WHAT IS A VETERAN TEAM?

The Veteran team consists of a professionally trained service dog and a Veteran recipient. The two are certified as a team after both the professionally trained service dog and the Veteran have completed training requirements. These professionally trained dogs are specially trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a chronic disability who cannot perform the work or task independently from him or herself. Professionally trained service dogs help a person to redirect their emotions and calm a person with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack.

HOW DO THEY WORK?

The Veteran team is the bonded, comfortable pairing of a professionally trained service dog with a Veteran suffering from PTSD, preventing him or her from living a full life. Some other life situations service dogs assist with are: waking their Veterans from nightmares, interrupting anxiety attacks, redirecting flashbacks, alerting on adrenaline, providing a social barrier in public, performing pressure therapy, and providing a constant feeling of safety. The teams have regular check-ins with Northwest Battle Buddies training professionals, but once certified to operate together, they are free to take on life’s challenges together!