How does Veterans With Dogs help Veterans?
Veterans’ Foundation is proud to support the fantastic work carried out by Veterans With Dogs. Support dogs are key elements in the lives of many people around the world, Veterans With Dogs exclusively provide service dogs to British Veterans in need in order to support them.
A key challenge faced by Veterans with PTSD is extreme loneliness and isolation, one reason that Veterans are encouraged to have assistance dogs for mental health is that they bring newfound independence to their lives.
They are trained to respond to anxieties displayed by the Veteran in everyday life, and potentially challenging environments (including hyper-vigilance). They recognise, indicate and interrupt signs of anxiety, panic attacks and nightmares.
These behaviours allow the Veteran to break these cycles and regain emotional control by employing cognitive behavioural skills, engaging in risk reduction behaviours and so reduce the debilitation of symptomology associated with PTSD.
The dogs are trained for up to 18th months before being given to the right Veteran. Each dog is matched with a chosen Veteran, they are trained to assist Veterans with specific tasks that their chosen Veteran requires support with.
Veterans With Dogs in their own words: “More Veterans are dying from suicides as a result of the impact of the psychological and emotional trauma than have been killed in conflict. The divorce rate, the number who are now in prison or homeless, and the impact these issues are having on their children of our Veterans are shocking. Many have severed relationships, are afraid to leave their homes, get little sleep due to recurring nightmares, and are emotionally numb. As an organisation focused on improving health and well-being for Veterans, we are passionate about the life-transforming effects that can happen when we bring people and dogs together.”
To date, Veterans’ Foundation has given over £6.5 million to over 250 UK military charities. We want to give even more, but we can’t do that without your help. Please consider donating today or sign up to the Veterans’ Lottery and be in with the chance to win £35,000 every month.
Thank You.
