Joaquin Juatai is a disabled veteran and an author of the book PTSDog: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Service Dog. He also hosts The Service Dog Show with PTSDog, which is broadcast on WDVR. He educates, supports, and advocates for other veterans who have chosen to use a service dog as part of their own recovery, which has effectively turned his disability into a mission.
Joaquin talks about the process of getting a service dog and stresses the importance of continuously training your service dog, no matter what condition they are assisting with. He also goes into the rights that service dog handlers have and some of the misconceptions that business owners and the general public have with regards to service dogs.
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Scott DeLuzio: 00:00 Hey everybody, this is the Drive On Podcast where we talk about issues affecting veterans after they get out of the military. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And now let’s get on with the show.
Scott DeLuzio: 00:15 Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast. Before we get started, I want to take a quick minute to ask a favor from you. The point of this podcast is to help veterans through sharing stories like the one we’re about to hear. It’s not really going to help if no one hears the story. So, if you wouldn’t mind, hit pause for a second and head on over to DriveOnPodcasts.com/subscribe where you can find links to subscribe and to review the show on your favorite podcast app. And if you don’t mind taking a minute to share the podcast on social media or even directly to a friend who you think might benefit by listening to the podcast, I’d really appreciate it. Okay. So today my guest is Joaquin Juatai. He is a disabled veteran and author of the book PTSDog, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Service Dog. He also hosts the service dog show with PTSDog, which is broadcast on a WDVR. He educates, supports and advocates for other veterans who have chosen to use a service dog as part of their own recovery, which has effectively turned his disability into a mission. So, Joaquin, thank you so much for joining me. Why don’t you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself, a little bit about your military background and things that you’re getting into.
Joaquin Juatai: 01:34 Oh, it’s my pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. I was in the United States Navy for 15 years and I had some experiences during my service that I didn’t know had affected me. That was my final sea tour, three years on an aircraft carrier, got home and went to shore duty and things were not right. Things were different. My life was falling apart. I didn’t understand what was happening. I was drinking excessively, over-exercising and tearing my body apart to try and deal with what was going on in my head without understanding what was going on with my head. I had an accident which broke one of the vertebrae in my back and crushed several disks and that effectively ended my Navy career.
Joaquin Juatai: 02:39 When I broke my back and was unable to go run for 10 or 15 miles a day, all of a sudden, this stuff that was going on in my head caught up. Ultimately, ending me up inpatient in a mental health hospital in a wing dedicated fo...
