Project K-9 Hero

Giving a “Second Chance at Life” with Project K-9 Hero

Jason Johnson had a plan as to how he was going to live his life at the age of 17. After graduating high school in 1993 he enlisted in the military, figuring that after he had served his five years, he would have the ammo to launch into a career of law enforcement.

Signing up to be a military police officer, he was sent off to Germany working at a military intelligence unit at Fort McClellan, guarding top-secret facilities. Johnson had no experience with K-9 handling at the time, but still gained high-level security and patrol experience. Johnson found success in the military, winning oral boards such as Soldier of the Month over and over again. 

Discovering an opening to achieve his goal all along and become a police officer, Johnson passed up the opportunity to reenlist for another 5 years and become a military dog handler. The experience and success he had cultivated during his enlisted years allowed him to shine as an applicant. 

“I had five years of military experience, had my clearance [and] had a clean background,” Johnson said in regards to why he thinks he was able to get the job amidst a large sea of applicants.

Climbing the Ladder of Law Enforcement

By 1999, Johnson was working as an officer in Washington at Puyallup PD. He worked the streets controlling traffic on 9/11 and began volunteering with K-9 units, racking up hundreds of hours working with the dogs. They needed younger officers who wanted to put on the bite suit and get bit, as Johnson explained.

“It’s a lot of work and I don’t know if everyone’s willing to put in the work it takes to be a K-9 handler,” Johnson said in regards to his time volunteering. “It’s 24-7 and in today’s world everyone wants to get paid for everything they do. You don’t get paid for being a K-9 handler 24-7. It’s just part of what the job is.”

In 2003, Johnson transferred to Yakima PD, where he was still working with dogs, putting on the bite suit and doing quarry work. A new police chief arrived from Texas and pitched a narcotics K-9 unit. Despite being the youngest applicant, Johnson was chosen as a handler at the new unit because of how much time and experience he had gathered volunteering. 

Johnson’s first K-9 partner was Flash, who eventually was named the 2018 Law Enforcement Dog of the Year by American Humane, logging 3,000 deployments and 2,200 finds. She was featured on national TV, including The Today Show and Good Morning America.

In the midst of climbing the law enforcement ladder, Johnson was gradually earning his bachelors degree while working full-time. He went on to get his masters in security management in 2009. 

A Dangerous Career Leads to a New Mission

At 33 years old, Johnson felt that he had accomplished all of his career goals he had working at the police department. Despite his success in multiple roles, including being on SWAT, a K-9 handler and an instructor, Johnson had a pull to be more active within the field and move away from his supervisory role.

He was recruited by Blackwater, a private security company contracted by the U.S. government, specifically in regards to his background as a military officer, SWAT and K-9 handling. 

The training program for Blackwater was intense and specific. Johnson had to prove his proficiency in handling an array of weapons and defense tactics.

He was recruited as a personal security specialist and explosive detection K-9 handler assigned to protect foreign dignitaries, specifically the United States Ambassador in Iraq and Afghanistan. He thought it was an incredible job, but knew that it had to come to an end one day as it was extremely dangerous.

“We lost quite a few people,” Johnson said. There were three Mondays in a row where the location he had been at recently got hit by a VBIED (Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device).

“I’m not talking about bullets flying by your head type stuff, but I am talking – I was there last Monday,” Johnson said. “One of these Mondays it’s gonna catch up to you and you’re gonna be standing there doing your job at that time.”

This realization prodded Johnson to begin looking for other government roles.

In 2010, Johnson was hired by the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) in a rare entry rank as a GS-13. He worked in the Department of State Anti-Terrorism Program as an expert instructor, teaching and training dogs and handlers for the CIA, FBI, U.S. Marshals and 21 foreign nations. 

He later joined TSA (Homeland Security) as a Field K-9 Coordinator. He managed well over 100 K-9 teams and oversaw “red team assessments” which focused on undercover explosive detection tests in airports.

In his role as program manager, Johnson was also in charge of retiring government dogs who were too old or unfit to continue in their positions. His job was to retire the dogs without burdening the U.S. government financially, and he realized there was a problem. Not all handlers could afford or manage the dog’s long-term care. 

“Just like I’m a disabled veteran soldier [or] police officer, the dogs serve our country and we use them right up to the point we can no longer use them and then we discard them,” Johnson said. “Now when I say discard them, that doesn’t mean you just throw them away. You give them to the handler, but that handler is a first responder. It could be a police officer, deputy sheriff, state trooper, could be a military member, could be a government employee, but they don’t always have the kind of money set aside to pay for the surgery or lymphoma.”

Hence, Project K-9 Hero was born, aimed to provide assistance to retired police K-9s and military working dogs and ensure that they have the quality of life they deserve after years spent protecting the country.

Project K-9’s Mission Statement– “Protecting those who protected us.”

Founding a Nonprofit, Living Like an Entrepreneur

Project K-9 Hero came to life on March 2nd, 2016. Launching his non-profit with $500 in his pocket, Johnson noted that he was still a government employee and was unable to talk about it at work. Johnson knew that maintaining the duality of both positions, founder of Project K-9 Hero and “government employee” wouldn’t last for long.

He resigned from his government position at the start of the new year, going from making six figures to $0 in pursuit of his dream in turning Project K-9 Hero into a business that could support the dogs, their handlers and himself.

“So I took $500 in my pocket in March of 16 and to date we’ve raised over $25 million, which is remarkable,” Johnson said.

Johnson didn’t pay himself for the first three years after launching Project K-9 Hero, promising himself he would only do so once he hit over a million dollars a year. The first year they raised $50,000.

“I remember my first $500 check,” Johnson said. “I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.” 

He also recalls pulling money out of his own pockets to support the growth of his non-profit. “A CEO can be hired, a CEO can be fired. But being a founder is what it’s like to quit your job, not have income, put things on your personal credit card, take the money in your own pocket [and] risk everything,” Johnson said. “Founders are true entrepreneurs.”

The initial focus of Project K-9 Hero was to pay medical bills for retired police and military K-9s, but as the non-profit has grown, so has their scope of being able to care for more canines. 

“We’re one of the most comprehensive rehabilitation and rehoming facilities in the world,” Johnson said. “Some serve the president, some serve communities, some serve in military law enforcement. And we’re here to give them a second chance in life.”

To those who say “it’s just a dog,” Johnson begs to differ.

“They’re not just dogs. They’re American heroes. They served our country, our communities. They saved their handler’s lives.”

Johnson notes one of the key facilitators of growth for Project K-9 Hero to be treating his non-profit like a business. He emphasizes that when you solely rely on volunteers, they can only get you so far. They can’t create all of the things to leverage a non-profit like a graphic designer or marketing team can. You need to take home a salary to grow numbers. The work done with the dogs also calls for highly skilled individuals, they need to pay professionals to take care of the dogs as well. 

2024 Project K-9 Statistics

• 90% to program services
• 3.6% administrative
• 6.4% fundraising
• 100% charity rating

The Impact of Project K-9 Hero

Rosso’s Story

The addition of Project K-9 Hero’s rehabilitation facility came after a dog named Rosso was being retired. During his time working, Rosso was a patrol explosive dog. He had 14 unwarranted bites in his career, so no one could take him unless he could go to the handler. At the time his handler was incapable of caring for Rosso because he was caring for his newly born child. 

Rosso was going to be euthanized when Project K-9 Hero brought him in. Johnson spent a week working directly with the airforce trying to get Rosso to trust him. The dog was eventually driven to their facility. 

Because of Project K-9 Hero, Rosso lived over another three years, and he was the dog that made Johnson realize they needed a rehabilitation facility for dogs just like him. Rosso is the face of their rehab program. 

“He really paved the way for us to take care of dozens and we have since then,” Johnson said. “We’ve saved the lives of dozens of other military working dogs and hopefully one day there will be hundreds.”

Chief’s story

In an incident with a K-9 handler named Nick, his dog, Chief, jumped up and took a bullet for him while chasing down a burglary suspect. Chief was shot in the eye, shattering his jaw and losing his eye. Chief was only three, and despite neither Nick or Chief being at fault for the incident, it now became Nick’s financial burden to pay for all of Chief’s medical expenses throughout the remainder of his life as a retired K-9. Project K-9 Hero came in to help and is now responsible for all of Chief’s medical bills for the rest of his life. 

“Why is Nick responsible for paying these medical bills?” Johnson said. “Chief jumped up and took a bullet for him. That’s just the process we have in place. And that’s why I started Project K-9 Hero.”

Project K-9 Hero operates on 177 acres in Tennessee. More can be found at https://projectk9hero.org/.