{"id":4188,"date":"2018-10-31T15:17:23","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T20:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.diamondpet.wearewoodruff.xyz\/?p=4152"},"modified":"2023-12-14T08:44:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T14:44:16","slug":"k9s-front-line-offers-renewed-sense-purpose-veterans-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/performance\/training-performance\/k9s-front-line-offers-renewed-sense-purpose-veterans-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"K9s on the Front Line Offers a Renewed Sense of Purpose for Veterans and Their Dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jason Howe was out of hope. Sobee the Dog was out of time. They both found salvation with a Maine-based nonprofit organization. And together, they\u2019re paying that salvation forward in Missouri.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UOdCdXpTo0M\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The tagline of <a href=\"https:\/\/k9sonthefrontline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">K9s on the Front Line<\/a> is \u201cSaving Dogs. Restoring Hope.\u201d Because that\u2019s, quite literally, what the organization does. They save dogs from shelters and train them to offer hope to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI). In short, they give dogs a second chance at life and veterans a second chance to <em>live<\/em>. And it\u2019s all done at no cost to the veteran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen K9s handed me Sobee, a switch went back on,\u201d Jason remembers. \u201cI had purpose again. A reason to leave the house. She got me doing things again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Jason left active duty in the United States Navy and returned stateside, he was adrift. Without a mission \u2014 a purpose \u2014 to focus his attention, he\u2019d lose himself in crowds. Every noise a danger, every stranger a potential enemy. Eventually, Jason just stopped going out in public. Eventually, he stopped opening the blinds. Eventually, he turned to drugs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was in a very dark spot. I was addicted very badly. I couldn\u2019t get out of it. I didn\u2019t know how to get out of it,\u201d he says. Like many veterans, he\u2019d been to the Veterans Affairs hospital to discuss his condition. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t working for me. Something was still missing. I knew there was something else out there to help me stop, or else I wouldn\u2019t be here today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He found that something through a veteran friend in Maine. Jason had seen photos on social media of his friend with a service dog and called to ask what the dog did for him. His buddy told him to call Hagen Blaszyk, president and co-founder of K9s on the Front Line.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Hagen, the first time I ever talked to him, he said, \u2018We have you, brother. You\u2019re OK. You\u2019re safe with us now, and you\u2019re gonna be OK,\u2019\u201d Jason recalls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd he wasn\u2019t lying. I\u2019m OK.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>A renewed purpose<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cEveryone needs a job. Everyone needs a goal to feel needed,\u201d says Linda Murray, vice president and co-founder of K9s on the Front Line. \u201cK9s on the Front Line is different because we primarily use shelter dogs. So in addition to helping a veteran, we\u2019re giving a dog a new purpose in life. Our veterans need something to look forward to, and dogs that didn\u2019t have a purpose before now have a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jason and Sobee\u2019s new purpose is to help the veterans of central Missouri. Jason had moved back to Maine to be close to his family, but Missouri is where his life is. It\u2019s where he wants to help <em>others<\/em> live life. Sobee immediately changed his life that day in Maine; Jason has seen \u2014 lived \u2014 firsthand the impact a service dog can have on a veteran. He joined the K9s board of directors and started working toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MOK9SOTFL\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opening a chapter in Jefferson City, Missouri<\/a>. Today, he teaches a class for 13 veterans and their dogs. Most dogs are rescues; some are the veterans\u2019 pet dogs that are trained for service.<\/p>\n<h3>No veteran or dog left behind<\/h3>\n<p>Diamond Pet Food is now a proud sponsor of the Missouri chapter of K9s on the Front Line. \u201cWe are honored to sponsor an organization who gives so much to those veterans who have given to us,\u201d says John Kampeter, vice president of marketing for Diamond Pet Foods.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to providing pet food for Jason\u2019s fall class, Diamond will offer media exposure for the great work K9s on the Front Line does for our veterans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI live by the mission of never leaving a veteran behind,\u201d Jason says. \u201cSo I want to get our name out there to let other veterans know that we\u2019re here, that we\u2019ve been there, we\u2019ve walked that road, and now it\u2019s time for us to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>K9s on the Front Line\u2019s team prides itself on its process and training program, which facilitates cost-effective operations and superior outcomes. Many on the staff have firsthand knowledge of the effects of PTSD and have experienced the intimate process of tailoring each dog to the individual\u2019s needs. K9s on the Front Line considers its trainers to be the best of the best: they are active or retired police K9 handlers with many years of real-world experience.<\/p>\n<p>Once the organization receives an application and reviews it, the team contacts the veteran to make sure they fully understand his or her situation. Then they meet, either at the applicant\u2019s home or a public place, wherever the veteran is comfortable. Veterans are encouraged to learn more about the program and ask any questions. They\u2019re even invited to visit a training class.<\/p>\n<p>All of this is done without any charge to the veteran, which means that K9s on the Front Line, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is supported in large part by outside contributions. To get involved in the organization as a donor, or to apply for a service dog, <a href=\"https:\/\/k9sonthefrontline.org\/get-involved\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">visit the website.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Or you can simply share the message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpread the word. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MOK9SOTFL\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Share our posts<\/a>. Let people know what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Jason says. \u201cThe more people know how these dogs are helping veterans, and the more veterans know that there is help out there, people who understand what they\u2019ve been through, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, Jason hopes to have a permanent facility for K9s on the Front Line Missouri. Until then, he\u2019s focused on simply being there for fellow combat veterans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny veterans we can help. That\u2019s my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jason Howe was out of hope. Sobee the Dog was out of time. They both found salvation with a Maine-based nonprofit organization. And together, they\u2019re paying that salvation forward in Missouri. The tagline of K9s on the Front Line is \u201cSaving Dogs. Restoring Hope.\u201d Because that\u2019s, quite literally, what the organization does. They save dogs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"K9s on the Front Line: A New Purpose for Veterans &amp; Their Dogs","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover how K9s on the Front Line offers hope and purpose to veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries by pairing them with trained rescue dogs.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,322,686,268],"tags":[161,54,306,220],"class_list":["post-4188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-performance","category-training-performance","category-working-dogs","tag-adoption","tag-dogs","tag-k9s","tag-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}