Joel Renfro

Co-Founder and Vice President

​

Joel Renfro is a Navy Seabee veteran who's had and loved dogs his entire life but never truly recognized the healing powers of a dog until after a deployment to Afghanistan.   Because of his very personal journey, Joel is now committed to helping other veterans and first responders as the Vice President of Hold the Line Service Dogs.  Here is his story...

 

Like many veterans, returning home became a challenge for Joel following the intensity and traumas of war. After spending two years in denial of his struggles (and nearly losing everything important to him), Joel's family persuaded him to seek help from the VA.  While working with the VA Joel felt incremental improvements; yet, frustrations grew as progress seemed to plateau.

While being treated at the VA, Joel's family rescued a one year old Great Dane named Milla.  With Milla by his side, Joel experienced noticeable improvements at home with a better attitude toward family interactions, a calmer temperament and overall happiness.  These functional gains, however, were only in the home setting but Joel attributed the change to the VA's program.  So over the next eight years, the staff and medical providers at the VA continued to work diligently with Joel but something was amiss.

 

After Milla passed away in July of 2020, Joel quickly realized why things at home had improved. It was Milla. She instinctively picked up on cues and came to his side to calm, comfort, or distract him from stressors.  In Milla's absence, Joel quickly regressed and any progress achieved seemed to be lost.  Even the staff at the VA recognized a change in Joel that coincided with Milla's death. 

As a result, Joel's wife began exploring the possibilities of getting Joel a service dog.  The idea met resistance on two fronts:  (1) Joel was hesitant and feared that a service dog would become a billboard saying "I'm broken and weak" and (2) VA providers voiced concerns since 'typical' service dogs are trained for 'task avoidance' -- creating space between the veteran and others, turning on lights, or clearing a room.  But after learning why the VA was hesitant to recommend a service dog, their search for a solid program and a properly trained service canine began.  As fate would have it, Joel and his family met Susanne Wandling while she worked at a large St. Louis non-profit and her approach was a  perfect match.

Joel learned that Susanne was successfully training dogs to be a bridge between service and civilian life. Instead of avoidance tasks, the dogs were taught to reinforce positive thoughts/behavior and to provide comfort and security in crowds. Her dogs responded to cues of stress and anxiety and provided the stimulus to help the veteran through the situation rather than away from it.  Joel was excited to share what he found with his providers at the VA. After hearing of this new style of service dog, the VA was now onboard with the idea and even wrote letters of recommendation on Joel's behalf.

After being accepted into a PTSD service dog pilot program, Joel lost a second battle buddy to suicide. This unspeakable tragedy pushed Joel - more than ever before - to complete the program and be paired with his own PTSD service dog. With Susanne's help, Joel was motivated to use his new dog and partner, Shasta, as a healing tool.

During team training with Shasta, Joel met Jessica, also a veteran completing team training. Joel became inspired by the great trainers, the amazing program that aligns with current VA treatment and the intense belief that Susanne has for this mission.  Joel immediately saw and felt the difference these dogs were making in his life and in Jessica's too. 

Joel felt a new-found sense of purpose: a need to be a part of something bigger and a part of helping to change other people's lives, just like Susanne and others in the training program were doing. All of these things led Joel to ask the question, "How could I become a trainer? How does one get into this field?"  The process seemed daunting and the exact path for helping others seemed unclear; nonetheless, Joel was determined to honor the friends he lost and the ones he refused to lose in the future.

Team training concluded and it was time to venture out into the world with his new service dog and a new purpose to serve Veterans and First Responders in need.

When Susanne left that organization to fulfill her dream of founding her own nonprofit, Joel began to volunteer for her program. Without hesitation, Joel jumped at the invitation to become the Vice President of Hold The Line Service Dogs, Inc. and to work alongside Susanne and her husband Tim.

 

The first order of business for Joel, was to name the puppy he and his family are raising for Hold The Line in honor of the friend that he lost. This is a mission that is very close to Joel's heart and he hopes that it can touch yours too.