Canine heroes offer help and companionship to disabled veterans

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Canines For Service is a Wilmington-based organization that trains dogs to help disabled veterans after they come home.

“There are hundreds of thousands of veterans returning both from the Afghanistan/Iraq and previous veterans from the Vietnam era that are in need of service dogs,” Program Manager Pat Hairston said.

That’s where Canines For Service comes in.

“To this point in time the Veterans Administration has not paid for service dogs for veterans,” Hairston said. “And this is kind of a step out to see if this is really something that’s going to be beneficial and can be provided on an ongoing basis for our veterans.”

Last month, the program received over $100,000 from the United Services University of the Health Sciences to provide three fully-trained dogs to vets with service-related injuries.

“Each dog will receive somewhere around 2,000 to 2,500 hours of training,” Hairston said. “We can train the dog to be in a harness to assist them with walking, the dog can pick up dropped items and retrieve items from a refrigerator, like a bottle of water for them to take their medication.

Dogs are even taught to load and unload the washer and dryer.

“It goes in steps. So you teach the dog different parts of the commands first and then bring it together into one command,” volunteer trainer Nicki MacRae said.

MacRae said it’s an incredible process to be a part of.

“I get rewarded from it, yes. I feel great that I’m doing something for someone else and that the ultimate goal is to help somebody else,” MacRae said.

Hairston said she’s seen first-hand what good a four-legged hero can do, and it really can give veterans a new outlook on life.

“It helps them reintegrate back into their family lives and back into life as a whole,” Hairston said.

After training, a Canines For Service service dog is valued at over $40,000, but they are given to veterans for free.