Psychiatric Service Dog Training Program (Veterans & Rescue Dogs)

Shelter to Soldier's only major program is the training and matching of suitable rescue dogs with post-9/11 veterans. The dogs perform as psychiatric service dogs, allowing veterans with major post-service mental health challenges to experience a new lease on life with a boost in their confidence, increased productivity and improved relationships through the sense of security and companionship that their service dog provides.

The training program for both the dogs and veterans is long and challenging. Dogs are carefully selected from rescue organizations in Southern California and enter a training program that takes 12 to 18 months before they are matched with a veteran. By the end of the program the dogs are required to be highly obedient and handler-focused in all environments, to ignore distractions and to be able to mitigate symptoms of stress, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, insomnia, panic attacks and depression in their veteran partners.

Veterans qualify for the program based on their percent disability rating and/or documented evidence of a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress or Traumatic Brain Injury along with a recommendation for a service dog to assist in mitigating symptoms related to said diagnoses. Veteran applicants work closely with the Veteran Services Department and the Case Manager at Shelter to Soldier to assess fitness to own a dog, become a working dog handler, family dynamics, financial stability and overall desire to become part of a working team. Throughout the process from the time of application, through training and beyond graduation, veteran applicants and students are supported with optional therapy/counseling sessions with Shelter to Soldier's Mental Health Liaison, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Veterans are then evaluated by the Board of Directors.

An approved veteran is introduced to available fully-trained service dogs and when a match is made, the veteran and dog embark on a 4 to 6 month handler-training program. Shelter to Soldier prides ourselves on reducing stress for the veteran handler and not introducing a novice dog to the handler, rather, introducing trained dogs who are ready for the final phase of handler-focused training and public access work. When the handler and service dog have demonstrated an elite level of training and mastery of service-related work, they are given (in chronological order) the Canine Good Citizen Test, a Public Access Test and a Task Test. Once the pair has passed these examinations, the service dog and the handler graduate our program with a celebratory graduation ceremony incorporating their Red Star Sponsor.

The impact on a veteran who has been helped is best expressed in his or her own words: "Before, I couldn’t be the father or husband I should’ve been and wouldn’t go out of the house for months at a time. Tank has shown so much love being a part of the family, it’s almost like I have had him forever. Having him around allows my family to concentrate on being a family rather than having to take care of me." Another veteran with a Shelter to Soldier service dogs says "Berkeley has continued to make me feel empowered and safe. Through this empowerment Berkeley has allowed me to engage not only my own family but the San Diego community."