Nonprofit fundraising to train new service dog for veteran

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. – Earlier this month, we told you the heartbreaking update about a disabled Army veteran’s service dog that was killed in a car accident. Kerrie Porter had been waiting more than a year to be paired with Bruno, who was specifically trained to help with her needs. Now, the organization that paired her with the dog is trying to raise money to help get her a new service dog.

The backstory:

The dogs coming through the Topp Dogg K9 Foundation are the best of the best.

Blake Rashad started the nonprofit, which pairs disabled veterans with service dogs and trains them specifically for their needs.

“Some of the service dogs bring medicine to the veterans at the exact same time every day so they can take their medicine because they might have TBI, which is a traumatic brain injury, and their memory might be impacted by this TBI,” Rashad explained.

They’re also trained to help with emotional needs, like helping wake a veteran suffering from night terrors.

“Subconsciously, he knows this is not an enemy because he’s an animal. So he wakes up cleaner and softer. After that, the dog turns on the lights, and the veteran goes back to bed. When the veteran goes to sleep, the dog turns off the lights and returns to its bed,” he said.

Some of these are problems Rashad has had to deal with firsthand. He and his wife, Sheila Rashad, are both Army veterans.

“I started having some issues with PTSD, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts. And so I trained my first service dog. From that point on, I trained my fellow veteran’s service dogs and another veteran’s service dog, and then my wife said, ‘This is what you need to do,'” he said.

“You know, a lot of people think that this is not real service dogs are not helping people. But when you get to witness it firsthand, it’s amazing the transformation these dogs are having on men and women who have served our country,” Sheila Rashad said.

Dig deeper:

Since starting in 2011, the nonprofit has paired almost 500 dogs with veterans. Each dog is trained for 400 hours, including 150 hours in public, to be exposed to the world and potential distractions.

“A typical service dog can be anywhere from $15,000 to $21,000 depending on if you’re getting into mobility and some other issues – night terrors, things like that. The more you add to it, the more you train a dog, the bigger the cost gets,” he said.

That’s why the recent loss of Bruno, a standard poodle paired with a legally blind Army veteran, is devastating for the organization. They’re now trying to raise money to pair a new dog with the veteran who depended on him.

“Topp Dog K9 Foundation is really a labor of love, but funding is our biggest challenge because, unlike for-profit businesses, we have to rely on fundraising, corporations, and grants to fund these dogs,” she said.

What you can do:

There are currently six dogs that need to be funded. Each dog that gets funded is a veteran they can help.

“Every day, we are here training dogs, meeting veterans, and saving lives. Every single day. Yes, we’ve done it 500 times. And I want to do it 500 more times because that’s 500 veterans we’ve kept here on the planet. I’m still here, and I have suicidal issues, and my service dog makes sure I’m still here,” Rashad said.

Topp Dogg K9 Foundation is also trying to raise money to find a location with more green space for both the dogs and the veterans. If you are interested in helping, you can visit their website.

Gwinnett CountyGood Day AtlantaNews

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.