Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Warfel
Hi Victoria, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was diagnosed at age 19 with Dysautonomia, a “misfiring” of my autonomic nervous system, meaning that the things you never think about (heart rate, blood pressure, etc.) do not work right, and I lose consciousness. While I tried different medications, none worked out for me. I reached out to service dog organizations at that time (mid-1990’s) and none could help me. I trained a dog I had found at a park. Miraculously, she was my angel. She could detect before I would faint and would “block” before it happened, giving me time to get to a safe location. As she completed her service dog training, she was owner-trained. As the dog trainers I had contacted were unable to help me, she came with me everywhere I went. People would ask me about their dog problems and how to fix them. And as people found out she was my service dog, they would seek me out with questions on their medical condition, if a service dog was right for them, and for help training their dog. When people started sending other people to me for dog problems, my first dog training business was born. For years, I trained pet dogs and service dogs. People came to me with heart-wrenching stories, and sometimes they had a great dog, who was an excellent service dog candidate.
And sometimes, the dog was not a service dog candidate. As I pondered how I could help more and increase the success for these people who desperately needed a service dog, I realized I had two options, but only one option that would actually change lives. We needed to start a 501(c)3 non-profit for our service dog program. It was a lot of time, and a lot of work, and a lot of money, but it was necessary to set clients up for success when training their service dog. Hope Service Dogs, Inc was born. We are now two years old, and this year we were able to expand into breeding European imported Golden Retrievers. Golden Retrievers are, in my opinion, the best breed for the kind of service dog tasks we train (medical alert, response, and recovery, along with mobility, PTSD, and anxiety). Due to my 17+ years as a professional dog trainer, I know what the puppies need to learn. And due to our team, we are able to teach all we can and set the dogs and puppies up for the best results.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I had the idea for Hope Service Dogs, Inc years ago. However, when I would look into it, the paperwork and time spent were overwhelming. Finally, I decided to go for it. The journey would always belong, but if I had started it when I first came up with the idea, it would be done already. The other struggle was defining what, exactly, Hope Service Dogs, Inc would focus on, along with building everything from the ground floor.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We were “Dream Dogz” for years, working with Service Dog teams, pet dogs, and rehabbing behavior issues. We changed our name in 2020 to “Heart & Soul Dog Training” because that name suited us better. We truly want the dog to work with “heart and soul.” Due to my history as a service dog owner, and my experience training service dogs, I know what teams need. What you need to focus on, what you must teach your dog, and what you should not teach your dog.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was born and raised outside of Pittsburgh, PA. When I was 10, we moved to Fairfield, CT. This meant leaving my friends and family behind. Of course, we would visit them yearly, and they would visit us, but it wasn’t the same. We would travel “home” for Thanksgiving, which was a big event at my grandparents house. All the extended family would gather together and it was always my favorite holiday because of that. Even when we moved to Waukesha, WI, three years later, that tradition continued and we would drive cross country to be home for Thanksgiving.
Contact Info:
- Email: victoria@hopeservicedogs.org
- Website: hopeservicedogs.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hope.service.dogs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hope.service.dogs.inc
- Other: https://anchor.fm/warfel
Image Credits
Jillian Marquart
