A couple of times each year, we have a dog available for a veteran, and we have a great deal of difficulty finding one that would be a good fit for partnering with a service dog. There is no cost to the veteran, but the process requires a lot of commitment.
We have found through the years that several factors greatly improve the success rate for the veteran/service dog partnership.
Few applicants check all the boxes for getting a service dog, but the ideal candidate for a service dog would have the following characteristics:
- Veteran status
- Have a disability
- Not have a pet
- Works from home (or doesn’t work)
- Doesn’t have children in the house
- If they have PTSD, they have been seeing a therapist for the last year
- Live in the Twin Cities metro area
- Are emotionally stable (can handle conflict and frustration)
- Are good at following directions, and willing to follow the rules (no harsh correction methods for the dog, for instance)
- No criminal record
- Are willing and eager to have a service dog with them 24/7/365.
Therapists: If you have one or more clients that you think would work well with our program, we would love to hear from you! We would then contact them, ask them to formally apply, and then hopefully match them with a service dog, train them to succeed with the service dog, and provide them with lifetime assistance.
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