THIS ABLE VETERAN

WE TRAIN SERVICE DOGS TO SUPPORT VETERANS WITH INJURIES. TAV-trained service dogs interrupt the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and support veterans with mobility issues. First, we develop the skills needed in the dogs. Our dogs are custom trained for each individual veteran’s needs – including to alert to signs of anxiety and to interrupt nightmares. We work with our dogs until they will perform reliably for their veteran in all of life’s daily settings including in restaurants, stores, parks, baseball games and the home.

When the dog is fully trained, it is paired with its veteran. The pairing process occurs over the course of three weeks. During this time we help the dogs and veterans learn to recognize each other’s signals and forming a bond strong enough to carry veterans through their life’s challenges and support their ongoing journey of recovery.

HOW WE SUCCEED
We have developed a veteran-centric model of care that involves the veteran, their therapist, the service dog and This Able Veteran’s Trauma Resiliency Program.

We have a unique model that integrates highly trained service dogs with a resiliency program and life-skills training component that complements the veteran’s ongoing therapeutic programs. This Able Veteran empowers veterans to take charge of their individual recovery journey while experiencing the skilled training of their service dogs. This unique model of care is demonstrating effectiveness beyond that typically seen in traditional therapeutic programs or in programs that provide only service dogs.

Topics in our 3-week Trauma Resiliency Program include:

Human Resilience
Healing a wounded soul
Managing sympathetic arousal & hypervigilance
Understanding stress: The body-mind connection
Breath control
Mindfulness
Autogenic training
Insight into our life stories
Controlling anger
Understanding fear
Suicide: Warning signs and what to do about them
Understanding personal vulnerabilities
Coping strategies that backfire: Alcohol,
drugs, marijuana
Coping with criticism
Insomnia
Trauma & PTSD
Medications and their effects
Managing life’s daily challenges
Post-Traumatic growth
Intrusive thoughts: Managing, controlling, healing
Acceptance: Living and coping with major losses
Acceptance of the unthinkable
Maintaining balance in your life
Happiness is an inside job

An academy of essential skills for the PTSD service dog trainer. We heard from many professional and experienced dog trainers who want to help our veterans, especially those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). So, we created a dog trainers academy just for them. Our PTSD Essentials Service Dog Academy is taught at the same level of instruction as our advanced PTSD Service Dog Trainer Academy.
We designed this academy to help professional dog trainers advance their current skill sets, and to help build a solid foundation for those who want to become dog trainers. The PTSD Essentials Service Dog Academy is focused on helping trainers learn why dogs do what they do, how to understand their signals, behaviors and expressions to create an environment that promotes rapid, conflict-free learning in the dog/handler relationship.
This academy is one of the most behavior-based trainer schools in the United States. We recommend this course for those who want to enroll in our PTSD Service Dog Trainer Academy, but really, it’s valuable for any dog trainer seeking additional training experience.
Students learn to:
* Recognize and read communication in dog posture, facial expression, body language, movement and tonal inflection.
* Identify the numerous and diverse sources of canine behavior. Understanding the root of dog behavior is critical for effective dog training.
* Understand how the dog brain processes and stores information, and how to make associations between stimuli and reward to ensure long-term memory and performance under stress.
What trainers can expect:
* Personal, hands-on interactive work with untrained dogs.
* Examples of dog communication in video footage.
* Large field pack socialization.
* Personal coaching.
* Assigned “project dogs.”
* A greater understanding of how to use with dogs’ instincts to achieve results
There are many different approaches to dog training. But there is no substitute for learning to view the world through a dog’s eyes. Understanding how a dog sees things will cut years off your learning curve as a trainer.