Founded in 2009 by Julie Sanderson and Susan Boltan, Patriot Service Dogs (PSD) serves veterans across Florida by training quality service dogs free of cost. Earlier this year, PSD was certified by Assistance Dogs International. With less than 150 organizations worldwide being ADI certified, the certification shows that the organization upholds the very high standards required by ADI.
To qualify to receive a trained service dog, veterans must have served in any branch of the armed services and have been honorably discharged, have a letter from a medical provider stating they would benefit from a service dog, have the ability to financially care for the dog after graduation, be able to attend one week of training in Central Florida and have a willingness to participate in check-ins after graduation. The application to be considered is on the organization’s website, and once they receive a veteran’s application, a follow-up call to better understand the veteran’s needs will take place.
“Once we have a group of dogs ready to graduate, we match the dogs’ strengths with the veteran’s needs to make good teams,” says Victoria Sanderson, communications and volunteer coordinator with PSD. “We also do home visits and further conversations before making a match. We take the matching process very seriously and try to get as much information as possible to ensure we are doing our best for the veterans and for the dogs.”
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