that company for many years, sothe opportunity came for us to
(04:12):
purchase it.
So we purchased Bonafide DogAcademy and when we purchased it
, there was also a nonprofitattached to it, and that
nonprofit did raise money forpolice dogs for training
different things out in thecommunity, and we thought it
would be a really good thinglater on to use it to provide
(04:36):
service dogs to veterans.
Jay (04:39):
And you have a passion for veterans, let's both of you.
I want you to talk about dadfor a second, or husband.
So your husband was in businesswith you all the while.
Is that right?
Susan (04:53):
Yes, yes, my husband, we, yeah, we started the business,
or we purchased the business,like I said, february 2019.
And from the time we startedthe business, like I said,
february 2019.
And from the time we startedthe business, we immediately
started trying to come up with agame plan for the nonprofit.
So we visited a couple ofdifferent states and a couple of
(05:17):
different service dogorganizations to figure out what
direction we wanted to take,how we wanted to do it, if we
wanted a brick and mortar, orwhat we were going to do.
So we traveled, like I said, toseveral different places and
that brought us probably intomaybe late summer.
(05:40):
My husband even went to Texasand did a training with Service
Dogs Inc in Dripping Springs,texas, and learned how they
trained rescue dogs, came backhome and unfortunately, was
diagnosed with cancer inSeptember of 2019, and he passed
(06:03):
away November 1st 2019.
Jay (06:07):
Okay, and he served our military.
Susan (06:12):
My husband did not.
Jay (06:14):
Oh, okay, your, what is the ?
Susan (06:17):
my father did.
Jay (06:19):
Yes, your father, sorry, your father, that's right.
So, your father, can we go back?
Can we go back there too?
So tell me what you know ofyour father's service, or what
did he talk about?
Anything, anything about it.
Susan (06:34):
Sure, my father was a career military man, um his last
.
He is a young child.
I remember most him being inVietnam, um, he did two or three
different tours.
I remember as a little girlstanding um Norfolk Naval Air
(06:58):
Base, um, or the at the shipyardthey're waiting for ships to
come in.
And I remember I have manybrothers and sisters saying is
that our dad?
Is that our dad?
Because he was gone for quite along time at a time and all
these men were there and wewould try.
Is that our dad?
Is that our dad?
Intro (07:19):
And so I was one of the younger kids.
Susan (07:22):
I was one of the younger children, so probably my memory
wasn't as good as theirs, but Iremembered I was always in awe
of the just the camaraderie andbeing a part of my father used
to take him on his ship andeverybody was always so nice to
us.
He even had foreign dignitariescome to our home for dinner at
(07:50):
times.
I remember we had CaptainMatsumoto from Japan came to our
house for dinner and I remember, boy, we got briefed the kids
all got briefed on how we weregoing to act and what we were
going to do.
I bet so, yes, it was a fun.
(08:11):
It was fun but stressful, Ithink childhood I think it was
stressful.
My mom was left to bear a lotof the duties, obviously of
parenthood when my dad was gone.
A lot, yeah.
Jay (08:25):
No, and that leads me so, as time goes on, were you able
to meet your grandfather?
Brandon (08:32):
Oh, yeah, okay, yep.
So I was born on the yeah, I wasborn on the East coast and was
very close with them growing upand they were, they were very
close to uh too.
So and then when fast forward alittle bit, but when we moved
to nebraska I was in fourthgrade, but I made it back quite
(08:53):
a bit and always stayed there.
Um, so I just remember mygrandma and grandpa having
completely different schedules.
Grandma would stay up very latereading, she, she, loved to
read, and grandpa would be inbed by, like you know, nine
o'clock, up by about five.
So he was always up earlymaking coffee and just really
(09:21):
good memories.
Really good memories with him.
Jay (09:24):
So let's talk about anything service related or
anything that makes you youhaven't.
You have a affinity or you havea passion to support veterans.
Now and I heard that from youand your mom when we sat at
Story's coffee shop the otherday Tell me what that foundation
is built on or what are some ofthe experiences that shaped
(09:45):
that outlook for you, Brandon.
Brandon (09:48):
Well, I think it was both both of my grandparents, um
, both of my mom's side and mydad's side.
Um, so, uh, there wasdefinitely like a a little, uh
definitely a feeling of respecttowards towards both of them.
I was always intriguing, uh, Iwould always ask them.
A lot of respect towards bothof them, I was always intriguing
.
I would always ask them a lotof questions.
(10:12):
Didn't get a lot of answers,probably that I wanted, but
loved looking at their travels,just looking at plaques on the
wall, pictures, things like that.
I remember my dad's father, Mac.
Um, he had he was a navalaviator and he had in the
basement of their home spoonsfrom all the airlines he that he
(10:37):
frequented throughout the world, so he had 40 different spoons.
He stole the spoons, I guess.
A lot of relics, um, there werejust a lot of relics around,
and he was very worldly, uh,knew the capital to every nation
in the in the world and, um,just, uh, I had a lot of respect
for, for both of them, and so Ithink um, and my dad and my mom
(11:03):
, given you know, get kind of,given their upbringing, had that
sort of embedded, you know,throughout their lives.
Jay (11:09):
Yeah, I mean, it's very apparent when both of you talk
like there's no question andthere's no doubt in my mind of
what you think of our veteransor our military, and the why.
And now you're on a mission,you know, to truly continue to
serve in one of the mostselfless ways, right?
(11:29):
I mean we're talking aboutservice dogs, right, and that's
such a wide array and I thinktoday, I think service animals
or service dogs get kind of abad rap or not a bad rap, but
they're used as a crutch and Iwant to address that later too.
But I want to bring your visiontogether first and I want to
(11:50):
talk about what it is that youwant to make an impact with the
world with, and what yourchallenge is.
Let's talk about, not challenge, but what's the next step for
assistance?
Susan (11:59):
dogs of Nebraska of Nebraska, I would say our next
step is we do have three dogsthat we have.
So I talked a little bitearlier about kind of what
service model we were going touse when Andy and I decided that
we wanted to raise the dogs andbe puppy raisers and be active
(12:25):
and not just leave it tosomebody else to do, because
raising a puppy though it's hard, but we wanted to make sure
they got off to a greatfoundation and a great start,
and having experience in the dogtraining world, I think that
equipped us for that dogtraining world.
(12:48):
I think that equipped us forthat.
So we that's kind of been our,um been our vision is to is to
do the puppy raising.
So these dogs are um a littleum hope.
The golden retriever justturned a year old and the two
lab girls are 11 months old, sothe next step for them is we're
looking for veterans to matchthem with.
Jay (13:15):
And let's talk about that.
Just when we say veterans,right, so everyone wants a dog
Everyone's going to say I need aservice dog, everyone.
I think there's aresponsibility that that, that
people or that the recipientshave towards earning a dog.
I think there's aresponsibility.
It's not a gift, it's not something that, oh, happy birthday,
(13:40):
like.
That's not what we're doinghere.
We're matching these dogs withthe right people.
Brandon, when we were speaking,you were kind of talking about
some things that notrequirements, but talk about,
like I'm going to share here onthe screen your website and it's
going to talk about the.
It's going to talk about theapplication process.
(14:04):
So why don't you talk to meabout the application itself?
Not the process, but just theapplication.
So tell me, as a first step,obviously, tell me about that.
Brandon (14:15):
Yeah, sure.
So I mean, on the website thereis an application link, there
is a little bit of aquestionnaire.
We want to know the background,the applicant's background,
years of service, kind of whatbranch they were in a little bit
(14:36):
, a glimpse of their life alittle bit, and just get a good
feeling about whether we thinkthere's, and just get a good
feeling about whether we thinkthere's initially a need here.
I think you know we want toreally match well, we want it to
(14:58):
be something that's going tolast for a long time and the dog
and the veteran are going tobenefit greatly through their
relationship.
So, um, really we need quality,quality applicants, uh as far
as the ability to look after thedog, uh, care for the dog, uh,
attend training with the dog, uh, through the through the
(15:20):
process, um, to really mold thedog into the service dog that
they, that they need and willbenefit from, and that can be
different levels of of dependingon what the needs are for the
veteran.
Jay (15:38):
Right, and I want to talk about responsible Susan.
So you know, hey, I can balancethe checkbook.
I got a pretty decent job.
Like it takes more than that,it takes time, it takes like
this is your dog is a member ofyour family and that's how you
(16:05):
want, that's how I think thatyou know a dog owner should be
thinking about it and I thinktoo often I see mismatches just
in society with I see an ownerand I see the dog and it's got
this service dog jacket on itand I can just in my gut know
(16:29):
that this person I can't say ifthey need it or not, but their
responsibility towards the dogor their what do you call it
their relationship, theirrelationship With their pet,
with their family pet, is notthere.
You can see it and then you cansee the dog in stress.
(16:50):
So talk about ideally.
Um, you know, if Jay Moralesnow I'm just one type of person,
right If Jay Morales has astable family, one child at home
, three grown kids who are gone.
I've had dogs before and this isnot me applying, by the way I
(17:14):
had King and I told myself I'mnever going to get another
German Shepherd because I missKing too much.
Chewy is chewy.
But I promised myself like, ohyou know it's got to be the
right dog.
But you know, let's say I had acase manager.
(17:34):
Let's say I was going throughone of our program partners and
I wanted to apply for a dog.
What are some of the qualitiesin my lifestyle that that fit
the dog?
I'm not saying that this is themust have, but let's talk
ideally, right?
I mean I'm going to start firstoffense.
Like you can't have a dog withcement in an apartment.
(17:57):
I'm sorry, it just doesn't work.
Could you Maybe?
But is it more ideal forsomeone who has a fenced in area
?
Whether they rent or owndoesn't matter to me.
Simple, right, we think it's sosimple.
What else is important?
Susan (18:14):
Susan, I would say that you have the time and that
effort, that you want to put thetime in, because dogs do not
train themselves.
They will not train themselvesWeird, they won't.
(18:34):
So you have to have the time tospend with the dog.
You have to really I mean, I'ma passionate dog person.
I know you are, jay Brandon isI really believe you have to
believe in the healing power ofdogs?
I really believe that that's.
You really have to believe thatthey're not just really have to
(19:01):
believe that they're not justan animal that you feed and take
on a walk.
They will I just reallyhonestly believe they will be a
great partner for you and theywill.
I guess the thing that sums upa dog best is unconditional love
.
No matter what happens in yourday, you can walk in the door
and your dog's tail's waggingand it's excited to see you.
(19:23):
And it doesn't care what caryou drive, it doesn't care what
job you have.
It cares about you.
Jay (19:32):
That's so good, it doesn't care.
It's true, your friends carewhat kind of dog you are, what
kind of car you drive.
But I think you said somethingkey.
But we as a human Right.
So sometimes, when people sayI'm getting my dog trained, well
, there's training programs thatjust train the dog, which
that's a one way training.
I think humans need just asmuch training to learn how to
(19:55):
reciprocate to the dog, to learnhow to reciprocate to the dog.
So, brandon, let me ask youthis Is it important that you
see, how important is it for youto reciprocate time and
affection to your dog?
Brandon (20:10):
Well, I think it's.
I think the time and thededication overall, if you are
to expect results and they areto be a part of your family and
they are to you're going to getwhat you want out of them.
It takes just as much effort toput in and I've seen that with
kind of watching from afar formy mom's business.
(20:32):
I'm not involved in theday-to-day but um, and just
being involved, um, and havingdogs and growing up with dogs,
um, my dad used to spendcountless hours training um for
hunt tests, field tests,obedience, different things,
agility and um, I think anyone,I think people have this, this
(20:55):
idea I'll take them to a fewtraining classes and then I'll
bring them home and they'll justbe.
They'll be what I want them tobe and that's just so.
That's so far from the truth.
The classes and the little bitis just a tool.
It's a tool, but you have toreinforce it through the
connection with them, like overand over again, daily, daily, to
(21:16):
make things work, and I thinkthat's that connection that you
get.
You can't you know, if you putin, um the effort you're, you're
going to get a great result.
Um, but it takes, takes timeand um little bits every day.
Jay (21:32):
Absolutely, susan.
You like.
You look like you want to addto that.
Please do.
Susan (21:38):
No, it's.
You know, when we're talkingabout time, it's only snippets
of time.
A dog doesn't have a long, longattention span that you can go
on for.
And training and you probablyknow this, jay, from King or
from Chewy You're going to it'sprobably going to be a good
training session.
Um can be 15 minutes.
(22:01):
But if you do it a couple oftimes a day or 20 minutes a day,
um, you know it doesn't have tobe hours on end and you're
probably not going to get goodresults because your dog is
going to check out they're notgoing to their.
Their attention span especiallyum, a young, adolescent lab
doesn't have the greatestattention span, but over time
(22:21):
and it's just practicing all thetime.
It's just little things and youpractice it and eventually they
get it.
And being consistent that'sanother key is just being
consistent, letting the dogsknow what you expect from them.
Jay (22:39):
I want to move to the psychological effect or the
behavioral effect of a dog or ahuman towards a dog and the dog
towards human.
I am not trained, I have nobackground in this.
I have zero formal education.
Matter of fact, I probablyhaven't Googled much, but I'm
going to use some deductivereasoning.
Matter of fact, I probablyhaven't Googled much, but I'm
(23:00):
going to use some deductivereasoning.
When you show something outsideof yourself that you love it,
or you dedicate the time to showand display love, it's almost
too difficult to not share inthat yourself.
Am I right, Like if I'm lovingand I'm showing and I'm taking
(23:43):
care of?
I mean, I know people neglectthemselves, but introducing your
service dog to other people isnot just hey, this is not some
dog you just purchased at akennel and now you're just going
to feed it.
Let it go to the bathroom andlet it be in family pictures.
Bathroom and let it be infamily pictures.
This is a lifelong companionwhich I think the service animal
(24:05):
relationship is different, am Iright?
That's correct.
Yes, expand on the relationshipand all the things that they
should and shouldn't do.
When it comes to thetherapeutic part of having a dog
, because you said it is verytherapeutic and healing let's
talk about the healing.
Susan (24:30):
The dogs.
So we train our puppies fromearly on.
They are a part of our home andour family and Hope was living
with the puppy raiser and shehad the same experience and
they're very.
They've been given and shownlove.
So they give you love and theyshow you love.
(24:51):
And, yes, I let them on thecouch because that's where
probably some, a veteran isprobably going to sit and watch
TV or do whatever, so the dog isgoing to be there with them.
So, yes, the dog is on thecouch.
I sit down on the couch and oneof the labs will come up and
they constantly want to be onyou.
They want to be right up nextto you and it's I really
(25:12):
honestly believe it's early on.
That's how we were nurturing tothem and they just
automatically will come and justsit and it's amazing how you
can.
They already do like deeppressure therapy and we haven't
formally given that a cue to sayyou know or has been trained
for service dog work, press andSully will press and give you
(25:44):
pressure on your leg.
Maybe that's going to be forsomeone who has who's starting
to get anxious or whatever, andthe dog's going to press against
them and lean into them, and soit's there inherently.
It's amazing, jay, how muchthey are intuitive and they just
automatically will do thosethings.
Jay (26:06):
I know there's a connection in Brandon.
You know, have you witnessed ora part of yourself, you know, a
dog knows when you're stressedout.
I mean, is that, oh yeah, howhave you seen that?
Or have you experienced thatyourself?
Brandon (26:26):
I think a lot.
Well, I think first, firsthand.
I think, when my family was waskind of going through my dad's
illness years ago, you know hecouldn't quite do what he wanted
to do or what he was able to do, and I would, when I'd go over
(26:48):
to the house and see my family,there would always be one or two
dogs like inherently right nextto him, giving him attention in
a kind of a stressful.
And they know, they know thesituation, they know the
situation was a little off rightand and, and they knew
something was was a miss andthey were really there for him,
(27:11):
um, during just an odd, weirdkind of time, and um, um, and I
saw that kind of, and I saw thatfor shana.
We still have a couple of thosedogs today.
So, um, even the stressful, thestress of you know that my mom
goes through as a business ownerand comes home and, um, she has
(27:34):
dogs that are very attached toher, so she can tell you some
funny stories, I'm sure.
Jay (27:42):
Well, you know, susan, the other thing too is I think what
I know a service dog is not foris to talk it off a ledge, which
I mean.
There are people that arebeyond the need of a service dog
, right, I think I don't knowwhat the psychiatric or the
mental health status should be,but when someone is abusive or
(28:07):
they're going to the dog forcounseling, that is not the
right, that is not what it's for.
I think it's to be aware, it'sto spend time, it's
companionship, it is not to go.
You know what Hope.
You know what happened today,could you believe?
I mean that's and I've seen it.
I've seen them take and lashout against their dogs Like
(28:31):
caution people against.
You know, or tell me about thatwhen you see people mistreating
their service dogs.
Susan (28:42):
Thankfully, jay, I haven't seen too much of that,
but what I do see more is maybepeople who stick service dog
things on their dog and theyaren't really trained.
They they're in, jay, it'sthere is no.
(29:04):
Believe it or not, there, thereis no.
Um, well, the ADA I mean to toqualify for a service dog.
It's through the ADA and um,people have rights and dogs have
rights, but it is not.
(29:28):
I mean, anybody can really puta service dog vest on their dog
and say that they're a servicedog.
There's no piece of paper thatyou can show that shows that,
yes, this is a service dog.
I will say that we train ourdogs.
They have to pass a publicaccess test, they have to go
through training, they have topass their canine good citizen.
(29:51):
They can't be aggressive towardpeople or other dogs and that's
why you know raising the dogsare so important.
You can't take these dogs to thedog park.
So people say, oh, I want toexercise my dog, I want to go
run my dog.
No, you can't take them to thedog park.
These are not dog park dogs,these dogs.
One thing happens at a dog parkto this dog and you've just
(30:14):
ruined the dog because it'snever going to, it won't recover
.
So these are.
You have to treat themdifferently than a pet dog, but
at the same token the dog is.
I would hope the dog would be apart of your family, and not
(30:34):
just for the veteran, but bethere for the other family too.
I mean, even though it's nottechnically their dog, but that
doesn't say that somebody elsecan't feed it or take it for a
walk or do something for thatdog.
But yeah, it needs to be a partof the family and everybody has
to have a buy-in.
Jay (30:55):
Yes, that's important.
That's what I was waiting for.
Everyone has to have a buy-inand the reason I'm saying that
is you can't just bring a dog inand then have an anti-dog
person in your house, right,like I'm not going to do
anything.
That's a bad match.
I think it's a recipe fordisaster.
Household is they understandthat that is Jay, it is Jay's
(31:20):
dog, it is for Jay.
But as time goes on, youintegrate the dog into your
house.
You ensure that all the familymembers respect, just like as if
you would if you had a, justlike Chewy, right?
I mean, chewy is not a servicedog, he's a.
(31:42):
I think he's a, he's a showbusiness dog, but he, he thinks
he's an actor, but it's.
I never really thought too muchabout this until you and Brandon
and I really sat down and I'vebeen really thinking about this.
I mean, I've I've known ofservice dogs, service animals,
all these, all the fights aboutthem, all the rights about them,
all the hype about them, allthe hey, let's take my dog to
(32:03):
Lowe's and slap a sticker on itand say, you know, and it's an
aggressive dog wanting to biteeverybody Like no, I think you
know people need to realize thatthey need to put as much time
into companionship andstewardship.
As much time into companionshipand stewardship, right, not
just ownership, stewardship, andthe dog's going to.
(32:24):
I mean, look, hope, here's hope, Hope is going to reciprocate.
I mean I'm not applying, I'mjust I'm not applying right now.
I'm just saying and Harper right, and Sky.
I mean saying and and Harperright, and and Sky.
I mean yes, they're cute, yes,they're adorable, but they are a
(32:47):
responsibility of the recipient.
So let's talk about this.
So, challenges that you've had.
So when I say challenges, it'snot easy just to say you got a
new car.
You know what I mean.
Like congratulations, it's anew diamond ring, whatever.
(33:08):
We're talking aboutcompatibility, matching,
temperament, responsibility,obligation, right, this is not
something.
So so what do you?
What?
How are so?
(33:28):
We talked about proceeding withthe 50 mile march.
I'm just going to forward thisa little bit.
Susan (33:32):
Sure.
Jay (33:33):
We want to expose your organization to as many people
as we can, your organization toas many people as we can, and we
talked about a process ofinterviewing people.
Right, just because you applydoesn't just get you on a
waiting list.
It might say hey, thank you,stephanie, for applying at this
time.
You're not ready, we will putyou back in the queue, which is
(33:56):
respectful, I think.
Just because she's not readytoday doesn't mean she's ready
later.
But what are some other thingslike to match or to make sure
that we find the right people,like some of the things we've
discussed?
Brandon (34:15):
Well, I think, finding, I think, through community
events, getting out there in thecommunity, exposing ourselves
to a wide ranging array ofpeople with different
backgrounds, different ages andthis is new.
Maybe this is something that aveteran has never thought about.
(34:36):
Maybe this is something thatthey've been going through
treatment, maybe they've been onmedication just to be calm, you
know, maybe this is a way toget them off their medication or
change their life in anotherway.
Or maybe they've had pets in thepast but they're not a great
(34:59):
fit for what they, what theyreally need.
So, um, we're really young, Imean, we we've we've only been
around for less than a uh launch, really less than a year,
something onto a year, yeah so,and three and three dogs, and so
really we want to do our bestto right now, fill our pipeline
with, with potential candidates,um, and build and build from
(35:23):
there and kind of figure out.
We need to figure out, like,how, what's the optimal amount
of dogs we want to have?
There's some greatorganizations who my mom's been
in talk with and, um, outside ofdes moines, that has tons of
dogs, tons of puppy raisers, bigpipeline.
Do we want to be that level?
Kind of figuring that out.
(35:43):
We need to figure out whatwe're comfortable with and but
really it's it's finding some,finding some qualified
candidates and finding some goodhomes in 2025 is the biggest
thing.
Jay (36:00):
One veteran life is enough.
One, just one.
One life impacted is more thannone.
And how do we count is morethan none?
And how do we count?
Well, let's do 75 per quart.
Like there's no magic number inmy heart that these three dogs,
(36:22):
sky, harper and Hope, are gonnachange lives.
They're gonna impact lives,period, end of story.
I don't care, and so I thinkyou're doing it the right way.
I want to talk about the behindthe scenes and maybe, if you're
comfortable, asking oranswering this oh, it's so cute.
(36:45):
Look, they're so trained.
Susan (36:47):
How much time and money goes into one adorable hope and
money goes into one adorablehope, more than what we'll ever
get out.
I mean, it's quite a dog food,Dog food is expensive.
Jay.
Jay (37:04):
Yes.
Susan (37:05):
Yeah, quality dog food.
I guess you can say it's, it'sa lot, it's it is a lot of time,
and it is and it's and it takesa community, it takes a village
, really, I haven't.
You know, we started with Hopein my home and Hope did go to a
(37:26):
puppy raiser and you know webless them because we they were.
They were somebody that hadtrained their dog through
Bonafide and they reached outand said, hey, we have other
dogs in the home but we reallyfeel like we want to give back
and so can we.
And so we interviewed him, wetalked to him and they did an
(37:48):
amazing job with Hope, takingher to training classes and
working with her.
And I mean very unselfish peoplewho puppy raise and they do it
knowing that they're not goingto keep the dog.
They do it.
They, when Hope got kennel coughand gave it to the other dogs
(38:08):
in the house, they were verykind and nice and so they, you
know, they just adjusted andthey took Hope just like they
would their own dog.
And when Hope had her heat cycleat age 10 months, which none of
us were quite expecting, theywere like I said, oh, are you
(38:28):
telling, do you need us to takeher and they're like no, we got
this, we've never dealt withthis before, but no, we're,
we're, we're doing this, and soit's been amazing just to see.
And then they're being anadvocate for hope, and then they
tell people when they're out ontheir walks what hope is doing
and why they're maybe treatinghope differently, or no, your
dog can't meet hope right now,or no, your dog can't be off
(38:51):
leash playing with Hope rightnow because we're on a mission,
we're doing loose leash walkingtraining tonight, and so it's
kind of been fun that they'vehad an opportunity to be a part
of Hope's life and they'rephenomenal people and I think
they blessed Hope and Hopeblessed them too.
Jay (39:10):
That's pretty awesome.
You know them too.
That's that's pretty awesome.
You know you're a 501c3organization, correct, correct?
So assistance dogs of Nebraska.
So here's what I want to say is, first of all, to run an
operation like to raise servicedogs is hard already, whether
(39:32):
it's for profit or nonprofit, Idon't care.
Right, we're a nonprofit.
I mean in every sense of theword, like we're a back profit
actually, right so so let's talkabout you know what are some of
the things I mean.
Are you comfortable discussingyour operating budget for years?
You've only been up and aroundfor a year.
(39:53):
How much did you raise lastyear?
Susan (40:00):
Just in hard dollars.
Brendan, our financial guy, doyou want to talk about our
fundraiser?
Brandon (40:07):
Yeah, we had a really good fundraiser in the fall.
I think we raised in thevicinity of $5,000.
Was that about right?
Yeah, at the fundraiserspecifically, but throughout the
year we did get some great.
The donors heard about us,heard about what we were doing,
(40:30):
just made some know, made somefree will donations.
We try to make it easy for thatprocess to happen.
You know, my mom didn't alludeto it, but the real dollars cost
of a service dog, by the time aveteran would get it, would
probably be in the neighborhoodof $20,000.
And that's cost of the dog.
(41:00):
Uh, raising time, um, puppy,puppy raisers have a very
important job but they don'thave to pay for anything.
Uh, we're, we're, we're footingthe bill for the dog, the care,
the vet, uh, the food, allthose things.
So every, you know, every,every bit counts.
Um, luckily we, we do have somegood resources connected with
um, with bonafide dog Academy,to get a little better rate on
(41:23):
the training aspect of it.
Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it'snot cheap and, um, we'll
continue to look for ways to getour name out there and and
fundraise as well.
That's going to be obviouslyimportant too absolutely.
Jay (41:40):
I keep, I can't, I need to correct myself assistance dogs
of the heartland, not ofnebraska.
I just keep looking at thewebsite assistance dogs of the
heartland.
So you know, I know that, again, in your first year going to
your second year, you know youhave big goals.
I want to remind you, don'tforget, I would apply to the 50
(42:00):
Mile March Foundation because 10percent of the money we raise
every year goes in the form thatpeople can apply for, like
small organization, grassrootsorganizations like yours.
You would make a big, you know,and I know you applied last
year just saying hey, but nowthat we know you, now that we're
(42:21):
here, now that we can see whatyou do, we want to, you know,
walk in step with you.
No pun intended, but we have agreat audience, you know, and
that that's and I'm probablymanifesting this more than
anything because you're a goodorganization and so are we.
I want to expose you to ourpartners, to our, our, our
(42:47):
supporters, our partners, ouraudience, the people we help,
because I know, through some ofthe guidance of the
organizations, people know whodeserve these dogs.
People will say you know, I mean, now listen, if you say who
wants a dog, everyone's going toraise their hand, right, but I
think, putting them through thepaces of a process so that they
(43:10):
can earn it and that they canprove themselves.
And when someone says, yeah,you know that step nah, forget
it.
That's too much for me.
Hey, no problem, phil, orwhatever.
Sorry, phil, if you'relistening, but you have to have
a true line and say this is whatwe want, and the only way for
(43:36):
you to make no exceptions is tohave a healthy pipeline, as
Brandon said.
Yes, Yep.
What are some of your goals inthe next year for assistance
dogs of the heartline?
Let's talk future Like.
What are some of the things youhope most Like.
Let's manifest.
Let's not be realistic.
(43:57):
Let's talk about what is itthat we wish for, that we see.
What is the vision?
Susan (44:06):
I think my vision is once we get a pipeline going.
I don't want veterans to wait.
I don't want them to wait.
I don't want them to wait solong.
I don't want.
I do have people who will come,I do.
Just recently, I've heard fromtwo different people just
through conversations withfriends and family, and one
(44:28):
person said oh, my cousin's on alist for a dog and it's going
to be another two or three years.
And said, oh, my cousin's on alist for a dog and it's going to
be another two or three years.
And that's a long time to waitfor a dog.
Maybe the veteran, I mean a lotcan happen in two and three
years.
So I don't want veterans tohave to wait so long.
(44:49):
No one likes to wait that long.
No one likes to wait foranything that long.
And so well, they say goodthings are worth waiting for.
However, I want more puppies, Iwant more.
I want, but I want puppyraisers.
I want people to step up andsee yes, you can do it.
(45:18):
People will feel like, oh, I'mnot qualified, I don't, I don't
know how to do this.
Well, we'll train you, We'll bethere, right there with you the
whole time.
You're not doing it alone.
You're doing it in conjunctionwith us, just like Hope's new
foster family.
They already have plenty ofexperience, but we're walking
alongside them and we're tellingyou know, we did a great
(45:39):
handover of.
This is what Hope knows.
This is what we need Hope towork on, and so my goal would be
to get more dogs in thepipeline, I think, and then just
finding some dogs.
I have a pretty good source,but just finding the right dog
and the right breed of dog.
(46:00):
And first and foremost, we lookfor healthy dogs.
They have to be which, yes,they're going to be a purebred
dog.
Which, yes, they cost more.
But I need assurances that thedog is healthy and that they
have a great temperament andwith those two things, today
it's going to it.
It helps along the process oftraining a dog.
Jay (46:21):
Oh my gosh, I mean so.
So, brandon, is it evenpossible that you don't have to
purchase a dog ever?
Or Susan, like, can there be?
Like, oh my gosh.
We just partnered up with Philand Phil is a professional
breeder and he's donating two tothree dogs a quarter.
(46:41):
Like, is that the hope, or isthat?
Can that even happen?
Susan (46:46):
Yes, it can, and I kind of have my eye on some breeders
that I will ask and the breederthat I have used for some labs.
They're out of North Platte andit's funny they state very
clearly on their website and topeople we do not give any of our
(47:07):
dogs to institutions.
Our dogs are only family dogs.
And when I reached out to themand had a conversation and
explained what I was doing withthese dogs, they go oh well,
that's different.
Fathers and our grandfatherswere in the middle.
They're very, very patriotic,god-loving, you know, just salt
(47:29):
of the earth, midwestern, youknow, love our country and the
veterans.
And they said oh well, we'llgive you the dog, we'll let you
do this, but maybe they're notgoing to be, you know, so it's.
But yes, I do hope down theroad that we will be able to
partner with some breeders.
Jay (47:52):
Yeah, no, I like that, Brandon.
What are some of the thingsthat the nonprofit needs right
now?
If there was a wish list, youknow, like this long right, like
if there was a sheet of paperand you said, jay, write this
down, what are some of thethings?
Besides treasure, besides right, besides money, what else are
(48:14):
the things?
Like mom just said, hey, susanjust said if we could find a
breeder, maybe three of them,right, or maybe two of them, or
let's put it out to the worldand let's start building these
relationships.
And, susan, someone watchingthis right now is going to go,
my cousin Shannon, who livesdown in Missouri.
She doesn't, like, I'm tellingyou this is someone's going to
(48:34):
find this.
I mean, brandon found methrough Jamie, right, and I'm
sure she'll apologize to youlater.
But no, brandon, seriously,like what else?
What?
Brandon (48:46):
else does it not count.
I think exposure could be hugebecause I think people in the
community could help indifferent ways.
They might know a veteran thatcould potentially apply.
They might know someone whocould be a potential donor.
They might know of a foundationthat is looking for
(49:12):
organizations in Omaha orNebraska to donate, donate to.
We alluded.
We alluded to puppy raising.
Puppy raising is a would behuge.
My mother already has too manydogs, so getting more puppies is
a bit overwhelming.
So that is an awesome way toget involved and help.
(49:34):
And, yes, um, it'll give you,you know, the ability to help,
the ability to assist.
Um, you get a dog for a littlebit.
It's sort of like rent a dog,um, but, awesome, you get the
attention of the dog.
Uh, but you get a little bit oflike hey, I helped raise this
dog that turned into a servicedog and how cool is that?
(49:58):
A lot of people don't probablymaybe want to commit.
You get a healthy lab dog.
That could be a 10, 15-yearcommitment.
Well, what if you want to helpout while they're young and
maybe you're in function?
So you get that puppy phase.
That's pretty cool.
Jay (50:13):
What is the puppy raiser?
Can we talk about that realquick, Because I'm sure
someone's like oh my gosh, thatsounds so fun.
All right, Talk about time ofcommitment, responsibilities,
ideal, just you know from a toplevel, and the responsibility to
be so.
I already know there's someoneacross the street for me would
(50:34):
Could be like oh my gosh, I'mempty nesting now.
Got a big house, got a bigbackyard, but I don't want to
have a dog forever.
I want to raise them, I don'twant to give them back.
Here you go, Brandon and Susan.
What's entailed, what's thequalifications and how do they
(50:55):
apply?
Susan (50:57):
I would say qualifications are.
It would be helpful if they'vealready puppy raised before, so
they know what they're gettingthemselves into.
Because I'll be honest with you, jay, and you probably know
this too puppies are a lot ofwork.
It's probably the hardest.
I mean are a lot of work, it'sprobably the hardest, I mean it
is.
It is a big commitment there.
(51:27):
You can't just leave them foreight hours at a time.
You have to be willing to havea time commitment of letting
them out of their kennels,having free time, but giving
them also giving themconstraints, so they're not
going to be running free in yourhouse.
We don't want that either.
So I would say that the biggestthing is just a time commitment
, not minding getting up for thefirst.
(51:51):
Most of the time the puppies areeight to 10 weeks old.
So, yeah, they're going to havea couple, probably maybe four
or five weeks, that they're notgoing to sleep through the night
, that you have to get up andthat you have to let them go to
the bathroom and things.
So, um, you have to take,you'll have to take them to the
vet, um, which of course we willcover all the costs, but it's
um will be very helpful if thepuppy raiser could do that for
(52:16):
us and then just be, just bethere to, like I said, taking
the dog to training class,working with the dog, and it
doesn't have to be hours on end,it could be, you know, 10, 15
minutes a couple of times a dayand it all helps.
Jay (52:36):
I.
You know there's no one personright, but there's just the
right fit there's.
I see what you're talking about, so can I just recap that,
because I want to put in theshow notes and and I wish there
were some kind of.
I'm sure they can contact youthrough the website that I'm
going to put on, but, gosh,there's almost a mission there
to just if, how many, how longwill they have the dog for?
Susan (53:00):
Ideally probably, I would say maybe five, six months, and
then we would move them on toanother puppy raiser for someone
.
So maybe not everybody feelsqualified or called to do a
(53:29):
puppy, but maybe a dog that is alittle older five be somebody
who by this time the dog couldstay in a crate alone for a
couple hours at a time andthings like that.
So it it may not be the samelevel of one-on-one with the
puppy Is the is the dog gets alittle bit older.
Jay (53:50):
So it's to me.
It's not hard to find thesepeople if they know exactly what
they're looking and enoughpeople know about it.
But it's been a challenge,right, because it's hard to ask
someone.
Cindy, I know you have extratime, can you do this?
No, they've got to love, lovethat.
What do they need trainingbesides?
Or do they have a guide?
(54:11):
Or let's say, it's someone whohad a dog and never puppy
trained before Do they have togo through a class or do they
have to be trained?
Susan (54:19):
I would say they could go through a class, I mean, and we
could train them.
We would walk beside them andhelp them.
Another thing, jay, is I didwhen we were looking for puppy
raisers.
We are very, very particular.
I will be honest with you.
(54:42):
I turned a lot of people awayonly because it had to be just
the right fit and either some oftheir circumstances in their
home.
Maybe they had another dog inthe house, and that doesn't mean
it's a no-go.
It has to be a dog that isaccepting of bringing another
dog into the home andunfortunately we had a situation
where the other dog wasn't, andso I can't do that to a dog and
(55:05):
put them in a situation withanother dog in the home.
That would cause a conflict andI don't want to do that to a to
a home.
I don't want to do that to ahomeowner.
I don't want to do that to theowner of the dog either.
So I'm not saying it's a no-goif you already have a dog,
because most everyone, jayanother thing is, most everybody
I know has a dog or two orthree.
So it's hard to find people whocould do this.
Jay (55:30):
I might be perfect for this in a couple of years, though,
okay, you know, I mean maybe not, but I'm saying maybe it'd be a
good recipient.
But I'm saying, you know,there's so much that when people
listen to this podcast, I wantthem to really take this in
right and the show notes and thesummary will have it all.
But what I'm most excited aboutis I think everyone doesn't
(55:55):
peel back the layers of whatyour nonprofit does or what your
organization does.
It's really easy to say, oh,look, there's Sky, but behind
Sky is months and months andhundreds of hours.
A couple of people you brandon,um, training upon training, uh,
(56:20):
harper, learning taking, youknow the next phase and hope
like these are all things thatpeople don't think about and and
I think people like you folksdon't get enough credit for I
mean, we're just we're nottrying to give away three dogs.
It is matching these three pets, these three dogs, with the
(56:46):
right people to impact theirlife for a long time, perhaps
save someone's life by gettingtheir mind out of a dark place,
by caring for someone.
Or, like I said, I've seenpeople who are brash and rough
(57:07):
Soon as the dog comes around.
Oh my gosh, they're like theymelt right.
I mean, I think dogs are greatdiffusers.
Dogs are peacemakers.
I told you guys at Farm BureauFinancial Services, they have a
service dog and they take thedog out.
You know people could be, oh mygosh, this is such a terrible,
(57:29):
like up in Elkhorn where it blewup here.
Um, farm Bureau FinancialServices had their um disaster
response team and on theirresponse team is Molly, and
Molly, the dog, came out and Imean kids, normalcy, you know
(57:50):
parents like oh God, a quickbreak from cleaning up all the
trash and the crap.
You know I just makes me wantto apply.
But I'm saying they're gettingmore than just a dog to hang out
with.
They're getting someone to savetheir life or create a better
quality of life.
(58:11):
Right very well said, jay,absolutely I mean man, I, as we
land this, I I want finalthoughts on, because this is
going to be the first manyyou'll be at our qualifier,
april 12th, where people canmeet.
Uh, hope, purple with the redcollar and sky with the blue
(58:35):
collar, right, right, and by bythen I hope everyone can tell
them apart, because I'm going toteach the world.
We need applications to come inRight and and listen.
It's going to be a while likelet's, let's not overwhelm and
let's not start demanding.
So here's what I'm looking.
I'm looking for people to applyand be patient, because this is
(58:55):
not where we're shopping.
We are matching, we arecalibrating.
We care as much about as you aswe do for your service dog,
right, because if you get itwrong or they get it wrong, it
just doesn't work.
There's too many things to riskhere to just try.
So, as we develop this process,I hope to walk with all of you
(59:23):
through the journey of trulyhaving the world at large.
The veterans, specifically Sky,harper and Hope, find good
people and good people find them, because I think it can only be
a blessing.
Golly, like I, just you justnever know who you're going to
(59:44):
run into and Listen, there's alot of organizations out there,
I think, that say this is whatwe do, this is what we do, but I
haven't seen what they've done.
And I'm not talking about anyone.
I'm talking about anyone.
It is easier to say what yourplan is than to actually execute
(01:00:04):
and do the damn thing.
And you guys have done the damnthing.
I mean beyond Right, and I feelyour hearts and I feel your
passion and I think, I think,your blessings to the veteran
(01:00:25):
community.
I am grateful that you chosespecifically to not dilute what
you're doing and just say thisis where we're going.
And I picture these threehaving a home, you know, within
the next year or so, and Ipicture everyone go.
Oh, my God, I'm telling youit's going to be good, brandon,
(01:00:46):
any parting shots, any, any, anywords of wisdom to land the
plane and then mom Susan we'llhave El Presidente will close us
out.
Brandon (01:01:01):
No, thank you for the opportunity to come on here, and
we do have.
I just want to give a littlebit of plug to the people that
aren't on the screen, but thereare people in the background of
Assistance Dogs.
So our other board members, whoeach kind of, have their own
piece my mom, you know,carefully selected them over the
(01:01:24):
past year.
My sister is on the board.
She's been an awesome part ofthe puppy raising and is quite
close to, quite close to themand she does a lot and so she's
not much for the camera, but sheshould be there April 12th
hopefully, along with our otherboard members.
(01:01:46):
We're all put in the time.
We're all a volunteer board.
We have fun, meeting, growing,learning, and I think this can
be an awesome partnership, ifyou want to call it that, you
know, moving forward just toreally expose ourselves to the
veteran community, and we lookforward to it.
Jay (01:02:10):
Man.
That's awesome and, if you'dlike, later I'll put your board
if you want to recognize them inour show notes as well.
I think it's important you knowthat they get the recognition
too, because they are the silentpeople behind the scenes and I
know one of them's from thepolice department and they're,
they're, they're just, they'rein lockstep with you, susan.
Words of wisdom any partingshots like this is your stage.
Susan (01:02:34):
Oh, first of all I want to thank all the veterans for
the sacrifices that veteransmake and for the not not drawing
(01:03:06):
attention to themselves andsticking a lot of stuff, just
sticking it and not, um, notbeing out there saying, oh look
what I did and I did this or Idid that.
They serve silently.
Most of them, I would say,probably do and I don't know.
(01:03:26):
I just I appreciate it and thisis just a little tiny way to
give back.
Jay (01:03:33):
Oh, this is not tiny, susan , you're a little too humble, I
appreciate that, but let me tellyou there are good people who
deserve these canine companions.
Right, as it says, you know,because your mission here I love
it says enhancing lives throughcanine companions.
I mean, you couldn't be anymore clear.
You couldn't be any more clear,right?
(01:03:54):
No-transcript.
(01:04:25):
Your heart calls upon you toapply, follow the process, be
patient and and it will happen,if it was the right match and if
it's right for you, right,right.
I mean, I know, susan andBrandon, your heart's in the
right place, and I know you'vegot a process and I know many
people will help you.
I do caution those who are justwanting to get a dog because
(01:04:49):
they want a dog.
That's not what this is for.
Someone is hurting right now.
Someone is absent of a of truecompanionship right, of someone
that they can just loveunconditionally and love them
back, like you said.
I mean you could have forgot tofeed them for a day, and they'd
(01:05:11):
be like oh my God, you're thebest Right.
Let's not do that though.
Let's not do that, I'm done.
You're the best Right.
Let's not do that, though.
Susan (01:05:18):
Let's not do that, but you know these labs, they demand
, they know that they'll remindme when it's dinner time.
Jay (01:05:23):
Oh, that's good.
No, that's good, and Iencourage everyone to donate to
this organization to supportthem.
I'm going to put the thewebsite on the show notes as
well.
But Assistance Dogs ofHeartland, you are such a
blessing to the community.
You are a blessing to all theanimals and all the dogs that
(01:05:48):
you come across.
I can sense this.
There's a sense of purpose,sense of drive, and this is the
connection purpose, sense ofdrive, and this is the
connection.
The connection is your gosh,your, it's hope, and it's some
guy or gal and they're waitingout there to be connected and
(01:06:10):
something beautiful is going tohappen.
I can't wait.
I can't wait for that day tohappen.
Intro (01:06:31):
I can't wait.
Well, thank you both for beingon Again.
This is Jay Morations.
That bridge our lives.
Remember every connection hasthe power to transform.
Please subscribe, rate andreview.
Your feedback keeps us going Inthis connected world.
Let's make meaningfulconnections that enrich lives.
(01:06:52):
Now signing off until next timethe Connection, keep connecting
and let's go.
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