PBS’s NextAvenue.org published an article about the growing number of opportunities nationwide for Veterans to receive psychiatric service dogs for their service-related trauma. Among the programs featured was Joybound’s Shelter to Service program! Our CEO Susan Lee Vick and longtime, dedicated volunteer Sue Andrews are quoted about our unique service dog program, which pairs shelter dogs with Veterans for training — at no cost to the Veteran.
Among the topics discussed in the article was the need for fosters for future service dogs, a need which is larger now than ever before. Our Shelter to Service fosters host a dog for 15 weeks while working on basic training and socialization to prepare them for their next steps with their future Veteran handler. By helping a dog with an uncertain future and a Veteran with service-related trauma, we’re truly Saving Both Ends of the Leash®.
If you’re interested in fostering one of these specially-selected shelter dogs, please sign up for an upcoming foster orientation session.
Help Vets with PTSD Get Life-Saving Service Dogs
Waiting lists for trained service dogs are often years long; volunteers are being sought to raise puppies and prepare more dogs more quickly
By Jen Reeder
NextAvenue
When Army veteran Shawn Burchett spotted a puppy abandoned on the side of a highway in 2022, it changed the course of his life. Burchett and his wife Tricia rescued the pit bull mix, named him Beacon and brought him on their road trip.
Burchett suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) from his time in the military, so Tricia looked into nonprofit organizations that help veterans train their pets to become service dogs. (Read more)