Page 976 - Total War on PTSD

equipment) is provided free of charge to the Veteran. The training is conducted for one hour every Friday, where the Veteran is trained to train their dog. The Veteran is expected to continue the training during the following week. There is also an option one hour of group therapy on Fridays, either before or after the training (depending on the level) that is led by a Social Worker that is volunteering their time. If the Veteran has difficulties with training, Dog TAGS also has trainers that come in on Tuesdays for remedial training. Since there are less teams on that day, there is more individualized training to get the team past any hurdle they are experiencing. Level one consists of basic commands and bonding. Level two works on passing the Canine Good Citizen test. One the Veteran/dog team pass that, the move onto level three, which works towards passing the Canine Good Citizen Urban test. At this level, the training also includes outings. There are numerous business in the area (to include Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Rite Aid and various restaurants where the dogs start to apply their public access training in real world environments. After that the team moves on to the fourth, and final level. The fourth level consists of passing the Public Access Test (PAT), and ensuring that the Service Dog can perform at least three tasks to mitigate the veteran’s disabilities. Level fours continues on, and expands the public outing training. Once that has been achieved, the Veteran has the option of either continuing to come in every Friday and continuing the training (as it is never done), or coming in when they want or need to (if an issue arises). The team is expected to return at least once a year to retake PAT to ensure that the Service Dog is still conducting themselves properly in public. Kodiak had a few hiccups during her training, which the trainers worked to resolve. Her desire to help me routinely surprises and pleases me, and we have developed such a strong bond from our symbiotic relationship. We have been working with Dog
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