Podcast Description: Life with Service Dogs is a Canadian-based, limited series podcast that highlights the everyday challenges and triumphs service dogs and their handlers face. This podcast is informed by a research project titled “Supporting Canadian Veterans working with Service Dogs” led by Dr. Linzi Williamson (PhD, Assistant Professor in Psychology & Health Studies at the University of Saskatchewan) and an Advisory Committee consisting of Canadian Veterans and service dog trainers, providers, and researchers. This research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). This podcast is produced by host Dr. Linzi Williamson and Grace Rath (M.A., Service Dog Project Coordinator).
Submitted Guest Bio for Kat Forder, Director, Facility Dogs, Fire Team K9 Service Dogs: Kat broke a five generation family tradition by NOT joining the Canadian Armed Forces. Growing up in a military family helped her understand just how necessary it is to support our Veterans, and their families. After a career in the federal Public Service she pursued a career as a veterinary technician. Kat’s work with Fire Team K9 Service Dogs includes creating a one of a kind Facility Dog Program, unique in Canada, to serve the distinct needs of the diverse, rural, communities of the Ottawa Valley, Ontario.
Submitted Guest Bio for Jennifer Hinch, Director, Service Dogs, Fire Team K9 Service Dogs: After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Guelph, I began building my life in the Ottawa Valley with my husband, Jeff. Over the next 24 years, we raised our family while Jeff proudly served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Following my work in the education field and years devoted to raising our family, my path took a meaningful turn toward service dogs—beginning with our own experience. As part of Jeff’s treatment plan, he was paired with a service dog named Judah. Judah had an immediate and profound impact, helping Jeff rediscover purpose and positively transforming our entire family. After his release in 2018, Jeff began working with service dogs, and I witnessed firsthand the powerful effect it had on his mental health and overall well-being. Inspired by this, I joined him in learning to train dogs, with a focus on service work. In 2019, we founded Fire Team K9 to help meet the growing need for service dogs within the veteran and first responder community. Since then, I have continued to expand my knowledge through animal welfare studies, Fear Free certification, and mental health education. Fire Team K9 has grown steadily, now offering service dogs to veterans and first responders, as well as facility dogs that support the broader Community. Through this journey, I have seen the incredible difference a service dog can make in the life of someone recovering from an operational stress injury. It is my mission to continue serving those who have served, and to help bring healing, support, and hope through the work we do.
Submitted Guest Bio for Jeff Hinch, President Fire Team K9 Service Dogs: I joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994 and served until 2018, retiring at the rank of Sergeant after 24 years of active duty. My career took me from domestic responses to international deployments: I helped communities recover from the Ice Storm and the Winnipeg floods, joined a humanitarian DART mission to Turkey after the devastating earthquakes, completed a tour in Bosnia, and served three tours in Afghanistan. Those years shaped me in ways I did not anticipate. I learned leadership, discipline, and the importance of teamwork, but I also carried home difficult memories. After returning from Afghanistan, I was diagnosed with PTSD. Multiple treatments helped to varying degrees, but it wasn’t until I was paired with a service dog that I experienced a breakthrough. The dog changed my daily life—providing grounding, safety, and a steady presence in moments that once felt overwhelming. For me, a service dog was the right medicine at the right time. That transformation inspired a second career. I completed the Penn Foster program in Dog Training and further trained with Omega Service Dogs, learning the science and skill behind training animals to support people with physical and mental health needs. In 2019 I founded Fire Team K9, a small organization dedicated to training and placing service dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD and other service-related conditions. Fire Team K9 combines practical training techniques with lived experience—my own service background informs how we match dogs to handlers and prepare teams for real-world challenges. Today I split my time between advocacy, training, and mentoring veterans who are navigating their own recoveries. I speak openly about the realities of military service and mental health because I believe honestyreduces stigma and connects people to help sooner. My work with service dogs continues to be the most meaningful work I’ve done: witnessing a veteran regain confidence, sleep better, or step back into community life reminds me why I served and why I keep serving in this new way. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking with my dog, volunteering at community events, and staying connected with the friends and families who have supported me through every chapter. My journey has been one of challenge and repair, and I carry forward the conviction that with the right support, recovery is possible.
Link Submitted by Guests:
https://fireteamk9s.com/
Episode Summary: In this episode, Kat, Jennifer, and Jeff each explain how they got to where they are today with respect to working with service dogs and veterans and how they developed their not-for-profit Fire Team K9 Service Dogs. Jeff discusses his experiences with PTSD and the topic of suicide, specifically being exposed to seven suicides in seven years. Jennifer shares, from the perspective of being Jeff's spouse, what led him to getting his own service dog. Jeff shares his perspective on why service dogs seem to lead to better results for veterans with PTSD than other traditional forms of treatment. He cautions that dogs might not work for everyone, though. At different points, we discuss factors people may want to consider when thinking about whether a service dog is right for them. At different points, the group provides more information about the Fire Team K9 Service Dog program and approach to service provision. Kat explains some key differences between service and facility dogs, and Jeff and Kat explain how Wounded Warriors and the Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Command support veterans and Fire Team K9 broadly and through the program Operation Service Dog. We discuss what folks should consider when deciding which, if any, service dog organization to work with. We also discuss different models for requiring and training a service dog, as well as instances when someone is matched with a dog and they realize at some point that it's not a good fit or they no longer need that type of support. The group explains some of the ideal characteristics that dogs should possess to become service dogs. Kat also discusses dog breed-specific considerations for service work. Throughout our discussion, dog welfare considerations are noted. And finally, the group shares their thoughts on what they'd like to see happen for the service dog environment in Canada in terms of what would help veterans, their families, and service dogs.
Related Resources
Krause-Parello, C. A., Friedmann, E., Taber, D., Zhu, H., Quintero, A., & Yount, R. (2025). Veterans Training Service Dogs for Other Veterans: An Animal-Assisted Intervention for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Behavioral Sciences, 15(9), 1180. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15091180
LaFollette, M. R., Rodriguez, K. E., Ogata, N., and O’Haire, M. E. (2019). Military veterans and their PTSD service dogs: associations between training methods, PTSD severity, dog behavior, and the human-animal bond. Front. Vet. Sci. 6:23. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00023
Salomons, H., Ferrans, M., Cusato, C., Moore, K., Woods, V., Bray, E., Kennedy, B., Block, T., Douglas, L., Roberts, A., Gruen, M., & Hare, B. (2026). Longitudinal evidence for the emergence of multiple intelligences in assistance dog puppies, Animal Behaviour, 232, 123410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123410.
Scotland-Coogan, D. (2019). Relationships, socialization and combat veterans: the impact of receiving and training a service dog. Qual. Rep. 24, 1897–1914. doi: 10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3590
Williamson, L., Squair, C., Rath, G., Khalid, A., and Kamal, M. (2025). An Environmental Scan of Service Dog Organizations, Policy, and Legislation in Canada. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/sdscan2025
Yarborough, B. J. H., Stumbo, S. P., Yarborough, M. T., Owen-Smith, A., and Green, C. A. (2018). Benefits and challenges of using service dogs for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatr. Rehabil. J. 41, 118–124. doi: 10.1037/prj0000294
Linzi's Research Lab Website: https://pawsitiveconnectionslab.com/ (The views expressed in this podcast are solely of the guests and/or host.)
Intro music by Evan MacDonald.
All interviews featured on the podcast occurred over zoom and because of this, some sound distortions may be heard due to lagging internet connections.
