Saving Lives on Both Ends of the Leash
“Veterans everywhere need something to live for,” explains Kenneth Knabenshue, founder of Working Dogs for Vets. “And shelter dogs everywhere need homes.”
“Working Dogs For Vets brought me to a place in my life that I never knew existed. I’d do anything in the world for them,” said Richard Smith, a double amputee Army veteran. “I had a grenade go off…took my hand off instantly -- gangrene in the leg,” he recalled about his life-altering experience.
But his life changed when his service dog, Eli, came into his life, through Working Dogs for Vets (WDFV). Eli has improved his life in a very specific way: “When I drop stuff, he picks it up for me.”
“There’s this heavy weight on my shoulders, it makes me not want to go places,” explained Marlon, an Army veteran who served for 22 years. His service dog, Sadie, helps him bear the burdens that rest on his shoulders -- many from his deployments in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sadie’s tasks have been essential to Marlon’s participation in society, “When I walk with her in public, I don’t have that heavy feeling anymore. She improves my way of life.”
“She’s given me freedom,” testifies Pam, a Vietnam veteran. Her service dog, Anna, was rescued from a local shelter. Pam utilized WDFV’s No Veteran Left Behind Program and trained Anna with support from comrades and certified trainers.
“Sounds are taken for granted until you lose your hearing and can’t hear them anymore. It changes your life in so many ways, little things become big things,” Pam explained. One time Anna woke Pam up at 2:00 am when her family wasn’t home. Pam got up to see what Anna was concerned about and followed her to a smoke alarm that was beeping. Thankfully it was just a low battery!
“Because of Anna, I can look to where I’m going, not where I’ve been,” she added.
The connection between a veteran and a service dog is invaluable.
Some veterans that WDFV serve feel as though they have lost their purpose when they leave the military. They sometimes feel worthless and not needed. But the process of training and bonding with a dog has changed lives. WDFV has seen many veterans and shelter dogs (now service dogs) experience a metamorphosis -- a healing from once being downtrodden in mind and spirit.
WDFV headquarters is in Lawrenceburg, TN. Since it began in 2015, it has reached more than 3,000 teams across the United States. WDFV has developed a unique, family-like structure that incorporates mentorship and lifelong support. When each Veteran/Service dog team graduates, it gets the opportunity to pay it forward by mentoring other teams in training -- giving renewed purpose to veterans.
Working Dogs for Vets has seen miracles transpire daily.
The demand for service dogs has swiftly increased the past few years, and Ken Knabenshue has wanted to help as many of his brothers and sisters in arms as he could. The cost to train a service dog can range from $25,000 to $50,000 a dog, depending on the training involved. “We never meant for this to be an organization. But the demand, the need, has grown so fast, it’s doubled every year,” Ken explained.
“We train dogs, but we also train people.” To meet the dire needs of veterans and shelter dogs, WDFV designed an innovative training model that trains veterans and service dogs alike. Three programs are utilized, all under WDFV’s umbrella: Prison Program (where inmates train service dogs), In-House (where certified trainers volunteer to train service dogs in their home), and No Veteran Left Behind (where veterans train their own dog and are mentored by certified trainers and graduated teams).
Working Dogs for Vets’ service dogs aid their veterans in countless ways, helping to improve their quality of life. Some WDFV veterans suffer from various disabilities, visible and invisible, and their service dogs assist in day-to-day life, traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, seizures, spinal cord injuries or disorders, arthritis, diabetes, neurological disorders, POTS, bone/joint/tissue conditions, deafness/hearing loss, and assisting wheelchair and walker users.
Tasks performed by service dogs are vital to aiding veterans mitigate their disabilities and improving their lives. A service dog can achieve many astonishing tasks, some of which may seem small to most people (picking up a dropped fork), but can be life altering for a disabled veteran.
Many people are stunned by other tasks that service dogs can do, such as turning on lights, providing medical alerts (for seizures, diabetes, or POTS) or medication reminders, helping remove clothing, blocking strangers from coming too close and startling a veteran, balancing, bracing, opening and closing doors, helping find exits (when a vet has a PTSD or panic attack), waking a veteran from a night terror, helping a veteran through a PTSD episode, and using a call box to notify others in an emergency.
The tasks and support a service dog can offer a veteran physically, mentally and emotionally can often help a veteran integrate back into society. A veteran may feel safe, encouraged and assured that whatever life may throw at them, they have their dedicated best friend at their side.
Working Dogs For Vet’s motto rings true in many healed hearts and souls of WDFV Veteran/Service dog teams, “Saving lives on both ends of the leash!”
-- Marissa Nidoone
View the charity page:
“Working Dogs For Vets brought me to a place in my life that I never knew existed. I’d do anything in the world for them,” said Richard Smith, a double amputee Army veteran. “I had a grenade go off…took my hand off instantly -- gangrene in the leg,” he recalled about his life-altering experience.
But his life changed when his service dog, Eli, came into his life, through Working Dogs for Vets (WDFV). Eli has improved his life in a very specific way: “When I drop stuff, he picks it up for me.”
“There’s this heavy weight on my shoulders, it makes me not want to go places,” explained Marlon, an Army veteran who served for 22 years. His service dog, Sadie, helps him bear the burdens that rest on his shoulders -- many from his deployments in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sadie’s tasks have been essential to Marlon’s participation in society, “When I walk with her in public, I don’t have that heavy feeling anymore. She improves my way of life.”
“She’s given me freedom,” testifies Pam, a Vietnam veteran. Her service dog, Anna, was rescued from a local shelter. Pam utilized WDFV’s No Veteran Left Behind Program and trained Anna with support from comrades and certified trainers.
“Sounds are taken for granted until you lose your hearing and can’t hear them anymore. It changes your life in so many ways, little things become big things,” Pam explained. One time Anna woke Pam up at 2:00 am when her family wasn’t home. Pam got up to see what Anna was concerned about and followed her to a smoke alarm that was beeping. Thankfully it was just a low battery!
“Because of Anna, I can look to where I’m going, not where I’ve been,” she added.
The connection between a veteran and a service dog is invaluable.
Some veterans that WDFV serve feel as though they have lost their purpose when they leave the military. They sometimes feel worthless and not needed. But the process of training and bonding with a dog has changed lives. WDFV has seen many veterans and shelter dogs (now service dogs) experience a metamorphosis -- a healing from once being downtrodden in mind and spirit.
WDFV headquarters is in Lawrenceburg, TN. Since it began in 2015, it has reached more than 3,000 teams across the United States. WDFV has developed a unique, family-like structure that incorporates mentorship and lifelong support. When each Veteran/Service dog team graduates, it gets the opportunity to pay it forward by mentoring other teams in training -- giving renewed purpose to veterans.
Working Dogs for Vets has seen miracles transpire daily.
The demand for service dogs has swiftly increased the past few years, and Ken Knabenshue has wanted to help as many of his brothers and sisters in arms as he could. The cost to train a service dog can range from $25,000 to $50,000 a dog, depending on the training involved. “We never meant for this to be an organization. But the demand, the need, has grown so fast, it’s doubled every year,” Ken explained.
“We train dogs, but we also train people.” To meet the dire needs of veterans and shelter dogs, WDFV designed an innovative training model that trains veterans and service dogs alike. Three programs are utilized, all under WDFV’s umbrella: Prison Program (where inmates train service dogs), In-House (where certified trainers volunteer to train service dogs in their home), and No Veteran Left Behind (where veterans train their own dog and are mentored by certified trainers and graduated teams).
Working Dogs for Vets’ service dogs aid their veterans in countless ways, helping to improve their quality of life. Some WDFV veterans suffer from various disabilities, visible and invisible, and their service dogs assist in day-to-day life, traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, seizures, spinal cord injuries or disorders, arthritis, diabetes, neurological disorders, POTS, bone/joint/tissue conditions, deafness/hearing loss, and assisting wheelchair and walker users.
Tasks performed by service dogs are vital to aiding veterans mitigate their disabilities and improving their lives. A service dog can achieve many astonishing tasks, some of which may seem small to most people (picking up a dropped fork), but can be life altering for a disabled veteran.
Many people are stunned by other tasks that service dogs can do, such as turning on lights, providing medical alerts (for seizures, diabetes, or POTS) or medication reminders, helping remove clothing, blocking strangers from coming too close and startling a veteran, balancing, bracing, opening and closing doors, helping find exits (when a vet has a PTSD or panic attack), waking a veteran from a night terror, helping a veteran through a PTSD episode, and using a call box to notify others in an emergency.
The tasks and support a service dog can offer a veteran physically, mentally and emotionally can often help a veteran integrate back into society. A veteran may feel safe, encouraged and assured that whatever life may throw at them, they have their dedicated best friend at their side.
Working Dogs For Vet’s motto rings true in many healed hearts and souls of WDFV Veteran/Service dog teams, “Saving lives on both ends of the leash!”
-- Marissa Nidoone
View the charity page: