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Empowering Service and Sacrifice: Joe Gionti’s Journey with K9Heroes4Heroes to Transform Veteran Lives · Your Thoughts Your Reality

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with Michael Cole, the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Michael is a dual elite certified neuro encoding specialist in coaching and keynote training presentations dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Join him as we delve into the profound realm of neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles procrastination, self-doubt, fear and more.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Hello, hello, hello everybody.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: So I have my new buddy, joe Chianti.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: We were talking for a while I almost forgot we were doing a podcast.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: So a little bit about Joe.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Joe is the founder of Canine Heroes for Heroes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing service dogs to veterans and first responders at no cost.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: This is so needed and we're going to get into this deeper, so I am so honored that we were able to make this happen and get you on here, joe.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: His deep sense of patriotism and respect for veterans, for responders, was instilled from an early age and reinforced by friends and family who served.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: We talked about that a little bit too, and we'll touch base.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Joe was inspired to launch Canine Heroes for Heroes by his time at the Virginia Military Institute and the benefits he experienced from having a dog himself and I'll wait for the question, I couldn't help myself, let's see.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: So Joe's mission reflects his extreme respect and admiration for those who have worn our nation's uniform and serving their local community.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: So thank you, joe.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Really appreciate you having on here and I'm obviously excited to have.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: So if you will just tell us a little bit more about yourself that things maybe I didn't mention.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: Well, no, thank you for having us on.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: Like I was telling you earlier, whenever I say us, I got Loki in my mind because we're almost inseparable.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Again, as you mentioned, our mission is to provide service dogs to veterans and first responders at no cost to them.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: What these dogs are able to do for the veterans and first responders who have a need for them is beyond words.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: It helps them reintegrate back into society in ways maybe they thought they never could again going out in public, maybe the dog is helping them in their home, getting medicine, getting their own leash, things of that nature.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: But, as you mentioned earlier, this came about for the absolute respect and love and admiration I have for anyone that has chosen to wear this nation's uniform or the uniform of their communities.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: I'm a civilian.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: I didn't serve Too old to serve now, but I think we all can serve in our own special way and this is what I found is my way to be able to do that.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: As you mentioned, I had a great grandfather come over from Sicily Before he was even an American citizen.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: He was in the American army in World War.
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: I got out, became a citizen.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: My dad served, uncle served, as you mentioned, the individuals I went to VMI with, ended up serving and I want to give back.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: I want them to know there are civilians out there that absolutely care and will do whatever we can to help them in whatever way they need.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: I love it, man, and that's why I'm here too.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: You know my father served three tours of Vietnam.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: You know, struggled with with things coming back and there's more resources now than there was then, but there's so much more to do there's so much more to do so, honored to be serving with you Truly.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and and I think the veterans and I know they do because they tell me they actually appreciate us doing this as civilians, not having served but wanting to be able to do something for them.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: So it's so humbling standing beside them, knowing what they've been through, and they're thanking me.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: I'm like I haven't done anything.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: You guys have done it all.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: You deserve everything we have to give.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fantastic, Absolutely.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: So tell me a little bit more about what inspired you to start.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: You know Canine for Heroes specifically, and how your personal journey influenced your mission.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: So, again, outside of the patriotism that we already spoke of and the love for dogs, my oldest son was an MMA fighter.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: One of his teammates was a veteran and a dog trainer.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: So I started working with that individual and it just lit the fire.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: And from that point on it is how do I move this mission forward?
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: At that point I was just training my own pet dog.
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: Now, there's a big difference between a pet dog and a working dog.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: Loki's a true working dog, but that really started the passion and then, in my mind, is again always wanted to serve.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Life took me in a different direction.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: So in my mind is how do I give back?
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: How do I give back to these individuals that have given so much?
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: And that's when canine heroes for heroes came about and our motto is healing is healing, the healing of a dog and the healing of a heart.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: That came from we collaborate with American Canine Dynamics.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: They help us train a lot of our dogs and their head trainer, travis Lloyd, is one of my mentors and a peer as well, but he came up with that healing and healing is healing and it just stuck.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: It is so, just so appropriate to our mission.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Okay, so I know we already had a lot of these conversations, but our audience hasn't heard it.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: So how do you train a dog to do this service?
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: So all the dogs now, our organization being smaller and the fact that we're still growing, we get the dog.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: We're not taking shelter dogs.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: We're not taking existing dogs.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: I'm glad there's companies out there that are doing that.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: But I want to make sure I know the complete history of a dog and I'm putting the highest quality dog out in the field that we can.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: So they all start with the normal pet obedience, the sits, the downs, the stays, and we're using the no Po program in a lot of our training.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: It's a methodology of training the dog in a way that the dog believes the behavior they're doing they came up with, as you and I spoke about earlier, just like us.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: If we come up with it or we figure it out on our own, it's going to stick better than if somebody forces it upon us.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: Really get into the psychology of the dog, what makes their mind work and then adding those behaviors.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: So for a service dog to be considered a service dog it has to perform at least three tasks.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: That minimum you can put as many on as you want.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: That could be picking up a leash.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: Picking up medicine could be deep pressure.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: Therapy could be behavior interruption.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: A leash picking up medicine could be deep pressure therapy could be behavior interruption.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: You know, maybe it's I chew on my nails, that's my trigger and the dog would learn when he sees that to interrupt that behavior.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: They can do a block and a cover, giving you space between, maybe you and somebody in front of you, you with somebody behind you.
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: Give you that space Again, that deep pressure therapy, interrupting behavior.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: Our current veteran in the program, her dog, will wake her up if she's having night terrors.
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: He'll give her a hug and people think it's a trick.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: I put it up on my YouTube channel and it got a ton of views.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: It's not a trick, it's something that really helps calm her and it's phenomenal.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: We were at an event myself, debbie, that's her name, and her dog Bella.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: So I'm there with Loki.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: Travis is there with his service dog, cairo.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: Debbie's there with Bella, travis's cousin and who is a trainer as well.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: David is there with his service dog, cobain.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: All there to support a veterans night.
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: But after we did the on-field presentations we all kind of went back up in the stage and behind and the dogs just all chilled together.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: Debbie's dog was doing a little deep pressure therapy, so was David's.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Travis and I were there with our dogs.
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: So that's another key facet of a service dog they have to be able to be around other dogs, other commotion, and stay calm and still focus on their task.
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: One of the things that people are starting to understand is you don't pet a service dog and I get.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Well, why don't?
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I was going to ask.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: People ask why don't you pet a service dog?
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Service dogs have a job, they're working.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: If they're looking outward for love and affection and treats and whatever, then they're not able to focus on their handler we also talk about.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: In reality you shouldn't even acknowledge that dog's in the room.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Loki's a little different story because he's the face of the business.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: People know him.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: That's why they usually want to talk to me.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Because I'm on the dumb end of the leash.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: I don't mind if people talk to him.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: I don't let him pet him and I tell people if they reach for him and I grab quickly.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: I don't mean to be rude, but as much as Loki's responsibility is to take care of me, my responsibility is to take care of him.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely yeah.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: It's fascinating because the dogs can literally feel what you're going through right, I mean they're empathic, let's call it what it is.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, my dogs know when I'm stressed out.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: They know when you know something's going on.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: So yeah, do you when you're training them, are you going with explain that a little bit more as far as the empathic part?
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Or you know when they sense that feeling a little more detailed on the training?
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, Again, we talked a little bit about the behavior interruption.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: There's a really good video on my YouTube and some of my old social media channels of Travis is in a waiting room and it's a real time service dog doing his task.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: He's sitting in this waiting room, Kairos between his legs, and he she can sense that something isn't right and if you don't know what you're looking for, you don't even see it.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: She just kind of lifts her head, nudges him a little bit.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: It brought him back into the present.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: So we're going to teach, we're going to talk to the veteran, a first responder, and find out what that trigger is, and we're going to start teaching the dog to identify with it.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: The one thing that happened to me Loki goes to church with me and we usually stand in the back and I haven't really worked with the behavior interruption with him because I haven't really needed to, but we were in church the one day and my mind was starting to go somewhere.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: I didn't really want it to go.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: He got up, nudged me back into the present and it's just that little behavior.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: They're sensing it, they can feel it.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: They're feeling a change in your body.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: Maybe you're tightening up.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: They can perceive the most minute movement that we don't even realize we did.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: That's why we talk.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: There's a book I read years ago.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: It's Other end of the leash.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: They can feel down the end of the leash.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: If you're tensing up, they're going to feel it down the end of the leash.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: If you're moving just a little bit abnormal, they're going to feel it.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: It's.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: I think their tasks and their abilities are endless.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: It's you know.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I've heard of cadaver dogs, uh, tracking bodies under the water.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: There's leak detection dogs that'll detect odor, a pipeline that's eight, 10 feet buried under the ground.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: So it's just amazing.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: And when you see the comfort that these veterans and first responders feel when they're out in public with their dog, they know they're safe.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: It's amazing with their dog, they know they're safe.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's amazing.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I've seen that it is.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: I've seen the nudge, I've seen, and forgive me because I don't know a lot about this You're good.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Which is why you're here.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: I'm learning from you just as much as people are learning from us.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: So I've seen that, where they just come up and nudge and really it's just like neuron coding.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: It's literally a pattern interrupt, it's an anchor, because you guys have worked on that.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: It's an anchor, I'm safe, I'm okay, it resets.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: It gets your mind out of what you're doing and now you have to focus on your dog.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: It occupies your mind.
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: You know that as well as I do, and it's I've seen it multiple times and I've I've been around other service dog companies and individuals and I love collaborating with them, and that's one of the things I want to stress is, as much as I would love to give every single person that is deserving a service dog, I'm not big enough.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: I'm not global or not global Sorry, I'm not nationwide.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: Yet we collaborate with other service dog companies throughout the country.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: So if I don't have the funding or I don't have a dog available and somebody from California, texas, michigan, wherever reaches out, I can usually steer them to another service dog company because the need is only going to increase, it's not going to get less.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: There's enough room out there for all of us.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: These dogs are between 25 and $30,000 per dog and the more tasks you put on them, the more cost, the more training.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: So it's, you know, that's the gear, that's all the leashes and the collars and the dog beds and the food and the initial veterinary care.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: So we have an initial eligibility form on our website that a veteran or first responder will fill out.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: That'll come to me and my vice president Her name's Megan Wald, out of Kansas City.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: We'll review it.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: If we believe the individual merits the next step, we'll send them the full application.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Now you're starting to get into, if you're military, your DD-214, medical records, consents Because one of the things in the application is we are not only taking care of you, but we have to take care of the dog.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: We have to make sure where we're placing this dog is a good environment, and one of the things is in there as well is we can do a spot audit.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: If you've just turned that dog into a pet or it's not being taken care of properly, we'll take the dog back Because, again, we want to take care of the dog as well.
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: They don't get a choice most of the time on what.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: We control everything.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: We control their food, we control their exercise, we control everything.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: So that's why you see a lot of the videos with me and loki.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: He's running on a treadmill, he's doing this, he's doing that.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: He's my test case.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: I'll apologize to him.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: Like went to that napo training.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: He was back in the hotel room and I went back to the hotel room.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: I'm like, I'm really sorry I messed you up, so it's a continual learning process.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's funny.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: So if you can, can we, can you discuss?
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: You know a dog that's been put into service, that you have seen the impact you?
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: know, yeah, yeah, as I was telling you, the individual in the program her name's Debbie, with her German shepherd Bella Bella, is, I think she just hit a year old.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: She is Debbie's service dog.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: Debbie is now going out in public for her to go to that baseball game.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: Walk out on the mound.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Then, when we all came back and all the players came and gave her a hug, that is not something she could have done even a year ago.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: So can we go back just a little bit and explain a little bit more about Debbie's situation?
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I won't go into extreme detail, but Debbie's an Air Force veteran who had issues from her time in the service, issues outside, and she actually found me at an event.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: We were at a car show, I believe, and she came up and her German Shepherd is only like three months old, which is why we accepted it into the program.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: Normally, as I said, we'll get the puppy ourselves, but she came to the program, she filled out the application and she has been training with American Canine Dynamics and myself now, for it's got to be going on almost well, probably close to a year now, and she is becoming a phenomenal trainer in her own right with Bella.
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: The relationship they have it just gets tighter and tighter every day.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: You know she was so excited I went over there the other day.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: She has a lift chair to get in the basement, to get in the basement.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: She called me and said that Bella was a little afraid of the lift chair.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: So I went over to help her teach Bella how not to be afraid of the lift chair and she was so excited to show me the other tasks that she had taught Bella and it was just amazing.
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: And it's amazing.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: It's hard to put into words just to see her smile, to see her be able to go out in public to take trips with family members.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: It's just absolutely amazing.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this is so needed.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: I mean this literally is so absolutely needed.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: I was going to say.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: We all hear that 22 a day and it breaks my heart and we know it's more than that day and it breaks my heart and we know it's more than that and I and I'm ashamed of myself for not knowing the number of the first responder side, but there's way too many first responders taking their own lives as well and we have to do something to stop that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: And and you know the first responders, you know they don't really, they don't get the same.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: And I'm not taking anything away from the veterans because it's just different.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: So understand right, this is not a blanket statement, it is just um something that I've seen where first responders don't get that transition, that decompression, because it's just turn around and do it again, turn around and do it again, or call after call, et cetera.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: You know we're veterans and my, my friend, you it again, or call after call, et cetera.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: You know we're veterans and my, my friend, you know, danny O'Neill, who's been on here multiple times, you know he didn't get that decompression because of the way you know he lost people literally the day they were leaving service.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: So it's you know.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: So again, I'm not doing a blanket thing here, so, but with the first responders of what they do deal with, I think it's super, super important to get them yeah which is why we included them, and I've talked to plenty of veterans who have said themselves that they admire the first responders also because they're day in and day out getting up not knowing they're going to come back.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they, they give them all the respect as well.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: And we've included as part of the first responders also dispatchers.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: I haven't had any reach out yet, but you think about it, think about a dispatcher.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Nobody ever calls them to say, hey, I'm having a great day.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: You know, it's the worst part of their life when you're calling nine, one one.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: It's tough, you know for everybody, but when that person's in that panic and in that moment and being calm and dealing with that, huge respect for those dispatchers.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Again, it goes back to why I'm doing this.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: Just the utmost respect.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Absolutely so.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: What role does community support play in the success of K9 Heroes for Heroes, and how does it get involved?
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: We couldn't do it without them.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: You know, being a nonprofit, we're completely funded through charitable donations.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: Just today I got invited to another event to set up and share our mission with everybody.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: Event to set up and share our mission with everybody.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: I've got a couple presentations to VFWs, Rotary Clubs, American Legions.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: Some HR clubs invited me just to talk.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: So it's like the show right now with you, Michael.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: It's getting not just myself and Canine Heroes for Heroes out in front of the public, but getting the value of service dogs out in front of the public.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: So yeah, we just keep getting invited to more and more events.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: And one I really want to touch upon is is Loki and I met an individual's name's Nate Mitchell.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: He owns a company, Blue Lake Cleaning, here in my area, joined the chamber of commerce.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: He told me about this event called the deal maker live event, hosted by an individual named Mark Evans.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: So I'm like, all right, I'm going to take the chance and we're going to go to this event.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: So I went down to this event and again, Loki and I are down there in the crowd and it's it's nothing dog related, it's entrepreneurs, how they can all help each other.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: And Mark Evans, big messages, exercise that giving muscle.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to tell you how they exercise that giving muscle.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Mark gave his presentation.
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: Sean Whalen, the founder of Lions, Not Sheep, Apparel, gave his presentation.
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: Now it's question time.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: My hand goes up.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: I ask a question about loans regarding nonprofits.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Sean thinks about it for a minute.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: He says forget about it, Come on upstage.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: So Loki and I went up on stage.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Sean said enough for this loan stuff.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: Who's going to donate a thousand dollars right now?
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: He goes.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: I'll be the first one In about 10 minutes.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: We raised thirty thousand dollars.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: It's individuals like that who also respect the veteran and first responder community and want to help.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: One of the things that Sean said that has stuck with me since that event and this was about a month ago was who do I have to become to?
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: You fill in the two.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: Mine is getting these service dogs out there, Maybe the veteran or first responders.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: Who do I have to become to live the life I used to lead?
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: Or who do I have to become to get back out in public?
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: So it was such a transforming event and we took that money and we already bought a puppy.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: His name's DM, Blueberry.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: So DM for DealMaker Live and Blueberry because he's just a cute or she's a cute little black lab.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: So her training has begun at American Canine Dynamics to become a veteran or first responder service dog.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: On Dynamics, to become a veteran or first responder service dog, but that was solely.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: We earned enough money, or enough money was donated that night to be able to buy a dog and start the training.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I encourage people.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: Number one it's a beautiful story and I know I've heard this story now twice and I got chills both times, so you know it means something.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Thank you for sharing that and just yeah, just what you're doing is absolutely amazing.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: What?
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: First of all, anybody listening now or in the future on podcast forums, any of those things get involved.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: You know, truly get involved.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: If it's, if it's not, with Joe Gionti here or another organization.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: The more we get involved, the more we change the stigma, the more we change the world, and it takes one person contacting one person.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Just take a nap.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: I just want to say that.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: And I always put out there too if we all do a little, we do a lot.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: And if it's Canine Heroes for Heroes, great.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: If it's your local food bank, if it's your local Habitat for Humanity, don't care.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: Pick what your passion is, find it and give to it.
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: Give doesn't necessarily mean money.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Right now, times are challenging.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: People don't have a lot of discretionable income.
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: Share people's posts, comment on their posts, go support them at an event, just be there, tell them you appreciate what they're doing.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Like I said, I stand beside these veterans and first responders and they're thanking me and I'm like thanking me what I do, and you know I didn't do anything.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: I'm humbled to be able to stand beside them and help them in some small way.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: So that's kind of my message to everybody get out there in your community, help out.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: You know, again, the motto is healing is healing.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: Healing dog, healing heart.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: We've got to get out there and help each other, especially men.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: We, we think we got to do it alone.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: We don't want to speak up.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: We keep it inside.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: I'm tough on this.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: I'm that.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: You know that's.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: That's old school thought, and I have that old school thought a lot.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: I'm not a young man, so you know I was raised that way.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: Oh, you want to cry?
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: I'll give you something to cry about, kind of thing you know, and it's it's tough.
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: I let them know as well.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: I may not know what you've gone through, but I can be an ear to listen and you let me know whether you want me to be an active participant in the conversation or you just want me to listen.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: But I'd rather do that a little differently.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: So what do you think?
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: The most important part of the veterans that you've worked with and I know you know people's stories are different the patterns are generally the same and again, I'm not creating a blanket statement, but I've seen it over and over of the most important parts on the success of our veterans.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: Do you have any thoughts or you know when should people start?
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: looking for a service dog Before they even get out.
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: You know understand that trigger.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: I'm working collaborating with an individual.
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: He's an active duty Navy SEAL named Michael Hall.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: He started Hold the Reins.
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: It's equine therapy.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: He's trying to help these special operations community guys get the skills they need before they get out.
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: Again, it goes back to being willing to admit you need some help and then get that help as soon as possible.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: I don't care if you've still got four more years on your commitment.
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: If you need it, you need it.
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: Reach out.
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: So try to do it before you even get out.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Kill the monster while the monster is still small.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Kill the monster before the monster becomes something that's hard to get a hold of.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: I like that saying.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: I'll be using that one Steal it.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: Kill the monster before the monster becomes something that's hard to get a hold of I like that, saying I'll be using that one, steal it, use it, it's yours.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: So, as far as getting again a service dog, I know there are, you know applications and those kinds of things.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: So I mean, is it over?
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: I think it's not like an overwhelming thing.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: So I want people to understand that you know.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: You know canine heroes for heroes or whichever organization, they're not there to be a pain in the ass Use my language, but let's be real, okay, so they're not there to be a problem, they're there to help.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: You know that, yeah.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: That is in their heart.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: So I just sent out an application today to a veteran that reached out Actually, a friend of his reached out because he needed the assistance with it.
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: So she reached out to me.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: He filled out the initial eligibility form and I sent him the full application and in the in the emails.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: If you have any issues, reach out to me.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: We'll help you fill out the application because it can be daunting a little bit because there's a lot of information you have to provide.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: But, like you said, we're not here to be a hindrance.
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: It's not a money making proposition for us.
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: We're a nonprofit.
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: The goal is to get you the dog.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that's so important for you.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Just take a breath, be present and just take an action.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: If you feel like you need that, that assistance, you could use that help.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fantastic what you're doing.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Hey, unfortunately we're getting close to the end of the dang show.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Questions still.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: Well, we'll have to do it again then sometime hey, you know what we'll schedule as soon as we're done here.
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: I have no issue with that, joe it's been an absolute pleasure.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: So, um, first of all, let's go through again, if we can.
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: You know you guys are non-profit.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you guys aren't out there, you know, making all this money and doing this for yourselves because you love and you want to serve and you found that purpose right, just like veterans do.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: So how do people reach out to you again?
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: So you can go to canineheroesforheroescom.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: There is a donate button If you want to donate.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: There's a button for asking questions.
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: There's a button for the initial eligibility form.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: So it's all on there.
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: We've got a fundraiser you can go take a look at.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: I've got my, my Benno fundraiser, military working dog Benno.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: But you can learn all about that on the website.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: But you can go there.
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: All my information is on there my email, my cell phone.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you can reach out to me anyway, and you can donate through PayPal, venmo, cash app.
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: They're all out there.
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: Any you name it, we'll, we can, we can take it.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that and that's fantastic.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: So I just want to make another point really quick.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Is you know, if it's $10, if it's $30,000, it all matters.
• 28:08
  Speaker 4: Yes, and.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: I equate.
• 28:10
  Speaker 3: I know we're running out of time.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: I equate it to the Bible verse where the woman puts her two pennies in there and that's all she had, versus the rich man that put a couple bucks in there.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: Everything means something to me.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: If you donate a dollar, don't apologize for donating a dollar.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: If you donate a thousand dollars, I appreciate that just as much as the dollar.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, cause it all gets you there at some point.
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: It all gets you there at some point.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: So, um, thank you, joe.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: So much Um I I you know probably.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: Well, let me go back one step If, with your permission and I know you already said I don't need permission but I want to add you to our resources page on our website if that's okay for you.
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: I'd be honored, and I'd like to do the same for you as well.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: That'd be fantastic.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: So on the top right sorry I always point the wrong way on the top right-hand corner of the screen you see a blue QR code.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: Please scan that.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: It takes you to empowerperformancestrategiescom for people listening later on Again empowerperformancestrategiescom.
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: There's resources, there's books I've written.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: There's free Facebook communities to join and be part of a community and find that camaraderie again, and things like that.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: And now we're going to have Canine Heroes for Heroes on there as well.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: So check out the resources page, all those things.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: So I just wanted to mention that before I forget, because normally I say at the beginning Joe, but I got so excited about this conversation, I totally forgot about it.
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: I'm truly honored.
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: God bless.
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: I appreciate you taking this time with me.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: No, this has been absolutely fantastic and cannot wait to have you on again.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: So can I get three tips to get?
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: veterans and their families further fast.
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: Reach out to us, ask those questions.
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: There are other organizations out there service dog organizations, there's other equine therapy.
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: Reach out to somebody, reach out to me because I I'm building that database of not only service dog companies but other companies that can help you out, and now you know we have you as well as part of that.
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: So it's just, it's reach out.
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: Really, that's the biggest thing.
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: Don't think you're alone.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: You're not alone amen, man, that that's fantastic.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: And Joe, if there's anybody that I can help with with neuron coding and that kind of thing, please reach out.
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, thank you.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:30
  Speaker 4: That's Loki, you hear?
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: My dog.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's fantastic.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: All right, everybody.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: So anything else you want to add before we go?
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: No, I think we're good.
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: Thank you, god, bless everybody and stay safe and heal yourself.
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: Amen, I love it, joe, truly.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: You know, time is the most valuable resource we have as humans.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: It's the only thing we can't get back.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you for spending the time with us.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: Truly Thank you.
• 30:58
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and on that note we are out of here.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on another insightful journey of your thoughts your reality podcast, with your host, michael Cole.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: We hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: To dive deeper into empowering your thoughts and enhancing your reality, visit empowerperformancestrategiescom.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Remember your thoughts shape your reality, so make them count.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Until next time, stay inspired and keep creating the reality you desire.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Catch you on the next episode.