Welcome to the Soul Touched by Dogs Podcast, the show for dog lovers who
see dogs not as toys or tools, but wise souls worth our respect and care.
I'm an Herrmann, and I'm your host.
I talk to poor some humans, people who do great work for dogs and their people.
So come and join us for today's conversation.
Anke: Hello and welcome, Kimmy.
I'm very excited to have you here.
Kimmy: Thank you.
I'm excited to be here.
Anke: Awesome.
Well, I always start out, uh, wondering because I'm always fascinated
with where on earth people are.
And so my question to you, where on in this lovely world are you based
and what's your business with dogs?
Kimmy: Yes, I am based in the United States and, uh, in the state of Maine
and my business with dogs, well, there's a couple of things I do, but, um,
the main thing that I do right now is we are a canine first response team.
So what does that mean?
That means that I am deployed across the United States when there is some sort
of critical incident situation, such as a mass shooting, uh, natural disaster.
major accident that they will call me into the situation and I
bring my canines, which are highly trained for this type of work.
And when we go into these situations, the dogs are requested to provide a sense
of safety and a sense of calm for people going through a very difficult time.
Anke: I'm just thinking, Jesus, that sounds tough.
So, I understand that correctly, that your dogs are not the ones who are going to dig
through the gravel trying to find people.
Like, that's not their job, right?
Kimmy: No, they're not a search and rescue dog, and, um, I get that a lot.
I get that a lot.
We work directly in collaboration with other first responders.
So sometimes we will go into a community with the police department.
Sometimes we collaborate with the fire department.
Sometimes we're called in one on one and we are specifically there to provide
people that are going through trauma.
support and have that one on one connection with the canine.
Anke: Yeah.
And I, like, I think anybody who's ever, you know, looked into the eyes of
a dog, like knows how they can provide something that another human probably,
you know, has a hard time providing.
So now I'm, I'm My curiosity goes in two directions, right?
So one is how, how did you get into that?
Like, what sparked your interest?
Like, you know, and it feels, you know, it's also, it must be emotionally
quite tough work on you as well.
You get to see a lot of stuff that You know, people wouldn't
normally rush to, um, to see.
And I'm also curious of about how does one train a dog to be able to do that work?
Kimmy: Yes, very good question.
So I'll go to the first one.
So first of all, I just like to say I'm in the unconditional love
business because that's what we do.
We're providing unconditional love through a canine.
How I got into this business, I'll just jump back about 10 years ago.
I started Um, as a therapy dog handler 10 years ago as a teacher in a school
district, and I got this amazing puppy and I thought this dog is going
to be a great therapy dog, right?
So I actually got permission from my superintendent to have
this dog trained in my classroom.
So my students trained him to be a therapy dog.
And then going forward, he was accepted to be part of the district to help children.
as they go through their academics, you know, reading and writing.
And he grew up in the school district.
And I'm sharing this story, number one, because when I had
this dog, his name is Campbell.
He's still with me today.
When I had him in the classroom, literally miracles would happen.
Kids who refused to read read.
Kids who couldn't control their behaviors were 100 percent perfect
when this dog was in this classroom.
When kids really struggled with math, when they sat one on one with Campbell.
They tried their best, and I said, there's something to this work, right?
Um, and I continued to do this type of work and bring Campbell to school
for many, many years after that.
But, let me share my origin story and how I got into Canine First Response.
My mom was a social worker for 25 years.
And she also collaborated with FEMA and the American Disaster
Red Cross team as a volunteer.
So, going all the way back to 9 11 in 2001, my mom was deployed all around the
world when there was a tragic situation.
And as a social worker, she would go into these communities to provide Counseling
services and lead counselors, um, through, um, difficult situations, right?
And so I grew up seeing my mom do this type of work and providing care for
people that were going through trauma.
And I always said to myself, I want to do that someday, but I don't know how.
I'm not a counselor.
I'm a teacher.
Fast forward three years ago, my mom has passed and she was my best friend.
And when she had passed, I said, I want to carry the torch forward and continue
to do the work that my mom did in these type of critical incident situations.
So, not only was this a passion of mine, not only did I see this growing
up and how my mom had helped people, But it was a commitment that I
wanted to make, um, to honor my mom.
So I upped my training, I upped my therapy dogs training, and we got
certified as a canine first response team.
And that's how we got involved in being deployed for tragic situations.
Anke: Wow.
What a story.
And it's, that's like, oh god,
crying.
So how, how do, how do you keep your sanity.
in those situations.
You know, because like everybody goes through a trauma like once, right, you
know, and that's the big thing and people get over the way they get over it, right.
But so for you to go into one and another I mean, hopefully not
every day but you don't so you see.
More of those, like, how do you manage to keep your own peace?
Kimmy: Yes, thank you.
Manage to keep my own peace.
Well, number one, I will share with you that this work is remarkable.
So when I go into these situations with my canines, it, it, it,
it's so gratifying to see.
See how people can start to heal through the unconditional love of a canine.
So that is part of how I keep my peace, because I'm passionate about this work.
This work works.
And many times we are, the canine is a link for individuals
to get further mental health.
'cause many . People aren't ready to talk.
They are not ready to go get help, but they will sit down with a dog and
they start to process their emotions one on one with the dog with no words.
No words are needed.
And I always say, come to us just as you are, because we are going to
love you no matter how you show up.
Right?
So that's number one.
I love the work that I do.
And it is, miracles happen, but number two, it is taught, it is
all about self care for myself and self care for the dogs as well.
So I limit the amount of deployments that I go on.
I limit the amount of hours that we are on site with the canines, and I always
make it a priority to do something fun.
Either after a critical situation when I get home, um, something to fun, but the,
the dogs love to go get an ice cream at, um, Dairy Queen and it's called a Pup Cup.
So I might get an ice cream cone and I might have an ice
cream cone myself, right?
A little bit of self care and it's always training.
I work out every single day and that is another way that I am managed,
I'm able to manage the chaos and, and some of the things that I've seen.
Anke: So how do you, well, okay, like if I was to look at like say Miss
Leia, who's like two years old, you know, she's, she's a big dog, but
she's very sweet and very good natured.
Um, how, what would be the path for her?
If I was to think like I want to turn her into, you know, a canine first responder.
Kimmy: Yes, absolutely.
Well, the first path to take is to get registered as a therapy dog
because it's really important to know that the dogs want to do this work.
And that's the number one thing that I say to people.
There are some dogs that like to work.
There are some dogs that like to play.
There are some dogs that like agility.
There are some dogs that just like to hang out on the couch and that's who they are.
So.
Make, be sure that your dog enjoys going out and doing work, number one.
Number two, obviously it's going through the canine, um,
basic obedience test, right?
Then it's finding a local organization and becoming a therapy dog team and
getting some experience under your belt.
Going to hospitals, going to schools, getting Going to nursing homes, getting
that experience of being out in the public with your dog and seeing how your dog
reacts in a busy hospital compared to a quiet nursing home and really get a feel
of what your dog is comfortable doing in the environment it's comfortable being in.
After you are registered, after you have a couple years under your belt of
doing therapy dog work and you choose to get into canine first response, number
one it's It's training on the handler.
It's getting, um, Red Cross training under your belt, it's getting critical
incident training under your belt, and then it's also getting training under
the dogs, more training under their belt.
And what does that mean?
It means before you become a canine first response team, take
your dog out to busy situations.
Take your dogs out to communities where there's a variety of
ethnicities, different nationalities.
See how they are.
See how they react.
Take your dogs where there's loud noises, take your dog where there's a lot of
energy, because that is the type of dog that needs to be able to do this work.
Take your dog on a plane.
Sometimes we're deployed, you know, to a different state.
They need to be able to get on a plane, um, on a, on a train.
So experiment, and if you find that your dog has that type of personality
and can do this work, you know, enjoys these type of, of challenges and
environments, then you would go forward and you would go ahead and get certified
as a canine first response team.
And what that means is just additional training on the handler,
additional training on the dog.
You both take a test.
If you pass, you're certified.
You are a canine first response team.
You
Anke: go, well, I mean, there's obviously quite a bit to it, right?
So, so what's the core quality apart from, you know, being able to handle
the stress, you know, to stay calm under, you know, those, like, see Mr.
Mr.
Kai, this one here, he wouldn't have, like, he was perhaps the most
sensitive dog, like he could, He would know when you're coming down with
the flu, like even before you know, like he would read you too, right?
Also, but that level of sensitivity didn't make him very happy
in, in busy, higher energy.
He'd be like, you know, so I, I can't see him doing.
that work well, even though he has the sensitivity to really help
somebody, you know, he would, we would always call him like Dr.
Kai, you know, when you kind of little like whatever he'd know and he'd not
leave your side, like he was very nurturing that way, but definitely a
little too sensitive, I think, for, you know, taking him to places and
he'd be, you know, so what are the, are there specific breeds that are
traditionally better suited or like, how would you know, or how can you tell?
Well, you know, what parameters would I use to even think about,
Ooh, Leia might be good for that.
Kimmy: Yeah.
Um, and your dog definitely sounds like a pup that's very
attached to, to the family, right.
And the needs of the family and in tune with that.
Um, when we were looking at characteristics, I can't say a
specific breed is better than another one, but you really have to look at.
breeds, what are the characteristics of this dog breed?
Are they cattle dogs?
You know, are they, would they rather herd, right?
Or, um, other breeds, you know, are, are much more laid back.
Now, my breed of dog is Golden Doodles.
Or Golden Retriever, right?
So they have the temperament, the personality.
If you look back into the poodle line, they love to work.
Poodles love to work.
So with the Golden Doodle, um, I've had high success with, with
the qualities in these dogs.
They, they like to be out.
They like to be among different people.
Um, they're also hypoallergenic is another reason why I primarily go with the Doodle
because we do a lot of work in schools.
If a school gets a bomb threat.
Right?
We will be called into the district to provide a sense of calm for the students.
So, but I'll just share one major quality, whether it's a doodle, a golden
retriever, you know, a German shepherd, You want a dog, when they're out in
public, they want to go up to people.
They want to go up and greet people.
And, and that's the biggest thing to watch with your dog and say, Is this
dog going to be successful at this work?
It doesn't matter if someone sees it.
It doesn't matter of the age.
It doesn't matter of the energy.
If you take your dog out there and they're constantly wanting to go up to people
and there is no stress sign in that dog.
Stress signs in dog is the head is down, the tails between the legs.
Maybe they lean on the owner and they don't really want to go over there.
We all were trained in looking at stress signs for our dogs, right?
If that is not present and your dog is continuing wanting to go up to other
people, regardless of the situation, that is the number one characteristic
we look for, because that is saying that they love the work that they are doing.
And they love being what people, despite the energy or.
Whatever they may be sensing in the room at that time, they are still
enjoying wanting to meet new people.
Anke: I love that.
I'm just thinking so, and would you, would they have to have like a calm temperament
or is that something that can be trained?
Kimmy: Depends how old they are.
Um, it definitely cannot be trained.
I think the calm temperament is, you know, they either have it
as they get older or they don't.
I know there's a couple of first response dogs that are about
three years old, um, younger dogs.
And, um, I'll, I'll tell you what works for these guys, because they are calm
overall, but they've got to get the zoomies and the energy out, is that
when some of the responders get a call, they'll take their dog out for an hour and
just play before they go on site, right?
Um, my dogs, I've got a 13 year old golden doodle that's been doing this work for 13.
I've got a six year old golden doodle.
So.
They are pretty much calm and the work is, the mental work is
what's kind of exhausts them.
But again, it, it's really, you got to look at, at the, the
personality of the dog, right?
They all have energy, they all want to play, but at the end of the day,
do you have a dog that really is kind of mediocre, calm, can settle down?
Or is it a dog that always wants to jump and be busy?
Um, and so it's just something that, uh, it's the way they are
and, uh, it, it's, you just work through it if there's a little bit
of the excitement in the beginning.
But generally that's what I do because when I pick out my puppies
to do this work, I meet the breeder, I meet the parents, and I really,
really Get to know the personality of that puppy before I decide that they
would be the right fit for this work.
Anke: Because I'm just thinking of here Mrs.
Ada like she's, she's like, she approaches the world with like,
I'm cute and you know it, right?
So she's pretty much, you know, and I'm very happy go lucky.
I'm, I'm still she's a big dog so in the street I always like I don't want
her to go up to people because when she gets excited she's big right so and I
don't you know like I don't want her to get over excited you know so it's
just an interesting one to kind of scan my own like look at what you've just
sort of described and think like okay which of my dogs would be suitable not
suitable whatever so it's actually quite fascinating do you find they need some
kind of Like, how much of what's going on, because you mentioned like, you know,
school shootings and stuff like that, and the trauma that they help people
through, how much of that is kind of, are they taking that on, or are they
just like, nope, I'm in the moment, and once the scene is over, I'm good?
Like, is that, is there something that you need to help them to get through
afterwards, or can they just absorb that?
Kimmy: Oh no, they take it all in, um, and they absorb it, and they
do need to release it afterwards.
They, they really do.
Um, it's not like they just go in, because dogs are very intuitive, they're
very sensitive, and they do, they take on our stress, they take on our
anxiety, they take on the depression.
So, um, I can tell, number one, I'll watch body language, when
they have taken too much on, what happens is they'll start to lay down.
They'll start to lay down, and that's their sign to me, like, I'm done,
I'm maxed, I gotta go, and I set that boundary, and when I see that, I say
very respectfully, I'm sorry, but we're done, we'll be back tomorrow.
And then what I do is I take them home and we always play with a toy.
I always do something to get them moving, to get that energy out.
Right.
Um, and make something fun.
Um, so it's always, always play afterwards.
Even, even if you think, well, God, you know, are they, I think they're fine.
They're not, they've got.
to let it out.
And they also have to know they did a good job.
Yeah.
And it's really important that they continue to love this work.
And that's why I'm so in tune to their body language and always rewarding after
going into a situation because I want them to continue to enjoy the work.
And the day that they don't, then they're retired.
Anke: Yeah, I love it.
I love that.
I mean, that's and that's also I think it does give a sense of purpose as well
like I would imagine like if the whole situation doesn't sort of stress them out
it's it's very rewarding for them as well that sense of like, you know, I know I
actually, you know, do work that matters.
You know, I know just like my little Leia, like she's a, you
know, she's a Spanish Mastiff.
So her thing is like, I need to make sure everybody's safe here at night, right?
And so you can see her with that sense when she's sitting on the porch and like,
okay, I'm gonna, and then she comes in and checks in on everyone's like, she
takes her work very seriously, right?
So it's kind of cute, but it's also like, it's the, suddenly you can really
almost see in her face that satisfaction of I've got work to do here, you know?
So I think it's really, it's rewarding for them as well.
Very
Kimmy: much so.
Very much so.
And what's really interesting in the fact is, you know, um, last year we had
a mass shooting here in Maine, right?
So there were all these critical situa uh, critical, um, places that
we were deployed to that people could go to for mental health or
just be supported by the community.
Here's my point in this, um, the people would come up and they would
develop a relationship, let's say with one of my dogs, Campbell.
The rewarding part for this for Campbell is that the next day if that same
person came into this, uh, critical center, um, He would find that person
out of 50 other people, he would find that person and go up to that person.
And I know he remembered and he was checking in to say, are you okay today?
And that's another area where we know our dogs.
love the work that they do and they want to make sure that we're okay.
Anke: Yeah.
So where can people find out more about you and about the work you do and, you
know, come a little closer into your work?
Kimmy: Yes.
Come on closer into my world.
Yes.
You can find me.
My website is Kimberly Helene, H E L E N E dot com.
Uh, you can find me on Facebook.
It's K 9 First Response.
Maine.
You can also find me on Instagram, which is caninefirstresponsemaine.
And, um, reach out at any time if you're interested.
I don't care if you're in the United States or Spain.
If you're interested in getting into this type of work, I am a trainer.
I work with handlers and dogs that want to go out in the
field and do this type of work.
So contact me at any time, even if you don't know how to start and
you're like, hey, um, I don't even know the first thing what to do.
I can help you through the process.
I would love to talk to you and I'm here to support you because my passion is
to get more dog handlers, teams, canine first response teams, therapy teams out in
the world because this work makes a huge difference in the lives of so many people.
Anke: I love that so much.
And I'm sort of, my mind is going, well, actually, if they're the more teams there
are, you know, the, the less dramatic.
The incidents has to be right.
It's almost like, well, it could be in, in schools for exams and, you know, like
a lot more situations where, where, where this could help, you know, so I love that.
Kimmy: And I also work with professionals.
I work with, um, therapists that want to bring their dog to work full time.
So my goal, and it's happening here in the States, I don't know about Spain.
Dogs, dogs are now being trained to go and work full time in school
districts and hospitals and courtrooms and in mental health facilities.
So I support professionals and how to do that as well.
Awesome.
Anke: Well, thank you so much.
This was eye opening and it's got my mind spinning.
Oh yeah, that's wonderful.
Thank you so much for coming.
We're obviously going to pop the links and you know, contact details in
the show notes and below this video, so you're going to be easy to find.
So thank you so much.
Kimmy: Thank you.
It's been a pleasure.
And remember the unconditional love of a dog heals all.
Thanks so much for listening.
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That's A N k E at Soul touched by dogs.com.