Pairing highly trained service dogs with military veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma has a healing effect — for both parties.
Just ask the more than 1,000 service members who have been part of the successful K9s For Warriors program as of March 21.
Shari Duval founded K9s For Warriors in 2011 when she realized her son, Brett, a civilian K9 police bomb dog handler who served in Iraq, came home with PTSD and was only himself when with his dog. Duval started the organization with her own money and watched it grow into the largest service dog program for veterans in the United States before passing away in 2021.
The 501(c)(3) nonprofit’s Shari Duval K9s For Warriors National Headquarters and Davis Family Mega Kennel are located in Ponte Vedra, Fla.; its Petco Love K9 Center and Warrior Ranch are in and around San Antonio, Texas.
“Our ultimate goal is to end veteran suicide,” says Chief Revenue Officer Lindsay Grayson.
Through the program, veterans are getting their independence back, she says.
“Service dogs take the place of about 20 medications and mitigate the service member’s PTSD,” adds Grayson, who turns 42 this month. “By the time the veteran finishes, they’re on about two.”
A 2021 study by Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., states that 92% of the program veterans report a reduction in medication and 82% report reduced suicide ideation.
Honorably discharged veterans endure a long interview process to be accepted into the program. They arrive on a Sunday, are paired with an already-trained dog (based on their temperament and personality) on Monday and stay in the residential program for three weeks.
“The bond is instant,” Grayson says. “A procurement team goes to shelters to choose the dogs (a lot of lab mixes). Our goal is to save the dog; then the dog saves the veteran.”
Individual giving, monthly sustainers, corporate partners, grants and third-party events fund the program, which provides wraparound services for the rest of the veteran’s and service dog’s lives.
“We follow up constantly after they’re home to make sure they’re able to care for themselves and their dogs,” Grayson explains. “Both are our priority.”
For more information or to support K9s For Warriors, call 1-888-819-0112 or visit k9sforwarriors.org.