Calling All Creatures Presents Paws of Purpose: Hope, Healing, and Service Dogs

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Good evening everybody, and welcome to calling our creatures. I'm
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your host Lori and tonight we are talking, or I
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should say I not we. I am talking to Rebecca Minelga.
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And Rebecca is many different things. She's an author, she's
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a speaker, she's an advocate for therapy dogs and service
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dogs and stuff like that, and she is also a
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guide dog puppy raiser and she helps raise puppies to
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become guides for blind people. So I think it's going
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to be a great podcast tonight. And Rebecca, thank you
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so much for being on the show tonight.
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Yeah. Absolutely, thank you so much for having me.
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Yeah.
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So let's just talk a little bit first off about
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what kind of inspired your passion for dogs and the
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human animal bond.
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Yeah, for sure. I am one of those kids who
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grew up always loving dogs, always wanted a dog. And unfortunately,
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about the time that I was ten years old and
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my parents' old dog passed away, we went through a
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lot of family upheaval and a dog was not in
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the picture. But I asked and asked and asked for years.
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The year I left for college, my parents bought my
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baby brother his first dog.
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Oh wow, right, so.
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That was like that thing that you take with you
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and you know, going forward, someday I'm going to get
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to be a dog person. I miss it. I want
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it back like this, this is the thing that I
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just really want to do. And that was kind of
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combined with In middle school, I read this amazing book.
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It's called Follow My Leader, and it's from the nineteen sixties,
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so it's a little old. It hasn't fully aged perfectly,
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but it's about a boy who goes blind when a
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firecracker explodes in his face and he gets a guide dog,
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and his whole life changes when he gets that guide dog.
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And there was just something in that book that spoke
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to me at such a deep visceral level. I took
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that book to college with me. You know. I got married,
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we moved across the country, and years and years later,
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we are sitting at a local county fair watching the
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kids do their guide dog puppy ev ows and I
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just kind of leaned over to my husband and I
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was like, I have always wanted to do that, and
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he was so funny. He shrugged his shoulders and he
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kind of bumped his shoulder into mine and said, you're
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an adult go do it right. And so that was
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like that seed of a dream that was planted when
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I was up middle schooler, took twenty years to blossom,
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but when it finally got to blossom, within two weeks
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we were involved. We were connected. Three months later we
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brought home our first puppy, and two months after that
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we started raising full time. And with the exception of
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having a couple of kids and taking some little breaks
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here and there, we've pretty much been raising guide dogs
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now for the last twenty years.
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And so this all started out with you and your
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husband sitting in the park and watching the evaws going.
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On right exactly.
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So that's pretty cool that, you know, you saw that
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and then you just kind of was like, Okay, this
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is what I want to do, so I'm going to
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do it.
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Yeah. It's an amazing thing about being an adult, right
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you get to go do the things you want to.
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Do right exactly exactly. Sometimes you don't get to do
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the things you want to do, but yeah, most of
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the time.
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Right that that is true. That is true. But like
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we were young adults, we had just graduated college. It
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was one of those like at the time we hadn't
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quite realized that as adults, you get to do the
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things you want to do. You don't have to wait
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for permission, You just get to go do it right.
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Right, So tell us what it's like to actually raise
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puppies for the Guide Dog pro Yeah.
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Absolutely, So. We get puppies when they are about eight
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weeks old. They are teeny tiny little balls of fluff.
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They do receive a little bit of socialization at the
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Guide Dog's campus, but they really come to us as
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a pretty blank slate, and we keep them until they're
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about fourteen to sixteen months old, and during that intervening
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year and then some we are responsible for doing their
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basic and advanced of obedience, all of their public socialization,
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and then all of their house breaking and house manners.
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So at the end of their time with us, the
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goal is that we have a really confident, resilient, calm
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dog that's able to function in the world without being scared,
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without being overwhelmed, very easily, without being overstimulated. They're pleasant
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to live with, they're pleasant to be out in public with.
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We kind of joke that we take them through high
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school and then we send them back to Guide Dogs,
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and that's like going away to college and then if
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they pass their guide dog training, they get partnered with
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a person who is blind or visually disabled, and we
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kind of joke that that's like marriage for them. So
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you get to kind of raise up a kid. It's
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a puppy, but like a kid, the same way you
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would raise up your child over twenty twenty five years,
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but we get to do it all in the span
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of about two years. Right, So it's incredibly rewarding. They're
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super duper cute when they're little. It is a lot
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of work because obviously you are doing everything from scratch.
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You're doing everything from this is your name to really
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complex things like we're going to take the light rail
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down into the city and we're going to go out
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to dinner, and then we're going to go take in
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a show, and then at eleven o'clock at night, we're
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going to get back on the light rail and take
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it another hour back out of the city. So we
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really get to build them from very simple you know,
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come when you're called sit down on the floor, to
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these really complex tasks that take a great deal of
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confidence and resilience to accomplish.
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Right, Right, So.
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You guys, I mean, you guys haven't for you said,
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what the first year of their life, and then they
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go on through to see if they're.
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Actually going to qualify to become guide dogs.
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Correct, absolutely, yes, yeah, so we have them for about
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a year. About seventy percent of dogs that go through
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the puppy raising program do go back for advanced training,
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but only about half of all of our total dogs
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pass as a service dog.
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Okay, so what qualities actually make a great guide dog
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or therapy dog?
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Yeah, so two different things. So the qualities that make
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a great guide dog is we want a dog that's
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very confident or at least very resilient, and those are
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kind of two different things when we're talking about dog psychology.
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A confident dog is a dog that feels comfortable and
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calm and able to function in any environment, whereas a
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resilient dog is a dog that's maybe not fully confident
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in every environment, but they have that bounce backness so
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if something does surprise them or something seems a little spooky,
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they're able to process that and be like, oh, oh,
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I'm okay, okay, let's get back to work now. So
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we want a dog that's really confident, really resilient, and
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we want dogs that want to work. And that's one
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of the really wonderful things about raising service dogs. These
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dogs are not going to do it if they don't
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want to. So we often get this question of well,
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you're making the dog work, what if they don't want to?
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And as someone who has now worked twenty years with them,
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it's so easy to say, you know, if they didn't
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want to, they wouldn't. And I've had puppies that just decided,
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you know what, this life is not for me. I
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don't enjoy that. I don't want to do it anymore.
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And I have a great relationship. And guide dogs takes
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that in and they say, yeah, I think you're right.
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I think this dog is not cut out to be
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a service dog. Here's a couple other options. Do you
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think any of these are a good match? No, okay,
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let's just go ahead and let them be a pet,
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because it sounds like they are going to be happiest
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as a pet. So at no point are we ever
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making a dog do something that they don't want to do.
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The dogs that pass are dogs that love being in public,
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they love working, they love being with their person, they
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love interacting with their person, they love getting food reward
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for doing things well. They love getting praise. They are
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so happy and fulfilled, and it's just beautiful to watch
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that relationship unfold over months and years and to see
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that dog. I have not launched a child yet, but
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I have a hunch it's a lot like when you
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launch your child and see them succeeding in college and
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then later on in life that there's just such a
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joy in you that you've got to be a part
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of launching them into that. Does that make sense?
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Yeah, yeah, no, perfect sense.
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Yeah. A therapy dog, on the other hand, it's a
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very different job. So therapy dogs are handled by one
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handler for the emotional benefit of others, And so I
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don't necessarily want a dog that can work all day
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and then go home and still play fetch for an
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hour in the backyard. I want a much more chill,
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calm dog. I want the dog that's happy to lay
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on the couch or roll over on her back to
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get her belly scratched. They do still have to be
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super calm if they spook easily. You know, kids move fast.
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If you're in a hospital environment, you've got sounds, you've
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got sense, you've got crutches and wheelchairs and assistive devices,
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all of which could potentially be spooky if you don't
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have a well socialized puppy. But really, at the end
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of the day, what I want from that dog is
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a much more like calm, let's hang out, you can
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pet me, sure, I'll just lay here. This is the
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life for me kind of a dog. And so often
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what works out really well is a dog that's not
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a great guide dog maybe a fabulous therapy dog, because
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the things that make them not a great guide dog
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make them a great therapy dog, and vice versa. If
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you have a dog that's maybe not a great therapy dog,
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they might need to work a little harder, and then
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you've got a great service dog.
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Candidate right right now in the program. Do you guys
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kind of stick with specific breeds of dogs for the
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guide dog program or does it matter?
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We do guide dogs for the blind, uses Labrador Retrievers
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and Golden Retrievers. We do all of our breeding in
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house and through partnerships with other service dog organizations, so
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we make sure that our bloodlines are really robust. We
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breed first for medical and second for temperament. We don't
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breed for body confirmation and at all, so we do
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get some kind of funny looking dogs. They do not
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look like show labs or show goldens at all, but
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we know that they are very very healthy. They have
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healthy hips, they have healthy knees, they have healthy eyes,
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and then we know that they're very trainable and they
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want to work and be with their people and do
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all of those kinds of things. Historically, we have used
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other types of dogs, and there are other organizations even
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today that use other types of dogs, but the program
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we work with at Guide Dogs for the Blind is
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just labs and Goldens and then Lab golden crosses.
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Okay, well, and I know I've heard that labs and
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Goldens usually make the better guide dogs, I think, and
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stuff like that, so I don't necessarily, I mean, I
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don't know if it's something in the genetics or just
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because of their temperaments or what, but that's what I've heard,
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is they make better guide dogs.
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Yeah. It really does come down to that temperament. They
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want to please you. They're very food motivated and praise motivated,
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and they don't really have a stubborn streak. So yeah,
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very much. Is that temperament. They want to work in
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partnership with you.
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Yeah, So do you happen to have a story you
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could share about a dog that changed your life that
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you were raising.
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I do. I have an incredibly precious story about a
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dog that changed my life. He is not one of
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my guide dog puppies. He actually came before them. But
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I say that he is the one who changed my
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life because he is the one who taught me that
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I had everything I needed to be successful raising guide dogs.
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So I mentioned that growing up, you know, I wanted
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a dog and it never came to pass. Got married,
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moved across the country. You know, we're settling into our
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new home. My husband was very aware that I wanted
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a dog, and we'd been in the Pacific Northwest for
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about two months. We moved here in the dead of winter,
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so it had rained for sixty days straight, and he said, Hey,
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on a Saturday, let's just go to the shelter and
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see what's there. And we all know that when that
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conversation happens, we're not just seeing what's there, like we
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were coming home with a dog that day, right, So
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we went to a couple of different shelters, and I
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absolutely fell in love with this dog based on his looks.
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First rookie mistake, right. And he was just the cutest thing.
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And he had these big pricked up ears and this
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big flagging tail, and he was like white with kind
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of black splotches and a brown blaze down his nose
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and a speckled pattern all over the rest of his body.
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And he just looked like a dog's dog. And he
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and I got along and it was great, and I
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was like, this is the dog. We're taking this dog
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home today, Like I said, rookie mistake. It turned out
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that we had adopted an unsocialized Australian cat dog, which
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is a tough breed to begin with, but to get
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one that was an adolescent and unsocialized meant that he
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needed so much to just exist in the world. He
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needed so much training, he needed so much support, He
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needed so many outlets for his brain and his body.
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And I was not equipped. I had been the girl
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who had loved dogs from my books from the couch
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on the TV for years and years and years. Had
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no idea how to actually train a dog at this
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point in time, and so everything I learned I learned
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from Tag and he, oh my goodness, he was such
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a basket case. He was such a hot mess, and
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we loved him. I loved him to pieces. And it
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was because of all that hard work, all that training
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that we had to do, all the behavior that we
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had to learn, all the tools to help support him
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and help him be successful. When I did have that
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opportunity to go raise guide dogs, and it's a little
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intimidating at first. There's a lot of jargon. At the time,
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we had a manual that was like an inch thick.
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It is not anymore, but at the time it was
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like an inch thick full of training. It's a lot
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to show up and be like, I want to raise
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a guide dog, and then it's like drinking from a
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fire hose, how much training and how much it kind
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of just comes at you. Especially then. It's a little
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different now, it's a little gentler now, but then it
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was just a lot to take in. And as my
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husband and I were there just absorbing all of these
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are the rules, and this is the training, and this
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is how you do it, and these are the tools
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and this is the equipment. There very much was this
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sense of if you had thrown all this at me,
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and I had never trained a dog in my life,
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I would be so overwhelmed. I would quit, like I
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would walk away. There's no way I would be able
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to do this. But because we had gone through that
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with Tag, like he is the dog who changed my life,
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because he taught me how to be a dog owner,
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how to train, how to raise, how to read body language,
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how to do all of those things that I now
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rely on every single day to raise Guide dog puppies.
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Not a single one of these puppies would have ever
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been raised or been successful if not for him. So
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he not only changed my life, most people don't realize
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he's changed the lives of all the partners of all
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the puppies that I've raised, because I wouldn't have raised
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them if not for him.
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Right right, Well, that's pretty cool that you know he
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was able to I mean he didn't know, but in
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a sense he was helping you to get to where
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you needed to be for the puppies.
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Absolutely right. Absolutely nothing is wasted, Nothing is ever.
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Wasted, right right?
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Yeah? Yeah, And I will say that our program, as
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I said, is much gentler now we've done some serious vamps.
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It's a lot friendlier, it's a lot slower to kind
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of take it all in. So if any listeners are like,
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oh my gosh, this sounds really fun. Oh wait, no,
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this doesn't sound fun anymore. Just rest assured. It is
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a very gentle program now. It just wasn't when I
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started twenty years ago.
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Right, things evolve and.
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Changed, right, yes, and gentle in the sense of like
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you're not overwhelmed and slammed. Not gentle in the sense
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of how we treat the dogs. We are always gentle
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and wonderful and.
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Kind with the dogs, right exactly. So what do you
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think or what have you experienced as some of the
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maybe biggest misconceptions that people have about service and therapy
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or guide dogs.
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Yeah, there are so many misconceptions, but I think a
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couple of the biggest ones that I would want to
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touch on are really questions that we always get all
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the time. And the first one, the biggest one, is
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do they ever just get to be a dog? Because
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most people see them out in public wearing their harness,
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wearing their jacket or their vest. They're working. We say,
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you know, no, I'm sorry, you can't pet them right now,
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they're working, And there is rather this sense of well,
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when do they get to be a dog? Like when
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do they get to play. Do they ever just get
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to have fun? And so one of the things that
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we always like to talk about is, you know, when
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you go to work for the day, you have your
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special clothes that you might wear for work, whether that's
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a uniform or maybe it's just something a little nicer
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than you might wear on the weekends. But when you
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go home at the end of the day, you maybe
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change into some more comfortable clothes. You know, you're not
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during your work day going out and while you're supposed
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to be working, you know, throwing a frisbee with your coworkers,
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that's work time. But when you go home in the evening,
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maybe you go out in your backyard with your family
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and you toss around a frisbee, or you go down
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to the beach and you put your feet in the water.
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And so, yes, the answer is yes, they absolutely get
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to be dogs, they get to be pets, they get
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to have fun, they get to do all of those things.
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Just most people don't get to see that because when
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they're in public, they're wearing the uniform, they're doing the work,
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and then they go home for the day and they
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lay on the couch and they take a nap and
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they run in the backyard and they do all the
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things that dogs love to do, because hey, it's not
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work time anymore. So I would say that that's probably
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the biggest misconception that we run across that people are like,
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if they're working all the time, do they ever get
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to have fun? And the answer is absolutely yes, and
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they are so incredibly loved and adored. I've got two
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sons that are nine and thirteen, and if I don't
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have enough time to spend an hour hanging out with
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the dog, at the end of the day, you can
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bet that they are climbing in her kennel with her,
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or they are on the floor cuddling her, or they're
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playing fetch with her in the backyard, like she is
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a part of the family for as long as she's
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being in our program. And every person that graduates with
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a dog, it's the same for them too. These dogs
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become the loved parts of the.
378
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Family, right yeah, you know.
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And it's the same because I train service dogs for
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veterans and stuff like that with PTSD and stuff, and
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it's the same thing.
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You know.
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The dogs are taught on the clock, off the clock,
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so when they're on the clock, they're working, and then
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when the vest comes off for the harness comes off
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and stuff, and they're you know, told playtime or off
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the clock.
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They get to go be a dog.
389
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Absolutely, and sometimes the difference is amazing. Sometimes they're a
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little chill about it. But some dogs, you're like, are
391
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you even the same dog?
392
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Right exactly? They get those zoomies and they're.
393
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Running right and they're like, I get it, I get it.
394
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The vest is off, I get to play now.
395
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Right exactly. So yeah, they get to have fun.
396
00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.160
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
397
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:54.920
So how do these dogs help people heal emotionally as
398
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well as physically.
399
00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:01.599
Well, I don't think it's any secret that the emotional
400
00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:05.960
relationship that exists between a service dog and a service
401
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:10.000
dog handler is intense and deep and very very important.
402
00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.079
And I will say that even being a puppy raizor,
403
00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:19.880
I have benefited tremendously from the emotional support of having
404
00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.400
a dog in my life at different periods of different
405
00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:27.440
things that I've gone through. So absolutely there's a huge
406
00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.960
emotional component. There's just a couple of things that I
407
00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:34.480
would speak to with that. The first is that Guide
408
00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:37.039
Dogs for the Blind has what's called a Canine Buddy
409
00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:42.759
program and so they are recognizing that some people aren't
410
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:44.880
quite old enough yet for a guide dog. Their children,
411
00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:47.400
they're on a guide dog path, but they're just not
412
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.039
ready yet for a guide dog. And then some people
413
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:51.880
are on the other end of their journey where they've
414
00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:54.440
maybe had a guide dog for a prolonged period of time,
415
00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.839
or maybe multiple guide dogs, and they no longer live
416
00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:00.680
what we call a guide dog life, but they miss
417
00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:05.720
that companionship. And so our Canine Buddy program actually matches
418
00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:09.319
dogs in our program that aren't quite cut out to
419
00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:11.319
be a guide dog. They just don't quite have what
420
00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:16.319
it takes. But then we match them with either older
421
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:21.640
or younger people who really want that experience of having
422
00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:25.039
a companion. For the children, obviously, learning how to care
423
00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:26.799
for a dog, learning what it's like to live in
424
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partnership with a dog. For our older clients that have
425
00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:33.480
retired from the guide dog lifestyle, to just continue to
426
00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.440
have that be a part of their lives is so
427
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:41.160
incredibly beneficial, and so as an organization, Guide Dogs has
428
00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:46.079
launched this program out of that recognition of how important
429
00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:50.920
that emotional connection remains even after your guide dog journey
430
00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:56.680
might end. I would also say I'm super proud that
431
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Guide Dogs is one of the only schools in the
432
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world that has a staff member whose specific job it
433
00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:11.440
is to help our clients process the grief of retiring
434
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their guide dogs. And what we are told as razors
435
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.759
and kind of people in this community, the relationship between
436
00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:24.880
a guide dog and their handler is often even deeper
437
00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:31.000
than a marriage relationship, than a parent child relationship. Just
438
00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:33.920
kind of choking up even thinking about what that's like.
439
00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:39.440
But they have a finite life, they have a finite
440
00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:42.799
working life, and they have a finite living life, and
441
00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:45.720
so then to have to let go of that kind
442
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:51.039
of a relationship once more than once sometimes has an
443
00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:56.920
incredible impact on the person. And so that's one of
444
00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:01.319
many reasons that I love Guide Dogs for them, because
445
00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:06.279
they've recognized that this is an intense bond, and they
446
00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:12.039
have someone whose job it is to shepherd clients through
447
00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:15.039
that process and be available to them and talk to
448
00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:19.160
them and has the background to be supportive and to
449
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:23.880
help them as they process that grief. And this particular
450
00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:26.839
person for us happens to be a guide dog user himself,
451
00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:29.680
and so not only can he speak to it from
452
00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:32.519
kind of more of a therapeutic position, but he can
453
00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:35.599
actually speak to it from a lived experience of having
454
00:24:35.640 --> 00:24:38.920
had multiple guide dogs in his own life, and that's
455
00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:42.640
not something that's super common yet. My hope that it
456
00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:45.960
would become more so with time. But that emotional bond
457
00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:50.960
is so so deep, and it's so so important that
458
00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.640
we are caring not only for the person and the
459
00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:58.359
body and the partnership, but also for the mind and
460
00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.319
the spirit and all of the other pieces is that
461
00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:05.160
come into building this kind of relationship that a client
462
00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.400
and a guide dog.
463
00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:10.519
Hat right, And these dogs give these people, you know,
464
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so much more freedom and ability to go about and
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live a more normal life than they would otherwise.
466
00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:20.519
Absolutely right. And so part of that grief is the
467
00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.240
realization that I don't get to live that life anymore
468
00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:25.880
until I get my next dog, if.
469
00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:29.839
I get another dog, right, Yeah.
470
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:31.319
Yeah, it is multifaceted.
471
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:38.079
Yeah. So you were also part of a little documentary
472
00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:42.240
about guide dogs and they had you in there and
473
00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:44.559
you were talking about raising puppies. What was it like
474
00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.839
to be able to do that documentary?
475
00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:52.119
Yeah, that was one of the coolest experiences of our lives.
476
00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.319
So we were one of the families featured as a
477
00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:01.160
razor home in the twenty eighteen, Dog you Menory, we
478
00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:06.400
joke dog youmnory called pick of the litter, and they
479
00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:11.079
followed a litter of puppies from birth all the way
480
00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:14.200
through the training. So they were in the kennels when
481
00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:18.559
the puppies were born. They came out to the different
482
00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:22.519
puppy ceremonies where we get to receive the baby puppies
483
00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:25.039
at eight weeks old. They came out to our home
484
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and filmed in our home many many times over the
485
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course of the subsequent year. And then ultimately when the
486
00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:37.839
dogs were recalled back to campus, we call it recall
487
00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:39.480
when they get to go back to campus for their
488
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.759
advanced training. They continued to follow the dogs through that
489
00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:46.839
advanced training and then through whatever the future held for them,
490
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:50.119
whether that was partnership. I believe we had two of
491
00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:54.160
the five puppies graduate as guide dogs. One was accepted
492
00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.799
as a breeder for guide dogs for the blind. So
493
00:26:56.839 --> 00:26:58.400
I mentioned that we do do all of our own
494
00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:02.039
breeding in house, and so the very best of the
495
00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:05.519
best yet to become a breeder. And then we had
496
00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:11.640
I believe two career changes out of that litter, which
497
00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.160
means a puppy that didn't make it through the formal training.
498
00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:17.599
We don't like to use the word funky. Every dog
499
00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:21.400
finds its perfect career. That career might be as a pet,
500
00:27:21.559 --> 00:27:23.119
so we use the term career.
501
00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:24.119
Changed, right.
502
00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:27.519
But yeah, it was really cool to get to be
503
00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:30.039
a part of it. I had never done anything like
504
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:33.319
that before. We had some concerns early on, oh, is
505
00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:35.400
this going to be like reality TV where they're going
506
00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:38.880
to tell a story that's really different from what's actually happening.
507
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:43.319
But the team that did it, KTF Films, they were amazing.
508
00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.079
They were in the Bay Area, which is where our
509
00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:48.880
primary campus is. They had worked with guide dogs in
510
00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:52.519
the past on some news stories, and so they really
511
00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:56.119
brought such a sense of we want to tell the
512
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.519
uplifting part of this story. We want to tell the
513
00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:00.200
story of what it's like to be a raiser, want
514
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:01.680
to tell the story of what it's like to receive
515
00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:04.960
a guide dog. And they did such a fabulous job.
516
00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:08.400
Last I checked, Pick of the Letter is the number
517
00:28:08.440 --> 00:28:12.440
two dog rated movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes.
518
00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:15.440
It is only beat out by one hundred and one dollmatians.
519
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:17.759
Oh very nice, that's pretty cool.
520
00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:18.079
Yes.
521
00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:23.799
Yeah, so at the beginning I did mention too, that
522
00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:27.559
you are an author and you've written some novels inspired
523
00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:31.119
by your experience, how much of your real life finds
524
00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:32.640
its way into your stories.
525
00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:38.400
Oh, my goodness, so so much so. My debut novel
526
00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:40.880
came out about a year ago. It is a sweet
527
00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.200
sports romance where love is a four legged word, and
528
00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:47.160
it follows a young woman who's been through a traumatic
529
00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:50.799
event and she is sublimating that trauma through working with
530
00:28:50.880 --> 00:28:55.839
her therapy dog, helping children who have been hospitalized, and
531
00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:58.960
through that process she meets a little boy who needs
532
00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.599
much more than a first friend, meets his father as well,
533
00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:05.680
and realizes that she has a second chance, not only
534
00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:09.720
at love, but more importantly at living. And this was
535
00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:12.400
in the publishing world, we call it our heart book,
536
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:14.599
the book that you write, because it was the book
537
00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:18.400
that you needed. And so so much of that book
538
00:29:18.519 --> 00:29:21.279
came out of some of the challenges of my own past,
539
00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:24.519
and out of all of my work with guide dogs
540
00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:27.880
over years and years and years of puppy raising. Obviously
541
00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:30.680
in the story it's a therapy dog, not a service
542
00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:34.880
dog candidate, but in kind of a really funny way
543
00:29:35.079 --> 00:29:39.200
of life imitating art. Write about the time that that
544
00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:44.240
book published. One of my guide dog puppies career changed.
545
00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:47.400
She did not flunk, she career changed, and they asked
546
00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:49.359
us if we wanted to bring her home, and we
547
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:53.480
said absolutely, And about three months later we had finished
548
00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:56.039
our training and she is now a working therapy dog
549
00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:59.839
in two local school districts and we also do corporate support.
550
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:02.720
And so as I get ready for the launch of
551
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:06.079
book two in that series here in September, it's been
552
00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:09.920
really fun to kind of write that second book very
553
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:13.119
much through the lens of I now work with children
554
00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:16.759
in schools with a therapy dog, and getting to write
555
00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:19.880
that story about a teacher who has a traumatic event
556
00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:22.759
in the classroom and then the therapy dog that comes
557
00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:27.000
in to help her and her students recover really felt
558
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:30.400
so true to life, to what my therapy dog and
559
00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:34.559
I are doing right now in classrooms every week all
560
00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:35.200
year long.
561
00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:38.160
Nice. That's really cool.
562
00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:40.839
So if you guys are out there and y'all are
563
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:44.279
listening into this podcast, go see if you can find
564
00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:47.359
Rebecca's books and check them out because it does relate
565
00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:48.559
to her real life stuff.
566
00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:50.200
Yeah.
567
00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:53.839
Absolutely, So what do you hope readers will take away
568
00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:55.720
after they finish one of your books.
569
00:30:57.319 --> 00:31:00.359
I try to write kind of on the edge of
570
00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:05.359
women's fiction and sweet romance, so real, big, real world issues,
571
00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:08.599
but with a really accessible commercial voice that you would
572
00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:12.079
tend to find in kind of trade paperbacks. And so
573
00:31:12.200 --> 00:31:14.839
what I really hope that readers take away is a
574
00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:20.079
story of hope and resiliency. You know, we talk about
575
00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:24.400
it as being cozy, as being recovery. I don't know
576
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:27.000
that I always feel like that really matches mind the
577
00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:29.160
trigger warnings, because they are in the fronts of every
578
00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:33.079
one of my books. But really, what I hope is
579
00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:35.960
that every story I write is a story of hope
580
00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:40.000
and resiliency. It is a story that says who you
581
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:42.799
are now is not who you will be forever. What
582
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:45.640
you are feeling and experiencing right now is not what
583
00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:49.759
you will feel and experience forever. There are second chances,
584
00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:53.799
There are ways to move forward and to move past,
585
00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:58.960
and to live full, wonderful lives even after incredible pain
586
00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:02.440
and incredible different dificulty. And a lot of that does
587
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:05.359
come out of some of my experiences in my own life.
588
00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:07.759
And as I said, you know, I wrote the book
589
00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:09.759
that I needed to read, the book that said, yes,
590
00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:13.119
what you're doing is hard, and there is something that
591
00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:16.319
will come after and this will never not be hard,
592
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:21.279
but you will grow enough to see how the person
593
00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:26.400
you will become was shaped by this. And if you're
594
00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:32.519
proud of the person you become, you value the shape.
595
00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:37.079
And that's really what I want people to take away,
596
00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:41.240
that there is hope, there's a future, there is opportunity
597
00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:46.839
to have a second chance, and all of that alongside
598
00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:51.119
these beautiful relationships. Because I always make sure that that
599
00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.480
dog character is not a side character. They are a
600
00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:57.559
main character. They have a personality, they have a way
601
00:32:57.559 --> 00:33:01.839
of interacting with all the different diferent characters that is
602
00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:07.440
very whole and very filled, and that comes obviously from
603
00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:09.160
all of the work that I've done with dogs over
604
00:33:09.160 --> 00:33:13.039
the years, and seeing all their different personalities.
605
00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:15.920
And speaking about all the dogs over the years, and
606
00:33:15.960 --> 00:33:19.039
the work since you've worked with so many dogs over
607
00:33:19.079 --> 00:33:21.880
the years, what's something you think you've learned from the
608
00:33:21.960 --> 00:33:24.119
dogs that's maybe made you a better person.
609
00:33:26.279 --> 00:33:29.599
Oh, that is such a great question. I love that question.
610
00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:36.119
I have learned, Oh gosh, so many things, so many things.
611
00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:40.640
Some of the most important, I would say are consistency.
612
00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:45.480
The importance of consistency, just showing up every day, making
613
00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:49.759
sure the rules don't change, being really upfront these are
614
00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:54.119
my expectations, and not being wishy washy about it. I
615
00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:57.480
joke often that I raise guide dogs and two sons
616
00:33:57.640 --> 00:34:00.759
in that order, and it really is true because everything
617
00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:03.839
I know about raising children I learned from raising dogs.
618
00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:06.880
It's a slower process, but a lot of the same
619
00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:12.760
rules apply. That's true, right. And then the other thing
620
00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:14.679
I think that I've learned that has made me a
621
00:34:14.679 --> 00:34:22.519
better person is dogs are so incredibly attuned to body language,
622
00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:27.280
to scent, to emotion, all of those things that when
623
00:34:27.320 --> 00:34:33.920
you're carrying something stressful, they know it and it impacts them.
624
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:37.360
And it's really easy to get frustrated and be like,
625
00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:39.639
why are you not doing the thing? I just want
626
00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:41.960
you to do the thing, whether it's a sit or
627
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:45.039
a down or a heel position, Why are you not
628
00:34:45.119 --> 00:34:50.320
doing the thing? And they're like little mirrors, and so
629
00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:54.119
if you are willing to look in that mirror, they're
630
00:34:54.119 --> 00:34:56.679
going to show you while I'm not doing the thing
631
00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:00.360
because I'm confused, I'm stressed. I don't know what you
632
00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:03.199
want from me, because the energy that you brought in
633
00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:06.039
isn't the energy that's going to help me be successful.
634
00:35:07.239 --> 00:35:09.519
And so I think you could probably really simplify it
635
00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:13.639
by saying they've taught me to be more emotionally stable,
636
00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:19.159
because that's what they need to be successful. But really
637
00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:24.920
it's so much about recognizing how much they take in
638
00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:29.000
that doesn't exist in our human world. The sense don't exist,
639
00:35:29.079 --> 00:35:32.119
the body language isn't the same, and so all of
640
00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:35.360
those things that we bring into that interaction at any
641
00:35:35.400 --> 00:35:39.519
given point in time, they reflect that back. And if
642
00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:43.159
you're calm and you're consistent, and you're asking for things
643
00:35:43.199 --> 00:35:47.039
that they are capable of, and you're aware of their thresholds,
644
00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:51.159
they're going to be successful. But if you're coming into
645
00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:57.880
it stressed, upset, carrying things, short, tempered, irritated, all of
646
00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:01.800
those things going to carry that too and not be
647
00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:08.039
as successful. And so really making sure that you yourself
648
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:12.119
are grounded and centered before you bring yourself to them
649
00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:17.880
has been such a lesson for me, because I am
650
00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:22.079
a person who tends to just like, wow, I'll spray
651
00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:26.400
my emotions all around, feel really frustrated right now, right
652
00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:29.440
and they're like, I'm not going to be successful if
653
00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:31.039
you do that. Could you just bring it down a
654
00:36:31.079 --> 00:36:33.639
notch for me? And so really having to stop and
655
00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:36.960
be like, oh, okay, okay, I'm now in a place
656
00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:41.880
where I can help you because I have centered myself right.
657
00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:42.960
Yeah.
658
00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:45.480
Yeah.
659
00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:48.880
So, Now, if someone out there would like to support
660
00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:52.800
organizations that train, diet or service dogs, even if they
661
00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:56.639
can't volunteer, what can they what advice or how can
662
00:36:56.679 --> 00:36:58.400
they support those organizations?
663
00:36:59.320 --> 00:37:02.760
Absolutely, there are a lot of ways even if you
664
00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:05.519
can't volunteer. Now, obviously I would say please do volunteer.
665
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:08.440
There are guide dog schools all over the United States,
666
00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:12.079
and there are other service dog organizations as well all
667
00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:16.400
over the United States ways that if you can't volunteer,
668
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:20.800
you can still help support. The number one way is
669
00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:25.960
through education and advocacy. We are facing what we call
670
00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:29.159
a service dog epidemic or a fake service dog epidemic,
671
00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:36.039
and we do run across fake service dogs, emotional support animals, untrained, undertrained,
672
00:37:36.159 --> 00:37:39.800
undersocialized dogs in the public sector all the time, and
673
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:42.039
a lot of that does come from a place of
674
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:48.639
genuine ignorance, a genuine not understanding. So I always always
675
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:53.320
encourage people first and foremost to get educated. Do your reading,
676
00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:56.519
go on these websites, find out more about service dogs,
677
00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:00.639
and then become an advocate, be someone who tells their
678
00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:05.239
friends and family, hey guess what I learned, you know,
679
00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.719
and really starts to become a voice for service dog users.
680
00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:12.840
All over the world really, but even here in the
681
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:17.119
United States. It is something that's really challenging to live
682
00:38:17.159 --> 00:38:23.079
your life beside a service dog and so education advocacy. Absolutely.
683
00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:26.480
Most of these organizations are always fundraising, So if you
684
00:38:26.559 --> 00:38:29.760
have funds to give, you know, find a service dog
685
00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:31.920
organization that is close to your heart. There are so
686
00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:35.079
many dogs that do so many different things, you know,
687
00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:37.079
find the one that matters to you and give to
688
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:42.039
that one. Hop on their social media interact with them.
689
00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:47.039
Algorithms today love interaction, so all you have to do
690
00:38:47.159 --> 00:38:50.000
is like or comment, and what that's going to do
691
00:38:50.079 --> 00:38:52.360
is is going to tell the algorithm this is interesting,
692
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:54.800
I should push it out to other people that maybe
693
00:38:54.880 --> 00:39:00.519
haven't seen it. So that's another great way that really
694
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:02.199
takes no effort, and you get to look at cute
695
00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:06.000
puppy pictures too. And then the last way that I
696
00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:09.199
would say is a really great way to get involved,
697
00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:13.880
even if you can't volunteer, is to reach out to
698
00:39:13.960 --> 00:39:17.719
an organization that you know sounds interesting. To you or
699
00:39:17.719 --> 00:39:20.679
that you have a heart for, whether that's veterans, whether
700
00:39:20.719 --> 00:39:24.920
that's guide work, whether that's scent alert work, diabetic alert,
701
00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:29.400
seizure alert, cardiac alert, whatever that looks like, and just
702
00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.400
kind of ask them what do you guys need, because
703
00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:36.039
a lot of times they would love Hey, I can
704
00:39:36.039 --> 00:39:38.639
send you a bag of dog food from Chewi, or
705
00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:40.679
I can ask my friends if they've got some old
706
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:42.519
fleece blankets and I could pack them up in a
707
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:46.599
box and send them to you. So really great ways
708
00:39:46.679 --> 00:39:49.880
to get involved and to support and that don't require
709
00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:52.440
that year long commitment of raising a puppy or having
710
00:39:52.440 --> 00:39:55.360
a dog in your home or any of those pieces.
711
00:39:56.119 --> 00:40:00.920
Right, Yeah, most definitely those that's some that's some good
712
00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:02.599
advice to bring up to people.
713
00:40:03.719 --> 00:40:06.440
Yeah, speaking of advice, what kind.
714
00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:08.519
Of advice would you give to someone who does feel
715
00:40:08.519 --> 00:40:11.280
called to become a puppy raiser or maybe a therapy
716
00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:12.079
dog handler.
717
00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:17.760
Yeah, so first of all, I would say go for it, right,
718
00:40:17.880 --> 00:40:21.639
especially a puppy raiser, Go for it. Every organization right
719
00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:25.400
now is hurting for puppy raisers. We have very very
720
00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:28.639
long wait times for our clients. I know guide Dogs
721
00:40:28.639 --> 00:40:31.280
for the blind, right, now it's more than a year
722
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:34.719
for a client to get a guide dog, and really
723
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:38.960
that is because we only have so many razors, and
724
00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:42.079
so we're raising puppies as fast as we can, but
725
00:40:42.199 --> 00:40:45.239
it takes a year, and so we genuinely need more
726
00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:49.960
razors to serve more clients. So absolutely go for it.
727
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.320
That would be my advice. After you get past that advice,
728
00:40:54.960 --> 00:41:00.960
I would say, learn everything that you can about dog
729
00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:05.440
body language, and there are amazing resources out there all
730
00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:08.119
over the place. I believe our guide book is actually
731
00:41:08.199 --> 00:41:11.519
available to the public and it includes an entire section
732
00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:18.440
on dog body language. But so much of puppy raising,
733
00:41:18.519 --> 00:41:21.079
so much of training, so much of my work with
734
00:41:21.159 --> 00:41:25.320
my therapy dog relies on being able to read the
735
00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:28.519
dog's body language well, because that body language is going
736
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:32.239
to tell me very early on, do you feel confident
737
00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:35.599
and comfortable? Do you feel nervous? Do you need more
738
00:41:35.719 --> 00:41:40.000
space from this spooky thing to feel successful? When I'm
739
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:42.360
working with my therapy dog, we are often working with
740
00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:47.039
elementary school age children and there can be as much
741
00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:49.119
as six to ten of them gathered around her in
742
00:41:49.199 --> 00:41:53.679
any given moment, So my ability to read she's feeling
743
00:41:53.760 --> 00:41:58.440
overwhelmed she's feeling overstimulated, she's giving off signs that she's
744
00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:01.320
no longer comfortable to stand up and take a break,
745
00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:03.599
or Hey, guys, I need you all to scoot back
746
00:42:03.639 --> 00:42:06.199
on your butts to the edge of the carpet and
747
00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:09.719
just give her a little bit of space. So much
748
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.920
of the raising and so much of the work that
749
00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:17.199
I do with my therapy dog relies first and foremost
750
00:42:17.440 --> 00:42:21.880
on the handler's ability to read what the dog is
751
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:29.280
feeling and then to respond to that really proactively. And
752
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:34.320
that's really difficult because to respond proactively, you have to
753
00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:36.840
see what's going on, you have to understand and interpret
754
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:40.920
it correctly, and then you have to make changes, often
755
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:43.599
before the dog even reaches a point where they're like, hey,
756
00:42:43.639 --> 00:42:46.119
I can't do this anymore, because once you've reached that point,
757
00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:49.159
like as a raiser and as a handler, you've kind
758
00:42:49.199 --> 00:42:52.280
of failed, right because then you just have to walk
759
00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:54.599
away and be like, Okay, we're gonna try again tomorrow.
760
00:42:55.519 --> 00:42:59.679
And so dog body language probably the most important thing
761
00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:03.719
that people can learn about if they're interested in becoming
762
00:43:03.760 --> 00:43:07.280
a puppy raiser or a therapy dog handler, or really
763
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:11.400
do anything in the dog training world. It's so incredibly important.
764
00:43:11.679 --> 00:43:13.760
I agree with that it is very important, and we
765
00:43:13.840 --> 00:43:19.400
tell our when our service dog teams through the soldier's
766
00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:23.280
best friend when they first start out and they get
767
00:43:23.320 --> 00:43:27.119
this manual for handlers and stuff, and that actually has
768
00:43:27.159 --> 00:43:30.400
dog body language stuff in it for them. So I
769
00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:32.719
was glad to see because I'm just starting with them.
770
00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:35.719
I've been training service dogs with another organization and then
771
00:43:35.920 --> 00:43:39.800
evaluating for soldiers, but now I'm going with them to
772
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:43.360
also do training. So I was glad to see that
773
00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:45.639
they did include that in their manuals so that the
774
00:43:45.679 --> 00:43:48.840
handlers can learn the dog's body language and kind of
775
00:43:48.920 --> 00:43:50.599
know what they're dog's telling them.
776
00:43:51.480 --> 00:43:56.079
Absolutely absolutely. I am in public often and I see
777
00:43:56.079 --> 00:43:59.559
individuals who really are not reading their dog's body language
778
00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:02.800
at all. And it's such a great opportunity for education
779
00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:05.840
because I'm often out with my children and so I'll
780
00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:07.360
kind of lean over and say it to my thirteen
781
00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:10.119
year old, what are you seeing in that dog right now?
782
00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:14.000
And so even just mentoring him through starting to understand
783
00:44:14.119 --> 00:44:16.719
while I'm seeing these things, Okay, do you think that
784
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:20.800
means they're comfortable or uncomfortable right that handler do differently
785
00:44:20.960 --> 00:44:24.199
right now to help raise their dog's comfort.
786
00:44:23.840 --> 00:44:28.239
Level right exactly exactly. And we tell our teams all
787
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:30.760
the time too. You know, it's not just you guys
788
00:44:30.760 --> 00:44:32.639
are a team. It's not just about your dog checking
789
00:44:32.639 --> 00:44:34.519
in with you to make sure you okay. You've got
790
00:44:34.519 --> 00:44:36.039
to be checking your dog as well.
791
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:39.960
Absolutely. When I went through the training for my therapy dog,
792
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:42.679
that was probably one of my biggest takeaways was how
793
00:44:42.760 --> 00:44:45.679
much I, as a handler am there. She's there for
794
00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:49.320
the people. I'm there for her, right And I loved
795
00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:51.679
the way they put that that my job is to
796
00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:56.960
support her and sometimes that is intervening or anything else, right,
797
00:44:57.800 --> 00:45:00.000
But I'm not necessarily there for the people. Of course,
798
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:02.519
I'm there for the people. I want to hear the stories,
799
00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:05.719
all of the things. But she's there for the people.
800
00:45:05.960 --> 00:45:08.800
I'm there for her, right exactly.
801
00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:10.960
And if you see her body language starting to tell
802
00:45:10.960 --> 00:45:12.880
you that she's starting to get a little overwhelmed and
803
00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:16.599
you need to you know, politely, and the visit, oh,
804
00:45:16.679 --> 00:45:18.440
I need to go take her to potty or whatever
805
00:45:18.480 --> 00:45:20.400
you know you need to do to take her out
806
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:22.119
of there to let her distress.
807
00:45:21.679 --> 00:45:22.280
And calm down.
808
00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:25.679
So I mean, yeah, and it's funny because I did
809
00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:31.159
animal control for twelve years and so and uh, I
810
00:45:31.239 --> 00:45:34.239
was with three different animal control. I did shelter, and
811
00:45:34.280 --> 00:45:36.440
then I was just basically field and then I did
812
00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:40.559
shelter again. Will shelter, shelter and field go together. But
813
00:45:40.800 --> 00:45:43.039
the one organization they didn't have a shelter was just
814
00:45:43.079 --> 00:45:46.519
field work. But that is so important when you're working
815
00:45:46.559 --> 00:45:48.159
in the shelter environment and stuff.
816
00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:48.880
You know, you.
817
00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:53.039
Read, you read these dogs body language a lot to
818
00:45:53.480 --> 00:45:56.079
you know, see what's going on with them. And and
819
00:45:56.159 --> 00:45:58.159
it always amazed me. I would get people coming in
820
00:45:58.280 --> 00:46:00.679
wanting to adopt, and they would bring their dog in,
821
00:46:00.760 --> 00:46:02.960
you know, to see about getting making sure they get
822
00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:05.360
a liner, and they have no clue how to read
823
00:46:05.400 --> 00:46:08.519
their dog m And I'd be like, they'd be, oh,
824
00:46:08.559 --> 00:46:10.800
my dog, just why he wants this and wants that?
825
00:46:10.880 --> 00:46:13.519
And I'll be like, no, that's not what your dog's telling.
826
00:46:13.280 --> 00:46:17.119
Me, right, But then I think back to you know,
827
00:46:17.199 --> 00:46:20.000
that very first dog tag and I had no clue.
828
00:46:20.280 --> 00:46:23.519
I had no clue. Yeah, And so like always trying
829
00:46:23.519 --> 00:46:25.880
to hold that with like a humility, not an arrogance
830
00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:28.119
of like, well, you you can't read your dog's language,
831
00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:31.119
but always holding it with that humility of I also
832
00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:34.039
did not know how to read my dog's language. Yeah,
833
00:46:34.039 --> 00:46:35.679
and oh boy, did he and I have a crash
834
00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:37.320
course to figure it out together.
835
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:43.920
Yeah. Yeah, that's the fun part, figuring it out right.
836
00:46:44.039 --> 00:46:45.639
You only ever make that mistake once.
837
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:50.880
Yep, yep. So what the exciting projects are you working
838
00:46:50.920 --> 00:46:51.639
on right now?
839
00:46:53.079 --> 00:46:56.400
Oh? That's that's yeah. I have a couple of projects
840
00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:58.559
that I'm working on at the moment. I have three
841
00:46:58.639 --> 00:47:01.440
coming up in the next year that I'm super excited about.
842
00:47:02.400 --> 00:47:05.920
The first one is the sequel to my first novel,
843
00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:09.119
is coming out at the end of September. So the
844
00:47:09.119 --> 00:47:12.159
first one is called Third and Long. The second one
845
00:47:12.199 --> 00:47:15.559
is called False Start, and so that is coming out
846
00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:18.559
on September twenty ninth, So we're gearing up for that.
847
00:47:18.719 --> 00:47:22.199
Right around the beginning of August, we're going to start
848
00:47:23.400 --> 00:47:27.119
putting together the beginning stages of our marketing and starting
849
00:47:27.119 --> 00:47:29.119
to get it out into reader's hands to get some
850
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:33.519
early copies and some early reviews and some early feedback.
851
00:47:34.320 --> 00:47:36.440
So if you do have listeners that are readers that
852
00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:39.840
would be interested in snagging an early copy of that,
853
00:47:40.199 --> 00:47:43.400
I would love to connect with them. And then the
854
00:47:43.440 --> 00:47:45.400
third book in the series, it is a trilogy. The
855
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:47.599
third book in the series will be coming out next summer.
856
00:47:48.159 --> 00:47:51.280
So I'm currently in the process of finishing drafting that
857
00:47:51.320 --> 00:47:55.320
first draft and then the other projects that I have
858
00:47:55.360 --> 00:47:58.079
that I'm so excited about. I do have a traditional
859
00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:02.400
publishing deal with a small pub called Wild Inc. Publishing,
860
00:48:02.920 --> 00:48:05.800
and they are doing my debut picture book next year,
861
00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:08.880
which is about a little boy who raises his first
862
00:48:08.920 --> 00:48:13.639
guide dog puppy and how the gift that he kind
863
00:48:13.639 --> 00:48:18.480
of hoped to give to someone else really becomes the
864
00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:23.039
gift to himself because he learns through this process how
865
00:48:23.079 --> 00:48:25.480
to be a good razor, how to read his dog's
866
00:48:25.480 --> 00:48:28.800
body language, how to support her and her journey, and
867
00:48:28.840 --> 00:48:31.119
then has to learn the hardest lesson of all, which
868
00:48:31.159 --> 00:48:32.360
is how to say goodbye?
869
00:48:33.039 --> 00:48:35.679
Right yeap, that is the hardest one. Let me tell
870
00:48:35.719 --> 00:48:37.159
you that's very hard.
871
00:48:38.119 --> 00:48:40.639
Yes. So yeah, three books coming out over the course
872
00:48:40.679 --> 00:48:41.280
of the next year.
873
00:48:41.320 --> 00:48:44.079
I'm very excited, very nice, very nice.
874
00:48:44.320 --> 00:48:46.920
And with that being said, so where can listeners find
875
00:48:46.960 --> 00:48:50.079
your books or connect with you or even learn more
876
00:48:50.079 --> 00:48:50.800
about your work?
877
00:48:51.599 --> 00:48:56.360
Absolutely so. My website is Rebeccaminelga dot com, R E
878
00:48:56.599 --> 00:48:59.519
B E C C A m as and Mary I
879
00:49:00.039 --> 00:49:04.679
and as in Nancy E l Ga and so everything
880
00:49:04.679 --> 00:49:08.039
about me is available on that website. I am also
881
00:49:08.159 --> 00:49:13.960
on Facebook, Instagram x and Blue Sky at Rebecca Minelga,
882
00:49:14.199 --> 00:49:16.920
So if they are on social media, I would love
883
00:49:16.960 --> 00:49:20.159
to connect with your listeners over there. And then in
884
00:49:20.239 --> 00:49:22.880
terms of finding my books, they are widely distributed, so
885
00:49:22.920 --> 00:49:26.719
you can find them on bookshop dot org, Barnes anddnoble.
886
00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:29.840
You can find them on Amazon. I really encourage you
887
00:49:29.880 --> 00:49:32.000
to purchase from anybody else, but if that's your go to,
888
00:49:32.079 --> 00:49:35.760
that's okay. You can also request that your local library
889
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:39.599
put them in stock. And Third and Long has an ebook,
890
00:49:39.679 --> 00:49:43.280
a paperback, and an audiobook and False Start will be
891
00:49:43.360 --> 00:49:47.760
released as a ebook and a paperback in September, so
892
00:49:47.800 --> 00:49:50.480
wherever you get your books, you can get those books there.
893
00:49:51.440 --> 00:49:53.239
Very cool. Well, that's awesome.
894
00:49:53.280 --> 00:49:55.199
I'm glad that those are going to be coming out
895
00:49:55.280 --> 00:49:59.719
and hopefully the listeners out there will take the opportunity
896
00:49:59.760 --> 00:50:03.280
to pick them up and read them and kind of
897
00:50:03.400 --> 00:50:05.679
see because you know, like like we said, you know,
898
00:50:05.880 --> 00:50:08.119
you're kind of doing this off your experiences, so they
899
00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:10.360
can kind of see how things go with that.
900
00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:13.920
So yeah, absolutely awesome.
901
00:50:14.519 --> 00:50:18.079
Well, Rebecca, it's been awesome having you on the podcast
902
00:50:18.159 --> 00:50:20.280
this evening to talk about all this stuff.
903
00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:21.599
But we are.
904
00:50:21.599 --> 00:50:27.599
Nearing the end, and again, guys, go out and pick
905
00:50:27.679 --> 00:50:31.519
up Rebecca's books or you know, see if you can
906
00:50:31.599 --> 00:50:35.159
volunteer with any of your local organizations that are you know,
907
00:50:35.239 --> 00:50:38.519
doing guide dogs or therapy or service dogs, or you know,
908
00:50:38.599 --> 00:50:41.000
anything you guys can do to help out is always great.
909
00:50:41.760 --> 00:50:45.079
And again, I so appreciate you coming on and talking
910
00:50:45.159 --> 00:50:48.119
about guide dogs and your books and all this stuff. Rebecca,
911
00:50:48.599 --> 00:50:51.119
It's been great talking with you. But I'm just going
912
00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:53.599
to go ahead and announce my next couple podcasts I
913
00:50:53.639 --> 00:50:56.360
have coming up, and you are welcome to stay on
914
00:50:56.840 --> 00:50:58.840
or you can jump off right now, because I know
915
00:50:58.880 --> 00:51:01.039
a lot of people, you know, have busy lives and
916
00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:02.239
they have other things to get to.
917
00:51:02.440 --> 00:51:06.079
So yeah, well, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
918
00:51:06.079 --> 00:51:08.400
It's been a great conversation. Thank you for having me.
919
00:51:08.800 --> 00:51:09.719
Yeah, well, thank you.
920
00:51:09.800 --> 00:51:11.679
And maybe in the future, when you get some more
921
00:51:11.719 --> 00:51:13.239
books coming out, maybe we'll have to.
922
00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:14.199
Get back together again.
923
00:51:14.920 --> 00:51:15.360
I love it.
924
00:51:15.440 --> 00:51:18.000
Let's do it, all right, Thanks Rebecca, you have a
925
00:51:18.000 --> 00:51:18.519
good evening.
926
00:51:19.239 --> 00:51:26.119
Yes, bye, Bobye all right, everybody, Well that was pretty
927
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:29.519
awesome talking with Rebecca about guide dogs and all that
928
00:51:29.559 --> 00:51:30.880
great stuff that she does.
929
00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:36.360
So hopefully you guys will go out and pick up
930
00:51:36.440 --> 00:51:39.840
her books and give them a read and let her
931
00:51:39.920 --> 00:51:42.079
know what you think. So I'm sure she's open to
932
00:51:42.920 --> 00:51:46.280
any comments or whatever you want to make. So and
933
00:51:46.440 --> 00:51:49.159
with that being said, let me go ahead and get
934
00:51:49.199 --> 00:51:54.639
into my next couple of upcoming podcasts. So on July
935
00:51:54.840 --> 00:52:02.519
twenty third, I am actually going to be talking about
936
00:52:02.599 --> 00:52:03.920
the unspoke and.
937
00:52:04.159 --> 00:52:10.360
Bond between animals and people.
938
00:52:10.519 --> 00:52:13.440
It's a human animal bond, kind of like what we
939
00:52:13.519 --> 00:52:15.440
had a little bit in here tonight.
940
00:52:16.159 --> 00:52:18.280
But I was speaking with.
941
00:52:20.039 --> 00:52:22.159
Oh, let me get her name pulled up here, guys,
942
00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:22.880
Sorry about that.
943
00:52:22.920 --> 00:52:26.400
I should have had this ready anyway I was speaking.
944
00:52:26.440 --> 00:52:29.519
I am going to be speaking with Jackie Ducci. She's
945
00:52:29.559 --> 00:52:33.920
the founder of the Human Animal Alliance and she did
946
00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:38.079
a just did a documentary called The Unspoken Bond where
947
00:52:38.079 --> 00:52:41.400
she's talking about the Human Animal Alliance, and so she's
948
00:52:41.440 --> 00:52:43.320
going to be on the podcast to talk about what
949
00:52:43.440 --> 00:52:46.800
her organization is all about and how they're helping out
950
00:52:46.960 --> 00:52:51.800
organizations that maybe need some grants or some help as
951
00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:54.400
long as their organization is like a five Oh, one
952
00:52:54.440 --> 00:52:59.480
c three and they have that human animal connection. Her
953
00:52:59.559 --> 00:53:04.840
organization is more than willing to help you guys out,
954
00:53:05.159 --> 00:53:07.960
and so she's gonna come on the podcast and talk
955
00:53:08.039 --> 00:53:10.519
more about that and all the great things that her
956
00:53:10.599 --> 00:53:14.000
organization does. So hopefully you guys can tune back in
957
00:53:14.079 --> 00:53:17.800
for that. And then after that, the next one will
958
00:53:17.840 --> 00:53:21.039
be on August sixth, and I'm going to have doctor
959
00:53:21.119 --> 00:53:25.199
Carry Kroger, who's a founder, executive director and ecologist first
960
00:53:25.239 --> 00:53:28.880
Saved the Frogs, so we're gonna be talking about frogs, guys.
961
00:53:29.840 --> 00:53:33.519
I can't wait to talk with doctor Kroger and learn
962
00:53:33.719 --> 00:53:37.159
or more about frogs and saving frogs. And that's actually
963
00:53:37.159 --> 00:53:39.440
what his organization is called, is Saved the Frogs. So
964
00:53:39.480 --> 00:53:41.519
I think that's going to be a pretty cool podcast
965
00:53:42.039 --> 00:53:43.320
if you guys are frog lovers.
966
00:53:43.360 --> 00:53:44.840
Hopefully you guys will come back.
967
00:53:44.679 --> 00:53:48.840
And tune in and listen to that podcast as well.
968
00:53:47.960 --> 00:53:51.559
So anyway, that's what we're looking at for the next
969
00:53:51.559 --> 00:53:55.559
couple podcasts again, July twenty third, the Unspoken Bond with
970
00:53:56.119 --> 00:54:00.639
Jackie Ducci and then on August sixth with doctor Carry
971
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Kroger Save the Frocks. So hopefully you guys we'll be
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able to tune back in in a couple of weeks.
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And with that being said, guys, I'm gonna end it
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right here. I hope you guys all have a great weekend.
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I hope you all had a great Fourth of July,
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and stay safe out there and don't get into too
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much trouble, and hopefully you'll be back in a couple
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of weeks.
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So listen and again, all right, good night, everybody.