Navigation Service Dogs for Veterans
Service dogs are more than simple companions. They are highly trained to assist military Veterans in achieving a better quality of life. In addition to providing unconditional love and companionship for a veteran, there are many skills and tasks service dogs offer including: help with the transition to prosthetics, retrieving and carrying objects, pressing buttons and pulling open doors, accompanying the veteran in public places, responding to sounds for veterans who have hearing loss, turning lights on and off, assisting with tasks for veterans in a wheelchair, and even assisting with removal of clothing.[1]
Service dogs are also invaluable in helping Veterans cope with the (oftentimes) invisible wounds of service, including PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). PTSD service dogs can be trained to detect a Veteran’s physical signs of anxiety and distress, including alerting to and interrupting anxiety and panic attacks during the day and interrupting nightmares during the night.
