“Chase away sorrow by living one moment at a time to the fullest possible extent!”

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

Over the past year Iris and I have had some very long days and even some long weekends but this trip to Houston pushed the limits of my body. The mind is there saying come on we can keep going yet the body just seems to fall flat. The good news is that I know we have made it through and met some great people in the process. First things first Yes TEXAS IS HOT!!! I will stop complaining about CT's heat (at least until it gets hot again here). 

We had to fly to Florida to catch our connection into Houston making the flight out there about 7 hours of travel time without a break for Iris. All I can say is that Miss Iris is one of the best behaved service dogs ever, she never once complained but boy when she got out of the airport in Houston she was one happy traveler to see real grass. The folks from TX were extremely great from the moment we stepped off the plane until we got back on the plane to come home. There were a number of Legion people there to help make sure that we had help in getting all of our travel to hotels taken care of and made is feel very welcome. All I can say is thank you all for a great time.

While at the convention I was amazed even though we were only dealing with the delegates side of the membership how many people were actually there. The legion along with all the service organizations may be in a waning period but there are still many American's out there proud of their service and their loved ones service also. I talking to the delegates about the experiences I have had with Iris and How America's VetDogs has changed my life I shared a number of tears of hope that others would be able to also find hope. How nice would it be if every veteran that has a medical need for a service dog was able to get one? It is a message that I know I will continue to proclaim on a daily basis.

Iris had fun while we were there playing and hanging out with Lara a Lab/Golden mix from VetDogs who helps her Veteran with her issues. There were a few other training groups that had their service dogs in training there also. All the pup's got along splendidly and I am sure that the quality of dogs being trained for our Veterans impressed all the legionnaires that took time to come and learn about them.

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

On a different note, for all those that follow the advocacy work I do, there have been a couple high profile issues the past few weeks on the eastern seaboard. One that affected a graduate of America's VetDogs which has been handled very well and is well on the way to become a great training opportunity for the town and community to learn more about Service dogs and Veterans needs. The other one is a retired Air Force Vet & his service dog in Mass that was kicked out of a restaurant. This happened in Oxford right up the road from me. Unfortunately the whole thing has turned into a mess and people are taking sides. When that happens businesses get hurt people never get the full story and future disabled people will still encounter issues because there is no resolution. I have all intentions of going up to this resteraunt later this week or next week in hopes of showing the laws and explaining why they are in place. Hopefully we will be able to come to a resolution and ease tension in the community.

So anyone wanting to join in on this run to Oxford MA please let me know. 

Till then have a great labor day weekend coming up and be safe.

 Here is the first of the Artist renditions of the plans on the camper. There are a few changes but I really like where this is going. Stay tuned to what happens next. 

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine. 

The next three here are Maggie Starr's rendition Same concept except the idea of keeping all the body parts looking correct not stretched out and all the windows & venting on the camper have been kept in place to insure proper placement. I am sure that we will come up with something between the foundation and us.

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.  

Never tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon!

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

3 day's till I leave for Houston. This is going to be the longest of the trips in sometime I leave on Thursday and return on Tuesday and am looking forward to hanging with so many Veteran's of all Era's. We will have a booth at the convention to spread the word about service dogs and how they change lives. I changed my affiliation to legion post 91 instead of being a member at large post 200 member. Up until now I have felt no desire to be locally affiliated especially with the posts centering around a smoke filled bar. (Just not an atmosphere I find myself drawn to). The Legion just like the VFW are great organizations that I am happy to be a part of and support but until recently I have had to focus all my energy with the DAV and AMRA. I am really looking forward to the convention in Houston.

Ok enough about that I am sure that when I return I will have lots to say about the convention. Last week was very interesting for me. My travels were pretty much local with much of the time spent handling local issues and trying to make sure that we put out a welcoming hand to our veterans returning home from active duty. My home town of OldSaybrook Ct held a fundraiser for a Marine Sgt who is still on Active duty undergoing medical treatment for a TBI condition after his 3 trip overseas. He was flown back to OldSaybrook Sat morning to be the guest of honor at Fireman's field. It was a great day of support and he and his family were overwhelmed with the public outreach. 

To see the community come together and raise money for this young family was wonderful. I was able to spend some time with both Dan and his wife to share my experience overcoming my TBI issues and getting back into living a normal life. Of course I gave him and his wife information on America's VetDogs and told them both all about Iris with all that she does for me. They seemed very excited and said they will call once they get back to Virginia. They headed back for the Hospital on Sat Evening so I may hear from them soon I hope. I explained how it is not uncommon to start the process of applying to get a service dog before getting off active duty to limit the timeframe. 

Earlier in the week I had an opportunity to meet with the CEO of a startup company called Grillie.com. This is a neat company that makes really nice auto grille pieces that are made in Rhode Island and are die cast so they will last and look great for years to come. The CEO is a super nice man who is very excited to help veterans and others and when I spoke to him about doing something with VetDogs he was very excited. Needless to say I went and looked at some of the product and feel in love with the Lab Grillie which is now proudly shown on my truck for all to see. 

While the legal side of things is worked out with America's VetDogs I have worked out a way to save a few dollars and let him make a donation in kind to VetDogs for every sale that is made. So if you go to http://www.grillie.com and pick out whatever product you want (he has a good number already for you) then go to the shopping cart page where there is an option for the promo code. You have to enter the promo code in here to get the discount and donation to take place. This is the only place that it happens. The Code itself is case sensitive so please cut and paste from here. vetdogskp is the code all lower case no breaks. What does it get you and VetDogs you ask? Here is the breakdown 20% of you order amount is going to be turned into a donation to America's VetDogs and you will receive a 10% discount for placing this order and using the code. 

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

Where does time go?

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

I know I lost last weeks blog entry somewhere between my brain and the keyboard. I did do some traveling to the coast for a couple nights on the beach with Iris and my wife. I even brought the camera out and snapped some pictures which is something I have not been doing all that much of lately. Unfortunately my getting things done button does not appear to be working for me.

Many people would say I am to hard on myself, that I accomplish a lot but when I look at what I do it never seems enough. I can tell everyone that the article that Truck Camper Magazine  published has kept me going in front of the computer screen and phone like I have not been in a very long time. I have had comments and request from all over. Soon one of the Military organizations I belong to will be publishing their own interview also both in the print and online versions. I will of course let everyone know when I know. All I can say about any and all of the media that does come out is thank you from the bottom of my heart, it is not about me but getting the message out to help our Veterans who need help in transitioning back into civilian life. I have my Service Dog already and am on the way back now it is all about helping others to find their way.

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

So that pretty much covers last weeks entry or what should have been so on to this weeks update. I mentioned that I have started growing my twitter presence which is a learning experience for sure. I used to think that just having people follow you was the key to "winning with twitter". Now I have been building relationships with followers and actually interacting with those I follow. It has been interesting and much more time consuming then I had originally planned for. I am still learning and playing but as I seem to grow by 30-50 new followers daily and expand my reach from just the service dogs for Veterans to truly pushing for Veteran Advocacy which is something that I find to be very important for me and others to have a layman to help them through the many land mines that wait for them once out of the military. The abbreviated format seems to really work well for this work so I am enjoying it and hope that others will help guide me to be more effective also.



Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

Saturday I took off for Long Island via the Bridgeport Port Jefferson Ferry to head out to the Cousin's Paint Ball for Patriots Fundraiser. This was the second year that I was involved in this event. This is a perfect example of a 3rd party fundraiser that I am more than happy to support. The group of people that put this together do it for a love of their country and our veterans knowing that they want to give back in a fun way. They had people from all over there participating and the day was a great success. I wish that I was still able to get out there and rough it up with them but well there is a reason I have the service dog and the doctors would not be at all happy with me nor my family. See guys I am getting better at being more adult. So many thanks go to all those involved with the event and who knows maybe they will invite me again next year.

This week is filled with family obligations so I am not sure what my travels will be but I can assure you that I hope to get out to somewhere. I would love to hear from your organization or group and come for a visit all you have to do is ask. Two weeks from now I will be in Houston for the National American Legion Convention (not driving to that one). The new meds are working great but I am still not comfortable enough to make that long a drive on my own so I have been warming my arms up and SW Air has already saved space in case I can not get enough lift with my paddles.


Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

Till Next time, Happy Trials!

Attention: I have a Personal Fundraising Page for VetDogs Now! Please follow this link and make a donation to help another veteran like me get a service dog like mine.

Getting the Word OUT!!!!

Last week can be summed up in the title of this weeks blog. I have had a few adverse effects from the new meds so needless to say I have been less mobile. I hate not getting out and being active but I have also learned that when my body starts to act up I had better slow down or things can get messy or worse I can end up in the hospital.

The great news of last week was that on Tuesday Truck Camper Magazine did their feature article on Iris & I. The Article started to draw emails very quickly. Comments started to fly in to me via email, facebook, twitter and phone. My Twitter account has grown by almost 40% in a matter of one week and the number of new Facebook friends and followers is pretty cool also. All I can say is thank you to all of you for getting the word out.

People like Mike Wolfe from History Channel's American Picker's Show and a couple radio shows down in NC that I know of that passed the word really helped also. I was supposed to go to a Truck Camper Rally in the White mountains but physically I could not do the drive so I am sure that did not help my getting the word out.

So in short what's coming up in the near future?

I am working on coming up with a way to help fund some of these trips that I have been doing. Many of the trips I do I pay for out of my own pocket especially lately and I am finding that I am overstepping  just a tad. I also have to come up with a way to put some transportation cost together quickly to help get me down for the Cruise Line Fundraiser that I won the right to help out. After looking at the current ticket rates it is going to stretch the budget to make this all come together on my fixed income. So if anyone has any ideas on how I should go about this please let me know.

I have the Paint Ball Fundraiser on Long Island. I hope to have the camper out there with Iris and myself to cheer on the guys and gal's that come out for this worthy cause. If anyone is interested in playing you still have time to sign up. Last year they had teams from all over there and even had a tank (for paintball). It was fun times for all.

There is so much follow up work I am doing at the moment to get the word out any help would be greatly appreciated. I am also looking at getting some Video Blog links added in here. One of my friends suggested that I attempt to grab one of the talks I do on Video. I do have links already at www.kphyfe.com for radio interviews that were done last year if anyone is interested.

Till next week safe travels.

Kent & Iris

The Heat is ON!

As I sit here on Monday wondering where my brain has gone to because the heat has fried it I hope to find something to write. The past week was as hot as it really ever should think about getting here in the northeastern part of this great country. With the humidity the feel like temp was between 105 and 110 so the weather soothsayers told us daily. Personally I have spent time in a few desserts and jungles and this was not as bad as that but a close third or forth given my age and medical condition. I know "suck it up buttercup" comes to mind but hey it's my blog.

So the week itself was pretty slow for us. We did the two phone interviews while sitting in the shade at the beach. Life is great, how did we ever survive without cellphones and wireless technology? We did however call it an early departure from the beach due to the heat and the fact I just could not seem to cool down in the evenings. So back to the home AC unit.

Thursday I was supposed to run the Camper down to the sign place and get the look over but again the heat was just to much for me. Something about the meds I am on that seem to make me want to fall over everytime I stand up in the heat that makes being out in it less desirable. So the camper north to New Hampshire did not happen either. Knowing the temps on Sat were going to be in the high 90's before the humidity did it's magic just made the idea of sleeping with no AC to much for this not so healthy old man. Guess I am getting smarter in my old age for all of you that worry I push to hard.

Since I did not get down to have the camper looked over I spent those days hiding in the AC at the house. I did spend a fair amount of time on the internet working on coming up with new ways to get the word out about VetDogs and also teaming up with the Power Lifting Community that even though I am broken seems to have accepted me as one of their own. Guess it really helps to have a soon to be 22 year old son (tomorrow 23 July) who is a moose and lives for the strength stuff.

I did head up to New Hampshire on Saturday morning to meet up with the Granite State Strongman/Women Championship and take pictures of a pretty awesome event. No ordinary weightlifting going on here that's for sure. Check out the pictures at my website I wish my son was able to be there but he was out getting his tattoo beefed up some. He had had a Cross now it really looks cool.

This coming week I have nothing planned as far as fundraising is concerned so people call me get me busy. Especially now my youngest just turned 19 2 weeks ago and started her Physical Therapist Assistant Program at New England Tech today my wife and son work full time so I find myself with more time to dedicate to helping other veterans. Especially since the new medicine the doctors put me really seem to have made a huge difference with controlling the events.

Thursday I will head to northern New Hampshire to attend my first New England Truck Camper Rally. I am looking forward to a good time meeting new friends and showing off my little rig. I know a number of the people are looking forward to meeting Iris also. Tomorrow there will be an article published online in the Truck Camper Magazine which is a great online magazine that has lots of great information and story's about people like me that feel all the tires needed for camping should be on your truck not on the camper.

Well thank all of you for following and a special thank you to TCM for making a donation to America's VetDogs I really look forward to showing off the article.

Dog days of summer

Just a quick update this week. Iris and I have slowed down and taken some time for ourselves this week. We're resting relaxing and all around wishing that the hot and humid of summer in New England would tone back just a bit. 

My wife, Iris and I decided to escape the swelter of the inland heat to catch the ocean breeze and relax in one of our favorite places, Charlestown Breachway, Rhode Island. Here are a few pictures of Iris hanging out this morning. 

Here's the view from where she was laying.

Yes she likes hanging in the sun also!

Well this week we have a couple phone interviews, a meet and greet with thirty two signs about them possibly being the company that wraps the camper and then the New England Strongman championships. More next week till then stay cool enjoy the summer.

Here is a post from Facebook this morning pretty much sums this up for me. Water shade serenity her views guess this is what they call a service dogs life. Our camper is the central stop for many campers wanting their animal fix since the campground has a no pet policy. So glad I carry info on VetDogs and the guide dog foundation, so many people want to know more and how to donate. I tell them every penny counts and soon the camper will too! It will have it's own text to donate number so people can quickly donate via there cell phone.

Strength in numbers

So when given an opportunity to take on a new path or look on life I jump. When that path allows me to spend more time with my son and his friends that is even better. "50' closer to a cure" is a group of power lifters that have decided to use their strength to raise awareness and money for charities.

My son who has been into lifting and physical fitness for sometime now has gotten into the strongman side of things. My not being allowed to be active in this type of activity can now be lived vicariously through him and others competing while raising funds for good causes. The best part is that I am able to document the competitions with my camera skills (yes the proud dad syndrome).


Last week Iris and I were down in Plainfield, CT shooting pictures of these guys and gal's pulling a firetruck and this week we were up in Revere, MA watching them do a whole series of strongman exercises from pulling a tri-axle dump truck to a Viking Squat. You can see the pictures at http://photo.kphyfe.com/revere/  all profits from any sales of these pictures will go towards paying for the wrapping of the camper and gas to get Iris and myself along with the camper to the competitions.

Please spread the word that these very good people are helping our communities all over. They have also said they want to and will be working out a way to help America's VetDogs. Yes the pun was intended...

For all those wondering I did get back up to New Hampshire with the camper for some relax time after the time in Chicago and the trip into NYC never came to be. So last week ended up being a nice relaxing week for me.

There was a neat twist that surprised me for sure, I received a call from the group that had sponsored the trip in February for the VetDog Charity cruise. Jen and I won the two tickets for paradise (of course Iris also). We are very excited about this trip and are working out the details of how we will make it all work out as far as travel and cost. Flying makes the most sense with Jen and her work schedule but taking the camper and talking about VetDogs all the way down and back is my preferred method. We will have to see how it all works out, either way it is out of the budget cost so we may even think about having some form of a fund raiser for the fundraiser. Let me know if anyone is interested in helping me out with setting something like that up for a travel fund. We will be on the ship for 7 days and the funds raised onboard will be donated to America's VetDogs.

Finally a moment to reflect

So why am I starting off with the image of the button that Iris hit's? Well it always amazes people that she is actually trained to hit a button that calls directly to 911, so I figured that today a quick view of that would remind us all why Iris is so amazing and such a life saver to me. She still practices with this button and soon we will have a new modified version to work with the GPS enabled button that makes our trips in the camper less stressful for everyone else.

After what seems like a month of sundays Iris and I have had a few days of doing nothing. Yes nothing is a good thing once in a while especially if you need to take care of yourself and don't really do a good job at that. We finished our trip to Chicago up on Thursday afternoon getting home to more rain. As if the rains in Chicago that had me delayed a day were not enough, go figure.

This weather pattern has allowed us to put the camper on hold along with the yard work and any other kind of four letter words. We did have one trip over to Providence to see the doctors yesterday where they confirmed that I am doing fine at this point but should relax a bit over the next weeks to get some more energy back. We do not know if the new medicine is causing the extra tiredness or if it is the extra activity. Of course if you ask me I will claim that it is the meds and I really just need to push through the phase and keep going so I do not miss out on anything. 

I figured I would pop a picture of Iris and I hanging out at the Mystic Aquarium with one of the Beluga whales to show off some of our past travels. She is so great. She  really could care less about the whales but boy the whales were super interested in her. We hope to get back down to visit with them again soon.

We did get an email on Friday asking if we would be willing to take a quick day trip into NYC to do a TV interview if it came up but have heard nothing else on that at this point. The good news is that I have already worked out to grab some Daddy time with my daughter if that does come to fruition. If not Iris and I plan on hiding in the downstairs TV area on the 4th with the tv louder then normal till the fireworks are over and maybe Friday we will get out and get some pictures if all goes well. Rumor has it the Sunflowers may even be out in Griswold.

Let's talk about Chicago, what a trip. I can't say thank you enough to the open hearts of the members of the NCMS https://www.ncms-seminar.org/Home/index.asp they were wonderful host. America's VetDogs was their primary charity for this years convention and they raised a good amount of money there while at the convention and I am sure when the attendees get back to their local groups and explain about how they were touched by VetDogs even more will happen. I know for a fact that a good number of people want to get into the puppy raising side of things along with sponsoring dogs and a host of other functions. So many of them are prior military and or have been around the military that they really want to help our nations veterans.





The Young lady below is Melissa Stockwell an amazing young women soldier.

Melissa Stockwell

@MStockwell01 Follow her on Twitter

3x Paratriathlon World Champion, Paralympian, Prosthetist, Motivational Speaker, Triathlon Coach, Army Veteran, and lover of the red, white and blue. Go USA!

melissastockwell.com

I only wish that I could bottle the energy I took away from my talking to each and every one of them so that I could pass it along to others that have not been bitten by the charity of helping others. To listen to all of their stories of friends and families being affected in so many ways pushing their hearts to open and freely give to other Veterans they have never met but know need service animals to change their lives was such a blessing for me. Iris truly has rescued me but the people I come in contact with daily out there in the community that she touches with her eyes and story of helping me continues to rescue others.

All I can say is thank you all that allow me to carry this message to so many.

Yes this is Iris's newest Boyfriend Jake as they sit in the conference hall. They even hung out holding paws! So cute. Iris just wished he did not live in Chicago and that they both were not always working so often. 

Late post from Chicago

Well Iris and I are sitting in the Marriott downtown Chicago waiting for or ride over to speak at NCMS convention. This group of security professionals have decided to make America's VetDogs their charity cause for this year. Wells Jones and myself will be speaking to the entire group first thing this morning then doing handshakes the rest of the day till a dinner tonight. They put on a nice social last night and many of the individual groups from around the country also want to do something autonomously which we hope to help facilitate while we're here this week.

Many of the members and leaders of these groups are past military and work very closely with the military now so it was a great fit for their organization they told me in our discussions last evening. This is a wonderful way to get groups involved as a whole and makes it easier on individuals also so if anyone out there knows of organizations that might be interested in sponsoring a puppy or naming a puppy vetdogs does a real nice job of tracking that dog through the process and even facilitates a meeting if you want with the recipient veteran upon graduation. I know the grads in my class really enjoyed meeting all the people that helped make getting our dogs possible.

On another note, Iris and I will be heading north into the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire when we return to the east coast. So next weeks entry will hopefully have picture again. In the meantime here is one from the super moon enjoy all!

Great news on all fronts

After a weeks absence we are back and writing. Just because we've been remiss in putting pen to paper does not mean that we have not been busy little campers.

Before we start talking about travels lets get the best news out of the way. Our stay, and yes I mean our, Iris was able to stay in the hospital with me after the first night. The even better news is the new medicine that I was trying out has been working very well and appears to have had the desired effect. Thank God for modern medicine. Iris has actually been letting me sleep through the night which is actually something new to me. She still wakes me if I am having nightmares but the fact that she lets me sleep the rest of the time is something new, I have even had to set an alarm clock a couple times to make sure I am up in the morning.

 So as you can tell by the pictures of us in the hospital Iris made herself very comfortable. The staff loved her and constantly asked if they could take her for walks (I never let them). I had telemetry on that allowed me free reign of the hospital and up to 30 ft outside so I was able to break her on my own. During our walks we were able to answer many questions about service dogs and what they do along with hand out information about America's VetDogs. Hopefully some of the veterans I spoke with will be able to put their applications in and move on with their lives in the same way I have.

Once we left the hospital we hit the road running. Or maybe I should say stopping and getting hit??? Not but a couple miles down the road we were hit from behind by a truck that accidentally hit his break and gas peddle at the same time. The insurance person just finished the estimate prior to my starting today's writing and I will say I was surprised by his estimate. They say there is almost $6,000 in damage done to the rear end. Not to worry though it will all be fixed next week and no one was injured which is the most important part of that side story.

Last week Iris and I flew up to the New York State VFW Convention where we spoke to both the VFW and the Women's Auxiliary. It was a fun time got to meet another veteran and his service dog. It is alway great to share time with brothers esp others with similar experiences where words are not needed to understand. His service Dog was a beautiful Lab from America's VetDogs that was all dressed up for the occasion by Dennis's youngest daughter. Both his wife and daughter were able to drive down from the Ft Drum area where he still lives. I love hearing how the families are affected by these service dogs. I know how much Iris means to the Phyfe family at large but to see it in others seems to make it really stand out in my mind. Thank you Dennis and I look forward to hearing you get up and share soon, you did a great job telling your story at the tables the next step is to get you up front.

Our Flight home was quite the ordeal! We flew up on US Airways and got routed through Philly which is a bit out of the way but acceptable.  The way home we were on United and flew from Buffalo to Cleveland to get back to Providence. Talk about the long way around the horn. Thought we were back in the army or something with that routing but we made the best of it. One very big lesson learned is that the TSA and Airport people really do not yet have a handle on service animals and how to handle them. We have had a bone of contention with the fact that every airport we have been to so far has had their break area outside on the public side of the terminal. This is a huge inconvenience for anyone traveling with a service dog who has a short layover and long flights. Having to clear through security and carry all your bags out of the airport and usually to the same area the smoking area is is a major pain. I would love it if people started writing congress and TSA asking to create an area inside of security that service animals could be taken to go to the bathroom. Nuff said I know!!

Ok for all those wondering yes we did go camping again even with all that flying. We did a trip up into southern New Hampshire and then another down to the coast of RI. The weather has been less then desirable but that will not stop me nor Iris from getting out and enjoying the outdoors. The picture show is a shot taken from the front seat of the truck while Jen is still asleep with the fog and peaceful water where we camped. The ability to put the camper in the back and run out to a spot is just such a freeing feeling I wish everyone could do it. But since so many can't I will do it for you. This week I will be going to the Massachusetts state prison in Framingham to speak to the puppy raisers. I also hope to go to either Vermont or New Hampshire to camp for a couple days.

Until next week God Bless!