The Connection with Jay Miralles

Beyond the Vest: The Real Impact of Service Dog Partnerships

• Jay Miralles • Season 4 • Episode 33

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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 companionship required.

 📍 Follow & Support Us:
🔹 Facebook: Assistance Dogs of the Heartland
🔹 Website: assistancedogsne.org
📧 Email: assistancedogsne@gmail.com


Intro:

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 veteran Jay Morales.

Jay:

Thank you for joining in and, as always, the connection. I love talking about how I get connected to the right people, to good people. Sometimes it takes three to four times to hear the message. Sometimes the connection gets lost by distractions in the world. But the next two guests I have are mother and son team. What a great story about what they do for veterans, but just what they do in general, the history of their family. We'll talk about adoption, international adoption. We'll talk about the business and then we'll talk about what impact they want to make. So today I have Susan, el Presidente and Madre, and we have Brandon, and they're with Assistance Dogs right here, assistance Dogs of the Heartland. I'm going to put the actual. You can see there there's the website. Actual, you can see there, there's the website. So check out assistancedogsneorg and you'll be able to see it in the show notes as well. So, with that being said, brandon, who reached out to who or how did we connect? Oh yeah, you know Dr Jamie Seaman, dr Fit and Fabulous. You know her from school.

Brandon:

Take me to the tailgate. Well, I've known Jamie since I would have been in fifth grade, so known her a long time. Her older brother is in my class. I graduated from Waverly high school back in 2001 and so I've known the both of them for years.

Brandon:

Um, jamie has got involved in so many 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 her brother. Um, you know they've been hosting a tailgate for years. Um, she's been on shows, she's uh, mrs, uh nebraska, so a lot of things. So, and I know she's involved in fifth of march, yeah, uh, which I thought could be a great connection for what we do. And so, um, yeah, and I I've reached out to her. I talked to her a little bit about it last fall and um kind of made a more serious push on it um, recently. So, and luckily she said so, and luckily she said, well, I know some people, let's connect the dots per your intro, and yeah. And then we started talking about a couple of weeks ago, about what we do and what 55 March does.

Jay:

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 we have crossed paths before, again, mission briefings and things at the 50 mile march, but again, sometimes we just we as people don't listen very well. I should say I, susan, tell me what your business is, tell me what your nonprofit is, and then bring us to where we sat for coffee, all the way from us to where we sat for coffee, all the way from there to where we sat for coffee, and then Brandon will come back.

Susan:

Yes, so my business is Bonafide Dog Academy, purchased it February 22nd 2019 from the previous owner. We've been involved in the business training dogs through that company for many years, so the opportunity came for us to purchase it. So we purchased Bonafide Dog Academy and when we purchased it, there was also a nonprofit attached to it, and that nonprofit did raise money for police dogs for training different things out in the community, and we thought it would be a really good thing later on to use it to provide service dogs to veterans.

Jay:

And you have a passion for veterans, let's both of you. I want you to talk about dad for a second, or husband. So your husband was in business with you all the while. Is that right?

Susan:

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 started the business, like I said, february 2019. And from the time we started the business, we immediately started trying to come up with a game plan for the nonprofit. So we visited a couple of different states and a couple of different service dog organizations to figure out what direction we wanted to take, how we wanted to do it, if we wanted a brick and mortar, or what we were going to do. So we traveled, like I said, to several different places and that brought us probably into maybe late summer. My husband even went to Texas and did a training with Service Dogs Inc in Dripping Springs, texas, and learned how they trained rescue dogs, came back home and unfortunately, was diagnosed with cancer in September of 2019, and he passed away November 1st 2019.

Jay:

Okay, and he served our military.

Susan:

My husband did not.

Jay:

Oh, okay, your, what is the?

Susan:

my father did.

Jay:

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 of your father's service, or what did he talk about? Anything, anything about it.

Susan:

Sure, my father was a career military man, um his last. He is a young child. I remember most him being in Vietnam, um, he did two or three different tours. I remember as a little girl standing um Norfolk Naval Air Base, um, or the at the shipyard they're waiting for ships to come in. And I remember I have many brothers and sisters saying is that our dad? Is that our dad? Because he was gone for quite a long time at a time and all these men were there and we would try. Is that our dad? Is that our dad?

Intro:

And so I was one of the younger kids.

Susan:

I was one of the younger children, so probably my memory wasn't as good as theirs, but I remembered I was always in awe of the just the camaraderie and being a part of my father used to take him on his ship and everybody was always so nice to us. He even had foreign dignitaries come to our home for dinner at times. I remember we had Captain Matsumoto from Japan came to our house for dinner and I remember, boy, we got briefed the kids all got briefed on how we were going to act and what we were going to do.

Susan:

I bet so, yes, it was a fun. It was fun but stressful, I think childhood I think it was stressful. My mom was left to bear a lot of the duties, obviously of parenthood when my dad was gone. A lot, yeah.

Jay:

No, and that leads me so, as time goes on, were you able to meet your grandfather?

Brandon:

Oh, yeah, okay, yep.

Brandon:

So I was born on the yeah, I was born on the East coast and was very close with them growing up and they were, they were very close to uh too. So and then when fast forward a little bit, but when we moved to nebraska I was in fourth grade, but I made it back quite a bit and always stayed there. Um, so I just remember my grandma and grandpa having completely different schedules. Grandma would stay up very late reading, she, she, loved to read, and grandpa would be in bed by, like you know, nine o'clock, up by about five. So he was always up early making coffee and just really good memories. Really good memories with him.

Jay:

So let's talk about anything service related or anything that makes you you haven't. You have a affinity or you have a passion to support veterans. Now and I heard that from you and your mom when we sat at Story's coffee shop the other day Tell me what that foundation is built on or what are some of the experiences that shaped that outlook for you, Brandon.

Brandon:

Well, I think it was both both of my grandparents, um, both of my mom's side and my dad's side. Um, so, uh, there was definitely like a a little, uh definitely a feeling of respect towards towards both of them. I was always intriguing, uh, I would always ask them. A lot of respect towards both of them, I was always intriguing. I would always ask them a lot of questions. 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.

Brandon:

I remember my dad's father, Mac. Um, he had he was a naval aviator and he had in the basement of their home spoons from all the airlines he that he frequented throughout the world, so he had 40 different spoons. He stole the spoons, I guess. A lot of relics, um, there were just 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 I think um, and my dad and my mom, given you know, get kind of, given their upbringing, had that sort of embedded, you know, throughout their lives.

Jay:

Yeah, I mean, it's very apparent when both of you talk like there's no question and there's no doubt in my mind of what you think of our veterans or our military, and the why. And now you're on a mission, you know, to truly continue to serve in one of the most selfless ways, right? I mean we're talking about service dogs, right, and that's such a wide array and I think today, I think service animals or service dogs get kind of a bad rap or not a bad rap, but they're used as a crutch and I want to address that later too. But I want to bring your vision together first and I want to talk about what it is that you want to make an impact with the world with, and what your challenge is. Let's talk about, not challenge, but what's the next step for assistance?

Susan:

dogs of Nebraska of Nebraska, I would say our next step is we do have three dogs that we have. So I talked a little bit earlier about kind of what service model we were going to use when Andy and I decided that we wanted to raise the dogs and be puppy raisers and be active and not just leave it to somebody else to do, because raising a puppy though it's hard, but we wanted to make sure they got off to a great foundation and a great start, and having experience in the dog training world, I think that equipped us for that dog training world. I think that equipped us for that. 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 little um hope. The golden retriever just turned a year old and the two lab girls are 11 months old, so the next step for them is we're looking for veterans to match them with.

Jay:

And let's talk about that. Just when we say veterans, right, so everyone wants a dog Everyone's going to say I need a service dog, everyone. I think there's a responsibility that that, that people or that the recipients have towards earning a dog. I think there's a responsibility. It's not a gift, it's not some thing that, oh, happy birthday, like. That's not what we're doing here. We're matching these dogs with the right people. Brandon, when we were speaking, you were kind of talking about some things that not requirements, but talk about, like I'm going to share here on the screen your website and it's going to talk about the. It's going to talk about the application process. So why don't you talk to me about the application itself? Not the process, but just the application. So tell me, as a first step, obviously, tell me about that.

Brandon:

Yeah, sure. So I mean, on the website there is an application link, there is a little bit of a questionnaire. We want to know the background, the applicant's background, years of service, kind of what branch they were in a little bit, a glimpse of their life a little bit, and just get a good feeling about whether we think there's, and just get a good feeling about whether we think there's initially a need here. I think you know we want to really match well, we want it to be something that's going to last for a long time and the dog and the veteran are going to benefit greatly through their relationship. So, um, really we need quality, quality applicants, uh as far as the ability to look after the dog, uh, care for the dog, uh, attend training with the dog, uh, through the through the process, um, to really mold the dog into the service dog that they, that they need and will benefit from, and that can be different levels of of depending on what the needs are for the veteran.

Jay:

Right, and I want to talk about responsible Susan. So you know, hey, I can balance the 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 of your family and that's how you want, that's how I think that you know a dog owner should be thinking about it and I think too often I see mismatches just in society with I see an owner and I see the dog and it's got this service dog jacket on it and I can just in my gut know that this person I can't say if they need it or not, but their responsibility towards the dog or their what do you call it their relationship, their relationship With their pet, with their family pet, is not there. You can see it and then you can see the dog in stress. So talk about ideally. Um, you know, if Jay Morales now I'm just one type of person, right If Jay Morales has a stable family, one child at home, three grown kids who are gone.

Jay:

I've had dogs before and this is not me applying, by the way I had King and I told myself I'm never going to get another German Shepherd because I miss King too much. Chewy is chewy. But I promised myself like, oh you know it's got to be the right dog. But you know, let's say I had a case manager. Let's say I was going through one of our program partners and I wanted to apply for a dog. What are some of the qualities in my lifestyle that that fit the dog? I'm not saying that this is the must have, but let's talk ideally, right? I mean I'm going to start first offense. Like you can't have a dog with cement in an apartment. I'm sorry, it just doesn't work. Could you Maybe? But is it more ideal for someone who has a fenced in area? Whether they rent or own doesn't matter to me. Simple, right, we think it's so simple. What else is important?

Susan:

Susan, I would say that you have the time and that effort, that you want to put the time in, because dogs do not train themselves. They will not train themselves Weird, they won't. So you have to have the time to spend with the dog. You have to really I mean, I'm a passionate dog person. I know you are, jay Brandon is I really believe you have to believe in the healing power of dogs? I really believe that that's. You really have to believe that they're not just really have to believe that they're not just an animal that you feed and take on a walk. They will I just really honestly believe they will be a great partner for you and they will. I guess the thing that sums up a dog best is unconditional love. No matter what happens in your day, you can walk in the door and your dog's tail's wagging and it's excited to see you. And it doesn't care what car you drive, it doesn't care what job you have. It cares about you.

Jay:

That's so good, it doesn't care. It's true, your friends care what kind of dog you are, what kind of car you drive. But I think you said something key. But we as a human Right. So sometimes, when people say I'm getting my dog trained, well, there's training programs that just train the dog, which that's a one way training. I think humans need just as much training to learn how to reciprocate to the dog, to learn how to reciprocate to the dog. So, brandon, let me ask you this Is it important that you see, how important is it for you to reciprocate time and affection to your dog?

Brandon:

Well, I think it's.

Brandon:

I think the time and the dedication overall, if you are to expect results and they are to be a part of your family and they are to you're going to get what you want out of them.

Brandon:

It takes just as much effort to put in and I've seen that with kind of watching from afar for my mom's business. I'm not involved in the day-to-day but um, and just being involved, um, and having dogs and growing up with dogs, um, my dad used to spend countless hours training um for hunt tests, field tests, obedience, different things, agility and um, I think anyone, I think people have this, this idea I'll take them to a few training classes and then I'll bring them home and they'll just be. They'll be what I want them to be and that's just so. That's so far from the truth. The classes and the little bit is just a tool. It's a tool, but you have to reinforce it through the connection with them, like over and over again, daily, daily, to make things work, and I think that's that connection that you get. You can't you know, if you put in, um the effort you're, you're going to get a great result. Um, but it takes, takes time and um little bits every day.

Jay:

Absolutely, susan. You like. You look like you want to add to that. Please do.

Susan:

No, it's. You know, when we're talking about time, it's only snippets of time. A dog doesn't have a long, long attention span that you can go on for. And training and you probably know this, jay, from King or from Chewy You're going to it's probably going to be a good training session. Um can be 15 minutes. But if you do it a couple of times a day or 20 minutes a day, um, you know it doesn't have to be hours on end and you're probably not going to get good results because your dog is going to check out they're not going to their. Their attention span especially um, a young, adolescent lab doesn't have the greatest attention span, but over time and it's just practicing all the time. It's just little things and you practice it and eventually they get it. And being consistent that's another key is just being consistent, letting the dogs know what you expect from them.

Jay:

I want to move to the psychological effect or the behavioral effect of a dog or a human towards a dog and the dog towards human. I am not trained, I have no background in this. I have zero formal education. Matter of fact, I probably haven't Googled much, but I'm going to use some deductive reasoning. Matter of fact, I probably haven't Googled much, but I'm going to use some deductive reasoning. When you show something outside of yourself that you love it, or you dedicate the time to show and display love, it's almost too difficult to not share in that yourself. Am I right, Like if I'm loving and I'm showing and I'm taking care of? I mean, I know people neglect themselves, but introducing your service dog to other people is not just hey, this is not some dog you just purchased at a kennel and now you're just going to feed it. Let it go to the bathroom and let it be in family pictures. Bathroom and let it be in family pictures. This is a lifelong companion which I think the service animal relationship is different, am I right?

Jay:

That's correct. Yes, expand on the relationship and all the things that they should and shouldn't do. When it comes to the therapeutic part of having a dog, because you said it is very therapeutic and healing let's talk about the healing.

Susan:

The dogs. So we train our puppies from early on. They are a part of our home and our family and Hope was living with the puppy raiser and she had the same experience and they're very. They've been given and shown love. So they give you love and they show you love. And, yes, I let them on the couch because that's where probably some, a veteran is probably going to sit and watch TV or do whatever, so the dog is going to be there with them. So, yes, the dog is on the couch.

Susan:

I sit down on the couch and one of the labs will come up and they constantly want to be on you. They want to be right up next to you and it's I really honestly believe it's early on. That's how we were nurturing to them and they just automatically will come and just sit and it's amazing how you can. They already do like deep pressure therapy and we haven't formally given that a cue to say you know or has been trained for service dog work, press and Sully will press and give you pressure on your leg. Maybe that's going to be for someone who has who's starting to get anxious or whatever, and the dog's going to press against them and lean into them, and so it's there inherently. It's amazing, jay, how much they are intuitive and they just automatically will do those things.

Jay:

I know there's a connection in Brandon. You know, have you witnessed or a part of yourself, you know, a dog knows when you're stressed out. I mean, is that, oh yeah, how have you seen that? Or have you experienced that yourself?

Brandon:

I think a lot. Well, I think first, firsthand. I think, when my family was was kind of going through my dad's illness years ago, you know he couldn't quite do what he wanted to do or what he was able to do, and I would, when I'd go over to the house and see my family, there would always be one or two dogs like inherently right next to him, giving him attention in a kind of a stressful. And they know, they know the situation, they know the situation was a little off right and and, and they knew something was was a miss and they were really there for him, um, during just an odd, weird kind of time, and um, um, and I saw that kind of, and I saw that for shana. We still have a couple of those dogs today. So, um, even the stressful, the stress of you know that my mom goes through as a business owner and comes home and, um, she has dogs that are very attached to her, so she can tell you some funny stories, I'm sure.

Jay:

Well, you know, susan, the other thing too is I think what I know a service dog is not for is to talk it off a ledge, which I mean. There are people that are beyond the need of a service dog, right, I think I don't know what the psychiatric or the mental health status should be, but when someone is abusive or they're going to the dog for counseling, that is not the right, that is not what it's for. I think it's to be aware, it's to 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 lash out against their dogs Like caution people against. You know, or tell me about that when you see people mistreating their service dogs.

Susan:

Thankfully, jay, I haven't seen too much of that, but what I do see more is maybe people who stick service dog things on their dog and they aren't really trained. They they're in, jay, it's there is no. Believe it or not, there, there is no. Um, well, the ADA I mean to to qualify for a service dog. It's through the ADA and um, people have rights and dogs have rights, but it is not. I mean, anybody can really put a service dog vest on their dog and say that they're a service dog. There's no piece of paper that you can show that shows that, yes, this is a service dog. I will say that we train our dogs. They have to pass a public access test, they have to go through training, they have to pass their canine good citizen. They can't be aggressive toward people or other dogs and that's why you know raising the dogs are so important.

Susan:

You can't take these dogs to the dog park. So people say, oh, I want to exercise my dog, I want to go run my dog. No, you can't take them to the dog park. These are not dog park dogs, these dogs. One thing happens at a dog park to this dog and you've just ruined the dog because it's never going to, it won't recover. So these are. You have to treat them differently than a pet dog, but at the same token the dog is. I would hope the dog would be a part of your family, and not just for the veteran, but be there for the other family too. I mean, even though it's not technically their dog, but that doesn't say that somebody else can't feed it or take it for a walk or do something for that dog. But yeah, it needs to be a part of the family and everybody has to have a buy-in.

Jay:

Yes, that's important. That's what I was waiting for. Everyone has to have a buy-in and the reason I'm saying that is you can't just bring a dog in and 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 for disaster. Household is they understand that that is Jay, it is Jay's dog, it is for Jay. But as time goes on, you integrate the dog into your house. You ensure that all the family members respect, just like as if you would if you had a, just like Chewy, right? I mean, chewy is not a service dog, he's a. I think he's a, he's a show business dog, but he, he thinks he's an actor, but it's.

Jay:

I never really thought too much about this until you and Brandon and I really sat down and I've been really thinking about this. I mean, I've I've known of service dogs, service animals, all these, all the fights about them, all the rights about them, all the hype about them, all the hey, let's take my dog to Lowe's and slap a sticker on it and say, you know, and it's an aggressive dog wanting to bite everybody Like no, I think you know people need to realize that they need to put as much time into companionship and stewardship. As much time into companionship and stewardship, right, not just ownership, stewardship, and the dog's going to. I mean, look, hope, here's hope, Hope is going to reciprocate. I mean I'm not applying, I'm just I'm not applying right now.

Jay:

I'm just saying and Harper right, and Sky. I mean saying and and Harper right, and and Sky. I mean yes, they're cute, yes, they're adorable, but they are a responsibility of the recipient. So let's talk about this. So, challenges that you've had. So when I say challenges, it's not easy just to say you got a new car. You know what I mean. Like congratulations, it's a new diamond ring, whatever. We're talking about compatibility, matching, temperament, responsibility, obligation, right, this is not something. So so what do you? What? How are so? We talked about proceeding with the 50 mile march. I'm just going to forward this a little bit.

Susan:

Sure.

Jay:

We want to expose your organization to as many people as we can, your organization to as many people as we can, and we talked about a process of interviewing people. Right, just because you apply doesn'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 put you back in the queue, which is respectful, I think. Just because she's not ready today doesn't mean she's ready later. But what are some other things like to match or to make sure that we find the right people, like some of the things we've discussed?

Brandon:

Well, I think, finding, I think, through community events, getting out there in the community, exposing ourselves to a wide ranging array of people with different backgrounds, different ages and this is new.

Brandon:

Maybe this is something that a veteran has never thought about. Maybe this is something that they've been going through treatment, maybe they've been on medication just to be calm, you know, maybe this is a way to get them off their medication or change their life in another way.

Brandon:

Or maybe they've had pets in the past but they're not a great fit for what they, what they really need. So, um, we're really young, I mean, 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 best to right now, fill our pipeline with, with potential candidates, um, and build and build from 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 great organizations who my mom's been in talk with and, um, outside of des moines, that has tons of dogs, tons of puppy raisers, big pipeline. Do we want to be that level? Kind of figuring that out. We need to figure out what we're comfortable with and but really it's it's finding some, finding some qualified candidates and finding some good homes in 2025 is the biggest thing.

Jay:

One veteran life is enough. One, just one. One life impacted is more than none. And how do we count is more than none? And how do we count? Well, let's do 75 per quart. Like there's no magic number in my heart that these three dogs, sky, harper and Hope, are gonna change lives. They're gonna impact lives, period, end of story. I don't care, and so I think you're doing it the right way. I want to talk about the behind the scenes and maybe, if you're comfortable, asking or answering this oh, it's so cute. Look, they're so trained.

Susan:

How much time and money goes into one adorable hope and money goes into one adorable hope, more than what we'll ever get out. I mean, it's quite a dog food, Dog food is expensive. Jay.

Jay:

Yes.

Susan:

Yeah, quality dog food. I guess you can say it's, it's a lot, it's it is a lot of time, and it is and it's and it takes a community, it takes a village, really, I haven't. You know, we started with Hope in my home and Hope did go to a puppy raiser and you know we bless them because we they were. They were somebody that had trained their dog through Bonafide and they reached out and said, hey, we have other dogs in the home but we really feel like we want to give back and so can we. And so we interviewed him, we talked to him and they did an amazing job with Hope, taking her to training classes and working with her.

Susan:

And I mean very unselfish people who puppy raise and they do it knowing that they're not going to keep the dog.

Susan:

They do it.

Susan:

They, when Hope got kennel cough and gave it to the other dogs in the house, they were very kind and nice and so they, you know, they just adjusted and they took Hope just like they would their own dog.

Susan:

And when Hope had her heat cycle at age 10 months, which none of us were quite expecting, they were like I said, oh, are you telling, do you need us to take her and they're like no, we got this, we've never dealt with this before, but no, we're, we're, we're doing this, and so it's been amazing just to see. And then they're being an advocate for hope, and then they tell people when they're out on their walks what hope is doing and why they're maybe treating hope differently, or no, your dog can't meet hope right now, or no, your dog can't be off leash playing with Hope right now because we're on a mission, we're doing loose leash walking training tonight, and so it's kind of been fun that they've had an opportunity to be a part of Hope's life and they're phenomenal people and I think they blessed Hope and Hope blessed them too.

Jay:

That's pretty awesome. You know them too. That's that's pretty awesome. You know you're a 501c3 organization, 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 service dogs is hard already, whether it's for profit or nonprofit, I don't care. Right, we're a nonprofit.

Jay:

I mean in every sense of the word, like we're a back profit actually, right so so let's talk about you know what are some of the things I mean. Are you comfortable discussing your operating budget for years? You've only been up and around for a year. How much did you raise last year?

Susan:

Just in hard dollars. Brendan, our financial guy, do you want to talk about our fundraiser?

Brandon:

Yeah, we had a really good fundraiser in the fall. I think we raised in the vicinity of $5,000. Was that about right? Yeah, at the fundraiser specifically, but throughout the year we did get some great. The donors heard about us, heard about what we were doing, just made some know, made some free will donations.

Brandon:

We try to make it easy for that process to happen. You know, my mom didn't allude to it, but the real dollars cost of a service dog, by the time a veteran would get it, would probably be in the neighborhood of $20,000. And that's cost of the dog. Uh, raising time, um, puppy, puppy raisers have a very important job but they don't have to pay for anything. Uh, we're, we're, we're footing the bill for the dog, the care, the vet, uh, the food, all those things. So every, you know, every, every bit counts. Um, luckily we, we do have some good resources connected with um, with bonafide dog Academy, to get a little better rate on the training aspect of it. Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's not cheap and, um, we'll continue to look for ways to get our name out there and and fundraise as well. That's going to be obviously important too absolutely.

Jay:

I keep, I can't, I need to correct myself assistance dogs of the heartland, not of nebraska. I just keep looking at the website assistance dogs of the heartland. So you know, I know that, again, in your first year going to your second year, you know you have big goals. I want to remind you, don't forget, I would apply to the 50 Mile March Foundation because 10 percent of the money we raise every year goes in the form that people can apply for, like small organization, grassroots organizations like yours. You would make a big, you know, and I know you applied last year just saying hey, but now that we know you, now that we're here, now that we can see what you do, we want to, you know, walk in step with you. No pun intended, but we have a great audience, you know, and that that's and I'm probably manifesting this more than anything because you're a good organization and so are we. I want to expose you to our partners, to our, our, our supporters, our partners, our audience, the people we help, because I know, through some of the guidance of the organizations, people know who deserve these dogs.

Jay:

People will say you know, I mean, now listen, if you say who wants a dog, everyone's going to raise their hand, right, but I think, putting them through the paces of a process so that they can earn it and that they can prove themselves. And when someone says, yeah, you know that step nah, forget it. That's too much for me. Hey, no problem, phil, or whatever. Sorry, phil, if you're listening, but you have to have a true line and say this is what we want, and the only way for you to make no exceptions is to have a healthy pipeline, as Brandon said. Yes, Yep.

Jay:

What are some of your goals in the next year for assistance dogs of the heartline? Let's talk future Like. What are some of the things you hope most Like. Let's manifest. Let's not be realistic. Let's talk about what is it that we wish for, that we see. What is the vision?

Susan:

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 so long. I don't want. I do have people who will come, I do. Just recently, I've heard from two different people just through conversations with friends and family, and one person said oh, my cousin's on a list for a dog and it's going to be another two or three years. And said, oh, my cousin's on a list for a dog and it's going to be another two or three years. And that's a long time to wait for a dog. Maybe the veteran, I mean a lot can happen in two and three years. So I don't want veterans to have to wait so long. No one likes to wait that long. No one likes to wait for anything that long. And so well, they say good things are worth waiting for.

Susan:

However, I want more puppies, I want more. I want, but I want puppy raisers. I want people to step up and see yes, you can do it. People will feel like, oh, I'm not qualified, I don't, I don't know how to do this. Well, we'll train you, We'll be there, right there with you the whole time.

Susan:

You're not doing it alone. You're doing it in conjunction with us, just like Hope's new foster family. They already have plenty of experience, but we're walking alongside them and we're telling you know, we did a great handover of. This is what Hope knows. This is what we need Hope to work on, and so my goal would be to get more dogs in the pipeline, 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. And first and foremost, we look for 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 the dog is healthy and that they have a great temperament and with those two things, today it's going to it. It helps along the process of training a dog.

Jay:

Oh my gosh, I mean so. So, brandon, is it even possible 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 Phil and Phil is a professional breeder and he's donating two to three dogs a quarter. Like, is that the hope, or is that? Can that even happen?

Susan:

Yes, it can, and I kind of have my eye on some breeders that I will ask and the breeder that I have used for some labs. They're out of North Platte and it's funny they state very clearly on their website and to people we do not give any of our dogs to institutions. Our dogs are only family dogs. And when I reached out to them and had a conversation and explained what I was doing with these dogs, they go oh well, that's different. Fathers and our grandfathers were in the middle. They're very, very patriotic, god-loving, you know, just salt of the earth, midwestern, you know, love our country and the veterans. And they said oh well, we'll give you the dog, we'll let you do this, but maybe they're not going to be, you know, so it's. But yes, I do hope down the road that we will be able to partner with some breeders.

Jay:

Yeah, no, I like that, Brandon. What are some of the things that the nonprofit needs right now? If there was a wish list, you know, like this long right, like if there was a sheet of paper and you said, jay, write this down, what are some of the things? Besides treasure, besides right, besides money, what else are the things? Like mom just said, hey, susan just 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 world and let's start building these relationships. And, susan, someone watching this right now is going to go, my cousin Shannon, who lives down in Missouri. She doesn't, like, I'm telling you this is someone's going to find this. I mean, brandon found me through Jamie, right, and I'm sure she'll apologize to you later. But no, brandon, seriously, like what else? What?

Brandon:

else does it not count. I think exposure could be huge because I think people in the community could help in different ways. They might know a veteran that could potentially apply. They might know someone who could be a potential donor. They might know of a foundation that is looking for organizations in Omaha or Nebraska to donate, donate to. We alluded. We alluded to puppy raising. Puppy raising is a would be huge.

Brandon:

My mother already has too many dogs, so getting more puppies is a bit overwhelming. So that is an awesome way to get involved and help. And, yes, um, it'll give you, you know, the ability to help, the ability to assist. Um, you get a dog for a little bit. 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 of like hey, I helped raise this dog that turned into a service dog and how cool is that? A lot of people don't probably maybe want to commit. You get a healthy lab dog. That could be a 10, 15-year commitment. Well, what if you want to help out while they're young and maybe you're in function? So you get that puppy phase. That's pretty cool.

Jay:

What is the puppy raiser? Can we talk about that real quick, Because I'm sure someone's like oh my gosh, that sounds so fun.

Jay:

All right, Talk about time of commitment, responsibilities, ideal, just you know from a top level, and the responsibility to be so. I already know there's someone across the street for me would Could be like oh my gosh, I'm empty nesting now. Got a big house, got a big backyard, but I don't want to have a dog forever. I want to raise them, I don't want to give them back. Here you go, Brandon and Susan. What's entailed, what's the qualifications and how do they apply?

Susan:

I would say qualifications are. It would be helpful if they've already puppy raised before, so they know what they're getting themselves into. Because I'll be honest with you, jay, and you probably know this too puppies are a lot of work. It's probably the hardest. I mean are a lot of work, it's probably the hardest, I mean it is. It is a big commitment there.

Susan:

You can't just leave them for eight hours at a time. You have to be willing to have a time commitment of letting them out of their kennels, having free time, but giving them also giving them constraints, so they're not going to be running free in your house. We don't want that either. So I would say that the biggest thing is just a time commitment, not minding getting up for the first.

Susan:

Most of the time the puppies are eight to 10 weeks old. So, yeah, they're going to have a couple, probably maybe four or five weeks, that they're not going to sleep through the night, that you have to get up and that 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 will cover all the costs, but it's um will be very helpful if the puppy raiser could do that for us and then just be, just be there 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 day and it all helps.

Jay:

I. You know there's no one person right, 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 the show notes and and I wish there were some kind of. I'm sure they can contact you through the website that I'm going to put on, but, gosh, there's almost a mission there to just if, how many, how long will they have the dog for?

Susan:

Ideally probably, I would say maybe five, six months, and then we would move them on to another puppy raiser for someone. So maybe not everybody feels qualified or called to do a puppy, but maybe a dog that is a little older five be somebody who by this time the dog could stay in a crate alone for a couple hours at a time and things like that. So it it may not be the same level of one-on-one with the puppy Is the is the dog gets a little bit older.

Jay:

So it's to me. It's not hard to find these people if they know exactly what they're looking and enough people know about it. But it's been a challenge, right, because it's hard to ask someone. Cindy, I know you have extra time, can you do this? No, they've got to love, love that. What do they need training besides? Or do they have a guide? Or let's say, it's someone who had a dog and never puppy trained before Do they have to go through a class or do they have to be trained?

Susan:

I would say they could go through a class, I mean, and we could train them. We would walk beside them and help them. Another thing, jay, is I did when we were looking for puppy raisers. We are very, very particular. I will be honest with you.

Susan:

I turned a lot of people away only because it had to be just the right fit and either some of their circumstances in their home. Maybe they had another dog in the house, and that doesn't mean it's a no-go. It has to be a dog that is accepting of bringing another dog into the home and unfortunately we had a situation where the other dog wasn't, and so I can't do that to a dog and put them in a situation with another dog in the home. That would cause a conflict and I don't want to do that to a to a home. I don't want to do that to a homeowner. I don't want to do that to the owner of the dog either. So I'm not saying it's a no-go if you already have a dog, because most everyone, jay another thing is, most everybody I know has a dog or two or three. So it's hard to find people who could do this.

Jay:

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 want them to really take this in right and the show notes and the summary will have it all. But what I'm most excited about is I think everyone doesn't peel back the layers of what your 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 and hundreds of hours.

Jay:

A couple of people you brandon, um, training upon training, uh, harper, learning taking, you know the next phase and hope like these are all things that people don't think about and and I think people like you folks don't get enough credit for I mean, we're just we're not trying to give away three dogs. It is matching these three pets, these three dogs, with the right people to impact their life for a long time, perhaps save someone's life by getting their mind out of a dark place, by caring for someone. Or, like I said, I've seen people who are brash and rough Soon as the dog comes around. Oh my gosh, they're like they melt right. I mean, I think dogs are great diffusers. Dogs are peacemakers.

Jay:

I told you guys at Farm Bureau Financial Services, they have a service dog and they take the dog out. You know people could be, oh my gosh, this is such a terrible, like up in Elkhorn where it blew up here. Um, farm Bureau Financial Services had their um disaster response team and on their response team is Molly, and Molly, the dog, came out and I mean kids, normalcy, you know parents like oh God, a quick break from cleaning up all the trash and the crap. You know I just makes me want to apply. But I'm saying they're getting more than just a dog to hang out with. They're getting someone to save their life or create a better quality of life.

Jay:

Right very well said, jay, absolutely I mean man, I, as we land this, I I want final thoughts on, because this is going to be the first many you'll be at our qualifier, april 12th, where people can meet. Uh, hope, purple with the red collar and sky with the blue collar, right, right, and by by then I hope everyone can tell them apart, because I'm going to teach the world. We need applications to come in Right and and listen. It's going to be a while like let's, let's not overwhelm and let's not start demanding. So here's what I'm looking. I'm looking for people to apply and be patient, because this is not where we're shopping. We are matching, we are calibrating. We care as much about as you as we do for your service dog, right, because if you get it wrong or they get it wrong, it just doesn't work. There's too many things to risk here to just try. So, as we develop this process, I hope to walk with all of you through the journey of truly having 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 just never know who you're going to run into and Listen, there's a lot of organizations out there, I think, that say this is what we do, this is what we do, but I haven't seen what they've done.

Jay:

And I'm not talking about anyone. I'm talking about anyone. It is easier to say what your plan is than to actually execute and do the damn thing. And you guys have done the damn thing. I mean beyond Right, and I feel your hearts and I feel your passion and I think, I think, your blessings to the veteran community. I am grateful that you chose specifically to not dilute what you're doing and just say this is where we're going. And I picture these three having a home, you know, within the next year or so, and I picture everyone go. Oh, my God, I'm telling you it's going to be good, brandon, any parting shots, any, any, any words of wisdom to land the plane and then mom Susan we'll have El Presidente will close us out.

Brandon:

No, thank you for the opportunity to come on here, and we do have. I just want to give a little bit of plug to the people that aren't on the screen, but there are people in the background of Assistance Dogs. So our other board members, who each kind of, have their own piece my mom, you know, carefully selected them over the past year. My sister is on the board. She's been an awesome part of the puppy raising and is quite close to, quite close to them and she does a lot and so she's not much for the camera, but she should be there April 12th hopefully, along with our other board members. 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, if you want to call it that, you know, moving forward just to really expose ourselves to the veteran community, and we look forward to it.

Jay:

Man. That's awesome and, if you'd like, later I'll put your board if you want to recognize them in our show notes as well. I think it's important you know that they get the recognition too, because they are the silent people behind the scenes and I know one of them's from the police department and they're, they're, they're just, they're in lockstep with you, susan. Words of wisdom any parting shots like this is your stage.

Susan:

Oh, first of all I want to thank all the veterans for the sacrifices that veterans make and for the not not drawing attention to themselves and sticking a lot of stuff, just sticking it and not, um, not being out there saying, oh look what I did and I did this or I did that. They serve silently. Most of them, I would say, probably do and I don't know. I just I appreciate it and this is just a little tiny way to give back.

Jay:

Oh, this is not tiny, susan, you're a little too humble, I appreciate that, but let me tell you 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 through canine companions. I mean, you couldn't be any more clear. You couldn't be any more clear, right? No-transcript. Your heart calls upon you to apply, 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 and Brandon, your heart's in the right place, and I know you've got a process and I know many people will help you.

Jay:

I do caution those who are just wanting to get a dog because they want a dog. That's not what this is for. Someone is hurting right now. Someone is absent of a of true companionship right, of someone that they can just love unconditionally and love them back, like you said. I mean you could have forgot to feed them for a day, and they'd be like oh my God, you're the best 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:

Let's not do that, but you know these labs, they demand, they know that they'll remind me when it's dinner time.

Jay:

Oh, that's good. No, that's good, and I encourage everyone to donate to this organization to support them. I'm going to put the the website on the show notes as well. But Assistance Dogs of Heartland, you are such a blessing to the community. You are a blessing to all the animals and all the dogs that you come across. I can sense this. There's a sense of purpose, sense of drive, and this is the connection purpose, sense of drive, and this is the connection. The connection is your gosh, your, it's hope, and it's some guy or gal and they're waiting out there to be connected and something beautiful is going to happen. I can't wait. I can't wait for that day to happen.

Intro:

I can't wait. Well, thank you both for being on Again. This is Jay Morations. That bridge our lives. Remember every connection has the power to transform. Please subscribe, rate and review. Your feedback keeps us going In this connected world. Let's make meaningful connections that enrich lives. Now signing off until next time the Connection, keep connecting and let's go.