Ranger K9 Handler Julian McDonald | Mike Ritland Podcast Episode 125
Mike Drop
Mike Ritland
4.9 • 6.3K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2023
⏱️ 262 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With Julian in tow, MPC Layka's graced the cover of National Geographic, been the subject of an HBO Documentary, and even helped Channing Tatum make a little movie called 'DOG'. But when you ask Julian just what makes Layka so special, it's not just the dog, but Benno - the one who showed Julian the way - that really counts.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:45 - Seeds of Terror
10:00 - Childhood Memories
12:00 - First the Gym, Then the Sauna
16:00 - Born at Cannon Air Force Base
19:00 - Grandpa Beat Us on the Bus
24:00 - So Then I Got Expelled
31:15 - I'd Like to be a Ranger
39:00 - Baptized by Gunfire
43:30 - SEAL Team 6 & A Family Reunion
49:30 - Civilian Contractors On Target
56:30 - An Offset Infil
1:02:45 - Two Deployments in Tikrīt
01:11:00 - A Dog Handler in 2009
01:19:30 - My First Dog Benno
01:30:00 - Two Bravo
01:43:00 - Fentanyl Lollipops
01:54:30 - Surviving an IED, Barely
02:33:00 - Practically Full-Time Training
02:20:00 - A Tunnel Bite Story
02:25:00 - What Made Benno Exceptional
02:44:00 - The Dog Takes Drugs
02:48:00 - This Is It
02:58:00 - Benno's Last Deployment
03:17:30 - And Then I Had Layka
03:24:00 - Layka Gets Shot
03:36:00 - A Seven-Hour Amputation
03:44:00 - Adoption Papers
03:52:00 - Becoming a Symbol
03:57:00 - Two Years Sober
04:01:00 - Withdrawals on Deployment
04:05:00 - Finding Myself
04:11:00 - Mike on Rico
04:18:00 - Giving Gifts
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Support Julian McDonald:
Website - MPC Layka Statue Fund - https://www.scottswish.org/mpc-layka-statue-fund
IG - https://www.instagram.com/trent_k9
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MUD/WTR
Go to mudwtr.com/mike to support the show and use code MIKEMUD for 15% off!
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I didn't want Beno for didn't want him. |
| 0:07.0 | He was a dog that wasn't trusted. |
| 0:09.0 | I don't want to go out there and have a dog that's a liability to the assault force that nobody trusts when he's off leash. |
| 0:16.0 | Beno is seeing red. He's ready to bite. |
| 0:20.0 | Like I just pulled him away from him wanting to bite. |
| 0:22.0 | Dogs have no concept of lead flying through them. |
| 0:26.0 | He just hears the gunfire and thinks that they're something. |
| 0:29.0 | I got Beno really in tune and really I got the people around me in tune and trusting that dog. |
| 0:36.0 | Beno looked at those people as his partner. |
| 0:38.0 | I would come in to the coughs when we were back home and I would cut him loose in the coughs. |
| 0:42.0 | And he would run around like an idiot and everybody would be in love with him and shit like that. |
| 0:47.0 | The bond and the relationship with me and that dog. |
| 0:53.0 | When you go back in your room and it's just you and him, yeah that dog. |
| 0:57.0 | That dog heard me cry. |
| 1:06.0 | Welcome to Mike Drop. |
| 1:08.0 | The podcast where relevancy is irrelevant and we don't give a shit about your feelings. |
| 1:15.0 | Ladies and gentlemen, as always it's both an honor and a pleasure to welcome my next guest to the podcast. |
| 1:20.0 | He spent nine and a half years in the army predominantly as a ranger and a ranger canine handler. |
| 1:26.0 | He's conducted eight deployments between Iraq and Afghanistan. |
| 1:30.0 | All of which combat oriented. |
| 1:32.0 | He is a purple heart recipient. |
| 1:34.0 | He was Beno's handler resting piece as well as canine lake which is a very famous dog. |
... |
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