Service Dog & Support Animal Training
The path to becoming a service dog is longer for some dogs than it is for others. Some animals catch on quickly to the training process and take as little as 9 months to train, and other dogs require more task training and take up to 18 months or more. Every veteran and animal has individual needs.
Companion animals receive obedience training and basic skill training.
SERVICE DOGS
Pairing veterans with service dogs who are specially trained to perform tasks including to mitigate post-traumatic stress disorder, which commonly affects ex service members. This combined with many other factors can contribute to veteran suicide.
About 1 veteran in 6 suffers from PTSD. According to research in the Journal of Depression and Anxiety, 28 percent of those who reported a past traumatic event had attempted suicide. Another study found that those with TBI, which affects about the same portion of veterans, are nearly twice as likely to die by suicide.
COMPANION ANIMALS
Many people intuitively believe that they and others derive health benefits from relationships with their animal companions, and numerous scientific studies performed over the past 25 years support this belief. Among other benefits, animals have been demonstrated to improve human cardiovascular health, reduce stress, decrease loneliness and depression, and facilitate social interactions among people who choose to have pets.
