SOURCE: All Things Working Dog - Episode One

All right, so I'm excited to bring the very first episode of Source. And, you know, I say that this name may change, who knows. You know, we kind of go with what everybody else wants. But I guess I'm most excited not about this opportunity, but really the opportunity to sit down with Terry Adams, which is joining us today. And this being our first episode, but also going way back with the, the people that I know and the things that we're able to offer and really focusing on training and things that we can offer other people that maybe we didn't have. And I think in this episode we're going to cover a wide range of things, but really give those that are listening the opportunity to see a perspective that they may not have seen in other not just podcast, but maybe not have heard these perspectives from those that are in this industry. And that's what I found to be the most difficult part of starting something like this was the fact that nobody wanted to help me. Nobody wanted to lend any information to me. Everybody thinks that you're gonna take something from them, but as we're gonna see throughout this episode, This is a multi-billion dollar industry, and this industry can lend a lot of opportunities for a lot of people. So I'm excited to have Terry on, learn a little bit about him and, uh, what he does and how he does it. And hopefully he gives us some secrets that we can be successful with. So Terry, welcome.

Thank you, AJ. Um, man, it's good, good Good to hear that. Definitely one of the subjects that's, that's definitely not talked about a lot, um, when it comes to owning your own business and growing in, in this industry.

Yeah, that's right, man. Um, give us a little bit of background with you and then, um, we're going to jump right in.

Well, you know, I'm, I'm never quick, uh So, uh, once again, Terry Adams, uh, owner of Tactical K9. We're based out of Register, Georgia. A little short summary about myself: I've been in the industry for going on 16 years. Uh, started off through family, uh, family trainers, uh, then happened to be be in the military as a handler. Then from there, decided I was going to go out and pursue being a dog trainer, a dog handler as a career. And then so went to a bunch of schools. Custom K9 Unlimited is one. Actually also worked for Custom K9 Unlimited. Worked for a couple other dog training companies. Being a trainer for breeders and stuff like that. And then decided in 2016 to start my own business. With starting my own business is where, you know, we, we've been open since 2016. We, we moved from Conyers to Register, Georgia, uh, where we're out here on our facility of 15 acres and, and 1,800 square feet. So it's just, it's been a blessing and, and it's been a, it's been a long road. Uh, we, we kind of, you know, we're getting, yeah, we getting where we need to, uh, slow, slowly but surely.

Well, I think that's a unique perspective, right? Because it's important that people understand like the background that goes into what we do every day. And I say we because obviously we're in the industry as well. Um, but it goes well beyond just you know, picking up a leash and learning how to train dogs, uh, you know, at least in my opinion. Uh, and, you know, just hearing a little bit about your background coming from the military and knowing you and knowing your passion, um, it's great and refreshing to hear that you have the experience, and that experience is lending, uh, the opportunity for others to learn from that. And, uh, I really feel like that's an important aspect of it, right? Because anybody can pick up a leash, anybody can learn to train a dog, but it's that unique perspective that you bring with your experience that gets you down to the nitty-gritty and the minute details that's going to make somebody successful. And I think a lot of times we miss that part of it. Everybody wants to be where you are today, but they don't want to put in the legwork. So we're going to talk a little bit about that, those struggles that you've probably went through, which you kind of touched on, and, you know, just seeing why you made that decision to now do this for yourself. Because you mentioned that you worked for a few companies, including us, uh, and I think it's an important aspect to know that, uh, you know, we, we promote And really, if we think about it, how many dogs we buy from you and how our partnership and our friendship has evolved even past the, um, you know, you working for us, and then now you going out on your own. And, you know, that's probably something— that's probably another conversation for a whole another episode, right? Like, how do you get past that? How does somebody not be bitter? Because I see that so many times in this industry where we fight each other or we're mad at somebody because they left us or, you know, things like that. And, you know, that just hasn't been the case with us. So Terry, tell us a little bit about why you actually decided to now open up your own place.

So one of the things that when I started my company, uh, I actually was working for another company and wasn't— it wasn't Custom K9 actually. While I was doing my company, I was working for Custom K9.

Even before we formed that relationship, you said, hey, you know, this is what I'm doing, I just want you to know, is that okay? But, um, yeah, I mean, we knew that going into it.

Oh yeah, it was definitely one of those things where when we sat down to have a conversation about me joining the team, that I did put out there that my other obligations of of my business. Now, I wasn't doing my business as such a higher scale as I am now, but what made me start my business was I was working for a couple of places. I worked for about 3 or 4 breeders. I worked for, uh, a couple of training companies, and I didn't like the box, right? It was the, you got to do it this way, you and it's the only way you can do it. Yeah. And what— I didn't feel comfortable just doing it one way. I always wanted to continuously evolve and make sure that my product, which would be training dogs or training people, always progressed, right? I didn't want to be stagnant. Uh, one of the reasons why I joined Custom K9 was because They gave me that opportunity to not be stagnant. It wasn't a, hey, we got to do it this way and this is the only way we're going to do it. So we, you know, so it met the same standards for my company and for being a team at Custom K9. We met head to head, which was perfect. So that's what made me actually start my own business. Now going 100% into my own business, was more of a family decision. I decided to move down to Register, which is definitely not a commute, a good commute to Custom K9. Um, but I decided to move down there for more of an opportunity for my family to— for us to continue growing.

Yeah. And that's, you know, bringing up, you know, the box, the proverbial box that we find ourselves in. And I hear this a lot where, you know, it's even brought to us about, well, it's only this way, you know, it's our way. And one thing that we really strive for is to give somebody all the tools necessary to give a dog or even a student the best they can give. And what I mean by that is, uh, and again, you mentioned, you know, our philosophies lining up pretty well, right? In the, in the sense that it's not just one way to do things. There's not one methodology. It's not AJ Vargas's training method, you know, it's not Terry Adams' training company, right? And you're going to do it my way because I developed this. Yeah, we've developed a lot of things that we've learned over the years, but at the end of the day, we're going to do what's best for that dog and what's best for that student. To get to the levels that we need to. And I think a lot of times we limit ourselves in capabilities for the dog and for the handler where we say, no, it's only one method. Only imagine if we could put a child in an environment where they are taught in a way that they learn best, how much they would prosper and learn from that. And I feel the very same way when it comes to dogs and students. I need to come up with a way to put that dog or that student in a position to learn best, whether it's treat-based, whether it's toy-based, whether it's, you know, just praise and affection. Like, we gotta figure out the way to provide that dog or that student with the opportunity to win at the highest levels. And to provide them that motivation to do so, which I love. And I think that really challenges us because it also opens up the doors to train more dogs and to help more dogs because we're not limited to one way and we're not blaming the dog when it doesn't work, which I hear so often when people put themselves in a box where they're like, well, uh, ah, this dog's not going to cut it. Well, it's not cutting it because you're not figuring out the way that they best learn. And as trainers, I think we really need to do that and we really need to focus on what's best from the dog's perspective. And we talk a lot about that. So it's refreshing to hear you say that because we're not stuck in that box. You're absolutely right. Let's move on a little bit to just the business aspect of it. You know, you know, people are getting to know you a little bit on your perspective and training and things like that. But let's talk about the business. You know, because business is hard. You know, I remember looking back before I started this, right? And I said, you know, it was really just an illusion that I wanted to run my own business. You know, it really wasn't like, um, I guess I didn't see what I see now. And, uh, from that perspective, I just wanted— I thought it was cool just to say I had my own business. And then you get to the point where you realize it's For real, right?

Oh yeah.

So, um, what do you find is the hardest thing as a business owner to overcome in running a business?

Honestly, it's staff, team members. Yeah. You know, that would be the hardest thing that I've ran into is having good team members. Um, I've gone through countless and countless of people. Just between, you know, motivation or just the task at hand, right? It takes a lot to deal with dogs. Uh, everybody thinks that it's all cool. You could— oh, I could pet, you know, I could cuddle and all that, but they don't understand, you know, you're picking up poop, you're getting slung, you're getting pee slung in your eye and stuff like that, right? Um, yeah, you got this dog that is coming out and he's like 100% I am a man, please, you know. And, uh, and a lot of people just can't handle that. So really, staffing is probably my number one, uh, issue. I have a good team now, um, and we're looking to grow, but it's definitely one of the things that's been the hardest thing in, in some years has been staffing. Next after that would be really business-wise is a mentor. I've been blessed to have my uncle who's in California. He owns, he's been owning this business for about 40-something years. I've been blessed to have you. I've been blessed to have a few others, you know, that have actually took the time to talk with me other than just, hey, you know, transaction-wise, like actually sit down and say, hey, look, You know, this is, you know, and give me different perspectives on, on business. For me, financing, right? Knowing where to put your money in certain aspects. What's, what's a smart buy? What's a stupid buy or not so smart buy? Yeah.

Yeah.

And, you know, everything I've done so far honestly has been without a loan. So everything's been out of pocket, out of work, right? I enjoy it. It gives me even more of a rush because how you were just saying, you know, anybody can go out and pick up a leash. Well, I mean, honestly, there's a lot of people that can just go out and just fund their whole business, right? And have no knowledge into what they're doing when it comes to the aspect of the business side, right? The training part and stuff like that. Um, We see it all the time. Funding was, was, uh, the other thing, you know, that was my, my other biggest, uh, hurdle, should I say. We're getting past that hurdle. We're still, we're still building, but those, those three are definitely the, in my opinion, the biggest hurdles that I've experienced. Heck, I mean, I'm pretty sure you've experienced tons of, you know, staffing and stuff like that. So.

Yeah, you know, we live by a standard, right? And that's the hardest thing. Uh, voice of reason is on this call with us right now, uh, and I say she's the voice of reason because she keeps me grounded in a lot of things. And last night we were talking and, uh, it just became immediately apparent that I needed to lean on her a little bit on keeping me, uh, in the right path, especially when we're having conversations like this. But Yeah, even, you know, I look at everything to some degree as a transaction, even when we're hiring employees and things of that nature. And it has to be beneficial to everybody. Read a book one time, and I hate that I can't quote the author, but I'll still give them credit for this. I didn't come up with it, but I look for employees that get on the bus and ride it. I was just interviewing a, a potential trainer and, uh, they came with a list of demands. You know, and it has to be this, this, and this. And I told him pretty, uh, upfront, uh, and, and I had to stop him and tell him, hey, listen, at the end of the day, I need somebody that's going to get on the bus and ride it with us. If we need to pivot, we're going to pivot. We didn't get ourselves locked in that proverbial box. We said, okay, this is what we have to do. And as a team, I'm in the kennel, I'm, you know, doing marketing, I'm meeting with this person, I'm out in the training field, and one day I may, you know, wear 25 different hats. Well, I want staff that are willing to do the same thing. And, uh, but you're absolutely right, because we have standards, a lot of people don't want to live to that standard. And unfortunately, there's a lot of perspectives that you see that nobody else sees. You want to make sure if someone shows up, they always catch you in a state of readiness. And a lot of employees don't understand that. There's a lot of pressure that you have on you because you're the one that's going to be holding the bag with that. They don't, they don't have to make the phone call.

Yeah.

They don't have to sit there. They can quit tomorrow and it's still your reputation that's on the line. It's Terry Adams, you know, it's not McDonald's. Do you know the name of the CEO at McDonald's? Maybe, but you don't have a personal relationship with them. People have a personal relationship with Terry Adams, and that's important to you. That's how you've built your, your business. But let's get the standards out of the way and let's make sure we take care of these dogs at the highest levels. So yeah, staffing is, is one of the things that, yeah, I think we all struggle. But with that being said, it's not just our industry. It's not just your business.

Oh yeah.

You know, it's— I talk to sheriffs, I talk to chiefs, I talk to other small business owners. Everybody deals with the same thing. And, uh, I think it's just where we're at right now. And we just, we have to find a way to navigate it as best we can. Great points, man. Like hitting the nails on the head as you were talking through those points. Now, looking back, you've been doing this a number of years, 6, 7 years now. What is one thing you wish you would've known earlier on as you started out that you now know?

I, I think one of the biggest things was, uh, if I would've knew years ago that being a business owner, that you, that you wear, like you said, you wear so many hats. Um, I would have probably invested into some schools and into those other hats, right? It would have helped some of the dings along the way, right? Instead of having to wait some years to get in front of some people who can give you like the knowledge that you were looking for would have been on hand already. Another one would have been, whoo, stretch before I got into this. Because one, one thing about it is when I got into this, it was like you said, you know, I was just excited to have my own business. But when I started to expand, I started to see the growth and, and, you know, the need. And especially when COVID hit, oh man, you know, we were getting, we were getting crazy amounts of dogs, uh, and a lot of those dogs weren't socialized, right? So not only are we getting dogs in, but we're getting dogs that are like problem dogs that we have to work on.

Yeah.

Um, so that was like, oh man, you know. But when I say stretch before— when— before I got in, meaning, you know, maybe mentoring under some people and, uh, and starting a little slower than what I did. Yeah, took me actually, what, about 4 years into, into my business to find my, my niche, and then that's what we've expanded on so far.

Yeah, you know, I, I go back to, and I, I often say this, if I know now, if I knew then what I know now, I probably would have stayed in law enforcement, man. People just don't understand the pressure Right. Think about this. You know, we say as men, we say, well, we need to feed our family. Well, I say I have to feed 12 to 22 families, and that's a lot of pressure when you sit back and think about that, right? I gotta make enough to make sure that our family, meaning our extended CCU family, is fed at every paycheck, right? So I told my brother this several years ago. I'm $50 grand in the hole to start the month. Like, I gotta make $50 grand just to pay payroll at the beginning of the month. So I got to turn the wheel and I gotta hustle because it's not me that I'm feeding and my family, it's everybody else. And yes, I take that as a challenge, but that can be daunting for a new business owner when you have that pressure on you every month to make sure you do that. I wouldn't change anything for the world cuz I truly believe I'm where I'm supposed to be cuz the Lord put me here and I feel confident in that. But if I think back going into it, I did go into it a bit blind, a bit, well, very naive.

Mm-hmm.

And I jumped into it, which was probably the best thing I could have done. Not the smartest thing, but the best thing I could have done. And I was blessed to have a wife and family that really supported me. I didn't have that pressure of, you know, what are we going to do when I had no money, when I had literally nothing, wondering where we're going to get the next paycheck just to pay the light bill. So that helped out tremendously. Um, because I didn't have that, you know, the wife was just like, hey, whatever happens happens. I, I hear what you're saying, but I just don't know if that, for me, if that would have been the right way. Because when we get analytical a lot of times, you know, especially when it's something that's our— it's our passion, for me, I think it would have talked me out of doing it. So I knew just enough to be dangerous and enough to be naive enough to jump in and do this, right? Right. Uh, but it, it truly has been a great road. I, I know speaking for myself and then watching you, uh, you know, just seeing you grow, getting the pictures from you and just talking to you on another level, uh, knowing how excited you are about that same growth. And, and I love to see that, man. It really does excite me. So it's good for us to continue to pick up people to help. And, uh, those that want to learn and those that are accepting of our advice, not from a bad way or malicious way, but from a way that, hey, we really are trying to steer you away from the mistakes that we made. I say I've invested millions in learning mistakes. Yeah, in mistakes. That's exactly right. Millions, dude. Like millions over the years. Learning this because I didn't come from money. I didn't come from a hedge fund that's funding me or, you know, some big, you know, money person. Yeah, I built this with blood, sweat, and tears, dude. Um, you know, the Lord has really like guided me through so many things, and, you know, those are stories for later times. But people just don't see that, you know. It's always funny when people go, man, you— I see you guys are doing great. Really? How? Oh man, I see it on Facebook all the time. Okay.

Yeah.

Okay. Like, yeah, I'm gonna put on there right now that I'm depressed that I don't have the cash flow to carry this project forward. I don't have this. Yeah, I'm gonna put that on social media.

Yeah. Everybody see that? Yeah. They see the glam and glitz and, you know, and they're like, oh man, you know, that's fantastic. And they, they don't see that, you know, You woke up that, that morning, had to pray and, and cry before you, you know, put, put your pants on and said, all right, let's go, let's get to work.

Um, and then wipe all that off because you have employees that are dependent on you, right?

Exactly.

You're, you're in the mix with them and they know nothing about that, right?

That's—

it's crazy, dude, to just to understand like the, the amount of stuff that we go through. that nobody ever sees. But it, but it's a great perspective though.

Yeah.

And I wouldn't change it, but it's something to prepare yourself for when you're wanting to run a business, right? We can all get through it, absolutely. Um, but we have to be prepared and strong enough to handle that. And I tell people that all the time, you know, it's cool, but the coolness wears off, dude. I'm telling you. It's cool to go see MMA ringside.

Oh, I could do it.

Yeah, I can do it. I'm gonna go train until you get hit in the mouth the first time.

Oh yeah.

And then think, your eyes water up and you're like, man, this is for real, and it hurts. So let's talk about, uh, something that people don't want to talk about, Terry. Let's talk about fear.

Okay.

As a business owner, man, which— what's your biggest fear?

Honestly, my biggest fear is my family. So, and I'm not just talking about like my, my personal family, but my, I'm talking about my staff, right? So like, my biggest fears as a business owner is not, is saying, hey, look, we can't do it. You know, we were done, you know, that, that is my biggest fear. Which is why, why I grind, I hustle, you know, to get to make sure everybody is straight. What I was always told was if you don't, if you don't have trials, you know, you must be doing everything right, right?

Um, oh, you're not doing nothing at all, or not doing anything at all.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. At the end of the day, those things make you stronger. Um, but what my focus is and what makes me hustle and grind so hard is, is the family. Because like you said, you know, when, when the month starts, you're already like, hey, look, I got to make sure that everybody eats. So how am I going to make that happen?

You know, I, I think back, and that, that's a, a great advantage that I have a lot of times, is I see these things transforming, you know, and I get chill bumps, man, thinking about those types of things. To me, that's what I'm— that's what I do this for. I do it because I really feel like that's what we should do. We should be pouring into those that we've been blessed to come into our paths, no matter what. And I've had some difficult people. I think fear drives you. Without a little bit of fear, then you're sitting comfortable And any business that is not moving forward is dying. And I think it takes a little bit of fear to push us. When, you know, most people are sleeping, we're up early and we're up late. And everybody else is sleeping and living comfortable, we're grinding. Uh, I mean, just freaking— I mean, great stuff, man. Like, who talks about this? Nobody. Nobody told me about this, right? Oh man, you're gonna own a business, do it. Yeah, you know, like on Friday, do it. Just do it, Craig. It's Friday, just do it. Like, yeah, nah.

I mean, I get so many people that's like, you know, oh, you own your own business, that's great, that's freaking awesome, you know, congratulations. And it's like, yeah, if only you knew, right?

You know, so now you're wrapped up in the business, you guys are moving. We know you've been doing this for a little bit of time, so that brings experience, right? We talked about your fears. Tell me the craziest client story that you have, and then, uh, I want you to follow up with that is how you dealt with that and what you learned from that.

Okay. When it comes to like a, a bad client, I, I really haven't had any actual bad clients. I've had just naive. They don't have the knowledge to understand what's going on, uh, and but once you teach it to them, most of them tend to fall in line and they're like, okay, now I understand. But when it comes to probably my craziest, uh, experience, I had a guy, uh, drop his dog off for training. Uh, his dog was, was coming to training for advanced obedience. Once he dropped his dog off, he just started sending, you know, texts every— pretty much every hour. Hey, how's my dog doing? Hey, you know, is, is he okay? Hey, you know, and we're totally fine with people checking on their dogs, that, that's not an issue. But also, we, we do work, right? So we can't sit on our phone the whole time, otherwise we're not working. I'm actually inside of a store and I'm training uh, taking videos and stuff like that. I go back, check out my phone, and I have 106 messages. I have 26 calls, 106 text messages. I go into a little bit of a panic because I'm trying to figure out what, what's going on.

That's what happened.

That's, that's so dire. Um, so I finally get a hold of the guy. He's livid. Been calling you, I've been texting you. Uh, you know, I'm coming to get my dog right now. So he's on his way to get my— get his dog. Now mind you, this is the first couple of hours of the dog just being dead. We're getting there. Gets there and he's like, why weren't y'all answering my messages? Is my dog alive? You know. And so he gets there, sees his dog, uh, and you know, we have a conversation and I'm like, hey, you know, you gotta understand we train. We have to have that time where, you know, where we get all our, all our dogs, you know, trained up. Um, and we can't be on the phone. We will get back to you for sure, but if, you know, if you're unhappy with, with that, then by all means, please, you know, you can take your dog. So he takes his dog, he gets about 15 minutes away, turns around. Hey man, you know, I'm sorry. I, I, you know, I, I talked to my wife and she said, you know, I was overreacting.

And we all need them.

Exactly. And, uh, you know, I want to, uh, I wanna, I wanna continue with training and go back. And, you know, and I tell them, hey, look, just give us, give us some time. We're going to have updates to you throughout the week. Uh, you know, I can't promise you it's going to be every day, but we'll try to get you some updates every day. But you'll definitely get them throughout the week, you know. And of course, anything important, you'll know. So he gets home, we don't hear from the rest of the day. Next day comes, he messages at around noon, hey, how's my dog doing? You know, we respond to it, and then he responds back and another hour. Where at this time, we, you know, we're kind of dealing with that, but he, he's, he's not as, as hectic as he, as he was. So we're about a week or two in, you know, we've sent him videos and pictures and stuff like that. Uh, heck, I think even— I think he was one of the first people that we ever, uh, FaceTimed on, um, on the phone with, just to, you know, just to help out. At the end of the day, I'm here for your dog. Right, but I am going to make sure that I try to appease you as much as possible. You know, if I can't— if, you know, FaceTiming you once or twice, you know, is going to help ease you, then that's what— then that's what I'll do. I don't have an issue with that as long as it meets— as long as you're giving us the time to do it. We're about a weekend. He's like, I'm just not getting enough videos, I'm not getting enough pictures. We kind of amp up a little bit more, give them a little bit more. And so one night I get an alert on, on my phone, uh, one of the cameras at the kennel is going off. I look and there's somebody at the kennel. I'm like, oh man, what in the world is going on here? Mind you, I have a dog that stays out. Yeah. Um, so for, for that purpose for if anybody comes in or anything like that. And so this guy, he, he's at one door, he's jiggling the door trying to get in, goes to the other door, jiggles it, tries to get in. And so at this time, you know, I hop in the truck and, and ride to the kennel to go see what's going on. And I'm like, oh man, somebody must be trying to steal some equipment. Then, you know, yeah, I'm not even thinking about dogs in my mind. Nobody's in the right mind to to a place with a bunch of protection dogs. Like, oh, you gonna go to this place and just snatch dogs that you don't know? In my mind, I get there, the guy's inside my building. He's kicked the door in, he's inside the building, and it's not a good day, uh, for him. It, it was one of those things where he didn't read any of the signs.

Yeah, of course.

And so he's in— luckily I was on my way there, and I don't stay far from the kennel, you know, talking about 3, 4 minutes tops. So I get there, I get the dog off of them, and I recognize who it is, and I'm like, whoa, why are you here? And, you know, and, and what made you think that you should just break in? Um, so, you know, he's like, I just had to see my dog, you know. And it was like, okay, but you call us and you let us know. And so it just became a whole thing. We didn't press charges on it. He did fix the door and, you know, he did give us some free training. Uh, I understand that you're close to your animal and we get that all the time. We get a lot of people that are, that are worried about their dog that are hesitant about starting training or leaving their dog with us because they don't know, you know, I mean, you hear horror stories all the time.

Absolutely.

So it was just— it was a— it was an experience for sure. Definitely did not finish that, dog. Uh, just— I just had to— I had to be done with the whole situation.

Yeah, that's right.

So we didn't finish that, dog. What we ended up doing actually was doing lessons because it was just too much.

Yeah.

And it— and with it being, you know, as him being as difficult as he was and us going through the things that we were going through, we were like, we're no longer going to do any boarding with your dog, any boarding training, even though we felt that his dog needed that the most. But he didn't need that. And a lot of people don't listen to their dog's needs versus theirs. I'm still in contact with them. He sends me updates of his dog and stuff like that. He's very, very pleased with his dog and he apologizes all the time.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah. But, but, you know, that was probably one of my, my biggest extremes.

So what was the one thing you took away from that, that you learned from that?

So the biggest thing that I learned from that is you're not going to be able to please everyone. And, and with not being able to please everyone, read the signs, right? So know when, when to change things up. The first time he came down to pick up his dog, I shouldn't have took his dog back. I should have said, hey, let's do lessons.

Yeah.

And understand who you're dealing with. You know, I could have easily had a temper and just been like, oh no, you know, and, and escalated the situation. But instead it was one of those things where it was like, hey, look, I'm still trying to help out. I just don't know how I can, and I'm just going to throw out some options. You tell me what's— what works best for you. Um, I told you what works best for your dog, but I need to know what works best for you at the end of the day because we can't keep having this.

What's the one thing right now And I know this changes just like fear, but what's the one thing that has contributed to your success at this point? What would that be? And what would that be for someone else to work on that's in this industry that's going to contribute to their success?

Oh man, now that's a, that's a hard question. Um, because I, I have plenty of things that have helped you know, contribute to my success. Um, but if I, if I say the one thing, um, I would, I would probably say support.

Okay.

Not just as a business owner, but, you know, as a competitor, as a dad, as a man, you know, everything, you know, there's that ego where it's like, ah, I can't talk to nobody, I can't tell nobody, you know, that I'm stressed out. I got to keep this in and, and just and just push on, right? I still have a lot of people, um, that are supporters, right? You're one of them. My mom, you know, my family, employees. I have so much support there when I'm stressed out and when I just need to like vent. And people that are there to not necessarily pat me on the back but to push me forward, right?

Yeah.

Um, And that, that has been definitely one of the biggest things, because if I didn't have my support system, I definitely wouldn't be here. I would be doing something else.

Man, that's awesome, man. That's, that's great advice. I remember when you were going through, uh, the building situation and I had called you just out of the blue. We had— we were talking, you were like, man, it's just been, been a hard time. But you know, one thing we talked about was that, hey man, just reach out, man. Like Don't ever feel like you're alone, you know. And we— I say us as a community— can figure out a way to help you, you know. And I think that's important that we support each other in those times, you know. As we give that advice, you know, that's the same advice you take and you give to your people, meaning the people you're mentoring as well, because we can't— we absolutely cannot go at this alone. By giving that advice, that's probably the best thing ever, is to build that support system and have those trusted people that you can always depend on that are just going to listen to you sometimes. What I found is every storm has passed, whereas I used to focus on the storms and feel like I was always in them. But now what I look at is they always pass. It just takes time. And we're going to get to a point where we're through those storms and now we're looking back and we need to learn lessons from those as we look back through them. But I am going to finish today with just one thing real quick. Um, you know, I always go through memories and I think that's really what I have over the last 20-plus years doing this, uh, through law enforcement and, and all that. Memories always come back to me and I can remember like specific training sessions. And I remember, uh, a sunny day one day.

Oh Lord, I already know where you're going.

And I remember this so vividly, um, it's like I was— like I'm there right now as I think through this and I tell this story. And, uh, you and I were on the training field together, and man, we were having a great session, man. We had like 6 handlers out there and we were running this kind of follow the leader, and we decided we were going to take these dogs off leash. We had a handful of patrol dogs and handlers. They were at a great, great place in their course and the control over their dog and all that. And I remember I'm sitting at one side of the field, you're sitting at the other side, and, you know, we're just running this and we're working like, man, like, Man, we just, we had that, that vibe going. Everything was going smooth. And next thing you would know, a fight breaks out between two dogs. So me and you are watching, seeing how the handlers are gonna handle it. We look over, another fight breaks out. Well, in the midst of this chaos, one dog emerges outta nowhere. And I remember it was like in slow motion.

This dog, the crowd, the handlers, breakup dogs. Oh, it was definitely poetry. It was— it definitely had to be in slow motion. It was slow motion in my mind for sure.

Definitely, definitely in mine. I had a voice in my head like, oh no, what's going on over there? Oh no, what is this dog doing? So this dog emerges from the crowd Voice of reason, you should have seen it. This dog like breaks out in slow motion and running. Like, I'm like, where is this dog going? Then I look over to my left, and for whatever reason, he heads straight for Terry. And I'm like, what is going on? And next thing I know, this joker launches right at Terry and goes to bite Terry. And of course, I do the best thing that any smart trainer could have done, right? What do you think that is, Voice of Reason?

Watch. Watch. Oh yeah, you watch.

Exactly. Look, the thing that I learned was this: the best thing about getting bit by a dog is you're not the one getting bit, right? So you don't run over there and offer to get bit too. We need one trainer to be healthy so he can continue the class, because I was really looking out for my handlers, right? And I had the utmost confidence that Terry could handle this dog at the end of the day, right? If I was fearful that Terry couldn't have handled this dog, I would have ran over there and helped him, then we both would have got bit. But instead, I did what a wise trainer did— he watched. So that I had a great memory of what happened. Well, of course Terry caught the dog. Dog did get him a little bit. He pinned the dog down until the dog calmed down. Dog realized what was going on was wrong and then got back up and we finished the set, right?

Yeah, we actually did. We finished, then, then went and handled me bleeding.

Uh, that's right.

But, uh, yeah, definitely, uh one of those videos of, uh, for training purposes.

Well, you know, nobody told us training would be hard, right? Nobody said we're going to get bit by dogs in training, right? But I tell that story because of this, man. Business is a lot like that, right?

Oh yeah, blind— I was blindsided.

Yeah, there— well, there's chaos, and then all of a sudden something comes out of the crowd that we didn't really particularly expect. And even through that danger, and even through that, you took the bite, you took what was thrown at you, you handled it. And at the end of the day, we look back on that situation and now we can laugh about it, and we learned something about it, right? Oh yeah, try not to be the trainer getting bit, right? But I think he didn't come after me because I was the alpha male on the field. And he knew better, so he picked the weak link and went after him.

I think it was more because I was running to go save handlers, you know, doing my job. I wasn't watching the whole time, you know. He was definitely one of my, uh, one of my favorites.

Yeah, for sure. Uh, well, great times, man. And, uh, unfortunately we're at the end of this, and, uh, I just want to give, uh, some takeaways or some things I learned from you today. The first thing is, is that business is hard. Like, it is. But even through all these years, if you stay with it, have a little bit of fear, as that fear changes, embrace that fear. And then the biggest takeaway I took from you today is the fact that we need to have people in our lives that we can talk to, that we can lean on at times, that are there not to judge us but to help us. And we need to embrace those things. Because they're very important in our success, and we can never overlook those things and not be so prideful that it's all about us. So those are the 3 things I take away from what I learned from you today, and I hope that whoever listens to this, whether it's one person or many, that they learn the same things that I learned from you today. And I appreciate that, brother. I really do.

Appreciate it, brother. Thanks for having me on.

All right, man. At the end of the day, man, I appreciate you, man, and I appreciate what you're doing. Just keep pushing and keep having a positive influence on our industry. That's important.

Yes, sir. We're on social media. Facebook, uh, Tactical K9 on Facebook. Tactical K9 Approach on Instagram. Uh, website, Tactical K9 co— not com, co. Uh, we also, uh, phone number 912-426-0124 and email info@tacticalk9.co.