Warriors and Wardens (Formerly Origin K9 Podcast)

Mustafa has been involved with the Iraqi wars since a child. His fathered and most adult relatives have either served in the forces or fallen victims to Iraq's various wars. Mustafa talks about his upbringing in the turbulent years between 2003 and 2014 before becoming an interpreter for the Australian Special Forces in their fight against ISIS. He now resides in Australia with his family and...

"Hey do you know Shawn? He was either a CAG K9 handler or an Army cook" Todays guest was exactly that. He moved from the world of an Army cook for Infantry units, to becoming a Direct Support K9 handler for the Army's Tier 1 Special Missions Unit. He deployed 10 times in as many years with The Unit to Iraq and Afghanistan. He talks openly about some of the struggles of life after the...

The long awaited Q and A! This one was a first time and a tester so I hope I hit all the right notes and answered the questions to a satisfactory standard. More Q and A podcasts will come but with guest speakers and expert opinions. Check out our Origin K9 tactical gear Website: ⁠⁠www.origink9.com⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/origin.k9/?hl=en⁠⁠ FaceBook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/Orig...

Boz is a former Police K9 handler and SWAT officer in Arizona. Kelvin and I chat about his serendipitous introduction to dogs from birth and how his friends and family shaped his career as a Police officer. Kelvin has been to dozens and dozens of K9 and SWAT jobs throughout his career and was charged with integrating the 2 capabilities in his department. It was an awesome chat as always and we bot...

Matty and I sit down in his Newcastle studio to discuss his life up until joining the Australian Army. We go into depth in his military career, his multiple deployments, and his transition into the security industry and eventual entrepreneurship. Matty talks openly about the loss of his friends during and post military career and how it motivates him to do what he does today. Give him a follow! In...

You'd best strap in and tune out the distraction around you. If you want the no BS of what being a Tier 1 Operator looks like in a warzone, this is it. Dave is very open and vulnerable in our chat, not only about his extreme experiences in combat during the Iraq war, but also about what happens outside the battlefield. We discuss killing, faith, dealing with childhood trauma and how we move fo...

Mike Dowling is a former United States Marine Corps K9 handler. He served in the early stages of the Iraq war, most notably the Battle for Fallujah. The battle itself has seared its way into USMC history and Mike and his K9, Rex, are a part of that history forever. We discuss the loss of friends, being at Boot Camp on 9/11 2001 and his place in the world after leaving the Corps. Enjoy this episode...

Horse is the original K9 handler of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). We discuss his early influences like his WW2 Veteran Grandfather, his early years in the Australian Defence Force and subsequent deployments to Afghanistan with the SASR and his K9 Richa. Horse has a strong sense of justice and philosophy which you can hear during this episode and is an all round great bloke, A...

This episode I speak with Mick Corlett.  Mick is a former soldier, police officer and security contractor.  Mick has been a dog handler, a tactical police officer and fulfilled many training roles in multiple organisations.  Mick is currently employed in an Australian Agency that we have excluded from this episode for personal and operational reasons.  His story includes death...

Mike Nezbeth is the owner and founder of Grassroots K9. He is most known for his impressive decoy skills and is highly regarded as one of the best. We chat about his upbringing and how a diagnosis of Asperger's has allowed him to harness his obsession with dogs, psychology and learning theory into a successful business and passion. Mike was an absolute pleasure to chat to and you will most def...

Mike Jones is a man who has overcome adversity, time and time again. We talk about his early life and the influences of growing up in East San Hose and how brushes with the law saw him self reflect and turn him into the man he is today. He has shown his worth in the K9 industry repeatedly both in his pet training, decoy work and his new mission 'The Fight' to help survivors of human traffi...

Cheryl Chaffey is a highly accomplished and respected RAAF K9 handler, IGP sport competitor and dog trainer. She has spent 15 years in the RAAF where she still serves to this day. She has deployed to east Timor with her working K9 and is now posted to 382CRS SQN in the Royal Australian Air Force. Guest contact info Instagram: @fenrirdogsport 👇Origin K9 tactical gear 👇 Website: ⁠⁠⁠www.origink9.co...

Pat and I chat about his upbringing, his career in the Army as a Special Forces soldier and how he transitioned into the K9 world post military service. Pat is a guy who knows dog's inside out with an insatiable appetite for more knowledge. I really enjoyed this chat and I know you will too. Guest contact info Instagram: @patstuart_ Website:  Liinks.co/patstuart 👇Origin K9 tactical gear 👇 We...

Brad Griggs is a veteran of the K9 industry. He began his career in Melbourne where he still resides and operates today. He has been heavily involved in the sport world as well as protection training, pet behaviour modification and, most recently, developing Police K9s for sale. In this episode we go deep into some training topics as well as some hot topics in the K9 industry. He is someone I resp...

Christine is a highly educated and passionate woman who runs Summa Fit. She caters her fitness programmes to those who serve on the front lines of Military or Law Enforcement jobs. We discuss her influences as a young woman and how the suicide of her cousin, who served as a medic in the Navy, sparked her to serve those who serve us. She speaks openly about insecurities as a child and how she overc...

Josh is a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. He went from being an infantry soldier, stood up the Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) in it's early days and eventually screened for the tier 1 unit, JTF2. Josh has deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and Iraq as well as Africa. He deployed top Iraq in the fight against ISIS twice as a K9 handler before retiring into civilian life....

Reg Ramage is a former Military Police K9 handler from the Australian Army. He has deployed multiple times to East Timor and the Middle East in a variety of capacities. He was instrumental in raising a modernised adaptation to the Military Police K9 capability under the command of some great leadership. We discuss training methodology and its evolution, challenges of being on operations and the tr...

The first woman to be on the Origin K9 Podcast! Tara Burke is a former Soldier, Coast Guard Reservist and Police K9 handler. She has deployed multiple times to the Middle East and served her community on the front lines of policing. After her Police career came to an end, Tara began training dogs with Ridgeside K9 where she remains working today. We cover a range of topics and Tara has an interest...

Bob Richards deployed to the Vietnam War twice. On his first deployment Bob was wounded with 7 RAR, he was then posted to Kapooka as an instructor and he deployed again to Vietnam with 3 RAR. Bob is a man who is passionate about helping other veterans. He trains multi-purpose service dogs to assist veterans suffering from a multitude of physical or psychological ailments through his charity, Paws...

Chris Ramirez is a former 82nd Airborne Regiment Soldier from the US Army. He has deployed multiple times with that unit on short notice. Chris and I discuss the drawdown of Afghanistan, his short notice deployment to Iraq and his rocky transition from the US Army. He has been mentored by  @MikeGloverActual  , he is an avid shooter and has a passion for training dogs, including Zev, his own Belgia...

Kyle Shoberg is a former Police K9 handler from California. He has been involved in multiple Officer Involved Shootings and now operates as a Sergeant in his department. You can always find Kyle close to the action as I did in California when he displayed his tactical mind and command presence when we attended the same siege incident in 2023. We discuss a range of topics including mental health, a...

Josh is a former Australian Army Infantry soldier.  In this episode we discuss his life in the military, depression, his transition from Defence and moving into the dog training space.  Josh now spends his time training pet dogs and has recently begun developing K9 Viper for an agency in Australia.  His personal dog Jaxx has been a massive helper for Josh in attending seminars, practicing his newl...

Ben is one of the early pioneers of the modern textiles era.  He was pivotal in the implementation of Multicam and it's rollout to a multitude of countries around the world. Ben and I discuss his start in the industry, his diagnosis and life with MS and the future of the textiles industry.  Have a listen!  Website: www.1947llc.com Instagram: @1947llc FaceBook: @1947llc

Will Patton is a personal friend of mine and former colleague from the 2nd Commando Regiment Dog Cell.  Will has been a Navy Clearance Diver, a Special Forces soldier, dog trainer and business owner.  We talk all things Navy, his philosophy on dog training and some of the challenges of business.  Enjoy!  Website: www.masterofpuppies.com.au Instagram: @masterofpuppies.hq FaceBook: @masterofpuppies....

Ben Geurts is a former Military Police and RAAF K9 handler from the Australian Defence Force.  He has studied under Bart Bellon, he was a co-founder of K9 Solutions Australia, he has been the capability manager of a Law Enforcement K9 unit and now owns Kaizen K9 in Perth.  Ben and I discuss his philosophy on training and the future of his business plans.  Website: www.kaizenk9.com I...