Navy Seal Instructor Now K9 Dog Trainer- Mike Ritland

war is a nasty business you want to maximize your highest percentage chance of being able to make it home in one piece that's an offense what you just said right there who is the biggest threat we have today us we will screw ourselves over far before anybody else does so what's your concern trying to prove that women can do certain things or transgenders can fit into certain elements everybody's being affected by politically correctness the only way that I really see that being lifted off of our society is a huge kick in the nuts Wow like licking a Chinese doorknob in terms of safety right now it's gas station sushi right it's not in your favor that it's gonna pan out I came here to get away from the craziness I know you're right an effect of an on a deployment to Iraq there was a group of Marines in the area that we were in and they had an explosive detector dogs I mean that was where everything kind of clicked even dogs can sometimes experience PTSD absolutely you really believe that I know that your favorite want to train for war for military if you're looking to hire somebody if you're gonna interview them you're gonna see what a skillset is how do you interview dog good my wife wants a Chow Chow dog sorry I hear that I love Chows I love all dogs you're not doing you or the dog any favors by adopting the wrong dog but how big is the dog breeding business this number should scare everybody does that mean that you kill them no not necessarily so if there is such a thing as I have anything that's filled with dogs god I hope so did you ever think you would make it take sweet victory I know this slice mill for yeah yeah why would you bet on Goliath well we got red tape now you came in given values contagious this world of entrepreneurs we can evaluate a haters happy run homie look what I become I'm the one [Music] my guest today is a three-time New York Times best seller and he's a former Navy SEAL and on top of that he's a dog behaviorist we've already been chatting it up on many different topics I said let's just turn on the camera let's get right into it very very interesting cat Mike Ritland thank you for coming out being a guest on that tainment no thanks for having me it's a pleasure to be here it's good to have you man thank you for your service no it's it's an honor to be in a place to be able to serve so I appreciate it it's greif feel the same way as well but for you you went to Navy SEALs like I was just the soldier a specialist in the hunter force airborne you became a Navy so at what point that you know you wanted to be a Navy SEAL I read a Popular Mechanics article in high school when I was a I want to say about a sophomore and I had grown up swimming and for me it was kind of the culmination of everything it was the ability to get in trouble but but get away with it and be paid to do it in conjunction with kind of focusing on the maritime aspect which is what I was the most comfortable with so for me it just seemed you know reading and I was like that's it this is what I need to be doing and so from that day forward I spent the whole rest of high school basically preparing myself as best I could to you know to try to do that for a living and so I waited high school at 17 had to wait until I turned 18 to to actually go to boot camp and then showed up and try it out and went straight to bud so straight to buds yeah well I went to a school for four months got intelligence specialist which at that time I had to but I already had to go to some a school but yeah right after that I went when I was I was in buds at 18 how old were you when you knew you wanted to be a navy so when you read that about 15 all right 15 yeah so pre 15 you're not you're undecided no and I guess ironically enough I remember being in junior high during the first Gulf War and being just honestly scared scared to death that our country was going to war and and being afraid that you know what if I get drafted like what if this is still going on when I turn II really like I was I was actually scared of it at seventh grade but just a few years later if that doesn't speak to maturity that the testosterone brings as a as a pubescent teenager that you know my my role in ideology towards that change dramatically so yeah as soon as I had about 15 I wanted to do something both my grandparents were in World War two and I was just very inspired by that so something for me now that I just I kind of grew up or grew into wanting to do as I became a young man what would they tell you stories would you sit down and want to hear stories like we did gravitate towards it from a young age I absolutely did my mom's dad was in the Navy he was on a minesweeper in a fleet of 98 of them that were in the Med and only two of them returned 96 of the 98 were either sunk or partially sunk or you know disabled enough to not make it back and he had just he was a cook you know which was kind of an interesting change of pace I guess from what I wanted to do but but just yeah his stories about pulling into port and and being at war in the Mediterranean in the world in world war 2 was was really inspiring my dad's dad was in the army he was on the German front and actually got got discharged from the Army for getting in a bar fight and beating a fellow allied soldiers an English soldier actually beat him to death and in a bar fight and so they sent him home which that doesn't tell you how how much time has changed her times have changed and that now you'd go to prison for the rest he was in prison Photovoice was life today yeah it's pretty much what do you think about it what time what makes more sense though to me in in this grand scope of warfare which is ultimately what our military is is poised for I think it should go far back to the old school oh really no the days of hazing and obviously there is a happy medium I think you can for sure overdo it back then I think that's probably a little a little too far back but you know I know the difference between say when I was you know coming in in the early or the late 90s rather as an early frogman versus how it is now it's vastly different in terms of our ability to kind of police our own I think especially in the military that that is a necessary I wouldn't call it an evil but just a necessary augmentation to units being able to keep themselves sharp honest and you know and then have the right guys doing the the right job for the right reasons now I think that a lot of guys do it to check that box and wear the t-shirt and say that they did it and when it comes time to do warriorship so to speak they don't want to have any part of it you know and I think that that's a huge problem interesting then it reflects in in a lot of what's going on in the community nowadays I think in the community of seal buds as would you yes I'd say all of Special Operations and I would even say broad spectrum to the to the entire US military I think that there there is a problem with it being geared more towards a social experiment I think the last presidential administration had had some negative impacts that way I don't think what our society reflects in terms of you know how we we view certain hotbed issues that are pretty polarizing I don't believe that it suits our military's best interests to meddle in those affairs whatsoever you know to me I like to reduce it down and keep it really simple because it is simple is that the United States military has one job and that's to go over overseas and break stuff and kill people in the event of them needing to do so and every decision should be boiled down to does it make us a more effective war fighting force or does it not if it does then you should do it irrespective of cost irrespective of social heartburn that it might create an irrespective of really anything other than that singular goal of is just what we're here to do or not and it really needs to stay that simple is it is it that black and white to you it is because it's it's a unlike really every other aspect of our life we're very few other ones it's a a mission or purpose built you know element where everything you do revolves around your ability to to go places and be effective in terms of a war fighting force you know so whether or not women should be in certain roles or transgender should be allowed or any of those things you know to me that I'm reminded of a the Jeff Goldblum quote in Jurassic Park which is where he says we've spent so much time thinking about they're not we could or couldn't we never stop to think whether or not we should or shouldn't and in relation to you know pulling the DNA out of a mosquito in amber or whatever and to me it's very much that way is that trying to prove that women can do certain things or that transgenders can fit into certain elements to me I think misses the boat is that it you know to me that that's not the place to do that if you want to have a an experiment that way then do it in the Olympics do it in collegiate sports first you know if you want to try something out try it there where people's lives aren't on the line because if you'll notice you know there's a pretty stark contrast between men and women and competition as it relates at a world-class level well in the military and especially in Special Operations it's absolutely no different there is a huge disparity between sexes when it comes to combative everything take the UFC as an example you know there's a reason there's men's and men and women's competition classes where why is there not a push to make that co-ed there's not why isn't there why is there a push to have women Navy SEALs and women Rangers in Green Berets but nobody gives a [ __ ] to have a 155 pound woman face Conor McGregor in the ring why not what why is there not that the same level of bordering on vitriol for for that competitive equality that exists when when the reality of it is is whether you take the Olympics or the UFC is that everybody knows what what the actual result would be and that would be an outclassing and and I think very few if any women would win anything and then that's why there are women's divisions in both the Olympics collegiate sports as well as thirdly being the UFC dad that led to two different parts what part of that you think is the guy at the top who runs UFC because there's no way in the world he's gonna tolerate that you know what I'm saying where he's he's not a personality that is like well I think it's fair we have to be fair and what about this and people's feelings how much everything has to do with them and how much of it has to do with media pressure and organizations to want to get to that point you have see specific unquestionably that's a factor however there's no media pressure for that why isn't there why is there so much media pressure on female seals Green Berets Rangers cetera absolutely zero when it comes to why aren't there just Olympic events why are there male/female there's no heartburn with that so UFC yeah you could say Dana white maybe has the personality that would make it bordering on impossible to do that anyway but there's not even the effort to make that happen on the other hand there's also a number of other competitive or combative sports leagues there's Bellator there's a bunch of smaller ones where there's absolutely no push for that either and again I would say collegiate sports zero there's crickets why is there an LPGA why is there a WNBA why is there not a push to have all of these women who play in those leagues play in the NBA and mandate that there's a 50/50 percentage or a 60/40 or whatever the population is to reflect that there's absolutely none why not to me the fact that they're there is such pushback and such you know aggressiveness when it comes to proving that women can do certain things I have no doubt that there are some women out there that can physically do certain things that that any man can do there's there's you can watch a CrossFit competition and see that for sure there are some that could probably make it through my point is is that from from a warfighting effectiveness standpoint it doesn't matter you know and the reason it doesn't matter is because when you interject different sexes into those types of roles it causes problems my idea or fix or whatever not that I'm individual and thinking this there's a number of us that do is I would say just have female Special Operations units that are all female the same way Israel has has had actually enormous success with you know there doesn't need to be female seals there could be female whatever you know special operations detachment or unit that you want to stand up from scratch and have it be all women I've got no problem with that there there are a number of applications where women I think are better suited than men and insert and especially covert operations where women especially in certain parts of the Middle East that you can relate to where women have far more access and far less microscope on them in terms of getting into certain areas for is not because their women are going to be given a pass I'm not saying that they shouldn't you know have a role in combat I think I think well for for starters they already do which I am NOT going to get into any further than that but there's there's no shortage of women that are already doing things that most people never hear about that you know that are absolutely beneficial and worthwhile and should be applauded however in my opinion and I can say ninety eight point nine percent of all of their special operators opinions out there former or active mirrors that same thing so let me ask you this so you're not saying no to women getting into Special Operations you're talking about separate the two and they're able to go in a different direction than maybe the men are going so right now when you went to Budds was it all men when you went to Butz because you went buzz what year it was a 97 97 so you are you in high school class of 96 or 97 96 96 so we're the same year I'm also class of 96 yeah so graduate 96 then you go to buds in 97 there are no women in your class at all 97 correct how about today to my knowledge there still hasn't been any women that have actually classed up there's been a couple that have tried and have either failed or quit in the in the pre training phase which is at Great Lakes now which is you know in Great Lakes Illinois just just after boot camp there's a like a couple month pre training period that is supposed to get prospective students ready to to be a little a little better prepared for buds but not none of them to my knowledge have made it past that so what's your concern what's your concern since it's not I guess it hasn't happened yet my concern is the principle of it is is the push to to make that Avenue available when when that very simple question of does this make us a more effective war fighting force in my opinion no it doesn't in my opinion it causes far more problems and so I I do think it is that black and white when it comes to your mission is very black and white you can reduce those decisions in terms of whether or not it makes us at a higher capacity or not very black and white interesting when you think GI Jane is more of a Hollywood story and not more of a life-story it's a hundred percent more of a Hollywood story yeah you know again I I have seen some women in some capacities that I think physically could probably make it through training not not more than probably that I could count on one hand but my point is is that even if let's let's say there was just being liberal about it let's say there was 20 women a year that had the all of the the different genetic traits and drive and physical attributes required to make it through training those those 20 females in terms of their addition to the community in my opinion are going to far outweigh in a negative manner the the warfighting efficacy of those units because they're women involved like wow you really believe that I know that you know that I know that and how many of your peers would you say think the same way as you do I don't know a single one that doesn't oh okay through the 98.9 making the assumption that there's probably a few people out there that you know have been out for you know long enough and think you know yeah hey that's great but I can tell you overwhelmingly every everybody that I know and have talked to has the exact same opinion about it being overseas in a Forward Operating Base it's one thing to make it through training where there's a safety net and there's a mental safety net where everybody that goes to training no matter how hard and how rough it gets you have a a primal understanding that at the end of the day it's the end of the day you know and that your life isn't really on the line whereas when you are in a Forward Operating Base and and everything is on the the chaos is literally brimming day-in day-out that was a very very different mindset so let's just say you were you went to what operation you went on a few operations give me one of them just someone in particular was the the oil platforms that were about 25 miles off the coast in the northern Arabian Gulf but 25 miles south off the coast of Basra and are in southern Iraq got it there were a number of oil platforms that my platoon from SEAL team three as well as another platoon from a different team took these oil rigs down over the course of about six and a half hours there was about thirty of us and we captured 20 three I believe Iraqi prisoners of war secured the whole the whole oil platform took it down and by sunset had it had it secured and had them had them bagged up in tents yeah here's a question what if one of those 20 that you said per your king graduate buds was a scientific part of your unit who would you feel comfortable taking that you know assignment then going there with another woman part of your team on the actions at the objective yes doing the actual person yeah I would okay if they physically and mentally happen and this is assuming and taking for granted that no standards have been changed and from my perspective than no standards being changed are there aren't there aren't female locker rooms there aren't female berthing spaces there aren't um so you know you have your period so you're not going in the ocean this evening there's none of that you are treated absolutely no different there's no accommodations made what what I think though is is leading up until that point if I if I look back and think of the amount of time that we spent getting ready to do that and then in the close quarters living and the things that we went through as a platoon together to get ready for that I don't think a woman would have been a value added asset in a platoon at that point I think it would have caused more harm than good for that assignment for that's specific for any of them you know any of them for any of them okay because the the thing that's important to realize is that your time in a platoon is you know for those I mean you you understand it more than most I think because of your time at the hundred and first is that you know that that ability to to separate yourself from the entire planet basically from your family from your friends from everybody and you're out in these super isolated areas doing really dangerous stuff day in day out it creates a bond with each other that that exists differently I think than any other aspect of our society and it's it's hard to explain it but what I can say is that when we're in forward operating bases and let's say for example there's an intelligence representative that happens to be a female I can tell you from experience is that that causes problems huge problems is that when you have sixteen or thirty or fifty or a hundred it's triple double or triple a personality alpha male men that are just exploding with ego and are ultra hyper competitive and now you have one or two females that are now all of the sudden in the mix it causes huge problem what way I mean I kind of have an idea I'm just good to know what you in them in the way that you can imagine okay is that you know that the competition that exists on who can run the fastest on who can pick up the heaviest stuff on who's the best shot who can secure a target the fastest that that same mentality and attitude exists towards women as well whether it's during the the workup cycle or what-have-you is that the the biological differences between men and women are there and when you take that that fraction of one percentage of the highest level in terms of professional soldiers who are at that level who are there their job is to represent a nation and go to other nations and defeat them in in their back yard kick doors and shoot people in the face and and and be be the best at it is that that that causes problems and even in just the competitive nature between who's the best shot and who's the best athlete and everything else when you throw women in the mix now you have a genetic component that in my opinion again I have no doubt there's a plenty of people that would argue is that their there is an element and I see this a lot in dogs too this is one of the parallels between humans and dogs is that men act towards women differently especially in this country is that we are taught most of us from day one is that you treat them differently is that you don't put your hands on a woman you do certain things for them you protect them in in the face of danger and so if if now I I have 10 or 15 of my comrades one or two or five or however many of which are a woman your genetic hardwiring in my opinion it is going to cause havoc in terms of now when when bullets are flying and people are getting shot and blown up and are injured and some need to be saved etc is that now now that throws throws genetic hardwiring into the mix that is never going to pan out in a positive manner when I was in the whole Don't Ask Don't Tell what's going on right and I remember we'd go to clubs and you could always tell all of a sudden you go to all these clubs and suddenly you go into a gay club sometimes the gay clubs or the best wants to go to because you had a no competition because you're going in a most beautiful woman who still have to go to get clubs because they didn't want to be bothered right so you're going off center markets really smart you having fun but then one of you guys you know it's a wait a minute this guy's at the army what are you doing and he starts like that was kind of a so I know you're gay well I mean but it was Don't Ask Don't Tell right and this was 97 and when we got to the unit I remember my sergeant would say don't ever be in a room with a soldier female soldier don't ever be in the barracks with one with doors closed just don't do it yeah and I said why not he would citizens I just don't do it why not then story came out one of the guys was in and he's saying dude I'm telling ya I don't do nothing to her but he went in and he told everybody that he did take advantage of her he raped her and in boom he went and he did some time right so but no one knows the truth no one was in there to know the truth where I'm going with this is the following how much has a change from Don't Ask Don't Tell to today and now trans like I remember your end you're something at UBC you know you think you're from LA you're but you're nobody we're gonna kick and they talk to you you know they don't talk to you like a lightweight house house how careful do you have to be with your language today when you're talking to new recruits from I mean I've been out for ten years so they're actually over 10 years I got out in November of oh eight so just from the people that I have kept in contact with that you know that I value their opinion it's it's changed pretty drastically and that's that's part of it you know again hazing certain language you know that there are certain things that again this is of course always my opinion but you know warfare generally speaking is a pretty brutal business and it's one where you really can't have feelings that have the ability to be injured or hurt the way that that we get offended in our society today with the littlest thing you know from from an emotional standpoint there's there's a level of emotional maturity and strength that has to be there for you to be an effective warfighter and if it's not I think it causes problems and I think you know the Eddie Gallagher case as an example I think is a good example of where there's a newer generation of soldiers that that have grown up under the umbrella of political correctness and I see it causing problems with cases like that you've got a guy who kind of grew up more in my generation under a certain way and as its as he's gotten older bordering on being a dinosaur in the community by by their standards you know I see that that you know that's where a lot of those problems come from is is that you've got a newer crop of of guys that that just view the world differently because they've they've grown up in a different world it's got it's got to be very you know I remember there was a time where people you kinda either wanted to be a ranger or you wanted to be a Special Forces my body became a delta who's got more of your personality you know we're going to the fifth group to be recruited to be 18 deltas and a last minute I come out he gets my orders he goes in Vicenza the rest is history gets picked up by Delta and that's a life he lived he lives and he did all this stuff all the stories that he's got very good friend we were at the same uniform he worked here briefly for about six seven eight months you know I don't know what it's like to want to be a drill instructor today like I don't know you know like the head you saw my gosh what would it be to be an instructor yeah I've been so cool to be an instructor I don't know if I would want to be an instructor I wouldn't I mean I was a seal instructor the last three and a half years I was in of course that was you know five to the end of Oh 8 and so even you know since then times have changed drastically again I don't advocate brutality for the sake of being brutal I don't advocate harsh standards just because you feel like being a dick to me it's it's a hundred percent results-driven is that war is a nasty business you want the best guys who are going to maximize your your highest percentage chance of being a successful and be able to make at home in one piece and and to get yourself ready for things like that you you have to run a tight ship and you have to have high standards and you have to be hard on one another you know the the pipeline the process that exists that the selection whether it's for Green Berets whether it's Ranger school whether it's buds whether it's you know selection for Delta or green team for SEAL Team six all of those have one common denominator and in that you know they are a result of this is what we need and this is the process that we have to use to get what we need and it's really that simple you know and so when you start to interject societal driven complaints or you know I would call it you know these politically correct norms that are becoming more and more normal that that really you know offset or you know really kind of fly in the face of those traditional standards that we have and maintain and that have given all of these units the reputation and the success that they've had you know then that causes problems and you're seeing it unfold as as we sit here other things gonna last a long time I don't think is gonna last a long time here's why don't things gonna last a long time because you know when you think about the political correctness comes from a certain political party right you're not hearing it coming a lot from maybe the Republican side you're hearing a lot coming from a you know left or democratic party we can't say these got to be careful with this right and so then you have the independent us kinda in the middle saying just leave me alone I'm a libertarian I want to get to where I'll make money but don't bother me what is starting to happen right now is everybody's being affected by the pull you know politically correctness the PC movements affecting everybody so it's tough to be a comedian today I mean you got a Dave Chappelle that goes and does it stand up and you know oh my gosh you can't say something like that what do you mean when he's given is I don't know if you've seen it or not well I watch it twice I couldn't believe how amazing it was on how we explained everything so I don't know how long this is gonna last on the politically correct I think eventually they're gonna be like look we can't just do this somebody needs to go out there and say so but we'll see what's gonna happen what do you think about that how long do you think this could last I think it depends on how how long we are successful as a country I think that political correctness generally speaking or as a whole is a direct reflection of a country successfulness if you look at any other countries will take your your place of birth as an example political correctness really doesn't exist there at least not anywhere near in the same realm as it does here why is that or if take a look at the Philippines or Indonesia or any places where their GDP is is a fraction of what ours is and and most of the day-to-day struggle is in survival why don't they have it there well because they don't have the leverage the flexibility or frankly the luxury to be pissed or offended by certain words because it doesn't matter because they're too busy worried about just surviving and so our country has been so successful for so long no different than say the Roman Empire having having a similar fate in that you know it's the the cycle of hard hard times create hard men you know and you know the rest but you you get to a certain point where it's been so easy for us for so many generations to where now it's inevitable so to me it's it's a correction is coming of some sort whether it's another country whether it's a natural disaster whether it's a coronavirus type of pandemic who knows but to me the only the only way that I really see that that political correctness umbrella being lifted off of our society is is a huge kick in the nuts frankly is is that that's what it's going to take for people to say you know what who cares about words I got it I gotta feed my children I think it's coming I think there's gonna be the huge kick in the nuts coming very soon but by the way the coronavirus how do you process that to me I think it's largely overblown you know to me I think just like with most things in the media you've got to two major components that are contributing to how big of a headline it's it's become and continues to be which is it's an election year overwhelmingly left run media and it's it's a way it's one more way to further criticize the president I wouldn't say I'm necessarily a huge supporter or anti I fall somewhere in the middle but you know it's undeniable in my opinion that that the the media is doing whatever they can and using any excuse that they can to try to attack them that's part of it I think the bigger factor is that the media uses anything whether it's Kobe Bryant or the coronavirus or transgender in the military or whatever it is is that if they can if they can find certain stories and headlines that separate people and piss people off and polarize this country is that what do people do will they watch you know and nothing will make somebody pay attention closer than being scared and if people are fearing for their for their lives of course they're gonna watch the news 25 hours a day and and try to be spoon-fed so that they're the best prepared to deal with something that in my opinion you know again is is really not worth worrying about no more than the flu the regular flu I mean I know the mortality rate is slightly higher but if you look at at least from from what I've gathered is that the people who are actually expiring from coronavirus are in the same health category as the people that died or have have the mortality rate bands of of the normal influenza so I really don't think it's a big deal I'm certainly not worried about it I can tell you that what do you think needs to happen for a president Trump to not get reelected not reelected but not Guidry like at this point right now even Business Insider said investors from from the left in New York they said if Bernie is the nominee we're gonna go for Trump these are Democrats yeah they're saying if Bernie is a nominee we're going for Trump but what do you think needs to happen like could a coronavirus getting out of control hurt him getting reelected for sure it could - the depths with which is anybody's guess I think for sure it's a factor I think the biggest factor frankly is when you see the the level of support that's been garnered for a guy like Bernie Sanders is that it's it's taken full advantage of what I just mentioned is is you know a politically correct soft and weak society that doesn't really understand how the world works you know that there is no such thing as free college somebody's paying for it just because you're not paying for it make it free you know in because social media is so manipulative and because our our education system from K through 12 and especially in the universities is so ignorant to the way this country was formed and more importantly why it was formed I think is is scary and it speaks volumes is the fact that civics classes basically don't exist anymore and if you ask anybody from the you know from the age of even starting to be in the age of reason to say in their late 20s almost all of them were almost none of them can accurately and correctly answer basic tenets of our government of how bills are passed a basic American history basic world history and kind of why this country exists how it got to where it is capitalism is the reason that a guy like Bernie even has the ability to get to where he is which the irony is is ridiculous with that and the fact that most people don't pick up on that to me is is frightening and there's enough people at this point if you see how much success he had in in 2016 and how close he came you know and had the entire Clinton machine against him had CNN was against him in the entire DNC was against him and he still almost beat her out if he had had a fair shake you very well may may have beaten her out four years have gone by and now he's that much stronger or I should say our society is that much weaker and that much more willing to hand over the keys to their everything to a guy who promised and promises them things that he absolutely I mean just mathematically cannot deliver and the fact that people don't don't understand that that can listen to that guy talk and say yeah that sounds awesome to me is is frightening why do you think he's getting so much momentum it's for those those exact reasons it's a lack of civics classes it's a political correct nature it's you think that's it okay I absolutely do I think that that our our success has become our own worst enemy how much how much you that you put on the media a lot of it not all of it I mean it's it's a combination it's like with most things is that you know there's there's a multitude of factors the media it plays a big role but it's not the only role you know our success technique as an example has made our lives so easy to wear we don't as human beings you know for the first time in human history in the last we'll say 30 to 50 years maybe is the first time in thousands tens of thousands of years where our main day-to-day isn't based around just surviving you know go go camping in a national forest not even at a campground in a national park or State Park going to just BLM land and and then live out of your vehicle or out of a tent for five days a week self-contained where you've got to purify your own water gather your own food gather your own wood and basically just survive and you'll find out in a matter of hours that none of the rest of it matters and that's how we lived as a species for forever until just very recently and so the the technological advances that have make an hour our our lives easy changes everything it changes breeding partners it changes how you raise your family it changes what you give a [ __ ] about it changes what your priorities are when you completely alter all of those things that are vastly different from how they they have been genetically ingrained in us for millennia it's a flip of a coin as to what happens and I think I think that's why you see the ridiculousness that you see at this point yeah it is ridiculous that's the best way of putting it at is craziness because I came here to get away from the craziness and now you're right in a second yeah and it's kind of like well you know America's not a great country to be and you don't understand what they do over here there's a lot better places to go to in Europe but everyone who's saying there's a lot of places to go to they're not moving they're staying here yeah capitalism ultimately rain rains King I mean we lived in Iran and we said there are other places to go to and people are like well then go now we did yeah a bunch of people left because there's many other places to go to that's better than when we were living there hey let me ask you personality-wise do you did when you went to buds and you know you you were out and you eventually became an instructor and so you got to different point of views right you got the point of view of running with your guys and you got the point of view going and doing different missions and assignments and then you have the point of view of being the instructor and kind of monitor and everybody has seen doubt that guy can make you land you know the game you play or before the instructors like hoody things are going to make it hundred bucks says that guy's not gonna make you discuss not gonna make you know what have you kind of watching everybody right like when you go to a wedding with your friends and when we were in the army you know you're you got drinking buddies and you go to the wedding you would say how long you think nine months eighty money right and you would he's deployed has deployed after time she's at the club so you would sit down you would talk about this stuff but do you see a trend do you see a trend with who makes a good seal and who doesn't like do you notice any commonality because personality-wise you have a different personality than some of the other seals have sat with but you do what do you see as a commonality similar to between the guys that make it so there's two two points I would bring up there's actually a third perspective that I gained in being at a SEAL team for a number of years and so I had the student experience I had the instructor in spirits but I had you know the the opportunity I would call it to also observe students after me that were coming to the team and how well they did you know and during that period and you know it was there a difference is that are there trends even with the new guys and and I think it's it's human nature to always think it was harder back when I did it and you know the next generation is soft there's an element of that to everything that I'm saying however I will say that you know the the commonality that exists here your second question just very plainly and simply is that the process is what that commonality is and that's the beauty of the process that is buds is that what what you don't realize as a student and maybe they do now because the gig is up I think much much more so than it was when I was a student in terms of prospective students being able to game the system a little bit and know you know what all the evolutions are and what the standards are and etc but but there's still enough of a cloaked element to that process that exists and just the fact that physically and mentally it is hard I don't care who you are you know you can't show up in good enough shape to make it there's gonna come a point in every individual that shows up there that's gonna have to rely on his mind and so the commonality that exists between frogmen even to this day even even though the process in my opinion has has maybe wavered a little bit is that you still have instructors that were put through by instructors that were put through by instructors you know going all the way back to the early 60s you know in the Vietnam standards that there's still an element of that that just gets passed down from from instructor to student during that process and so even now I know some guys that I that I worked with that are now still instructors there that are still hard asses that are still you know doing the over their shoulder and making sure that that the students are earning it you know and and thank God for that and that the product I think is still adequate but I it's absolutely different you know and it's different because of all of the the affer mentioned PC crap sounds like you like the PC stuff a lot you know it's like you can't of it I thought for sure you're gonna wear like a pro PC shirt and you came in to say Zack yes it's blue right blue is propecia so so let's talk about dogs so what what what happened with the transition of you know doing what you're doing to now becoming a dog behavior how did that happen two things one I grew up a dog guy in Northern Iowa a lot of duck duck hunting dogs labs and you know thing bird dogs generally speaking so it's always a huge fan of dogs growing up I was always a dog guy more so I mean everybody you know has a lot of people I have dogs growing up I was really into it having said that as I came into the Navy and and started to kind of you know see in certain glimpses and different elements of the military and how they used dogs that's when I really became enamored with that application of them you know I always marveled at you know a dog or any canines ability to use its nose and to you know deal with environmental challenges that that we would have a harder time with but that was you know an enormous ly magnified when I actually started to see them kind of working and what they were were capable of and so on a deployment to Iraq there was a group of Marines in the area that we were in and and they had an explosive detector dog that basically was responsible for saving the lives of a number of young Marines and for me that was where everything kind of clicked and went from just being you know a casual you know hobby or observation where I looked fondly on it to where we've been in a situation like these guys god knows how many times and we've never had a dog with us why not and so from that point on which is in early oh three until as I sit here I just have have not been able to satiate that desire to learn more and more about dogs specifically to their use with apprehension and detection and in military and police type of work so you know it's been a you know the majority of my adult life kind of dedicated to really honing and mastering and and trying to be able to educate as best I can whether it's police canine hand there's military handlers trainers civilians etc and kind of putting it all together and and you know that the unique thing about dogs is that whether you're talking on you know a high-speed explosive detection dog at a federal law enforcement or special operations unit or all the way down to you know the the neighbors Labradoodle it's knocking your kids off of his bike the way that you train those dogs and a lot of the elements of just basic operant conditioning and basic canine psychology or the exact same a and B may be very different but the way that you get there is largely the same when you were with the marine guys do you remember some of the guys as names like were you close to some of them I wasn't even there for the actual operation they were operating in an area that we were in and it was basically hearsay is that hey they had this bomb dog that that found a a grenade booby trap clump in the entrance of a not a cave but kind of a hole in the wall of a berm basically and a dog found sat on and indicated on a couple of grenades that were booby-trapped right there and that was it and that for me again it was just we've been all over this country doing all sorts of different operations and raids and we never had a dog with us and I and and for me that was the slap in the face or the light switch of saying you know Christ why are we not using these dogs in that same capacity had an old acquaintance who wasn't a marine and he was all about the training dogs he eventually wrote a book about it he's an actor right now there's something in movies right now guys there was Mike but I thought maybe there was some kind of that would have been wild if there was some kind of a connection there yeah so so you're doing that now while you're sealed did you start training dogs then or not yet that hasn't happened you don't see you get out on a civilian side I did okay so at that time you know an oh three oh four that the start of the Iraq war our and our meaning special operations use of canines was extremely limited I mean was basically non-existent and so as we grew as a community just like any other element that you're that you're adding to your war fighting forces that that takes you know years to really develop a level of competency where when employed overseas in actual combat it's it's an actual asset and not a liability it takes a long time to get to that point and so you know I I was training you know with Dutch shepherds and mal and laws and German Shepherds and different dogs in in those same or similar capacities with either sport clubs or you know if I could get my hands on on you know training DVDs or police k-9 training books which you know there's there's been quite a few of them out over the years or going to police canine seminars or anything I could get a hold of it you know I was buying dogs that were being imported from Germany and from Belgium and from Holland and and training with them and working in myself and doing a lot of things kind of learning through the school of hard knocks and so as I got got closer to getting out and in that same 2004 timeframe one of the biggest reasons I got into dogs was I got a fungal lung infection where I lost about 40 percent of my lung capacity I was offered a medical retirement at the time and at that time I had my first first child on the way I had no college degree and no plan of getting out anytime soon and so with that wrench in the gears that shifted of saying okay well I need to figure something out and so that coupled with you know the the light switch moment of overseas have already having that I was on convalescent leave for about nine months and during that time I was laid up most of that time and just was enamored by dogs and and you know breeding theory and veterinary medicine and conditioning and you name it and the more I learned the more interested I was as I got closer to being civilian is when I was offered a position on the west coast to be a k-9 handler and turned it down to get out and start my own canine company and and you know just like joining the Navy and wanting to be a seal I've really always taken the most bang for your buck approach in terms of my decision making process and as much as I wanted to stay in and be a handler physically I wasn't 100% convinced that I would be able to do it and not be a liability to the team as well as I felt like my impact would and could be greater felt by starting my own company and in training lots of dogs handlers running courses things of that nature which which dog do you find to be the your favorite one to train is there any specific one for war for military if there's one for sure the the Malinois and the Dutch Shepherd which in my opinion there there will be people that you know will give me a hard time for saying this but I view it like a chocolate lab in a yellow lab in my opinion it's basically the same dog but the Malinois and the Dutch Shepherd I think are if you're looking at just the basic breed standard I think percentage-wise you find more dogs in those two breeds than any other breed that successfully have what it takes to do that type of work interesting yeah when it comes down to dogs training dogs so obviously for you you do this professionally can any body get good at training dogs as well anybody anybody that's just you know and engineer Raytheon says you know what I also want to know how to I can train my dogs better can I get better at it or is it better off me Sena my dog so somebody who's an expert to train and then it comes back to me everybody can get better at it okay to me it's no different than really any other skill set man and you could take you know carpentry or bricklaying or brain surgery or being a chef or what have you is that the people that have a natural innate ability or a knack for that type of work whatever that type of work is in this case dog training are the ones who are world-class coupled with the passion desire Drive commitment and consistency just like building a business or anything else is that you know if your goal is to be a good trainer your genetics are going to limit the the level at which you can you can attain in terms of being world class or just good or decent or great or whatever you are driving inconsistency in desire and and will to succeed is what's going to allow you to cap or maximize that genetic potential just like in every other you know after make sense and that thing so you know to me unquestionably I mean the whole reason I started my online training program was to help people do it themselves yeah there are some people that are probably just better suited to hand their dog off to somebody and have most of the training or even all of it done even in the dogs I deliver for say personal protection is that I spend a lot of time educating those new owners on how to handle the dog how to think like the dog how to view the world from the dogs perspective because dogs you know that their their mind works more like a calculator than it does our mind what do you mean by that we think in a language we think about the the amount of information that you and I have exchanged just in the half hour or so that we've been sitting here it's enormous human beings overwhelmingly are verbal we think in a language you know we conversate in the language you dream in a language you you think about your goals in a language daydream etc dogs don't write well how do they view the world well they view the world in simple associations so a dog's world is a plus B equals C with everything you know whereas ours is mostly verbal through either text or verbal communication so understanding that is really the the backbone of being a successful dog trainer is that if you don't look at the world through the dog's eyes and think about his interactions the way he views them no different than you know a boss with their employees a coach with his athletes a teacher with their students a parenting unit with their children is that you've got to be able to relate to whoever it is that you're trying to teach train coach educate etc if you don't what happens you you know what you're talking about they have no idea what you're talking about and so most people's biggest problem is that they don't view the world through the dog's eyes which is again a simple Association that's where basic psychology and very very simple tenets of of operant conditioning come into into play so so to move dogs and move people what are the similarities and what are the differences so if I'm trying to move a dog versus moving a person is there some similarities in terms of in them how not moving like driving them motivating your to take action there's there's almost no difference and almost no there's no difference in that take any of your employees here right is that what motivates them well human beings have it have a currency system that equates to everything else that they're driven for now if you took away currency right human humans ability to hold and possess and value currency go back to say bartering days well that that's exactly what that is and so the key for the human being in terms of training the dog is actually very simple is that you have to find out what motivates the dog and then you use that to motivate the dog now the problem is is that it's some dogs will bite through your hand to get to a tennis ball because they're that driven for it some dogs you could bounce it off of their forehead and they wouldn't even look at it some dogs love attention some dogs hate it to the point where actually going away from them as a reward some dogs food drive is such - some drugs food drive is such similarly is that some act like you know that they don't need to eat for the rest of their life some even though they're overweight act like they're starving to death with what we've all seen the you know the fat lab not picking on anybody but that you know that'll break through a cabinet to get to you know a box of milk bones that he can smell in a kitchen so it's really it's understanding you know a how that dog views the world and then be finding out what that dog is motivated for and then the last component equally simple but where people fail is that they're lazy is it setting up the environment for success we do the same thing with our kids right you don't try to teach arithmetic at Disneyworld why not because they're distracted look at a classroom well it's very focused it's quiet it's organized there's rules there's there's tenants of principles that set those kids up for success same thing when you're training employees to do something you're not gonna do it at Starbucks or at least I hope not why because they would be distracted so with dogs it's no different I see people you know trying to train their dogs at dog parks or on walks or in their living room there's nine kids running around in the cap and a squirrel and whatever else and the dogs not paying attention to him so it's it's using the environment coupled with whatever they're motivated for in conjunction with understanding how they view the world all join together for a very basic principled system on how to reinforce the dog for doing what you want and how to how to use consequence to extinguish what you don't want and it's really that simple all I'm thinking about is my dog that's where I'm going well your kids are the same way yeah you know it's it's they're all different the way you're describing is very interesting that some dogs just don't I mean these two are complete opposite personalities just like with kids you know excuse me you know a lot of times I mean I can tell you I have three siblings all four of us are polar opposites none of us are alike even within the same litter you know just because they're your dogs at your house you know I'm assuming they're either different breeds or come from different letters at a minimum all of those things you know the way they were raised whatever their breed components are their genetic traits that are passed down from their parents you know what what type of stressors or not the female had while she was pregnant you know what was what was the whelping environment like what were the first six to eight weeks like in terms of human interaction versus not you know there's a multitude of factors but the fact is is that whether you're taking an eight week old puppy that had all of those things you know in its favor or to its advantage or you're getting a four-year-old rescue shelter dog that's an absolute train wreck the way that you're going to approach training that animal is exactly the same oh you a cat guy or no I like cheetahs like I like big cats I mean to me I like any animal that can provide something so small domesticated cats I like feral cats mousers that you know will keep keep the riffraff out of a barn or like there's a there's a calico cat that kind of runs runs around my dog kennel that keeps keeps mice at bay you know there's a lot of dog food and and other things that entice rodents and vermin to to come around and this Tomcat he's pretty nasty you know it doesn't sweat the dogs and and it keeps the riffraff out so for me animals generally speaking I'm not a huge fan of just companionship I love companionship of an animal that also provides some that's why I like working dogs and in all different capacities you see so you would never inspire to want to train cats it depends I might small do math I mean if like if you were taking like I would have trained these cats but this is the same way I would use I would use markers and reinforcement I'd use food with them I probably wouldn't mess with catnip or with toys or things of that nature I would feed them through training big misconception people have is that you're gonna starve a dog the way I like to couch it and I go over it in my online training but as I take I use crates and food initially just like we went through boot camp right is that your your conditioning a dog to behave how you want however that is however it is that you want the dog behaved is that you're setting yourself up for success by saying okay I'm gonna remove the white noise by by using a a classroom like environment to say here are the things I want you to do and you do that by waiting for them to happen marking them and rewarding them so I would do the same thing with a cat I would use the cats food if I wanted to and they did this you know during the Cold War actually they actually used cats to to spy on other nations meetings and in places of of government alignment and what-have-you and that they would they would train cats to have listening devices or small video recorders or a host of other different things but they would they would train them using using markers and reinforcement to to go you know spy on on Russian meetings basically but they did the same thing in World War two with pigeons they would they would use pigeons to to peck at navigation boards to steer bombs mills the world's first smart bombs was pigeon driven munitions in World War two very interesting using the same mechanism how have dogs been used obviously IEDs I know some of them but how I what what are some of the ways outside is what's mean what's interesting about dogs is that if you go back to say the first recorded history of man combatting one another canines were used in a lot of the same capacities whether it's carrying things messaging or protecting as it dogs were used very similarly to how they still are and when you look at the scope of mankind and how its it's evolved from a combative sense in terms of state-to-state military etc does that you know now you've got smart bombs you've got laser-guided munitions you've got FLIR video and infrared and thermal in all of these different platforms that you know twenty-pound brains have have developed over the years that the one thing okay and this is the only thing other than the human being that we still use our canines and to me if our our nation's tier 1 and tier 3 assets are our nation's most elite Special Operations Forces have dogs actually out in front of them protecting them we don't use anything for for anything other than that it works you know and the fact that our our nation's best are deploying overseas taking canines with them ought to tell you that there's still a very very effective and relevant war fighting that's in defense what you just said right there very intense some of the famous dogs in Wars was ships ride ships is one weird Patton apparently this one got a Purple Heart and a Silver Star but they took it away from him because they said dogs are equipment yeah right and then you got Nemo was a Vietnam War that this guy killed this dog killed two via Kong's then carios up obviously the famous one I want to hear your thoughts and and Lucas one with Iraq and he was the one that was off leash just gonna rock collecting IEDs so Cairo did you get a chance to Union did you get a chance to work with them did you know the person I work with them I know how did that story become as big as it is today sure I I have not worked with the dog at all I have spoken with his handler will who actually has a book coming out in I don't know a month or two that's nice of you put a plug in he's a real guy likes you that's a good friend right there what will Chesney yeah no ordinary dog but it's it's basically the the chronological account of the bin Laden raid through the dogs eyes the way I understand I haven't read it yet but so we'll give me a give me an advance copy maybe but the to me that that really highlights and frankly that that raid in and of itself is really what catapulted me into the national spotlight I was just at the right place at the right time I had just left the West Coast multipurpose canine probe or was on the way out basically when that raid happened and when it did I think the vast majority of American citizens had just realized that special operations were using dogs and not just dogs but these laser-guided fur missiles as a lot of people refer to him as and the things that they're doing with them blew a lot of people away and so I was approached to do to actually do the book as opposed to me you know approaching a publisher I'd you know they asked me to do it obviously I ended up doing it and then a 60 minutes piece followed shortly after and so all of that really just catapulted me into a national spotlight undeserved but just again I was the guy at the right place the right time forward and so it was a neat experience and and something where it was the the national interest in that dog in that rate and knowing that you know using dogs to do explosive detection as well as apprehension and forwarding ambushes and and you know insurgents that are hidden in false floors or fake furniture or things of that nature that a lot of people just didn't realize how valuable these dogs are for even our nation's finest yeah that's what how many dogs do you have yourself your dogs just mine personally I've got three but it varies quite a bit you don't count what kind of dog they're all Malinois all of them yeah so you're fully committed to them you believe they're the best of the best I honestly don't it's not that I that I think they are I don't think they are for me I I look at the dog completely irrespective of breed and sex interestingly an interesting dichotomy with from very politically correct that I can respect that I mean it's it's just the nature of it is that you know I've come across females that were that were absolutely good enough where you're not integrating them with other male dogs I can tell you if if you had to operate in packs of sixteen dogs I would not put females in for the exact same reason when it's just one Handler and one dog there are females occasionally that you come across that are every bit as good as as a male dog for that application but it's it's just the handler and the and that's the huge difference but my point is for me it's the dog if it's a German Shepherd if it's a pitbull if it's a Rottweiler adornment I don't care what it is my test is what it is irrespective of breed sexing in whatever and so the dogs that pass it are the dogs that I like are some easier to train than others absolutely they are just like with people some are more cognitive some are more operant some are quicker to learn some of them you know have have their ability to offer behavior which translates to me being able to free shape a lot of the things that I want faster is higher there are a number of tests and batteries that you can do to kind of gauge you know how cognitively driven a dog is or not and that certainly plays a role but for me the number one trait that I look for in a good working dog for me to own myself is heart just like I look for in people is that I want a dog that when when I get in a bite suit and I pick a fight with this dog and I make that dog realize and understand that I'm there to take his soul is that he he pushes back even harder and says you know I'm gonna take yours instead and very few dogs actually possess that here's a question for my baby boomer community yeah do you believe you can teach old dogs new tricks if they're genetically inclined to be taught absolutely there's there's no what does that mean well so just like you know we'll take MMA as an example is that there is a physicality component that exists that once you get to a certain age you're not going to be as fast as strong be able to recover as quick etcetera but you know you know the name Muhammad Ali or Mike Tyson or Conor McGregor not just because of the training right anybody can contain hard can can work with the best people in the planet you can put them with all the same coaches that Tyson that Mali that McGregor had if they don't have the genetics to allow them to get to that level you'll never know their name and so with dogs it's the exact same thing and so when I test a dog I'm looking at their genetics I don't care if they have tons of training no training somewhere in the middle is that you know it's their genetics that are gonna dictate where I can go with that dog Mike I you know I my wife wants a Chow Chow dog okay sorry I heard [Music] I love cows I love all dogs I gotta bust your chops little bit she's just she just wants more dogs and so I'm willing to you know kind of see what she says you know what experts will say about this and then we got three kids an eight to six any three-year-old right and I hear stuff about dogs you hear about how pit bulls are with kids or this and that what's your experience been with pit bulls or child shots have you had any I have I mean I've had experience with at this point I can't think of a breed that I haven't had some some interaction with whether it's helping one of you know in an owner of a certain breed work through some issues etc and my take again is that you know the the breed is a very very general and generic starting point to me breed is like race you know is is that while while some in some instances there may be certain breed characteristics that are generally consistent throughout the breed I've seen enough individuals both good and bad and high and low and everything in between of every single breed to say that you know good dogs are where you find them and it's the individual that's gonna dictate you know where your right and left flank is in terms of what you can do or not do with them what I would say is that irrespective of breeds that you know if you're going to a breeder or a shelter or whatever one of the lessons actually teach on my online training is how to evaluate a dog to me that's that's instrumental it's no different than you know if you're looking to hire somebody like you're not gonna say oh it's a black male and he's this age so yeah you're you're the guy know you're gonna interview them you're gonna see what a skillset is and so to me how do you never you dog do well very similarly is that just like I was talking about you want to look at what they're motivated by you gotta find dr. Dolittle like I got it that's really all you have to do yeah yeah I mean the reality of pluck team dog got pennant team dog got Petco head you were saying I mean it's so it's it's a series of similar tests no different than an interview is that you have to look at you know what do I want out of a dog right and everybody's situation scenario family dynamic is going to be different if you're a 96 year old slightly built female that you know needs a walker a nine-month-old hundred and forty pound Great Danes probably not your best bet you know justjust as one staring you in the face you know you know thing but but unfortunately a lot of people they walk through a shelter and I feel bad for that dog where that dog is cute let's pull that one out to me you're not you're not doing you or the dog any favors by adopting the wrong dog in a and this is something I catch hell for on a regular basis is that you know the the adopt don't shop mentality while sounds great and if you don't really think about it makes a lot of sense I would just ask anybody who revels in that mentality to stop and think for a second is that ask yourself are our shelters underfunded no they're the best funded and most well-equipped of any time in our society because most people don't I don't know that they are really there they're everywhere and and they're full why are they full most people think it's because not enough people are spaying and neutering their dogs again my perspective having spent a couple of decades now seeing dogs in shelters pulling some of them out and actually training them in and them ultimately winding up in our airports for TSA sniffing bombs do it dogs that I pulled out of shelters that were of that caliber can't take any dog that does that but my point is is that for all of the people that say be a responsible dog owner and spay or neuter your pet my twist on that is that if you as a prospective dog owner have that little ability to control your animal from breeding you should not have an animal you shouldn't have a dog period I would go with maybe a goldfish or something that's way easier to contain than a dog because if you can't keep them from having puppies you've got no business teaching them how to heal teaching them how to not not kids over steal food out of the trash etc like that that's one of the most basic tenants of dog ownership is don't let them breed right and so the the reality of the overpopulation or the filling of shelters that exists is primarily in in the people that are breeding dogs at that lower end of the spectrum right that are the couple hundred dollar craigslist or whatever you know type of type of environment where people are buying them whether it's out of a shelter or out of the paper is that if everybody was educated enough to be able to evaluate dogs and say no you know yeah it's a cute puppy it's got shitty nerves it's scared of its own shadow it won't eat right and and it's shivering in the corner I'm not buying it well guess what now your demand doesn't exist right because everybody and I and I get that you know that the road to hell is paved in good intentions everybody's heart is in the right place they see you know that the Shivering pit bull in the corner and they want to save that dog I'm not saying necessarily do or don't do that what I am saying is that if we raise our standards as a society then then when as soon as people stop spending two three five hundred dollars on newspaper classified Craigslist ad pets the demand for them goes away people will stop breeding them the only reason people are breeding them is because people are buying them it's that way with drugs with guns with anything yeah and so to me it's a paradigm shift the other thing to keep in mind is that shelters god bless them do you really think it's in their best interest to be empty no think about that for a minute if you run a shelter and you've got five staff and you have no dogs in your shelter what are you out of a job what are you also out of funding it's also I think it seems to be lost on most people that when you go to a shelter how many of those dogs are free almost none of them you know it's usually a few hundred dollars between a spay and neuter fee and an adoption fee and a processing fee and a bla-bla-bla fee is that you know ultimately what are you doing well you're you're still spending money on subpar dogs that are now being fueled by these these backyard poor standard breeders that are filling shelters that are filling backyards not adhering to basic tenets of breeding practice and theory and insulin genetic selectivity that if more people did that and more of the consumer was better educated to be able to identify know that I want nothing to do with that dog then then that problem it would suck for you know a few years but those tides would turn if people would be would be much more staunch advocates for good genetic breeding practices vice tugging on the heartstrings and just grabbing whatever dog needs to be saved define suck for a few years what does that mean because to do that some of these dogs if they don't have a foam you home you got to do something to him right and so you would have an a a bubble burst just like say the housing market in the late 2000s is that you know there would there would be an excess of dogs that nobody knows what to do with you know but but again let's say you know the happy medium is you have no kill shelters that you know you just house them but if you have educated people that say this dog has no business being adopted out does that mean that you kill them no not necessarily but what it means is that they don't get adopted out because if they don't get adopted out now there's not room for something to take their place and just continue that shitty vicious cycle that exists and continues I mean this number should scare everybody 3.3 million dogs are surrendered to shelters every single year why is that all the things I just talked about about 8.3 million 3.5 thousand on average are euthanized every year which breaks down to over two thousand dogs every day all right two thousand dogs every day are euthanized and just in this country alone well if the if the Bob Barker don't forget to spay and neuter your pets at the end of price is right and the adopt don't shop campaigns that flood Facebook on national pet day etc and and the breeders who get chastised for having you know selectivity and in their in their breeding practices if all of those things didn't happen you wouldn't you wouldn't have these problems again in my opinion is that you you've got to raise the standard how big is a dog I have friends that are breeding dogs and they make this ammonia but how big is the dog breeding business well it depends on on what you're breeding for I mean I do very little breeding because it's a terrible business to get into if you're doing it right which it's a terrible business to get into if you're doing it right right because when likes let's say I find you know male a and and female B that are both consummate textbook examples of what I'm trying to reproduce and I will say this is that from my perspective if you are breeding for dog breeding dogs for anything other than those two things is that this is a consummate perfect example of what the breed standard is and should be you should not be breeding those dogs that's that's my my philosophy on it even when I do that let's say there's a litter of eight dogs is that there's gonna be a few of them that are really nice there's gonna be a few of them are that are average and there's gonna be a few of them that are a little below average not always sometimes maybe most of them are great sometimes most of them are less than great my point is is that to to be able to breed those dogs and spend the time that you have to spend with them to make them maximize their genetic potential which is in separating them right as an example a lot of people leave puppies with their mom and together until they're eight weeks old why because it's easy a lot of people justify it by saying well it's what nature intended etc etc well it is if they were left in that environment well here's the the kicker is that they're not right is that there though every one of those dogs ultimate goal is going to be to either be with a family or with an individual human being right and so my philosophy which which has helped me out tremendously in terms of producing nice dogs is taking that that each of those individual puppies and separating them from their mom and from their litter mates far sooner than eight weeks I want to get them paired up with a human being or several human beings as fast as possible so they fall into that routine the longer you leave them with their litter mates and their mom the harder it is to pull them when they're older and and the more trouble you're gonna have in terms of exposing them to environmental factors that may sketch a dog a little bit loud noises Home Depot it's how big is the business those are people making money is there people making real money not not in my opinion not real money like a million out of you right now I'm not making that kind of money no six figures yes mmm there's probably a few there's probably a few breeders that have the ability to make six-figure businesses but it's I would say it's very very few what's the bet what what what do people what does a market pay the most for from I mean I'm not really in that market but from what gather just based off of clients that have problems it's a lot of the designer breeds it's certain colors of say French bulldogs Goldendoodles all of the mix you know the the cockapoos that you know whatever it's the the mixing of breeds and creating these fad designer breeds I think is a big problem but then you take any of the more popular breeds whether it's labs Rottweilers pitbulls whatever each of them kind of have their their niche and society that exists that that fuels that demand for for backyard breeders and then sub sub breeding practices got it on a sidenote you know these dogs when they come back you know I've read multiple articles that even dogs can sometimes experience PTSD absolutely what does that look like when dogs are experiencing again it's very similar to the the manifestation that exists in human beings the key component just like I was talking about earlier it's a simple Association right so with human beings we have the ability to to use logic and reason to try to understand or be bothered by what what happened to us in combat or in a traumatic environment with dogs they're making that simple Association right so let's say a dog is is averse to gunfire because it's been you know it's making that a plus B equal see association with gunfire you know being in an armored personnel carrier a plus you know gunfire B equals C chaotic stressful environment for an extended period of time where my nerves are shot and I shut down right and then the next night you go out you're in an armored personnel you know a gunfire B I shut down C night after night after night and so now the presence of a it may be an armored personnel carrier just rolling up and the dogs start shivering and blows it's saying lines and shuts down it's you know when a plus B equals C enough that the mere presence of a equals the anticipation of C and so the good news with that is that you can use that same logic of now replacing those with something positive so let's say it's gunfire which is very common over helicopter noises so now I'm going to pair playing tug or ball or feeding or playing fetch or something like that with gunfire but it'll be like a 22 caliber from you know six hundred yards away where you barely hear and that that is just occasionally present while we're playing toddler playing ball or experiencing positive things and then you just slowly stair-step but think of it like like a piggy bank you got positive and negative coins and if you've got 400 negative coins as it relates to gunfire you want to put five or six hundred as it relates to something else it makes sense even now I'm starting to realize why one of my shih tzus has PTSD due to my oldest son it's very obvious you know my oldest son is not stopped with them you know and I see his reaction to it are you a religious man by the way I am NOT you're not a religious not do you think all dogs go to heaven I think that I believe in the Rainbow Bridge I'll call it that I I do believe that or I guess I would I'd say I'm cautiously optimistic that dogs go wherever any of us go if there is such a thing so if there is such a thing as I haven't you think it's filled with dogs god I hope so I don't know if cats are gonna make it though I think the cool ones will to finish up with a couple serious topics here's I'm from Iran obviously you had some experience being over there as well what are your thoughts you know what are your thoughts with what's going on there well how bad could it be and what needs to happen I guess this would be my last question on that topic is how bad is it really and what needs to happen for the Middle East to kind of calm down yeah and for there to be less friction I think I think similarly with corona or any other headline I don't think it's as bad as it's made out to be yeah I don't that's not the paint a picture of it being a picnic but I think in some ways it gets overhyped especially when you have a far left media and a right-wing president anything he does or doesn't do gets ostracized and I think further in flames or fans the flames of that conflict having said that you know it's hard for me as a as a former military member and this may surprise a lot of people but it's hard for me not to put myself you know I do so much projecting with dogs is that I find myself doing the same thing with with other nations other militaries and you know I'm not going to be naive or deny I the fact that if Iran decided to build an Air Force Base in Mexico that we wouldn't have some heartburn about that or if China had a you know a an aircraft carrier group 4045 miles off the coast of San Francisco hanging out that we wouldn't you know get our panties and a lot over it you know to me there there's obviously an element of you know trying to strike a balance of having a presence in a region where it seems like there's a necessary level of involvement on the same token you know to me warfare again when I reduce it down to the most simple equation which I am a firm believer that some of our world's most complex problems actually require them the simplest of solutions and I look at foreign policy no different than a bar fight right is that you walk into a Chili's and and the [ __ ] has hit the fan in there and you've got around and in every country in the Middle East and in America everybody's fighting well when you walk in there I don't care what you do right I don't care if you get involved you're gonna piss somebody off if you don't get involved you're gonna piss somebody off if you take this person's side you're gonna piss the opponent off you know so that there's there's no way to get involved in foreign policy militarily without having that ripple effect that we that we learned a painful lesson as did Russia in Afghanistan in the eighties 70s and 80s is that you cannot have a presence somewhere without it pissing somebody off that's the reason al-qaeda exists you know because of Kuwait a very good point you know so to me it I look at it very simply is that if we're going to decide to step into that bar and I'm not saying don't step into what I'm just going to say if we decide to step into it is that it better be all in it better be absolutely necessary to maintain our way of life and our standard of American security and when you go in there there are no rules a lot of people don't like hearing that I've fully subscribed to the civil war to come say Sherman mentality of you make it so god-awful that the other side wants to stop fighting because you've made it it's so miserable on them you subscribe to that my absolutely do it but there's a caveat and it's what I just mentioned is that you don't step into that unless it's absolutely necessary if it's absolutely necessary and we as a country are all behind it and say yes we have to get involved here then you go there and you a and you leave it to your military which that's what their job is is to go over there and absolutely wreck shop and and you know whatever it is you know whether it's destroying an enemy wiping a certain population you know off the plan really well I quite like that that that far if necessary I mean to me if we're gonna involve our troops you know otherwise you're gonna see exactly what you've seen right as you see I mean let's let's take Afghanistan as an example what what have we really gained twenty years later you know now we're trying to meddle in a peace deal with the Taliban which is you know like licking a Chinese doorknob in terms of safety right now like it's it's fragile at best it's it's dicey it's it's gas food or it's gas station sushi right you're not you're not you know it's it's not in your favor that it's gonna pan out right so we're we're still messing with it and if you look at you know hills that were taken and fobs that were secured and in this region that we overrun and then gave it back and same thing in Iraq you know and I don't look at any of my friends I've got a lot of them that have lost their lives I don't look at at their their lives in vain I view it very simply is that we all volunteered to you know write a blank check up to and including our life payable to the United States government for them to use us in the way that they see best fit and that's honorable you know and and it doesn't matter how they use you you do the best to your ability and how they use you as is their business it's the country's business you know we all we all served our purpose and we did what we did because we wanted to and so you know I think that's honorable and and I don't I don't view any of the deaths in vain but I would also say is that to prevent you know further people from dying for reasons that are hard to really explain as to as to why it was necessary and and how its validated is that you know you've got to look at things of saying okay if we really need to go there then you do whatever you have to to to keep the other side from fighting I mean we did it in World War - was that the right call I don't know you know I wasn't alive then it's been long enough to where I'm not privy to the information that that you know gave gave our government the the decision-making process to say yes we're going to drop you know these these types of munitions on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but what did it do well it stopped the war that fast you know right decision that we make the right decision with that and like I said I don't know you know not not having been alive then and not being privy to to what it was like then and and you know sitting in on intelligence briefings where where I'm being told here are all the Front's and and here's the supply routes and here's our casualties and here's where our finances are and here's where our country I mean I I don't know all of those things let me ask you to do what for the way you process issues when do you think would make sense for America to use it - again because that that's not been done for a while yeah what what what does another nation go to push the buttons or cross the line for us to say that acceptable based on your opinion so in based on my opinion I would say a a level of threat with which you can undeniably prove that there is a level of existential threat to the safety and security of our our homeland you know if you can say yes absolutely if we don't do this our nation will fall to me that justifies it that's that's really the only circumstance that I can come up at it yeah I think most people would agree with that if you're saying to get to that point well and so that you know to bring it back to my you only get involved if necessary there's a lot of things the Sherman Sherman principle you're talk right is that is that that's in our that's in our country is if we don't defeat these guys our way of life disappears and so he did what he had our way of life disappears if we don't defeat these guys right God who is the biggest threat we have today based on you your opinion what do you think it is us 100 percent us I think we we will will screw ourselves over far before anybody else does Wow in which way in the way that I've been harping on interest on that anything outside of that or not you know I mean you you divided you stand united you know United you stand divided you fall is that that that mentality is is far more toxic poisonous and dangerous than than any outside threat look at 9/11 you know nine twelve we were we were undefeatable you know that's whisked away over time but that level of attack on us does what well it unites everybody where there was not a member sir I don't push on the pin everybody was 100% ready to go just rip the heads on the thing we knew no no the crisis like that I mean you need you think man needs it to come you know you know how sometimes like if I know you're not a religious man but you think God created the system and a way where you lose a father than a mother for you to realize the value of life like do you think we almost need a crisis to realize how lucky we are to live in a nation like this for sure I think there's an element of suffering required suffering that is built into the human condition that you know when I look at some of the most successful people in the world are also some of the most miserable people in the world because they they lack challenge I think just like uber successful people just like our country is is that if you're successful and comfortable enough long enough you get complacent to where you know you you fail to find purpose and I think you know that's one of the most dangerous mindsets that a human being can possess is when they lack purpose and they're comfortable for full disclosure you're not talking about the most successful people are the most miserable it's people that are no longer driving for purpose bigger than them that's kind of what you're trying to say yeah but you're not just saying somebody that's unknown or a billionaire not necessarily but you know I mean to me when you see a guy like say Chris Cornell you know the the lead singer of Soundgarden hanging himself you know Robin Williams or you know obviously there's some troubles there but I think if you if you open it up to a more 30,000 foot view on just this country our country is is the most successful wealthy technologically advanced and comfortable it's ever been in the history of ourselves what are we also the most depressed the most ADHD ridden the most pain and pain narcotic and an anxiety medication addicted that we've ever and arguably the most divided and miserable we've ever been as a country I don't think that's an accident I think it's a direct correlation of again the technological advances and that how that translates to dogs is that you know we've got access to the most information as it relates to dog training that we ever have via the internet right even with that you know there there are more people struggling with their dogs now than ever before because there there is a disconnect from nature and training a dog is is a borderline primal experience and so it did I think it all kind of just fits together I got a man I really enjoyed this well I I didn't I I didn't know what to expect when you thought it was gonna suck no because the way you speak man when you're speaking your tone I'm like this this could be but I tell you're a ridiculous storyteller and you're the kind of guy that if I was a I would have loved to have served with you because you have a side of your humor is ridiculous yes I was is it the Yogi Berra sense senior you're like yeah I almost have to be smart to understand it because there's like a three-second delay you have a little bit of death I mean I pride myself on on more on the highbrow side than the low but I appreciate that it's very obvious you're very sensitive are you an April baby or once your birthday in July July what no towards the end leo Emily or Leo huh interesting your why rank very are you big reader or no I am very interesting okay again I really enjoyed it going back to a team dog dot pet any information on the on what you do with dog behavior they can find it on they can you tell us a little bit about that website what I'm gonna find when I go sure it's so it's it's as simple as I can make it in terms of you know expounding on the the tenets and principles that I've spoken about as it relates to dog training and just giving you video representations of all of the things that I'm talking about I have a book called team dog as well that you know I had enough people read it and actually asked if I would make videos and start a YouTube channel whatever so I started a an online training it's $99 for unlimited access for a year and that's it and i and i get in there every monday morning and i answer questions in in forums i interact with people every week very cool so it's it's i wanted to make it very affordable for your average everyday dog owner so that we could at least try to get rid of that 3.3 million number and you know between my philosophy on breeding and raising that criteria in conjunction with trying to educate dog owners how to how to evaluate how to train their existing dog and live a little more cohesively you know I wasn't looking to retire on it I just I wanted it to be worth it for people to do much much much respect to human you look like I say I know when I meet somebody that's sincere you are so sincere you're you're a man on a mission with what you believe in with your dog's the man is a three-time New York Times best seller for reason we're gonna put the links to all your books he didn't ask me to do it because he said let's just talk about what he's doing with the courses well we put the links at the top would be the link to the website that he has we'll put the links below as well for his books and how to get a hold of with that being said Mike thank you so much for coming out I guess I really enjoyed the brothers it looks great thank you for having me so we covered so many different topics and this one woman in the navy seal politically correctness dogs Trump coronavirus so many different topics if you enjoyed this interview I got two other videos I want you to watch one of them is with General Spaulding when he broke down the effects and consequences of five G if you've never watched this you gotta watch this and if you haven't watch Jordan Peterson's interview I did I wants a year and a half ago we talked about political correctness click on this one here as well and if you've not subscribed to the channel please do so thanks for watching everybody take care bye bye [Music]

Channel: Valuetainment

Views: 210,053

Keywords: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur Motivation, Entrepreneur Advice, Startup Entrepreneurs, valuetainment, patrick bet david, mike ritland, mike ritland dog trainer

Id: Hleu3u8npig

Length: 91min 54sec (5514 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 28 2020