This Able Veteran is a service dog organization benefitting United States military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our service dog program is proven to help veterans with PTSD cope successfully with the symptoms of PTSD, including depression, nightmares and social anxiety. Our intensive Trauma Resiliency Program incorporates service dogs trained for our unique anxiety alert and nightmare interruption aids. We are also training trainers – our PTSD Service Dog Trainer Academy will help put more specially trained service dogs into partnership with veterans suffering from PTSD.
Why we do this: Simply put, we are concerned about our returning military veterans. Some return with physical injuries, some with injuries less easy to see, but few come home from active combat and military duty untouched. The statistics are alarming: every day 20 veterans die by suicide. That’s almost one an hour, every day. Someone has to do something to help. And that’s what we are doing.
Our Trauma Resiliency Program teaches veterans coping skills to help them manage their PTSD symptoms. Our service dogs help them recognize the symptoms, often before the symptoms even begin. It’s a way to get a handle on the problem, it’s a way to open the door to manageable post-trauma life.
This Able Veteran
Provides PTSD service dogs and a trauma resiliency program for veterans at no cost. Teaches 2 dog training academies for professional dog tainers
September is National Service Dog month. We are so glad Bond County Memorial VFW Post 1377 and Auxiliary is supporting This Able Veteran - thank you!!September is National Service Dog Month!
Service dogs are important to many of our veterans and service members and also serve many of our Auxiliary members. Below are a few basic service dogs do’s and don’ts.
DO:
*Respect service dogs. They are highly trained, intelligent, professional animals taught to provide very specific services to the person they aide.
*Follow a service dog if she approaches you without her human handler. The person that dog is trained to serve may have fallen or be in distress, unable to call for help.
DON’T:
*Pet or distract a service dog while he’s working. Service dogs have an important job to do and distracting them could interfere with their ability to help their handler human.
*Assume a dog is NOT a service dog because of its breed. While people are most familiar with seeing Golden Retrievers or German Shepherds in service dog vests, dogs from Great Danes to Pomeranians are trainable as service dogs.
Our Training Director and three of our service dog trainers are headed to Ft. Worth for the International Association of Canine Professionals conference. They will be learning EVEN MORE information and tips on how to effectively train service dogs for our veterans with PTSD.
Go team!
Pictured left to right: Elise, Behesha, Andrea, and Moriah
Here is an update from Elise on their Day One training:
Day one was packed with valuable insights from experts including:
- Marc Goldberg– Dog trainer and co-writer of multiple books, including “Let Dogs Be Dogs”, “The Art of Training Your Dog”, and “The Joy of Playing with Your Dog”
- Tom Davis – International dog trainer and founder of the Upstate Canine Academy, as well as the “No Bad Dogs” products
- Amy Leewood of KONG – Yes, that KONG, bringing expertise in canine enrichment and play
- Monique Udell – Animal behaviorist and Associate Professor of Animal Science at Oregon State University, with a focus on the dog-human connection
- Nelson Hodges– Founder of the Canine-Human Relationship Institute, specializing in the dynamics between dogs and their owners.
We’re beyond excited to learn from such incredible minds and can’t wait to bring this knowledge home to help our service dogs be the best they can be. Stay tuned!
#servicedogs #veterans #ptsd
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