Service Dogs for Patriots

11/11/2024

Thank you to the courageous people in our armed forces for the unwavering commitment to keeping our nation safe and free.

We are grateful for all those who have served and sacrificed to protect and defend life and liberty. 🇺🇸

10/16/2024

Service Dog Daisy is at Texas Roadhouse with her dad, Army Veteran Pat, and their trainer, Sorcha Allen. Pat and Daisy are working on teaching Daisy to lie quietly under the table, ignore all the 🥩 food smells, and ignore anyone 🚶🏾‍♂️walking by, including the servers who come to the table and have conversations with Pat and Sorcha. 🐶

A well-trained service dog often goes unnoticed in a restaurant, and their presence is known only when they go to leave. 🐕‍🦺

This advanced public access training session is possible thanks to generous donors and the Clay Electric Co-op Foundation's Operation Round-Up grant. ❤️

10/12/2024

Army Veteran, Julio, and his dog, Iker, are working on the Cover position. ❤️ This position puts Julio's service dog between him and anyone approaching from behind. It encourages people to keep a good distance from Julio, and allows Julio to focus on what's in front of him, knowing Iker will alert him to someone approaching from behind.🙂

This task-traimed behavior treat hypervigilance, the tendency for veterans to constantly scan for threats all around them. This skill was necessary in combat, but it's debilitating in civilian life.🫤

Together, Julio and Iker will develop communication that gives Julio's overtaxed brain and nervous system a break, knowing that Iker always has his back.🐕‍🦺

Julio and Iker's training is made possible in part by the generosity of Clay Electric Foundation's Operation Round-Up. 🇺🇸

09/18/2024

What a great day at the Campaign for Charities Kickoff Event! It was great to connect with our supporters and share our mission with the UF community. 😃

Service Dogs for Patriots Ambassador Matthew Flint, an Army veteran and graduate of our training program with his service dog, Tucker, exemplify the reason our organization was founded. We aim to instill within veterans battling PTSD a sense of independence, confidence, and freedom through training their own service dog.🐕‍🦺

You support this goal when you choose to donate to Service Dogs for Patriots through the UF Campaign for Charities. 🇺🇲

09/11/2024

09/06/2024

Please welcome Army Veteran Julio and his 😍 GORGEOUS 😍 German shepherd, Iker! Thanks to the generous grant from Clay Electric Foundation's Operation Round-Up, Julio doesn't have to pay for the specialized service dog training program he and Iker are beginning. ❤️ We're honored to teach Julio how to train his own dog to become his service dog. 🐕‍🦺 Follow along as we share updates on their progress. 🇺🇲

08/28/2024

Animatronic Halloween decorations are a great training tool for Army Veteran Pat and his Service Dogs In-Training, Daisy. What are your thoughts on what Daisy is thinking?

08/26/2024

Happy National Dog Day from our current Service Dogs In-Training and recent grads!

08/14/2024

Thanks to a generous grant from Clay Electric Co-op, Pat, an Army veteran with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) who served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom will be training his rescued dog, Daisy, to take the place of his retired service dog. Sadly, Pat's service dog had to be retired following a vicious attack by two other dogs while at the beach.

Pat and his dog Daisy are receiving weekly service dog training sessions at no cost to them, and are working to bring back the independence and confidence Pat enjoyed with his previous service dog. 🐕‍🦺

Thank you to all the Clay Electric customers who participate in Operation Round-Up, the funding source of our grant.🇺🇲

07/26/2024

We love the relationship Navy Veteran John has with his service dog, Jameson. ☺️ During training, John will often stop to explain things to Jameson or to have a full on conversation with him. Jameson always pays close attention to whatever John says to him, and it's clear this is something they both enjoy.❤️ These two are best buddies with the closest relationship. 🐕‍🦺

07/18/2024

Another reason to LOVE Clay Electric Co-op!

Today Service Dogs for Patriots was the recipient of a generous grant from Clay Electric Foundation's Operation Round-Up that directly supports our mission to instill veterans battling PTSD with a sense of independence, confidence, and freedom, through training their own service dog. 🐕‍🦺

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07/04/2024

Happy Fourth of July from Board Member Susie Keel's Staffordshire bull terrier, Whitby! 🇺🇲

07/01/2024

Service dogs like Ziggy are trained to stay in a standing position behind their veteran, creating a larger space bubble or safe zone around their veteran. 🐕‍🦺 Veterans with PTSD often don't like being approached from behind. It feels quite threatening to them.😡
If you see a service dog in this position
❌️ Don't talk to the dog - he's working and his veteran needs him. 🤐
❌️ Don't stare - veterans already feel uncomfortable and their service dog needs to watch them, not you.🥸
✅️ Do give them their space. It's respectful and appreciated. 😊
✅️ Go ahead and allow yourself to think "Omigosh!🤩 It's a service dog! So super cool!😃 I bet he's wicked smart and can do all sorts of awesome things!😘 I wonder what kind of service dog he is..."😍
❌️ But DON'T say any of this out loud and DON'T ask the veteran about their dog.🫢 Yeah, we know it's hard. He's cute, he's smart, you 🩷 dogs. 🐶 But keep yourself together. It's a dog, not a unicorn. 🦄 (They're stabby anyway so you should ignore those, too.)

06/20/2024

A grocery store presents many visual distractions - 🌟 reflections on the floor, 🔁 repeating patterns on items on the shelves,💡bright lights overhead - all of which overload an already anxious mind 😟. Add to that the dread of going around a blind corner 🫣, the perceived danger of being caught in the middle of an aisle with only one way in and one way out 🚫, and the mental toll of always being hypervigilant of your surroundings 👀 - and it's understandable why veterans with PTSD avoid grocery shopping. 🙅🏽

That's why we do extensive training in grocery stores and teach this specific task-trained behavior called Grounding. When you start to get overwhelmed, you reach down to your service dog, the one you've trained yourself, the one you trust more than anyone, and you take a moment to breath, talk with your dog, remind yourself where you are, and feel the support of your service dog helping you de-escalate. 🐕‍🦺

06/07/2024

Service Dogs must ignore other dogs while working. It's not easy, especially for dogs who like to interact with other dogs. When they're off-duty, Service Dogs can play and be silly. But when they're on the job, they have to ignore dogs, even cute little beagles like Phoebe. 🩷