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<\/p>\nDiamond is a proud partner of Warriors\u2019 Best Friend, a nonprofit organization that professionally trains service dogs for veterans, service members and students. Through Operation Enrichment, Diamond is providing a consistent source of balanced nutrition to Warriors\u2019 Best Friends\u2019 canine recruits, giving them all the sustenance they need to succeed. Here we meet Joe Jeffers, the executive director and founder of Warriors\u2019 Best Friend, to learn more about the great work the foundation does for veterans, service members and school students.<\/i><\/p>\n
Growing up in a military family and spending decades volunteering at shelters inspired Joe Jeffers to develop a dog training program that combined his passion for homeless dogs and the military. After spending two years carefully researching other training organizations in the United States, Warriors\u2019 Best Friend was founded in 2012.<\/p>\n
Initially Warriors\u2019 Best Friend was focused on providing dogs to veterans who had traumatic brain injury or severe post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal was to help these veterans reacclimate back into society \u2014 go to the store, go to a sporting event, be around people, family and friends again.<\/p>\n
When Liberty High School in Liberty, Missouri, reached out to see if Warriors\u2019 Best Friend could modify their training program to provide assistance to children in crisis, they also started placing facility dogs in schools. These dogs help students in many ways, including supporting children in crisis, children who need assistance with reading vocabulary and those who have behavioral challenges. The dogs are there to comfort them, help them recover quickly, get back to learning and help the classroom move forward.<\/p>\n
Warriors\u2019 Best Friend also places dogs with service members who are active military, meaning they\u2019ve been approved to have the dog with them on base. It\u2019s not only the service member that benefits but their family, other staff members and the base in general.<\/p>\n
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While Joe acknowledges that bred dogs are important and provide a function within the training environment, for Warriors\u2019 Best Friend it was really important to provide opportunities for rescue dogs. That\u2019s why all of their dog recruits are from shelters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at about 500 dogs to find one dog for our program,\u201d Joe said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re evaluating dogs at a shelter, there are the obvious things like size, breed and age, but there are also the intangibles. There\u2019s the dog\u2019s ability to have empathy and to have unconditional acceptance.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the criteria for graduation from the training program is to make sure the dog can walk focused for three hours. This may not seem like much, but it allows a veteran to go to a movie, go to church \u2014 typical daily activities that may be overwhelming for a veteran who has PTSD. The dog provides support and companionship and can be a conversation starter. Little things like a conversation help normalize life for a veteran, something that may not be possible without their dog\u2019s support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe veterans who we place a dog with in our program are combat veterans. Many of them have stability issues, sensitivities, stiffness. They may have lost an arm or a leg. They may have memory loss, confusion, frustration,\u201d Joe comments. \u201cWe intentionally place large, very fit dogs with our veterans because they\u2019re very stable. Our dogs allow the veteran to put weight on the dog to be able to help get them out of bed or a chair.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Joe, the most rewarding thing about Warriors\u2019 Best Friend is the ability to help people. He notices a difference from when a veteran starts the nine-day training process to when they leave with their dog and a smile on their face. They also get responses back from their families and their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the veterans have been referred by their psychologist, psychiatrist or Veterans Affairs. They are accepted into the program if we feel like we can provide a dog for them that\u2019s going to assist them, that\u2019s going to help them further their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once a veteran is accepted into the program, Warriors\u2019 Best Friend covers all of the expenses. The dog is free and they provide the travel, hotel and food for the veteran to stay in Liberty, Missouri, with them for nine days. They typically do training in classes, with 3 to 4 veterans at a time. That way there are other veterans experiencing the same thing.<\/p>\n
The trainers and veterans start out by doing simple things like taking the dog for a walk or going to a grocery store. The dog stays with the veteran in their hotel, and by day seven or eight they\u2019re doing things like going to a Royals game, going bowling or going to a movie theater. The veterans gain confidence that they can do these types of things and can see how their dog helps them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing when they get done. We have a graduation on day nine, and from our point of view, that\u2019s a reward,\u201d Joe said. \u201cWhen you see how these dogs are able to help the veterans go back, do things that maybe they thought they couldn’t do, like going back to school to get a different degree. Finishing out their military career. Having a good social life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through Operation Enrichment, which began in 2024, Diamond is proud to provide Diamond Naturals dog food for each meal of every canine recruit, nourishing them with purposeful, quality ingredients, carefully determined levels of protein, guaranteed probiotics and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout two years ago [2022] we made a decision to change the dogs\u2019 food,\u201d Joe reports. \u201cThe dogs seemed a little large and didn\u2019t have the energy that they did. We switched to Diamond Naturals and since then we\u2019ve seen great results,\u201d Joe reports.<\/p>\n
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Going forward, the goal of Warriors\u2019 Best Friend is to teach other organizations and individual trainers what they do \u2014 expanding their reach and results by helping others do what they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiamond is playing a great part in allowing us to expand the awareness of what we’re doing for these wonderful dogs and people,\u201d comments Joe.<\/p>\n