Free Dog Training Community for US Military Veterans with Kirstan Rogers

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Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Welcome back. And thanks for listening to the Team Lally Real Estate show home in the guaranteed sold program or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne, Attilio. And if you have any questions just give us a call at 7999596 or check us out online at Teamlally.com.

ATTILIO: 
Well just like our intro music said the line in there as give it to him because I’m worth it. We’re we’re giving it to you on this radio show because all our listeners are worth it. Our guest today is not only a real estate professional but is also a proud board member at K9 Kavalry, an esteemed nonprofit dedicated to offering dog training programs for US veterans

ADRIENNE: 
residing in Oregon with her family. Her life is marked by a steadfast commitment to community and making a difference showcasing how she seamlessly merges her passions with purpose. Please welcome today’s guest, Kirstan Rogers.

ATTILIO: 
Hey, Kirstan. Good

KIRSTAN: 
morning. How are you guys? Good,

ATTILIO: 
good, good. And we’re gonna call you the portable speaker lady.

KIRSTAN: 
Well, thanks, I’ll take it. That’s a compliment,

ATTILIO: 
you know that I just, you know, a side note here where we were at our family reunion convention. There were you know, a lot of times you have an interactions or a presence with people and you don’t even know what’s that it’s happening. But when we were going in to register you were walking by us and was like, oh, yeah, and we’re like, you know, Bob, listen to music And I didn’t know if you’re a realtor at the time because we haven’t registered yet. We were all just walking in the same direction. I was at school, bringing some music to the masses. And then I think we were inside like the exhibitor Hall, then we ran into you again. And then we were the ones handing out all the crazy ribbons for the, for the bottom of the nametag, the things. And then the third one, and I don’t think I we didn’t come tap your shoulder or anything but we were walking with you out out of the convention center from the Sunday thing. Yes, inspirational, inspirational. Three interactions with you where you were bringing music to the masses and joy, massive dancing, and breakdancing was breaking out everywhere you went.

KIRSTAN: 
It is good to know that I made a lasting impression. People were smiling.

ATTILIO: 
We were looking at the people that as you got closer to them,

ADRIENNE: 
and they were smiling. They’re mostly smiling. There was one guy he was, oh, well, yeah, I was on a phone

ATTILIO: 
and he was grumpy. But you know, he could go speak. He was in a corner for a reason. Yeah. Because that’s really grumpy people go, they gotta go stay in the corner. But no, I think everybody, every single person was enjoying that experience. So let’s talk about this canine program, because that’s another way that you’re affecting people and bringing some joy bringing some joy in the world. Government comfort to our veterans. Let’s talk about this program. Yes,

KIRSTAN:
yeah. Thanks, Adrienne. And thanks Attilio. Yeah. What can I tell you that the world, you know, should already know about K9 K, I met up with Dan Regester, who is an outstanding individual, a couple of years back every year, you know, when we close on a property, we always ask the individual who would you like us to donate to on your behalf. And sometimes somebody might know a nonprofit, sometimes they may not. So it’s part of our five star service, we go out and we interview three non Well, we interviewed several nonprofits, but we always have three, that we fully support, whether they’re for veterans, or schools or pets. And we had met up with Dan, and just as a fantastic individual, great human being love his dog Ranger. He’s now become, you know, part of the family. And just just what a great interaction that I said, we have to do more, I need to do more, how can I get back even more. So we’ve purchased with Dan O. K9 K, has purchased some raw land close by, we were able to get a group of community members together, some clients, some just amazing human beings, we were able to bring in some veterans of all Army, Navy, the Marines, they’ll they’ll make a joke about crowns every now and then. But we were able to just build this awesome space for these dogs for these veterans and allow that domino effect as K9 K attributes to just reach that many more people.

ADRIENNE: 
So Kirstan, then what is the mission and vision of K9 K?

KIRSTAN: 
The mission and vision, I want to say it stays pretty consistent. But that is just to provide veterans and active and retired military, with the services that sometimes you might not always see on the outside. You know, every day these individuals go out and they fight, you know, wars that are overseas wars that are here at home. And not everybody knows how to reach out and ask for help. But working with an animal and working with the individuals that K has out there. And we’re across the state, but it’s to provide this connection. And as community you become part of the pack. And Casey is a great individual that’s here based out of Vancouver, Washington. She’s sometimes in his right hand man when he’s got so many different things going on. But it’s 100% free, there is zero charge to the veteran to make sure their dog gets the gear that they need the training that they need. It’s just I can’t sum up I guess the mission and the vision but just to continually impact in a positive way free of charge. Veterans that are out there that just need support. So I will make a disclaimer. We don’t place dogs. We don’t have a dog farm. We don’t have dogs on standby. We strictly go in and help veterans, train the dog and we do it alongside the veterans. So you don’t ship your dog off and have your dog trained and then it comes back to you this incredible human being but are incredible canine. Yeah.

ADRIENNE: 
So it’s you and your dog. dogs come to this. Yeah. training together. And you leave together. Right?

KIRSTAN: 
Yeah. Yeah. And he’ll Dano can do it or the, you know, dog handlers can also do it via zoom. They just work really closely, you can come to them with specific needs. There’s a wonderful lady, I’ll I’ll keep her name out of it just for the sake of confidentiality, but I believe she was a part of a roadside bombing read, there was some trauma there. And the adverse effect of that is she would have seizures. And so Dan would work with the dogs so that the dog understood where to go, when to go how to go. So that if this individual, if this veteran was about to have a seizure, the dog would notice it. And they would go out, and they would walk through a random Walmart, or, you know, just a local park. And he would say, I need you to do this. So that the canine knows to do this. And he would focus on the canine. And in one of those instances, she actually had a seizure. And the canine did exactly what it was supposed to do. And then when that trend falls, whether it’s in a, you know, a store or out in public, she’s not hitting her head on concrete. You know, it’s just it’s a wonderful relationship that you’re able to watch grow right in front of you. And

ATTILIO: 
I don’t know if you know the answer to it, but K9 what is people here canine they’re thinking of like, the German shepherd that chases down the bad people. And I’m looking at your website, and it’s all kind of dogs. It’s just a it’s a terminology. But do we know what the K and the nine actually mean? Besides, you know, I don’t people know, when you see a police car with a canine unit on it, you know that there’s a dog in the back and that don’t go up to that vehicle because you can tear your head off because that’s his training. Or takes you down. Well, what does that mean canine?

KIRSTAN: 
Um, you know, I think it’s the nickname for what they get. We have several dogs in the pack. There isn’t a one brand over another. Yeah. Yeah. So K9 actually comes from an abbreviation of the English and French word for K nine. Which just means dogs. So canine is it’s kind of a slang but it’s just it’s all based on words and English and French terminology. Yeah.

ATTILIO: 
And K9 and K9. And may also be the Latin description for the breed because he would say like canine, and then there’s another Latin word. And so yeah, got it people.

ADRIENNE:
Any any breed of dog can be trained to be a service animal for veterans can be a

ATTILIO: 
cat, because the cats are not a canine.

KIRSTAN: 
No, and we, we have dogs of the month. Yeah, we do a newsletter that Daniel works really hard on. We have different levels of participation. So if you maybe don’t have the foundations of the fundamentals to train, you can also support veterans or you can do it on a monthly basis, you can say, hey, I want to give $10 a month, I want to give $50 a month. And so we make a monthly commitment every single month, they give back to the canines and then we’re also here physically volunteering at different events so that we can help broadcast what they do and what they stand for.

ATTILIO: 
You know, and you never know there might be somebody listening to this that says, hey, I want to go I’m on a mission to support veterans and I want to, as we learn in Keller Williams, you notice patterns of success and you look at it that it’s been modeled and you just duplicate it, so maybe somebody listening to this they would reach out to you all and say hey, I want to duplicate this and in in my state or my part of the country, and then I’m sure that you guys would be helpful in that way. Yes,

KIRSTAN: 
absolutely. It’s a fantastic organization to be a part of, we’ve got a great board that helps put that stuff out there. You can go to K9Kavalry.org. Sometimes people will confuse that for Calvary, this is Kavalry kav. And you can get a lot of the information you can meet the dogs and all their different breeds. We have a winter hawks event coming up where we’ve kind of joined partners with the local ice hockey team. I talkie Well, I guess it’s only hockey. But anyways, you can purchase tickets to it a winter hawks game, and part of that proceeds go back to K9 K as well. So just really fun, cool ways to support a veteran. Be a part of a good cause and just just feel really dang good about every single day.

ADRIENNE: 
So So Kirstan with this training program, during any given time, how many dogs and veterans are getting this this training? How many can you guys accommodate?

KIRSTAN: 
Oh man, I Um, I don’t actually know the maximum number of jobs that we’ve had on register at one time. That would be a great question for Daniel, I can find that out and get you that answer. Good question, Adrienne,

ATTILIO: 
you guys, you guys have, you haven’t gotten to the point where you’ve had to turn people away? So that’s the only number we know is that you’ll make some kind of comment on make room? Yeah. Especially if somebody’s traveling from out of state or from a long distance. And then we

ADRIENNE: 
and then where are these veterans traveling from? Where do you see people coming from in the United States?

KIRSTAN: 
Well, we have veterans across the US. And so we also have dog trainers across the US. They don’t come always to Vancouver, in some cases, they will. And they’ll do we’ve had a chopper come in one time and land in the middle of the property. It was, it was so stinking cool. And you see everybody and Dan’s got all the flags that are up on display blowing in the wind. There’s just been some incredible events, pouring concrete out there doing different trainings, different options. You know, Dan will positively influenced as many lives as he possibly can. And, and he’ll do it with a four legged friend at his side. I love that.

ATTILIO: 
So again, remind our listeners how others can get involved or support the cause.

KIRSTAN: 
Um, if you’d like to support is the biggest thing that keeps him going and make sure that the veterans do not have to pay anything for these services. You can go online to K9 Kavalry, it’s kavalry.org. You can also reach out to Daniel directly. That phone number is 360-967-9567. And we would love to help answer any questions you have. If you know somebody who has PTSD, or maybe just has questions about how to get involved, maybe they actually have some background in dark training. Maybe they want to, you know, to truly become a part of the pack. That’s always helpful. We would love to just compound those effects and help even more people.

ATTILIO: 
Awesome.

ADRIENNE: 
So Kirstan how many how many? Yes. And how many veterans? Have you guys been able to serve and help? Since this program has has started?

KIRSTAN:
Um, that number just keeps growing and growing. So I don’t know if it’s 36 states and I’m gonna, I’m gonna refer it back to Daniel on that question, too. I’ll get the updated. You know, I’ll do March. That’s just because it grows everyday. So I’ll get March stats for how many states we’re in right now. How many veterans and then I’ll also do how many canines Sometimes dogs pass with age and we show them love all the same for the service that they’ve done for our country and for our and then for our veterans?

ATTILIO: 
Nice? Well, it’s always good to see Keller Williams agents participating in doing good in the world, because that is one of our cultural values is that givers gain and certainly a win win situation. And I wouldn’t doubt Have you guys ever had the market center come out and do a red day for K9 Kavalry? Maybe Maybe.

KIRSTAN: 
That is a fantastic idea. And interestingly enough, our motto is always find a win. And I love that ties in with canines. So well. We’ve done some really good Red Day events at local schools. And some parks but partnering together with K9 K9 Kavalry would be an awesome piece as well. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
just a shout out to Keller Williams everywhere. By the way, Keller Williams in the United States is in every small, medium and large market and Red Day is celebrated on whose birthday Adrienne I

ADRIENNE: 
Mo Anderson’s May 11.

ATTILIO: 
Anyway, I’d say May, is Mo Anderson. She was one of the original founders of Keller Williams and she was all about not just going out there and selling a bunch of real estate making a boatload of commissions, but figuring out how we can impact our local communities everywhere. So if you see a whole bunch of people in red shirts on in the beginning of May all across the country, it’s not like some crazy sports fans. It’s Keller Williams agents doing good in the community.

KIRSTAN: 
I have a picture I have a selfie of Mo and I as my screensaver on my phone. Nice.

Awesome. She makes me cry

every year. She always talks about the amazing ways that we have an impact on people and it’s a it’s a great it’s a good cry.

ATTILIO:
Yeah, yeah. Very inspirational and

ADRIENNE: 
yes and you and your this nonprofit, this K9 Kavalry is an amazing thing that you’re doing for the veterans and the community. And we’re and

ATTILIO: 
here’s the final question for you. Is there any any kind of last situation scenario or any kind of question we should have asked you that we haven’t that you want to share with our listeners before we send you back to the good works.

KIRSTAN: 
Um, any question or

ATTILIO:
story or you got knocked off to

KIRSTAN:
know what all what I’ll end with is that, you know, we donate out of every closing that we have, because it’s what we can afford, if it pulls on your heartstrings, to to help every month with a monthly donation. That’s K9Kavalry.org forward slash memberships. There’s memberships at smallest 10 bucks a month. It’s not a lot, but every little bit helps. And if you’re in a in a position where you can do a one time donation, you can do that as well, you can support a dog by buying them the best. Every single dog that comes on board, every single veteran that comes on board, they get an entire gear kit for the dog and for the veteran. So that’s their leashes, that their bowls, that’s their work vest. Everything that allows that dog to perform at its highest level for that veteran. So again, K9Kavalry.org forward slash membership. If you want to see anything cool about the dogs, you can read about them time too. You can also get K9 K apparel, if you want to support them that way too. So and there’s the veteran applications on there. If you know somebody who’s suffering from PTSD, maybe they don’t want to express that out loud. Maybe just just drop the name K9 Kavalry out there. And maybe they do their own research. But we would love to continue to help more people. So please make that introduction. All right,

ATTILIO: 
thank you so much. And then we were first in screen sharing the website, you know, there’s donations and the different things you get that opportunities across the organization anywhere from 10 bucks to 500 bucks and everything in between. Yes, yes. That’s

KIRSTAN: 
exactly it. Well, thank you.

ADRIENNE: 
Thank you. Thank you for the info and all that you’re doing for the veterans and

ATTILIO: 
we’ll see you. We’ll see you again. Actually, we’re not going to see you again. We’re gonna hear you again and family reunion next year. All right, that sounds great, guys. Okay. Thanks, Kirstan. Thank you.

KIRSTAN: 
You’re welcome. Have a wonderful day. Have a good week.

ATTILIO: 
Oh, thank you so much. Bye, bye.

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