Top Tier: American Heroes and the Dogs Who Love Them

Browsing Kickstarter today, I found this project and immediately backed it. The filmmakers from Titan Throw Multimedia are teaming up with Top Tier Dog Training and the non-profit foundation Tier Garden Inc. to produce a film called: Top Tier American Heroes and the Dogs Who Love Them.

This movie will follow the dogs and their handlers through their Affiliative Training (PDF) program. Affiliative Dog Training focuses on building the bond between the disabled handler and the Service Dog in Training using positive reinforcement. Along the way, we will learn about the veterans who will benefit from the pairing with the dogs.

The preview, you can watch though the link here, shows veterans going through a wide range of issues including mobility, and those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

It is a wonderful project which I hope is produced and widely distributed which will help provide support to the thousands of veterans who served our country.

Proposed release date is June 29, 2017 if funding is reached.

Heading Image Credit: Steyr and Stryker with their handlers Kelvin and Shawn from https://www.kickstarter.com

 

K9 Hero Profile – Apollo

Name: Apollo
City: Mansfield, Ohio
Breed: Italian mastiff/Rottweiler
Category: Psychiatric Service Dog
Deed: Relieves PTSD symptoms
More Reading: http://ow.ly/3yVkRD

Apollo is the second service dog for this veteran. Apollo allows her handler to leave the home, go to the store, become more social and less fearful when she is alone; all of which are triggers for PTSD episodes. While the Veterans Administration doesn’t formally recognize service dogs as part of a treatment regimen, Apollo and her veteran are examples of how these dogs can help alleviate symptoms. They are bringing awareness to the issue and improving the quality of life for veterans and, in many cases, helping save their lives.

Veteran Says #ServiceDog Saved Her Life #herodog #ptsd https://t.co/N5S8kAW7xy pic.twitter.com/gahg00HVAK #loveyourpetday

— Dexter SH (@amazingdogstory) February 20, 2016

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Dog Saves Soldier With PTSD

I came across this news story today and was inspired by it; how this soldier who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is coping with it with the assitance with his service dog R.C.

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1441511029001/dog-saves-soldier-with-ptsd/

Reporter: Sgt Will Rogers has been serving in the US Army for twenty five years, but he was not ready for the internal battles he would face when he returned home from Afghanistan in 2006.

Sgt. Roberts: The analogy I use all the time is if you’re in a boat or a jet ski and you stop real quick; how the wake, or the wave just slams you in the back. Thats what happened.

Reporter: Roberts suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.

Roberts: I wouldn’t go to stores, I woudln’t get gas.

Reporter: That all changed when a furry, four-legged friend came into his life three months ago. R.C. is a two-year-old black lab given to Roberts by PAALS, an organization that trains service dogs.

Jennifer Rogers: We teach the service dogs specific pressure relief body positions that literally help calm them down.

Roberts: I like the touch, how she leans up againt me. Really relaxes me.

Reporter: Will still strugges each day with the challenges of PTSD but thanks to man’s best friend, life is a lot more bearable for the soldier.

Roberts: I have RC and life is good.

Reporter: And life is finally getting closer, and closer to normal.

Roberts: I got to Publix, go to the park.

Rogers: Meeting Will is a life changing moment for me, and I instantly saw a dog change him.

Reporter: Her life was not the only one that changed.

Roberts: If I did not have R.C., I wouldn’t be here.

Reporter: In Columbia, South Carolina, Mary Quinn, Fox News.