Soul Touched by Dogs

Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs
Podcast, the show for dog lovers who

see dogs not as toys or tools, but
wise souls worth our respect and care.

I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.

I talk to poor some humans, people who
do great work for dogs and their people.

So come and join us for
today's conversation.

Anke: Hello and welcome, Joe.

I'm super excited to have you here.

Joe: Thank you very much.

I'm, I'm stoked to be here and
honored and blessed that you've

chosen us to be on your show.

I

Anke: mean, people who are going to
listen, they can't see you've got your,

your, um, What's it called now, blanking

on

Joe: the word?

Anke: Logo.

Logo, well, yeah, yeah.

Basically, it kind of shows
already where we're going.

But before we go there, why don't you
give people like the two minute bird's eye

overview where you're based and, you know,

Joe: what's your business?

Copy that.

So I'm Joe Gianti.

I'm the CEO and founder of
Canine Heroes for Heroes.

We're based out of the United
States in Northeast Ohio.

Our mission is to provide service
dogs to veterans and first

responders at no cost to them.

So, we have found the absolute benefit
these dogs can have in the lives of our

veterans and first responders, giving
them the life they want to get back to.

So, that's kind of what we are.

We're a 501c3 non profit,
so we are completely funded

through charitable donations.

And we have a full service kennel that
we partner with called American Canine

Dynamics that is close to me that
does anywhere from pet obedience up to

police dogs and then of course not all
our service dogs, um, they train, so.

And I help as well, obviously.

Well,

Anke: uh, yeah, I mean, I always find,
you know, people in the military, they

get trained to go out into combat,
but they're not really getting a

lot of support when they come back.

Joe: Yeah, I found that as well in, you
know, I'm a veteran support organization.

I'm not a veteran, so that's one of the
things I make clear right off the bat

because I have such respect and admiration
for anybody that has put on the uniform.

Now, as you and I spoke, you
know, they're not going to see the

video, but I'm a little gray in the
beard, so I'm too old to serve now.

This is how I'm going to give back.

And how I got into this space was, um,
growing up as a lifelong martial artist.

My instructor was a police officer.

Then I spent some time at the
Virginia Military Institute.

A lot of the guys I went to school
with ended up going in the service.

Um, buddies from high school.

You know, so that, and my father
was in the military as well.

So that military and first
responder has been part of my life.

I just chose a different path early
on in life and that admiration

and love for what they do.

And, and I always tell a veteran,
sometimes I'll hear them say, well,

I was just this, or I was don't know.

There is no just, you put on the uniform.

I didn't.

There are many that did not, no matter
what you did in the service, you served.

No matter what you did
as a first responder.

So, as I say, the military protects
our freedom, the first responders

protect our life day to day.

So, that's why I got into this
space, and I know If you follow

me on social media, you'll see
often pictures of myself and Loki.

Loki's my service dog, and Loki's the
face of the business, because people

want to look at his face, not mine.

Can't blame him at all on that one.

So he's a good ambassador for the
business, and I know what he does for me.

And I know we don't compare traumas,
that you're not supposed to do all that,

but I haven't been through anything
compared to what these military and

first responders have been through,
but I know what Loki does for me.

I'm a better person.

Because that dog's in my life.

If he's not with me, I'm not happy.

You know, it's rare that he's not with me.

He goes everywhere.

You and I spoke a little earlier.

He was at the gym with me this morning.

You know, he goes to the store with us.

He goes, uh, grocery shopping
and out to restaurants.

And what these dogs can bring
to our veterans and first

responders is, is unbelievable.

Their abilities, and you know this
as well as I do, are, are boundless.

It seems like we're teaching
dogs something new every day.

Yeah, I'm

Anke: curious about two things, like you
sort of, you know, hinted at what these

dogs bring to, you know, veterans lives.

So basically, you know, when somebody
struggles with trauma, whatever the kind,

whatever the trauma is, you know, so
what do you find are the main or perhaps

unexpected things that a dog brings
and also what makes a dog a service

Joe: dog?

So, one of the things I think
it brings up to a lot of them

is that sense of purpose again.

And they're no longer just
caring for themselves, they have

another living being to care for.

So, what these dogs do, it varies
depending on what the individual

needs, but all of our dogs are
given some basic foundations.

One of the important things,
and I'm working on it with Loki,

and it's not something I need at
the moment, but I train him for

it, it's deep pressure therapy.

So, the dog And whatever the trigger
of the individual is, whether it's

they freeze, or handshakes, or they
tense up, the dog will sense it,

and the dog will either Lay on the
person, nudge the person to break their

concentration on whatever they're on now.

Okay, now I've got to focus on my dog.

So what makes a service dog?

They have to perform three tasks.

That's the American with Disabilities Act.

I don't know if it's different,
you know, in other countries.

But they have to perform
at least three tasks.

for that individual.

You know, so we've got
the deep pressure therapy.

Does the dog need to go and pick
up your keys or your medicine?

Or a lot of times if a veteran or
first responder is out in public and

they're a little tense because a large
crowd will teach a block and a cover.

The dogs may be behind you.

So now you know that space behind you
is safe or he'll be in front of you.

And now you've got that distance in front.

One of the things I've actually worked
on with Loki is he'll do a center between

my legs, but his face will be behind me.

So I've got the comfort
of him between my legs.

I know I'm got distance in front of me,
but I also know he's looking behind me.

Or if he's in that cover in
front of me or block in front

of me, he'll be looking behind.

So that's something we've worked on.

It's just a way of giving that
individual that sense of comfort

and support when they're out.

Now it's not an emotional support
animal because there's a difference.

They're doing an actual task and that
leads into kind of another thing.

People often ask, well, why shouldn't you
pet talk to or acknowledge a service dog?

Service dog is working.

If that dog, if you're letting
somebody pet your service dog, now

that dog's going to look outward
for support, for love and affection,

and it breaks them from their job.

So, that's why you don't want to pet
a service dog, or even acknowledge,

a lot of times I'll tell people,
can you please just ignore my dog?

He's working.

And that way he's doing his job.

Now, Loki knows, and we teach this,
when the vest is on, I'm working.

When the vest is off, I'm a puppy.

And initially when we trained, made
a big deal of that vest going on and

him knowing, okay, I'm in work mode.

And I, when we, before we get out
of the car, I'll say harness, he

dips his head in the harness, we put
it on and he goes into work mode.

I

Anke: love that.

Actually, I used to have a neighbor
who was blind and he had a guide dog

and you know, cute as hell, right?

It was so difficult not to try, you
know, but, but yeah, you know, so

you kind of know like you're not
allowed to because yeah, he might

fall over because he's not looking at

Joe: where his person is going, right?

It is hard for people
not to want to pet a dog.

Me too.

I want to go out and pet every dog I see.

I love them all.

But what I love hearing now and I'm
starting to hear more and more of it.

When I'm out in public walking with Loki
and a little kid, Oh, mommy, daddy, a

doggie, and you'll hear the mother or
father say, Hey, that's a service dog.

You can't pet him.

And they start explaining why.

So that makes me happy that that
knowledge is starting to get out there.

Podcasts like this and some other
ones I've been on are going to further

get that out there because we don't
want to interrupt that dog's task.

So

Anke: how does one go about teaching?

You were mentioning before, you know,
somebody was actually trying to.

So if I was to think, well, actually,
you know, Spanish Master Poppy

Lea might make a good service dog.

Like, how does one go about
teach a dog those tasks?

Joe: We start from a puppy
on our, in our organization.

Now, there are people that take rescue
dogs and God bless that they do.

But I'm a small startup, so
I want to know the complete

history and providence of a dog.

So we're raising 'em as puppies.

We're doing that conditioning,
we're getting 'em out in public.

We're socializing them, seeing how they
react in public and to other dogs as well.

People don't, like Loki doesn't
go play with very many other dogs.

They don't need that.

Socialization is just being in the same
space, not wanting to go and fight each

other, or even go up and sniff each other.

So, we're checking the
temperament of the dog.

We're seeing how, what
kind of drive do they have.

You and I kind of spoke
a little bit earlier.

I get asked, are all dogs, are all
our service dogs German Shepherds?

No, not at all.

Loki is a very high drive,
working line German Shepherd.

You can't give that to somebody
that's not very mobile.

Or not very active because it's just
going to be a recipe for failure.

So there's that, you know,
you're socializing them.

You're seeing, you're using food lures and
treat lures as you begin that training.

And just seeing how their temperament is.

Do you, do they have what's necessary?

And then we pick the
dog for the individual.

There's people we've had come up and
say, Oh, I want a Belgian Malinois.

Well, do you want a dog on crack
that you're going to have to deal

with every day of your life and he's
high drive, there's no off switch.

It's sometimes people see the
dogs on the TV, they see them

in the movies, I want that dog.

Yeah, but that may not
be what's best for you.

And our ultimate goal is
what is best for them.

And to steer them in that direction.

Now we think Chocolate Lab, Golden
Doodle, Golden Retriever, you know,

whatever the dog may be, that's
what we think is best for you.

And then the cost of these
dogs vary depending on what

they're being asked to do.

So you can go anywhere.

We give a range of like 15, 000 to 30,
000, all depending on what tasks you're

asking these dogs to do, because it's a
lifelong learning process for them, and

you have to constantly be working with
them so that they know what you want.

I would say if Loki's not doing something.

Correctly, it's because I failed
to properly teach him how to do it.

It's not his fault.

He can only do what I
taught him how to do.

Yeah.

Anke: So do I understand this correctly?

Like your company, what you do is you
train the dogs and you match them up.

With a person.

And then train the person, right?

Because that would be

Joe: a big part too, right?

The hardest part about training
any dog is training the person.

Because they have to be consistent.

You are absolutely right.

So, we'll give all the
dogs this foundation.

They'll have the basic obedience, the
sit, the stay, the down, the retrieve.

But then we start gearing
them towards tasks.

They'll all get the block and cover
and the deep pressure therapy.

And then we'll start expanding upon that.

Yes.

So once we have that, the veteran or
first responder will come in and start

working with the dog as well so that
they know what the dog's commands are.

And, you know, we continue that training
as well when they're done and we send

you home, it's not just, here's your dog,
you know, get out, don't ever come back.

You become part of the Canine Heroes
for Heroes and American Canine Dynamics

family, and we're going to have that
follow up care, that follow up service.

The blessing is I've.

Collaborated with many other non profit
service dog companies, and one in

particular called Mutts with a Mission,
which is in, um, southern United States.

Said, hey, why should you start your
application process from scratch?

Here's ours, make it work for you.

So they gave, it was a 20 page
document, they said, here.

Change it and make it
work what works for you.

So what a blessing that was.

And, you know, another one, Forgotten
Coast Canines, they're in Florida.

They did basically the same thing.

And they've, you know, I've had a lot of
mentors in this, which is, which is just

wonderful because again, why start over?

That makes such a difference, doesn't it?

It's, it's night and day.

There's another one called
Project Canine Hero.

They're a huge non profit.

They provide medical care, rehab, and
rehoming for military working dogs.

I mean, they're huge.

They bring in millions in donations.

I don't think I had started Canine
Heroes for Heroes more than a month.

The CEO and founder of that
reached out to me on LinkedIn

and said, How can I help you?

And we had a, we had a conversation.

So it's, it's been a blessing,
the people I've run across.

People like yourselves, who are
trying to get that word out there.

We've got to give Michael a shout out.

He, you know, he got us in
contact with each other.

And there's going to be many more
events we're going to do together.

The goal is I don't have to be
the person to provide every dog.

I just want to help you get one.

If I get a call or a text or an email from
a veteran or first responder not near me,

I give them other other organizations they
can reach out that might be able to help

them faster and it'll be closer to them.

Anke: Yeah, I think that's such an
important piece, right, to build that

network because I always find like all
good things come through people you

know and if you come, if somebody comes
like recommended, there's a whole.

It's a trusted relationship.

It's a whole different starting
point as if somebody, you know,

emails you out of the blue, you know,
building that network is critical.

Joe: Yeah, you're absolutely right.

If, you know, Michael
introduced us together.

Hey, if Michael gives you the stamp of
approval, that's good enough for me.

I know I've got several
people that vice versa.

If I say, Hey, this guy is a
friend of mine or vice versa.

Okay.

Yeah.

It gives you that extra
set of comfort knowing.

You're already starting off with a good,
reputable company, and that's the thing.

Good, reputable company.

Our goal is to put out, yeah, we're
going to get as many dogs out there

as we can, but we want quality dogs,
so we're not going to rush them.

You know, dogs come back sometimes.

They just, it's not a good fit.

It doesn't pair up well.

They'll come back.

It's just part of the
nature of the business.

Hmm.

I mean,

Anke: you know, I'm, I'm, but like you
said, okay, so who got disqualified?

Like the owner or the dog, right?

Or is it the match?

Or where, where if there are
problems, like, I mean, I guess

you never know, like until

Joe: you actually try it, you
know, but You can have both.

You can have the dog and the, and
the individual be disqualified.

The, the application
process is pretty extensive.

We need to know that you can actually
take care of this dog in a safe, healthy.

Um, positive way.

So we, I've had people come, we, we
attend a lot of events and I've had

people come by the, the booth we're at
and I, you just know it would not be.

In the dog's best interest or a dog's
best interest to get with that individual.

And that's, that's a hard pill
for them to swallow sometimes, but

I'm going to make people angry.

I know I can't make everybody happy.

So I'm going to do the best I can.

And, and however that plays
out is how it plays out.

Anke: But, I mean, the last thing
you want is to give a dog to

somebody who doesn't take care

Joe: of them well.

Right.

Exactly.

Yeah.

So, I mean, the baseline is pretty
simple in that way, isn't it?

Yeah, it absolutely is.

You know, we need to know you can care
for, we need to know that you want it.

We're going to be doing a, um, a post
on November 10th, which is the Marine

Corps birthday, on a dog that we were
able to place with an individual.

As it's more of an emotional support dog,
he wasn't looking for a dog and the dog

wasn't necessarily looking, well the dog
was looking for a new home, but now they

can't, you know, they're inseparable.

So it was, it was, it was nice to know
we could help beyond the service dog.

We found a dog that needed a new
home and you'll see why on the 10th.

And an individual that, yeah,
you know what, I'll take them.

And then it just became a pair that, yeah.

So we want to be a resource
for as many things as we can,

whether it's just knowledge based.

And I tell these veterans and first
responders, I know I have not been

what you've been through, but I
can be an ear to hear, and I can

be an active participant in the
conversation, or I can just listen.

And there are so many veteran support
organizations, individuals like myself

out there that are willing to do
that, even though we don't have your

same experiences, we're here for you.

We'd rather.

hear you, then go to your funeral.

Not the truth.

Anke: So where can people get in touch?

What's the

Joe: best way to reach you?

So right now, the best way is
through social media, either on

LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.

We're K9 Heroes for Heroes.

It's the letter K, number
nine, and the number four.

Still working on the
web page, but, um, yeah.

So social media is the best way right now.

Or, if you go on any social
media, my email, my phone

number, everything's on there.

Shoot me a text, shoot me an email,
smoke signals, whatever you got.

I'll try to get back to
you as soon as I can.

Awesome.

Anke: Well, thank you.

Thank you so much.

I, I kind of can't wait to continue that
conversation because I think it's such

important work and really heartwarming

Joe: for, on all fronts.

I appreciate it so much.

Thank you for having me on.

I look forward to working with
you a lot more in the future too.

I know we've got some, we've
got some things planned for

the not too distant future.

For sure.

Thanks so much for listening.

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And if you know a pawsome human
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That's A N k E at Soul
touched by dogs.com.