News
Service Dog Needed
July 2, 2020
Cole Reavis is like any young adult. He loves the Georgia Bulldogs and is one of their biggest fans. He also enjoys being around people and brings joy to anyone who meets him. But Reavis, 28, has more challenges than the rest of us face. He was born with cerebral palsy and suffers from grand […]
Life-Saving Service Dog
July 2, 2020
A Kentucky elementary school surprised a 7-year-old student and her mom by including a portrait of the student’s service dog, Ariel, beside her young owner in the kindergarten yearbook. St. Patrick Catholic School in Louisville, Kentucky, student Hadley Jo Lange suffers from epilepsy, a neurological disorder that causes seizures. Hadley Jo’s service dog, Ariel, a […]
Hero Police Dog
July 2, 2020
A hero police dog is retiring from the long-arm-of-the-PAW following a seven-year crime-busting career with the Counter Terrorist cops. Rico the nine-year-old Dutch Shepherd became a legend on the force for helping to bring down some of Poland’s most dangerous crooks, including drug dealers, murderers and organised crime mobsters. As part of the Independent Anti-terrorism Police (SPKP) […]
Veterans Moving Forward
July 2, 2020
As a way to commemorate Memorial Day at the end of the school year, Mercer Middle School teacher Gina Chaszar gave her students the opportunity to write an essay appreciating those who serve in the U.S. military — and the four-legged friends who offer them physical and emotional assistance when they return home. “My kids […]
Newest Team Member
July 1, 2020
When Mac is old enough he will accompany trainees on their runs and help keep them motivated. Meet Mac, he’s the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s newest member – and he also happens to be a very good boy! Mac was a gift to the Frank Bland Regional Training Center by academy classes 218 and […]
National Dog Award
July 1, 2020
A Maine service dog is up for a prestigious national award for the work she has done with her owner. Amy Sherwood, of Naples, said her 4-year-old black lab, Dolly Pawton, is a trustworthy service dog. “She’s telling me that there’s a medical issue that I need to address, that I need to take medication […]
Canines For PTSD Sufferers
July 1, 2020
In the service dog world, Odin, a 5-year-old Siberian Husky, is an outlier. Perceptive, intelligent, social and the foundation of Above the Clouds Siberian Service Dogs, Odin is trained to quash the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. “We had no idea he was going to be a good service dog,” said Barrett T. Leary-Stensgaard who, […]
Service Dog Independence
July 1, 2020
Some children are afraid of the dark, but darkness in complete silence is especially frightening. Just ask Annie. When she was a child, Annie would often sleep on the floor just to feel the vibrations of footsteps, or the opening and closing of windows and doors. Annie would wake up sore from the hard floor, […]
Dog Rescued Veteran
July 1, 2020
Jason Manley contacted some local service dog organizations to get a dog but was told the waiting list was up to two years. Feeling he couldn’t wait that long, Manley and his wife, Jessica, decided to try to find one on their own. One Saturday morning in May 2016, retired Army Staff Sgt. Jason Manley […]
Service Dog Banned
June 30, 2020
An employee at the Topeka VA said his service dog is banned from coming to work with him after another employee said the dog put his mouth around her arm. Kyle Stueven said his dog, Warrior, only jumped up on his hind legs and that was it. “He jumped up, his front paws were about […]
Ace The Service Dog
June 30, 2020
There’s a new puppy with a purpose at PenFed Credit Union. In partnership with America’s VetDogs, Ace, a yellow Labrador Retriever, will be raised to assist a military veteran or first responder with a disability. Andrea McCarren, vice president and chief content officer for PenFed Digital will raise Ace alongside Maverick, a service dog she […]
Service Dogs For Veterans
June 30, 2020
A company with ties to Burke County has made a commitment to support local veterans with a special project. Synergy Labs, a Florida-based pet product manufacturing company with a facility in Hildebran, has committed to sponsor two dogs to be trained as service dogs and then donated to help two veterans in Burke County, according […]
Canines For Service
June 30, 2020
This Wilmington, North Carolina, nonprofit trains service dogs to help veterans with everything from PTSD to mobility. Based out of North Carolina and veteran-founded almost 25 years ago, Canines for Service’s amazing rescue-turned-service dogs have been taught to help veterans with mobility limitations, PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. The dogs that graduate this program are […]
Canine Assistant
June 30, 2020
Since 2020 has a recurring theme of being a never-ending dumpster fire for everyone, I suppose this bit of news was inevitable. A week ago, my family and I said goodbye to my service dog, Pandy, after a solid decade with her. What started as a series of hip pains turned out to be a […]
Service Dogs During Pandemic
June 29, 2020
During the coronavirus pandemic, it has been a challenge for service dog trainers to properly acclimate dogs during their advanced training. “It really was a set-back in not being able to get the dogs out and about,” said Peggy Law, Executive Director of Service Dogs of Virginia. She is currently training six of the program’s […]
Service Dog Sobee
June 29, 2020
After two rough deployments overseas, Jason Howe ended his U.S. Navy career in 2007. However, transitioning to civilian life was anything but smooth. He has suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. To this day, he prefers not to talk about what he encountered during his service in the Navy. “I wanted to take the pain […]
Service Dogs Struggle
June 26, 2020
During the coronavirus pandemic, it has been a challenge for service dog trainers to properly acclimate dogs during their advanced training. “It really was a set-back in not being able to get the dogs out and about,” said Peggy Law, Executive Director of Service Dogs of Virginia. She is currently training six of the program’s […]
Elementary School Service Dog
June 26, 2020
William and Soya celebrated several milestones together this month as they graduated from fifth grade at Parkwood Elementary School. The two have grown up together, gone through school together and have been pretty much inseparable for the past six years but will be taking somewhat different paths once the new school year begins. William Dedmond […]
Autistic Service Dog
June 26, 2020
There is a community effort to help a Fayetteville family with the mounting medical bills for their ailing service dog. Caspian is a six-year-old Goldendoodle trained to detect seizures for their 13-year-old autistic son. Like the perfect storm, Brooke Wright says her son Gavin’s seizures have been increasing, while the health of Caspian has been failing. Gavin […]
Dolly Pawton
June 26, 2020
This service dog isn’t just working a “9 to 5!” Dolly Pawton helps her owner, Amy Sherwood, who has medical issues that include mobility, heart and blood pressure complications, as well as emotional complications brought on from years of domestic abuse. Sherwood taught Dolly how to recognize when she needs assistance or care, and nominated […]