PEACHTREE CITY, GA — A nonprofit is welcoming new and returning veterans to its monthly service dog training program in Peachtree City.
Healing 4 Heroes works with 15 to 25 veterans at a time, either training a veteran’s own pet to become a service dog or pairing the veteran with a dog rescued from a local animal shelter.
CEO Piper Hill, who is also a veteran, says trained service dogs can assist veterans in several ways.
“Helping you with disassociation, they can remind you to take your medicine, they can remind you to eat,” Hill said.
Dogs can also be trained to wake their owners from nightmares. Hill describes a service dog as a veteran’s “battle buddy” and says the connection between the two can develop quickly.
“How beautiful the relationship is and how the dogs work for them once they find their person and their person finds them,” Hill said.
Veterans travel to Peachtree City to participate in the weeklong training program, and some return after forming connections with others in the program.
Healing 4 Heroes also travels to other areas, including Kentucky and Puerto Rico, to work with veterans who need assistance. The organization travels to Puerto Rico once a year.
“We have helped over 2200 veterans now across the United States,” Hill said.
WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & MaryRyan Howarth contributed to this story.